FM11 Official Rangers FC Thread - Here we go 3 in a row!

[ScottMac]

Thats what I used to do but it printscreens underneath FM rather than FM. E.g. if I have my internet browser up I print screen on FM and copy it into paint and it copys what was on the internet browser rather than the FM image I want, frustrating that I have no idea whats wrong.

I am on windows 7 and i had the same problem as you arer having just now. If you do what i said above it WILL work.

[metlika]

Nah, nothing works. Very frustrating, it was so simplistic the last time with other computers. I have screenshot folders all over the place and nothing happens, all alternative options for printscreen isn't working either.

[Jamees]

Nah, nothing works. Very frustrating, it was so simplistic the last time with other computers. I have screenshot folders all over the place and nothing happens, all alternative options for printscreen isn't working either.

run it windowed print screen paint /thread

your welcome Jamees :smug:

[metlika]

Wonderful now my save game is now corrupt.

[stewpot1979]

Tried the screenshot folder thing and it has worked for me.

In my game i got the group of death in the CL

AC Milan

R Madrid

Rubin

Or so i thought

Rubin - won 5-1 at home

AC Milan - won 3-1 away

R Madrid - drew 1-1 away

Have sold Papac for 1.3m loaned McCulloch and brought in the following on frees Enzo Maresca, Gail Assulin and Goncalves

[ScottMac]

Tried the screenshot folder thing and it has worked for me.

In my game i got the group of death in the CL

AC Milan

R Madrid

Rubin

Or so i thought

Rubin - won 5-1 at home

AC Milan - won 3-1 away

R Madrid - drew 1-1 away

Have sold Papac for 1.3m loaned McCulloch and brought in the following on frees Enzo Maresca, Gail Assulin and Goncalves

You certainly performed better than me in the champions league. It would be interesting to know what formation you set up with for those games?

[fugazi]

Its disapointing that Weir doesn't seem to be good enough to carry on as 1st choice CB for another season or 2 in the game, as im sure this will happen in real life

good point well made. agree 100%

[stewpot1979]

You certainly performed better than me in the champions league. It would be interesting to know what formation you set up with for those games?

This is it - use it in the league also. Ended up losing to R Madrid and AC Milan at home a drawing away against Rubin however thanks to other results i qualified!!

[craigieboy]

This is it - use it in the league also. Ended up losing to R Madrid and AC Milan at home a drawing away against Rubin however thanks to other results i qualified!!

Great results there mate. I got Man utd, Real madrid and rubin and got gubbed 4-1 at home by madrid 1st game

[stewpot1979]

Cant take any credit for the tactics - im using the same one i used in FM10 - thanks to Kawee

http://community.sigames.com/showthread.php/224902-433-The-Real-Invincibles!-%283-seasons-unbeaten-and-counting...%29

[craigieboy]

Still good results. My aim now is to try and get 3rd place. I usually download other peoples tactics but going

to try it for myself this time.

[JohnK]

Hello to all fellow Bears and any others who have chosen the mighty Gers for their latest save. From the looks of it most people seem to be too busy playing to post much but since I am at work and bored I'll try to update you with my progress with the Gers.

In terms of Transfers I have been quite lucky and Im not sure if there is some form of bug in the game but Belgium seems to a fantastic place to pick up a few quality bargains. At the start of the game with no funds available and a very limited percentage of transfer income I decided that the team needed to be changed slightly -

Transfers Out

Kenny Miller - 1.9 mil to Liverpool (wanted a ridiculous salary and with his contract ending in 1 year it seemed best to get rid)

Sasa Papac - 1.2 mil to Aston Villa (complained about Miller being transferred so I let him go as well)

Transfers In

Michael Ball - Free

Jose Goncalves - Free

Enzo Maresca - Free

Jan Chramosta (sp) - 1 mil over 4 years from FK Mladá Boleslav( an absolute bargain for a lad with dynamite pace to replace Miller + a fav from last years game)

Romelu Lukaku - 3.5 mil over 4 years from Anderlecht (Ridiculously low price for a player with great potential)

January Window

Steven Defour - 3.2 mil over 4 years from Standard (another crazy low price from the Belgian League. This guy is a fantastic player)

At the beginning of January I am now sitting in 1st place by 3 points from THEM and unfortunately out of Europe altogether but I am continuing to tweak my tactics to get the right blend for my squad and I will post them as soon as I have a winner.

On a final note about the lack of funds don’t worry too much because you can pick up a few players over 4 years, which seems risky at 1st but if you pick up the right players it will be worth it in the long run. Also with the Champs League funds and even some money from clauses in the sales of Alan Hutton & Danny Wilson you will be able to pick up an extra 3 - 5 million over the season and with a squad as small as Rangers every little helps

[feda16]

Just completed a relatively successfull season, won the league, made first round knock out phase only to be beaten 3-0 on agg by Barcelona. Lost out on both domestic cups as Celtic and Hibs took those. Some signings made in first summer:

Jose Goncalves

Gai Assulin

Jordi Gomez

Callum Davenport (all free)

Henri Saivet (Loan 250k)

Out:

Sasa Papac (Spurs) 1.3 million

Winter window:

In:-

Leigh Griffiths 1.7 (Dundee)

Fernando Ricksen (Free)

Out:

James Beattie (Blackburn) 300k

Kenny Miller (Liverpool) 1.5m

Jordi Gomez (Cagliari) 400k

Next season promises massive changes due to no contract renewals of numerous players. However 1st place must be assured to make it 4 IAR!!!

[GlasgowRangersChampions]

Hello to all fellow Bears and any others who have chosen the mighty Gers for their latest save. From the looks of it most people seem to be too busy playing to post much but since I am at work and bored I'll try to update you with my progress with the Gers.

