FM13: Newcastle United - Alan Pardew and The Eight Year Plan.

[JD nawrat]

My reward is the toughest draw of the QFs, getting Bayern Munchen (Man City got Galatasaray, PSG got Porto and Spurs drew Dortmund).

And then they get a penalty.

And then I criticise them. And they stay quiet. Again.

They're doing their best to screw us out of the competition but we're not going down without a fight

e: Newcastle 1-0 Bayern Munchen sees me into the semi-finals where I drew Galatasaray (they beat Man City 0-1 on aggregate, drawing 0-0 in Turkey and winning 0-1 in Manchester). Spurs v PSG (defending champions) is the other semi-final.

Things are getting exciting

[Tellos]

I finally got around to finishing the 14-15 season this week, little things called dissertation and exams getting in the way of game time.

(screenshots to follow tomorrow)

We won the league with 106 points and not losing a game.

Community Shield - Cant actually remember, will have to check.

European Super Cup - after winning the europa league last season we played Real Madrid and walked away with a 4-0 victory.

FA Cup - Finalists, beaten by Chelsea on penalties after drawing 2-2.

League Cup - Winners, beating Arsenal.

Champions League - First time in for me, we walked through most teams including a 7-1 aggregate semi final vs Real Madrid. Beat Barcelona 1-0 in the final.

We suffered with injuries quite a bit in the second half of the season, losing Campbell for 9 months in January. I brought in Torres on loan to replace him, but he was soon put out for 3-4 months and I couldnt find the option to send him back to his own club for treatment. At times we only had Gouffran and Hernandez or Destro as strikers, meaning one of my regens stepped up to fill the gap on the bench. While he didn't get any goals, he did do reasonably well.

We had a board takeover start in February and only succeeded in July - A local businessman, no new funds which was disappointing. He also refused to expand the stadium, despite the last two seasons it being at 98% capacity on average according to league stats.

Colo got fans player of the year, while HBA won Footballer of the Year. Goals were spread through the team, Campbell was on 18 in before he got injured so Gouffran came through and ended up top dog with 25+ (cant remember exact figures, will find some screenshots when i next boot the game up).

for next season Colo has gone, sold to Juve for £6M and my DoF organised Umtiti to come in as a replacement for £17.5m. No other major transfers in are planned as I like the squad I have and want to develop the youngsters I have in the reserves and u18s.

Exams end on Thursday (which will be university complete) so there may or may not be more progress next weekend. Depends a lot on drinking schedules.

[JD nawrat]

Premier League 2015-16 Table

Fixtures 1 | Fixtures 2

FA Cup Run

Champions League Run

The Team

Goalkeepers: Tim Krul, Ross Turnbull

Defenders: Hugo Mallo, Mapou Yanga-Mbiwa, Remie Streete, Massadio Haidara, Davide Santon, Kyriakos Papadopoulos, Mathieu Debuchy, Toby Alderweireld, Alexandre Campos

Midfielders: Clement Chantome, Vurnon Anita, Denys Garmash, Victor Petrov, Jordy Clasie, Panagiotis Tachtsidis

Forwards: Stevan Jovetic, Viktor Fischer, Antoine Griezmann, Alessandro Florenzi, Abel Hernandez, Adam Campbell, Neal Maupay

Season | BPL | League Cup | FA Cup   | European Competition
'12-13 | 3rd | 3rd Rnd    | Winners  | EL Groups
'13-14 | 1st | 3rd Rnd    | 3rd Rnd  | CL QF
'14-15 | 3rd | Winners    | Final    | CL 1st Rnd
'15-16 | 1st | 3rd Rnd    | Winners  | CL Winners

Projected Side for '16-17.

Position | Starter               | Back-up
---------|-----------------------|---------------
  GK    | Marc-André ter Stegen | TBC
  RB    | Hugo Mallo            | Alexandre Campos*
  RCB   | Mapou Yanga-Mbiwa     | TBC
  LCB   | Remie Streete         | Kyriakos Papadopoulos
  LB    | Massadio Haidara      | Davide Santon
  DMC   | Vurnon Anita          | Pangiotis Tachtsidis
  MCR   | Denys Garmash         | Jordy Clasie
  MCL   | Clement Chantome      | Victor Petrov*
  AMR   | Antoine Griezmann     | Abel Hernandez
  AML   | Viktor Fischer        | Alessandro Florenzi
  ST    | Stevan Jovetic        | Adam Campbell

