FM13: Bolton Wanderers F.C - A Wander into the Championship **To be Updated**

[potter1989bwfc]

Welcome to Bolton Wanderers - A Wander into the Championship!

Bolton Wanderers Football Club (commonly referred to as Bolton) is an English professional association football club that represents the city of Bolton in the North West region. They are members of the Football League Championship, the second highest level of English football, after they were relegated from the Premier League during the 2011–12 season. The club was founded in 1874 and since 1997 has played at the Reebok Stadium

Information

Nation England

Year Founded 1874

Operating Status Professional

Nickname The Trotters

Chairman Status Loves the club

Legends Nat Lofthouse (Player)

Icons John McGinlay (Player), Kevin Davies (Player), Jussi Jääskeläinen (Player), Gudni Bergsson (Player), Andy Walker (Player), Ivan Campo (Player), Jay-Jay Okocha (Player), Youri Djorkaeff (Player), Frank Worthington (Player), Alan Thompson (Player), Phil Brown (Backroom Staff), Jason McAteer (Player), Ian Greaves (Manager), Eddie Hopkinson (Player)

Favoured Personnel Eidur Gudjohnsen (Player), Sam Allardyce

Fierce Rivals Man Utd (Local), Blackburn (Historic), Wigan (Historic)

Other Rivals West Ham (Competitive), Wolves (Historic), Bury (Historic), Tranmere (Historic), Man City (Local), Arsenal (Competitive)

Finances Okay

Average Ticket Price £27

Average Season Ticket Price £357

Season Ticket Holders 11,000

Estimated Value £45M (Loan Debt: £137M)

Continental Competition -

Media Prediction 1st

Squad Personality Determined

Honours

First Division/Championship

Champions: 1908–09, 1977–78, 1996–97

Runners-up: 1899–1900, 1904–05, 1910–11, 1934–35

Play-off Winners: 1995, 2001

Play-off Runners-up: 1999

Play-off Semi-finalists: 2000

Second Division/League 1

Champions: 1972–73

Runners-up: 1992–93

Play-off Runners-up: 1991

Play-off Semi-finalists: 1990

Fourth Division/League 2

Third: 1987–88

FA Cup

Winners: 1923, 1926, 1929, 1958

Runners-up: 1894, 1904, 1953

Semi-finalists: 1889, 1896, 1915, 1935, 1946, 2000, 2011

Football League Cup

Runners-up: 1995, 2004

Semi-finalists: 1977, 2000

FA Charity Shield

Winners: 1958

Football League Trophy

Champions: 1989

Runners-up: 1986

Reserves and Others

Football League War Cup Winners (1) – 1945

FA Premier League Asia Trophy Winners (1) – 2005

Peace Cup Runners up (1) – 2007

Lancashire Senior Cup Winners (11) – 1886, 1891, 1912, 1922, 1925, 1927, 1932, 1934, 1948, 1988, 1990

Central League Champions – 1955, 1995

Premier Reserve League North Champions – 2007

Kits

Home

Away

Alternative

The Manager

Name: Dougie Freedman

Nationality: Scottish

DOB: 25 May 1974

Backroom Staff

Phil Gartside Chairman

William Warburton Director

Gordon Seymour Director

Paula Mulligan Director

Des McBain Director

Lennie Lawrence Assistant Manager

Sammy Lee Under 18s Manager

Jimmy Phillips Head of Youth Development

Phil Hughes Goalkeeping Coach

Neil Edwards Goalkeeping Coach

Nicky Spooner Under 18s Coach

Tony Kelly Under 18s Coach

Neil Pointon Under 18s Coach

David Lee Under 18s Coach

Jimmy Barrow Fitness Coach

Christopher Elderkin Fitness Coach

Michael Rawson Fitness Coach

Luke Bussey Physio

Andy Mitchell Head Physio

Matthew Fox Physio

Jamie Miller Physio

Colin Harvey Chief Scout

Colin Chambers Scout

Clive Richards Scout

Terry Darracott Scout

Ernie Tippett Scout

Joe McLaughlin Scout

Cliff Roberts Scout

Squad Analysis

Goalkeepers

1.Adam Bogdan:

24.Andy Lonergan:

34.Jay Lynch:

Left back

3.Marcos Alonso:

15.Stephen Warnock:

Centre Backs

4.Matt Mills:

5.Tim Ream:

12.Zak Knight:

31.David Wheater

Right Back

18.Sam Ricketts:

