FM12 - Chelsea F.C. Thread - A Mix of Youth and Experience

[Bracken]

Cheers mate, no, think I got about £2m, but some of that was in clauses. He never made an appearance for me except in friendlies, I'm hoping he'll be better after the data update in February.

[tomtuck01]

My second season in charge of Chelsea has been completed. A full end of season review will come later this evening or tomorrow, but for nw here is a run down of my results since my last update, which came at the end of the January transfer window.

February

FA Cup 4th Round - Stevenage (A) 0-2 (Lukaku, Abu)

Premier League - Tottenham (A) 1-1 (Willian)

Premier League - Aston Villa (H) 4-1 (Luiz, Sturridge, Willian, Lampard (p))

Premier League - Nottm Forrest (A) 0-5 (Cohen (og), Kakuta, Sturridge, McEachran, Kalas)

Champs Lge 1s KO Rnd 1st Leg - Barcelona (A) 1-1 (Sturridge)

FA Cup 5th Round - Wolves (H) 2-0 (Terry, Willian)

A good month for us. Can't complain about a draw at Tottenham in the league, and the result in the Camp Nou in the Champions League set is up perfectly for the second leg back at Stamford Bridge. Progress to the quarter finals of the FA Cup was assured with a controlled performance against Wolves in the 5th round after we had beaten Stevenage at the start of the month in the 4th round.

March

Carling Cup Final - Reading (N) 3-0 (Mellis, Sturridge, Kakuta)

Premier League - Everton (H) 2-0 (Lukaku, Lampard)

Premier League - Sunderland (A) 1-1 (McEachran)

Champs Lge 1st KO Rnd 2nd Leg - Barcelona (H) 2-2 (Torres, Sturridge) - 3-3 on aggregae - Barcelona win on away goals

FA Cup 6th Round - Derby (A) 0-2 (Kakuta, Kalou)

Premier League - Man United (H) 3-0 (Terry, Torres, Lampard)

The month started excellently with the team lifting the fisrt trophy of my rein, and followed that up with a solid win over Everton. If the draw with Sunderland wasn't disasterous, then the one days later with Barcelona was as we crashed out of the Champions League on away goals. We got over that though by getting through to the semi-fials of the FA Cup, and then more or less knocking a rival out of the title race.

April

Premier League - QPR (A) 0-2 (Sturridge, Lampard)

Premier League - Stoke (H) 1-0 (Sturridge)

Premier League - Birmingham (H) 2-0 (Sturridge, McEachran)

Premier League - Wolves (A) 0-1 (Sturridge)

FA Cup Semi-final - Leicester (N) 2-1 (AET) (Sturridge, Kalou)

Premier League - Arsenal (A) 0-1 (Sturridge)

A very good month for us in terms of victories, if not performances, though at this stage of the season results are all that matter. Daniel Sturridge was outstanding, scoring goals in all six of our fixtures.

May

Premier League - Fulham (H) 1-2 (Lukaku)

Premier League - Liverpool (A) 1-0

Premier League - Newcastle (H) 3-1 (Sturridge, Mata 2)

FA Cup Final - Liverpool (N) 1-2 (Lampard)

Premier League - Man City (A) 2-1 (Terry)

Another apalling final month. Previous to this month we hadn't actually lost a game in any competiton all season, (although we exited the Champions League that was on away goals after two draws), and then we go and lose four out of five fixtures. Thankfully we had built up enough of a lead in the title race meaning that we just squeaked over the line. We were awful in all the games we lost in May, and even though we ended the seaon by lifting the Premier League trophy on top of the Carling Cup, the squad will be changed over the summer.

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As I said at the top of the post, my full end of season update will follow shortly - either tonight, but more than likely tomrrow.

[joe__the__man]

Cheers mate, no, think I got about £2m, but some of that was in clauses. He never made an appearance for me except in friendlies, I'm hoping he'll be better after the data update in February.

