FM11: Newcastle United Team Guide @ Sports Interactive @ SJP.com

[ivans]

finished first season... came 5th... got rid of ben arfa for 9 mil to chelsea.. then getting mario gotze for 17 mil... bit steep lol

need a dimond of a striker tho hard to find one got Tomas Neci in seee what he can do for me on to next season

[Sir_Frosinone]

i play a 442 diamond formation but i am conceding a lot of goals and don't really know why, what is the best tactic to sure up my defense thanks

[CrD]

I have to say that this is a first for me . Well lets say first off I have no decided to do a save with updated transfers with the great Toon. Let's hope I bring us so joy!

Back to the first thing, I have signed Dudek on a pay as you play contract.. Anyone else done this?

[DandyDon]

is there an option for pay as you play! Darn, missed it completely.

Could be a good move for you CrD, experienced back up to Harper and Krul, doesn't cause a major drain on your wages. If you have any kind of budget available with the updates to go out and sign players make your priority a pacy striker with good finishing, it's the area the newcastle squad is most lacking in.

Good luck

[CrD]

is there an option for pay as you play! Darn, missed it completely.

Could be a good move for you CrD, experienced back up to Harper and Krul, doesn't cause a major drain on your wages. If you have any kind of budget available with the updates to go out and sign players make your priority a pacy striker with good finishing, it's the area the newcastle squad is most lacking in.

Good luck

Thanks for the good luck, I only did it this way to see if it would work and it did, cost me an arm and a leg in Agent and Signing on fees! But like you said he is a decent back up

[Geordie_Gaz]

Finished my first season back in the Premiership in a respectable 6th place, 7 points clear of 7th place. Kncoked out of the Carling cup in the quarter final, Europa League in the 2nd knockout round but managed to win the FA cup, beating Man City in the final. My youth players are performing amicably now too.

For my second season in the Prem I've decided to start playing with 2 up front as opposed to 1, hoping it goes well. I found last season my lone striker (Garra Dembele, then Gignac after the January window) were constantly being marked out of the game and struggling to perform.

As much as he gets criticised irl, Saylor has been fantastic for me at the back, earning himself the captains armband. Only once has he put in a bad performance, he accepted my criticism and responded with a man of the match performance in his next game.

My biggest surprise package, though, has been Lamine Gassama from Lyon (free after first season). His agent brought him to my attention just before I started in the Championship and I thought he'd be worth a punt, and he won the fans player of the year last season with his performances. I also have a 22 year old Brazilian regen in goal, who is now on the fringe of the full Brazil squad. I think my favourite youth player at the moment, though, is a 6'8" Turkish 18 year old CB (heading 13, strength 14 and jumping 18) who is pushing for a first team spot this season. I also have a 6'9" ST (heading & strength 14, jumping 17) coming in January, so when they're playing I reckon I'll just get them both to stand on the near post for corners and aim to near post lol.

Really struggling to get Barton to perform though. I've tried him as a ball winning midfielder, box to box midfielder and deep lying playmaker, and he's been little more than average. Reckon I might just let his contract expire now, he's too expensive a backup to keep and Rio Mavuba (originally signed as backup on free transfer) has been playing decent.

Gotta say, the one game where I'm actually paying attention to the little details and not using Genie Scout is the one I start to really enjoy.

[CrD]

This happened with 2 minutes stoppage time as well, don't you just hate it when it happens!

[CrD]

This is how my season has looked so far!!

[DandyDon]

Going well there CrD, looks like Cabaye has hit the ground running for you.

Geordie_gaz, some interesting regens there, that Turkish defender sounds like he could be a right monster, specially if his strength develops.

[CrD]

Cheers DandyDon, thing is I think the good run is starting to end, scraping a 1-0 at QPR and losing 3-2 to Norwich at home, as for Cabaye, I play him as a box to box midfielder!

