FM16: Newcastle United - Lifting The Fog On The Tyne

[Dodds']

Fourth Season Review - Newcastle United

The fourth season has come to a close, we started off fantastic due to Ashley asking us to make the 10 point stage after 5 games otherwise Dodds would be getting the sack. We only had 5 after 3 games and then came Chelsea and Arsenal where we picked up two wins... we didn't then get beat for 15-20 games which rocketed us up to 2nd in the league where we stayed for a long stage of he season I don't think I came outside of the UCL places which was fantastic.

Ayoze smashed our TGS this season due to the injuries to Mitrovic again, he scored some magnificent goals from all areas of the pitch and hopefully if Mitro stays fit they'll be banging us to the title. Zivkovic got the assist king title this year, he was fantastic all season and unfortunately due to others playing so well too caused me to rotate a lot through-out the year.

Apart from the league we didn't play very well in other competitions getting hammered by Sporting CP in the EL was a nightmare, we got demolished away and only scraped a win at home. The Semi-Final against Leicester was a very good game which seen them win in extra time... and the FA Cup we won't even talk about.

Firstly we brought in some youngsters this year who our scouts had been looking at for some time, we also bought Bailly from City at the start of the season in order to sure up the defence. Players in January came in such as Weiser and Zivkovic, not to get him mixed up with the Serbian we already have. Lastly we brought in the player who helped us fire up the table at the end of the season and he done the same this year stopping many of goals going in from stopping the through balls... Sturaro.

We also got rid of a few players in the summer that unfortunately wouldn't be making the first team as our squad was huge, but we made some great profit on the likes of Kalas and then in January we got an offer of £20m for Janmaat which we couldn't turn down due to the fact he was nearly 30 and on large wages. We also have a various number of options in that position which we wouldn't miss.

Trophy Room

Capital One Cup: 2018

[james_wilko]

Approaching the end of the first transfer window in Season 1, decided to have a look at who was listed for transfer/loan and hope for a bargain. Got myself 3.

Julian Brandt from Leverkusen. Signed him on loan with an agreement to buy for 17mil at the end of the season if he performs.

Adam Maher from Ajax - 2.1mil

Mike van der Hoorn from Ajax - 1.5mil.

Didn't expect to get a quality prospect like Brandt so cheaply. Ideal rotation option for Gini who's my AML and potentially means if/when Wijnaldum gets sold I could replace him fairly easily.

[Dodds']

Signed this fella for £11m from Cruz Azul, never seen such a good American player.

[james_wilko]

Looks like a perfect playmaker. Good deal at £11mil.

Hit early October in the season now I've gotten into it. Sitting 3rd with 18 points, 6 wins & 2 losses. The losses came away to to Man City (2-0) and at home to Arsenal (a cruel 3-2). I did tank Liverpool 6-0 after those two games though, one of those rare FM games for me where everything goes to plan and we absolutely dominated them.

Had quite a big rebuild at the start of the season.

Outgoings:

Steven Taylor - 1.3mil to Bournemouth

Obertan - 1.1mil to Reading

Colback - 6mil to Bournemouth

Sissoko - 11mil to Sevilla (I know he's good in game, but I don't like him IRL and wanted to see how Townsend/Aarons would get on wide right).

Tiote - 4.1mil to Lazio

Janmaat - 14mil to Liverpool (the only one I didn't want to sell but he bitched and moaned).

Anita - 5mil to Wolfsburg

Incomings:

Andre Hoffman - 3.1mil from Hannover. Solid looking defensive midfielder who can also play CB.

Ben Garratt - 1.3mil from Crewe. Looks a good prospect for my future GK. Bare minimum I'll get a decent profit on him.

Charlie Taylor - 7.25mil from Leeds. Good, young LB. Already my number one.

Ricardo Esgaio - 2.3mil from Sporting. Offensive minded RB. Great crosser. Not the best defensively but his delivery from the right allows me to play with two inside forwards.

Guillermo Varela - 650k from Man Utd. Back up RB, bargain price and has some potential. Doubt he'll ever be first choice but he'll do a job.

Kamil Glik - 11mil from Torino. An actual CB who can defend. 6'3, strong and can tackle & head. Something our defence has lacked for a long time.

Julian Brandt - loan from Leverkusen. Quality LW with lots of potential. Future fee of 17mil so if we're flush for cash come the end of the season I'll most likely make it permanent.