In terms of Transfers I have been quite lucky and Im not sure if there is some form of bug in the game but Belgium seems to a fantastic place to pick up a few quality bargains. At the start of the game with no funds available and a very limited percentage of transfer income I decided that the team needed to be changed slightly -

Transfers Out

Kenny Miller - 1.9 mil to Liverpool (wanted a ridiculous salary and with his contract ending in 1 year it seemed best to get rid)

Sasa Papac - 1.2 mil to Aston Villa (complained about Miller being transferred so I let him go as well)

Transfers In

Michael Ball - Free

Jose Goncalves - Free

Enzo Maresca - Free

Jan Chramosta (sp) - 1 mil over 4 years from FK Mladá Boleslav( an absolute bargain for a lad with dynamite pace to replace Miller + a fav from last years game)

Romelu Lukaku - 3.5 mil over 4 years from Anderlecht (Ridiculously low price for a player with great potential)

January Window

Steven Defour - 3.2 mil over 4 years from Standard (another crazy low price from the Belgian League. This guy is a fantastic player)

At the beginning of January I am now sitting in 1st place by 3 points from THEM and unfortunately out of Europe altogether but I am continuing to tweak my tactics to get the right blend for my squad and I will post them as soon as I have a winner.

On a final note about the lack of funds don’t worry too much because you can pick up a few players over 4 years, which seems risky at 1st but if you pick up the right players it will be worth it in the long run. Also with the Champs League funds and even some money from clauses in the sales of Alan Hutton & Danny Wilson you will be able to pick up an extra 3 - 5 million over the season and with a squad as small as Rangers every little helps

Brilliant deals on Lukaku and Defour mate, could make a fantastic profit on both in the future, especially Lukaku.

[notoriousgtt]

Well, I'm over a season into the full game now and I have to admit to strugling a bit with the bears.

Season one went like this...

Summer Window

OUT

S.Papac - Tottenham - £1.3m

A.Webster - Everton - £2.3m

A.McGregor - Arsenal - £750,000 - LOAN

L.McCulloch - Everton - £40,000 - LOAN

G.Wylde - Morton - LOAN

IN

G.Assulin - Free

Denilson - Free

Y.Basturk - Free

J.Goncalves - Free

Dida - Free

R.Pires - Free

Sylvinho - Free

N.Medina - Osasuna - Free

Turned out Assulin isnt up to much, Basturk is crap, Dida got dropped and never won his place back, Pires is permanently injured and Medina was as much use as a chocolate hotplate.

Denilson was excellent cover and Sylvinho made DL his own and won a 1 year extension based on his performace. January rolled around, we had a bit of cash to spend so I used it and looked to the future.

January Window

OUT

K.Miller - Liverpool - £1m - Woudln't renew his contract, better to cash in than loose him for nothing.

N.Jelavic - At Madrid - £2m - Was unhappy and not playing.

M.Bougherra - Man City - £5.5m - Offer was too good to turn down.

Dida - Released - Was grumpy at not playing.

IN

D.Wilson - Liverpool - £2.2m - To replace Bougherra.

L.Griffiths - Dundee - £1m - To replace Miller.

T.Cairney - Hull - £1.7m - Young Scottish MC with good stats for a 19 year old.

S.Poulson - AZ - £925,000 - DL, WBL, ML, AML, good left sided cover and quick too.

Luizao - Free - DC released by Cruzerio in January.

C.Benitez - Santos - £2.5m - Striker who was on loan at Birmingham.

J.McArthur - Wigan - £2.7m - MC cover.

And so that was that, looking to the future with some of the signings but alas it was not enough as we were thumped by Celtic repeatedly.

24/10/10 - Away - Celtic 0 - 1 Rangers (Fleck with the last kick of the ball)

1/1/11 - Home - Rangers 0 - 1 Celtic

20/2/11 - Away - Celtic 4 - 1 Rangers (the hammerings start)

11/5/11 - Away - Celtic 5 - 1 Rangers (and continue)

The only saving grace was Europe, I was drawn in a group with...

A.C Milan (0-1, 2-1)

Valencia (2-1, 3-1)

Rubin (2-0, 1-1)

So 4 wins and a draw saw me top the group and get Arsenal in the last 16 where I was beaten 0-2 and 0-1. Still, was better than expected anyway.

So the league was pretty bad, Losses to Hibs (0-4), Hearts (1-3), Inverness (2-3), St Johnstone (1-3), Celtic (0-1, 4-1, 5-1) and Dundee United (3-4) left me in second.

Table ended up like this.

Celtic - 94

Rangers - 78

Hearts - 67

Aberdeen - 56

Hibs - 55

Dundee Utd - 52

Motherwell - 51

St Johnstone - 41

Inverness - 40

Killie - 35

Hamilton - 32

St Mirren - 30

Won the League Cup and that was the only silverwear in the Ibrox trophy room this year.

Did enough to secure a new 5 year deal though.

-Barry

[notoriousgtt]

So with my new 5 year deal in hand I set about making the changes needed to win the league.

Summer Window

OUT

M.Edu - Auxerre - £1.5m - Wasn't getting a game and was unhappy.

J.Bettie - Blackburn - Free - £20,000 a week off the wage bill.

A.Velicka - Free

D.Weir - Free

G.Wylde - St Mirren - Free

K.Lafferty - Blackburn - £500,000 - Totally mince, best just to get him off the wage bill.

IN

A.Smithies - Huddersfield - £1.1m - 21y/o Keeper, backup to McGregor this year.

D.Buonanotte - River - Free - Young AML/R, ST who looks to have a bright future.

