[FM15]Knocking Fergie off his perch. The noisy neighbours are turning up the volume

[Northernpilgrim]

We were woeful against Arsenal, but battered Tottenham and should have won easily. It's going to be tough to win the title from here

[Northernpilgrim]

On to May, and the conclusion of the 5 into 4 won't go battle. Our results weren't great

but where would it leave us?

[Northernpilgrim]

The defeat to Crystal Palace finally ended our title chances, and we knew we would have to win against QPR to avoid finishing 5th. In the end, we were a disappointing 4th

[Northernpilgrim]

More disappointment in the FA Cup Final, as we end the season trophyless for the first time since my arrival

[Northernpilgrim]

And the updated comparison. As everyone knows, Sir Alex nailed his first title in the next season, so I'm probably going to need the league and both domestic cups to stay on track

[Nobby_McDonald]

Trophyless. Not good.

[Northernpilgrim]

Trophyless. Not good.

Indeed. But if I win the FA Cup next season I'll still be on track. I don't want to settle for that though, I want my Premier League title back, and the board have given me £200m to make it happen

[Northernpilgrim]

Quite a busy summer transfer window

[Northernpilgrim]

A pretty decent start to the season too

But we're not even in the top 4

[Northernpilgrim]

I've gone back to 4-2-3-1, but I've also developed a counter attack version for use in away games

[DavidBeckham]

What a team you are putting together there!

[Northernpilgrim]

What a team you are putting together there!

Thanks David. There's no doubt about the quality, but keeping them happy, and meeting the annoying rules on foreign players is another matter entirely. I'm getting a player a week requesting a chat about why they're not playing.

[Truegunner]

Gotze, Sterling and Aguero all in the same team

[Northernpilgrim]

Gotze, Sterling and Aguero all in the same team

Yep, but Aguero isn't getting any younger, so that won't be true forever. The age and number of foreign players in the squad is arguably the biggest challenge, and the main reason I've asked the board to improve our youth facilities. We need to be producing at least one home grown first team player every season if we're going to meet the foreign player rules in Europe.

[Northernpilgrim]

A pretty near perfect set of results for September. We were 3-0 up against Hamburg but the sending off of Danilo hit us hard, as we conceded within a minute and again in stoppage time, but held on for the win

and we're now top of the league as well

[Northernpilgrim]

And after the transfer update above, I added one more player to the squad, paying Borussia Dortmund £35m for Richairo Zivkovic.

[Lenzar]

All that money but a decent start. Fingers crossed you can begin the dominance.

[Northernpilgrim]

All that money but a decent start. Fingers crossed you can begin the dominance.

I don't deny spending what I've been given, but I have asked the board to invest in youth, with the intention of bringing players through the youth system. There will of course still be players signed for a fee, sometimes that'll be a big one, but hopefully the overall spend will start to fall sooner rather than later.

[Northernpilgrim]

Another perfect month in October

and we've got a slight lead at the top, but still plenty of close challengers

[Northernpilgrim]

November is going to be a tough month as we face Man Utd away and Arsenal at home in our first two league games, either side of a trip to Sampdoria.

[Northernpilgrim]

A perfect month in the league, and job done in Europe too

and we've now got a healthy lead in the league too

[Nobby_McDonald]

Looking bloody good so far.

[Northernpilgrim]

Looking bloody good so far.

Thanks Nobby, but the world and his wife know that this form can't last all season. I'll be very disappointed if we don't win the league from here though

[Northernpilgrim]

December was a busy month, and things didn't go entirely to plan, but still a decent return

and we're still clear at the top. Man Utd will be worried, given they've had a poor month, and both Liverpool and Chelsea will go above them if they win their games in hand.

[Northernpilgrim]

OK, let's deal with each game in turn. Comfortable, deserved 2-0 win over Fulham. Always happy to take a point against a very decent Liverpool team. Chased a win against Ajax when perhaps a switch to the counter attacking version of my 4-2-3-1 would have been more prudent. Tried the same against Southampton and got the same result. Battered Birmingham and West Ham. Played counter against Palace (in the first half), and we went in 1-0 down, switched to the standard version and we hammered them in the second half, but only scored 1. Played the standard version against Bournemouth and totally dominated, could have won by 7. Overall, two defeats that I'll admit I used the wrong tactic, and a draw that could have been a win. Not a brilliant month, but acceptable given how good a season we're having.

[Northernpilgrim]

As it's the end of January, I'll start with the transfers. There were no arrivals, but two big departures (in name if not fee). Vincent Kompany left for Juventus on a free, and Gonzalo Higuain joined Schalke on a season long loan. Neither have featured much this season, and both were unhappy, so I'm glad to have moved them on. I tried to get a central midfielder in, but there was not enough money available to land any of my targets, so I went with do nothing rather than signing players for the sake of it.

