fyrefuze Posted November 28, 2012 Share Posted November 28, 2012 MOTHERWELL FOOTBALL CLUB Motherwell have a long and dramatic history in the game. Since their formation in 1886, the Steelmen have experienced everything from the highs of promotion and cup success to the lows of relegation and administration. Motherwell have not dropped out of the top-flight of Scottish football since 1984, but have only lifted one trophy in that time – the Scottish Cup in 1991. Nation: Scotland Founded: 1886 Reputation: National Nickname: The Steelmen Chairman Status: Loves the Club Legends: Bobby Ancell, Phil O'Donnell, Hugh Ferguson, Bob Ferrier, Willie McFadyen Icons: Tommy McLean, James McFadden, Willie Pettigrew, Steve Kirk, Martyn Corrigan, Tommy Coyne, John Filiben Favoured Personnel: Scott Leitch, Luc Nijholt, Simo Valakari, Lee McCulloch Derbies: North Lanarkshire Derby (v Hamilton Accies), Lanarkshire Derby (v Airdrie United) Fierce Rivalries: Airdire United, Hamilton Accies Finances: Okay Average Ticket Price: £21 Average Season Ticket Price: £320 Season Ticket Holders: 4,250 Estimated Value: £7m Continental Competition: UCL Media Prediction: 6th Squad Personality: Highly Professional Club Captain: Keith Lasley Club Vice Captain:Steven Hammell Why Motherwell? A very decent squad in a very competetive league. Celtic is exceptionally good but you'll get a good fight from Aberdeen, Dundee Utd and Hibs. A decent challenge for guys who want to raise the country's UEFA coefficient rather than just club. Celtic will constantly keep on doing good and will help you raise the quotient. Your option if you want to go Rags to Riches.You have a fair chance to do good at Euro level, if you can keep your key players happy and extend their contracts. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
fyrefuze Posted November 28, 2012 Author Share Posted November 28, 2012 Goalkeepers: You are pretty much set here. Darren Randolph ★★★★★Irish international Randolph will be your number one and is more than capable between the sticks. He is easily one of the best players at the club and would walk into most SPL teams. Lee Hollis ★★★★★ Lee Hollis is a decent backup for Randolph. He is wanted by many Premier League Clubs in England, so you might like to en-cash. Ross Stewart ★★★★★ Stewart is a young keeper who will be as good as Hollis. Defenders: Motherwell's defence is one of the best in league, but lacks depth in quality. Steven Hammell ★★★★★ The club stalwart is a flying fullback and is very good while attacking or at set pieces. Lacks defensive stats though. Zaine Francis-Angol ★★★★★ From first-team to a full-internationalist in the space of four weeks! That’s the progress Zaine Francis-Angol has made since breaking into the ‘Well top team. The 19 year old has bags of potential and is an apt rotation option to hammell if you want to play a defensive fullback. Shaun Hutchison ★★★★★ Though injured at the start of game, recovers well before the league starts. Hutchinson is your best player in CB position. Good in air but lacks in marking. Simon Ramsden ★★★★★ He has good all round stats for SPL, could be a good Ball playing Defender. He can also fill for Hateley at RB. Adam Cummins ★★★★★ Another good CB at this level, like Ramsden he can also play at RB. Steven Saunders ★★★★★ Steven began the campaign at right-back but moved to his preferred position of centre-half later helping the Steelmen to some crucial clean sheets. At the start of 12-13 campaign he was dealt with a cruel blow suffering a knee problem in pre-season which required surgery and will keep the defender out until around Christmas 2012. Jonathan Page ★★★★★ Your utility man can also play as an Anchor man. Fraser Kerr ★★★★★ On Loan from Birmingham City. Has decent potential but will find it tough to break into first team squad. Tom Hateley ★★★★★ Son of England and Rangers legend Mark Hateley is one of the best players in squad. Tracked by many EPL clubs, its highly advisible to keep hold of him. Nicky Devlin ★★★★★ One for the future.Do try and give him some game time. You have a very young and talented defence. Best defence lineup will probably be Steven Hammell at LB, Adam Cummins and Shaun Hutchison at CB and Tom Hateley at RB. Steven Saunders can play at RB and CB once recovering from his long term injury in approximately 6 months. Jonathan Page is strictly a backup player and