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If You Count Your Chickens Before They've Hatched, They Won't Lay An Egg

AK22

By AK22,
in FM Career Updates

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AK22

AK22

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Thanks for all the comments :thup: I'm hoping to push for the top six again next season, and without any European distractions, I hoping we can replicate (or better!) our fifth position from two seasons ago.

Hope you're all having an enjoyable festive period! I've managed to wrangle an hour of free time, so thought I'd use it to catch up on the forums, as unfortunately, I probably won't get enough time to get a decent FM session going today.

Just to give you a bit more of an insight to why I turned Werden Bremen down; I know on paper, Werder are a bigger club side than Fulham, and that financially they are in a slightly better position too, however, there was no big attraction for me. Firstly, I don't really have any affiliation with the club in real life; I've never really followed them and there is nothing in their history that interests or intrigues me. Secondly, their squad is in a worse state than what I've already got at Fulham. Fair enough, I'd probably have a bit of money to rectify this, but I doubt we'd achieve Champions League qualification in the first season. Also, if I'd left Fulham, it's unlikely I'd be able to take my star players with me; I really want to follow the development of John Itubu and the two Egyptians, so I think I owe it to them to have another season developing them at Fulham before moving on. That being said, if a 'too good to refuse offer' came in from one of my favoured clubs, I would definitely consider it.

On a side note, I was fortunate enough to get a couple of PS3 games (FIFA 12 and F1, if you're interested) as gifts yesterday, so even though I had some FM time planned over the forthcoming days, it looks like my attention may be split somewhat before I go back to work on the 3rd. I may need to pull in a FM all-nighter to keep my hand in! :D

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AK22

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I'd be ashamed, letting Blackburn finish above you.

I am :hangshead: :D

Ouch. I wasn't expecting you to fall that much, but it seems you were very unlucky with your main man suffering injuries throughout the season.

I guess we'll be seeing Amer at the cottage next season ;)

The sod has signed for Fiorentina :mad: I offered to make him to highest paid player at the club too!

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AK22

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We have an OTF F1 Championship over in, well, OTF if you fancy it. It's sponsored by Tesco Finest beef.

Cheers Nobby. I'm not very good though! And I'm not sure I can commit to anything regular, but I'll certainly take a look :thup:

Unlucky on the end of season form. Looked like you were on for a good season. Disappointed not to be seeing Amer at the cottage next year too.

I'm actually really annoyed with myself. I could have organised the transfer a lot earlier, but wanted to see my budgets for the forthcoming season before committing to anything. Due to my stalling, other teams become interested in him, and snatched him away from right under my nose. That may be it for my Egyptian signings, I can't afford anyone one else now! :mad:

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AK22

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European Championship 2020

Hosts: Belgium

Holders: France

Group Stages

UEFAEuropeanFootballChampionshipOverview_Stages-2-1.png

UEFAEuropeanFootballChampionshipOverview_Stages-3-1.png

Knockout Rounds

UEFAEuropeanFootballChampionshipOverview_Stages-1.png

Final

Netherlands 2-3 Germany

In what was a fairly routine tournament, the trophy was finally won by Germany in a thrilling final against The Netherlands, where all five goals where scored in 27 minutes either side of half time. 'The Special One' stepped down from his England coaching role after failing to get past the Quarter-Final, and has now been replaced by former Manchester United defender, Henning Berg!

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AK22

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Fulham F.C.

654.png

Pre-Season Summary 2020/21

Wage: £19750 per week | Contract Length Remaining: 2 years

After much speculation over my future throughout the course of the summer, I will definitely start the season still as the manager of Fulham.

Board Expectations

Barclays Premier League: Respectable Position

FA Cup: Sixth Round | Carling Cup: Not Important

Transfer Budget: £7.78m

Wage Budget: £675k per week | Current Player Wage Total: £605k per week

Media Prediction: 8th | Title Odds: 100/1

It's pretty obvious that we won't be troubling the major teams in the title race this season, but my main objective will be to try and get us back into the Europa League. Outside of the top four (Man Utd, Man City, Arsenal and Chelsea), there's a group of four/five sides all capable of fighting for a Europa League place; we're one of these teams, but will face competition from Liverpool, Blackburn, Stoke and Tottenham. Alternatively, a good cup run would suffice, but I'd much rather have a steady league performance, but without the post-Xmas horror shows that have plagued us in the previous two seasons.