I wouldn't hold out to much hope, he hasn't really been with us long enough to make proper changes.

[Bracken]

I wouldn't hold out to much hope, he hasn't really been with us long enough to make proper changes.

He's been training with us for a good few months hasn't he? Just hoping that and the international performances might boost him a little, from what I've seen (granted not that much), looks like he could be a very effective little player.

[Natedog17]

He's been training with us for a good few months hasn't he? Just hoping that and the international performances might boost him a little, from what I've seen (granted not that much), looks like he could be a very effective little player.

I have watched him play for the youth team a few times and he looks really really good! The goal he scored against arsenals youth was magical! Took on there whole team and finished with class.

[tomtuck01]

My second season with Chelsea has come to an end, so it is time for my season review. After coming so close to winning all four trophies last term, this time around we did manage to lift a couple of them. We did however suffer an early exit from the Champions League and another cup final defeat.

Please enjoy the read.

Premier League

This season we managed to squeak over the line and lift the Premier League title. In the end it was by just one point after another very poor final month to season, in which we lost three of our four fixtures. We ended the season with ten points more than last season. We also scored the most goals (94), and had the joint second best defensive record (21).

Premier League Awards

Football Writers Footballer Of The Year; Wayne Rooney - Man United

PFA Player Of The Year; Juan Mata - Chelsea

PFA Young Player Of The Year; Vaclav Kadlec - Sunderland

Barclays Premier League Golden Boot; Wayne Rooney - Man United (37 goals)

Barclays Manager Of The Year; Bruno Gama - Chelsea

PFA Team Of The Year; David Luiz, Juan Mata, Frank Lampard, Daniel Sturridge, and John Terry (Subs)

Domestic Cups

Once again this season we got through to the finals of both domestic cup competitions, and this time we even managed to win one of them!

In the Carling we got through to the final defeating Wolves (3-1) in the 3rd round at home, then Sunderland (3-2) away from home in the 4th. In the quarter finals we defeated Everton (3-0), before in the semi-finals we beat Blackburn 4-1 over two legs (3-0 at home, 1-1 away).

In the final we faced Championship side Reading, and playing a mixture of youth and experience we triumphed 3-0, with Jacob Mellis, Daniel Sturridge, and Gael Kakuta getting on the scoresheet to give the team our first trophy since I took charge.

In the FA Cup we had a comfortable enough run to the final, we only the semi-final clash posing us any problems. We beat Middlesbrough (3-0) in the 3rd round at home, Stevenage (2-0) in the fourth round at their place. At Stamford Bridge in the 5th we saw off Wolves (2-0), before winning at Derby (2-0) in the quarters. In the semi-finals we played Leicester, and to be honest we struggled. We eventually took the lead after 81mins, but they hit back in stoppage time. We got the winner in extra time to make it 2-1 and get us through t the final.

In the final we faced Liverpool, and yet again we didn't do ourselves justice. Liverpool had much the better of it, and comfortably led 2-0 after 73mins when Andreas Granqvist added a second to Stewart Drownings opener. Frank Lampard gave us a sniff in the 84th minute, but we couldn't get an equaliser to force extra time and the game finished 2-1 to Liverpool.

Champions League

We breezed through our Champions League group winning all six of our group games, scoring fourteen and conceding just two.

Villarreal (A) 0-2

Anderlecht (H) 3-0

FC Kobenhavn (A) 1-2

FC Kobenhavn (H) 3-0

Villarreal (H) 2-1

Anderlecht (A) 0-2

In the 1st Knockout round we got the toughest draw possible - Barcelona. With us winning our group and them finishing second in theirs, we were away from home first. In the Camp Nou we got a very good 1-1 draw, with Daniel Sturridge grabbing an equaliser after a John Terry own goal. Heading in the second leg I was confident. we would get through. We dominated the opening half an hour but fell behind from a set piece. Fernando Torres hit back after 69mins, but David Villa hit a second for Barca 6mins later. Daniel Sturridge made it 2-2 with a minute to go, but we couldn't find the winner we needed and we exited on the away goals rule after 3-3 aggregate scoreline.

