FM17 Sunderland AFC - The greatest escapologists

[berniciacraig]

Really don't think the finances thing is accurate. Short has always been willing to give a bit more in January. Not just whatever is left from summer.
Especially he wouldn't be stingy over 2000 quid for a top hot prospect!

How do you play to Anchibe's feet? In with low crosses?
I've tried him alone and with Defoe. Alone he has had some good games actually when Defoe was on low form, some screamers to the back of the net. He dropped off quickly though.

Rodwell for me is a pretty solid 3 star. No injuries either. Not great, but solidly average. Games can be won with him in the team.

Real world and Asoro...Problem is he is too much of a Defoe swap out, and Defoe is the main thing we have going for us. They've tried him on the wing recently for u23s, perhaps as a test for whether he could do it for the first team, and I've read he didn't do well. I guess in the new year, once we're a bit more settled and not throwing away 2 goal leads, he'll be given some run outs.

Peculiar if Short won't be giving Moyes any money in Jan. If you'd said that a month ago then maybe I'd agree it was likely. That this year we are going to do an Aston Villa and just cut our losses. But now...depending on how things go in the run up to xmas we might be giving staying up a shot.
Certainly Short is sick of quick fixes and won't be giving money for that (those stupid Crouch rumours) but for solid young players that could do just as well in the championship as premier league and won't blow the wage budget? Sure.

[carlmiles1879]

12 minutes ago, berniciacraig said:

Really don't think the finances thing is accurate. Short has always been willing to give a bit more in January. Not just whatever is left from summer.
Especially he wouldn't be stingy over 2000 quid for a top hot prospect! Does seem overly stingy 

How do you play to Anchibe's feet? In with low crosses? Aye 
I've tried him alone and with Defoe. Alone he has had some good games actually when Defoe was on low form, some screamers to the back of the net. He dropped off quickly though.

Rodwell for me is a pretty solid 3 star. No injuries either. Not great, but solidly average. Games can be won with him in the team. Definitely unrealistic he plays 35 games IRL without winning then he gets injured and suddenly we start winning coincidence I think not, I think a certain Mr Cattermole may have given him a bit of a friendly tap in training to rid us of the curse lol.

Real world and Asoro...Problem is he is too much of a Defoe swap out, and Defoe is the main thing we have going for us. They've tried him on the wing recently for u23s, perhaps as a test for whether he could do it for the first team, and I've read he didn't do well. I guess in the new year, once we're a bit more settled and not throwing away 2 goal leads, he'll be given some run outs. I know great potential and the staff all rate him but not the finished product yet, glad he performed badly on the wing I am sick to death of promising young strikers being stuck out wide and struggling to develop hopefully the staff realise the lad need to be a striker.

Peculiar if Short won't be giving Moyes any money in Jan. If you'd said that a month ago then maybe I'd agree it was likely. That this year we are going to do an Aston Villa and just cut our losses. But now...depending on how things go in the run up to xmas we might be giving staying up a shot.
Certainly Short is sick of quick fixes and won't be giving money for that (those stupid Crouch rumours) but for solid young players that could do just as well in the championship as premier league and won't blow the wage budget? Sure.

On the rumours it was mostly just gossip but Mickey Grey was in and he obviously doesn't have the greatest opinion of Short and what he said was he wouldn't be entirely surprised if Short was thinking along the lines of "we have improved allot the last two games we are probably fine now" doesn't seem likely that Short would think this way but Grey said from what he had heard Moyes would be given little to nothing in January. The rumours are that he is sick of giving a manager money in January to stave off relegation only to have to repeat it (usually with a different manager) in the summer. Wouldn't be surprised if we get little to no money and listening to this and some of the previous rumours it does sound like Short might be getting sick of being a chairman and might look to sell soon. 

[carlmiles1879]

Well as I feared he would Jermain Defoe is retiring due to his injury took him a few weeks in game to decide but he is going.

[JR_Junior]

Anybody having luck with the academy? I really want to use some guys from our academy

My second youth intake was dreadful but I got these two in my first one: 

He's playing for the England u18 team, but I'm not really a fan. A bit short for a CD, lacking technical attributes, not great determination and work rate. Let's see what happens with him.

I like him a bit more, but again with the height problem...and only 6 in jumping reach, it was 4 when he first appeared. With a better jumping reach I can see him as a backup in a few years.

Second season I think I only signed one player but really nothing to be excited about. I wish to have better luck in my third one.

