FM08: Aston Villa Thread - Holte Enders In The Sky!

[Frankie 7]

Originally posted by Frankie 7:

Into my third season here and looking for a left back. Any ideas?

Sorry for the double post.

I am getting a lot of enquiries for Scott Sinclair and Ashley Young. How much should they besold for in Third season?

Bloody want to leave now and Van Der Vaart also wants to go. Dunno how much to let them go for?

[hoski]

Originally posted by Frankie 7:

<BLOCKQUOTE class="ip-ubbcode-quote"><div class="ip-ubbcode-quote-title">quote:</div><div class="ip-ubbcode-quote-content">Originally posted by Frankie 7:

Into my third season here and looking for a left back. Any ideas?

Sorry for the double post.

I am getting a lot of enquiries for Scott Sinclair and Ashley Young. How much should they besold for in Third season?

Bloody want to leave now and Van Der Vaart also wants to go. Dunno how much to let them go for? </div></BLOCKQUOTE>

Dont let VDV go for more than 20m+ and Young im not sure about, maybe 15m?

anyone know where I could Improve my team?

GK:Ustari

RB:Voltz/Ignashevich

LB:Pander/Barry/Bouma

CB:Cahill/Davies

CB:Breno

RM:Young/Alex/Markin

LM:Farfan/Wijnaldum

CM:Banega/Motta/NRC

CM:Piatti/VDV/Wijnaldum/Markin/Alex/

FC:Aguero

ST:Fred/Carew/Moore

cheers for any help.

[Burty76]

In January window of first season sitting in 3rd, though its tight between 2nd and 8th, Man U are romping to title.

Mteam, playing standard 4-3-3 attacking :

GK S Carson

DR R Taylor

DL S Warnock

DC Z Knight

DC C Davies

DMC L Cana

MC N Reo-Conkers

MC G Barry

AMR J Farfan

AML A Young

ST L Moore

Record is 22-12-5-5-30-13-41

Last three games though have seen us draw at home to Reading and Derby and lose to Newcastle.

Am going to need to sign class striker in the summer (got no money left now) but this will depend on getting in Champs League place.

Worried that recent blip will turn into a slump, shall I change tactics?

[directormerrick]

^^^^^^^

if you've still got Carew you should consider playing him a a lone striker. set him as a target man as well with the ball played to his head, he does wonders for me in that set up. Also try Agbonlahor as you AMR as he is great there for me, gets loads of goals.

Are you using a playmaker? if not put Young in that role as he's fantastic.

Just a finally thought, you could even set Moore or Agbonlahor as you the target man and play them as a lone striker, just set the team instruction for your target man as run on to the ball.

hope its helpfull

[Burty76]

Thanks directormerrick.

To be honest I was gettign totally fed up with tactics.

Ive started several games (Man City, Newcastle, Leeds) and assembled great squads that should romp the league, only to disapoint - after I'd spent ages fiddling with team and player instructions.

So decided to try with Villa just using a standard tactic and just see what happens. Has worked pretty well, espescially defensively.

Have tried Carew as striker but he's disapointed so Moore has got the nod.

Agbonlahor has been very inconsistent so Farfan in AMR role at present.

Will give standard 4-3-3 another couple of games, if slump continues may try using your tactical suggestions (thanks for those) or switch to a standard 4-4-2.

[Burty76]

Well, predictable the slump happened and I finished 7th. Overhauling squad and ave signed Zarate (3.5M), Wijnaldum (4.5), Ben Foster (3.5), Riquelme (Free) and Bendtner (Loan).

Offers in for Matias Fernandes and Ever Banega. Also need cover at Centre Back and Full Back.

Squad looks like this :

GK Foster, Bouzanis

DR Taylor

DL Warnock

DC Davies, Cahill

DC Knight

MC Barry, Cana

MC Reo-Coconuts, Zola

AMRC Farfan, Agbonlahor, Torje

AMLC Young, Dsuszdac

AMC Riquelme

ST Bendnter, Zarate, Stancu

The two MC have back arrows and the AMRC and AMLC have arrows out to the wing.

Do you think these tactics and this squad will get us in top 4?

[HMFCTHOMMO]

play a 4-1-2-2-1 formation

carson-gk

bouma-lb

knight-cb

davies-cb

melburg-rb

de jong-dm

barry-lm

young-rm

van der vaart-amc

mathias fernadez-amc

vagner love-st

i have about 2.5mil left to spend anyone reccomend anyone either rb or lb for that price.

cheers

[drewbulls]

Hey all Villa fans i have started a new season with Villa as the last one went downhill but now this team is a gem well i think it is any way as we are 6th in the prem at the mo after a few games and just 6 new players in the new look Villa side.

My Villa team plays a 4-4-2 and i have no trouble with that at all but could do with more in defence but i can cope.

So here is my Villa team

G Scot Carson

RB Pascal Chimbonda (witch Villa fans dont like)

LB Wilfred Bouma

DC Curtis Davies

DC Martin Lsursen

MR Wayne Routledge (scoring goal for fun)

ML Ashley Young (also scoring for fun)

MC Gareth Barry (team cap)

MC Nigel Reo-Coker

FC Gabriel Agbonlahor (a goal in every game)

FC Eddie Johnson ( i think he's class)

SB1 Stuart Taylor (G)

SB2 Zat Knight (DC)

SB3 Shaun Maloney (MC+FC)

SB4 Anderson De Sliva (DM+MC)

SB5 Mauro Zarate (FC)

I have also got coming in

Nicolas Millan (15y/o New C.Ronaldo so they say got him for 150k)

Salif Nogo (21y/o DC got him for 250k)

So i only have about £5 Million left to get one more player and i think it will be a Keeper so for £5m can someone throw me some names i can get as backup for Carson

Thanks boys

[ntfc]

Eneyeama costs around 1.8m and well worth it. Great potential.

