FM12: Swansea City - Clwb Pêl-droed Dinas Abertawe

[tommonufc]

ballinisahabit90

Very, very impressive! Well done my man. This knocks my measly two seasons of 12th and a F.A Cup win into a cocked hat; makes it even more an achievement by sticking to the real players too. Good luck in Europe man; you'll enjoy it

Guess I'l have to go and get a top 4 and win the Europa League this season then

[ballinisahabit90]

Cheers tommonufc. Congrats on your FA Cup win thats quite an achivement mate

Ahhh i dont believe it, Tomas Necid who i signed on loan has jus done his cruciate ligaments an is out for 8-9 months! He was in great form aswell with 5 goals in 5(4) appearences!

On a more positive note, we qualified for Europe spanking SK Rapid Wein 7-2 on agg, weve been drawn in a group with Dortmund, AA Gent and Spatak Moscow. Won our first 2 games 1-0 at home to Dortmund and 3-0 away at Gent. Sitting 2nd in the EPL after 7 games, winning 7, drawing 1 and losing 1. Weve drawn Chelsea in the League Cup 4th round again after beating Everton 3-0, revenge is on the cards! Happy days so far!

[Powello]

Cheers tommonufc. Congrats on your FA Cup win thats quite an achivement mate

Ahhh i dont believe it, Tomas Necid who i signed on loan has jus done his cruciate ligaments an is out for 8-9 months! He was in great form aswell with 5 goals in 5(4) appearences!

On a more positive note, we qualified for Europe spanking SK Rapid Wein 7-2 on agg, weve been drawn in a group with Dortmund, AA Gent and Spatak Moscow. Won our first 2 games 1-0 at home to Dortmund and 3-0 away at Gent. Sitting 2nd in the EPL after 7 games, winning 7, drawing 1 and losing 1. Weve drawn Chelsea in the League Cup 4th round again after beating Everton 3-0, revenge is on the cards! Happy days so far!

Sounds like a good start to the season and some very postive results in the Europa. Keep it up!!

Unlucky about Necid, It's annoying when that happens.

I'm going so slowly on my save, still only about 9 league games or so into it. I seem to be doing 1 or 2 games a night after work. Sitting 4th at the moment. I'm liking my tactic and its working, but I am still tweaking it. I always seem to mess around with it lol. I am never satisfied. I tell you, even if we won the league in the first season, I would still find more negatives than positives, I suppose I am a perfectionist and won't be happy until everything runs exactly how I want it to.

AT the moment I want Graham to score goals for a change and Sinclair to do more than just run with the ball and win corners. I have found a few errors in what he does. I am sure I am missing something. He just tends to run down the wing where when he should be crossing it or cutting inside then either shooting or passing it to someone, he just stands there turns inside and gets tackled, or on the odd occasion he manages to get through and he just blasts it wide or over.

On the plus side though, I have a sneaky feeling we can manage the target I always set my teams no matter who I am, and thats to get in th top 4 minimum. I know, I know... It's a silly target to set considering its the first season in the prem and not an amazing squad just yet but it's what I do lol. It all depends on getting the strike firing as thats the main thing missing, at least then it cna hide the sometimes dodgy defending haha. My philosophy is attack, attack, attack.

[ballinisahabit90]

Considering i finished 6th mate i dont reckon top 4 is too unrealistic, had we scored a few more goals i reckon i would of finished 4th possibly!?

Just agreed a £2.5m for Kyle Walker of Spurs, he shall be joining on the 1st of Jan . Also on the look out for a striker after sending Necid back to CSKA, David Goodwillie doesnt look too bad for £4m, any thoughts lads?

Oh and we didnt get revenge on Chels in the League Cup, after a 1-1 draw at the Bridge we lost on pens -__-

[II McColl II]

PRE SEASON 2011/12

Completed pre season and played the first 3 games of the league aswell so thought i would do a quick update. Pre season went well with us winning all our games and only conceding 1 goal throughout.

I made quite a few changes to the squad and brought in quite a few players to provide extra competition for starting places. the squad didnt feel like it had much strength in depth and there is still some areas i would have liked to add back up players in but unfortunately i was unable to complete deals with some teams (these players included Liam Ridgewell, Hendry Thomas, Bressan. So in the these are the transfers in and out that got completed;

IN -

Teko Modise - 750k

Sergio - Free

Wilfried - 2.5 million

Craig Dawson - 3.9 million (2.5 million over 48 months)

Tomas Rincon - 750k (beast of a DM)

OUT -

Andrea Orlandi - 550K

Nathan Dyer - 3 million

Kemy Agustien - 1.7 million

Federico Bessone - Loan 375k

Mark Gower - 1 million

Stephen Dobbie - Loan 500k

Rory Donnelly - Loan

Daniel Alfei - Loan

First 2 games of the season were Arsenal (A) and Bolton (H). We took the lead early against Arsenal but eventually slumped to a disappointing 2-1 defeat, we matched Arsenal all game and finished with 50% possession each, the difference was we lacked a clinical instinct.

Second game v Bolton at home left me angry with how we managed to lose the game, they had one shot on target out of five and again like in the arsenal game we wasted far too many chances having 15 shots and hitting the target 6 times but none really troubled the keeper. Even more dominant in this game with 63% felt like crying after the final whistle xD.

After this i decided to tweak my formation and the player instructions i had set, i removed all shooting from range and lowered the creative freedom so they stuck to what i asked them to do, pushed the defensive line up further and play offside to hold the line. The 2 games after this change were Wycombe (H) in the cup and Man City (A) in the league.

Wycombe game the lads came flying out the blocks scoring after 24 seconds and eventually ran out 5-1 winners with Danny Graham bagging himself a hattrick. Again good control of the game in this one with 63% possession again.

Up next was Man City, i decided to give Wilfried his first start and also threw Tomas Rincon straight in hours after finalising his work permit, he never disappointed and blocked and tackled anything that came near him. WHAT A WIN!! We ran out 4-1 winners away from home at Man City controlling the match with 55% possession and limiting Man City too long shots, not a bad way to get your first premier league win for the welsh club

Hopefully now the lads can keep up these performances and keep scoring the goals which is what we were missing.