Adam Maher - 2.1mil from PSV. Another youngish, decent potential player. Shelvey's back up for now, will likely sell for a profit in a year or two.

Mike van der Hoorn - 1.5mil from Ajax. Back up CB, probably 4th/5th choice behind Glik, Mbemba, Colo and Lascelles. Only 22 so room to improve.

Flavio Ferreira - free transfer. Looks like he's injury prone, but another defensive midfielder/CB. Purely brought in for squad depth, valued at 2.2mil and on a one year deal so if he fails miserably then it's not an issue. Only on 10k/week too.

Opted for a 4-2-3-1, simple midfield two of CM-S & CM-D. Attacking three is two inside forwards (Gini/Brandt on the left, Townsend/Aarons on the right) with Ayoze behind the main man Mitrovic.

[Dodds']

Fifth Season Review - Newcastle United

Another fantastic season finishing in the Champions League places and hopefully we can play a lot better and get an easier group than we did this season. I really think we could have easily challenged for the title this year with the depth/ability we had at the club this season but silly mistakes gave away too many goals again which we really need to stop happening.

Another season where Ayoze Perez had to step up at the striker position due to a massive injury again to Mitrovic, but hey it's good that he can fill that. Especially due to him finishing 3rd in the golden boot for the BPL, 3 behind the eventual winner Harry Kane. Rico Henry got a load of assists due to him bombing forward on that left back position which is causing all the big clubs around Europe sniffing after him, which I don't want to lose him. Thauvin didn't play much last season due to a few injuries but when he did he always played well and bagged a load of goals and assists which often gave him MOTM.

Champions League wasn't exactly fantastic for us this year, we missed out on qualification to the knockouts by 1 point. Obviously having PSG, Real Madrid in your group you're going to have to be lucky and we weren't. Then the Europa League came along... yeah Bayern Munich, I couldn't believe it and only getting beat 0-1 on aggregate was a little more pleasing as we easily could have beat them. Arsenal being the spoilers for us in the cups too missing out on the Semi's and also being beat in the Final which both games finished 0-1 which was also very annoying.

We spent some serious money this year as we decided to focus on bringing Champions League football every year whilst also bringing in cheap youngsters who we can turn into superstars in the future. Large sums were spent on Ross Barkley, Kondogbia and also Moberg who were all first teamers.

We decided to cash in on Carl Jenkinson due to us having a few options at RB and youngsters also coming through in that position which will also help their development, £17m rising to £20m we couldn't turn down. Also £17m for Bailly who we bought bought from Man City for £5m, who perfectly honest didn't live up to the exceptions we expected when we signed.

Also we got took over this summer which hopefully he decides to keep the flow of cash I'm used to.

Regen Youth First Teamers

Johnson - Aílton - Moberg - Silva

Regen Youth Prospects

Marshall - Richards - Lachman - van der Struijk - Dickens - Castaneda - Crawford

Trophy Room

Capital One Cup: 2018

[Adzke]

How do you play Ayoze? I've tried everything from trequartista at AMC to poacher as a striker, and he simply doesn't produce for me...

[Dodds']

How do you play Ayoze? I've tried everything from trequartista at AMC to poacher as a striker, and he simply doesn't produce for me...

Generally play as a Treq at CAM or a IF at LW, he's been filling in as a CF at striker when Mitrovic is gone.

CF helps as it's all the roles which he is good at put in one.

[Adzke]

Generally play as a Treq at CAM or a IF at LW' date=' he's been filling in as a CF at striker when Mitrovic is gone.

CF helps as it's all the roles which he is good at put in one.[/quote']

May be my tactics that isn't entirely up to par, then. Can't seem to score enough goals, but I did finish my first season in 4th, even though I lost out to Chelsea on the last day of the season.

[TheBigBoss]

How do you play Ayoze? I've tried everything from trequartista at AMC to poacher as a striker, and he simply doesn't produce for me...

I play 4-3-3 and usually have him as a complete forward done well there usually hit the 20 goal mark until I sold him

[Adzke]

I play 4-3-3 and usually have him as a complete forward done well there usually hit the 20 goal mark until I sold him

That seems like the way to go!