Barcelona went on to win the final, defeating Bayern Munich 3-0 to hand them their third Champions League title in as many years.

Top Scorers And Other Info

This season we had just three players get into double figures, and only one of them got more than 20. Altogether though we had twenty different goalscorers throughout the season.

Daniel Sturridge - 43 starts, 2 sub apps - 36 goals

Frank Lampard - 44 starts, 0 sub apps - 19 goals

Fernando Torres - 28 starts, 3 sub apps - 18 goals

Daniel Sturridge had an outstanding season, with 29 of his goals coming in the Premier League. He added 17 assists to his goals making it an extremely productive season for him. Lampard was again a very good performer, but towards the end of the season he tired and his performances dropped. Fernando Torres' tally was pretty good, but only six of his goals came in the Premier League.

Gael Kakuta had a very productive season, scoring 9 goals from 21 appearances. Romelu Lukaku scored 7 goals from 15 appearances, but he spent a fair bit of the season out with injury.

Juan Mata had a poor season in terms of goal scoring compared to last season, but he was the sides top assister with 23. Lampard managed 14 assists on top of his 19 goals.

Daniel Sturridge got the teams top seasonal rating, (7.49), from his 45 appearances. From the 58 games we played this season we scored 139 goals and conceded 33. We received 85 yellow cards and four reds, and average attendance of 42,168.

What Next?

Changes are going to be made to the squad for next season after yet another end of season fall away. Some players are getting a bit older and I am looking to cash in on them. Fernando Torres and Raul Meireles are both up for sale, as is youngster Leonardo Bittencourt who hasn't developed as expected. Also some other older players who's performances slipped at the end of the season will also be moved on to make way for younger players.

We have three signings arranged for the summer. Neymar is joining from Santos for £35million, and Ross Barkley (£19million) and Jack Rodwell (£13million) are coming in from Everton. Aside from that, I intend to keep blooding the younger players who have made fleeting appearances in the cup competitions over the last couple of seasons.

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Comments and suggestions are welcome. And I'll be happy to upload any other screenshots you wish to see.

Thanks to those of you who took the time to read this.

[Protocol]

2011/2012 Season Summary

Premier League

Had a very difficult end of season fixture wise. City pushed me all the way and I got a very fortunate 3-2 win over Tottenham to win the league before we won Wolves 3-1 to end on a high.

Domestic Cups

Won League Cup with a 3-0 win over Wigan. Lost 2-1 to Tottenham in 6th round of FA Cup.

Champions League

Won my group, 2 points ahead of Lyon. Beat Rangers 8-1 on aggregate in the first knockout round. Beat Leverkusen 8-0 on aggregate in quarter finals. Beat Man Utd 6-5 on aggregate in semi final. Destroyed Mourinho and his galacticos 6-1 in the final.

[Benoit2]

What players and tactic did you use protocol?

[Bracken]

Congratulations on your great seasons tomtuck1 and Protocol, KUTGW

[lacoste8030]

Guys, I have a problem. I have Marek Hamsik in my team and his morale is Very Poor because he is unhappy with the way he is playing. Now last season he play magnificently and won the best player award in the champions league but now he is not even a shadow of that player. I keep playing him hoping it will help but it is not changing. Has this ever happened to any of you and if so what should i do?

[jonahno6]

Started a game earlier with Chelsea and flogged off a lot of big players straight away like Alex, Anelka, Ramires and Drogba. I want to do things my way. Cech and Terry (maybe) will be out the door next season.

I'll probably do a full update later.

[tomtuck01]

lacoste8030

Just sell him if he is making morale that poor.

jonahno6

I would keep Cech for atleast the second season as is a good tutor for Thibaut Courtois. The same for Terry really - his mentals make him a great tutor.

