FM13: Celtic - 125 Years Of Unbroken History

[1967]

I'm going through a bit of an FM rut so I'm going back to the Celts! One thing that is slightly bothering me though, which has been talked about a lot in this thread, is the attributes of some players. For example Adam Matthews with 6 for marking, 9 for tackling and 8 for positioning!! This lad is a great player but stats like that make me not want to play him. Yes he (rightly) has potential but I envisage two to three seasons of intensive specific attribute training to even get these to an acceptable level. How has he (and others such as Forrest) developed on some of your games? In all the chatter further up in the thread did you come to a middle (realistic) ground in your database edits? And if so can one of you upload yours for me to use please

[Vipertitan]

decided to start a celtic save tonight to play alongside my thread save so will post on how i do soon

[Vipertitan]

so here is my probably starting a XI

GK:Fraser Foster

RB:Mikael Lustig

CB:Kelvin Wilson

CB:Charlie Mulgrew

LB:Emilio Izaguirre

DM:Victor Wanyama

LCM:Scott Brown

RCM: Kris Commons

CM: James Forrest RETAIN POSITING

CF:Gary Hooper

CF:Giorgios Samaras/ Miku

[petauk]

update on my celtic save. Have been bouncing about between my career save and my newer save. Mainly been playing my newer save more and in my foourth season and "they" have returned!! pity they are no where near my team

here are a couple of players looking the like off.....

[petauk]

good wee result in the cup with my brazilian youngsters playing a major part...Looking good for the future at least

[wigs7]

Have my own Celtic save on the go and have just finished second season . First season won the league but lost 1-0 away to Rangers (dodgy pen) in the third round of League Cup . Lost 1-0 at home to Dundee Utd (dodgy pen beat them 6-0 two weeks later in league) in the Scottish Cup . Qualified out of group stage in Champs league and knocked out Bayern in first knockout stage before losing 4-3 on agg v Barcelona .

Second season i won the treble beat Motherwell in final of both cups . Beat Rangers 3-0 in League cup in 3 round and beat them 6-0 in the semi final of the Scottish Cup . Won group in the Champs League and got Liverpool in first knockout but due to injuries and players off form plus Wanyama getting 2 bookings inside 12 mins i got put out . Will post a few pics when i get a min . I dont really have the time or patience to do my own tactics so have started a few saves with different tactics but i have to say the one i am using just now just suits Celtic really well (Arrigo Sacchis 442)

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[larsson-is-god]

In my second season after winning the league and cup double in my first but failing miserably in the CL

Close season saw a lot of coming and going - noticeably Ledley and Hooper were shown the door (wages they were wanting going in to last year of contract were ridiculous)

5 games in to the league season and I have a 100% record plus qualified for CL group stages - hopefully improve on last years performance where we scored 1 goal and only picked up 2 points!!!!!

Key signings have been Mauro Quiroga (Target Man) who has 10 goals in 9 games playing alongside Stokes and also Brazilian centre half, Melli, who has formed a great partnership with Mulgrew/Fraser

Number pf youth signings made who scouts tell me have 4+ star potential so I am hopeful of CL success within the next 7-8 years :-)

[Bkftw]

Celtic Season 1 12/13

Latest Patch

Heres how my Celtic save has unfolded so far.

I must say this has been my favorite save on this years FM!

Main Tactic

The thing I love most about the squad Celtic have is their ball busting non stop midfielders so my tactic was built around their ability to win the ball back and contribute in all phases of play.

Play style is always Fluid and more often than not I use an Attacking strategy. I will switch to control for the Champions League home games and Counter for the away games. For tougher away games in the SPL I start off with Control.

The sliders I change are:

Passing style: More Direct

Closing Down: Press More

Marking: Zonal

Crosses: Drill

Defensive Line: Push Up

Width: Normal

Tempo: Quick

Focus Passing: Mixed

Target man is ticked with the Run onto ball option.

First Eleven

GK: Forster G/D

RB: Lustig FB/Auto

LB: Izzaguirre FB/A

CB: Mulgrew CD/X

CB: Ambrose CD/C

CDM: Wanyama A/D

ML: Commons WM/S

MR: Matthews W/A

MCL: Ledley B2B/S

MCR: Brown BWM/S (Captain)

S: Hooper Poacher

Transfers

Seamus Coleman 2.4mill Second Transfer Window. Replaces Lustig as first choice RB

Various youth sent on loan.