2.Tyrone Mears:

Central Midfield

8.Keith Andrews:

16.Mark Davies:

22.Stuart Holden:

20.Jay Spearing:

21. Darren Pratley

25.Josh Vela:

Left Midfield/Wing

10.Martin Petrov:

11.Greg Wylde:

Right Midfield/Wing

27.Lee Chung Yung:

7.Chris Eagles:

Strikers

14.Kevin Davies:

9.David N’Gog

19.Marvin Sordell:

17.Benik Afobe:

Tactics

As tactics go, I would either play 4-4-2, 4-3-3 or 4-4-1-1 depending on who you are playing.. However, due to injuries you won’t be able to field your strongest 11 till February/March Time

4-4-2

(GK)Bodgan

(RB)Ricketts

(CB)Wheater/Mills

(CB)Ream

(LB)Warnock

(RM)Lee

(CM)Spearing

(CM)M.Davies

(LM)Eagles

(FC)K.Davies

(FC)Sordell

4-4-3

(GK)Bodgan

(RB)Ricketts

(CB)Wheater/Mills

(CB)Ream

(LB)Warnock

(DM)Spearing

(CM)Andrews/Holden

(CM)M.Davies

(RW)Lee

(LW)Eagles

(FC)Sordell

4-4-1-1

(GK)Bodgan

(RB)Ricketts

(CB)Wheater/Mills

(CB)Ream

(LB)Warnock

(RM)Lee

(CM)Spearing

(CM)M.Davies

(LM)Petrov

(AM)Eagles

(FC)Sordell

Transfer Budget

****TO BE UPDATED*******

Transfer Targets

I found my CB to be weak so I brought in:

Mancienne, Michael | HSV (Loan)

Yussuf, Ayila | Dynamo Kyiv (Loan)

I also sold N'Gog & Lee so I brought in:

Jerome, Cameron | Stoke (Loan)

Zaha, Wilfried | Crystal Palace | £6.75M

[kierenbwfc]

I cant make up my mind if the full game is properly installed on my game Coyle is still in charge and warnock is still at villa. Is this correct?

[David of Kent]

I cant make up my mind if the full game is properly installed on my game Coyle is still in charge and warnock is still at villa. Is this correct?

It is, no data update until after January transfer window SI have stated. So all data was updated around 3 weeks before the beta game was issued.

[Jambodinho]

I have started with bolton and am struggling big time. Likely to be sacked soon. 14th in the league after 17 games. I've lost 7 of those including home losses to Peterborough, Charlton and Bristol City.

I started by selling Lee (£9m) N'Gog (£4.6m) Knight(£1.1m) Petrov (£2m) Ricketts (1.6m) and Mears (£1m)

In came Darko Lazovic, Adryan, Jamie Mackie, Lasse Nielsen, Ryan McGowan, Aaron Sinclair, Iain Vigurs and Joel Pohjanpalo.

I'm approaching the game exactly how I did with FM2012 and if this were FM2012 I'd be unbeaten at the top of the league. It seems this game has got far more in-depth and missing the slightest detail can result in your team struggling. I keep getting told that my foreign signings are struggling to communicate with the rest of the team, so I guess there is no point signing non English speaking players as no matter how good they are, they will struggle.

Anyone got any advice for me?

[vozzon]

Looking at playing with bolton seems like they can go straight back into the premiere league and do well. Can anyone post some screen shots of there players, won't get the games til later on this week.

Cheers

[potter1989bwfc]

You can show screen shots anymore Or I can't seem to do it.

[karlcole]

Cant wait to get going on FM 13 with bolton!! seems if you shift out people like chung yong theres a bit of cash to spend too!!

[4-4-2]

Just started as Bolton on the Demo, looking forward to a good game with them

[Bagzinho]

This game is impossible. Trying to play as Bolton, but my results are shocking. Can't get Mark Davies or Petrov into the game and my defence is a shambles. I'm not going to get started on Bogdan.

Any ideas? I appreciate that this does actually sound like Bolton in real life...

[potter1989bwfc]

I tend to play 4-2-3-1.

The 2 being anchors

3 being 2 wingers & 1 Attacking Mildfielder behind a CF

[Stumpy0126]

I have started with bolton and am struggling big time. Likely to be sacked soon. 14th in the league after 17 games. I've lost 7 of those including home losses to Peterborough, Charlton and Bristol City.