[drewbulls]

Originally posted by ntfc:

Eneyeama costs around 1.8m and well worth it. Great potential.

Cheers ntfc i will go have a look at him right now ta

[SkeeterP]

Started a Villa game on the 8.01 patch.

IN:

Mattia Cassani - £2.8m from Palermo. Great young RB with all the promise to cover Villa's RB problem for a long while.

Victor Diaz - £1m from Sevilla Atletico. Young RB who may or may not become brilliant. £1m gamble, hopefully it'll pay off in a few seasons.

Martin Palermo - £925k from Boca. Strong as an ox experienced TM to cover for Carew.

Andrey Arshavin - £5.75m from Zenit Peterburg. Quality AM to add some much needed creativity to the team.

Jefferson Farfan - £5.75m from PSV. Quality young winger who can play on both flanks.

Gonzalo Pineda - £2m from Chivas. Good defender to rotate with Bouma, and a handy CB as well.

I'll be playing a simple 4-4-2 formation, set fairly aggressively (Mentality on 15, passing 5, tempo 5, width 15, closing down 18 and defensive line 11). CB's are set to normal mentality (10) and little creativity (5), other than that the only other individual change is Arshavin who has high creative freedom (18), mixed passing (10) and Run With Ball.

My starting line up for the first game of the season (Reading) is as follows:

GK: Carson

RB: Cassani

LB: Bouma

CB: Laursen

CB: Davies (Mellberg's injured)

RM: Young

LM: Barry ©

CM: Reo-Coker

CM: Arshavin

ST: Carew

ST: Moore

SUB1: Sorensen

SUB2: Pineda

SUB3: Petrov

SUB4: Farfan

SUB5: Agbonlahor

The result was a relieving 1-0 win, thanks to an 82nd minute Farfan goal. The margin should have been greater, however, as we had two first-half attempts disallowed for offside and above that we were all over them. Farfan was exceptional after he came on, getting man of the match with a rating of 8 (it was a pretty lame game), but Carson was solid and Arshavin terrorised the Reading defence with some useful looking runs and balls.

[Nick the Hammer]

I just started playing with Villa yesterday... first player I bought in was Ignesavich (sp?) for free, then Joe Mattock for £1.4m, thought I needed a poacher and someone who is a natural finisher so signed Jermain Defoe for £8.5m and finally Wayne Routledge for £4m.... abit pricey but I wanted a winger who could play on either side.

Got Luke Moore unhappy because I signed Defoe and that's obviously added competition! Offered him a new four-year deal and he rejected it out of hand!

[Nick the Hammer]

Also, I am finding it near impossible to attract any bids for players I have on the transfer list (Laursen, Harewood, Berger, Petrov).... any tips?

[SkeeterP]

Have you changed their squad status? AI never seems to be interested in your transfer listed players unless their squad status is set to "Not needed". Also, make sure your asking price isn't too high; you'll rarely get interest if you've set an asking price close to their "real" value. Once you've done that, Offer To Clubs and you should get some offers. If not, then your asking price is still to high. The AI won't want to spend a lot for a player who you don't even want.

[clonabanjo]

Started a new Villa Game.

Signings

Aguero £25m (So much Negotiating with him)

Barbosa £100k

Arsheyvin £7m

Abonzaer £500k

Van Der Vaart £12m

O'Dea £5m

Outs

C.Gardner £2.2m

Barry £5m

Starting XI

GK Carson

LB Bouma

CB Laursen

CB Davies

RB Mellberg

LAM Young

CM VDV

CM Arsheyvin

RAM Agbonlahor

ST Aguero

ST Carew

Premiership Games

Villa 4-3 L'Pool

[Mikal]

Thought I would give Villa a bash like the rest of you. Suppose i'll list my signings and stuff first

INS:

Samba - 1m

Hutton - 3m

Buonanotte - 26k

Stancu - 200k

Kuzmanovic - 5.5m

Matias Fernandez - 10m

Guilherme - 5.5m

Also signed Nanni (Physio)

Total = 25.5m

OUTS:

Osbourne - 1.5m

Craig Gardner - 2.3m

Ciaran Clark - 200k

Total = 4m

I was hoping to flog off a fair few more players as most of them will not get played. I'll make that my main goal come Jan.

Just played my first game in charge of Villa and it was against Man Utd. To be honest was expecting a 3/4-0 defeat but it ended 1-1. I took the lead just before the break with Agbonlahor, and Rooney leveled it up on the 60 minute mark. Agbonlahor missed an open goal which could have sealed it as nothing was getting passed Carson today! (And trust me... They was trying). But to be fair I should have lost, and lost to a big margain! I have Carson to thank for making some extremely important saves and getting a rating of 10!! On his debut!!

Everyone likes screen shots, so here's a few from the game...

[David Hirst]

I just started a Villa game yesterday. It's funny that players like Modric, Farfan, Veloso, and lots of others that people have bought are also players I'm trying to bring in. Great minds, eh?

Who are the best young players to hang on to?

[beverage1982]

Hello, long time reader, first time poster here...