Scottish Premier League

We had a good run as expected. Aberdeen were neck and neck into the 40 points mark but we eventually broke away.

League losses were both away from home. Ross County and Dundee United.

Biggest win was 7-0 away to St Mirren.

Champions League

This is where we unexpectedly really played well. I was really shocked at how well we played in the CL as there arent really any easy games once you get to the group stage.

Qualifying 3rd Round:

Sloven Liberc 5-0 win Home, 1-1 draw Away

Qualifying Playoffs:

CFR Cluj 3-1 win Home, 1-0 win Away

Group D:

FC Bayern 3-1 Win Home, 1-0 loss Away

Valencia 3-0 win Home, 0-0 draw Away

Ajax 4-2 win Home, 1-1 draw Away

Finished top of the group with 11 Points, Bayern 2nd on 10 Points.

Knockout Round 1

Dortmund 1-1 draw away, 3-0 win Home

Quarter Finals

Shakhtar 3-0 win Home, 2-0 loss away

Semi Finals

Manchester City 2-0 loss Home, 2-1 win away.

A really awesome run. We were unlucky at home again Man City and just couldnt get it done away, despite winning the game.

Scottish Cup

We faced Hearts in the final and won the game 1-0.

League Cup

Hearts again in the final with a 3-0 win.

Main 11 Review

Forster: A brick wall between the sticks, not sure if we can hang onto him. Already making noise about wanting to move to a bigger club. 7.05 rating

Lustig/Coleman: Both were good at what they do, nothing spectacular offensively. 7.08 / 7.11 rating

Izzaguirre: Once again, did his job but most of our attacks came down the right side. 7.25

Mulgrew: Scored several goals and set some up with his devastating free kicks. 7.50 rating 10 Goals!

Ambrose: Solid at the back. Knocked in a couple goals from corners. 7.43 rating

Wanyama: Defensive midfielders dont seem to get good ratings for me. did his job but not as dominating as in real life. Might have done better as a CM helping out the attack. 7.18 rating. Making noise about leaving all season!

Commons: Awsome season down the left. Reliable from the penalty spot. Good all round player. 7.31 rating 14 goals

Matthews: Player of the season for me. Focal point for most of our attacks. Dont waste him at RB. Laser guided crosses and mazy runs though the defence. 7.29 rating, 6 goals 21 assists.

Ledley: Solid if unspectacular. Would have liked more goals from him with his late arrival into box PPM. 7.10 rating, 3 goals.

Brown: Bossed the midfield. A wrecking ball to opposition players, definitely forced a few substitutions! 7.47 rating, 10 goals.

Hooper: Had a great season but niggling injuries meant he missed a fair few games. 7.34 rating, 20 goals, 7 assists.

Notable squad players:

Watt: Wow, lucky we have this guy as when Hooper cant play Tony Watt bangs em in for fun. Used as an Advanced Forward/Attack. 7.39 rating 22 goals.

Samaras: If I had my season over I might have started him over Commons. Its a tough choice but the big Greek was a beast when he played. 7.55 rating, 14 goals.

Rogic: Played a lot more than I though, but never at his natural CAM, always a CM/Attack. He did complain a bit but had a great year. Might force a tactical rethink. 7.19 rating, 8 goals, 10 assists.

Rogne: Great defender but didnt get too many games. 7.60 rating from 14 matches.

Forrest: Frustrating, injury prone. Was great when he could string a few games together. 6.93 rating, 3 goals 2 assists.

A great season overall. I highly recommend giving Celtic a go while you wait for FM 14 !

[Bkftw]

Celtic Season 2 13/14

This is a recap of how my next season played out!

2nd Tactic added

With the departure of Wanyama I added a 2nd tactic that was a bit more attacking and could make use of Rogic better after he had a good first season. Pity he would be on the injury table alot this campaign!

Transfers

Budget 12 million.

Out:

Wanyama to Benfica for 10mill. I was holding out for more but it wasnt coming. Linked with half of Europe but on they made an offer.

Various youth out on loan.

In:

Jonas Svensson 500k. I needed some hard working cover for my midfield and JS fit this bill nicely. Also gives me a more creative outlet.

David Stockdale 1.3 mill. If Forster goes down, you're pretty much boned, so I signed some great cover. Wages a bit expensive.

Nicolas Tagliafico 6 mill. Left back was a weakness and I couldnt get Gershon back on loan. A big dollar signing but looks the business!