I started by selling Lee (£9m) N'Gog (£4.6m) Knight(£1.1m) Petrov (£2m) Ricketts (1.6m) and Mears (£1m)

In came Darko Lazovic, Adryan, Jamie Mackie, Lasse Nielsen, Ryan McGowan, Aaron Sinclair, Iain Vigurs and Joel Pohjanpalo.

I'm approaching the game exactly how I did with FM2012 and if this were FM2012 I'd be unbeaten at the top of the league. It seems this game has got far more in-depth and missing the slightest detail can result in your team struggling. I keep getting told that my foreign signings are struggling to communicate with the rest of the team, so I guess there is no point signing non English speaking players as no matter how good they are, they will struggle.

Anyone got any advice for me?

Is it just me or did you sell most of your back line? The ones you brought in don't look quite that much improvement over what you had.

I agree with cashing in when you can but personally I'd have signed a few better replacements for the back. This forum is littered with Norwegian's who'd do better than Lasse.

Tbh I would've kept Ricketts for a while as he's good across the entire line. Also I don't know what you did for GK but Bogdan isn't the solution for long term.

Would be interested in finding out what else you are doing tactically, etc. to see what you are doing so we can help you with your struggles.

[Stumpy0126]

This game is impossible. Trying to play as Bolton, but my results are shocking. Can't get Mark Davies or Petrov into the game and my defence is a shambles. I'm not going to get started on Bogdan.

Any ideas? I appreciate that this does actually sound like Bolton in real life...

What are doing with your formation? Who is in your side and any other info you can provide... this team can win games but you've got to pick where you are missing it first!

[Stumpy0126]

I tend to play 4-2-3-1.

The 2 being anchors

3 being 2 wingers & 1 Attacking Mildfielder behind a CF

Straight from Sky... http://www1.skysports.com/football/live/match/262328/teams

It's pretty effective if Big Kev is on his game knocking them down into the way of the three behind him so long as he's not being crowded out by the back line or not getting any service.

[Stephanie McMahon's Secret Lover]

Being a Bolton fan I naturally start all FMs as Bolton.

The problem is the team is expected to be promoted but the team clearly isn't good enough and you can only ever sell players at face value. After about 20 attempts I think I avoided the sack ONCE. (Trying to play properly and avoid game exploits).

Most season's we start great and are in the top 2 by the 10-15 game mark, however, form then plummets and it's sacked by Xmas.

It's also ludicrously difficult to find better players than what we already have!

[Stumpy0126]

Well I've posted in here because I'm a Bolton fan as well, though I haven't always started with them as I aspired to work my way up to them where ever they were once I had made it from the lower leagues.

This year I went straight in... The team is capable but I agree there are some holes which need plugging.

The first thing I did was clean the backroom out and start fresh. Most have been named in the staff thread or in previous staff threads, others I just found scouring the lists of who would come to me.

Players was a bit different...

1. Immediately loaned out Jack Robinson, which I'm sure Spearing helped to secure for no fee and partial wages! I could've gotten Danny Wilson but I wasn't willing to pay a 30K fee and full wages.

2. Tottenham came in for Chungy for 23M, and I bumped the price up to something ridiculous as the reject offer tends to cause the board to step in for any amount of the players worth. Tott come back with a counter offer which Gartside immediately takes. So I think, well he's off and I need a new playmaker... Enter Wellington Nem with a release clause that his club will let me string payments over time. Done and dusted BUT Chungy doesn't like Tott's offer for Salary, Bonuses and length of contract so he stays and is still happy as a lark! Lucky me!

3. Crystal Palace came in for Lainton, so my third choice GK is gone... I don't fancy Lonergan or Bogdan for that matter but they'll do for now.

4. Pratley is one who I personally want out of the side, but thus far I've been unlucky to off load him to anyone that can afford him and his wages...

5. Ngog was an easy sell which funded most of my acquistions... Monaco came in for him and off he went. I've since replaced him with Admeilson on his release clause as well as fellow countrymen Adryan (AMC) and Doria (CB - who I get in Jan), not to mention ever famous Strandberg.

6. I anticipate selling off Knight in Jan, but I would really like to get rid of Mills too as he's a player who just bugs me in this game, I'll be looking for a GK, FB, CB, DMC, and ST for the Jan/Summer windows....

Here is my starting line up thus far, but can change...

Here is the alternate line up...