*- regen

Some explanations for moves I'm making, I guess. Santon is my #1 substitution these days. Versatility for LB and RB is valuable and Haidara is more consistent at LB (plus I prefer the idea of a Leftie at LB). Remie Streete has pushed himself firmly into my starters now. Papadopoulos went through some bad form so I dropped him for Streete who was a hit. He's developing slowly but surely and I'm confident that he'll become a top player for me. Toby Alderweireld is going (I don't know where, but he is). Moans about not playing enough when he's comfortably my 4th best CB. I'm a bit surprised he moaned because he's not been that good. I'll generate a big fee from him though. He also came here on a free so I can't do poorly, I guess. Mathieu Debuchy will leave the club. Like Alderweireld, I don't know where to, but he's going. Poor performances this season, I have Campos who's younger and more promising. Poor first season with me but he is only 18. Tim Krul is going because, despite being amazing, he wants 110k p/w and I ain't paying that. Home-grown or not I refuse to pay that much for him. He'll generate a big fee and free signing ter Stegen will start for me. I want at least £25M for Krul. Not much to ask considering his value is £15M atm. Florenzi has been great since coming in but Fischer is my boy. First signing and I insist on playing him regardless of poor form. I've a soft spot for him. Adam Campbell has scored some valuable goals for me this season and will replace Maupay as my #2 hitman. Maupay is still at the club. I might sell him. Abel Hernandez suffered a broken foot and missed from February til the last game week of the PL unfortunately. He's slid down the rankings but I'm going to keep him around because he's great. Victor Petrov has been electric and I'm pleased to have him but Clement Chantome is just amazing.

Also contemplating signing Jovetic because, despite him being great for me, he's not scoring enough domestically. Thankfully Viktor Fischer really stepped it up for us this season but still, needing more from Jovetic going forward.

Worth checking out certain players that I've linked to above. Campos, Streete, Haidara, Mallo, Petrov (especially!) and Fischer (especially!). Lovin' this side. Got a few great youths coming through as well that I spoke about last time I was in this thread. Going to promote a few of them in the next season or two. Probably going to loan them out this season, actually, because they're too good for my reserves.

Also into the Scottish Hall of Fame now Great season. Time to press on and improve it as much as possible.

[JD nawrat]

Ended up losing a lot more players than I ever planned to. Mainly because, apparently, earning money is more important than sticking to the club that made you and also helped you win two FA Cups, a League Cup, two Premier Leagues and a Champions League trophy. APPARENTLY.

Denys Garmash, Tim Krul, Massadio Haidara, all preferred money over the club. So I sold 'em. £32M for Garmash to Benfica, £30M for Krul to Benfica, £27M for Haidara to Spurs (who lost in the final to me. Daft *****).

Replacements - Jack Rodwell from Man City, £4.7M. ter Stegen for free. Ben Davies (of Swansea originally) from Arsenal, £10M, almost as good as Haidara already. I also brought in a couple of players because I had to. Tomas Kalas from Chelsea for £1.7M. Perfect for the fourth choice CB role. Also got Tyton, a cheap back-up GK. Nice and reliable but also on a cheap 1 year contract and unlikely to complain about lack of gametime. Good enough to come into the side if I need him to, though. That's the most important thing, really.

Also sold Toby Alderweireld. £20M. Superb. I can't believe I got this much for a back-up who played less than 10 league games all season ahahahahahaha. Also, let's say cheerio to Mathieu Debuchy who went to Arsenal for £15M (for a 30 y/o who rarely played for me this is great business).

I've worked the transfer market beautifully this summer

Over £100M earned this transfer window and I've managed to lower my wage bill as well. Not only that, my side is still just as strong. Maybe not as much in-depth but the starters are all still here and present. Going to have another great season.

What I realised about Denys Garmash, rather wonderfully, was that his average rating was being pulled up thanks to some cup performances because he was fairly rotten in the league. Jordy Clasie, meanwhile, was class...ie in the league. I'll play Clasie as my starter with Rodwell as a back-up. Worked out quite nicely for me in the end.