Ivica Poljak 3.5 mill. A croatian Regen. Denied a work permit but then Croatia joined the EU! Can play all accross the centre. Should cover left and right flanks as required.

Mcdonald Mariga Free. Replaces Wanyama in front of the back four. Always nice when you dont have to spend a transfer fee!

Various regens that look OK.

Scottish Premier League

A much tougher campaign that last year. We had a lot of draws. Injuries hit pretty hard and with an intense schedule being in all competitions some weak teams were sent out. Aberdeen were average!

Champions League

Qualifying Round 2

Honefoss 3-0 win Home, 4-2 win away

Qualifying Round 3

CSKA Sofia 7-0 win Home, 5-0 win away. Breezed through!

Qualifying Playoffs

Maribor 4-0 win Home, 3-1 win Away

Group H

Chelsea 3-0 win Home, 1-1 draw away

Schalke 1-0 win Home, 1-0 win away.

Zenit 2-1 win Home, 2-1 loss Away

Finished with an amazing 13 points. Chelsea second with 10 points.

Knockout Round 1

Arsenal 4-0 win Home, 3-2 loss Away

Quarter Finals

Marseille 4-1 win Home, 2-1 loss away.

Semi Finals

Manchester United 2-0 win Home, 4-1 loss away.

Another awesome campaign. This time the red side of Manchester knocked us out. We just couldn't get the ball and thus didn't get many shots on goal.

League Cup

We faced Motherwell in the Final and it took extra time to knock them off 1-0.

Scottish Cup

Knocked out in the 5th Round by lowly Alloa 2-1! The lads copped a roasting in the team talk!

Main 11 Review

Forster: Solid again. Rotated quite alot with Stockdale but still played 41 games. 7.06 rating conceded 22 goals.

Coleman: First full season with us. His stamina makes him a real asset. 7.21 rating, 6 assists.

Tagliafico: A good first year for our most expensive transfer. 7.24 rating, 5 assists.

Mulgrew: Not as deadly as last year but still did a great job. 7.62 rating, 6 goals, 12 assists.

Ambrose: Another good year at the back. Had to play as an Anchor man a few times due to injuries/suspensions. 7.64 rating, 9 goals from corners!

Mariga: Had an Ok season but got injured a fair bit. Missed out on some games for tactical reasons. 7.11 rating

Commons: Spent some time on the injury table. Reliable from the spot again and for the most part had a good season. 7.23 rating, 7 goals, 7 assists.

Matthews: Had another solid year with those raids down the right. 7.35 rating, 6 goals, 19 assists (impressive for a non set piece taker!)

Ledley: Was more productive this season and played really well. 7.45 rating, 7 goals, 8 assists.

Brown: Had an injury plagued year but put in a good shift as always when he was on the pitch. 7.20 rating, 8 goals.

Hooper: Much better this season. Didnt matter which tactic I used, he knows how to score. 7.69 rating 35 goals!

Notable Squad Players

Watt: Another good year off the bench and as a rotational striker. 7.45 rating, 22 goals.

Rogic: Spent alot of the season injured, Dropped from the Australia squad so I cant offer him a better deal. Could be on the move but hopefully not. 7.10 rating from just 16 games but scored 10 goals!

Svensson: Played more than I would have though because of injuries. Advanced Play maker support. Threaded some nice passes and generally played well. 7.52 rating, 9 assists, 7 man of the match, led the SPL!

Rogne: Another good year as a rotational defender. Good to have for corners. 7.50 rating, 6 goals.

Kayal: Nothing special but dependable when partnered with Svsnsson in the midfield. 7.05 rating.

Poljak: Pretty good first year. Got a lot of loan offers for him but decided to use him in the first team as cover. 7.11 rating, 9 assists.

McGeouch: Used as deep cover for the right wing and midfield. Only got 10 starts. 7.14 rating, 3 goals, 3 assists.

Samaras: A beast again. Started 24 games as Commons was injured alot. 7.41 rating, 10 goals, 12 assists.

Forrest: Another year with barely any games. Got the fitness bug where he doesn't get much fitter so missed out on games. Good to watch when he's on form. 7.08 rating, 9 assists.

Bangura: Returned from loan. Whinged about everything. Couldn't hit the broad side of a barn. Scored 1 goal, will hopefully be moved on!

Toshney: I started to Blood this guy a bit. The only youth to get some decent games. Played at RB and CB. Started 17 games. 7.16 rating.