Adryan isn't up to full fitness yet but he'll be getting games soon. I put Nem in the middle but may push him out wide on the left when Adryan comes in.

Vela and Riley get games from the bench and in cups is the plan...

Currently I'm finishing the up the preason... and the only loss was to Ajax at home 1-2, I have West Ham up next before the start of the season...

Hopefully I'll be able to do the business in the league!

[Stumpy0126]

Just some rants and random thoughts here but I have no one else to share these with right now...

Both Keepers in the side are woefully pathetic... Bogdan slightly less so than Lonergan... watching replays of our matches and seeing it's the errors both are making in the ME that is driving me crazy...

Getting out of position on corners, losing the ball in their hands, and other weird quirks where they close down but still miss the ball in the matches we are scored on.

I'm going to push Lonergan to the reserves and shop for a new GK... just hope it will be someone who'll be good enough to help get us up to the Prem and keep us there... because Bogdan can't!

My only saving grace in most cases is the ability of the attackers I've brought in to score that makes up for it... Ademilson is a gem!

I've decided to tactically train Nem to be a winger and have him opposite of Chungy on the left... Petrov and Wylde will rotate in so as to give him rest (learning from the Sterling example irl).

Adryan just got in so he needs time to gel, but his quality is evident.

Who needs Cahill? I've got Strandberg! Unfortunately, until January I've only got Strandberg to rely on in the center, despite my hopes that Ream would improve.

I mentioned it before but in the game Mills just isn't right, during matches the status widget always indicates he's furious or angry, and that's when we are up by a goal or more!

I think they overdid his mentality because he's collecting cards of both colors with more than normal frequency...

I've decided I'll try to fund transfer buys in Jan with the sale of Knight and either go for Lees or Batth, depending who I can afford first and get the other in the summer.

Youth for the future or maybe now if you don't want to spend are Joe Riley (for the now... I've been impressed with his play across the back four!), Adam Blakeman (possibly for the future or now LB role), Joe McKee (definately the future, but his technicals are immense, just train up the physicals).

I may tinker a bit with the formation... it will still be a 4-4-2 base but might move the wingers and fullbacks up between the two lines and make the one CM a BWMd and the other a DLPs... haven't decided yet as the flat 4-4-2 is still effective unless an injury causes a need to change tactically...

And I'm done for now...

[Welshace]

Being a Bolton fan I naturally start all FMs as Bolton.

The problem is the team is expected to be promoted but the team clearly isn't good enough and you can only ever sell players at face value. After about 20 attempts I think I avoided the sack ONCE. (Trying to play properly and avoid game exploits).

Most season's we start great and are in the top 2 by the 10-15 game mark' date=' however, form then plummets and it's sacked by Xmas.

It's also ludicrously difficult to find better players than what we already have![/quote']

.Lee Chung Yung can be sold for silly money can't he?

[Stephanie McMahon's Secret Lover]

The 1st thing I do is get rid of the loan players. Afobe is not good enough and Spearing is a DM more than anything but I use 2 MCs as DLPs. You're absolutely right about Mills. Anyone would think he sits in his pram chucking his dummy out all the time. In my latest game he wanted a transfer because I subbed him and despite him starting all our games. Sold him to Derby in the January window for his £2.9m value.

The January window has just shut in the 1st season and the only other players I have offloaded are all reserves out on loan.

For the 1st team it's all about bargains and loans in the 1st season for me.

I've managed to purchase...

DC Jona Ivens (age 28) from Groningen for £170k - now worth £1m - He'll be a squad player.

On a free I brought in...

DR Michel Salgado (age 36) - Defo a back up player and way past his best.

MC Malaury Martin (age 23) - At 1st as a squad/back up but I'm actually using him as a 1st team player as he's done brilliantly.

On loan...

SC Andi Weiman (age 20) - As a back up but he returned after complaining about not being played from Villa.

SC Mbaye Niang (age 18) - As a back up in January from Milan. Not too bad a player.

DC Marco Russ (age 27) - As a 1st team player from Wolfsburg. As we are pushing for the title and Mills has gone we needed some quality at the back. He's only costing £9k per month and we have an agreed fee of £750k should we want him permanently.

DR/L Adam Smith (age 21) - A back up full back from Spurs.

Currently well clear at the top and have a great chance of winning the League Cup Final v Villa. Still in the FA Cup too.

[Stumpy0126]

.Lee Chung Yung can be sold for silly money can't he?