Nicky Devlin is one for the future. You might like to get some cover for RB position. Midfield: The midfield at Fir Park is good mix of both youth+experience and talent+potential but seriously lacks depth. Keith Lasley ★★★★★ Another stalwart, promoted as team captain after Stephen Craigan retired. He is the integral part of your midfield, best suited as BWM. Nicky Law ★★★★★ Your creative powerhouse. Though used as ML, to me he is more suited to attacking mid/advanced play maker role. You will be playing in Champions League qualifiers so it is important to have a tactic with 3 mid field players - more on that in tactics section. Chris Humphrey ★★★★★ Anotheryoungsterwith good potential and much needed pace. Chris Humphrey is your player for the right wing. Play him a little higher in AMR position and he'll also chip in a few goals for you. Stevie Hetherington ★★★★★ Stevie and Carswell are one of the talented youngsters to breakthrough in the first team squad from 'Well academy. Both are quite similar and will fight for the same midfield position alongside Lasley. Stevie is more of an AP though. Stuart Carswell ★★★★★ Other than creativity and passing, Carswell can also break oppositions attack. Occasionally he'll also surprise you with a powerful shot from out side the box.Must have DLP in your 3 men mid-field. Omar Daley ★★★★★ A bench warmer eating a lot of your pay package, your first instinct is to get rid of him. But give his high package and valuation you will find it hard to get a suitable buyer. Either take a hit on asking price or loan him out for fraction of wage pay. I tried and finally decided to keep him. That said he is pretty versatile and fast for 31 year old, He can play anywhere along the right hand side of pitch and will be useful if you decide to rest Humprey or Hateley. Your probable line up would be Nicky Law on the left wing, Chris Humphrey on the right and Keith Lasley and Carswell/Hetherington in the centre. Omar Daley is a more than capable substitute and Josh Watt is for future. You need to invest and get some good freebies in here to cover all positions. Strikers: Strikers at the Steelmen are the highly rated prospect Jamie Murphy and Henrik Ojamaa, experienced SPL striker Michael Higdon and youngster Bob McHugh. Omar Daley can also play up front if needed. The best partnership would be Michael Higdon's strength and height as a supporting target man alongside one of the younger pacy strikers. Expect the youngsters to grab most of the goals but don't be surprised to see Higdon's tally get into double figures. Best XI: The best formation would be to use a 4-4-2 with wider midfielders pushing higher up the field using their pace to get to the by-line crossing for the height of Higdon or playing short passes to the pacy, tricky Murphy. Second best formation, a very useful one when playing in Europe will be to play counter attaching 4-2-3-1 with Ojamaa/Murphy swapping AML(inside forward) and ST birth, Hammell as attacking fullback and Law playing in the hole. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
fyrefuze Posted November 28, 2012 Author Share Posted November 28, 2012 Motherwell, like in real life have very limited funds. This is reflected in the possible starting budgets. The board expect a minimum result of EURO qualification and will provide you with only £0k transfer budget and £27k for wages. If you think you can win the SPL the board will back you with £0k transfer budget and £30k wages. Best option would be to choose Title challenge, £0k transfer and £29k wages. The current wage spend is £25,914. Probable Outs: Lee Hollis, Jonathan Page, Omar Daley + a lot of youngsters on loan to increase your wage balance. Hollis and Page are wanted straight away and provides you with a great opportunity to cash in on them. Both combined will give you ~ £300k boost to your finances, the board will only give you 40% of it though. Probable Ins: Luckily with a possible chance of Champions League qualification 'Well enjoys a pretty good reputation to attract some good freebies. GK: Richard Kingson (Not Needed) DC: Ricardo Rocha, Rabiu Afolabi, Scott Wootton (£210k) DL: Asier Del Horno, Timothee Atouba, Djimi Traore DR: Manolo Gaspar, Thomas Piermayr MC: Lee Bowyer, Cristiano Zanetti, AMR: Yacine Abdessadki, Juanma (spain) AML: Geoffrey Tulasne, James McFadden AMC: Rudi Skacel, Tote, Somen Tchoyi ST: David Suazo (Not Needed) My Transfers Ins: Outs: Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