[Powello]

Considering i finished 6th mate i dont reckon top 4 is too unrealistic, had we scored a few more goals i reckon i would of finished 4th possibly!?

Just agreed a £2.5m for Kyle Walker of Spurs, he shall be joining on the 1st of Jan . Also on the look out for a striker after sending Necid back to CSKA, David Goodwillie doesnt look too bad for £4m, any thoughts lads?

Oh and we didnt get revenge on Chels in the League Cup, after a 1-1 draw at the Bridge we lost on pens -__-

Well I shall be working on it :-)

Kyle waker should be a great signing, he looks quality. Not too sure about Goodwillie, haven't seen his stats and I'm not on at the mo. If hes anything ike real life he should have some interesting ones.

Unlucky against Chelsea, but only losing on pens isn't too bad.

PRE SEASON 2011/12

Completed pre season and played the first 3 games of the league aswell so thought i would do a quick update. Pre season went well with us winning all our games and only conceding 1 goal throughout.

I made quite a few changes to the squad and brought in quite a few players to provide extra competition for starting places. the squad didnt feel like it had much strength in depth and there is still some areas i would have liked to add back up players in but unfortunately i was unable to complete deals with some teams (these players included Liam Ridgewell, Hendry Thomas, Bressan. So in the these are the transfers in and out that got completed;

IN -

Teko Modise - 750k

Sergio - Free

Wilfried - 2.5 million

Craig Dawson - 3.9 million (2.5 million over 48 months)

Tomas Rincon - 750k (beast of a DM)

OUT -

Andrea Orlandi - 550K

Nathan Dyer - 3 million

Kemy Agustien - 1.7 million

Federico Bessone - Loan 375k

Mark Gower - 1 million

Stephen Dobbie - Loan 500k

Rory Donnelly - Loan

Daniel Alfei - Loan

First 2 games of the season were Arsenal (A) and Bolton (H). We took the lead early against Arsenal but eventually slumped to a disappointing 2-1 defeat, we matched Arsenal all game and finished with 50% possession each, the difference was we lacked a clinical instinct.

Second game v Bolton at home left me angry with how we managed to lose the game, they had one shot on target out of five and again like in the arsenal game we wasted far too many chances having 15 shots and hitting the target 6 times but none really troubled the keeper. Even more dominant in this game with 63% felt like crying after the final whistle xD.

After this i decided to tweak my formation and the player instructions i had set, i removed all shooting from range and lowered the creative freedom so they stuck to what i asked them to do, pushed the defensive line up further and play offside to hold the line. The 2 games after this change were Wycombe (H) in the cup and Man City (A) in the league.

Wycombe game the lads came flying out the blocks scoring after 24 seconds and eventually ran out 5-1 winners with Danny Graham bagging himself a hattrick. Again good control of the game in this one with 63% possession again.

Up next was Man City, i decided to give Wilfried his first start and also threw Tomas Rincon straight in hours after finalising his work permit, he never disappointed and blocked and tackled anything that came near him. WHAT A WIN!! We ran out 4-1 winners away from home at Man City controlling the match with 55% possession and limiting Man City too long shots, not a bad way to get your first premier league win for the welsh club

Hopefully now the lads can keep up these performances and keep scoring the goals which is what we were missing.

Thats a prett good start to the season and 4-1 against City is amazing so early on, so well done. Your posession stats are pretty impressive aswell. Be interesting to see how you get on against the other "big" sides.

I wish people would stop geting sinclair doing well when I can't LOL.

[tommonufc]

2013/14 - Mid Season

Premier League

Things are going well, competing for a Europa League place through the league at the moment, and I'm confident I can maintain this position if not progress. Still not fairing to well against the 'bigger sides'; which is something of a worry. So that will be something that can be improved on.

Europa League

Looks can be deceptive; although finishing top, I was set to be dumped out at the group stages until the last 5mins in the last game against Roma, but up popped Steven Taylor to send us through. I qualified 3-2 over two legs in the 4th Round Qualifying against Basel. Most pleased with the 4-1 win away in the Italian capital against the former giants of Roma. Been handed another trip to Italy, this time to Florence against Fiorentina. A tough tie that if I can progress through will see me play the winner of Dnipro or Marseille. Some very good teams in this competition - Lyon, Arsenal, Juventus and Spurs could be seen as favorites.

At the start of the season I aimed for a mid-table finish, and due to the relative success this season I was offered to reassess my targets. Therefore I've aimed for a Europa League qualification, and been handed an extra £13m to help me along the way. Not too sure what I can spend this on, although a center back could again be a top priority. Nothing really caught my eye in the summer, which saw me stick at what I had. Ashley Williams has been out injured for the last few weeks, but him and Steven Taylor have formed the first choice partnership at the back, with Jean-Baptiste Morel[<< link] and Stefan Strandberg stepping in to cover. Jean-Baptiste Morel's preferred position is at right back, and is rated to become a leading Premier League right back with Manchester City showing an interest in him. Neither of these four guys are averaging 7.00+ at the moment, which is detrimental to the fact we are conceding too many goals. This could be solved by the arrival of what I deem to be a top-quality center back. Steven Taylor has played well for me during a previous Newcastle save, so I am still confident with his abilities if I can find him a partner that can provide a rigid partnership. But these performances where made with the likes of Subotic, Papadopoulos, Jones and Coloccini at his side; therefore I think Ashley Williams could be the weak link. He's fast approaching the big 3 Zero! This is an age I tend to avoid with players in FM, unless they are of exceptional quality, so this means, sadly Williams' days are numbered.

Yohan Cabeye, Daniel Tozser and Yessen aren't too happy with the lack of games, due to Joe Allen and Cristian Eriksen playing the majority of my games in central midfield. This could see the departure of one or two of these players, with the most likely being Cabeye. A handful of clubs around Europe are interested in him after he requested a transfer request. If I can see a good return on what I paid for him, he will shipped out.