[Dodds']

May be my tactics that isn't entirely up to par, then. Can't seem to score enough goals, but I did finish my first season in 4th, even though I lost out to Chelsea on the last day of the season.

I've noticed I have a lot more shots and such when I pass it short and work it into the box, but when I have Mitro you just need to cross it

[Dodds']

Just got this kid in my youth intake, probably one of my better ones since my Schalke save.

[Adzke]

I've just started my second season in charge at Newcastle. During my first season, I led the league until November, and then my form dipped, and during March it looked like we wouldn't even make the Champions League places in the league. By the last matchday we could end up anywhere from 2nd to 5th, so I was quite pleased that we ended up securing 4th place, though we lost at Chelsea. At the same time Sunderland were relegated, so a nice season for any Newcastle supporter

I played a 4-2-3-1 with the deeper lying central midfielders and Seydou Doumbia on top. He performed fantastic over the course of the season, and were it not for an injury sustained in March, he would have likely ended up at the topscorer in the Premier.

As you can see, I've been quite a big spender, and I've also sold some of the original players. My biggest regret is selling Ayoze, but I simply couldn't get him to perform no matter what.

So far, my best deals have been for Breel Embolo from Basel who has started the new season on fire, and Ante Coric whom I deem as an upgrade from Ayoze.

I have two regen players around my first team so far. One is Tim Flynn who came through my own academy last year, and the other is Kian Flanagan. I bought him from Crystal Palace

[tomonufc]

I've just started my second season in charge at Newcastle. During my first season, I led the league until November, and then my form dipped, and during March it looked like we wouldn't even make the Champions League places in the league. By the last matchday we could end up anywhere from 2nd to 5th, so I was quite pleased that we ended up securing 4th place, though we lost at Chelsea. At the same time Sunderland were relegated, so a nice season for any Newcastle supporter

I played a 4-2-3-1 with the deeper lying central midfielders and Seydou Doumbia on top. He performed fantastic over the course of the season, and were it not for an injury sustained in March, he would have likely ended up at the topscorer in the Premier.

As you can see, I've been quite a big spender, and I've also sold some of the original players. My biggest regret is selling Ayoze, but I simply couldn't get him to perform no matter what.

So far, my best deals have been for Breel Embolo from Basel who has started the new season on fire, and Ante Coric whom I deem as an upgrade from Ayoze.

I have two regen players around my first team so far. One is Tim Flynn who came through my own academy last year, and the other is Kian Flanagan. I bought him from Crystal Palace

How much did you sell Perez for?

[Dodds']

Sixth Season Review - Newcastle United

Ended up finishing in the Champions League places by one point in the last game of the season, Man Utd only needed a draw against Derby to qualify and they couldn't do it... thankfully and we beat Arsenal. We didn't start the season too well however and a lot of the players wanted to leave, gladly we turned around our fortunes and went unbeaten for a long time part of the season.

Mitrovic stayed free of injury this year and he was back to his scoring ways picking up TGS for us. Rico Henry picking up top average rating, most motm's and assists this year mainly from Mitrovic heading for fun, most our goals have came from wide.

Another dreadful display in the UCL seen us miss out again on the knockout stages of the competition, we seemingly can't perform in Europe. We also lost in the EL to the eventual winners of the German League surprisingly. However the domestic cups we seemed to dominate in and got to the Final of both, unfortunately Arsenal beat us again in the Capital One - however the FA Cup was the one we wanted to win and against a 'lesser' team Hull which was a very very hard game at Wembley.

Firstly we brought in some players for very cheap from very top teams who fortunately didn't get enough game time at those teams and they will from us, Messauodi came in for £5m and his value was around £20m straight away same with Orgizovic he'll be a fantastic player for us in the upcoming seasons. We also brought in a few youngsters.

We got rid of Sturaro for a huge huge profit in the summer too, as well as that we got rid of an ageing Gini Wijnaldum who the fans were not happy at seeing leave but we got a very nice price with future incentives to come. Sissoko also went to Celtic with future incentives attached.

Regen Youth First Teamers

Johnson - Marshall - Aílton - Messauodi - van der Stuijk - Orgizovic

Regen Youth Prospects

Richards - Davidson - Randall - Dickens

Trophy Room

Capital One Cup: 2018

FA Cup: 2021

[Adzke]

How much did you sell Perez for?