[CrD]

You have got to be kinding me now!!!! Corrupted save :(

[DandyDon]

You have got to be kinding me now!!!! Corrupted save :(

Ouch, did you have any autosave running mate? Have had problems with a couple damaged saves myself and it's sooooooooo annoying

[CrD]

Ouch, did you have any autosave running mate? Have had problems with a couple damaged saves myself and it's sooooooooo annoying

No I didn't But I will this time, I am being brave and am going to start a fresh with Newcastle rather than run off and do another team lol!

[DandyDon]

No I didn't But I will this time, I am being brave and am going to start a fresh with Newcastle rather than run off and do another team lol!

Well done Going to do anything different this time round?

[CrD]

Well done Going to do anything different this time round?

Not get Jerzy Dudek lol

[Geordie_Gaz]

Geordie_gaz, some interesting regens there, that Turkish defender sounds like he could be a right monster, specially if his strength develops.

I agree, but unfortunately, nothing has developed. Nothing has got worse either, though, so I shouldn't grumble. I should point out that I signed Phil Jones in January (he was still at Blackburn and I only edited the Newcastle transfers in, dont like third party updates much) and in my assistants end of season report, he said Jones is showing signs of declining as a footballer. At 22 years of age I find that quite odd :s

Anyway, I improved on last season again, this time finishing 4th with an 11 point gap between us and Spurs in 5th. My favourite results were winning 6-2 at Anfield and 7-1 at home to Man City. Rather impressed with my team performance all season, as our top scorer only had 12 league goals yet only three teams scored more than us in the league.

I also managed to retain the FA cup with a relatively easy run, though I didn't have one single home FA cup game.

This youngster has surprised me too. I gave him a run in the team towards the end of the season with the intention of making other clubs aware of him, and he bagged a goal a game. Not bad for a free transfer at the beginning of the season lol, just a shame he cant cross or tackle.

Some of my other youths:

The Brazilian GK - My most expensive signing in my first season at £2.3m. Worth every single penny and then some.

French/Tunisian CB - Only 19 and already my first choice CB alongside Saylor. He was my first signing at the club too, for a mere £525k.

The Beast - Probably needs more game time, which he'll be getting next season. He's described as a perfectionist, so I imagine he'll grow into a goodun.

My Czech MC - Currently keeping Cabaye out of the side, mainly because Cabaye performs poorly though, which I figure is down to me focussing more on wide play.

Home grown winger - Came through the ranks, and makes a good impact sub. Bagged a brace in the Man City win too

I would strongly recommend anyone to read this guide by SFraser (RIP). Even if you dont follow it, there is some brilliant advice in there, particularly on scouting.

Time for me to try and build on my 4th place now, though I have no idea what area of my team needs strengthening, if any at all.

[Geordie_Gaz]

Typical. Tried a few times through the summer to flog Gignac cause his performances had started to drop, and he complained to me. Just played the charity shield, gignac scored a brace as we won 3-1, and then Gignac demands a move to a bigger club. I told him to stay put, we argued, and now he has requested a transfer! Why couldn't he do that in the summer?

The only team interested in him now is Arsenal, who are managed by Mick McCarthy. Tempted to sell him and bring Carroll back as a replacement.

[DandyDon]

Gaz, impressive batch of regens there, especially Mazanik in midfield. I'd hang on to Baptiste Hamm, looks like he could make an amazing poacher, fantastic finishing, pace and acceleration already, if his Composure and Off the ball develop he'll be amazing.

[Geordie_Gaz]

Just a shame Mazanik can't jump lol. Nvm. Gunal (the Beast) just made his debut for the Turkish full team at the same time as Ben Yahia did with Tunisia, so I'm guessing Champions League football and playing for higher reputation clubs factors heavily in the NT selection. Crazy really.

As for Hamm, I turned down a few offers of £10m from Lyon over the summer. If they'd been willing to offer £20m, I would've taken it, but they didn't so I guess he's stuck with me lol.