[Tellos]

I found some screenshots to sum up my 14-15 campaign

League Table - 1st - 106 pts

Community Shield - Lost on Penalties, 2-2

European Super Cup - Won 4-0

FA Cup - Lost on Penalties, 2-2 AET

Capital One Cup - Won 2-1

Champions League - Won 1-0

Best XI for 14-15

And the wages in the squad

The wages are a big thing for me. Schurrle and HBA are both fully deserving of theirs on their performances, and I didn't want to lose Cabaye so gave in to his demands. Importantly all of the squad is tied up until at least 2017 so I have another season to decide on players contracts and maybe find replacements. Haidara is still on 5k a week, and Campbell is on just over £12k so some key players are on rather low wages to cancel out the wages of higher earners.

Because of my rotation policy I haven't had a league top goalscorer yet and I'd like one, but fighting on all fronts will mean that it probably wont be possible.

There is no set first choice in most positions, so here is my 2 picks for each slot

GK - Krul, Forster

DR - Debuchy, Clyne

DC - Taylor, Caulker

DC - MYM, Umtiti

DL - Haidara, Santon

MR - HBA, Redmond

MC (AP) - Cabaye, Hughes

MC (BWM) - Tiote, Anita

ML - Schurrle, Fischer

ST (CF) - Hernandez, Destro

ST (AF) - Campbell, Gouffran

[jlawlor91]

On my two Toon saves (one pre-update, one post) my squads are as follows:

13.0 15/16 season (4-2-3-1)

Krul, Handanovic

Corchia, Papadopolous, Alderweireld, Santon, Williems, S.Taylor, Caulker,

Cabaye, M'Villa, Muller, Ben Arfa, Neymar, Isco, Xhaka, Coutinho, Anita

Llorente, Cisse, Campbell, Skoda (regen)

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

13.3 14/15 season (4-2-3-1)

Krul, Valdes

Debuchy, Yanga-Mbiwa, Coloccini, Santon, Peruzzi, Caulker, Martins Indi, Haidara

Cabaye, Wanyama, Ben Arfa, Sissoko, Rodriguez, Malanda, Anita, Clasie, Knockaert

Lewandowski, Cisse, Campbell, Lacazette

I'm now starting February through this season with this side, in the final of the Carling Cup which I'm yet to win and sitting 4 pts clear in the Prem after being 12pts clear at one stage.

My transfers in the January Transfer windows were decent, replacing Knockaert and Clasie with Wilshere and Oxlade-Chamberlain with a net spend of £30m. In the summer I'm looking to get some more British players in for squad rotation as my squad was only small at the start of the season due to HG rules and players have been tired.

EDIT: I'm in the semi's of the Champs League, won the Carling Cup, sitting 5 pts clear of Chelsea in the league with 6 games left and have Sunderland in the FA Cup Final. Massive end to the season now!

[DandyDon]

On my new Everton save Adam Campbell has now been labelled the next Michael Owen......hopefully the Liverpool vintage

[jlawlor91]

Beat the Mackems 3-0 to win the FA Cup, need a point at home against them in the league to secure the title and I've got Bayern in the Champions League final. I'm not even fully convinced with my squad lol.

EDIT: I ended up winning the Champs League 2-0, making it every trophy this season, without cheating! As good as it sounds I won't ever live up to it again.

My squad at the start of the 15/16 season is now:

Krul, Valdes

Peruzzi, Zouma, Yanga-Mbiwa, Santon, K.Walker, Coloccini, Martins Indi, Caulker, Haidara

Cabaye, Wanyama, Ben Arfa, Sissoko, Wilshere, Anita, Malanda, W.Hughes, James Rodriguez, Oxlade-Chamberlain, Lacazette

Lewandowski, Adam Campbell, Lukaku, Benteke

Looking to replace Colo with Umtiti but I may have to sell Malanda as well to fund it. Just beat Chelsea 1-0 in the Community Shield to successfully defend

[Tellos]

Mid October, 2015, and onto my 3rd game in 5 days (CL vs Sociedad on tuesday, C1 Cup vs sunderland that went to extra time on thursday, now PL vs Burnley on saturday). First thing - I hate scheduling. because of internationals, champions league and european super cup they have to rearrange games so its often in crap weeks like this, but what they dont need to bloody do is stick my saturday game earlier for tv coverage! usually when playing on a thursday it would be rearranged for a sunday but nope!

second thing - this is my selection of first team strikers to choose from:

Yep, all 4 are out. Campbell picked up a knock against sunderland, brought on Destro, he picked up a knock in extra time. so now half of my squad is at about 70% fitness, all my main strikers are injured as well as long term injuries to Debuchy and Tiote. Good job i have u21s as well as 2 guys for every slot.