Glyfi again has been brilliant, currently nursing a torn groin so out for the next few weeks; he has 12 goals and 14 assists from 28(1) appearances this season. Vossen has been a steady performer so far, with 11 goals. This could be improved upon, but is par for the course in a team that isn't going to blow away every team week in, week out; coupled with his lonesome poaching style, hit or miss, bu has the ability to score out of a half chance and is deadly in one-on-one chances. Esteban Granero, who arrived on a free from Real Madrid at the start of the season has now become a very important player after a slow start. He's been a main stay at RW all season, but in the last 5/6 games has been a revelation since taking some advice on how to play over in the Real Madrid forum. Scott Sinclair has been decent, scoring 8 goals in 24. He tends to go missing in some games, but can be a danger even with his limited technical ability. The main surprise of the season so far has been Alex Smithies; arriving on a free from League 1 Huddersfield he has since become my #1, replacing Michel Vorm after impressing in the early stages of the Europa League and Carling Cup. He has much better communication and command of area than Vorm, which I've found to noticeably different in he stability of my back line.

[Powello]

Getting through the group stages is an achievement, so good work there. Its one thing being relative newcomers in the top league, but a totally different thing being newcomers in Europe. You get to judge even, more than the league how the team is progressing. Especially in away matches. And looking at how you are fairing so far, your team is progressing well and improving each season.

I had a look at th elink of Morel, he looks quality for his age, good find!

[tommonufc]

Powello

Yeah, I'm very pleased with how the team is doing. Quietly confident against Fiorentina, Jovetic seems to be their main man, so he may need marshaling. Sadly I don't have what could be seen as a natural defensive midfielder that could be used to stop someone like Jovetic. On another hand, I've just seen this guy in my squad..

.. completely forgot I signed this guy. Been waiting for him to turn 18 and join us, and now I don't really know what to do with the guy. Brought him for £325k from Velez of Argentina. Rated a wholesome 4 stars, he's got great technical ability, and should develop to have a great passing ability. Sadly he doesn't have much creativity, at least not enough to show promise of him being the next Iniesta. I would envisage him playing the 'Joe Allen' role in the midfield - the guy that keeps the side ticking over, passing the ball on. May have to delve a little deeper into South America, could find myself a nice new shiny center back.

[II McColl II]

congrats on getting through the group stages in europe, morel looks a good player for his age

since the bolton defeat i am yet to lose or draw, the tweaks in the tactics have turned us into lethal goal getters results are;

Wycombe (Cup Home) 5-1 win

Man City (League Away) 4-1 win

QPR (League Home) 5-2 win

Liverpool (League Away) 3-2 win

West Ham (Cup Away) 3-1 win

Norwich (League Home) 3-0 win

[Powello]

tommonufc

He looks a good player for the future but not amazing, he owuld be a good back up though.

South America has some good finds, I have Leandro Gioda, cheap and pretty good, hes doing the job for me. There are many of all positions there though.

II McColl II

Some good results there mate, good work on the goals

[tommonufc]

@Powello Just taken a look at Leandro Gioda, he's gone to to Toulouse on my save. Has been there two season, hasn't fared too well, averaging 6.67 last season. Can't imagine him losing out to many headers!

Just given Fabio Baldini his debut in a FA Cup 3rd round tie against Chelsea. Did a great job in midfield, ending up with a 7.2. The game itself was what you see to be a 'classic' cup tie. We came out on top in the end, 4-3, with Jelle Vossen sealing the winner in the 91st minute!

Just found another player in my team! I really need to keep track of my team. Just discovered this guy in my reserves, plus a few other young guys I picked up from lower clubs around England. Picked up this guy for £85k from St. Pat's in Ireland. Lacks concentration and composure, but that may come with time and with the right tutoridge (is that a word?). Will try and give him a couple of games see how he does.

David Hassan

While I'm in full screenshotting-swing, I thought I'd reveal my best kept secret! He was, understandably, the pick of last years youth intake. Been training him as a winger since, as I envisage him being the Welsh Cafu, and with some reserve football his stats have rocketed. A bit lazy within his work rate, and slow to start with 10 acceleration, but he's only 16! Just signed Romario on a permanent deal after he was on loan at the club for two years, but this guy should, hopefully be stiff competition for him in the near future.

Here's two more academy boys that are rated to have Premier League potential;

Edit; After taking a prolonged interlude from the game of an hour or so, I come back to see that Athletico Madrid have made a bid accumulating to £16m for Yohan Cabeye; with £11m made up from installments over the next 4 years! Anyway, this was accepted on my behalf. So I just get the message confirming the sale of the player without even knowing a bid had been made.

[Powello]

He's doing well enough for me for what I paid for him. Yeah he is a beast in the air, def his strength.

Good start for Baldini and a great win!

That's some promising youngsters you have there. And it's tutorage, so closely done

Have you set up training schedules? I haven't been bothered, normally if I do I just download one off here as I haven't really studied it in too much detail so wouldn't know where to start.

I just played Newcastle at home in the league. Ging into the game I was on an 8 game unbeaten streak sitting in 3rd. In the 65th min I was 1-0 down so I made some tactic changes and made 3 subs to hopefully turn it around. Literally a minute after the subs came on, sinclair got injured so was down to 10, then 5 mins later Taylor got sent off and then had another injury, so not only finished with 8 men we lost 2-0. Lucas Andersen was the main casualty, he's now out for 6 months

[tommonufc]

Tutorage.. of course, doh!

I have the Furious schedules that I use for the most part, but some players like these youngsters I tend to make my own.

Seem to have found a happy medium tactically; just beat Southampton at home 3-0. 68% possession, 24 shots, 14 on target, and 5 ccc. Joe Allen topped the passing with 62/67. Enjoyed this game, as I gave Romario full license to bomb forward with full slider on attacking and creative freedom!