I have always loved the Villa and as an avid fan have always played them of FM.

After getting bored with the game pre-patch i have returned to the Villains again intent on doignit the Martin O'Neil way. So for that matter i am tryin to take on the first season with Villa without making too many changes and seeing if i can tactically and personally manage the players to glory.

So for that matter the only player i have signed is Justin Hoyte to fill the huge hole that here is at RB and also bought in Moses and Bostock from Palace as they are ones for the future.

So the aim is using the 'Honest bunch of lads' at my disposal to see how far i can get.

So far i must say, so good. Played 6 games in the prmiership losing one away to everton unfortunately, drawing convincingly at home to Arsenal and the rest convincing victories. So far Gabs and Carew are knocking them in but Routledge is also proving to be a handy little player.

i'll keep you up to date on how it goes.

[jay_avfc08]

AVFC for Europe

[BrIsToLCiTy1897]

Hi there everyone, not been into 08 much, but started my first serious intent game with Villa as i like the look of them in the prem thsi season. First season am currently in january, 3rd in the table and 10 wins on the bounce, Eddie Johnson and Luke Moore have been revelations up front for me, scoring 25 and 17 goals respectively between them. lost 3-2 in calring semi to newcastle, due to suspension of Hoyte and Injuries to Lescott and Shorey in defence, will update you all at the end of the season, im going to try and make a late surge for 2nd place

[SimonVilla]

Hi I am using patch 8.01 but cannot find a tactic that works for villa.

Does Firoa2.tac work for this patch and where can I find it???

Thanks Guys

[Richy_06]

Not a villa fan myself but I like the club and wanted a challenge so I went for it!

In my second season now in the January transfer window, signing some young promising players.

I finished 3rd in my first season with the Villains, qualified for the Champions League group stages with Bayern Munich, Real Madrid and Marseille and I topped the group!

Starting XI;

GK; Carson (Singed permanently from Pool)

LB; Mathieu/Barry

CB; Cahill/Boulahruz

CB; Sidnei/Davies

RB; Hutton/Danny Simpson

ARMF; Aaron Lennon/Young/De Guzman

CM; Reo-Coker/Osbourne

AMFC; Luka Modric/De Guzman/Park Ji Sung

AMFL; Barry/Park/Young

FC; Carew/Iaquinta/Doyle

FC; Vagner Love/Luke Moore

Vagner has been in lethal formaltogether and I'm sitting in second place, one point behind Chelsea at the moment!

[beverage1982]

Well to to keep you updated with the season and trying to make the most of my 'honest boys'. Turning on the game last night i started with a 3rd round league cup tie to a decent Bolton side. after dominating the game i was upset to go down 2-1 but Jussi did play a stormer and Nolan scored from the half way line (one of the best goals i've ever seen) so i could take the blow.

Then it's back to the league with my following results:

2-1 (a)Newcastles

3-1 (h) Sunderland

1-0 (a) Middlesborough

0-2 (H) Bolton

1-1 (H) Liverpool

3-0 (a) Birmingham (great result this)

1-2 (a) Tottenham

2-4 (h) Man Utd

Godamn Bolton are becomming my bogey team with a woeful performance at home and apart from the Spurs score i was pretty satisfied with the way i was playing and trhe results. The Utd result is something i expected and in fact i was leading twice and then pushing hard at the end hence the 4 past me.

So i sit prettily in 6th place and well in otuch of the Championbs league spots, but realistically i'm aiming for UEFA with this squad.

The boys are playing well though with Gabs and Carew knocking them in. Also i had about 5 games witrh Carew injured so taylor came in and was immense...only conceded two with an average rating of 7.49.

The January window is approaching and i must admit i am finding it difficult to not want to spend the 22million Randy has given me. I admit to securing 2 signings. ! is Ben Foster for 4m which i think fits with the Villa transfer policy and aims to combat the fact i dont want to pay 14m for Carson. The other is the 1m capture of Matt Taylor from Bolton, who although is a bit pantys is a cheap stop gap to cover at LB when fatty Bouma is injured, because O'Halloran can't cut the mustard yet.

So that's how it goes. I plan to make no other major purchases in january, keepoing to using these lads but the area i really want to strengthen is rw so if bentley or milner become available i may have to bid.

Anyway will let you all know at end of the season how it's doing if anyone is interested.

BTW SimonVilla. I struggled with tactics for a while. I really wanted to play how Villa do at the moment so took Zagallo's excellent 262 ideas and made them my own. I would suggggest though that one of the best formations is to have carew up front on hit own with Gabs and Young running off him as in a 41221 formation.

[Jazzfusion]

Hi guys, I've started a Villa game. Will try to give regular updates =)

Transfers

I tried to bring in a few more players, but generally I'm happy with the few I did get. I still have £5m to spend - will look to utilise that in January

Squad

Formation

Replace Sorensen with Carson, and Pedretti with Reo-Coker and that's my first team.

Fixtures

Had a tough start to the season, but happy with the points I picked up against Arsenal, Man Utd and Liverpool. Disappointed with the Wigan game - we were 3-0 up! We jsut went to pieces

Ok, that's all for now. If anyone wants any screenshots feel free to ask. Also any advice is welcome

[beverage1982]

Really interesting formation Jazzfusion would be great to find out how it works, some great results in there as well. I love the 3 up top for Villa especially with Carew, the man's a monster as a target man.