[jonahno6]

lacoste8030

Just sell him if he is making morale that poor.

jonahno6

I would keep Cech for atleast the second season as is a good tutor for Thibaut Courtois. The same for Terry really - his mentals make him a great tutor.

Forgot about tutoring Courtouis actually, thanks

[Bracken]

Guys, I have a problem. I have Marek Hamsik in my team and his morale is Very Poor because he is unhappy with the way he is playing. Now last season he play magnificently and won the best player award in the champions league but now he is not even a shadow of that player. I keep playing him hoping it will help but it is not changing. Has this ever happened to any of you and if so what should i do?

I'd recommend leaving him out the team for a few games, no sub appearances, just a rest, then throw him back in and tell him you have faith in him, usually works for me. No need to get rid of him unless he's seriously disrupting the whole team.

[lacoste8030]

He aint disrupting the team, it is just his morale.

[TF]

I'm coming towards the end of october in my Chelsea save, here are my results so far.

Aston Villa 0-0 Chelsea

Not the greatest start to the season but not the worst, its a point and a clean sheet, so not too bad.

Chelsea 4-2 Newcastle

We were 2-0 up thanks to goals from JT and Lamps, only for Newcastle to bring it back to 2-2. A Late brace from Juan Mata gained us a well deserved 3 points against a Newcastle team who can take alot of positives from the game.

Blackburn 1-4 Chelsea

Disappointed not to keep a clean sheet, but still a very good result. The goals came from Lamps, Ramires, JT and Torres.

Chelsea 1-0 Everton

We were a man down after 33 minutes but thankfully Drogs had put us 1-0 up in the 31st minute. Very happy to keep a clean sheet and grab the win after playing alot of the game with 10 men.

Chelsea 2-0 Villareal

Another clean sheet and a very good result in a game which I fielded a very inexperienced side. The experienced players in the starting 11 were Cech, JT, Bosingwa, Meireles and Anelka. The goals both came from Romelu Lukaku who had an outstanding game and picked up man of the match.

Man Utd 0-0 Chelsea

We didn't deserve anything from this game, but we defended very well and that was how we got the point. Wasn't happy with the performance but was delighted with the point, especially at Old Trafford

Chelsea 2-0 Aston Villa (Carling Cup 3rd Round)

Played the kids in this game and Villa fielded the same side that faced us on matchday 1 of the Premier League. Both goals came from Kaby who picked up the man of the match award in a very good team performance.

Chelsea 0-1 Arsenal

So, our first loss of the season comes at the Bridge against Arsenal disappointed to lose because we were the better side. Arsenal had 2 shots in the game and only 1 on target, unfortunately for us it went in and we weren't able to reply.

Olympiakos 2-0 Chelsea

I put out the same side that beat Villareal, seems that was a mistake and it cost us. We could've equalised had Salomon Kalou scored his penalty, but he had it saved and they went on to grab a second goal to finish us off.

Chelsea 4-0 Norwich

Back to winning ways after back to back losses and a good performance to top it off. Ramires got the first goal after 36 minutes, Juan Mata would then go onto score a second half hat trick and claim both the man of the match award and the match ball.

Wolves 0-2 Chelsea

Another win and another clean sheet. Goals came from Mata and Torres. We were outplayed in this game but took our chances, was happy with the result but not the performance.

Udinese 1-0 Chelsea

We had so many chances in this game and just didn't take them, got to up our performances in the Champions League or we could be looking at an early exit.

Transfers

Only brought in one player and that was Sammy Ameobi for £900k from Newcastle, bassically signed him because I like him and real life and would like to see how I can develop him.

Not sold any players, just loaned some of the young ones out. In the first season I like to stick with the default squad and try win as much as I can, then start making my mark on the team in the second season.

[FeedTheBear]

Lukaku is an absolute beast on this game. Just beat Fulham 8-0, he got 3 goals 3 assists. On my current season he has 24 in 16 and im only in january. Hope he doesnt get injured!

[Protocol]

What players and tactic did you use protocol?