[Welshace]

i use the furious schedules as a base too... adjusted to players i have of course...

also... my heart still lays in this thread btw.. i just cant bring myself to start a save with swansea until after the patch.. so with that in mind.. im doing a bit of an experiment with newcastle and trying out some homemade tactics hoping to get my passing and possession up like many of you are we will see

edit: . may not be relevent to most of you or anything but i thought i'd share my first match experience of creating the swansea way of playing..

clicky

[tommonufc]

@welshace

Had a read before you whacked in the edit, some nice results in that game from what I can see. Something that I have evolved from, and is now working for me is to have one of my midfielders to sit deep and keep the ball moving and linking up attacks to the more creative players. My player here is Joe Allen, I've set him up as my playmaker and targetman (to feet), his job is to just, like I say, move the ball on and recycle phases of play - sort of the role Busquetes would carry out at Barca. In your Newcastle side the player that would jump out to be this guy would be Yohan Cabeye, but I'm guessing you might be using him as the creative spark in the middle. If that's the case I think Chiek Tiote could adept within that role. He doesn't need to the be able to pass a ball like Xavi, just have enough ability to make simple passes here and there, and look to receive the ball at times. This role has become crucial to me maintaining high possession whilst looking to attack and score goals; previously Joe Allen could have made 100+ passes in this role due to the players around him and general team approach being a lot more conservative. But now he would be making, on a bad day, 50 completed passes. This therefore allows you to control the middle ground of the pitch through possession of the ball, and as we know, this is nine tenths of the law! Can post up Joe Allen's tactical instructions if you like, but I'm sure you can get the general jist of it.

------------------------------------

Just hit a great patch of form, asides from the F.A Cup tie, this has shot me up to 7th in the PL table, level on points with Blackburn on 6th and 4 points clear of 8th. Chelsea are 5th place with 49 points, so it looks to bigger gap to breach to finish 5th or above this season. Some tough games coming up, so will hope this can continue! Had a great couple of results in Europe too ...

First leg result came as a bit of a suprise. Niang was brilliant over both legs; opted for him ahead of Vossen so that I could really threaten Fiorentina on the break with the pace of him and Sinclair. Second leg was even better, taking the lead within 20seconds! Niang scoring again. Slowly introducing him to first team football now, and he's playing very, very well - with 5 goals within his last 5 games. He was injured for the first 3 months since signing, so it has naturally become a slow introduction - but is fairing well.

Slightly peeved that the people of South Wales had better things to do on this Thursday evening. What I would deem to be a big game, only 20,065 seats out of the new, bigger and improved 25,770 seater Liberty Stadium where filled. Doesn't bode well for progression and future revenue streams.

[Welshace]

i do indeed.... i play a 3 man midfield ...

 

gylfi  cabaye


   tiote 

gylfi is a free-roamer, doing what he does best ...

tiote sits back sweeping up and absorbing any attacks and stray balls and plays short passes to the playmaker (and targetman co-incidently)

cabaye is playing the role you describe... he's at the mc position but is played as a deep laying playmaker , on very short passing and ive restricted his forward runs or roaming ... in practice this means he sits almost adjacent with tiote or only slightly ahead and is basically my quaterback.. gets the ball and looks to pass and move without ever really getting too far into the final 3rd tbh.. stats wise, he's a top passer, and one of the top tacklers too in fact.

good to know other people are thinking along the same lines tactically .. would love to see your tactics/instructions, especially since mine seems to be failing away from home, even against inferior opposition :/

[tommonufc]

@welshace Here is the tactical instructions of my three central midfielders. As you can see I like to have Glyfi in behind the striker, this is personal preference and works best for me, especially now that I have someone with good creativity from deep in Eriksen. Not too sure what I can explain or expand upon what I've previously said, as a picture speaks a thousand words. Another thing I would add, is to pay attention to the 'wide play' of the players. This is important I feel, as it encourages somebody like Joe Allen to move out to either side to the RB or LB areas and receive a square or reverse ball from the full backs that I like to have high up the pitch. Very important I'd say, as you will usually have at least one of your full backs dominate the passing through your team - so it makes sense that you would want somebody always going to offer a pass to him.

Team Instructions

Joe Allen - Set as playmaker, and target man to feet.

Cristian Eriksen - Allowed to run with ball, but no through balls so that he makes use of his ppm and runs at the defence from deep - very dangerous. The more attacking and creative of my two deep cms.

Glyfi - Allowed long shots, because, well you know! Normally, unless you have a Glyfi they would be limited. Some games, I'll move up his runs from deep.

*Glyfi does in fact have no long shots, this is because I had Hatem Ben Arfa playing in the previous game, and I need to limit what this cretin does! Should be set to sometimes/often.

These tactical instructions are a lot more geared to scoring goals and creating chances, from which you will then dominate the possession through posing a constant threat on the attack. Previously, where I was geared much more around getting Joe Allen to control the game the creative freedom of the players shown would be much lower, and his cm partner would have similar instructions to him, along with the full backs being a lot more conservative.

[II McColl II]

tricky run of games coming up now which should tell me how good my team actually are. still unbeaten since the bolton game and currently sitting in 4th place in the league but next 3 games are Man Utd, Arsenal (Cup), Chelsea and all of them are without my best striker wilfried.

Have to admit though Sigurdsson is a bit special on this game, so far he has 7 goals in 12 league games with 9 assists

god embarrased by man utd 4-0, team were awful they had 20 shots we had 1, never got at them and ashley williams cost us 2 goals and got a 4.3 rating

[Welshace]

ahhh very interesting tommo... helps me a lot ... im going to experiment with my midfield now in fact

cheers

[II McColl II]

well the losses are finally starting to happen and as the saying goes "when it rains it pours"

won 2 drawn 2 lost 3 in the last 8 games but the losses included, 4-0 man utd, 4-1 chelsea and the most embarrasing 5-1 west brom who are 17th in the league.

Luckily getting up to the january transfer window and will be selling a lot of players, graham can go as he has interest from QPR and quite frankly he is useless (we missed wilfried so much) tremmel, moriera, moore, lita have all been promised i will sell them due to not playing them

[Powello]

well the losses are finally starting to happen and as the saying goes "when it rains it pours"

won 2 drawn 2 lost 3 in the last 8 games but the losses included, 4-0 man utd, 4-1 chelsea and the most embarrasing 5-1 west brom who are 17th in the league.