I played a bit more last night...i mean what else are you going to do whilst watching Ramsay's Kitchen nightmares? Anyway after losing to Chelsea 3-1 away (it was always going tob happen) i am currently on a 6 game winning streak without conceding a goal. I've hit January as well with Foster and Taylor both arriving to add depth...unfortunately all my RW targets are being chased so i am going to have to buy one. I'm trying to do things the villa way and so think out of Milner, Bentlkey and Barnes i'm going to go for Gilas Barnes as i think it is what MON would do...what do you think?

Anyway sitting third in the league is no mean feat and if i ever learn to post images here i'll give you some screenies.

UTV SOTC!

[Frankie 7]

Originally posted by Jazzfusion:

Hi guys, I've started a Villa game. Will try to give regular updates =)

Transfers

I tried to bring in a few more players, but generally I'm happy with the few I did get. I still have £5m to spend - will look to utilise that in January

Squad

Formation

Replace Sorensen with Carson, and Pedretti with Reo-Coker and that's my first team.

Fixtures

Had a tough start to the season, but happy with the points I picked up against Arsenal, Man Utd and Liverpool. Disappointed with the Wigan game - we were 3-0 up! We jsut went to pieces

Ok, that's all for now. If anyone wants any screenshots feel free to ask. Also any advice is welcome

Does that tactic work Jazzfusion? I am Villa just now but my team just blows hot and cold all the time. Hard to find a tactic that actually works with this team. I am in 3rd season now. I'll post up some screenies later after work.

[drewbulls]

Originally posted by Frankie 7:

<BLOCKQUOTE class="ip-ubbcode-quote"><div class="ip-ubbcode-quote-title">quote:</div><div class="ip-ubbcode-quote-content">Originally posted by Jazzfusion:

Hi guys, I've started a Villa game. Will try to give regular updates =)

Transfers

I tried to bring in a few more players, but generally I'm happy with the few I did get. I still have £5m to spend - will look to utilise that in January

Squad

Formation

Replace Sorensen with Carson, and Pedretti with Reo-Coker and that's my first team.

Fixtures

Had a tough start to the season, but happy with the points I picked up against Arsenal, Man Utd and Liverpool. Disappointed with the Wigan game - we were 3-0 up! We jsut went to pieces

Ok, that's all for now. If anyone wants any screenshots feel free to ask. Also any advice is welcome

Does that tactic work Jazzfusion? I am Villa just now but my team just blows hot and cold all the time. Hard to find a tactic that actually works with this team. I am in 3rd season now. I'll post up some screenies later after work. </div></BLOCKQUOTE>

Well i am Villa and i have found the tactic's i am i am useing ra ereally good cos i play 3-4-1-2 and i am sitting in 4th place in the prem with only a hondful of games to go but yeah try that tactic as i said it works for me as carew and agbonlahor have got about 30 between then so have a crack ta 3-4-1-2

[Jazzfusion]

Originally posted by Frankie 7:

<BLOCKQUOTE class="ip-ubbcode-quote"><div class="ip-ubbcode-quote-title">quote:</div><div class="ip-ubbcode-quote-content">Originally posted by Jazzfusion:

Hi guys, I've started a Villa game. Will try to give regular updates =)

Transfers

I tried to bring in a few more players, but generally I'm happy with the few I did get. I still have £5m to spend - will look to utilise that in January

Squad

Formation

Replace Sorensen with Carson, and Pedretti with Reo-Coker and that's my first team.

Fixtures

Had a tough start to the season, but happy with the points I picked up against Arsenal, Man Utd and Liverpool. Disappointed with the Wigan game - we were 3-0 up! We jsut went to pieces

Ok, that's all for now. If anyone wants any screenshots feel free to ask. Also any advice is welcome

Does that tactic work Jazzfusion? I am Villa just now but my team just blows hot and cold all the time. Hard to find a tactic that actually works with this team. I am in 3rd season now. I'll post up some screenies later after work. </div></BLOCKQUOTE>

So far the formation is working fine - especially at home! I've Liverpool and Man Utd at Villa park The formation uses lots of space on the pitch so there is always someone to pass to. Hopefully it'll still be good on the new patch!

I don't mind uploading it if you're interested.

[Spike]

Having played with various teams to fine tune my tactics, and decide which players were and weren't worth signing (and also unearthing the odd gem along the way) I decided it was time to have a proper go as my beloved Villa. When I say proper try I have already had one go in which I did pretty well, but this was after having used the editor to correct some of the player stats (particularly Gabby & Martin Laursen). I have not downloaded any patches but assume that the relevant stats have now been rectified. Anyway back to the thread.

I decided that the squad needed a bit of a rebuilding, and there was some frantic transfer activity which went as follows:

IN

GK - Felipe £3.7m

DR - Justin Hoyte £4m

DL - Guilherme £3.2m (coming in January)

DC - Sergei Ignashevic free

DM - Ever Banega £3.1m

AMR/AMC - Mohammed Kallon free

AMR - Gabriel Torje £550k

AML/AMC - Harry Kewell £2.9m

AMC - Lulinha £2.6m (coming in June)

AMC - Pablo Piatti £100k

ST - Jimmy Briand £14.75m

ST - Mauro Zarate £3m

ST - Bogdan Stancu £500k

OUT

GK - Sorensen £1m

DC - Laursen loan

MC - Gardner £2m

AML - Berger free

ST - Harewood £1.5m

Obviously some of these players are for the future, but I am pleased overall with my signings (won't now be able to moan about having a small squad!). I am particularly happy with Briand who has scored 5 in 5, and think I have good depth to what is essentially a young squad. My new assistant manager, Pako Aysetarian (not sure if the spelling is correct), seems extremely happy with the squad to. I have also overhauled my backroom staff and now have 6 or 7 star coaches for each aspect of training.