£28M. Not a great deal by any means. He went to Man City. But he wouldn't have been in my starting lineup this year.

[james_wilko]

Injuries really starting to build up now we've hit March, currently players out are:

Tim Krul - Hip injury, another 4-6 weeks remaining having already missed 4 weeks.

Kamil Glik - Dislocated shoulder, another two weeks or so remaining having missed 6 already.

Rolando Aarons - 4 weeks with a broken shoulder, just injured in our last game.

Ricardo Esgaio - missed a week already, another 3-4 months to go. No chance of playing again this season. A particularly gutting injury as he's been great for us.

Seydou Doumbia - another 2 weeks or so, having already missed 1 with a groin strain.

Plus a few knocks here and there meaning relying on transfer listed players I don't rate like De Jong and Gouffran.

5 players doesn't seem too bad, but when it's your best CB, best GK, best RB and only back up striker when the main one is out with a knock it's bloody worrying.

Thankfully, in February we won the Capital One Cup V Tottenham in a fantastic 5-2 match that was properly end to end. Fortunately we were only missing Glik & Krul for that one.

Sat 6th in the league at the moment, 2 points behind 5th place Spurs. They do have two games in hand, and each of the top 4 have a game in hand on us as well. I doubt we'll be getting Champions League football next season, but Europa is guaranteed so we'll be going all out for the top 4.

Planning for next season already, looking at the bottom 5 and it includes Stoke, WBA and Southampton (who would be in the bottom 3 but beat our battered team 3-2 in their last game). Means potentially several good players becoming available at the end of the season for a good price. Thinking Butland/Shawcross from Stoke, Berahino from WBA and Mane/Tadic/Rodriguez/Ward-Prowse from Southampton.

[jlawlor91]

I started a new Toon save using the January patch with an update which takes into account real life results and fixtures, starting in March. I was 6 points behind Norwich in the relegation zone, but managed to stay up, beating Sunderland 5-0 as well as Norwich, Villa, Man City and Southampton!

Started to get rid of the deadwood and players I don't want:

S.Taylor, Elliott, Ameobi, Mbabu - Released

Riviere, Cisse, Obertan, Coloccini, Colback, Gouffran, Shelvey, Saivet, de Jong, Dummett - Sold

Also managed to sign Ben Arfa and NKoulou on free transfers which I'm over the moon about.

Only problem is, I've got bored of FM this year as I always seem to sign the same players through lack of alternatives - Embolo, Balanta, Romero, Meli, Peruzzi. Any one have any other suggestions?

[Dodds']

Seventh Season Review - Newcastle United

Another great season where it was tight all the way through which in turn made it very exciting to be a part of, as any of the top 5/6 could have won it with 10 games left. However unfortunately for us we lost a few games that we really shouldn't have, hopefully next year the lads will be even more hungry to get the title.

A massive part for us losing 10 games was the amount of goals that we conceded, it was one of the worst records in the league in the first half of the season. After working on defensive positioning for a few month we sured up at the back and stopped leaking goals, it was lucky at the time we were scoring more at the other end.

Ayoze again picked up our TGS and anywhere you play him on the pitch he just seems to score goals, Mitrovic looked to be running away with it at one stage and then he literally couldn't hit a barn door with a banjo. Fortunately Ayoze stepped up to the plate and he took over, Messaoudi had our top assists this season and he bagged around 15 goals too which next season I'll be looking for him to get even more.

Again the UCL is something that we can't get to grips with... we got out of the group stage this time though which was a massive relief. However being matched up against a PSG side that have won the Ligue 1 title for the past 7 years didn't fill us with delight, going down 4-0 on aggregate we got a huge slap in the face.

Also the domestic cups we got a huge shock too getting hammered in both by teams that would finish around us in the league, was very annoying as I would have loved to have win another cup.

Although we won the Community Shield from last year's Premier League winners in a 3-0 rout.

We brought in some fantastic players throughout the year for very minimal prices, players such as Reinoso, Díaz, Calderon and Grim will all become first teamers within the next few years. Also we splashed big on a Russian CM called Lauk who I'd been looking at for a few windows... obviously losing our best CM we had to replace.

Losing players such as Mbemba, Kondogbia, Moberg and Thauvin would obviously be a miss, but the size of the transfers were huge for the club. This especially gave me a huge and I mean huge budget to get younger players through the system and into the first team without having to spend mass amounts.