Luckily getting up to the january transfer window and will be selling a lot of players, graham can go as he has interest from QPR and quite frankly he is useless (we missed wilfried so much) tremmel, moriera, moore, lita have all been promised i will sell them due to not playing them

To be fair losing to United and Chelsea shouldn't be taken too badly at the moment. You are still building the side and they are new to the prem so wouldn't worry about that. Make sure you study what happened in the West Brom and work out what wen wrong, if oyu figure that out you can work on stopping it from happening again.

Have you found replacements for the strikers as it looks like you are getting rid of nearly all of them in one go? Make sure you get someone els ein before you let them all go just incase

[II McColl II]

i got a few lined up with a couple of shock potential signings in the first season

[Powello]

i got a few lined up with a couple of shock potential signings in the first season

Ooh I am intrigued

[uros19]

Im loooking forward to start save with Swansea. Can anyone tell me why is save with them fun to have ?

[tommonufc]

Im loooking forward to start save with Swansea. Can anyone tell me why is save with them fun to have ?

You start of with a limit ability squad, but with some good young players like Joe Allen, Neil Taylor and Scott Sinclair. I was drawn to starting a save with Swansea after watching them beat Arsenal the other week; thought it'd be enjoyable to create some success through the use of possession and expansive football. Certainly enjoying it so far!

[TheBigBoss]

Im loooking forward to start save with Swansea. Can anyone tell me why is save with them fun to have ?

Very good to have because you can try & build a good footballing team aswell as that the chairman seems quite ambitious and will give you money to spend every season around the 15mil+ mark

[Powello]

Im loooking forward to start save with Swansea. Can anyone tell me why is save with them fun to have ?

So far I am having the most fun managing Swansea than I have had managing any other side in a very long time. Like tommonufc, I have been drawn into managing them by watching them in real life. The way they go about the game is great to watch and I enjoy the challenge of not only matching them but surpassing them on the game.

I am positive you would enjoy it as much as the rest f us also once you get into it

[deejay10]

Hi all my game is into its 6th season, anyone want any screenshots of the future ? Like Scott Sinclair's career history for example ?

[Powello]

Hi all my game is into its 6th season, anyone want any screenshots of the future ? Like Scott Sinclair's career history for example ?

Hey mate,

How are you getting on?

Not for me thanks, I don't like spoilers lol

[tommonufc]

End of season run in, and Glyfi's brilliance..

Changed my midfield combination four games ago, swapping around Glyfi and Eriksen; with Glyfi moving into a cm role, and Eriksen in behind the striker. Changed some tactical instructions accordingly - increased Glyfi's long shots to lots, and through balls to lots; whilst Eriksen to have run with ball often and through balls often. Results have been amazing, especially Glyfi! It seems he is given so much more room to work with in a cm role, avoiding the crowded 18yard line that he finds himself in when playing in an amc, allowing him to pepper his shots in from distance; contrary to this, the diminutive and nibble Eriksen suits the tighter spaces, with him having top off the ball, dribbling, creativity, decisions, pace and acceleration. In this new role, Eriksen scored his first 3 goals of the season, in one game, and has now extended his assists to a mighty 21 for the season so far! Take a look at what Glyfi has been up too, bearing in mind there are still a few games to go..

..this therefore has helped me push up the league since I last posted - now into the heady heights of 5th! But sadly I doubt I will stay here, as Chelsea have a couple of games on me.

Sadly I couldn't make it past Marseille in the Europa League; would have liked to win the competition, but I think I may have to bypass it somewhat in the couple of seasons during my pursuit for a Champions League place, as it really does take a tole on your squad - evident in the 2-1 defeat away at Aston Villa. But other than that, and the away day at Old Trafford, the League form has been brilliant. Four games left, two tough fixtures against Arsenal and Man City; I fancy my chances against Arsenal, but Man City away will be a real test.

[Powello]

That certainly is some impressive results with the switch around.. I haven't thought to play Gylfi in that role. I usually either have him in the amc or the lone striker role as a Treq. Now looking at what hes done for you I have something to think about.

You are having a fab season well done so far, unblucky aganst Marseille though. Yeah it must be tricky playing so may games in a small amount of time. Hopefully I shal have that to look forward to next season

I shall be posting a mid-season update soon.

[tommonufc]

It's a nice experience, playing these teams from the depths of Europe; certainly a good gauge of how your team is doing; but is very difficult to field a strong side on a Thursday against a top side like Marseille, then having to rely on those same players to get your through a tough away fixture in the league on the Sunday - the fixtures begin to take their tole on certain players, and then they need a bloody week off!

Last two games since the my last post have been the Arsenal and Birmingham games - winning both, extending my winning run to 7 back to back Premier League games. Scott Sinclair put Arsenal to the sword, scoring two in a 3-0 win, ending the game with a comfortable 54% possession and 5ccc. The game against Birmingham was one for the neutral, ending 4-3 in my favor (Sinclair, Vossen x2 and Eriksen).

Noticed Sinclair really blossoming in the last few games, this I think is partly due to the extended creativty that I have given to him, and players around him since I moved Glyfi and Eriksen around; and, the key factor I think, both Eriksen from AM and Glyfi from CM having full license to the through ball. This has allowed me to get in behind the oppositions back line a lot more, whether it be Vossen or Sinclair himself - prime example being one of Sinclair's goals against Arsenal; Eriksen played Vossen in behind, which saw him through on goal before squaring for Sinclair to tap into an unguarded net. Very excited for next season.

Edit; 8/8 - Fulham 4-0 (Sinclair x2, Eriksen, Niang) Sinclair secured himself a place in the 30-man preliminary squad for the 2014 World Cup on the back of this performance; as well as the win securing my place back in the Europa League again next season. Next up Man City, got a feeling they will halt my run; but I don't really want the season to end!

Another Edit; 8/9 - Man City 8-2 Swansea (Vossen, Andersen) Expected a defeat in all honesty. Last game of the season with nothing riding on it on my part, so couldn't really be bothered with any tactical master plan, and just sent them out as they were.. and got my pants pulled down as a result! Went 1-0 down early on, which saw me whack the game speed to full and watch through commentary, just to get an ordeal over and done with. Goal, after goal went in, going in at half time 6-0 down. Half time I threw a few tea cups around, and busted some balls. This resulted in me scoring 2 goals to no reply, the comeback was on! Alas that wasn't the case, and my goal difference took a battering. Season report to follow tomorrow I expect.