Wilson: Played well. Used as cover for Ambrose, who didnt miss many games so limited opportunities. 7.24 rating.

[Larsson1888]

Been a lot of discussion on here about attributes and there are always disagreements on players as everyone has different opinions but it’s always good to have a discussion about it. I came across our stats for last season for the league and it made some interesting reading. Now the stats I am going to post are based on games started and I am not getting into the sub appearances but they are generally low for the majority of players that are in the lists. I could get right into detail but I am just showing a basic outlook on some stats which I was quite surprised and thought I would share.

Most assists last season – games to assists ratio

1. Anthony Stokes – 54%

2. Kris Commons – 44%

3. Adam Matthews – 37%

4. Emilio Izaguirre – 24%

5. Charlie Mulgrew – 23%

Now think you can agree surprising names popping up here and finding out our fullbacks are having good assists. Now Anthony Stokes was a surprise for me as I always have it in my head he is an extremely greedy player (which he certainly is) but he is more of an all-rounder than you think. Now Stokes obviously didn’t play all year and you could easily argue that you could take other things into consideration like sub appearances, time of year etc. but I’m not getting into that.

Goals – games to goals ratio

1. Gary Hooper – 63%

2. Giorgios Samaras – 50%

3. Anthony Stokes – 45%

4. Kris Commons – 44%

5. Joe Ledley – 33%

6. Victor Wanyama – 19%

Stokes once again is high up there in the list which is surprising again after being out most of the season. Our favourite Greek god Samaras is up there although playing in more of a different position now which seems to suit him better and positioned more on the AML. I have read people having success him with crossing into the back post and him coming in to score.

Fouls Committed – games to FC ratio

1. Emilio Izaguirre – 90%

2. Efe Ambrose – 87%

3. Joe Ledley – 81%

4. Gary Hooper – 80%

5. Kelvin Wilson – 71%

6. Scott Brown – 61%

7. Baram Kayal – 59%

8. Victor Wanyama – 58%

Now one assumption for me is I expected Brown and Wanyama to be at the top of the list being involved more in the middle but maybe they are just better tacklers or maybe just don’t tackle as much as others. It is interesting to see how some of these stats though will coincide with some of the stats, for example Izaguirre committing a lot of fouls and generally in the game has a low tackle attribute which is obviously justified.

Certainly be interested to see what you think.

[Larsson1888]

Shots on goal - SOG to goals ratio

1. Joe Ledley - 78%

2. Gary Hooper - 65%

3. Giorgios Samaras - 47%

4. Anthony Stokes - 41%

5. Charlie Mulgrew - 36%

6. Victor Wanyama - 35%

7. Kris Commons - 33%

[ChelseaFan7]

Mcdonald Mariga Free. Replaces Wanyama in front of the back four. Always nice when you dont have to spend a transfer fee!

Don't know if you are aware of this but McDonald Mariga is actually Wanyama's brother so you couldn't have got a more adept replacement if you tried.

[Bkftw]

Don't know if you are aware of this but McDonald Mariga is actually Wanyama's brother so you couldn't have got a more adept replacement if you tried.

I wasnt! Haha thats pretty awesome! Thanks for the info

[petauk]

so on season 5 and this season is looking like a close finish between myself and Danny Lennon's St.Mirren:

current first team squad:

[Larsson1888]

@petauk How is Will Hughes for you? I've never bought him although always been tempted too.

[DKB]

@petauk How is Will Hughes for you? I've never bought him although always been tempted too.

Hughes is a good player at Celtic, good buy at £7.5m or less

[Larsson1888]

Contemplating whether to start a new game or not with new updates. You still doing Celtic save?

[wigs7]

Ive just lost my first league game after 2 1/2 seasons in 102 games unbeaten until i lost 2-1 away to Hibs

[Larsson1888]

Ive just lost my first league game after 2 1/2 seasons in 102 games unbeaten until i lost 2-1 away to Hibs

Not bad!! What formation/s do you use? I personally can't see past 4-4-2.