H.Postiga - Sporting - Free

H.Yakin - Luzern - Free

S.Bamba - Hibs - Free

Fabio - Man Utd - £550,000 - LOAN

Rivaldo - Udinese - £130,000

M.Van Bommel - Free - Awesome DMC on a free transfer.

M.Camoranesi - Free

S.Taylor - Free - Formally on Newcastle they let his contract expire.

V. Weiss - Man City - £325,000 - LOAN - Fans player of the year, couldnt afford the transfer but glad to have him back on loan.

R. Lukaku - Anderlecht - £7.5m - The reason I couldnt afford Weiss on a permanent transfer.

Total Transfer Income - £2.0 Million.

Total Transfer Spend - £9.5 Million... Bugger.

The wage bill is outrageous, there was no CL place for the runner up apparently so its only the UEFA Cup for me now, which, by the way, is going rather horribly.

So far I've played Celtic once, at Celtic Park (thats me played 4 games at CP and only 1 at Ibrox now) and got thumped, 4-0.

Not looking good this year either...

[stewpot1979]

Bit quiet in here....

End of 1st season saw me topping the table with Hearts following a few points behind. Celtic was 4th.

Made it to the 1st knockout round of CL but lost to Inter 3-0.

Knocked out in the quarters and lost the final of the cups.

Transfers; i managed to pick up a number of players on frees:

Diego Buonanotte

Humberto Suazo

Daniel Braaten

Viktor Elm

Vadim Demidov

Mahamadou Diarra

Vincent Enyeama

Only bought Foster for 500k as he had a great 1st season.

Trying to sign Van Brommel for a season (free agent) and McFadden on a loan deal for minimal cash.

Lost a few of my original squad with their contracts running out most notable

Miller

Velicka

Alexander (no point with Enyeama now in squad)

Gave Weir an extension for the hell of it.

Sold:

Enzo Maresca for 700k

Bougherra £4.4m

Loaned to get wages down

Gai Assulin

McCulloch

Also gutted my reserves as no point seeing as there is no league to play in and cut a number of youth players.

Setup a link with Man U - Obertan was sent to me for 1/2 a season and this season i have Welbeck.

I keep trying to get other links setup but the board cant find anyone suitable.

See how it goes....

[notoriousgtt]

I have just had the most UNBELIEVABLE second season.

The wheels fell off Celtic's wagon, everything clicked for me and I walked off with a trophy haul like no others!

January transfer update

OUT

H.Postiga - FREE - Valencia - It didn't work out, he wasnt playing and the wage bill was looking scary.

Rivaldo - FREE - Same as above

R.Pires - FREE - Again, financial reasons, never thought that "match highest earner" clause would be such a financial burden.

N.Medina - FREE - Siena

K.Broadfoot - FREE - Middlesborough

Luizao - £625,000 - Flamengo

IN

James Forrest - Chelsea - LOAN - I know, why did i sign the tics great white hope, answer, to bring him on in Auld Firm games and watch him rip them apart.

Anyway, the league picked up and we went on a nice run including these results...

5-0 Vs Killie

7-0 Vs Cally Thistle

6-0 Vs St Johnstone

Results against Celtic.

Lost 0-4 AWAY

Won 3-1 HOME

Won 4-1 AWAY

Won 2-0 HOME

Plus knocking them out of the Scottish Cup semi final 2-1.

In Europe...

QUAL - APOEL - Lost 2-1 away and won 4-0 at home.

In the group we drew - Unerea, CSKA Sofia, Metalist and we snuck through in second place.

1st knockout we got Tottenham and this was where I expected the run to end. 3-1 WIN at Ibrox, 2-1 LOSS at WHL meant on we go.

2nd knockout we got Fenerbache, 1-1 DRAW away, 2-1 WIN at home and into the quarters.

QF we got Bordeaux, 2-1 WIN at home, 2-3 WIN away and its into the semis

Semi we got Shaktar where, again, it looked too tough, 1-0 WIN at home, 2-2 DRAW away and we had made the final, its Manchester all over again.

This time we got Atletico Madrid and I was happy to have made the final. BUT to go on and thump them 4-0 with a HAT TRICK from Steven Naismith was nothing short of unbelievable!

I have 1 league game to go and I am already crowned champs, Aberdeen second, Hearts third, Celtic 4th but only 2 points separate 2nd 3rd and 4th so its al lto play for, plus the Scottish Cup final against St Johnstone to capture the quad.

Will play them tomorrow and update.

[metlika]

I haven't played much of the game because of recent uni work. So I'm only in mid September Lennon is already being touted for the chop .

I have won all my games and Bougherra is my top scorer with 4 goals in 6 matches. I'm not using the corner "cheat" either, he has been scorer mainly from Denilson's freekick's. Btw Denilson has about 6 assists in 6 league matches.

I say all my games I won 1 in the CL and drew with Sevilla away. With a 90 + 2 goal from Buonanotte.

[metlika]

So you guys get Buonanotte free in the second season? I paid £2.5m for him in the first season but I still think he is well worth it but a bit annoying that he available for nothing... Still been a legendary player for me in the last 2 FM's

[notoriousgtt]

So to update, won the last league game, won the cup and completed the quad!

SPL finished like this...

Rangers - 93

Aberdeen - 71

Hearts - 70

Celtic - 66

Hamilton - 54

Dundee Utd - 50

Motherwell - 54

Falkirk - 53

Inverness - 46

Hibernian - 34

St Johnstone - 25

Killie - 21

In the summer I have let a few of the main players go, so far (Current date is August 1st)...

OUT

M.Van Bommel - Awesome holding midfielder but was on the decline.

N.Alexander - No need for 3 top keepers.