I use a 4-2-3-1 formation.

2012/2013 Season

Did a clear out in the summer, in an attempt to reduce wage bill and average age of squad.

Transfers In

Van Der Wiel - £18.5 million

Kwadwo Asamoah - £16.5 million

Few youngsters/regens

Transfers Out

Ryan Bertrand - £2.1 million - Cardiff

Raul Meireles - £3.3 million (season long loan deal, £10 million end of season) - PSG

Mikel - £12.5 million - AC Milan

Delac- £1.3 million - Brondby

Essien - £15.5 million - PSG

Benayoun - £1.4 million - Sporting

Drogba - Free transfer

Boswinga - Free transfer

Few youngsters/reserve players.

Pre Season

Vitesse (A) - Won 2-0

Bournemouth (A) - Won 1-0 (their keeper had a good game)

CSKA Moscow (H) - Won 4-0

Yeovil (A) - Won 4-1

Palermo (A) - Won 2-0

Besiktas (A) - Won 4-1

Became Great Britain Under 23 Olympics manager and beat Brazil 5-4 in extra time in final. Have since resigned.

Community Shield

Lost 2-1 to Man City. They had a 19 year old debutant keeper in goal who got man of the match.

[tomtuck01]

The summer transfer window of 2012 has closed so it is time for my post summer transfer window update.

Please enjoy the read.

Transfer Activity

There was a fair bit of activity during the summer as the squad changed a fair bit. I wouldn't say the squad was overhauled by any stretch of the imagination, but I cashed in on a couple of older players and brought in younger players.

Players Out;

Petr Cech - £25million - Barcelona

Fernando Torres - £23million (£8million upfront, £15million over 24 months) - Internazionale

Saloman Kalou - £15million - Juventus

Raul Meireles - £7million - Everton

Leonardo Bittencourt - £5million (paid over 24 months) - Hamburg

Jason Lowe - £2.9million - Wigan

Seamus Coleman - Loan (£2.5million fee) - Aston Villa

Conor Clifford - Loan (£100k fee) - Leicester

Patrick van Aanholt and Ulises Davila - Loan - Swansea

Gerard Deulefou - Loan - Real Valladolid

Mohammed Abu - Loan - Vitesse

Milan Lalkovic - Free - Southampton

19 players have also been released.

Excellent fee's for Cech, Torres, and Kalou. Also a good deal for Meireles. Bittencourt and Lowe hadn't really developed as I'd hoped. As for Coleman, he hadn't performed all that well when in the side last season. His loan deal includes a £5million future fee agreed.

Players In;

Neymar - £35million - Santos

Ross Barkley - £19.5million (£7millin upfront, £12.5million over 36 months) - Everton

Jack Rodwell - £13million - Everton

Romario - £12million - Internazionale

Alot of money laid out, but the players that have been signed will serve us well now and for years to come.

First Team Squad

The 4-2-3-1 is still used alot, but my 4-3-1-2 was tweaked throughout last season and was used a fair bit. I will now become my most used formation I think.

Goalkeepers;

13.Thibaut Courtois

22.Ross Turnbull

29.Matej Delac

Defenders;

2.Branislav Ivanovic

3.Ashley Cole

4.David Luiz

14.Romario

17.Gary Cahill

26.John Terry - Captain

34.Ryan Bertrand

45.Nathaniel Chalobah

Midfielders;

5.Michael Essien

6.Oriol Romeu

7.Ramires

8.Frank Lampard - Vice captain

10.Juan Mata

12.John Obi Mikel

16.Ross Barkely

19.Willian

20.Josh McEachran

28.Jack Rodwell

44.Gael Kakuta

Forwards;

11.Neymar

18.Romelu Lukaku

23.Daniel Sturridge

Reserve/Young Players;

31.Lucas Piazon

35.Tomas Kalas

36.Mbaye Niang

48.Nathan Ake

52.Jacob Mellis

56.Islam Feruz

The squad maybe slightly on the large side, especially in midfield. But Lampard is now 35 so won't be playing every game as he was in the first two seasons.