[DandyDon]

I had an Egyptian regen who looked a bit like Hamm on my first Newcastle save, not particularly great stats except where he needed them....got into the side after an injury to Balotelli and a couple years later bagged 76 goals in a season.

[SeanH91]

Back for another crack with Newcastle, so hope I don't get bored this time as I'm just not interested in playing with another team

Signed M'Bengue for £6.5m, Pieters for £3.5m and Macheda on loan. I also managed to get rid of Nile Ranger for once, Liverpool taking him off my hands for a handsome £3m

Obviously with me signing 2 left backs I intended on dropping Danny Simpson to 2nd choice and am putting my faith in Santon at right back. Setting up with my rather successful Bayern Munich tactic, a wide 4-2-3-1 focused on keeping possession of the ball.

So far I've drawn 1-1 at home to Sunderland, beaten Liverpool 3-0 at Anfield (Ben Arfa was sensational), won 3-2 (aet) at home to Charlton in the League Cup with a weakened team, and then just had the single most frustrating 0-0 draw of my FM career against Swansea at St. James' Park. I think these stats alone will tell you why it was so frustrating:

               Newcastle - Swansea

Possession            76 - 24
Shots                 13 - 2
On Target              6 - 0
Off Target             7 - 2
Clear Cut Chances      3 - 0
Corners                9 - 0
Pass Completion (%)   88 - 56

[SeanH91]

October Update

Well this is getting quite ridiculous They usually say wait and see whereabouts in the league you are come the end of October to start judging your team. Well here I am, 10 games into the league campaign, sitting top with 24 points My results since that annoying 0-0 with Swansea have been nothing short of fantastic:

Stoke 0-2 Newcastle (Marveaux, Obertan)

Newcastle 3-1 Wolves (Ben Arfa, Ba, Overtan)

Newcastle 2-3 Chelsea [LC] (Tiote, Obertan)

Wigan 0-5 Newcastle (Ba, Cabaye, Jonas, own goal, Ben Arfa)

Newcastle 2-1 Man City (R.Taylor, Coloccini)

Chelsea 1-2 Newcastle (Cabaye, Jonas)

Newcastle 0-0 Arsenal (M'Bengue)

Aston Villa 0-2 Newcastle (Ben Arfa, Ba)

I must admit I was the most nervous I've ever been in those two 2-1 wins against City and Chelsea, especially the City game where I played 5-2-2-1 with 2 DM's for the last 20 minutes! City must have had 16 shots in those 20 minutes, but only managed the 1 goal after we'd taken the 2-0 lead

For me my most impressive player has been Cabaye, playing the role of playmaker to perfection. He may not get the massive number of assists some do (only 2 in 10 appearances), but his recycling of possession is brilliant, as shown with his 91% pass completion. That's made even more impressive with the fact that, on average, he attempts just under 50 passes a game! And with his ability from long range he gets his fair share of the goals too.

[Hamzterz]

I started a new game with Newcastle, using Wally's update. I've created some rules to make it a bit more interesting:

- I can only bye british players or players who will become home-grown (club)

- Going in to my 4th season I can only have 1 non-british/homegrown player in my team.

- I have to sell at least 1 non-british/homegrown player each season (except when i only have 1)

Finished the first season in a respectable 8th place, having a lot of isues with injuries.

My best transfer whas selling Best to Fulham for £8M.

Ba and Obertan was the main goalscorers, but i hope to see Babacar scoring af bunch after bringing him in january 2011.

Vuckic really impressed me in the first season, and i hope to see him develope even more.

Profilic players bought:

Tom Cairley

James Tomkins

Curtis Davies

Kyle Naughton

Jordan Spence

Asmir Begovic (English as second nationality + homegrown in the country)

Khouma Babacar

Diego Rubio

Owen Hargreaves

Ross Barkley

[DandyDon]

Going well there Sean, have to agree with the love for Cabaye Can't believe Newcastle got him so cheap in real life to be honest

[Vladis]

Hamzterz your style of playing is very close to me.In every save i try to buy more homegrown players than foreigners.