Regen Youth First Teamers

Calderón - Johnson - Marshall - Aílton - Reinoso - Mwanga - Lauk - Mercado - Messauodi - Grim

Regen Youth Prospects

Richards - Davidson - Randall - Dickens - Castaneda - Díaz

Trophy Room

[Welshace]

I started a new Toon save using the January patch with an update which takes into account real life results and fixtures, starting in March. I was 6 points behind Norwich in the relegation zone, but managed to stay up, beating Sunderland 5-0 as well as Norwich, Villa, Man City and Southampton!

Started to get rid of the deadwood and players I don't want:

S.Taylor, Elliott, Ameobi, Mbabu - Released

Riviere, Cisse, Obertan, Coloccini, Colback, Gouffran, Shelvey, Saivet, de Jong, Dummett - Sold

Also managed to sign Ben Arfa and NKoulou on free transfers which I'm over the moon about.

Only problem is, I've got bored of FM this year as I always seem to sign the same players through lack of alternatives - Embolo, Balanta, Romero, Meli, Peruzzi. Any one have any other suggestions?

Interesting! where did you find this update? sounds like great fun.

[Dodds']

State of this UCL group.

[NLH]

Tough Group, Salzburg will be a real challenge.

[Adzke]

I have just sold Breel Embolo to PSG for £66M on my save. I think that's my highest transfer fee received on the series ever.

[Dodds']

Didn't think at all I'd get through that group!

[NLH]

Well done, who have you been drawn against in the next round?

[Dodds']

Well done, who have you been drawn against in the next round?

Ajax iirc.

[Dodds']

Eighth Season Review - Newcastle United

Well after 8 long season's we've made history and won the Premier League for the first time in many many years, we started off so well and it just continued to my delight and also the players were constantly repeating themselves saying how great we were doing.

It's a great place to be and we can't wait for the upcoming season to hopefully do the same, with many managers saying that we couldn't do it we proved them all wrong and that made the win a whole lot sweeter. Having the best scoring and defending records in the league was the main part to our dominance, we were constantly scoring magnificent goals and only conceding great goals also.

Another season where Mitrovic has finished top goalscorer and the 28 year old now has atleast a 2:1 ratio for us in the season's he's been here... that's magnificent. Our wing wizard Messaoudi who is now valued at close to £60m, an absolute bargain from Barcelona picked up highest rating/assists and most man of the matches and he didn't play half the games that he played the year before.

He was also selected in the above, show's how instrumental to the team he is.

As well as winning the Premier League we also brought home the trophy that we were having the most problems with, the UEFA Champions League. We had some very tough games going through the knockout rounds beating Ajax (5-2), Atletico (4-3) and then Real Madrid (1-0) and then Bayern in the final 2-0. We had 5 players selected in the best UCL Team of the Season.

However the other cups domestically didn't go our way, we will definitely be looking to atleast pick one of the two up next season.

Some players came in this year as first teamers for tiny tiny prices, the machine at RB Rios was phenomenal all season and only cost us £4m. Rui Pedro also joined up from Man City for quite a large fee, I'm not used to spending that on one player but he's for the upcoming season due to many injuries he still managed to bag around 15 goals this campaign.

We let go of some fantastic players this year, mainly due to the opportunities that they wouldn't be getting over the season. Ogrizovic was one of the ones I will probably regret in the future but he would be sitting on the bench behind some great players. Maitland-Niles left for a huge profit this was helped by getting him on a free at the end of last season. Also we got rid of Zivkovic our Dutch striker, he couldn't really break the mould of the BPL so he left for a nice profit too.

Regen Youth First Teamers

Calderón - Rìos - Marshall - Aílton - Reinoso - Lauk - Mercado - Messauodi - Dìaz - Collins - Grim

Regen Youth Prospects

Richards - Van Goetham - Pons - Davidson - Verhoef - Zajac - Dickens - Castaneda - Crawford

Trophy Room

[Raymubdo21]

Sooooo this just happened.....

http://imgur.com/a/QEaCp

[NLH]

Lost interest in the save so i started again.

First season went alright, finished 8th in the league. I had transfers disabled for the summer so only transfers made were during January, brought in Brandt, Galloway & L. Cook and a few more. Perez didn't feature much due to being injured for ~5 months, Him and SDJ were regulars on the physio's table.