The Season So Far

The season opened with the Community Shield against the side who defeated us in last seasons FA Cup final; Liverpool. We got our revenge courtesy of a 3-1 win with goals from Lampard and Sturridge, who got two.

As you can see Neymar made his debut, and although he didn't score, he did manage two assists.

August

Premier League - Stoke (A) 0-1 (Terry)

Premier League - Wigan (H) 2-1 (Ramires, Neymar)

Not a great start to the campaign, but can't complain at six points out of six. The goals will hopefully start flowing soon when Sturridge and Neymar click together. Up next at the start of September is Tottenham away.

The Champions League group stages have been drawn, and we have been given a group we should progress from without too much fuss. Along with us in the group there is; Villarreal, Ajax, and Rangers. Our opening group game is against Ajax at home.

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Any comments or suggestions are welcome, and I'll post any screenshots you want. Cheers to those of you who took the time to read this.

[Protocol]

How've you got Islam Feruz, Tom? He isn't in my game's database.

Well just made my final signing of the transfer window, Cavani has joined for £28.5 million. Will look to sell Torres to re-coup some Cavani's fee if he doesn't perform again.

[J.T]

What year are you in Protocol?

[Protocol]

2012/2013

The message you have entered is too short. Please lengthen your message to at least 10 characters.

[J.T]

Torres usually lasts a lot longer than that for me. On my old save, I had him playing until around 2015. How come your thinking about selling him?

[Protocol]

If he keeps his current form up, I probably won't sell him. Has scored 6 goals in 6 games in all competitions so far.

[J.T]

Ah nice. I have been on a great run recently, now I come up to Man U away in the Quarter Finals of the Champions League and my team seem to have forgotten how to play football.

[tomtuck01]

How've you got Islam Feruz, Tom? He isn't in my game's database

He isn't in the databaes - he's too young.

I created him myself in the editor. He isn't that great. Gave him a -8 and he isn't looking like he's going to turn into all that much.

[J.T]

I am through to the Semi Finals of the Champions League where I will be facing Man city (knocked out United which was pleasing.) However I just got thrashed 6-1 by Fulham. So embarrassed. :o

[Protocol]

Well my surprise performer this season has been Ulises Davila. In all competitions - 5(5) appearances, 3 goals, 5 assists, average rating of 7.38.

[J.T]

Ulises Davila certainly looks like he could become a useful player. Might give him a run out in the League Cup next season (when he's back from his loan).

[J.T]

1000th post

Just lost to United, could cost me the title

[Bracken]

Sorry your 1000th post wasn't happier news mate.

Protocol, how's Davila developed for you? Never really progressed for me, but I'd like to see him at his PA limit.

[Protocol]

I'm only in second season so he is still very much undeveloped as a player. I've took a screenshot of him anyway.

Lukaku has also started the reason really well - Overall stats:

Appearances: 8 (7)

Goals: 14

MoM: 4

Rating: 7.59

[jonahno6]

Anyone got a screenshot of Daniel Sturridge a few years in? Prefferably if he's developed well. Mine is scoring his fair share this year, and would like to see what level he can get too.

[tomtuck01]

Anyone got a screenshot of Daniel Sturridge a few years in? Prefferably if he's developed well. Mine is scoring his fair share this year, and would like to see what level he can get too.

I have read from a few users that he doesn't develop too much, but he will continue to grab goals for you.

[Protocol]

Just played West Ham in my latest league game. Sam Allardyce said in the press before our game that as long as his team stuck to their game plan, he was confident of a result. Bit of a bold statement to make considering their league position, form, and the fact we were at home. The final score? Chelsea 9 - 0 West Ham.

[J.T]

I have read from a few users that he doesn't develop too much, but he will continue to grab goals for you.

I've seen this as well. Also experienced it, his stats don't improve that much but he still is a useful player.