grumbling over. plus side is I have won every game so far, even if a few of them have been by blind luck.

edit - this has to be one of the most understrength teams I have ever put out for a league game

edit 2 - well that didn't turn out too badly -

League Debut for Kunert, Full Debuts for Abeid and Ouali, first league start for Scherz. First goal for Kunert and for Vuckic

[Tellos]

Slowly closing in on that 11-0 Tommo - have increased my biggest win to 8-0

Campbell has been on fire. Here are his last 4 games (he didn't play the Celtic one)

thats 3 hat tricks and a brace, which isn't too bad for someone who spent almost a year out injured. Although he has to be on form, as Gouffran is still out and Hernandez has torn his hamstring for the second time since June (in December 2015 now) so its Campbell and Destro most games now.

[france1998]

I've just started a save with Newcastle and after reading all of this I'm pretty excited. Was just wondering what the best formation is to use. I'm going to go with a 4-4-2 and 4-5-1 but

advice would be great.

Also with Adam Campbell did you guys have him on a training schedule or he just became amazing as the years went by?

[DandyDon]

Get him training specifically on his finishing or on the Poacher role and have him tutored if you can early on as well. I was able to have him tutored by an on loan Fernando Torres in my second save and that had a great effect on his mental attributes.

Giving him some game time at Premier League level seems to make biggest difference though.

[Tellos]

france1998 - I've found 4-4-2 to be my most effective formation, though variations of 4-5-1 are always useful to have trained in case of injuries during matches.

Campbell needs heavy poacher training, and I've had him tutored by Cisse then Abel Hernandez. Game time is vital, and he seems to play better with support (a complete forward to his advanced or poacher) to get the knock downs and so on.

[france1998]

Thanks for the advice Tellos. I'm in a network game with a few friends and my team is performing so much better then what i expected.

I'm sitting 4th at the moment and 21 games played. I've made it through to the first knock-out round of Europa and got drawn against Bordeaux.

I'm now in January and Pappiss is out for 3 months but im happy with campbell however a striker will need to be brought in as well as a left winger. Has anyone had any

success with Lallana. I love watching him play in real life so wanted to know if he plays the same in the game haha

Hopefully everyone's still playing this save as im loving it and it doesn't look like im stopping any time soon. I would post screenshots but i dont know how.

[Tellos]

For screenshots, while in game hit Alt and F9, that sends a shot to the screenshots folder in my documents (my documents/Sports Interactive/FM13/screenshots). I have them so newest is at the top rather than having dozens of the same player over his career and not knowing which to upload.

After screenshotting, you can edit it (crop it so just stats etc) using paint or photoshop or something (I use GIMP) before uploading to a host such as photobucket or flickr. create an account, create albums and upload. you will then have the option of how to post the images, with a direct link giving a code, or an IMG link giving a picture.

As for striker/left winger, everyones game plays differently so it would be worth checking who is transfer listed. Lallana is good and can go straight in, Fischer would be an option if you wanted to develop. Do you still have Marveaux? He can do a good job on the left, and Gouffran is a reasonable forward if you have him as well. Other strikers worth looking at might be Abel Hernandez (Javier Hernandez is also often listed, but is very similar to Campbell) and Mattia Destro but again, you might find a better fit already listed.

I'm currently in February 2016, having just signed Romulo for £17m and agreed to sign James Rodriguez on a free at the end of the season so shifting will need to be done. Think Gouffran, Tiote, Fischer, Debuchy and Sissoko if the bid is right will be off out the door to make room for the regens coming through. Currently not dropped a point in the league, only drawn 2 games (Champions League group after qualifiying, played youth players) and lost to Palace 3-2 in the Capital One cup semi final second leg to win 6-4. I blame defeat on playing a youth team and it being my 5th game in 9 days. Campbell went through a spell of hitting at least a brace a game for 6 games (3 hat tricks, 2 braces and a 4 if I remember correctly) but has since not scored in 8. Have pretty much constant injury problems, but the regens are showing their quality by coming in and not looking out of place at 17/18, they'll be frighteningly good when they hit 22-25.

[france1998]

thanks for the help. Looks like you're doing really well Tellos keep it up.

This is my best result for the moment and it came in the FA cup 3rd round

sissoko hasn't performed like that all year and he decided to turn up against city. I won't complain about that.