2016/17 Season.

Made a few changes including tactics and staff. The goal was to do one better than last year and finish in the Europa spots and hopefully win a cup.

Mitrovic finished the season strong scoring 7 goals in the final 8 games followed by Perez on 11 and Brandt with 7,

Finished 1st with a game to spare. Spurs had a tough final 3 games playing Liverpool & Newcastle at home and Arsenal away in which they only managed to 2 points from. (and thanks to a crash dump/error message otherwise they would have been 4 points clear before I had to play them )

Results Aug-Jan Results Jan-May

[bdixon]

Started a new save with Newcastle and my word are they poor. I always turn off first transfer window so I have to put up with what I have at the moment, come Jan transfer window there will be a fire sale.

Out of curiosity what mentality are people playing with?

[peterbolam78]

As a Newcastle fan, they are always my first port of call. After stripping the Captaincy and vice captaincy of the current incumbents, Janmatt gets the armband and Colback the vice captaincy. I signed Cyrus Christie as back up for Janmatt and he has never let me down and Colback and Sissoko in the centre of the park. I am a firm believer that Sissoko is wasted on the right wing. Though I am always surprised to say It's a coin toss between Krul and Darlow, with Elliott being sold, Woodman is a good prospect.

But to anyone looking to take the job on a full back L and R are essential as are a CD.. and a consistent Striker..... Perez and Mitrovic have the ability to be great but are hitty missy for me

[Stu_UBJ]

Just finished 2nd season with Newcastle. Finished 2nd in first season, but dropped back a bit and finished 5th 2nd season. I do blame the introduction of the CL, as the extra 6 games coincided with our league slump, and injuries. 

Season 1 Transfers = Season 2 Transfers

Got Raphael Guerreiro and Federico Barba joining on free transfers this summer, which should add some nice depth. Tioté is off to Milan(£5.5m), Wijnaldum to Sevilla(£17m), whilst Arias looks to be off to Lyon(£6m) to add to a warchest of £85m.

 

Ayozé has been excellent, as has Embolo and Correa. Correa's 2 year loan is almost over, and Atlético don't want to renew it, and I am not prepared to shell out the £43m they want for him. Will keep an eye out in case he asked to leave. 

 

[Stu_UBJ]

Didn't really do much of an update yesterday, so will try and show a bit more...
Season 1



All in all a good season. Made a few signings,. Gustavo Cabral came in to partner Mbemba in defence, Santiago Arias and Deivid signed to provide backup in DR and DC. Ángel Correa added some much needed spark on a 2 year loan deal. Rui Pedro signed on loan to give backup to Ayoze and Mitrovic. Winter signings Breel Embolo and Dennis Praet add some attacking bite, whilst Morten Konradsen is one for the future. Siem de Jong was the main outgoing, a good fee for a player I didn't really see doing a job. Gouffran and Obertan returned to France, whilst Cissé joined them. Final player out was Saivet, as he moved to Spain after an indifferent half of the season. 

Did well, some great wins along the way, and a fantastic finish. 

Season 2


In all fairness, we were no better or worse this season, more a case of teams played better. Only one less point. Jhon Arango made the move, and will have to be loaned out to Ludogorets for the time being due to WP. Kieran Gibbs comes in at DL, whilst Ben Garratt will be our new no2 GK. Andre Dozzell has some potential, and Manuel Lanzini could be a fine signing. Philip Vincent-Day is one for the future, whilst Richedly Bazoer will come straight into the first 11, either in DC, DM, or MC. Kenneth Paal and Tim Nijhuis are players with potential. Leaving are Andros Townsend, Paul Dummett, Jack Colback, Deivid, Rémy Cabella, and in the January window, Massadio Haidara. OM decided against signing Cabella, so a new contract was offered, thus removing his £6m release fee, and soon after, Sevilla jumped in to pay 16m of the Queen's English Pounds. 

We didn't improve as such, but we didn't slip back. Other teams finally found their form, and they just simply won more games. We were given a nice £50m budget to play with, giving me a really good chance to have a go this season.