D.Buonanotte - £1.3m - Deportivo - Was unhappy and I was not really playing him.

H.Yakin - Wage saver.

C.Benitez - £6.75m - Dortmund - Was injured most of last season, returned from summer hols injured, making a £4.25m profit and saving £43,500 on wages, thought it was best to cut and run.

S.Davis - £10m - Leverkusen - Cant turn down that kind of money, plus his "match highest earner" had him on £43,500 a week.

IN

C.Smalling - LOAN - Man Utd

H. Ben Arfa - FREE - Marsilles

P.Deggen - FREE

A.Hutton - FREE

R.De Laet - FREE

D.Bently - FREE

S.Wright-Phillips - FREE

N. Anelka - FREE

J.Forrest - LOAN - Chelsea.

Squad is looking tasty if I do say so myself. Playing a flat 4-4-2 looking like this for the first SPL game Vs Hearts.

GK - A.Smithies

DL - S.Poulsen

DR - A.Hutton

DC - D.Wilson

DC - S.Taylor

MR - S.Wright-Phillips

ML - J.Fleck

MC - H.Ben-Arfa

MC - J.McArthur

FC - N.Anelka

FC - R.Lukaku

SUB - A.McGregor

SUB - S.Bamba

SUB - E. De Laet

SUB - S.Whittaker

SUB - D.Bently

SUB - J.Forrest

SUB - L.Griffiths

Roll on 2IAR.

[GlasgowRangersChampions]

Congrats on winning europa league on 2nd season, notoriousgtt. Keep us updated.

[Shaftman]

I must be doing something wrong with my team.

Ive shipped out McCulloch, Miller, Lafferty and Broadfoot, but only managed to bring in one loaner, Tonge from Stoke. Transfer budget remained at £0 (due the debt I guess)

No freebies available for me, and I sent Weiss back to free up wages.

Playing a 4-2-4, and havent lost a league game yet, with Wylde on left wing (Fleck now resumed training) drew 1. Lost 3-0 to Chelsea at the Bridge first game in CL.

But for me, Im going to have to rely on the likes of Ness, Loy etc as back up.

[notoriousgtt]

Cheers, but it was the Europa league and the second season, but still a great feeling to bring home a europian trophy with the gers.

[notoriousgtt]

I've had a inconsistent start to season 3. Loosing the opening game at Tynecastle, getting beat by Man City in the Champions League qualifiers, drawing at Tanadice but then going on to beat Real Madrid 3-2 (AET) in the Super Cup.

Have got back on form with a 4-0 thrashing of Inverness who were top of the table so hopefully I can keep it going now.

UEFA Cup/Europa League put me in a group with Red Bull Salzburg, Nacional de Madeira and Lugano. First game thumped Lugano 4-0 at Ibrox.

I have already made it onto the favoured personnel list after 2 seasons. Does anybody know if, like all the other FM's you will be hated by the club if you resign?

[djw1992]

So with my new 5 year deal in hand I set about making the changes needed to win the league.

Summer Window

OUT

M.Edu - Auxerre - £1.5m - Wasn't getting a game and was unhappy.

J.Bettie - Blackburn - Free - £20,000 a week off the wage bill.

A.Velicka - Free

D.Weir - Free

G.Wylde - St Mirren - Free

K.Lafferty - Blackburn - £500,000 - Totally mince, best just to get him off the wage bill.

IN

A.Smithies - Huddersfield - £1.1m - 21y/o Keeper, backup to McGregor this year.

D.Buonanotte - River - Free - Young AML/R, ST who looks to have a bright future.

H.Postiga - Sporting - Free

H.Yakin - Luzern - Free

S.Bamba - Hibs - Free

Fabio - Man Utd - £550,000 - LOAN

Rivaldo - Udinese - £130,000

M.Van Bommel - Free - Awesome DMC on a free transfer.

M.Camoranesi - Free

S.Taylor - Free - Formally on Newcastle they let his contract expire.

V. Weiss - Man City - £325,000 - LOAN - Fans player of the year, couldnt afford the transfer but glad to have him back on loan.

R. Lukaku - Anderlecht - £7.5m - The reason I couldnt afford Weiss on a permanent transfer.

Total Transfer Income - £2.0 Million.

Total Transfer Spend - £9.5 Million... Bugger.

The wage bill is outrageous, there was no CL place for the runner up apparently so its only the UEFA Cup for me now, which, by the way, is going rather horribly.

So far I've played Celtic once, at Celtic Park (thats me played 4 games at CP and only 1 at Ibrox now) and got thumped, 4-0.

Not looking good this year either...

Hang on....how the heck did you get £7.5m as a transfer budget?! I made the last 16 of the UCL and only got £2.5m, along with 1/3 of all player sales...

[celtic_fc]

Hang on....how the heck did you get £7.5m as a transfer budget?! I made the last 16 of the UCL and only got £2.5m, along with 1/3 of all player sales...

If you make the deals over 48 months it only takes a quarter out of your transfer budget. So a £2.5M budget allows you to spend £10M if you make all the deals over 48 months.

[metlika]

If he continues to make big signings like that it will eventually bite back in the finances if you don't watch out.

I try and spread the payments for the first season or 2 then try and pay everything up front afterwards.

[notoriousgtt]

Finances are sound as long as I make a decent sized sale every year (ala Steven Davis). I can accept letting a star player go each year if it means gaining 2 or 3 more in return.

[notoriousgtt]

Had a pretty lackluster start to the season.