My first season with Newcastle is going now.At the end of January we are currently 8th in PL.

Starting squad at the moment(4-2-3-1 deep):

----------------------Ba--------------------

Marveux---------Ben Arfa-----------Jonas

---------Tiote---------------Cabaye-------

Santon--Coloccini---S.Taylor----Simpson

-----------------Harper--------------------

Only one signing in January- Matt Phillips(Blackpool).

[Hamzterz]

Yeah, I find it more challenging.

Just won the league cup against Leicester (!!) in the second season. Ba's doing really great, but is injured too much

[ky jelly]

i have just reloaded an nufc game updated with current transfers (metal guitarist data) while waiting for FM12 and decided to challenge myself by

1. not changing a lot of the current squad of players in the first season(so as to be as realistic as penny pinching lambarse is)

2. going the Hamzterz way - buy mainly uk & irish

3. not more than 2-3 first team signings (must speak at least partial english) every season (for the purpose of realism & squad gelling)

my only transfer so far is paul dixon (scottish left back, 825k) for the first team and a couple of U18 freebies. released all of the reserves and U18s with PA below 120 to ensure that player development is concentrated only on prospective players.

have decided to revamp the whole nufc coaching set-up since most of them are pretty useless (kept beardsley since he's a tyneside legend & carver mainly because it's too expensive to get rid of him). signed a few decent quality coaches eg. paul winsper, pierre mankowski, ray clemence, franco tancredi, al stewart (club psychologist according to SFraser's guide), alex gibson and a few others i don't remember on top of my head. the board would only allow me to have 2 physios so i got rid of everyone except derek wright and sign a decent companion. did sign a couple of scouts to broaden my scope of player searching in europe.

3 simple goals of this save would be to play possession based football (and hopefully winning football), to be able to run nufc as a sustainable business with affordable (preferrable home grown) signings and develop my own batch of players from U18 to reserve and eventually to first team the way SFraser did .

in your games, which of the current U18 players have developed well and able to challenge for a first team place in a couple of years? have tried offering a few quality youngsters (scouted via FMScout) but even those from the likes of levante and palermo do not want to even negotiate with me.

was thinking of setting up a 4-5-1 to take control of the midfield and not expose our lack of firepower options up front. not sure if i should go with 3 central midfielders (the tiki taka barca tactic in the tactic upload forum) or 1 DM with 2 CM. i guess i'll take the pre-season matches to try out a few combinations.

as of now, my chic and petite squad looks like this:

GK: krul, elliott, harper

RB: simpson, raylor, santon, perch

LB: dixon, shane fergie

CB: colo, saylor, williamson, kadar

DM: tiote, smith, gosling

MC: cabaye, guthrie, vuckic

AMRL: jonas, marveaux, ben arfa, obertan

ST: ba, best, shola, lovenkrands (retraining to be AML), ranger

am still in the middle of july so i would like to sign 2 more back-up players for my reserve team whom i hope to develop in the next couple of years. which area should i strengthen? i am trying to get rid of perch but so far nobody takes the bait even for 0 up front. might lose smith and harper at the end of the season and release the likes of guthrie and loven

any kind input would be very welcomed.

[SeanH91]

January Update

January's come to an end and we've seen 3 excellent additions to the squad. In came young Cameroonian/German midfield enforcer Joel Matip for £5.25m, Algerian wing prospect Ryad Boudebouz for £9.5m and, finally, real life transfer target Papiss Cisse for £6m from Freiburg. Nobody was moved on, despite my best efforts to offload Shola Ameobi and Alan Smith to ease the wage bill.