fyrefuze Posted November 28, 2012 Author Share Posted November 28, 2012 Attacking 4-4-2 (mainly for SPL) 4-4-2 is a default formation for most SPL teams. But to take advantage of our skillful fast wingers I would suggest playing them as wingers and not just wide man. You might like putting them a tad higher between the lines. Higdon is your target man and Murphy in poacher role. Hammell is your attacking fullback so you can put Nicky Law in a supportive role. On the right hand side of pitch take full advantage of Humprey's pace use him as attacking winger and Hateley on support/auto. Hateley's poor positioning and lack of pace will put you in trouble against the teams with pacey wingers so choose his role wisely. Also since all your CBs are slow, playing Highline could be suicidal. Counter Attacking 4-2-3-1 (for Europe) Just as IRL Motherwell had to face Panathinaikos to book a place in Champions League play-offs.Butwhile IRL they got thrashed 5-0(agg), that was the result you would like to best. I started planning early and captured Rudi Skacel and Lee Bowyer before any big club could make a move for them. Iused Skacel as attacking Mid just behind the talented Murphy. Ojamaa as inverted winger on left wing and Hammell supporting him with blistering runs up-n-down the left wing. Ojamaa and Murphy also switch places to confuse opposing defenders. Carswell (DLP) and Bowyer (BWM) hold the strings of mid field. Hutchinson starts the season on injury and was not available yet. So Ramsden and youngster Cummins takes the place in heart of defence. Another new comer Abdesadki takes his natural place as right winger and Hateley as Fullback. Scroll down to know the results. Counter Attacking 5-3-2 (for Europe) Victory against Panathinaikos spelled misery on us and after Skacel, Daly and Law also joined Saunders on long term injury list.That was not enough and we were drawn against Malaga for the play-offs. Also the depleted defence with only Ramsden and Cummins as viable options I was finding it tough to keep up the fitness levels of squad. Quickly I had to take a dip in transfer market again and bought Wootton and Rabiu Afolabi. Hutchinson's recovery also boosted our options. * Note: Due to the poor pace and acceleration, Hateley will not last long and you'll have to bring on Ramsden by an hour mark. Plan your substitute in advance. Set Pieces: Hammell (Right side) and Hateley (Left side) are your obvious choice for both corners and Free kicks. Nicky Law can also share this responsibility. I aim for the far post with my CBs attacking each post and Higdon challenging the Keeper. Carswell Lurks outside topounce on deflected/cleared ball and Lasley attacks the ball from deep. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
fyrefuze Posted November 28, 2012 Author Share Posted November 28, 2012 reserved 4 Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
SRL88 Posted November 28, 2012 Share Posted November 28, 2012 Nice start fella. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Purefun Posted November 28, 2012 Share Posted November 28, 2012 What no belgian players... Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
fyrefuze Posted November 29, 2012 Author Share Posted November 29, 2012 Nice start fella. Thanks. Wanted to do a better job but time and other commitments didn't allow me. What no belgian players... Yes and they don't want to come as well . Tried to go for obvious ones (Tom De Mul, Vandooren and Vanden Borre) but couldn't offer them *the amazing* offer they wanted. Got Afolabi though who has Belgian passport Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
fyrefuze Posted December 4, 2012 Author Share Posted December 4, 2012 Great start to the season, I am in October now and undefeated in the league, also managed to coast past through the UCL playoffs. Facing a tough Group now with Man City, Milan and Olympiakos. Credit goes to Randolph and Afolabi for keeping things tight at the back while the trio Murphy, Ojamaa and Higdon have never failed to score... feels like Manchester United of Scotland Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