Ha! Chelsea just approached me for a job. £2.8m transfer budget, and £2m wage budget. Thanks, but no thanks Roman. Although that'd be a hell of a challenge to rejuvenate that aging squad with such a pitance, shall 'save as' and come back to it later. Probably once I've won the Premier League and Europa League with the Swans next season I kid, I kid..

[Powello]

Haha, and they get paid so much... the cheek!!

It seems its all coming together for you, very well done.

Yeah you can really utilise sinclairs pace with the right pass, he can be really deadly.

Sorry for the short responses, I am knackered, just enjoying my game so much at the mo can't bring myself to go to bed lol

[II McColl II]

sinclair for me is very underrated as i find myself muttering about how i feel he is performing badly then i check his season stats and so far he has; Played 20 Scored 7 Assists 7 AVG 7.41 and thats just the league, considering his limitations i feel that is pretty impressive from AML

On the transfer side of things i am currently midway through January of first season and have agreed a deal to sign Gaston Fernandez at the end of the season for free, he should provide good back up and competition for wilfried. My 2 shock potential signings i have unfortunately been unable to match the wages required for full time contracts and loans. The 2 players in question were Antonio Valencia and Andy Carroll, Valencia is transfer listed at £4 million which is a steal but unfortunately he wont budge on anything other than 60k a week and all i can off is 38k so that is not happening now. Andy Carroll was a short term loan fix i was looking into and liverpool are more than happy to negotiate a loan with no fee however my board will not meet the 40% wages required instead only allow me 30%, this chairman frustrates me xD

I have a few other transfer listed and loan targets i am considering before i go panic buying elsewhere.

So far the departures include;

Tremmel

Moriera

Lita (loan)

Graham is expected to leave shortly and i have a short term loan eyed up as a replacement

[tommonufc]

@II McColl II Sinclair has been a revelation for me this season, has turned into a real threat to any defence, even with limited technical and mental skills. I think him as a player, and the surrounding team have to be set up properly for him to fire on all cylinders and perform like he is shown to do. For the first two and half seasons, up until post Christmas 2013/14 I wasn't to enamoured with him, perceiving him to be just another one of those quick, one dimensional wingers; but since real efforts have been taken to get the collective time firing as a goal scoring and creative force he has blossomed into a goalscorer - just a shame this Eureka moment wasn't reached earlier within the season, as he I think he could have easily hit 20+ goals in all competitions for me, easily. A similar situation looks to be happening with you with him!

Valencia would have been a good singing, and would have tied your right wing down nicely, but I think that will be the problem when trying to attract the higher caliber of player that you aspire to have in your side - their wages. On the other hand, I think you have dodged a bullet with Andy Carroll. Never rated him entirely in real life, even whilst riding band waggon when he was scoring goals for Newcastle I didn't rate him to have great technical ability - something that is coming to fruition during his current struggles at Liverpool (£35m, HA! Still dining out on this a year on!). But I think, this carries over into FM, certainly from my experiences with him. If your looking to play a direct style he can be effective, but even trying to pair him in a Targetman/Poacher front two certain factors really let him down, let alone in a team that is trying to play an expansive, creative, possession based style of football that would be seen at Swansea - assuming you are, like many in this thread are doing so.

Instead of Carroll, if you are looking for a striker I'd give Jelle Vossen my full recommendations. Brought him for £2.3m in January 2012. Has just had a very good season, finishing with 22 goals year and 13 assists - a very good return I feel for a striker who is seen as the archetypal, Linekar and Inzaghi poacher. I expect an even better return from him next season, especially coming off the back of such impressive individual and team performances this year. Other than him Danny Welbeck has had a good season with Fulham on my save, and is usually available for transfer from Man U freely - used him to good affect as a poacher in a previous Newcastle save, just got to keep his morale up and his form will replicate.

[Powello]

MID SEASON UPDATE

So I have finally made it into January and the transfer window. As you can see in the fixtures below the season so far is going very well. Currently we are on a 9 game unbeaten streak, winning 6 of them. I don't think I could be any more chuffed with how its going.

But as you can see in the screenie below we have some pretty tough matches coming up. First time round against them, we did extremely well, hopefully we can repeat that form. I am hoping for a minimum 6 points out of the Liverpool, Chelsea and City matches.

As I have mentioned befre in previous posts that when I start a save with a lower team, I always set myself a target of at least 4th. I do love a challenge, but I don't always expect to get it. But at the mo, as you can see, half way through the seasn and sitting cofmortably in 3rd. It's been sightly shocking how well we have done. But at the same time it's been hard work. Many times we have been behind by 1 or 2 goals at half time and its taken a right telling off and a few tactical tweaks and subs to get the result. But it has been worth it.

Attack wise we haven't been too bad, with goals coming from all over the team. I would like to see us take more of the chances we create though as there is plenty. What I find, and it really annoys me, is that players run through on goal, have only the goalie to beat but they will either sky it from 8 yards or stop turn around and pass it back to a centre mid. I have no idea why they do that. Gylfi and Sinclair are both doing pretty well, but I am not getting out of them what a lot of you are so I am working on that one.

My main problem is the defence. I am playig a pretty high defence line and attacking wing backs so thats never going to help anything but I seem to cncede most when the opposition are on the edge of the area and all my defence is back behind the ball where they should be. They just can't get rid and we end up giving away silly goals. I wish I coud stop that. We have only kept 5 clean sheets and thats not god enough for me. I don't think lowering the defence line would ake any difference for the reason I just entioned. I'm wondering wether to try the stopper/cover combo for a while? I have Gioda, Williams, Cauker, Situ and now Gromstad as centrebacks.

Only transfers I have made and shall be bringing in this season are Gromstad and Bakenga. I am trying to keep as many of the original side as possible. I am looking at youth players on frees for next season though. Many contracts expiring and I have seen quite a few bits of talent. I have sacrificed my transfer budget to increase my wage budget, but as I am not buying anyone else, it's not a problem. We are making at least 800k a month profit, so next season we should be in a good financia position. ANd you never know I MAY be in he Champions League, so that would very much increase the revenue

Bring on the second half!!!