I'm still somehow unbeaten in the league after 24 games, and am still top with 58 points. I'm just about to kick off the FA cup campaign at St. James' against Brighton, and obviously not in the League Cup after losing out to Chelsea earlier in the season. Results since the last update:

Everton 3-3 Newcastle (Ba, Jonas, Obertan)

Newcastle 2-0 Norwich (Ba, Jonas)

Blackburn 0-0 Newcastle

Newcastle 3-1 QPR (Best, Ben Arfa, Macheda)

West Brom 0-4 Newcastle (Marveaux, Ba, Ben Arfa, Best)

Man Utd 0-1 Newcastle (Cabaye)

Newcastle 2-1 Bolton (Obertan, Cabaye)

Newcastle 2-0 Fulham (Cabaye, Ba)

Tottenham 2-4 Newcastle (Bale o.g, Ben Arfa x2, Williamson)

Sunderland 0-2 Newcastle (Obertan, Coloccini)

Newcastle 1-1 Liverpool (Ben Arfa)

Swansea 1-2 Newcastle (Best, Williamson)

Newcastle 3-1 Fleetwood FAC (Lovenkrands, Best x2)

Newcastle 3-0 Stoke (Obertan x2, Ben Afa)

Wolves 1-1 Newcastle (Cisse)

Still fantastic that we're unbeaten, but I can see it coming to an end before long as we just haven't really been that good, especially away from home. Really should have lost the Wolves game, and how on earth we won at Old Trafford really is beyond me! Rooney had 2 goals disallowed, Nani had one disallowed and Hernandez had about 13 chances to score but hit it straight at Krul every time

[DandyDon]

Bizarrely on my Everton save, Newcastle have sold Cabaye after just one season....for only 4.2 million to Fulham.....crazy

[ballinisahabit90]

Just started a game with the Toon, jus finished a good pre-season:

Newcastle 1-1 Trabzonspor

Newcastle 4-1 CFR Cluj

Carlisle 0-3 Newcastle

Oldham 0-1 Newcastle

Hoffenheim 2-3 Newcastle

Frankfurt 0-2 Newcastle

Crewe 0-4 Newcastle

Newcastle 2-0 Villarreal

Dungannon 0-3 Newcastle

Celtic 1-1 Newcastle

Im playing an Attacking 4-2-3-1 or a Counter Attacking 4-5-1 depending on the oppositon.

Leon Best was sold to Wolves for 8 mill and Alan Smith to QPR for 1.5 mill, Ranger, Kadar and Ferguson were sent on loan for first team football. I signed Jerzy Dudek, not really sure why, on a free and im contemplating buying Wayne Bridge for LB, hell only cost 1.5 mill but his 70 k wage puts me off??? Probably gonna bring in James Forrest from Celtic for 1.5 mill if he chooses me over Arsenal. Also revamped the backroom staff bringing in Sammy Lee as my Ass Man and a few coaches and scouts.

Ive just had to choose my Captain and Vice Captain for the season, Cabaye was easily the best choice going by his Determination and Influence and the fact he would play most games, so i stripped Colo of it an now ive upset the whole squad except Cabaye who is delighted to be appointed Newcastle Captain :/.

[ky jelly]

Player: Park Ji Sung

Seller: Man Utd

Player's Value: £4.5 Million

Offer: £2 Million up front, £1 million after 50 games, £1 million spread on 48 months, demanded £50k weekly wage

Transfer Budget: £20 Million or so

Patch: 11.3 (reloaded and recently updated save as the current squad)

Season: First (still in pre season)

would like a midfield dynamo (a work horse to win back the ball and give it to cabaye), but his 50,000 weekly wage demand is kind of a put off for my side that i'm trying to cut the wages down. hoping to play 4-5-1 with 3 central midfielders (tiote, cabaye and another midfielder). would it be worth the gamble at that price?

if signed, he would be my second signing for the first team besides paul dixon (left back), speaks english, has england as second nationality (awaiting paperwork) so it ticks all the criteria that i have mentioned a couple posts above.

by the way, my first team in pre season has been: krul; dixon, colo, saylor, santon; tiote, cabaye, guthrie/gosling; jonas, ben arfa; ba

[DandyDon]

Ky, I'd be put off by his wages a bit to be honest. Take a look at Ognjen Vukojevic from Dinamo Kiev, he speaks English and is a real work horse of a midfielder. Also scout Adrien Silva at Sporting in Portugal, he's another english speaking player and still pretty young at start of the game, he's one of those with a random PA, but if lucky he can develop into a cracking playmaker.