[Northernpilgrim]

On the pitch, January was a busy month. We took 7 points from 4 league games, and there was progress in two cup competitions too

but we've lost our lead at the top due to our mini slump, and Arsenal having played more games

[Northernpilgrim]

The defeat to Hull was hard to take, as we led for fully 78 minutes, taking the lead on 7 and conceding an equaliser on 85, with the winner arriving 2 minutes later as we streamed forward looking for a winner. One of those games we definitely deserved to win, and I do not know how or why we lost. I played the counter attacking game, we had loads of possession, loads more shots on target. The sort of game that on previous versions I'd have rage quit or replayed, because we were so dominant it was laughable.

[Northernpilgrim]

February was a perfect month on all fronts

and incredibly, we're still in the hunt for a quadruple.

[Nobby_McDonald]

Thanks Nobby, but the world and his wife know that this form can't last all season. I'll be very disappointed if we don't win the league from here though

My wife isn't bothered.

[Northernpilgrim]

My wife isn't bothered.

But you aren't the world either

[Northernpilgrim]

The quadruple dream is over, but we're moving closer to winning the league

[Northernpilgrim]

April is going to be a very interesting month. We will face Manchester United in THREE successive games, as we've drawn them in the FA Cup Semi Final and the Champions League Quarter Final as well.

[Northernpilgrim]

A massive month in April, and it could hardly have gone better

and the League is now ours to lose

[Northernpilgrim]

We will face Liverpool in the FA Cup Final, Chelsea in the FA Cup Final, and both teams in the league (in successive matches) in the next month. It's boiling up nicely...

[Northernpilgrim]

A tough May, but we knew it would be. The League title was clinched by demolishing Crystal Palace

[Northernpilgrim]

Overachievers of the season award should go to Bournemouth. Yes, we beat them 3-0 at The Etihad, but at their place they were brilliant and although we deserved a win, 1-0 was a fair reflection. They're managed by Mark Hughes and he's done very well with them.

[Northernpilgrim]

5 league games in 8 days was just ridiculous, and to come out of it with 10 points was extremely pleasing. I have a massive transfer budget again this summer, but don't anticipate a large number of signings. There will be at least one major departure this summer though, as the time has come to put Yaya Toure out to grass. Well, he will be 37 before we play the Champions League final, so I guess this day was coming.

[HotChocolate]

Interesting read Pilgrim, you don't seem to fare well in Finals?

Also, I'm intrigued as to how much you look at your U21 and U18 side? When I have money, I don't buy big I buy for the future so I find it interesting you seem to buy big.

[Northernpilgrim]

Interesting read Pilgrim, you don't seem to fare well in Finals?

Also, I'm intrigued as to how much you look at your U21 and U18 side? When I have money, I don't buy big I buy for the future so I find it interesting you seem to buy big.

It's a fair point, but as I said in an earlier post, I've asked the board to upgrade youth facilities and our youth recruitment. This work is underway, and I'm hoping it'll lead to better players coming through the ranks. I'm going to look over the summer at adding another feeder club, hopefully one with a decent youth setup, because I don't want to be reliant on big ticket signings for the whole of my reign. As of yet, there haven't been any decent players come through our youth ranks, but I'm hoping the upgrades will change that too.

[Northernpilgrim]

We didn't choke in the final this time

[Northernpilgrim]

But we missed out on the treble by being awful against Chelsea. There are a whole host of big clubs who have sacked their manager this week (Real Madrid, Barcelona, PSG, Bayern), so hopefully Jose Mourinho will decide to take one of them so they can stop winning stuff!

[Northernpilgrim]

And the updated comparison

[Lenzar]

Still doing well compared to Fergie. Keep it up!

[Northernpilgrim]

Still doing well compared to Fergie. Keep it up!

Thanks Lenzar. This challenge would get a whole lot easier if Jose Mourinho would just **** off!!

[Northernpilgrim]

Some quality additions to the squad this summer, and the departures I expected

And it leaves the squad looking like this

[Northernpilgrim]

Jack Brown looks like being the first youngster to make the step up to the first team. He's on loan at New York at the moment, but is coming back in January, so I'll be looking to use him, mainly as a sub, after his return. I've also set up Crewe Alexandra as a feeder club, due to their excellent record at producing talent, and I'm hoping Brett Burton will come back next season a better player for the experience. He'll be the best left back at Crewe, so will hopefully get lots of game time. He is also rated as a potentially decent Premier League player, so might be a good backup for us, given that left back is my strongest position at the moment.

[Northernpilgrim]

A tough start in terms of the fixture list, but I'm happy enough with the outcome

although it should have been a perfect start as we led Liverpool 2-0, but we're on the heels of the leaders

[Northernpilgrim]

In terms of formation, I've returned to 4-1-2-2-1, and again added a counter attack version for the games I think we'll need it.

[Nobby_McDonald]

But you aren't the world either

I am but one man.

Moved well clear of Fergie.