After the first round of games I've had the following results

A - Hearts - Lost 1-0

H - Dundee Utd - Drew 1-1

H - Inverness - Won 4-0

A - Aberdeen - Won 5-1

H - Celtic - Won 2-0

H - Motherwell - Won 2-0

A - St Johnstone - Won 4-1

A - Hamilton - Won 3-0

H - Falkirk - Won 2-1

H - Hearts - Lost 2-1

A - Dundee Utd - Drew 3-3

Aberdeen have had a shocker of a season after pushing me last year, they sacked Mark McGhee when they were 10th and replaced him with Yogi Hughes.

Hibs sacked their manager for the second time since the start of the game, replacing Murdo McLeod with Mark McGhee and much like at Aberdeen he has them rooted to the foot of the table.

Dundee United and Hearts are flying, United being unbeaten in 13 and we are in 3rd.

Lukaku has scored 16 in 16 for me this year. Grifiths is finally coming good and Asulin is getting released at the end of his contract.

[sajidt]

i played the first season with the Gers and won the league and cup double....was all getting a bit boring so i ended up downloading a thing off here to get the old firm into the EPL

Makes life a lot harder, £0 to spend and touted for relegation. Played around 6 games so far and have 3 points with a draw at home to newcastle and a win away to birmingham being the highlight..need some strong midfielders...

[bazblock]

How you guys get on in first season with no transfer budget and no one to sell? I'm trying to lower wage budget to adjust for transfer fees. So far got 400k but still that's not alot

[Shaftman]

Personally, since I just had to replace a corrupted save, this time I accepted a 3.6m bid for Boughy and sold Miller for 860k. Thats allowed me to bring in Griffiths, G.Shinnie and Saunders from M'Well, small downpayments and rest over 24 months.

Fighting for top of table with Hibs while Celts are fighting relegation with hamilton, and doing not so bad in CL group, with original Rangers players.

[Gdawg69]

First update on this thread with my beloved Gers.

First things first, transfers in and out.

After reading so much about Millers contract demands, i decided to test this myself, and to no shock, he wanted far too much money. So he had to go, which is ashame as on the demo he was terrific for me, very much like his start irl.

So I sold 3 players:

Miller - 1.9m to liverpool

Papac - 1.3m tottenham

Shinnie - cant remember, not much

I decided that I would most likely go over my wage budget getting replacements and improving my squad depth - and hopefully quality. So the best way to do this, was offer al my contracts now so the board could not prohibit me. I got the following players:

Brandy - Free - Young and fast, wanted a fast player to replace what miller could offer

Baronio - free - competition for mcculloch and edu in holding midfield

maresca - free - playmaking type midfielder, probably first teamer

Pires - free - needs no introduction, and will play on the opposite advanced wing position than Weiss. Will also offer back up to Centre mid

Goncalves - free - Good at either Centre back or Left back

Sillah - free - back up for left wing, fast, skillful, good technique

Denneboom - free - tall, fast, good off the ball, determined, flairy player who can play right wing or up front

So those were all my free transfers, and im certain they have improved my squad.

I decided to set up a 4-3-2-1 formation, although im tinkering dropping the CM back to DM and pushing the wing backs up one position. Anyway, the one area where I wasn't completely happy with was my striker, i didn't feel confident i had a 25 goal a season man in my team. I also had another problem, I had no money left in my wage budget, in fact I was way over it by about 20k a week. So i decided to look at the lower divisions and obv come across Leight Griffiths, and thought "of course, why the hell did i not think of him earlier!!". anyway got a 350k bid accepted, and to my dismay......I couldnt even afford him. I went straight to my board, adjusted my budget from 1m transfer kitty to 500k and asked the board for a bigger wage budget.....thankfully they accepted. So again, got a bid accepted, and this time, he was happy accepting about 3.4k/week.

Shortly after, i got Man utd as a feeder club, and they instantly offered me Macheda....so im pretty confident now I have a squad who WILL win the SPL after some team blending.

So thats my wee introduction of transfer activities, fairly happy so far.

I was thinking, to try and increase activity in here, I could post up a summary of every game, pre-match and post match thoughts etc???

[Gdawg69]

Update:

August 7th, Saturday, 2010

Today, after several weeks of touting him for free, Rangers finally off-loaded Jame Beattie, and his hefty 20k/week salary, from the wage bill. Although the deal to take him away from Ibrox is only a temprary season long loan, Stoke City will pay 100% of his wages during this time, which is effectively the length of his contract.

Having just signed for Rangers in the summer, Beattie was somewhat shocked at the behaviour of new manager, Mr Clarke, and felt he could no longer work under these circumstances, instructing his agent to find a new suitable club. Unfortunately for Beattie, such suitable clubs were hard to come by, even when offered for free, his ex-club Stoke City, being the only interested party. After the summer signings of Leigh Griffith from Dundee, Fabian Brandy on a free transfer and the loan signing of Federico Macheda from Manchester United, as well as the existing strikers already at Ibrox including Kyle Lafferty and Steven Naismith, James Beattie was 6th choice striker, and with an already strained relationship with his new manager, was forced to move back to the club he originally moved from to get first team action.

A spokesman from Stoke City commented;

"It's great to welcome James back to the club he spent several years with. This is a great financial deal for Stoke City, having just sold him to Rangers FC for an undisclosed fee in the same transfer window. James offers a big presence up front and has a real eye for goal, if he can get back to full fitness, there is nothing stopping him from vying for a regular spot in the Stoke City strikeforce.

Rangers FC were unavailable for comment.

[metlika]

My 13 game winning streak in the SPL came to end against Hibs away was such a terrible performance. We were lucky to get back to winning ways against Hearts went a goal down, Beattie turning up for once but still want rid of him not worth the wage.