If you can live with Park's wages though he is a very useful player to bring in, can provide cover in so many midfield positions after all.

[ky jelly]

thanks for the reply don. i ended up signing him 1 day prior to our first opening game of the season vs wolves. cabaye is crocked for another 4-6 weeks. fortunately park came in fully fit so i threw him straight into the action and he was impressive. not sure if it's his determintation or work rate but he was closing down all over the midfield (even though my closing down setting is right in the middle) and was key to winning the ball that eventually produced 2 goals (2-0 win). i thought i won't last a couple seasons before FM12 arrives so what the heck, and i'll have smith and xisco off the wage bill by the end of the season.

anyway, i received praises from the board for signing park, said to have boosted reputation in asia & increased shirt sales. have never got that message ever before in any of my previous FM games. may be i should start signing/scouting koreans and japanese rising stars.

[lpool14]

Just started a save with Newcastle quite enjoying it so far. Lost 3 games 3-0 to liverpool, 6-1 against utd and 4-0 against arsenal. Best win so far was against Sunderland we won 5-2, i am running this along side my Roma save.

[Britrock]

Just finished my 4th season with Newcastle. So far two mid table finishes and two 5th places. I've got mariano andujar in goal, Phil jones and shawcross at the back, Martin caceres at left back (on a free from barca ) and a youngster appiah at rb. Tiote and moussa sissoko in my midfield 2, with my star player paulo henrique at amc. Ben arfa and Adrian on the wings and Diego tardelli up front.

Won the FA cup in season 3 and the Europa league in season 4 with a penalties win over OM.

Got a load of youngsters in the wings after sending my scouts out to watch the continents under 19 leagues for the past 4 years.

Just trying to work out how to make that jump to the top 4 this offseason.

[Geordie_Gaz]

I had an Egyptian regen who looked a bit like Hamm on my first Newcastle save, not particularly great stats except where he needed them....got into the side after an injury to Balotelli and a couple years later bagged 76 goals in a season.

Going back to this, Hamm had a pretty good season for me in my last season, but another one of my youths kept confined him to the bench.

Him, along with a targetman I posted on the last page (this one) have been near lethal for me.

Just a shame I had a fairly poor start to the league in my last season. Was sitting 7th just before the January window opened, and had just been humiliated 5-0 at Anfield. I decided something needed to be done, and that was to actually buy a first team player rather than youth, and signed Rodwell for £15m. My first game after signing him was against Everton in the FA cup. I decided to leave him out cause I very rarely throw new signings immediately into the starting line up. We won 4-0 at Goodison. From that game up to the Champions League final against Barca, we were unbeatable. Highlights were a 5-1 win against Man City in the carling cup final, 5-1 win against Man Utd in the Champions League quarter final 1st leg and a 1-0 win away at the Emirates (Arsenal won the league). I finished 2nd in the league, 3 points behind Arsenal but 4 clear of third placed Man City.

Frustratingly, Arsenal and Liverpool have just been taken over by tycoons in the off season, so I reckon I'll have my work cut out to win the league this season. I currently have a £40m budget and not a clue who to spend it on...

One thing that annoys me though is something that annoys me in real life too. Since getting to the Champions League final, more of my fringe players are getting called up to the full international squads. Tom Cairney, for example, played maybe 5 games for me last season yet he was called up to the full England squad at the end of the season. Alex Smithies too, who failed to play a single game for me since I signed him in January. There seems to be too much emphasis on club/player reputation and not on player form tbh.

[DandyDon]

Joao looks like a real find Gaz, must form quite a partnership with a decent targetman alongside. How did that Champs League final against Barca pan out for you?