My results so far are as follows:

Newcastle (A) won 4-1 (what a start)

Wigan (H) won 2-0

Man City (A) lost 3-1

Rochdale (H) won 3-1 (gave all the youngsters some first team experience and they did me proud!)

Spurs (H) drew 2-2

Chelsea (A) lost 3-2

Boro (H) won 2-0

Not too bad a start, currently sitting 4th, but with a tricky fixture against Liverpool next up. Fingers crossed.

[Jazzfusion]

That team will be great in a few seasons Spike

[Spike]

Originally posted by Jazzfusion:

That team will be great in a few seasons Spike

I hope so as I resisted the temptation to spend big on the likes of Van der Vaart, Fernandez etc (Briand being the exception, but worth it I think you’ll agree), in favour of bringing in young raw talent. I also wanted Saivet & Wijnaldum but they won’t sign for me no matter how much I offer them in wages. Will try again in January.

[drewbulls]

Hey well i am a die hard villa fan so i thought i would have a go with villa this time i have got really into it and my villa side r doing quite well in the prem i am 8th and in the FA Cup 4th round i got Chelsea and guess what have chelsea in the leauge cup as well but i think we will win the leauge cup game as they won the 1st leg 3-2 but i do think we will get into the final.

So to the team the players i have brought it have done well but got no kitty left for the jan sales but i dont need them any way so here are the players i brought in and the price and team

In

Carson £12.25m (liverpool)

Darren O'Dea £3.4m (celtic)

Paul Hayes £1m (scunthorpe)

Van Der Vaart £14.5m (Hsv)

Scott Golboume £1.8m (reading)

Michael Mifsud £1.8m (coventry)

ans last one Mario Balotelli (on loan from inter)

and that lot set me back in total £35m

Now the players out

Gardner £2.5m (sheff Utd)

Luke Moore £6m (reading)

Cahill £2.7m (bolton)

Total in £11.25m

And so this is how my Aston Villa team line up

Carson (keeper)

O'Dea (DC)

Davies (DC)

Laursen(DC)

Paul Hayes (MR)

Barry (ML)

Reo-Coker (MC)

Ashley Young(MC)

Van Der Vaart (AMC)

Agbonlahor (FC)

Carew (FC)

SB1 Taylor (keeper)

SB2 O'Halloran (DC)

SB3 Scott Golboume (LM+AMC)

SB4 Petrov (AMC)

SB5 Michael Mifsud (FC) + Mario Balotelli (FC)

And my team play a 3-4-1-2 its well worth trying it and if ya can get hold of Mifsud from Coventry he is my super sub if it was not for him i would not have got the 2 goals i wanted for my 2nd leg with chelsea.

So yea thats it really i will let ya all now how the season comes to a close.

Cya peeps

[beverage1982]

Hi guys,

Spike i know what you mean about Gabby and Laursen, they have been amazing this season so i wanted them to form the basis of my team, especially Laursen. problem is their stats are rubbish. I havent actually tweaked them on the editor but instead built a tactic around them and it is going great. Gabby has knocked in 20 goals and is my top performer and laursen is doing alright but currently Zat Knight after a couple of fiendishly good displays is keeping him out.

For those thtsa havent read above i've tried to do a season without really signing anyone and i must admit it is one of the best seasons i've ever had.

The only additions to my team were Hoyte at start of the season then Taylor and Foster in January, i also splashed some cash on Giles Barnes as he was a MON like signing, but deliberately not played him much as Routledge has been superb.

Anyway with3 games to go in the prem i am fourth, 10 points clear of fift so guaranteed champions league and also in touch with third place. I am also in the semi's of the FA cup against everton.

So all in all a great season and because i've just used the same starting 11 i started with practically it has been really rewwarding. I have found Gardner (often sold too early by people) and the likes of Routledge, Gabby, laursen and even Bouma to be performing amazingly as i have man managed them and tactically managed them to success.

Next season will be a sterner challenge though and i will simply need to strengthen with a 7 sub bench to fill and champions league football.

I plan to promote some youth and keep up my policy of buying young and english.

Boro are practically down so i may pick up wheater and Man City might slip down too, if so Michael Johnson and Micah Richards may be oo tempting to avoid.

Anyway i'll post some screenies next week for you to have a look but lets hope it's an omen for the Villains in real life.

UTV SOTC

[directormerrick]

Originally posted by Spike:

<BLOCKQUOTE class="ip-ubbcode-quote"><div class="ip-ubbcode-quote-title">quote:</div><div class="ip-ubbcode-quote-content">Originally posted by Jazzfusion:

That team will be great in a few seasons Spike

I hope so as I resisted the temptation to spend big on the likes of Van der Vaart, Fernandez etc (Briand being the exception, but worth it I think you’ll agree), in favour of bringing in young raw talent. I also wanted Saivet & Wijnaldum but they won’t sign for me no matter how much I offer them in wages. Will try again in January. </div></BLOCKQUOTE>

offer saivet a back-up contract and he will ask for about 1K a week

[Spike]

Originally posted by directormerrick:

<BLOCKQUOTE class="ip-ubbcode-quote"><div class="ip-ubbcode-quote-title">quote:</div><div class="ip-ubbcode-quote-content">Originally posted by Spike:

<BLOCKQUOTE class="ip-ubbcode-quote"><div class="ip-ubbcode-quote-title">quote:</div><div class="ip-ubbcode-quote-content">Originally posted by Jazzfusion:

That team will be great in a few seasons Spike

I hope so as I resisted the temptation to spend big on the likes of Van der Vaart, Fernandez etc (Briand being the exception, but worth it I think you’ll agree), in favour of bringing in young raw talent. I also wanted Saivet & Wijnaldum but they won’t sign for me no matter how much I offer them in wages. Will try again in January. </div></BLOCKQUOTE>

offer saivet a back-up contract and he will ask for about 1K a week </div></BLOCKQUOTE>

Will give it a go thanks.