[wigs7]

I am using Arrigo Sacchi's 4-4-2 formation and it just works perfectly . First 2 seasons i only dropped 8 points in total . Obviously won everything at home but so far Europe is proving tough . Lost 4-3 (beat them at home 2-1)to Barca in the quarters first season after knocking out Bayern in the first knockout then second season lost to Liverpool in first knockout after Wanyama got 2 bookings inside 12 mins in the second leg at home after only being 1 goal behind . Just about to play Bayern again at home in the first knockout now in the 3rd season and i trail 1-0 from the first leg . Highly recommend signing Stefan Strandberg from Rosenborg the guys class

[petauk]

@petauk How is Will Hughes for you? I've never bought him although always been tempted too.

brilliant player, wanted by everton in my game for £10 mllion, i got him on a free, wll pop a screenshot on after the game tonight

[wigs7]

Where do you play him Petauk ? He is up for a free in my game but the tactic i use doesnt have a centre mid or att mid

[petauk]

Will Hughes as promised Hail Hail

[petauk]

Where do you play him Petauk ? He is up for a free in my game but the tactic i use doesnt have a centre mid or att mid

have been playing him as a back up attacking mid left, but this season few central mid postions freed up and he's playing there

[Larsson1888]

Will Hughes as promised Hail Hail

Wow he is amazing. Really good for a free as well.

[DKB]

Wow he is amazing. Really good for a free as well.

In my latest Celtic game, I also signed him on a free, sold him on a year later to Wigan for £7.5m or so, and they sold him on to Arsenal for £26.5m (I didn't have a sell on clause) in each of the last two seasons for Arsenal he has produced 12 league goals + extras in the cups and Europe

(he is on £105k a week at Arsenal atm - and one of Englands top players when looking at the nation information)

[wigs7]

His agent is a greedy burger in mine so have to wait a while to try sign him on a free

[DKB]

Haven't played my Celtic game (where I've reached 2019) for a while now, but decided to give it a go

First game went rather decent

[petauk]

In my latest Celtic game, I also signed him on a free, sold him on a year later to Wigan for £7.5m or so, and they sold him on to Arsenal for £26.5m (I didn't have a sell on clause) in each of the last two seasons for Arsenal he has produced 12 league goals + extras in the cups and Europe

(he is on £105k a week at Arsenal atm - and one of Englands top players when looking at the nation information)

he had a £10 Million clause at the end of the season there, forgot about it and then everton came sniffing and activated the clause, offered him new terms and he resigned without a clause, maybe it was cause i had just won the CL but well glad i resigned him. Interested to see how he goes this season in the center mid position as already looking good

[petauk]

Haven't played my Celtic game (where I've reached 2019) for a while now, but decided to give it a go

First game went rather decent

cracking result there DKB

[DKB]

he had a £10 Million clause at the end of the season there, forgot about it and then everton came sniffing and activated the clause, offered him new terms and he resigned without a clause, maybe it was cause i had just won the CL but well glad i resigned him. Interested to see how he goes this season in the center mid position as already looking good

nice with the cl

did you overcome St Mirren in the league?

[petauk]

nice with the cl

did you overcome St Mirren in the league?

last game of the season mate, was close as anything, ended up two points between us both...

Champions League Final:

[petauk]

looks like Fat Sally can't handle the fact am dominating the SPL the last few seasons and has decided to do something about it and is going with the old theory that if you cant beat them sign them lol

[wigs7]

Just lost Champions League Final to a 91st min goal against Man City

[petauk]

sorry to hear that wigs7

[wigs7]

time for a few changes . Shipped off 29yr old Scott Brown for 7.5m to Swansea and now wondering if i should punt Gary Hooper . Got Yaya Sanogo who i really need to start playing and Tony Watt is probably my first choice striker . Brought in Anderson and Cheik Tiote so far .

[petauk]

time for a few changes . Shipped off 29yr old Scott Brown for 7.5m to Swansea and now wondering if i should punt Gary Hooper . Got Yaya Sanogo who i really need to start playing and Tony Watt is probably my first choice striker . Brought in Anderson and Cheik Tiote so far .

I got rid of brown this season also though he's 32 in my game and he was constantly being booked, was on 3 Red's & 13 yellow's. Felt that wasn't good enough for my captain. Sold him to stoke. Hooper had a crappy season last season with 8 goals but has started well this season. Watt is a machine in my game. Also got a few more stars coming through, will post a few screeenies tomorrow after work.