Just played West Ham in my latest league game. Sam Allardyce said in the press before our game that as long as his team stuck to their game plan, he was confident of a result. Bit of a bold statement to make considering their league position, form, and the fact we were at home. The final score? Chelsea 9 - 0 West Ham.

Haha, that will shut him up!

[Protocol]

Asked board that I wanted them to find a new feeder club for work permits. I've narrowed it down to Club Brugge and Anderlecht. Anderlecht are the bigger club and have some decent players in their squad and the better facilities. Brugge would mean my loanees played more but would they want to join Brugge? I can't decide which to pick. I've ruled out the Romanian and Bulgarian options.

[tomtuck01]

I have come to the end of November, and thirteen games into the league season, so it is time for an update on how my current season with Chelsea is coming along.

September

Premier League - Tottenahm (A) 1-2 (Mata, Cahill)

Premier League - Aston Villa (H) 3-0 (McEachran, Willian, Sturridge)

Champs League - Ajax (H) 4-1 (Sturridge 3, Lukaku)

Premier League - West Ham (H) 1-0 (Ramires)

Carling Cup 3rd Rnd - Stoke (A) 1-2 (Lukaku 2)

Premier League - Liverpool (A) 1-1 (Willian)

A good month for us with five wins from six games. A draw at Liverpool is never a bad thing really, and we got our Champions League campaign off to a great start.

October

Champs League - Villarreal (A) 1-3 (Willian, Terry, Mata)

Premier League - Newcastle (H) 1-0 (Rodwell)

Premier League - Man United (A) 0-1 (Cahill)

Champs League - Rangers (A) 0-2 (Sturridge 2)

Premier League - Norwich (A) 0-1 (Cahill)

Carling Cup 4th Rnd - Wolves (H) 2-1 (Lukaku 2)

In terms of points/games won, it was an excellent month as we won all of our games. In terms of performances though, it really wasn't the best. The goals weren't flowing, but our defence performed admirably, and we qualified for the next round of the Champions League with victory over Rangers in Glasgow.

November

Premier League - Wolves (H) 1-1 (Sturridge)

Champs League - Rangers (H) 3-0 (Mata, Sturridge 2)

Premier League - Reading (H) 3-1 (Lukaku, Lampard, Neymar)

Premier League - Arsenal (A) 0-1 (Ramires)

Champs League - Ajax (A) 0-0

Premier League - Birmingham (H) 6-0 (Neymar 2, Lampard, Mata, Terry, Wheater (og)

Solid enough month. A slip at home to Wolves didn't derail us as we then went on to win our next three games. We had already qualified for the 1st knockout round of the Champions League by the time we faced Ajax so I gave some back-up players a game and they did well. The month finished with an excellent performance against Birmingham.

Thoughts Going Forward

Well we are currently top of the table nine points clear of Arsenal, though they have a game in hand. Come the second half of the season we should be in a good psitiion as we have most of the big teams to play to home. We have already won our Champions League group, and we fac Everton in the next round of the Carling Cup.

Aswell as things going well on-field, they are also going well off-field. The board have agreed to build a new stadium, which should be ready by the start of the 2016/17 season.

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Any comments or suggestions are welcome, and I'll post any screenshots you want. Cheers to those of you who took the time to read this.

[Bracken]

Good going so far tomtuck, congrats on the new stadium too.

Protocol, I think I'd probably be tempted to go for Brugge, as you say they'll get more playing time, and I'm sure their facilities aren't significantly weaker than Anderlecht so they'll still get a good standard of training. Both would be great choices really, never been lucky enough to have either as a feeder club on my saves.

[Protocol]

Yeah went for Brugge in the end. Although they did already have enough goalies before I sent my youngster there so not sure how much he'll play. I've managed to get Shakthar as a feeder club on this save. Really good for getting first option on their players.

[J.T]

I have Crystal Palace as a feeder club on top of a couple of others. They have just been relegated to league 1 so I can now send my 18/19 year olds to them where they will get a lot of first team football.