Managed to scrape into the next round of the CL by not losing a match. 4 draws and 2 wins although I was cheated against Sevilla perfectly good goal chopped off in the 86th minute but that was the final match and I was already through.

[notoriousgtt]

Gdawg, Sounds good, Beatie was actually decent for me as a poacher when I played him in friendlies and such. The more activity in here the better TBH, it was looking quite barren for a while.

Metlika, sounds rather close to reality what with an unbeaten streak being ended against Hibs. Well done on getting through the Champs league.

I've not had a chance to play the last couple of days so it may well be Monday before I have another update on my game. Good luck bears, remember, No Surrender

[Gdawg69]

Anyone had any experience with a takeover in this game, or because Murray has stated the club wasn't for sale a wee while back, have SI taken that piossibility out of the equation on this game? WIll we have to wait on the patch before any possibility of it comes true?

[notoriousgtt]

My chairman status after 2.5 years is "Happy to stay" so I doubt I'll be seeing a takeover anytime soon.

[metlika]

No for some reason it has been that the chairman is happy to stay may be true in reality is false seeing as he isn't our owner been like this since FM10. Probably give it a good challenge rather than being taken over by a tycoon.

[metlika]

Celitc's goal should not have stood it said in the ref report and usually its correct. Thats 2 games where there ref has made a bad decision against me.

[Gdawg69]

Pre-match summary

Saturday 14th August, 2010

Rangers v Kilmarnock - Ibrox Stadium

Rangers would kick off their season with an opening game against last seasons 11th placed team, Kilmarnock, in the opening fixture of the SPL. New Manager, Gareth Clarke, will be making his Managerial debut in a game that many will be expecting Rangers to win at a canter, however a much improved Kilmarnock will be doing all they can to come away from Ibrox with at least 1 point. Amongst Kilmarnocks starting 11 will be new boys M. Sissoko, David Silva (Not the phenomena from Valencia who this summer signed for Manchester City of course), James Dayton, Rui Miguel, and of course the highly rated Alexey Eremenko who is currently on loan from Ukrainian team Metalist Zharkiv. Kilmarnock are tipped by many to be relegated from the SPL, however the feeling within the club is that they can challenge for a top 6 finish.

The importance for Rangers to bulk up their squad this summer was none to evident than it was today when Mr. Clarke had several fitness problems to deal with. As many as 6 first team members were either injured, or not 100% fit for the opening fixture of the season, including Steven Davis, Steven Naismith, Vladimir Weiss, Nikica Jelavic, Enzo Maresca and Madjid Bougherra. This meant that Mr. Clarke would give debuts to Leigh Griffiths, Roberto Baronio, Robert Pires and finally Dutch frontman R. Denneboom. One surprise inclusion in today's first team was that of Gregg Wylde at Left Back, especially since new signing Goncalves was fit to start. One can only assume that Mr. Clarke considers Wylde to be good enough to push for a starting slot in this seasons campaign, either that or he considers Goncalves' strongest position to be Centre Back, in which case would leave Rangers short for options in the Left Back position.

Line ups looked like so:

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Post-Match Summary

Rangers 3 - 1 Kilmarnock

Kilmarnock shocked the home support when they went ahead in this match with a stunning goal from none other than midfield maestro, Craig Bryson. The move was started by Gary Hay when he intercepted a throw in from RB Steven Whittiker, fed it to new signing Dayton who passed into the feet of Eremenko on the left hand side who in turn slid the ball for Bryson to run onto and power a shot past helpless Alan McGregor from 25 yards. Rangers had their work cut out for them from now on, and surprisingly Clarke never made any change to the formation or system. Instead he gestured to his lads to stay calm and stick to their controlled fluid system. Within 4 minutes of Kilmarnock taking the lead, Clarkes boys had struck equal with a determined and brave equalizer from new boy Leigh Griffiths, much to the delight of Mr. Clarke. Rangers won themselves a corner through the trickery of Denneboom on the right, who cut inside the box but was squandered by a wild clearance from Pascali. Griffiths swung in the corner but it was cleared no further than Whittiker, who picked up the ball on the left hand side, drove forward and passed into Lafferty's feet, Lafferty then fed Pires who turned his man sublimely and fed directly into Baronio's feet, who in turn fed a first time through ball into the path of Griffiths, Kilmarnock Goalkeeper Alan Combe looked as if he would be first to get to the ball, however sheer pace, determination and bravery from Griffiths allowed him to slide in and nick the ball past Combe before the keeper managed to get a touch. If there is one sure fire way of getting your new set of fans behind you, its like this, the delight in both the fans and Griffiths face could not be hid, and in further act of warmth, Griffiths ran straight to the new manager who made this all possible to give him a celebratory cuddle, his teammates soon to follow. This goal seemed to spur Rangers on even more as they created a bundle of chances before taking the lead in the 19th minute. Again Lafferty was involved, as he swung in a corner which seemed to be heading straight for Captain David Weirs head before Alan Combe strangely intercepted the ball and deflected it into his own net. Rangers were now 2-1 ahead and good for their money, Clarke again gesturing to his men to keep going. Sadly Gregg Wylde's delightful day had come to a pre-mature end after the 24th minute when he was clattered in the leg by Paul Dayton, forcing him to go off with a dead leg and be replaced by another debut boy, Jose Goncalves. Rangers squandered 2 more chances to go further ahead before half time with a distant drive from veteran Pires and a direct free-kick from Griffiths.