Transfer Activity

Transfer Summary

Club Signing of the Window: Francisco Jose

Total Amount Spent: £5.5m | Total Amount Received: £6m

As much as I would have liked to bring in some big names over the summer, I had to make do with who I could afford. Top of my shopping list was a new striker, someone I hoped would be able to support John Itubu, and share the goalscoring burden. In fact, I ended up signing two strikers; Francisco Jose should turn out a bargain at only £1m, after Inter Milan offloaded him to us, and Andy Carroll should still offer a aerial threat despite being the wrong side of 30 now. Raymond Gardiner will also be in consideration for a starting place, as he's a midfielder who has to creativity to fashion plenty of chances for us.

Tactical Outlook

This is my initial formation and team instructions:

FulhamTactics_TeamInstructions-2.png

FulhamTactics_TeamInstructions-1.png

I'm going to persevere with the formation I used last season. There's been a few tweaks to the individual player roles, but the impetus is still the same. I'm hoping we'll still be difficult to beat, but hopefully, the new signings will make us slightly more prolific in front of goal.

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AK22

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Francisco Jose looks a top player and a bargain at £1m!

Good luck this season AK :thup:

Agree with HotChocolate - £1m is a steal for a player with that talent!
How did you get him for 1 Million?

Im useless at getting bargain tranfer fees :/

1 million for a guy like that is impressive. Did you have sensitive information on the club's owners?

Signing José was far too easy; Inter Milan offered him to me for £1.5m, I got my scout to do a report, and he came back saying we could get him for £1m. Cue, £1m bid, accepted by Inter, and now he's a South London resident. To be fair, Inter really didn't need him, as he's been out on loan for the previous four seasons, never actually making a full appearance in the famous black and blue stripes.

After the window shut, I also signed another striker on the cheap. I'm not sure if you've heard of Wayne Rooney? ;)

WayneRooneyOverview_Attributes.png

Not too bad for someone who's just about to turn 35. He's still in the England picture too, so there's a chance he may add to the record breaking number of caps and goals for his country.

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AK22

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Also in the news ticker...

AndyKingNews_Inbox-4-1.png

AndyKingNews_Inbox-5-1.png

Two great offers from two clubs I admire. The Roma job would definitely be a big step-up from Fulham, and it would be a great opportunity to manage outside of England, however, the Liverpool offer is even more impressive. That, and the fact that they are the club I support in real life, can only mean one thing; pack your bags, we're all off to the North-West (and I can afford to take my Egyptians with me ;)).

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DazRTaylor

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Also in the news ticker...

AndyKingNews_Inbox-4-1.png

AndyKingNews_Inbox-5-1.png

Two great offers from two clubs I admire. The Roma job would definitely be a big step-up from Fulham, and it would be a great opportunity to manage outside of England, however, the Liverpool offer is even more impressive. That, and the fact that they are the club I support in real life, can only mean one thing; pack your bags, we're all off to the North-West (and I can afford to take my Egyptians with me ;)).

All the best at Liverpool.

I could never manage my club. If Yeovil came in for me I would decline - the losses hurt a lot more, despite being just a game. My keyboard would get thrown out of the window for one. :o

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AK22

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That's not the same Wayne Rooney, he only has aggression of 14.

Great move to Liverpool, good luck

Have they made the top 4 in the game at any point?

Good luck with Liverpool

I'm off to wash my mouth out with soap :D

All the best at Liverpool.

I could never manage my club. If Yeovil came in for me I would decline - the losses hurt a lot more, despite being just a game. My keyboard would get thrown out of the window for one.

Cheers fellas :thup:

Normally I wouldn't manage them either, simply because it would distress me if I couldn't achieve any success with them. However, Man Utd have now won 25 league titles in my game (Liverpool did win the 2012/13 title though), and someone needs to put a stop to that!! I've signed a five year deal with them, and for the sake of keeping my interest in the save going, it's unlikely I will outstay my welcome at Anfield, so it's going to be a case of trying to upset United's apple-cart, build some strong foundations, then pass the baton on to someone else. Well, that's the plan anyway, it could all go horribly wrong, and I'll turn out to be the 'New Roy Hodgson'.