[Protocol]

FA Cup once again goes elusive. Lost 3-2 to Villa in the 4th round. Error on my part meant I played Turnbull in goal rather than Cech.

[MattieCoopz]

2011/2012 Pre-Season Update

So the season begins and with it the pre-season update at long last. Uni life has put me off doing a save until now but here goes...

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Happy with the transfers I've made although better options were available but they were unwilling to move, also tried to shift Malouda yet he might leave next window along with Alex and possibly Drogba along with Can and a couple of others on loan.

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On the face of it, the formation is one that I wouldn't usually go with, however pre-season results and fixtures at the beginning of the season have shown no obvious frailties.

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Very happy with how pre-season went as well as the start to the season proper, finishing can be a bit off-key sometimes but I'm hoping that will change.

Junior coaching budgets have been increased by the board and we have drawn Bradford away in the Carling Cup and for the Champs League, we've got Benfica, Zenit and Napoli. Looking for 8 from 12 with the former two and 4 from 6 against Napoli, which should take us through comfortably, not expecting miracles cause Benfica and Zenit are always drawn in my group and can be slippery customers.

'Mon the Blues! Next update as and when I can.

[joe__the__man]

Very happy with how pre-season went as well as the start to the season proper, finishing can be a bit off-key sometimes but I'm hoping that will change.

Junior coaching budgets have been increased by the board and we have drawn Bradford away in the Carling Cup and for the Champs League, we've got Benfica, Zenit and Napoli. Looking for 8 from 12 with the former two and 4 from 6 against Napoli, which should take us through comfortably, not expecting miracles cause Benfica and Zenit are always drawn in my group and can be slippery customers.

That's exactly the same ratio, could've just said 12 from 18

[TF]

Just wondering what you guys do with Chalobah in the first season? I've actually brought him into the first team and he's so far made 4 premier league appearances, 1 start the other 3 from the bench. He's played DM and CB for me and has been playing really well, he's actually starting my next two games against Swansea and a big one against Liverpool due to John Terry picking up an injury. I've got Gary Cahill joining in January so this will probably mean a little less time on the pitch for Nathaniel but never the less its a great experience for him.

So what do you guys do with him?

[Bracken]

Just wondering what you guys do with Chalobah in the first season? I've actually brought him into the first team and he's so far made 4 premier league appearances, 1 start the other 3 from the bench. He's played DM and CB for me and has been playing really well, he's actually starting my next two games against Swansea and a big one against Liverpool due to John Terry picking up an injury. I've got Gary Cahill joining in January so this will probably mean a little less time on the pitch for Nathaniel but never the less its a great experience for him.

So what do you guys do with him?

I played him in as many games as I felt he could perform in, right from the start. It's definitely the best way to speed up his development.

[TF]

I played him in as many games as I felt he could perform in, right from the start. It's definitely the best way to speed up his development.

Thats exactly why i'm giving him as much time as possible, to speed up his development. The Liverpool game will be huge for him, the Swansea game is only league cup, so him and some of the other kids would have started anyway.

[Bracken]

Thats exactly why i'm giving him as much time as possible, to speed up his development. The Liverpool game will be huge for him, the Swansea game is only league cup, so him and some of the other kids would have started anyway.

I definitely think it's best to give him time in the first team, even if it's just cup games and a few sub appearances, it really does boost development massively, more than anything else I find, even tutoring.

[TF]

I definitely think it's best to give him time in the first team, even if it's just cup games and a few sub appearances, it really does boost development massively, more than anything else I find, even tutoring.

I've got Terry tutoring him at the moment, so he's getting game time and has a great tutor. Hoping to make him captain sometime in the future.

[Bracken]

I've got Terry tutoring him at the moment, so he's getting game time and has a great tutor. Hoping to make him captain sometime in the future.

He's the best Tutor you can get, good luck with him mate, let us know how it gets on, would love to see him as captain both in the game and IRL one day