Yes and no on Chungy from my experience... he can be sold for silly money but he wants silly money as far as a contract and ends up staying where he is with us... not complaining mind you...

[Stumpy0126]

I thought about the loans being cancelled but Spearing isn't half bad and I like the bugger, so I kept him... Afobe, well I figured I'd keep him and try to build up the good graces with Arsne down the line... for some reason he's been scoring for me!

Ivens gets signed before I can get to him... but I heard he's worth it if you get him.

Looks like you've done well, but what do you plan come summer if you stay top of the heap and get promoted... we've been in the red so I forsee more sales before buying...

[Stephanie McMahon's Secret Lover]

Exactly. Even getting promoted doesn't solve your financial problems.

I fully expect to implement the same meanness with transfer fees and loans. I have won promotion so the planning starts now however, two added bonuses have unexpectedly come my way. We defeated Villa in the League Cup Final and so have Europa League to contend with next season. Also we have made the FA Cup Final. Strange but in both competitions we never got drawn against any big club. Indeed, the FA Cup Final is against Fulham because the defeated Arsenal.

I fully intend to ignore the Europa League though and field fringe players as the Premier League HAS to be the priority at this stage.

[Stumpy0126]

I'm never that fortunate with Cups... always draw Chelsea, Man City, or Man U in the early to middle stages.

You're right Premiership HAS to be priority #1...

Did you manage to sell Pratley? For the life of me I can't sell him despite my earnest attempts to play him frequently enough to get him suitors... Last I checked Hudders wanted him but no offers

[Stephanie McMahon's Secret Lover]

The only way I have ever got rid of Pratley is on a free.

At the moment he is a back up and nothing more. However, because he had a good game once, he actually demanded a new contract. Needless to say I said no and he backed down. LoL

He is listed for loan though I expect him to join a Championship side next season or perhaps go to our affiliate Elche.

[olivermcpherson]

Whatever you do, don't get promoted.

I won the league with over 100 points, still lost money and then lost Kevin Davies and Petrov on free transfers as I couldn't offer them enough cash to stay and then the board gave me 2.65m and no increase in an already maxed out wage budget (call that a budget?) to replace them. At that point, I reshaped my team to the best of my ability, which then led to 9 of my 22 man squad getting injured. At that point, I turned the game off ha.

The chairman doesn't have a clue, it's a real shame because I was left in a very difficult situation. Now I'm just going to play as a team who actually give you some options in the transfer market instead of trying to cripple you.

[Stumpy0126]

Don't get promoted?!? I just don't understand that thinking... to stay in the Championship would surely cripple you even more with wages that can't be sustained at this level.

I love Big Kev, but I'd let him go at the end of the season if he doesn't retire and go into coaching as promised. Petrov should be gone as well... free if necessary.

Where did you overspend in wages? I've just started and I'm below my wage structure and still have money to spend in Jan...

I guess it's all in perspective, but I wish you well with whatever team you find enjoyment with... I'll take us back up to the Prem, I like the challenge!

,

[Stephanie McMahon's Secret Lover]

Avoid promotion??? NEVER!!!

I've just started a new game because of the patch and won't be using any nice exploits.

My 1st season was all about trying to keep costs down (as usual). This time however, I stayed with the opening squad of players. Sadly I got sacked twice and by the end of the 1st season I'd finished 16th on my 3rd appointment.

We were top scorers with 83 goals and had the worst defence conceding 86!

This up coming season is all about getting rid of the deadwood and bringing in cheap replacements. My wage budget was annoyingly halved making the job much more difficult.

[Stephanie McMahon's Secret Lover]

So with manager III still in charge and my philosophy unchanged I'd managed to release...

Stuart Holden & Kevin Davies (now Coventry City).

Whilst Martin Petrov left on a free to join Stuttgart. Mark Davies joined Everton for £6.5m. Yes transfers seem to be working properly now as that was a hostile bid. It wasn't the only one as I took a risk and gave in to Celtic swooping for Marvin Sordell in a £5.25m deal. I transfer listed and sold Andy Lonegan to Forest for £525k and Tyrone Mears to Wigan for £1.7m. Sadly new youngster Craig Smith was poached by Spurs who paid us a paltry £550k.

Finances where still expected to be tight so I brought in these 5 guys on free loans...