This is the squad i've had this year

and finally these are my first season transfers, it doesn't show but i just got clint dempsey on a loan deal until the end of the season just to rotate for the left wing role

until i can find someone for next season.

[france1998]

Are people still playing as the mighty toon??

[Tellos]

Yep, though finding the time to complete my season isn't going so well. Currently in April with 6 League games, FA Cup ties and CL ties left to play. Did enjoy beating Chelsea 7-0 on aggregate though in the quarter final (6-0 at home - Braces from Destro and Redmond, singles from Clyne and Anita)

[france1998]

awesome win there mate, the big team that i can never seem to be able to beat is arsenal, i don't know why. Just a question, i bought schneiderlein last year and even

though he's been doing fine i think i can get more out of him. I play him as box to box or a cm(a). What do you think?

[Tellos]

Looking at him in 2016 he's still at Southampton (and captain there), and I reckon he would play nicely as an Advanced Playmaker on Support. will grab you a screenshot if you want to have a look at how the AI have done with him. If you are keeping Cabaye and Gonalons as they are in the screenshot above though I'd probably leave him as B2B or CM, maybe even trying BWM. He doesn't fit them as nicely but it would complement the system better. Or you could move Anita in at BWM and rotate Cabaye and Schniderlein at AP(S)

Chelsea are usually more trouble thanks to Mandzukic but they have a small squad. Spurs were really trouble until they sold Lloris to Barca as they were impossible to break down, now they're just difficult. Arsenal, Man City and Man Utd are all decent at home, but tend not to do so well away

[france1998]

Yeah i've been rotating him and cabaye but advance playmaker would be his preferred role i guess. Gonalons is gone as he was only a loan, i tried to buy him at the end of his loan but

Lyon didn't want to sell him. Don't blame them he was amazing for me, forced Cheick out after he went off to the ACON.

This is my tactic which im about to start the new season with

and these are my instructions.

Im not sure if i should have Caroll as targetman or poacher but targetman is working at the moment, how do you play your team?

[Tellos]

I play a 4-4-2 but have an asymmetric 4-3-3 fully prepped just in case of a striker injury crisis.

The formation doesnt really change but the players all rotate, so this is probably my strongest line up on paper. However, Redmond has been in better form than Ben Arfa and Haidara has probably been better than Santon at the moment.

Playing very fluid means that the full backs get forward at every opportunity, which is rather good given that all of my wingers like to come inside.

The asymmetric 4-3-3. Having HBA as a playmaker gives Clyne the right to bomb forward outside him, and Romulo drops into cover at wing back. At least thats the theory.

As for Carroll - I'd keep him as a target man but keep a mixed delivery into him so not to become predictable.

edit - I think the ref may have been a little fussy here, either that or my lot really don't like Bayern

so now I have Yanga-M'Biwa, Santon, Romulo, Cabaye and Destro all suspended for the second leg. Great.

[Tellos]

10 hours without a goal from Campbell. Then came Sunderland at home...

Just noticed the date of the match, it appears Campbell is a Jedi

[france1998]

always good to smash those mackems! You probably got so many yellows because of the aggressiveness you have them tackling but if it works then don't change it.

[Tellos]

I usually don't get more than 2-3 a game and have only had sendings off a handful of times, mostly down to a second yellow just after half time, in 3 and a half seasons (started first in January 13).

[Tellos]

Ouch. Just updated contracts on a number of key guys who were going out at the end of the coming season (16-17). Krul, Destro, Hughes, Santon, Redmond and Anita all needed new deals, and these and others added £400k a week to my budget. Still, will probably sell some of them by the time it gets to 2020 to deal again.

Will get an end of season update up sometime relatively soon, got a load of player screens to upload and code.

[Tellos]

2015-16 Review

Squad - Italics indicates out on loan this season

Goalkeepers

Aidan Grant, Drazen Zlomislic, Fraser Forster, Jak Alnwick, Tim Krul.

Defenders

Borut Lazarevic, Craig Lewis, Davide Santon, Joachim Kunert, Joe Lovell, Kevin Mbabu, Mapou Yanga-Mbiwa, Massadio Haidara, Mathieu Debuchy, Nathaniel Clyne, Remie Streete, Samuel Umtiti, Saso Veselic, Steven Caulker, Steven Taylor.