[DKB]

9 in a row came early in the year

[wigs7]

Welcome back to the SPL neighbours

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[DKB]

Started up another game with Celtic in the Championship (put nevco in div 2) (with the changes to the db that I posted earlier)

Brought in:

Briggs - Fulham (loan)

Strandberg - Rosenborg

Hughes - Derby

Litmanen - Free

Didac Vila - Milan

Wilson, Sammy, Izzy and Ledley were the biggest names that were sold

---

Won the league with 23 points down to nr 2 (Burnley) 101 points in total - Wasn't in the league cup by some reason??? - Lost the FA cup semi to Spurs

Forster-Wanyama, Strandberg, Hughes, Watt and Hooper in team of the year

Hooper topscorer of the year in the Championship (41 goals in the league) - Watt finished 3rd (26 goals in the league)

---

Will look to add a lot of players in the summer as the hole team will need to have EPL class, so far Estigarribia (free) and N'Djeng (£3.3m) are joining

Looking for; back up keeper, left back to fight with Vila for the place, back up CB, back up MC (defensive), back up right winger, back up "creative" striker, and a striker to battle with Estigarribia for the left wing spot

Hopefully the team will managed with the extra players (hopefully) joining

Started this game up again

Summer "Big signing" were:

Shawcross - Stoke £20m

Dembele - Spurs £10m

Ince - Blackpool £12,25m (might sell him on as he doesn't fit into my new system - hopefully I won't take a huge loss on him)

Collison - West Ham £4,2m

Bacinovic - Palermo £2,2m

Eardley - Blackpool free (will be sold on as I've a Brazilian newgen joining in January)

Loan signings were:

Song - Barca £300k +40% wages (hopefully the money spend on him will provide vital in the end of the season)

Henriquez - Man Utd (3rd choice striker)

Williems - PSV (2nd choice left back)

Denilson - Arsenal (back up to midfield, might terminate the deal in January)

Fährmann - Schalke (2nd choice keeper)

Newgen GK - Milan (3rd choice keeper

11 games played so for and sitting 6th in the table, but have played the top 5 (Man Utd, Chelsea, Liverpool, Chelsea, Man City and Arsenal - in no order) so far, lost those games, but won the others

[El_Loco7]

Cannae wait for a transfers update!

[DKB]

Cannae wait for a transfers update!

Not sure but I think that the next official update will be "FM14" - there should be an unofficial one out shortly if there isn't one already

[El_Loco7]

Not sure but I think that the next official update will be "FM14" - there should be an unofficial one out shortly if there isn't one already

I've tried one or two so far but they looked a bit rushed. I'll be waiting for pr0's which is due out this evening. Yes, unofficial.

Might as well fire up some discussion while I wait. What I aim to get out of this save is domestic domination and to recreate those wonderful Champions League nights at Celtic Park. I doubt I'll make too many transfers, maybe some youths and stick to the current policy but nothing major. With the new signings in mind, how would you set up tactically for both SPFL and CL games?

[El_Loco7]

Here are my initial ideas, nothing groundbreaking at all.

First up is the CL games (or EL but hopefully the former)

Mentality - Counter. Direct. High Pressing.

We will be playing against stronger teams and I really like the 4-5-1 shape. Another area that I am keen on is the attacking three. I have been experimenting to good effect with creative forwards and goal scoring midfielders. Nothing groundbreaking or new, a typical 'false 9' or Trequartista role. This makes use of Ledley's tendency to go forward and the abilities of the full backs but still being defensively solid.

SPFL games (especially at home)

Firstly I wanted two out and out strikers on the pitch to show some intent, and because I rarely use two strikers. In Pukki and Stokes there are goals so I want to utilise these. I firstly looked at a 4-4-2 shape, fairly traditional and Forrest can easily come in on the right. To accommodate Commons though I had to make it into a 4-2-2-2 a la PSG. I don't think he works well out on the left. This will be very attacking and hopefully will batter teams with all the attacking players on the pitch. Open to counters though.

Tough SPFl games and European Qualifiers

I'll also look to use this if I am struggling to break teams down with the above formation. Although it would be hard to sub a striker when needing goals. I could always move stokes out wide where I do like him.

Find your football tactics app

More probing, more emphasis on Emilio to get forward into space vacated by Samaras (and probably more often than not Boerrighter) and to a lesser extent on the right. Commons doing his thing behind the striker and plenty of movement. Should be fairly solid with two central midfielders holding and spraying passes wide and forwards.