Andros Townsend (Spurs)

Stefano Denswil (Ajax)

Nouho Dicko (Wigan)

Bienevenue Basala-Mazana (Cologne)

Ronald van Eck (Feyenoord)

GK Colin Doyle was broughtin on a free from Birmingham City whilst we signed Milovan Mirosevic on a 6 month free transfer after he left Columbus Crew.

For the Cup competitions I fielded a totally rotated squad and we naturally went out early in both.

The league was much better. We hung around 8th at the start then a bad middle saw us drop as low as 14th before rallying to finish a creditable 9th. Thereby achieving the top half finish that the board requested.

Once again we ended up as top scorers with 87 goals whilst we also had the 2nd worst defence conceding 75.

Despite all those sales we only made a profit of £500,000! The problem is of course our huge £110m loan debt. It costs £1.2m every month and its killing us. Perhaps I'll gamble a bit this time around and spend some money?

[Stumpy0126]

SMSL III?!?

Only 500K that's painful... did anything go down on the debt with the transfers?

I'm not aware of any exploits, but I'm rather naive that way and think that the AI is exploiting me, which it probably is!

I've been slowing down recently as I'm rather methodical in trying to figure out what the analysis is trying to tell me about my tactics... unfortunately, I'm no better for it, but I still try!

Getting the players to gel has been a challenge... they play wonderfully in attack but defending is like watching my little one buzz after the ball in a pack with all the other kids, execpt the AI is scoring for fun.

I've been forced to keep Mills for the season, he's not willing to leave though he's a nutter (I think the researcher didn't like him! <j/k>) and both he, Knight, and Ream seem to gallop off after the ball instead of staying put in the back to defend... I wonder if the ME is showing me something bizarre for fun because I've never seen their CB close the ball down at midfield or to the corners only to be sorely out of position when the ball goes by them to the waiting striker they were to defend. And this is on Counter and Zonal marking... I can't think of anything else to tell them to stay put and defend the middle...

So like you I score for fun, but can't defend... I've even changed the training focus to defend... still no joy

[Stephanie McMahon's Secret Lover]

The good news is the only debt we have now is the chairman's £99m loan. The bad news is that not only is costing us £817k per month but it's going to be repaid until 2025 (another 11 years)!!!!!

Another problem is having to sell players. Lee and N'Gog have gone, bringing in £18m. Our wage budget was again slashed by the board to a miserly £180k.

The biggest problem however, is the number of loan players I've brought in for season three - NINE!!!

[Stephanie McMahon's Secret Lover]

Well what can I say about season three?

TEN players brought in on loan and not a penny spent in transfer fees again.

My entire first team squad had just 18 players and only ONE striker. He was 19 year old Cauley Woodrow on loan from Fulham, According to my scouts he was only a decent League One player who could become a good Premier League player. He finished joint top scorer with 30 goals!!! His strike partner (also a loanee from Caen) was 20 year old Lenny Nangis. Shockingly he also notched 30 league goals.

We didn't try in the cups sending in the U18s and even suffered an FA Cup 3rd round 7-0 humiliation at Blackburn.

We finished 8th being top scorers again with 95 whilst letting in 75.

Our end of season balance stands at £13m so things are looking up although we now have no big names to sell.

[Stumpy0126]

Ten Loan players? Must have been tricky with the limit on number of loanees in the side when injuries came up!

Hopefully you'll be able to bring in some of that talent you've been loaning or their equivalent!

For me I've just closed out the first window (I told you I'm methodically slow) and I've done quite well with transfers IMHO!

Managed to still have 1.45M left over for the Jan window, but with wages as they are I need to offload Pratley and maybe another to sign anyone.

Here are my transfers (most spent in the league!):

[Stephanie McMahon's Secret Lover]

Funnily enough Pratley is probably the best player I have left. He's a decent player for the Premier however, I only offer a 1 year deal at a time due to him being over 30.

[Stumpy0126]

Glad you were able to do something with him, for me he's a lump in the middle that does nothing well except gift possession to the other side.

I'm hoping that someone will be able to take him from me as the most interest he gets are from teams that can't sign him (wages -Wednesday) or want to loan him for free (Charlton).

I'll play him reserves to keep fitness up and give him an odd run in cups but I see what he could be and what he is as two different things in this game, but that is just me!

How did you get on with the youth/reserve kids that were already in the side... Vela, Riley, McKee, Woodland (to name a few)... did they develop for you?

I'm seeing to it that I build up the youth situation and try poaching initially until I get decent regens coming through or at least that's the plan...