Midfielders

Adriano, André Schurrle, Callum McGuinness, Cheik Tiote, Francisco Manuel, Gael Bigirimana, Hatem Ben Arfa, Jon Williams, Jorge Sanchez, Marc Preen, Moussa Sissoko, Nathan Redmond, Robert Meredith, Romulo, Sammy Ameobi, Shane Ferguson, Viktor Fischer, Vurnon Anita, Will Hughes, Yohan Cabaye.

Strikers

Abel Hernandez, Adam Campbell, Bilal Ouali, Christoph Scherz, Haris Vuckic, Luke Espinoza, Mattia Destro, Max Mills, Milan Pecnik, Xu Shaoyang, Yoan Gouffran

Transfers

I spent more than I intended as I couldn't resist getting Romulo cheaply in January. Some of the spending on him will be cancelled out by the sale of Tiote whenever that occurs.

Fixtures

League

League Fixtures 1

League Fixtures 2

Shield/Super Cup/Club Wold Cup

Capital One Cup

FA Cup

Champions League

The League was won by Game 30, with Game 36 being the first points dropped in the league with a draw at Old Trafford. I don’t expect to be able to do something like this again though. There was a clean sweep of everything else.

Fans Player of the Year – Mattia Destro

Footballer of the Year – Mattia Destro

League Top Goalscorer – Adam Campbell – 27 (Destro also got 27 but Campbell made fewer appearances)

I asked a couple of seasons ago for my strikers to get more goals and it seems they listened, with Campbell and Destro getting 69 between them over the season, with the rest spread out as usual.

Best XI 2015-16

Overall Best XI

Overall a stunningly good season that I don't expect to be able to repeat. At times I felt we weren't playing as well as we could be, and that was epitomized in the league after game 30 when we had the title in the bag as we turned the engines down to about 60% and still managed to walk through most games.

[Britrock]

Just finished my first season with Newcastle and it was a blast. It also ranks as probably my longest ever season in FM history, clocking in at 65 games. I managed to win the FA Cup, lost to Spurs in the Euro Cup final (3 days after the FA Cup final went to extra time), came 4th in the league and the quarters of the League Cup (with my youth team effectively).

I had a hell of a clearout, selling Obertan, Simpson, R Taylor, Gutierrez, Tiote, Perch, Gosling, Ranger and a load of the youth team and reserves that are garbage (most of those were released) to bring in £36.5m which was reinvested in Jovetic, Ashley Williams, Dennis Praet and Giuseppe Bellusci for £31.5m.

I played a 343 variation for a bit of fun and it proved massively successful. The final layout was

It lead to Krul keeping 18 clean sheets through the season and the 3rd best defensive record. It's not the most attacking formation, only leading to 45 goals in the league but there was a lot of tinkering with it through the season so hopefully next year it'll produce even better results.

[tommonufc]

Still playing the save somewhat - in the 2018/19 season. Adam Campbell has finally overtaken Shearer's goal record. Wayne Rooney holds England's goalscoring record at something around 105 an going. Not sure how long he'll have left at the International stage, but as soon as he does retire Campbell should be well on his way at hunting that record too.

2012/13 6(9) 1

2013/14 7(11) 5

2014/15 32(8) 25

2015/16 54(1) 45

2016/17 60 62

2017/18 56 38

2018/19* 40(1)* 31*

[Tellos]

Damn he is looking good Tommo. Think mine is 2-3 points off in most areas, though does have an extra point of determination and is 2-3 years behind. Havent managed to become England manager yet either, apparently in 2014 when Hodgson went I wasn't good enough (League, Europa League, FA Cup and League Cup over a season and a half) so they appointed Brendan Rodgers who has struggled and went out in the first knockout game of Euro 2016 to Germany. Thought the job might come up but it didn't, looks like another couple of seasons of waiting for failure before I can move in for it. Because of this, Campbell has made only a couple of appearances for the national side, constantly overlooked in favour of Danny Welbeck who now sits on the bench for Man City instead of the bench for Chelsea (and previously for Man Utd).

Me? Bitter? Just a little

[Craig_R.U.F.C]

Had a little crisis at the back, out of Taylor, Caulker, Colo and MYM only MYM was fully fit going into a game against Wolves. Colo partnered him but was down to 60% by half time due to only starting on 95% and just being back from injury. On came Craig Lewis at half time, a lad who only came through my academy in the summer. He didn't have to do a lot that game, we won 7-0.

The next game was against Ajax though, and with Colo out and Caulker only fit for the bench, Lewis made his full debut against the dutch giants.