[David Hirst]

Originally posted by beverage1982:

For those thtsa havent read above i've tried to do a season without really signing anyone and i must admit it is one of the best seasons i've ever had.

I too have chosen to leave the team as is in the first season, investing only in youth (Moses, Bostock, Chambers etc.), but I'm currently in 12th spot and just got knocked out of the cup by Cardiff. Seems the 8.0.2 patch has deemed all of my previous tactics useless, so I was wondering what tactics you are using and if you wouldn't mind sharing. As I said exact same first team as starts the game, i don't think I'm utilizing Carew enough as he hasn't scored at all so far.

Also, this one goes out to every body, but how are your results with the new patch?

[Spike]

Just a quick update I finished 6th in the EPL and lost to Arsenal in the League Cup SF. I am just starting the second season and think I have built a pretty good young side.

GK - Lloris/Felipe

DR - Hoyte/Ignashevic

DL - Guilherme/Traore

DC - Cahill & Davies/Knight & Breno

MR - Young/Torje

ML - Kewell/Barry

MC - Reo-Coker/Banega

AMC - Maloney/Piatti

ST - Briand & Moore/Zarate & Carew

I am also developing some further talent in the reserves:

GK - Carlos

DR - Gunter (to replace Ignasheivic next season)

MR/ML - Wijnaldum (to replace Kewell)

AMC - Lulinha

ST - Stancu (to replace Carew) & Agbonlahor

[callumoneill9307]

hi all

i have been with villa for 3 seasons nowin that time i have won :

2 premier league trophys

1 fa cup

1 league cup

quarters of the champions league

the villa bored give very good budgets ( up to 45 million every summer if you do all the expectation )

my team is as follows ;

1.s.taylor

2.barry

3.davies

4.givet

5.cahill

6.ribery

7.dyer

8.reo coker / young

9.downing

10.anelka/defoe

11.berbatov/lita

subs ;

lita

viera

petrov

knight

agbonlahor

so in all a decent team and a very good gaming experience

[Spike]

Just hit January (2nd season) and am doing pretty well. I sit 3rd in the EPL but unfortunately the cups have gone pear shaped:

UEFA - Lost 4-2 on agg to Juventus in 1st KO round

League Cup - Lost 3-1 on agg to Portsmouth in the SF (didn't help that Knight got sent off in the 3rd minute of the 1st leg)

FA Cup - Lost 3-1 away to the Blues (don't ask)

Decided I needed to strengthen at the back as although we are the leading scorers in the EPL by some margin (as we were last season), we also have one of the worst defensive records. Therefore decided to bring in Steven Taylor (who was at Liverpool). I had plenty of money left in the kitty, but at £24m he cost a little more than I wanted to pay but his stats are awesome (he has 7 star ratings for ability & potential from my Assistant Manager).

I had to sell Knight £2.5m & Carew £2.5m to raise the extra little bit I needed. Taylor will however replace Knight and promoted Stancu from the reserves to replace Carew as my 4th striker. Disappointed however that my board accepted an offer of £3.4m from Chelsea for Torje as they thought it was too good to turn down? (probably because I was £8m in debt). This meant I had to promote Wijnaldum a little earlier than expected.

My first/second teams now line up as follows:

GK - Lloris/Felipe

DR - Hoyte/Ignashevic

DL - Guilherme/Traore

DC - Taylor & Breno/Cahill & Davies

MR - Young/Wijnaldum

ML - Kewell/Barry

MC - Reo-Coker/Banega

AMC - Maloney/Piatti/Lulinha

ST - Briand & Zarate/Moore & Stancu

Will let you know where I finish at the end of the season.

[beverage1982]

Hi guys,

Well the first season is down and what a season. the villains finish fourth in the league and lost the FA Cup final 2-0 to Man Utd but put up a good fight. The fans and board are happy and i am as i did it all without really signign anyone of worth.

But i've hit the summer, ive kept expectations low and have a limited budget to invest with so wise transfers are the name of the game. I've decided the squad needs strengthening to compete in the champions league so i have to spend, but i am trying to do the villa thing and bring in players for the future. I just got Michael Johnson from City and Torje as he was cheap, also Curtis Davies has come in as pre-agreed and i got David Wheater for a bag of fruit pastles

Thing is i need to invest further but cant decide where. i think i'm going to blow some cash on a left back as much as i like fatty Bouma, he won't cut it in the champions league. ive gone for Bridge on loan or Riise for a lot of money so hopefully either of those will help.