[I\'m me]

Thought I'd have a game with Newcastle as they seem like a decent challenge. I am going into my second season now.

Season One Review:

Transfers:

In:

Atienza Pichu - At. Madrid - £1.3m

Danny Rose - Tottenham - £300k (loan)

Jonathon Dos Santos - Barcelona - £2.5m

Gary Cahill - Bolton - £16m (over 48 months)

Zeli Ismail - Wolves - £3.75m

Rafael Toloi - Golas - £2.6m

Alphonse Areola - PSG - £7.5m (Over 48 Months)

Adem Ljajic - Fiorentina - £10m (Over 48 Months)

Marvin Sordell - Watford - £4m

Daniel Kofi Agyei - Fiorentina - £4.5m

Alan Patrick - Santos - £5m (Over 48 Months)

Lucas - Sao Paulo - £6.75m

Ravel Morrison - Manchester United - £5.5m + 50% of future profit (January)

Phil Jones - Manchester United - £1.6m (Loan) (January) Signed on loan again beginning of second season

Fred - Fluminese - £18.2m (Over 48 Months)

Season 2

Jack Robinson - Liverpool - £12m (over 48 Months)

Ross Barkley - Everton - £15m (£8m over 48 Months)

Robert Aquafresca - Genoa - £10m (£6.5m over 48 months)

Coutinho - Inter - £250k (loan)

Sebastian Corchia - Sochaux - £7m

Out:

Season 1

Peter Lovenkrands - PSV - £525k Loan (Sold for £2M at end of loan)

Danny Guthrie - Reading - £3.2m

Tamas Kader - Preston - £200k Loan

Shola Ameobi - Watford - £2m

Mike Williamson - Fulham - £2m

Steve Harper - Aston Villa - £1.1m

Leon Best - Fulham - £2.7m

Nile Ranger - Liverpool - £3.9m

Danny Simpson - Wigan - £3.2m

Fabricio Coloccini - Man City - £7m

Samuel Ameobi - Juventus - £1.9m

Season 2

Tim Krul - Man City - £4m

Shane Ferguson - Bristol City - £1.6m

Gabriel Obertan - Getafe - £4m

Demba Ba - Inter - £15m

Alan Smith - QPR - £1.2m

James Perch - Norwich - £1m

Jonas - Benfica - £6m

Xisco - Villarreal - £2.2m

Rob Elliott - Doncaster - £200k

Ryan Taylor - £4m - Leicester

Premier League

Finished 2nd by one point to Manchester United. Demba was top scorer with 23 league goals. Gary Cahil hit 20!

FA Cup

Winners - Beat Wolves 5-1 in final

League Cup

Lost 5th round 3-0 West Brom

Player of the Season

Gary Cahill

Second Season Squad - Playing a 4 -1-1-3-1

Goalkeepers

Alphonse Areola

Fraser Forster

Defenders

Dan Gosling

Steven Taylor

Jack Robinson

Gary Cahill

Rafael Toloi

Atienza Pichu

Sebastian Corchia

Davide Santon

Phil Jones

Midfielders:

Yohan Cabaye

Cheick Tiote

Daniel Kofi Agyei

Lucas

Jonathan Dos Santos

Hatem Ben Arfa

Ravel Morrison

Adem Ljajic

Ross Barkley

Sylvian Marveaux

Alan Patrick

Coutinho

Strikers:

Fred

Marvin Sordell

Robert Aquafresca

I'm looking to send Morrison and Dos Santos out on loan for the next season to gain some first team experience as neither is pushing for a starting berth and the average age of the squad is such that tutoring is not really an option.

[Geordie_Gaz]

Joao looks like a real find Gaz, must form quite a partnership with a decent targetman alongside. How did that Champs League final against Barca pan out for you?

I agree. I was quite shocked though truth be told, I never expected Joao or his partner to have as much of an impact last season. Nobody else could get a look in though!

More up to date screen of the targetman.