[DKB]

Started this game up again

Summer "Big signing" were:

Shawcross - Stoke £20m

Dembele - Spurs £10m

Ince - Blackpool £12,25m (might sell him on as he doesn't fit into my new system - hopefully I won't take a huge loss on him)

Collison - West Ham £4,2m

Bacinovic - Palermo £2,2m

Eardley - Blackpool free (will be sold on as I've a Brazilian newgen joining in January)

Loan signings were:

Song - Barca £300k +40% wages (hopefully the money spend on him will provide vital in the end of the season)

Henriquez - Man Utd (3rd choice striker)

Williems - PSV (2nd choice left back)

Denilson - Arsenal (back up to midfield, might terminate the deal in January)

Fährmann - Schalke (2nd choice keeper)

Newgen GK - Milan (3rd choice keeper

11 games played so for and sitting 6th in the table, but have played the top 5 (Man Utd, Chelsea, Liverpool, Chelsea, Man City and Arsenal - in no order) so far, lost those games, but won the others

3 newgens were added to the squad in January + Ross Barkley from Everton - Tom Ince and Estigarribia were sold on

Was sitting 2nd in the table for a long time due to the "European" playing teams having played less matches, but managed to finish the first season in the EPL in 3rd place, which were more than expected

Shawcross won Players Player of the Year and Will Hughes won Players Young Player of the Year - and the both of the were in the starting 11 of the EPL team of the year

Belhanda from Montpeillier will join on a free

[Paul McKenna]

How are we doing guys?

I recognise a few names on here from previous threads. I haven't posted on these forums in a while as I only bought FM 2013 on Monday night!

Started a new save with Celtic (offcourse ) with the latest official patch. I have had great success so far with my save, really enjoying the game and the new features compared to other versions. I am still getting used to training and pre match preparations but my assistant can handle these for the moment.

I will post a more detailed turn of events (maybe even screens) when the first season is finished. Anyone got any advice about training or individual training techniques? What works and what doesn't?

Cheers,

Paul

[El_Loco7]

Hi Paul! Firstly ignore players complaining about workloads unless you are overloading them. But really if they complain because they are underworked then they are professional and this is good, if they are complaining because of the opposite they are moany temperamental characters!

Get them on very high team cohesion (with plenty of friendlies) to get tactic familiarity up then lower it to other areas. For individual, the highlight key attributes is handy, highlight them then focus on attributes which are low for their position and keep switching it around.

[DKB]

Regarding training

it has completely changed in this years version, you must go and put each player on the kind of training that you want to improve

either a single focus

or

focus on a role - it doesn't matter that your player isn't going to play that role, you just concentrate the training around it - some roles ei for a central defender, whom you want to train with a sweeper focus, you have to put him on retraining on sweeper position for him to obtain the option of sweeper focus

[El_Loco7]

I'm having a little trouble with the following formation:

Added info is an attacking mentality on the the 4-2-2-2. It worked wonders in the preseason CL qualifiers and destroyed Kilmarnock 6-0 at home on the first day of the season. But, since then losses to Elfsborg (ok slightly before then) and St. Johnstone with draws to Partick Thistle and Dundee United. We were probably the better team in all those games but still, it has put me off using it.

[Paul McKenna]

Thanks for the tips guys.

In my game so far I am just coming upto the January transfer window and I'm unsure if I will be bringing in any players yet.

At the start of the season Wanyama wanted away to a bigger club, I told him he could leave but only for £12.5 million or more and he was happy with that, we had a falling out and his morale was always poor. He wouldn't talk to me or even consider signing a contract. So far I have had a fantastic Champions league campaign which saw us reach the group stages alongside A.C. Milan, Galatasaray and Schalke. Celtic qualified to the first knockout round with 1 game to spare, as we were undefeated at home and had fantastic results away from home. I will post screenshots soon. After qualifying I noticed Wanyama's morale went to ok, so I held contract talks and his agent said I would have to offer an amazing deal before considered the contract and eventually Wanyama signed a new contract with me and his morale was back to superb! He does have a £14 million release clause in his contract so if anyone matches that then they can have him.

Celtic are doing excellently in all domestic competitions. We are sitting at the top of an ever changing league with roughly 10 points clear of second place. Through to the semi final of the SLC which we knocked out Sevco in the 3rd round. Only played one round in the SC but we hammered Queen of the South with a bit part squad 4-0 at home.

Has anyone else had trouble when selecting the Champions League squad? I go on holiday when I have to do it in the news as I don't meet the requirements of 8 and 4 but after holiday my team has been selected, and no one important has been missed out.

I am now looking forward to this Champions league campaign and wonder how far I can take my unchanged team. COYBIG!