Oh, hang-on, I was the 'New Roy Hodgson' at Fulham. I hope that's not an omen ;)

Here's my career history at Fulham:

AndyKingHistory_Overview-2-1.png

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AK22

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Congrats on the big move, hope you have some great success at your favourite club!
Good move,hopefully you can shake off the new Roy Hodgson tag off otherwise you'll be out of a job come January :D

I hope so too! But to be fair to Woy, he did his best, there was so much going on at the club with all the off-field sagas, that it was never going to be easy. I'm sure King Kenny standing in the shadows whispering sweet nothings into the owners ears didn't help matters much either ;)

This is the juggernaut I'm trying to stop:

BarclaysPremierLeagueHistory_PastWinners-1.png

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roganp

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I hope so too! But to be fair to Woy, he did his best, there was so much going on at the club with all the off-field sagas, that it was never going to be easy. I'm sure King Kenny standing in the shadows whispering sweet nothings into the owners ears didn't help matters much either ;)

This is the juggernaut I'm trying to stop:

BarclaysPremierLeagueHistory_PastWinners-1.png

That's how it should be :D

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AK22

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Liverpool F.C.

Wage: £30.5k per week

Contract Length: 5 years

Transfer Budget: £44.5m

Wage Budget: £2.1m per week

Current Player Wage Total: £1.28m per week

676.png

Year Founded: 1892

Nickname: The Reds

Rivals: Everton, Manchester United, Chelsea, Arsenal

Stadium: Anfield

Capacity: 45362 all-seater

Liverpool-9_1218534.jpg

2020/21

Media Prediction: 5th

Title Odds: N/A

As it stands 13th November 2020: 13th

Table | Fixtures

Board Expectations

Barclays Premier League: Qualify for the Champions League (Won't be judged at the moment)

UEFA Europa League: Reach the Final (Won't be judged at the moment)

FA Cup: Semi Final

Carling Cup: Not important (Knocked out already)

Initial Impressions

Squad Overview | Past Managers | Finances | Facilities

I'm really up for the task of making Liverpool the biggest club in England again, but it certainly won't be an overnight transition. Even though the squad is a lot better than the 13th league place suggests, there are a lot of golden-oldies coming to the end of their careers. From the players left behind from the Alex McLeish regime, I've inherited a 38 year-old Pepe Reina, a couple of 34 year-olds in Cristian Ansaldi and João Moutinho, and Luis Suarez, who is 33. Aaron Ramsey and Rafinha are probably the pick of the bunch at the moment, and my initial task will be to set up a tactic that gets the best out of these two quality midfielders, and push us back the table towards the top six. Looking at the youth team, there does seem to be some potential with Sam van der Meulen being the brightest spark, but none of which are ready for immediate first team action. For now, it will be a case of making do, and seeing who's available in January. I've got the money to spend, but do not want to overpay unless absolutely necessary.

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AK22

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Welcome to Anfield. At least you'll know you're at the right place.

I'm hoping there might be a new stadium on the horizon soon though. We can't play at Anfield forever!

Sorry to see you move to Liverpool just when things were clicking in Fulham.

To be fair to Fulham, if the start of the season had been better, and we were pushing the top four, then I might have considered saying. Unfortunately, this wasn't the case, and the draw to Liverpool was too big to resist. They'll be ok though, they've just replaced me with Gareth Southgate! :rolleyes:

Strange to see only average Junior Coaching...

Not ideal, but we should be able to improve this.

van der Meulen is going to be a star for sure - I can sense your excitement to get your Liverpool career started :) Good luck!
All the best with Liverpool. I see McLeish was working his usual "magic"!

Thanks abulezz and psychonaut. That's McLeish second sacking in the past two seasons after being replaced at Tottenham last year.

I've just realised we don't have one defensively minded midfielder in the squad, so this may be the stem of the problems at the club. I've got no-one who can play as a ball-winner, let alone someone who can play the 'Makelele role', so roll on January. Until then, we'll have to ride it out with a 'we'll score one more than you do' approach!