[Stephanie McMahon's Secret Lover]

Vela has been a regular starter for 2 seasons but is still only a good player for the Championship. Riley is also a good player for the championship but I allowed him one more year on loan before I intend keeping him in the 1st team squad.

Oh also Greg Wylde is now a regular starter.

[Stumpy0126]

All three are starters for me, albeit from the bench... Wylde gets every other game in place of Petrov in the side.

Riley has been learning LB and CB since he's become my utility man to plug holes... he's been pretty decent so I don't flog him off on loan.

Vela is a good player, and while I agree mostly Championship player, I aspire to greater things with him... if I can get his quickness improved greatly over the coming year.

Hopefully the McKee and the rest can be developed into something more over the course of my career... at least I hope I'm able to!

[Stephanie McMahon's Secret Lover]

Oh and Marcos Alonso is my 1st choice left back

[Stumpy0126]

Alonso is my second choice behind Robinson, but I rotate so he gets time... he's either punching holes in the back of the net from outside the box or he's being skinned down the line for a cross into our box.

I'll be working on his defensive consistency, but he'w wonderful in attack!

Merry Christmas!

[Stephanie McMahon's Secret Lover]

Another awful performance vs Sheff Wed makes me get out my all-conquering Bolton game.

[Stumpy0126]

Well I'm doing what Dougie and the boys seem to not be able to do and that's win baby win! We just beat Wednesday 2-0... of course they weren't able to play the crocked Kirkland in goal, so it may have been that but I doubt it!

On the down side we are hemorraging money... currently sitting with 12M in the red!!

[Stephanie McMahon's Secret Lover]

Had to start yet again because the new patch prevented me from downloading my save.

So I went back to my winning ways. First season 98 points and won the title. Did well in the League Cup again but lost the Final. Season 2 we overtook Man City on the final day to finish 3rd and qualify for the Champions League. Only used loans and freebies for the first 2 seasons. Now I am going to allow myself a budget at last of about £7m.

[DirtyJoe]

Great work SMS, Bolton is truly a challenge.

[Stumpy0126]

Agreed! SMSL care to help poor Dougie out with his tactics? Lord knows we need the help!

[Stephanie McMahon's Secret Lover]

Struggling in season 3. Won 2 Drawn 2 Lost 3

[karlcole]

SMSL what tactics are you using??

[D0bi]

Just started a new save with Bolton, I usually avoid them as I used to get depressed if I did badly (it made me a worse manager than Megson!) or if I did well, it made going to games depressing (who wants to play Barcelona one night on FM, then wake up the next day, head to the Reebok to watch us get trounced by Peterborough!?)

I'm attempting to follow on what Coyle tried to do in having a largely British squad, and I'm also trying to use my academy a bit more too. Josh Riley played a few games in the early cup games (even scoring a beauty after linking up with Vela) and he's now at Scunthorpe for a short-term loan. Vela is also being played in a few low-key games and cup matches, and being tutored by Keith Andrews.

Not many transfers, Lainton, O'Halloran and Riley are all out on loan, whilst I sold Pratley (somehow) to Celtic for £2.5m and N'gog to Norwich for £4m.

I managed to bring in Kyle Naughton on loan from Spurs who's been brilliant on the right-hand side of defence. I also signed Francisco Javier Cachorro on a free transfer, just to give Mark Davies a bit of competition in the AMC position. To replace N'gog I signed Soncin from Ascoli for £350k and he's on 6k a week which is a third of N'gogs wages and he's already netted a few for us. My final transfers was James Ward-Prowse from Southampton for the bargain £350k after unsettling him and he asked for a transfer! He's currently rotating with Davies in midfield and playing cup-games.

Just getting through November now and we're 4th so we'll most likely have to go through the play-offs to go up. Injuries are killing me, with Knight (4 months), Ream (2 weeks) Spearing (4 weeks), Naughton (3 weeks) all out which makes my defence very shaky.

My Tactic is a simple 4-2-3-1 formation

---------------Davies/Soncin--------------

Petrov---------Davies------------------Lee

--------------Andrews/Vela---------------

---------------Spearing-------------------

Alonson---Knight-------Ream-----Naughton

----------------Bogdan-------------------

However my current defence is Alonso, Ricketts, Mills and Mears and Mears in particular has been woeful. Knight was averaging an 8.2 rating before his injury, so we'll miss him. Losing a steady 2m a month as well, but unless I sell Lee in Summer for £12m or so I doubt I can do much about that. I've resigned Holden and Petrov on new contracts for the same wages, so just SKD to renew now, but I'm trying to push him in to coaching for next year.