[II McColl II]

brilliant first half of the season there just be careful it doesnt fall apart like mine is in the second half haha

8 league games now without a win which has co-insided with the loss of sigurdsson through injury and wilfried and modise to the african cup of nations. Modise just returned after being knocked out by ivory coast and wilfried. His first game back we actually looked to like playing decent football again and got a 1-1 draw against fulham, still sat in 8th in the league and also in the carling cup final vs aston villa. Still going in the FA cup aswell with the next round against Tottenham.

Transfer window was a bit hectic and due to injuries i made a few panic buys and it hasnt completely paid off yet.

Transfers In -

Jordan Rhodes - £1.5 million

Rivaldo (Legend xD) Free - Played 1 game in the cup scored 1 assisted 1 then got injured out for 6 weeks haha

Dodo - Loan

Cesar Peixoto - £95k

Luis Guilherme - Loan

Juanmi Callejon - £1.5 million

Yann Sommer - £3 million

Transfers Out -

Tremmel - £1.5 million

Lita- Loan

Moriera - £650k

Danny Graham - £3.5 million (came back to haunt me by scoring 2 winning goals against me )]

Situ - Loan

Hoping that the return of Wilfried will restart our season and get us back on track, getting sigurdsson back aswell is crucial but he is still out for a couple of weeks

[Powello]

Ha, I am working on not letting that happen... since I posted previously I knocked Chelsea out of the FA Cup 3-2 and also beat Sunderland 2-0 in the league... So far so good

Injuries can destroy a promising season, it's annoying when it happens. Looks like th eluck isn't on your side at the mo, but it should baance itself out across the rest of the season.

Still 8th in the league and in a final of one cup and still in the other isn't anything to worry about

[II McColl II]

Europe here we come !!!

What a nail biting final this was but i am proud to say i have won my first trophy with Swansea in the first season thanks to this fantastic final. As you can see we had complete dominance all game but Brad Guzan in goal for them would not be beaten, after Lucas Andersen scored i decided to just go all out in search of a reply and Sinclair danced into the box before being fouled by Fabian Delph. Comfortably slotted the peno home and then i returned back to a more othodox controlling tactic to see the game to penalties. Sinclair missed the first one and the rest of peno takers are pants so i thought it was all over, however my keeper Yann Sommer saved 2 penalties in a row and we took advantage with Rincon blasting the last penalty in off the post to send the fans crazy

Beat Tottenham as well to get into the last 16 of the FA cup were i will face my favourite team Everton. Possible chance of a double is still on

[Powello]

Congrats mate, good win and a trophy in the first season

Good luck in the FA Cup!!

[tommonufc]

Great work Powello and II McColl II, very impressive seasons so far!

As I previously mentioned, I was approached for the Chelsea job at the end of my season. I decided to take them up on that offer, but have no turned my back on Swansea entirely. I thought the Chelsea job offered me a great challenge of rejuvenating an old squad with world class players, whilst promoting some of the top talent there. I'll be posting some updates over in the Chelsea thread, which will involve the progress of Glyfi and Scott Sinclair, whom I have brought along with me. I'm running this as a parallel save, so I shall no doubt return to pick up my Swansea save in the near future and progress on to my 4th season. Will also be interesting see what Swansea do after my legacy, and how they use the £30-35m I have funded them in the transfers of Glyfi and Sinclair. Anyway, before I leave you I thought I'd wrap up my 2013/14 season..

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Premier League - 6th Place

An improvement upon last season, which was targeted, so pleased with that. A slow start to the season set me back, with my resurgence post Christmas, including a eight game winning streak really pushed us up the table, so much so that I didn't want the season to end, as I really was in Title Challenging form. Just a shame it didn't start in August! This ability that the team has shown is the main reason behind me keeping the save alive at Swansea - as I think I could stand a realistic challenge for a title through a couple of signings, and most certainly a Champions League place.

Premier League Results

Europa League - 2nd Round Knockout.

F.A Cup - 3rd Round

League Cup - 3rd Round

Community Shield - Runners Up

Player Ratings - As you can see I was heavily reliant on a core of players throughout the season, and they were brilliant and key to any success this season. This was backed up by many squad players that would come in when needed.

Top Goalscorer - Glyfi Sigurosson - 24 Goals

Top Assistant - Christian Eriksen - 25 Assists

Donkey of the Year - Hatem Ben Arfa

Suprise of the Year - Scott Sinclair/Alex Smithies

Premier League Awards

PFA Player of the Year - Glyfi Sigurosson

Players' Young Player of the Year - Christian Eriksen

Goal of the Season - Glyfi Sigurosson (Standard! Came 2nd as well!)

Team of the Year - Glyfi Sigurosson (cm)

To come in 2014/15..

When I come back to start next season I will be without a few players; Ashley Williams' will be moving down a division to Ipswich after he was snapped up on a end of ontract; Dusan Djuric's contract will run it's course and will be relesed after he states intentions to leave on a free. Ruben Yessen will be moving to Italy and Cesena for £3.6million - he had a decent first year at the club after being brought for £1.5m, but has seen limited first team opportunities so I was keen to cash in a good profit on the player. Michel Vorm will also be leaving the club after he wouldn't renew a contract, he fell behind Alex Smithies and is joining Fulham.

Next year I will hope to have a healthy transfer budget that I can make use of. Not too sure where I can improve within the side due to me being very content with how the season finished; but this will be dependent on what is available. I'd like to to be able to add some depth across the board, but these players will have to be content in taking a back seat for the near future. Esteban Granero was missing for a good part of the second half of the season, and this was a big miss; due to the fact I had to play Ben Arfa! Therefore Granero should return to become a top right winger, of which he was showing before he was injured. Ben Arfa will be sold at all costs, if I can pull the wool over any suitors eyes. After a breakthrough season, Mbaye Niang will see greater responsibility, so hopeful on the ability he can give to the side.