The 2nd half started much like the 1st half ended, with few chances but Rangers dominating the play. A few half chances fell to both teams before a mistake from Kilmarnock Centre Back Frazer Wright in the 63rd minute, having just come on as a substitute on 61 minutes, allowed rejuvenated forward Kyle Lafferty to latch onto a loose ball and slide past Come. Wright had out jumped pint sized Griffiths but directed his header behind him instead of cleaering his lines. Lafferty still had alot of work to do, but did so brilliantly as he took the ball down from the air and slid it past Kilmarnock RB Jamie Fowler with one tremendous touch, allowing his 2nd touch to be a tidy finish past the incoming Combe. From here on in it was clear that Rangers would run out clear winners, and did so with little fuss, affording Mr. Clarke to let another debutant, Federico Macheda take the field after 71 minutes. Fans gave a standing ovation to new strike sensation Leigh Griffiths as he was the man who made way for Manchester United's young star. Macheda made little impact as Rangers dragged out the remainder of the match to come out 3-1 winners.

Mr Clarke was on record to say:

"I'm very pleased with the manner in which my guys came from behind today to win the match convincingly. I think it's fair to say we dominated chances from start to finish, and on another day could quite easily have been 5 or 6 goals for us today. That is no disrespect to Kilmarnock though, they worked hard and played well today, and their goal was probably the best goal of all opening games today. To be honest, it is more a reflection on my lads and how well I feel they played today, especially since much of the team were new lads and alot of team blending is necessary, so to see them play like this so early is very pleasing to see"

When asked on his feelings about Leigh Griffiths debut, Clarke replied:

"I am very pleased with the start Griffiths has made to his Rangers career, he had a very solid competitive debut today and topped it off with a great goal, which i feel if you watch it carefully, shows alot about the boys character. 2 good goals in 2 starts if we count non-competitive matches has really set the bar and I really hope he continues in the same vein if not better. I would also like to give special mention though to Kyle Lafferty, who has really trained hard all pre-season, often coming to training early and being the last to leave. Having saw, or more importantly, read, alot about him last season, I thought he would be one of the first players out of the door when I took charge of the squad. His attitude however has been spot on, and he was easily the best player on the park today, scoring one, setting another up, and also having a part to play in the equalizer. People often forget how young this lad is, and I feel there is more to come from Lafferty."

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In other results:

Celtic were held to a 0-0 draw away from home to Inverness Caley Thistle in which there were no less than 10 yellow cards, 2 resulting in a red card for Jos Hooiveld.

Hearts thumped St. Johnstone 4-1 with a goal from Hearts new boy Kevin Kyle.

Aberdeen drew at home to Hamilton, whilst Motherwell were also held 2-2 at home to Hibernian.

Dundee Utd beat St. Mirren in the remaining SPL fixture 2-0.

[Gdawg69]

Saturday 21st August, 2010

Hibernian v Rangers - Easter Road

Clarke made one change to his starting 11 for this match against Hibs, dropping Pires to the bench to bring in fans favourite Steven Davis in a straight swap. Clarke kept confidence in injured full back Gregg Wylde as he recovered from injury to start at LB. Lafferty also retained his place on the left wing, keeping Pires on the bench. Clarkes only tactical change was to drop the advanced wing backs from the last match back to the full back position.

Post-match summary

Hibernian 1 - Rangers 1

Rangers once again went behind for the 2nd consecutive game when Thicot threaded a through ball to French striker Camerling, who wrong footed whittiker and eased by him then fed a ball across the box for Midfielder Miller to slide in between Weir and Wylde and sneak the ball past McGregor in the 7th minute . This was not the start Clarke would have wanted, and this time he was not as calm as he was against Kilmarnock, giving captain Weir an ice cold stare from the bench letting him know fine well he really should have dealt with that ball. Rangers did manage to draw back level, although it did take a full 39 minutes to do so. No surprise who the scorer was as Leigh Griffiths continued his fine scoring form when he latched on to a lovely direct through ball from Vladimir Weiss. Griffiths still had alot to do as he was fully 50 yards from goal with two defenders clambering after him, he managed to hold the defenders off, move the ball on to his left foot, and strike the ball from 25 yards into the top corner just before the stroke of half-time. Clarke would at least have been grateful for that.

The only change at half time was to bring off the un-impressive Gregg Wylde for Jose Goncalves. Maybe it was too soon for Wylde?? Will be interesting to see who starts the next match at LB.

Things got worse for Hibs in the 64th minute as Ghanian centre back Francis Dickoh committed a stupid foul on Griffiths at the edge of the box to pick up his 2nd yellow card, the ref confirming his marching orders with a red card. Rangers were unable to capitalise on the extra man, as they changed to a 4-4-2 formation, taking off the injured Davis for Macheda, and the average Lafferty for creative veteran Pires. Surprisingly, it could be argued that Hibs were the better team, or at least created the better chances in the closing stages as the match came to a frustrating end for Rangers manager Gareth Clarke.

Rangers manager went on record to say:

"Well today was one frustrating day at the office, and this was a game I really expected us to win to be honest, especially as Hibs played a third of the match with one less man than ourselves. I don't feel we created enough chances, and when we did, we just weren't clinical enough in front of goal. I will get the lads in the dressing room and we will all get together to talk about what potentially went wrong, because we can't even claim to have been the better team to be honest,"

Asked on his thoughts on why Wylde was taken off at half time, Clarke responded:

" I think that was a mistake on my behalf as it was maybe a little too much to ask of Wylde, it is possible he is still suffering from last weeks dead leg and a loss in confidence after the mix up between himself and David (Weir) at the opening goal. Trust me when I say this though, this will not be the last time you see Gregg in the Rangers line-up, he is a bright young player, fast, and has a great future ahead of him, with a bit of tutoring, and some matches, Gregg could go on to be a regular for Scotland in my opinion."