[Stumpy0126]

Welcome D0bi!

Looks like you are doing well with the team... which makes me wonder it's just a matter of belief in themselves?

Anywho, you've assembled quite a cast and I bow down to you in your ability to off load Pratley, as I've got him sitting and eating up wages because no one will buy him! ARGH!

Did you manage to work in a buy clause for Naughton... I thought there was one for Spearing, but it doesn't seem to be despite what I've read elsewhere.

Don't know how you've made out in the cups but it seems that and winning promotion through play off and getting a cup or two might be our best bet to stop the bleeding.

SKD does re-sign for lower wages for one more year for me while I've been talking to him about going into coaching... so we'll see come summer what will happen.

I let Petrov go as he's highest wage earner and I still have memories of that Stoke FA cup game...

[D0bi]

Welcome D0bi!

Looks like you are doing well with the team... which makes me wonder it's just a matter of belief in themselves?

Anywho, you've assembled quite a cast and I bow down to you in your ability to off load Pratley, as I've got him sitting and eating up wages because no one will buy him! ARGH!

Did you manage to work in a buy clause for Naughton... I thought there was one for Spearing, but it doesn't seem to be despite what I've read elsewhere.

Don't know how you've made out in the cups but it seems that and winning promotion through play off and getting a cup or two might be our best bet to stop the bleeding.

SKD does re-sign for lower wages for one more year for me while I've been talking to him about going into coaching... so we'll see come summer what will happen.

I let Petrov go as he's highest wage earner and I still have memories of that Stoke FA cup game...

Naughton doesn't have any clause in his loan but considering I'm only paying about 40% of his wages (£8,000) plus 15k a month in fees, I'm happy for now. I'm out of the Capital One Cup after losing 3-0 to Fulham (Berbatov tore me to shreds) in the round preceding the quarter finals, and I'm not confident about the FA Cup, our first game is against West Brom at the Hawthorns and they're 6th in the PL.

That could be a blessing as 6 of my defence (Including Spearing who plays DM) have been injured recently, causing me to drop points. I've had three 1-1 draws in my last 5 games from winning positions against teams like Wednesday and Crystal Palace (who are 24th) that I really should have won. Hopefully Palace's (possible) relegation should help me tempt Zaha at the end of the season, but we'll see.

[Stumpy0126]

Well at least you aren't losing those games! Could be much worse like real life!

Hopefully you'll get Zaha... I went after Sanogo during the winter break and managed to snag him on a free! Same for Janza and Perin... now I've got a qualified replacement for SKD, a LB , and a real GK.

If I can keep Spearing so much the better, but it's not looking like it...

I've got Tott in the Carl... er, Capitol One Cup final... hopefully we can pull it off!

Making my way through the league easily right now, and no serious injuries so far and I've got Stewie back and banging in an odd goal, long may all that continue!

FA Cup is into the sixth round and we'll play mostly likely Norwich (as they've yet to play Colchester)...

[D0bi]

I've no such luck in the cup, and my luck with injuries isn't getting much better. I finally got Holden back and he broke his wrist 15 minutes in to his comeback - another 6 weeks in the stands for him! Up to 3rd in the league now after 25 games, but we've not really won a game convincingly yet, I always seem to be hanging on for the last 15 minutes with a one goal lead, just waiting for Ream to do something stupid!

Come January I think I want a new Centre back (As Wheater is still a few months short of recovering and Knight is injured for another 2 months) as well as, if possible, a new keeper. If I do get promoted I'll probably go straight back down - as in real-life, we no longer have a "premier league" squad.

[Stumpy0126]

Well I got Doria in the first window for 850K, but since his contract comes up around Dec/Jan and he'll be 18 by then I'd say go after him... he'll come and get the WP on appeal.

Other than that if Strandberg is around get him... can't say enough good about him!

The both of them are going to form the back line for the future for me!

As for GK... well I mentioned I got Perin for free, but that was because his contract was expiring, but I won't see him until summer.

I did get Kapino, but he's more of a future project but I'm sure he can't be much worse than those two if you give him games.

The funny thing for me is Lonergan is playing beyond his ability as he's been keeping more clean sheets than Bogdan... to my stunned surprise!

I'm really thinking that morale and belief are key to performance... which says something about the team when they don't have it.