If that doesn't make him an instant fan favourite I don't know what will. Certainly looks to be a bright future for him

Is his Fav Club, Rotherham United? If so then it's me. With the same D.O.B(not the year) as me also Nice to see someone getting me in there career mode! Just put faceinthegame in the search bar it'll come up with the SI staff!

[Tellos]

It is indeed Rotherham United Not in first team plans at the moment but he's only 20 and is still got the potential to be a leading Premier League defender.

[Tellos]

Have taken a break from my Toon save for a bit and while messing around with Celtic this popped up -

never seen falling from a loft as a cause of injury before. Don't know if it's a data thing I have or if it's actually in there somewhere.

[tejas]

What is the debt like now in real life? Just wondering so I can edit it.

[tommonufc]

What is the debt like now in real life? Just wondering so I can edit it.

The best course of action would have been to research yourself through Google (if you haven't already of course).

Anyway, seeing as the question has made me mildly interested myself, I'll do all the hard work for you - well almost.

Like I say, Googling 'Newcastle United debt' would have found this article for you - http://tyneandwear.sky.com/newcastleunited/article/70021/newcastle-uniteds-position-in-the-premier-league-debt-table

All the needed information is in there, just have to work it out from what your given I'd say, if not - Google

Edit Basically, Mike Ashley brought the club after poor due diligence and found the club crippled in debt. He loaned the club millions to begin to pay off said debt which stemmed from years of poor financial management. The loan is of zero interest, so in effect it's a transfer of revenue from one side of Ashley's business to another. All it means is that he is draining the club of revenue at given opportunities.

The club has massive revenues and turnovers, but that is followed by a caveat that Ashley is paying off the debt that he was unaware of when buying the club.

[tejas]

thanks. I did search and got different answers. Not a Toon fan obviously. Would you recommend Newcastle and are the transfer budgets decent even though in 129000000 pounds of debt?

[Tellos]

Newcastle are a good save to play, and the budgets are enough to make a few changes, which should allow for Champions League football, which should allow for budgets of £20-£40m per season plus sales.

[ky jelly]

since the summer transfer update by lfcmarshall is out, i'll be restarting a new toon save tomorrow. any tips on which british players i should sign to make up for the loss of simpson, perch and probably gosling?

first one out the door would be fjfk i suppose

[james_wilko]

I'm playing an updated database and I picked up McCarthy for around 5 mil.

[ky jelly]

I'm playing an updated database and I picked up McCarthy for around 5 mil.

how much do we have in transfer kitty in the updated database btw? am not on the computer where FM is installed right now.

i have always thought of revamping the whole coaching & scoutingg system and get a proper team of staff who will improve the team. who did you sign btw?

cheers

[james_wilko]

It wasn't much, the update I used had around 5mil.

The only first team player I bought at the start of the season was sigporsson from Ajax. I did end up signing Sterling from Liverpool in January though as he was transfer listed.

I had a lot to spend since I sold Cabaye and Tiote for a combined 40mil at the start of the season. Didn't want to sell but trying to play realistically.

Worked out well, finished 3rd and both Anita and McCarthy did brilliant as dlps.

[darrensen]

Thought i'd post this up of Campbell at the end of season 5. Possibly the best Poacher in the game! Unreal stats!!!!!

[smplfc123]

Right, i've struggled to stick to a save for a while now, however Newcastle caught my eye and after seeing their miserable to start to the season, they've given me an idea.

My plan is to make them defensively solid, despite the owner wanting attacking football and to get some british identity back in to the club, but the latter will have to be done over some time as i don't want to sell too many first season and the price for british players in the 1st window is extortionate.

My aim is top half as that is what i've chosen to achieve, but my main aim is to be in the top (best half) for goals conceded. I need to work on some tactics and read the games a lot more, but i'm confident that my attacking options, Cisse, Ben Arfa, Remy, Marveaux etc are still good enough to create chances and to score enough goals so that we don't end up over-compensating on the defensive side.

I know it wont work straight away and that my defence will still leek goals initially, but i'm determined to stick to this challenge.

I'm looking to get some high paid foreigners off the wage bill, with my only out-going so far being Guttierez for £10m

I've now sold Yanga-Mbiwa, didn't plan on it, but Spurs came in with a £10m cash bid and with my plan to offload foreigners i couldn't reject. My only incomer so far is Andros Townsend on loan to add depth to the left side. Need a new centre back now, any ideas?