[carlmiles1879]

@JR_Junior I have only had one youth intake so far and it was abysmal best player was 2.5 star potential. I have signed a few youth players to join them and they look pretty decent but no one with amazing stats as of yet.

 

Also in game Defoe has just retired because of his injury and I got an insurance payout how much do you think my highest earning player with 19 months on his contract and last seasons top goal scorer is worth according to my insurer? £223k and the board only let me have 62k of it bit harsh really yes it was highly unlikey I was going to sell him at that stage but he was still my second highest goal scorer this season so far and they have give me less than 3 weeks of his wages...

[JR_Junior]

@carlmiles1879 Ouch! That's harsh. O'Shea retired after a injury in first season and I don't remember getting money. Good that Julian Green is playing well, though.

Looking for new signings here...Berahino is transfer listed at Liverpool, I really want some money to sign him! And a strange player transfer listed...Joe Allen on PSG! I don't know what he is doing there, but...he is transfer listed too. Not that I need more central midfielders...but I love a good deal!

Bounced back in the league beating Chelsea at home, 1-0 with Callum Wilson's first goal. Then in the Champions League I draw again, now with Dinamo Kyiv at home...Elneny missed a penalty, then André Horta was sent off all in the first half. Second half they score early but I sent the team to attack and Borini scored after a missing penalty(another!). Not a good result, now we really need to beat them in Ukraine.

[carlmiles1879]

Completly forgot about Berahino he's at Chelsea in my game and has made a whopping 3 appearances in 11 months so I think I will try and get him on loan in January. Allen is a good player and in my game he went to Tottenham and PSG buy pretty much anyone they can. Not doing great in the league got beat 2-0 at home by Man U and they had a penalty within 30 seconds of starting  Mourinho said they got lucky with it so I said the officials got it wrong, touchline ban for my next game lol think the git played some mind games on me. Drew in my banned game at Tottenham now I have Napoli away in the europa league group but I have already qualified and I have Newcastle 3 days after so I am putting out a slightly weak side. 

[Jean-Luc]

Wow, I never had a game ban. That's... fun! Well... sort of. What happens then? You can only watch and your assistant manager takes over?

And why are you all so fast? I manage maybe 1-2 matches per evening. I will probably reach the end of the first half season at the weekend or so...

[carlmiles1879]

3 minutes ago, Jean-Luc said:

Wow, I never had a game ban. That's... fun! Well... sort of. What happens then? You can only watch and your assistant manager takes over?

And why are you all so fast? I manage maybe 1-2 matches per evening. I will probably reach the end of the first half season at the weekend or so...

Got to pick the team then watch my assman take charge bit fair enough not being able to make any changes (although I bet managers do IRL send a quick text to assman) bit weird that I couldn't do the team talks though it is a touchline ban not a changing room ban but hey ho atleast we drew. I don't get to play too much so I have my matches on commentary only to fly through and changed the preferences so it doesn't go back to the news screen every time I continue even if there is no news speeds things up nicely.

[Jean-Luc]

I was looking for something like that, but couldn't find it. How do you prevent the game from stopping although there are only minor news which need no real response? I started to just hit "Continue", which also works decently enough.

But commentary matches is not an option for me. The matches are the core of the game, I need to see them and adjust and tweak my tactics. I tend to go to Extended/Key somewhere in the second half of the season, but the first half almost always starts with Full/Comprehensive.

That does of course slow me down.

[carlmiles1879]

Preferences - interface I think it is - then there should be a box about returning to the news feed uncheck that and it wont go back to it as much.

[SitDownCrew]

Hi everyone

I am quite new to FM, only having played a little of FM15 and 16. I managed Man U with great success.. Achieving the quadruple. However now I want to give myself a challenge. So I have decided to start a Sunderland save. The problem is, whenever I try to be successful with a lower league side I have very limited success. I think the main reason is that I really struggle when it comes to create a tactic. Could someone help me out by showing me a tactic that they have found success with using Sunderland? Also maybe give me a couple pointers when it comes to signings?

Thanks

[JR_Junior]

@carlmiles1879 Is Welbeck well like by Sunderland fans? He is transfer listed and with my strikers having an awful season, I just bid on him and will see if he's interested to come.

@SitDownCrew In my save I got a 4-1-2-3 to...first season I worked with two inside forwards for most the most part of it and a false 9. Down the middle I went with a DM/Support, BTB/Support, APM/Attack...I later change the DM to defend and works well too, specially against the big clubs. I also went with normal/control in home games against most of the teams and counter away and against the top 6 even at home.