As for the champions league, I was gutted. 2-0 up against Barca at half time. Stupidly, I decided to carry on attacking instead of shutting up shop. By the 63rd minute we were level, I then had 2 penalty appeals turned down, and their winner was one of those "There were suspicions of offside" goals. In the post match conference, I criticised the ref when given the option and wasn't reprimanded, so I can only assume I was robbed. Never mind though, gonna go all out for it this year.

[MrToast185]

Hey! Just finished season one with Newcastle came in a respectable 6th! Didn't win any cups dissapointingly, but however did have a good season! I play a 442 formation which seemed to have worked well.

Season one:

in-

Romelu Lukaku - 6.75m

Van Der Wiel - 7.25m

Carlos Kameni - 5m

Sebastian Larsson - 4.3m

Milevskyi - 4.4m

Didn't sell anyone just a few youngsters!

Lukaku is amazing! at 17 years old he is my best player scoring 19 in 37! Truley brilliant player at a good price!

Kameni is also fantastic definate first team man! Played 37 and had 17 clean sheets and conceded 31, Man Utd trying to get him off me at the momment! I'm having none of it!

Van Der Wiel and Larsson both definate buys! Brilliant both on the Right Wing keep it solid and fast!

Milevskyi on the other hand what a waste! 31 games and 2 goals! Very annoyed about that!

Now in second season already bought Dzsudzak from PSV who looks brilliant and got him for 8.5m and also got Welbeck on loan as he did quality for Sunderland.

All I need now is help geting a new striker who will score alot alongside Lukaku! and maybe a new CB any ideas?

[DandyDon]

MrToast185, take a look at Eren Derdiyok. I signed him for the second season in my Everton save for £5 million upfront to Leverkusen. Paid me back with 34 goals from 31(9) appearances. He's strong, good in the air but also very quick and won't ask for crazy money in terms of wages. Already had a bid as high as 18.5 million for a player that only cost me 5 mill, so he's a good investment. (Plays well as a poacher even though he looks like a targetman)

Who got relegated at end of the first season? Might be a half decent CB there available on the cheap...otherwise try and get Otamendi from Porto, he's not the tallest but he's very reliable and made it into the Premier League team of the season during his first season for me.

[MrToast185]

Both of them looking good! DandyDon, cheers for that! I've found a player Vossen who is looking good and cheap too, but also Adebayor! Not to sure who to go for though!

[DandyDon]

Both of them looking good! DandyDon, cheers for that! I've found a player Vossen who is looking good and cheap too, but also Adebayor! Not to sure who to go for though!

Vossen is a decent cheap option, I'd avoid Adebayor due to his wage demands. Good player but he'd eat up a big chunk of your budget.

[MrToast185]

Yeah I suppose your right! May look into Vossen or Derdiyok!

[ChrisNUFC]

I'm not creating the FM12 thread, so if someone wants to do it... go ahead!

[DandyDon]

I'm willing to have a go at it unless any of the Geordie faithful here would prefer to?

I'm working this weekend, so it'd probably be Monday before I got something worthwhile set up.

[col_nufc1]

I'm willing to have a go at it unless any of the Geordie faithful here would prefer to?

I'm working this weekend, so it'd probably be Monday before I got something worthwhile set up.

Go for it Dandy, I am sure that it will be very good from the posts you have made in this thread and it'll be better than anything I could come up with .

[DandyDon]

Go for it Dandy, I am sure that it will be very good from the posts you have made in this thread and it'll be better than anything I could come up with .

Cheers Col, if no one else steps up by tomorrow evening hopefully I'll have the time to sit down and write something up. Got the demo yet...or waiting for the full game?

[col_nufc1]

Cheers Col, if no one else steps up by tomorrow evening hopefully I'll have the time to sit down and write something up. Got the demo yet...or waiting for the full game?

I ve got the demo, but I haven't had time to play on it much due to work.

[DandyDon]

I ve got the demo, but I haven't had time to play on it much due to work.

I know your pain....