fyrefuze Posted December 5, 2012 Author Share Posted December 5, 2012 Okay so I have just reached October and already feeling the pressure of packed schedule. Participation in 4 different competitions, playing 2 games a week has left me asking my squad a bit too much. More so as my squad is either too young (21-) or too old (32+). So I have decided to give a thought on Rest between the matches. Benefits Higher Fitness: training constantly may tire your players more and may result in fatigue. No Rotation: Less burn out means I can play my key players more games. Downsides Lesser training sessions will mean less match preparation and training opportunity. They will take longer to learn your tactics. Already on the wrong side of 30 your players' attributes may decline if you don't train them enough. Balancing all I think Resting them after long travels and hard fought Champions League game is good but not after a League fixture. Edit: Also I have noticed that playing with an attacking tactic burns out your players more then a counter attacking one. So stick to defensive or counter mode as much as possible. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
smeddum07 Posted January 9, 2013 Share Posted January 9, 2013 Hey great to see a well thread just got the game this year and about to start my annual motherwell game! Just to say McFadden is a must buy since he is a well legend how far are U able to keep the team together after the first year since irl there are about nine players out of contract at the end of the season Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
MichaelBrown Posted January 9, 2013 Share Posted January 9, 2013 Just like to add to this thread: I'm Rangers and Michael Higdon is incredible. He scored against me with ease and last season he scored 24 goals. Moved on to Millwall now though. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
fyrefuze Posted January 10, 2013 Author Share Posted January 10, 2013 Hey great to see a well thread just got the game this year and about to start my annual motherwell game! Just to say McFadden is a must buy since he is a well legend how far are U able to keep the team together after the first year since irl there are about nine players out of contract at the end of the season sadly my Hard Disk crashed and I lost this save. Got my PC up again but now started with Roma. I didn't managed to get past October in game. Do share your experiences here... may be I might start a second save with 'well soon. Just like to add to this thread: I'm Rangers and Michael Higdon is incredible. He scored against me with ease and last season he scored 24 goals. Moved on to Millwall now though Yes, Higdon is great and a must have for anybody starting a save with motherwell. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
smeddum07 Posted January 11, 2013 Share Posted January 11, 2013 Just started 3 games in! Got rid of page for 40k nobody wants Hollis! Got in tunicliffe from man utd and Davis from wolves in on loan! Went out to fenerbache 4-1 on agg got genk in Europa league! Won all my league games 5-1 county 3-0 saints and 3-2 killie! I dropped Higdon too slow and immobile for the way I play ojaama and Murphy upfront ojaama has 7 goals already Murphy with 3! Law plays wide left and Davis or tunicliffe next to lasley in middle couldn't find a new defender who was worth the money! Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
fyrefuze Posted January 12, 2013 Author Share Posted January 12, 2013 Rabiu Afolabi is available on free and has been really good for me. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
smeddum07 Posted January 14, 2013 Share Posted January 14, 2013 He was already signed up! Finished my first season 3rd in the league a point behind Dundee utd in 2nd and 20 behind Celtic! Won the league cup on pens v hearts! Got into Europe league beat leverkuson and young boys away but a draw at home v young boys and defeats to Copenhagen and leverkuson dumbed me out! murphy ended up at 22 ojaama 15 suazo 13 Sold Higdon for 900k signed suazo on a free a young equatorial guinea forward! Got amoo and Paul slane on loan both shockingly inconsistent! Losing hately humprey Daley ramsden suazo on free only signing is a young Brazilian right winger Ronaldo from Seria B! Need atleast 1 defender midfielder and striker I think the contracts is interesting since U can't keep them all I picked Murphy due to goals Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
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