Transfer-wise I only brought a left-back and a central midfielder...both as backup. Try to get a feeling of the squad first...I think it's not that bad.

--------

While I sit at 7th at the Premier League table (5w 3d 4l), I just qualified to the next Champions League phase! I'm so happy! I started with two draws against Porto and Dinamo and then followed with three impressive wins against Leverkusen twice and Porto. I'm usually not that great playing Football Manager, so this is all too surprising to me!  Swansea is doing well too and right now is sitting in second place in their group...behind Lyon and over Bayern! 

[carlmiles1879]

@JR_Junior Some fans like him,  he had a loan with us and did well but not outstanding, don't think he is listed as a favoured personell in game so don't think the fans in game would be any more excited than if it was a different player of about the same skill and rep. In real life there would be more of a reaction, but we have a tendency to get a good young player in on loan for a season watch them play decently for us then when they move back and onto bigger and better things some fans claim they knew they would be star and want them back at the club, Welbeck, Rose and Borini have all been like this recently but typical us to only manage to get Borini (and that took 2 years and him basically being told to get out of Liverpool before he would come to us). That being said Welbeck is a good player but can be a bit injury prone and he isn't a great goal scorer, he will contribute to be certain and score some great goals but its unlikely he will become a 20+ goal a season striker unless you build round him.

Edit - IRL Paddy McNair is out for 9 months with ruptured knee ligaments he went down injured in the 42nd minute but didn't get subbed until the 88th either he has an amazing tolerance for pain or our medical team was asleep.

[Jean-Luc]

I set up a save with AS Monaco yesterday, nothing serious, just to play around a bit, and when I looked at the Sunderland squad, McNair was highlighted as a player with quite a lot potential. As Monaco's squad is, in total, obviously much better than Sunderland, I would expect McNair to have at least 4 stars PA in my save, but he hasn't. Seems to me he might have a dynamic value. Which is a pity, because in my current save, he's not that worthwile to develop at all.

I reached matchday 15. Will give you an update when the first half of the season is over.

[Welshace]

He does have a dynamic potential  but not a massively high one... that said, his current ability ensures he will always turn out pretty damn good...

[carlmiles1879]

18 hours ago, SitDownCrew said:

Hi everyone

I am quite new to FM, only having played a little of FM15 and 16. I managed Man U with great success.. Achieving the quadruple. However now I want to give myself a challenge. So I have decided to start a Sunderland save. The problem is, whenever I try to be successful with a lower league side I have very limited success. I think the main reason is that I really struggle when it comes to create a tactic. Could someone help me out by showing me a tactic that they have found success with using Sunderland? Also maybe give me a couple pointers when it comes to signings?

Thanks

Replied to your topic in the tactics thread as you will get opinions from more experienced guys than me there too. The advice for first season tactics though is create your tactic around Jermaine Defoe, if he gets injured you may as well hand in your notice to the chairman lol.

[twentythree]

Just got the game and started with 1st window transfer budget switched off.

7 points from 6 games but it's been a little strange... top scorers with 17 and conceded 15.  Expecting a struggle I just made things gung-ho 4-4-2 with PVA doing whatever he likes.  Anichebe got injured in the first match so put Watmore on as right winger in front of right midfielder Januzaj and it worked.  Defoe has 9 and Watmore has 5 plus 5 assists.  As well as getting to the byline with his pace, no-one can pick him up when he cuts inside.

Ndong has 4 yellows and has given away 2 pens already so who knows what Cattermole's going to do when he gets back in.  Haven't paid much attention to sorting the defence, it's a shambles so we need to keep scoring.

[Jean-Luc]

8 minutes ago, twentythree said:

Just got the game and started with 1st window transfer budget switched off.

7 points from 6 games but it's been a little strange... top scorers with 17 and conceded 15. 

I finished the first half of the season yesterday, stopping at New Year's Eve, and wanted to post an update this weekend, but to give a first spoiler:

41 goals scored (ranking 3rd in the PL)
40 goals conceced (ranking last in the PL)

[JR_Junior]

Just had the most horrible december! Jesus Christ! Nothing really worked...Koné, Yoshida, Kirchhoff and Holding all had a couple of awful games and on offensive side, we just missed so many opportunities! Also, we suffered from so many damn games, injuries and now i'm dealing with Asian Cup AND Africa Cup of Nations at same time. And how bad is Pickford, geez...I just have no luck with him. Hennessey got injured for EIGHT months and it was a disaster. I'm just losing my patience with Pickford, he just doesn't perform. All in all we didn't play THAT bad, but we missed lots of goals and conceded a lot of dumb goals(and a few frustrating long range shots Pickford never saves).