This raises questions over whether or not Wylde will start or even appear in the next match against St. Johnstone at Ibrox on the 28th August. Wylde is apparently dis-heartened about being taken off at half-time, but is determined to prove his worth to the team. He is also encouraged at Clarke's after match comments.

Elsewhere in the SPL:

Celtic demolished St. Mirren 3-0 at Celtic Park, with Ledley and Stokes scoring their first goals for Celtic.

Dundee Utd. annihilated Inverness 6-0, Jon Daly scoring an impressive 4 goals.

Hearts beat Hamilton 3-1 away from home whilst Motherwell managed a 1-0 win away from home against Rangers opening SPL opponents Kilmarnock.

In the final match, Aberdeen got their first win of the season in a 2-0 away win against St. Johnstone.

[Gdawg69]

Champions League Update

Ranger have been drawn in one of the toughest groups in this seasons Champions League Group Stages, been paired with English giants, and affiliates, Manchester United, Italian 2nd seeds Roma and one of the tougher 4th seeds they could have faced, NK Dinamo from Croatia.

Rangers opening match will be a Battle of Britain as they travel to Manchester to play United at Old Trafford.

Clarke commented:

"Well, well, well, what can I say?.... I won't lie, we face a monumental task to get through to the next stage of the Champions League, to finish 2nd in this group will take a massive effort, let alone 1st. Is it something I feel we can do? Yes for sure, I have utmost confidence in this bunch of players, and the coaching staff are great, so why not? We have a combination of youth and experience within the squad, and i'm sure the likes of Pires and Davis will let the youngsters know what it takes to play at this level. Don't rule out my young guns though, they will bring enthusiasm and determination to the table, which can be an explosive combination on its own. As for the opening match, well what better way to start this years European campaign by going back to the City of our recent Uefa Cup Final appearance back in 2008, in what will be sure to be a tremendous match against a team managed by the great Sir Alex Ferguson, who I happen to hold so much respect for, so to play his team in my first ever european game will be something I treasure for the rest of my career, especially with my boyhood hero's Rangers. Will we be going there to win? Hear this, and hear it loud....I never go anywhere with anything less than the will to win, and that will be instilled in every team I ever manage."

[Gdawg69]

Saturday 28th August, 2010

Rangers v St. Johnstone - Ibrox Park

3 changes in Rangers starting line saw both culprits from last weekends horror goal conceded to Hibernian drop out of the squad as Bougherra and Goncalves would make their first starts to the domestic season, Pires replaced Lafferty on the left wing.

Rangers 3 - 0 St. Johnstone

In a match where Rangers dominated from start to finish, Griffiths continued his blistering start to the season by scoring a double, both set up by the impressive Steven Davis. The first was another goal from outside the box with a blistering left foot shot in the top corner after Steven Davis turned his man in midfield and fed Griffiths the ball at the edge of the area. His second goal was not as far out, but equally impressive as he showed great movement inside the box to lose his marker as Davis showed great vision to slip the ball in between St. Johnstones centre backs for Griffiths so hit a first time shot that no keeper would have stopped from 14 yards.

McCulloch then completed the rout with a 30 yard strike that took a wicked deflection before wrong footing the keeper to make it 3-0. The goal was credited to McCulloch as it was seen to have been heading goalwards in the first place.

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Rangers manager Clarke looked back on todays win:

"I really expected my boys to win today, and they did not dissapoint. Leigh Griffiths had his best game in a Rangers shirt, which speaks volumes going on his past performances, continuing his tremendous scoring run....I just hope it doesn't dry up. *Clarke lets out a wry smile and chuckle*

Special mention to Davis today as he set up 2 of our 3 goals, we can't score if we aren't creating, and he made sure things ticked from midfield"

Other scores:

Hearts are still top of the table after beating a strong Dundee Utd at home 1-0. Aberdeen beat Kilmarnock 3-0 with Striker Michael Paton bagging a double.

Inverness beat Hamilton 4-0, whilst Motherwell held Rangers rivals Celtic 0-0 at Fir Park. In the remaining match, St. Mirren shocked Hibernian with a 4-1 with a double from on loan Celt Paul McGowan.

[Gdawg69]

End of Month Report

Hearts completed a double swoop in Augusts Awards as Manager Jim Jefferies won manager of the month after winning 3 of his first 3 SPL games and 23 year old Callium Elliot won Player of the Month scoring 2 goals in 3 games. Dundee Utd's Prince Bauban and Jon Daly coming in 2nd and 3rd respectively

Young Player of the Month was awarded to Aberdeen's 19 year old Right Winger Peter Pawlett followed closely by Dundee utd's Right Back Keith Watson and Rangers new Striker Leigh Griffiths.

Debut Manger Gareth Clarke came 2nd in Manager of the Month but was unavailable for comment.

[bazblock]

you have way too much time free lol

[Gdawg69]

Not really mate, just thought I would trial it tonight, see if it enhanced my game a little bit more using a bit of imagination.

I'll stop.

[titley100]

YEEEEEEEEEEEEEE BOY its good to be honest gives people an insite of how his game is going witht he changes he has made thumbs up from me !

[safcrhys]

Right I've finally got round to starting a game with Rangers after downloading the latest patch, obviously having £0 to spend gives Celtic the edge in the title race but I've managed to sign some excellent players by stretching the deals out over 48 months. First of all I let Kenny Miller go to Birmingham for £2M because his contract is up at the end of the season and his wage demands were a disgrace. Then sold Maurice Edu to West Brom for around £1.7M. Brought in Romelu Lakaku for £3.5M and Steven Defour for the same amount. Also trying to finalise a deal for Tom Cairney with Hull for about £2M aswell. Could have a canny little team here.

The aim is to win the league and hopefully reach the knock out rounds of the Champions Cup!