Federico Barba and Raphael Guerreiro join on free transfers, whilst Alejandro Cabrera looks to have some potential. Nemanja Radoja is a fine DM, hopefully adding some steel. John Stones sees us break the Newcastle transfer record for a second time, £33.5m enough to see the young England international swap Goodison for St James. Ángelo Henríquez adds some backup, whilst Rick Karsdorp will challenge Daryl Janmaat at DR. Outgoing this summer are Florian Thauvin(£18.75m), Santiago Arias(£9.25m), Cheick Tioté(£5.5m), Georginio Wijnaldum(£17m), and Karl Darlow(£600k). With £17.42m left to spend, I am looking too add a couple more. Muhamed Besic looking likely to join on loan from Everton, whilst Croatian regen Marijan Bule could join. Mitrovic has moved on loan to Bordeaux, whilst Mbabu, Armstrong, Paal, Cabrera, and Nijhuis also move out on temporary deals.

[Stu_UBJ]

Anyone still going with a Newcastle save? 

[pocketspace]

6 minutes ago, Stu_UBJ said:

Anyone still going with a Newcastle save? 

How did you do in the CL?

[Stu_UBJ]

Just finished third season. After a 2nd place finish, followed by a 5th, we needed a pick up and assert ourselves. Made some signings going into the season.



Barba is a solid defender on a free. Alejandro Cabrera looks a real talent. Raphael Guerreiro adds some cover on the left. Nemanja Radoja replaces Tioté in the first XI. John Stones takes the starting spot alongside Mbemba. Ángelo Henríquez adds some cover to the frontline. Rick Karsdorp will battle Janmaat for the DR spot. Mo Besic adds some DM cover. Marijan Bule is an expensive teenager, who will surely grow to become a world class midfielder. Vaclav Cerny will provide competition for the flanks. Marinko Basic Tomas Vrabec will both hopefully progress in the reserves. Final signing is Frank Orozco, a free transfer who adds some cover and has some potential in DC.



Lyon take two of our players for a combined £28m. Milan take Tioté, whilst Sevilla spend big for one of our players again. Karl Darlow leaves.



We managed a 3rd place finish, miles away from the top two, but much more in the mix than last season. Good in attack and defence, so hopefully another season and we will keep pace with the front runners, or be the front runners ourselves. 





We managed to win the C1C, a good achievement. 



We came through the group well. BATE came next, and we dispatched of them like they were part timers, a 19-0 aggregate win. St Etienne proved tough away, but a super home showing saw us through. Two magnificent wins in the 1/4 final against Inter. Sporting stood between us and the final, and we duly dispatched of them. We conceded early in the final, but goals from our top two players meant we lift the Europa League, a fantastic achievement, as I think it is a harder tournament to win than the CL.

We go into the new season with £57.71m to spend, and plenty of targets. 

Here's how I am doing with the transfers;



Isco is a fine signing, especially on a free. Jack Wilshere joins also, a low wage and a solid (and HG) midfield option. Julian Brandt is a big money signing, upgrades our AML, which meant Lanzini was dispensable after two great seasons. Christian Petersen is one for the future.

A big list of outgoing. Henríquez leaves for a good £7.5m after an inconsistent season. Marvaeux, Good, Gilliead and Mbabu all leave for free. Aleksandar Mitrovic moves to Sevilla (flush with cash!) after a 30 goal season with Bordeaux on loan. Lascelles, Praet, Guerreiro, Barba, Anita, Cabral, Paal and Lanzini all leave, and bring in £107m.

[Stu_UBJ]

23 minutes ago, kristalshards said:

How did you do in the CL?

Didn't get past group stage in 2nd season. Didn't qualify third season, but won EL. Ready for another stab at it this season.

[dombi]

Hi there,

playing FM 2016. and here what happened in my story. Lot's of players sold lot's of players bought. (Ayoze Perez was angry for not selling him, so I've did, sold him to Bayern and bought Paco Alcacer  season 1 :-))

• season 1 - 2015/2016. finished 8th, won FA cup, Europe here I come :-) (premiership table, transfers, FA cup)
• season 2 - 2016/2017. finished 1st, won EURO cup (premiership table, transfers, EURO cup)
• season 3 - 2017/2018. didn't started Premier league, playing in  European Champions Cup :-) (transfers - bought from Juventus Paulo Dybala :-))

And picture of a first team, s3 has just started, date 01.07.2017.

Playing very attacking tactic with lots of goals conceded and lots of goals scored.

Ask if you have any questions.

Greetings from Croatia.