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AK22

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Good luck with Liverpool! :thup:
As an Evertonian, it's through gritted teeth I wish you good luck at Liverpool
Good luck! Worth looking at a 5-man defence until you can pick up the defensive midfielder? Means you can have suicidally attacking fullbacks, which I absolutely love :D

Thanks for the comments :thup:

I've actually started with a 4-2-3-1 formation, with a deep-lying playmaker (defend) and central midfielder (support) as the two men in the middle of the park. I did consider going with three centre-backs, but would have had to sacrifice my wingers to keep some kind of coherency to the formation, so decided against it in the end. I will be aiming to go 4-5-1 (with a winger and inside forward on the flanks) once I've got the squad to be able to do so.

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AK22

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Liverpool F.C.

676.png

Mid-Season Update 2020/21

Barclays Premier League: 10th

Europa League Group I: 1st

Fixtures

BarclaysPremierLeagueOverview_Stages-3-1.png

UEFAEuropaLeagueOverview_Stages-1.png

In all honesty, not the start I was hoping for. I obviously underestimated the task in hand, as no way did I think it would take six games to register my first win as Liverpool boss. The draws at home to Leicester and Cardiff were both pitiful displays, but nowhere near as bad as the performances we put in away to West Ham and Chelsea. Thankfully, the win against Espanyol was the tonic we needed to turn the tide, and we followed this up by beating our rivals, Man Utd, to secure my first league win at the club, and put a huge dent in their title hunt.

Generally, things are now on an upwards track, with the team gaining confidence, and putting some points on the board. It did look a bit scary at one stage, when we slipped down to 17th and were only outside the relegation zone on goal difference. With £44.5m to spend, a few new faces will be joining in the January window as I look to freshen up the squad. A solid holding midfielder will be the main target, but I wouldn't mind another striker and another wide-man which will give me a stronger bench to play with when things aren't going our way.

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Raware

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Wow, it's all happened in here! Don't blame you for moving especially as it's the team you support. Still more than enough time to qualify for a European place although not much chance of a title challenge I think. Disappointed to see Forest in the relegation zone :thdn:.

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AK22

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Sixth place and another foray into Europe should be your target?

Realistically, that's the best we can do. It will take a lot to close down the 11 point gap to the Champions League places, but sixth place is a lot more manageable.

I hate the Boston Red Sox, which means I hate Liverpool. On top of that, one of my favourite English teams is Everton! (who I don't see on the table... :()

Good luck! (*Washes mouth*)

:D There's a lot more support for Everton on the forums than I ever knew! ;)

The Toffees are doing spectacularly well... in the Championship, where they currently sit 21st!!

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AK22

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Wow, it's all happened in here! Don't blame you for moving especially as it's the team you support. Still more than enough time to qualify for a European place although not much chance of a title challenge I think. Disappointed to see Forest in the relegation zone :thdn:.

No work for me this week, and I've had a solid 12 hours playing time over the last day :cool: No chance of a title challenge this season, but I'll be aiming for the top four next year. All really depends on how generous the chairman is in the summer, as the squad will need at least another three players for us to sustain a challenge.

Forest are yo-yoing a bit at the moment, but there's plenty of time for a rescue job. I've just beat them 2-0 though, sorry :o :D

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AK22

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Judging by last night's race, neither am I. :D

:D

Ooof, thats a rough start to your Liverpool career - still, it looks like you've righted the ship. Topping your Europa League is also a plus!
Steady progress, as abu said, well done topping the Euro group. Could be a chance of silverware?

Possibly, although winning the Europa League is pretty tough. Depends on how serious the other major teams take the tournament.

Look on the bright side. Liverpool are in Europe.
Something else that makes FM unrealistic? :D

Good job I've got a sense of humour! I suppose I need one to support Liverpool :D

Yikes! Tottenham's having a bit of trouble!!!

They're in serious danger of being relegated. David Moyes only lasted five months in job before being sacked!

Still can turn it around a bit.
Big move to Liverpool, good luck! Looks like a bit of work is needed with the squad.

I'll be happy with a top six finish, strengthen the squad over the summer, then aim for the top four next season. I'm going to have to get rid of several 'dinosaurs', which will lower to wage bill considerably, but does mean it may take a while for the new squad to gel together.

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