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Anyway, that's that for a few days at least as I head over to Chelsea. Will follow closely, and will be back before you know it. Gooood luck, and good bye

[Powello]

tommonufc

Good end of the season there, nice way to finish off.

Good luck with Chelsea, good idea taking Gylfi with you or he would of destroyed you when you played Swansea LOL

And just ike the Terminator, you will be back!!! sorry, couldn't resist

[tommonufc]

tommonufc

Good end of the season there, nice way to finish off.

Good luck with Chelsea, good idea taking Gylfi with you or he would of destroyed you when you played Swansea LOL

And just ike the Terminator, you will be back!!! sorry, couldn't resist

Haha yeah, I'd much rather have Glyfi playing for me, than against me. Still going to have to deal with Eriksen though, Swansea are wanting £35million for him, with them wanting £32million for Romario as well. Trying to pries away the two youngsters I left behind, Josh Cook and David Steins, but I think I'll have to leave them to rot under AI development sadly, as neither are interested in moving yet. Will keep an eye on them though.

Since my departure, they've brought Gus Poyet in as my replacement. Just looking through their information screen to see where they are predicted this season, 9th, and I see that the club is now worth £110million! Not too sure what it was before, but don't think it was ever that much! So that should be fun when I return from this parallel universe. As I look at the transfers, Gus Poyet has been very busy, and by the looks of it making use of a substantial transfer kitty - that was topped up by me. Take a look;

*David Fontaine was a regen keep I signed. Super potential, will be a star!

Poyet has been busy, but Scott Dann?! C'maaaan. I looked at him, and he has the pace of a mule. Certainly most of those transfers I wouldn't have made at all, and quite frankly not needed. I certainly wouldn't have sold Joe Allen to West Ham for all the tea in China!

[Powello]

He has been very busy and rather wasteful aswell.. Most half decent managers wouldn't of sold or bought the majority of what Poyet has.

According to my info screen Swansea are currently worth £34m.. Dunno how different they were when you sarted but if its arund that then in a few seasons thats a good jump.

[II McColl II]

im being linked with every job going at the moment, blackburn, stoke, hoffenheim, QPR, Athletic (who i would consider if it was in a few years) and the shock Barcelona potential interest

Still going through a rough patch in the league so need to make some more tweaks to the tactic

[Powello]

Yeah once you start doing well you seem to get linked with a load of clubs.. I've had Fulham, Sunderland, Blackburn, Newcastle and Chelsea so far, expecting Arsenal soon with how Wenger is geting it in the press.

Any ideas on whats wrong with the tactic? Perhaps we can help

[Powello]

Ok a small update. Thing are so far going extremely well and way above expectations and probably dreams.

With 12 games to go we are currently sat in 2nd place, 5 points ahead of 3rd place United(although they have a game in hand) and now only 1 point behind leaders City!! Dare I say it, but we could be on course for a title shot!! At the moment we are on a 7 game league winning streak and 18 game unbeaten in all comps.

Stay tuned

[II McColl II]

End of Season - 2011/12

League Table - Top Scorer - Top Assists - Transfers - Carling Cup - FA Cup

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The end of the season has arrived and thankfully we finished strongly after a poor run of form for around 10-15 games. Alot of this was down to the return of Gylfi Sigurdsson from nearly 4 months out. The return of Sigurdsson sparked the return of form for Wilfried who finished the last 4 games with 9 goals including 3 braces and a hat trick.

The season got off to a good start and despite the first 2 games resulting in losses the performance showed we were capable of more, a few tweaks and then the inclusion of Wilfried sent us on a long unbeaten run including wins over Man City and Liverpool. After January we really struggled to find consistency and the number of games was starting to catch up with the squad, injuries became frequent and the African Cup of Nations left us short of our most lethal attacking force. We spent most of the season between 6th and 10th which is impressive giving our relative up and down form, a final push from the lads saw us hit the form we had at the start of the season and this guaranteed us a comfortable 8th position in our first year in the premier league.

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Wilfried had a fantastic first season with us and actually had a really bad run of game in which he could not score and still ended the season with 20 league goals. Wilfried was also a contributing factor towards our continued cup runs in the Carling Cup and FA Cup.

Similar, Glyfi Sigurdsson has a fantastic season as well and won us games on his own, contributing plenty of assists and also chipping in with some goals. My only other AMC Teko Modise showed throughout the season no matter how hard he tried he couldn't emulate the performances of Sigurdsson.

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In both cup competitions we had very impressive runs and came out winners in the Carling Cup. We had a tough run of games to reach the final, having to play; West Ham, Everton, Arsenal, Middlesbrough and then Aston Villa in the final. For large parts of the final i was left wondering what we would need to do to beat Brad Guzan. Save after save we just couldn't break through, eventually the game went to extra time and in the 93rd minute we had a goal dissallowed for offside (marginally), moments later Lucas Andersen pops up and put Aston Villa in front. After pushing all game only to be 1-0 down i decided enough was enough and threw everything we had at them. Scott Sinclair got himself into the penalty area and got brought down by Fabian Delph to win us a penalty, Sinclair stepped up and slotted home confidently. The game went on to penalties and following 2 saves from Yann Sommer for us, Tomas Rincon stepped up and smashed in the penalty to win our first Carling Cup win in the history of the club.

The FA Cup eventually was disappointing as we lost to Chelsea in the semi-final, we took an early lead through a Wilfried goal. In typical style against Chelsea we ended up throwing the game away which was particularly disappointing considering they spent most the game with 10 men.

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The end of season awards found Swansea winning a few minor awards. These included;

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The new season will provide a new challenge for the squad with us now entering into europe. In order to achieve in europe and in the premier league i need to look into strengthening the first team and also getting in some back up/youth players to fight for places.

I am hoping second season struggle wont hit us like it does to most teams who win promotion and then have a great first season in the Premier League. The board have also announced that the Liberty Stadium will be getting an expansion by 10,000 seats.

[II McColl II]

what a transfer budget for this season :O

Unfortunately Sigurdsson has no interest in joining full time, so i am looking into other possibilties including Esteban Granero and a couple of others