This leaves my squad as

GK - Foster / Taylor

RB - Hoyte / Gardner

CB - Davies / Laursen

CB - Knight / Wheater

LB - Bouma / M. Taylor

RW - Routledge / Barnes / Torje

CM - NRC / Johnson

CM - Barry / Petrove / Gardner

LW - Young / Maloney

FC - Carew / Harewood

CF - Gabby / Moore

I have some decent squad players and also promoting forrester and moses from my reserves to develop. i particulalrly hope that big things can come from forrester.

We will see how it goes.

DAVID HIRST - in response to your question, i havent tested it enough but after 8.0.2 i was conceding a lot more goals. I think fatigue played it's part but will test further and let you know.

I can pop the tactic up on here later though if it helps and you can perhaps help test it.

UTV SOTC

By the way, cracking team Spike and fine work callumoneil!!!

[beverage1982]

One other thing, ive noticed that lots of people aying that corners are almost a gimme scoring wise on the patch. I've obviously got the monster that is Carew and get a lot of goals but can't help but think that the fact my best corner taker only has 14 could be holding him back. i think Riise knocks in a good corner but can anyone suggest a lft back that could fit my Villa style that can knock in a corner. I obviosuly tried Bale but Spurs wnated 20million for him!

[Spike]

Originally posted by beverage1982:

One other thing, ive noticed that lots of people aying that corners are almost a gimme scoring wise on the patch. I've obviously got the monster that is Carew and get a lot of goals but can't help but think that the fact my best corner taker only has 14 could be holding him back. i think Riise knocks in a good corner but can anyone suggest a lft back that could fit my Villa style that can knock in a corner. I obviosuly tried Bale but Spurs wnated 20million for him!

If he hasn't already been snapped up go for Guilherme. He is Brazilian and plays for a Brazilian team (can't remember which one though).

I paid £3.7m for him in January of the 1st season and let him develop for the rest of that season. I am now using him as my 1st choice LB and he is awesome. He's brilliant with free-kicks & i'm pretty sure he's good on corners too. A few big clubs are now sniffing round but he's going nowhere!

[Mikal]

Just a quick update... Start of January in the first season, currently sitting 1st in the prem with Utd 1 point behind! Not got any money to buy anyone yet, but hopefully selling bouma for 1.4m and Cahill for 8m (I think).

[Spike]

Have finished my 2nd season and despite a lacklustre effort in cup competitions I finshed a comfortable second in the EPL (10 points behind Chelsea).

If it hadn't been for a s**t start to the season I probably would have won the league. First 8 games - W2 D1 L5, Last 30 games - W22 D6 L2. We were also the top scorers with a pretty good return of 94 goals (did also concede about 50, i'm all about the entertainment though!).

Have sold Ignashevic and I am currently looking for a DR (which will probably be my only signing as i think the team will be great this season). Check out this thread if you want to help my search:

http://community.sigames.com/eve/forums?a=tpc&s=2101905...162089183#6162089183

I have received much interest in most of my youngsters but have managed to hold on to them so far. Wijnaldum seems happy to stay and has just signed a new contract despite interest from 14 clubs (including bids from Man U, Arsenal, Chelseas & Liverpool). However Banega has responded positively to interest from Liverpool, and I may be fighting a losing battle to keep him. Just before the final game of the season the board accepted a bid of £10m from Newcastle for Gary Cahill. I was most disappointed with this, but I wasn't prepared to give him up without a fight and he accepted a new contract to stay at his beloved Villa (job done!).

My team for season 3 will line up as follows:

GK - Lloris/Felipe/Carlos

DR - ?/Hoyte

DL - Guilherme/Traore

DC - Taylor & Breno/Cahill & Davies

MR - Young/Wijnaldum

ML - Kewell/Barry

MC - Reo-Coker/Banega

AMC - Maloney/Lulinha/Piatti

ST - Briand & Zarate/Moore & Stancu

Will have to start looking for a replacement for Kewell soon, but other than that with an average squad age of 22/23 if I can keep these boys together the future is bright, the future is Claret & Blue!

[Spike]

Despite fully intending to only buy a DR it didn't quite work out like that. I did buy a right-back and decided on Carlos Diogo for £13m, for which I obtained god like status with the fans.

Then decided that as I had plenty of budget left I would replace Kewell now while I could still get a decent fee for him. So I sold him for £5m (having only paid £2.9m for him 2 seasons ago), and replaced him with Stewart Downing for £15m. I know there are some better left wingers out there, but I wanted to buy English and he seemed to be about the best out there.

I then had a bit of knock back when Bogdan Stancu demanded a transfer. Being one of those managers who doesn't want anyone in the squad who doesn't want to be there, I offered him around and managed to get £5m for him (only paid £500k for him at the start). I then started the search for a young replacement and initially set my sights on Carlos Vela, but Arsenal only wanted to let him go out on loan (and not to me as one of their rivals). So Carried on the search and to my surprise found that Guiseppe Rossi had a £10.25m release clause. As there were a lot of clubs after him I offered him the largest contract I could and thankfully he accepted (again to the appreciation of our fans).

My squad will therefore line up as follows for the 3rd season:

GK - Lloris/Felipe/Carlos

DR - Diogo/Hoyte

DL - Guilherme/Traore

DC - Taylor & Breno/Cahill & Davies

MR - Young/Wijnaldum

ML - Downing/Barry

MC - Reo-Coker/Banega

AMC - Maloney/Lulinha/Piatti

ST - Briand & Rossi/Moore & Zarate

With an average squad age of 22 things look promising!