[smplfc123]

I've finally lasted over a month on this challenge, and i'm really enjoying it. My defensive approach is still in the process of being fully suitable for the league, but in fairness i've had a very tough start.

Newcastle 2-0 Norwich

Stoke 2-1 Newcastle

Newcastle 0-1 Arsenal

Newcastle 1-1 Chelsea

Liverpool, Villa and Hull away are my next 3 games.

I'm pretty pleased with the start, looking quite solid at the back, the only game i conceded more than 1 is away at Stoke where they overpowered me from set pieces, but who doesn't?

Had to deal with alot of enquiries, unsettlement and bids for Sissoko and Cabaye towards the end of the window but managed to keep hold of them, although i was actually willing to let them go had teams met my valuations for them.

3 away games coming up, i think i'd be happy with 3/4 points to keep them adding up.

[smplfc123]

After spending the first 2 months trying to make my team incredibly rigid and hard to break down, the media was starting to get on my back and suggesting that the fans were becoming restless.

After an opening day 2-0 home win over Norwich, we then went 8 wins in all competitions without a win. I was happy with the results myself as 4 of them were draws, including at home to chelsea and man city, but due to the lack of wins i seemed to already to be under some pressure.

Happy that my team had started to understand the importance of being defensively solid, i tweaked my tactic so it was a little bit more attacking.

As a result of this, my last 11 games have gone:

Won - 7

Drawn - 3

Lost - 1

We are now in 5th position and are in the better half for goals conceded. On track for a top half finish and a good defensive record but i need to strengthen. My squad isn't deep enough in some areas and that got found out when Mk Dons beat us 5-2 in the league cup. So, after not spending much in the first window and selling Guttierez and Yanga Mbiwa for £10m each, i'm hoping i'll have some funds available!

[james_wilko]

How are you using Remy and how is he doing for you?

[smplfc123]

I've mainly used him as a poacher in 4-5-1 on counter attack or as a poacher feeding off a target man when playing with 2 upfront. He's been very good. 10 in 22 games, may not sound amazing but he always seems to score in big games. I'm definitely going to make the £7m agreed price bid for him in the summer, just hope to get his wages down.

how far in to your save are you?

[james_wilko]

Not far at all, I hadn`t started the game until around half an hour ago.

I am trying to get a 4-4-2 working for us, with HBA on the left and a combo of Debuchy/Santon the right. That does involve some retraining of positions, but I think it should work.

Both Cabaye and Tiote have left for PSG bringing me in 40 million. Cabaye came whining he wanted to join a bigger club and I didn`t want the headache that follows the rejection so off he went for 20 mil. Liverpool offered me 20mil for Tiote so I listed him and offered to other clubs and PSG came in with another 20mil bid so off he went too.

Just finished the 2nd pre season match, a 5-1 win over St Mirren. Now I intend to bring in some quality, British players for the squad. Will Hughes is top of that list, with Adam Henley and Alex Smithies on there too. Thinking of bringing in Ryan Bennet from Norwich to add some depth to the CB position since Saylor looks like he might be off to Arsenal.

Could do with a left back to support Haidara, but no one available seems good enough.

[smplfc123]

The only problem i found with 4-4-2 is that you need a relable defence and i didn't feel i had that initially when i took over so i went a bit more defensive. Who have you brought in with that £40m?

I finished 6th in the premiership, with 7 teams conceding less than me so i was very happy with that. Unfortunately Bournemouth and Reading won the FA and League cup respectively meaning i missed out on the Europa League.

My final transfer dealings for throughout the first season were:

ins:

Townsend - loan

Odemwingie - loan

kouyate - £7m

Lallana - £9m

Rose - £5m

Ilori - £13m

Outs:

Guttierez - £10m

Yanga Mbiwa - £10m

I managed to keep hold of Cabaye, Tiote and Sissoko despite interest from elsewhere but i think they may all leave in this window so i'll try to get the best deals possible.

[james_wilko]

My save crashed but I had managed to sign Will Hughes, Adam Henley and Alex Smithies. Managed to corrupt itself when it crashed so having to restart. First corrupted data of this version, took long enough!

My 4-4-2 was good defensively, probably since I was basically playing 5 defenders, but a bit crap in attack. Trying a different 4-4-2 and keeping Santon/Debuchy as defenders because they didn`t work as well as I had hoped as wingers.