[drewbulls]

Originally posted by Spike:

Have finished my 2nd season and despite a lacklustre effort in cup competitions I finshed a comfortable second in the EPL (10 points behind Chelsea).

If it hadn't been for a s**t start to the season I probably would have won the league. First 8 games - W2 D1 L5, Last 30 games - W22 D6 L2. We were also the top scorers with a pretty good return of 94 goals (did also concede about 50, i'm all about the entertainment though!).

Have sold Ignashevic and I am currently looking for a DR (which will probably be my only signing as i think the team will be great this season). Check out this thread if you want to help my search:

http://community.sigames.com/eve/forums?a=tpc&s=2101905...162089183#6162089183

I have received much interest in most of my youngsters but have managed to hold on to them so far. Wijnaldum seems happy to stay and has just signed a new contract despite interest from 14 clubs (including bids from Man U, Arsenal, Chelseas & Liverpool). However Banega has responded positively to interest from Liverpool, and I may be fighting a losing battle to keep him. Just before the final game of the season the board accepted a bid of £10m from Newcastle for Gary Cahill. I was most disappointed with this, but I wasn't prepared to give him up without a fight and he accepted a new contract to stay at his beloved Villa (job done!).

My team for season 3 will line up as follows:

GK - Lloris/Felipe/Carlos

DR - ?/Hoyte

DL - Guilherme/Traore

DC - Taylor & Breno/Cahill & Davies

MR - Young/Wijnaldum

ML - Kewell/Barry

MC - Reo-Coker/Banega

AMC - Maloney/Lulinha/Piatti

ST - Briand & Zarate/Moore & Stancu

Will have to start looking for a replacement for Kewell soon, but other than that with an average squad age of 22/23 if I can keep these boys together the future is bright, the future is Claret & Blue!

Ello mate if ya want a DR i got Darren O'Dea from celtic he is doing really good for me at rightback so worth a look u can pick him up for about £3.4M so on the cheap side and also i cant think of his first name but his last name is Samba i think he is from a prem team not too sure but put his name in i got him for about £6-7M he is a good DR as well so well worth a look mate

[tpm]

Started a new game since the patch. First season was useless in the cups going out very early. My league for was a lot better finishing 4th and getting Champions League.

Signed Baragan, Modric and Pinola in January

Start of my second season I bring in Akinfeev to replace Carson. Got to quarter final in both cups. Came 3rd in my champions league group. So I was drawn into the UEFA cup. Ended up getting to the final against Juve. Lost 1-0. Finished in 4th again.

Signed Anton Ferdinand and Defoe in January.

Just Starting my 3rd season and have bought Richards.

My team is:

GK: Akinfeev/Taylor

DR: Baragan/Richards

DL: Pinola/Bouma

DC: Ferdinand/Davies

DC: Richards/Knight/Laursen

DM: Reo-Coker/Osbourne

MR: Maloney/Agbonlahor

ML: Young/Maloney

MC: Modric/Gardner

MC: Barry/Petrov

FC: Defoe/Carew

Not looking to bring anyone in January. Will be looking for a new LB next season and probably a new MC.

[jonahno6]

Going to start as Aston Villa soon, Agbonlahor and Young :*)

Planning

<pre class="ip-ubbcode-code-pre">

Carson

Mellberg Knight Davies Taiwo

Reo-Coker

|

Barry | Modric

Agbonlahor Young

Carew

</pre>

[Spike]

Well have finished my 3rd season and for the 2nd season running finished runners-up to Chelsea (who did the domestic treble!). But I am happy with my one bit of silverware for the season:

]End of season[/url]

Don't know how Shakhtar made it to the final but don't care. My run was as follows:

Group - AC Milan (Won & Drew), Fenerbahce (Won & Drew), Benfica (Won both)

KO 1 - Zaragoza 0-2(A) & 4-0(H)

QF - Chelsea 2-2(H) & 3-1 (A) all 3 goals in last 10 mins

SF - Roma 2-1(H) & 2-1(A)

F - Shakhtar 2-0

Just heading into pre-season and I am extremely happy with my signings:

GK - Akinfeev coming in December - £6m compensation (out of contract)

DC - Richards £30m

ML/MR - Farfan free (worth £7.5m)

AMC - Van der Vaart free (worth £18m)

ST - Fred £22m

Sold - Felipe £2m & Zarate £6m, Barry & Davies on the transfer list

My team for the 4th season will therefore line up as follows:

GK - Akinfeev/Lloris/Carlos

DR - Diogo/Hoyte

DL - Guilherme/Traore

DC - Richards/Taylor/Breno/Cahill

MR - Young/Wijnaldum

ML - Downing/Farfan

AMC - VDV/Maloney/Lulinha/Piatti

ST - Fred/Briand/Rossi/Moore

What do you think?

[moorag]

im in 2012/2013 now and have manage to get villa ranked 3rd in europe and 4th richest club.

Team

GK Akinfeev/Bouzanis

RB Corluka/Cyrogrinski

LB Pineda/Cahais/Barry (on occasion as he's now 33)

CB Kurucz (awesome regen)/Cahil

CB Walace (regen HG youngster) / Beggs (16yr regen)

DMC Makoun / Banega

RM Ilsinho / DeGuzman / Yessau Cabrera

LM M Fernandez / Sergio Motta

AMC Lulinha

FC Zeefuik / Crippa (19yr regen) / Balotelli

FC Falcao / Pallacio /

Really enjoying this game, got villa to the top and trying to set them up for the future before i sod off to another league.