Desperate for better days I already started January bringing some players. I finally got Saido Berahino after Welbeck rejected us. I ask the board to sign him as we didn't have all the money and they signed him in a minute! He started against Nuneaton and then destroyed Manchester United with two goals and an assist. I also brought a goalkeeper, Andrés Fernández from Porto, on loan and the good old Gael Clichy as Laurens De Bock is playing horrible this year and I just can't take him any longer...and I love to have a more experienced player in the squad too.

The last few games were better and I hope for a solid second half of season, specially with fewer games. I'm in 12th, nine ponts from relegation and eight from 3rd place...so I think I'm good for now. I'm not thinking about next season yet, but I don't know what I'm going to do...probably some players will be mad and will want to leave with us not playing Champions League football. The only sure I have is that I'm going to sign a new good GK, Pickford is just bad and Hennessey failed to impress. I want Szczesny, who is transfer listed for years now...but he is too expensive. 

[Jean-Luc]

Berahino looks great.

Not following the Premier League too closely, so I didn't know him before.

I was so far happy with Pickford, but I am not playing at Champions League level, of course.  Interesting to see that Kirchhoff and Koné are still with you.

[JR_Junior]

@Jean-Luc My relationship with Kirchhoff is pretty funny, every season he complains that he's not playing enough, I then give him a few mores games than usual, he gets happy and we move on! I like him for being a decent backup for both CD and DM. Koné is having a "not so great" season but he's usually pretty reliable, I like him...even got his agility up to 12 now.

[Jean-Luc]

So this is the table after half the season. Not bad, I guess. We're sitting comfortably at 11th, and I guess it's fair to say that we won't struggle against relegation this season. Jermain Defoe is still top goalscorer of the Premier League with a whopping 20 goals in 19 matches.

All that being said, our last five matches were not exactly fun.

We had a tough run into New Year, having to face four "big" teams with Tottenham, ManCity, Liverpool and Leicester in a row. That's also what awaits us in May, so I guess we should make sure to collect enough points before those last matches.

The scorelines have been... rather remarkable. We score goals. Even against big opposition. Point is: We always concede one more than we score. Which is bad. Especially when the reason is personal error and own goals of Djilobodji or Pickford.

We've never been butchered, as you can see. We even managed a 2-2 draw against ManCity. But it still feels frustrating if you concede 13 goals in four matches. That's just... too much.

Here's the whole picture:

We have been particualry bad against the big teams. 0-2 to Arsenal, 1-5 against Chelsea. Two defeats against Tottenham, one in the EFL Quarter final, the other nine days later in the Premier League.

We did score against midfield teams though. The 3-1 against West Ham was a beauty, as as the 4-2 against Southhampton. Still: I can never really relax in my dugout. I always have to fear that we might still concede.

In fact, there were only two (2!) matches in the whole first halft that we didn't concede at all: 2-0 against Bournemouth and 2-0 against Middlesbrough.

The Liverpool match is a case in point.

It started with Liverpool scoring and us coming back 3 minutes later with a beautiful direct free kick from Grifo. Then an own goal from Koné. Then the 3-1 for Liverpool by Mané. All seems settled after 47 minutes.

Then Anichibe scores the 3-2. Liverpool strikes back to 4-2, and Anichibe with another howitzer to 4-3 after 66 minutes. We could have gotten the draw. We didn't.

All that was done basically with a formation set on "Defence" mindset. We are good on the counter. But the Central Defence is just too shaky.

The again, what do I expect... there are some very big names and some very big players we're up against. The gap in the Premier League seems pretty wide to me.

There was one point when Grifo and Schwegler were both banned after five Yellow cards or tired and had to be rested, so I fielded basically a "pure" Sunderland side.

Cattermole told me he is looking for "new challenges" (he actually told me when we were sitting in 6th place in the league, which was a bit weird and also not too kind towards a club he's taking the responsibility as captain), so I started to look around for young talent in the CM role. At the moment, Ndong is doing most of the work, rotating with Cattermole.

I found this young Columbian guy:

He's interested. He's also affordable, if I can somehow get around 10m for Cattermole or any of the other high wage players I am not using on a regular basis (Borini for example). In mental attributes, he's not where Cattermole is, of course, but he's much better physically, and already better in most technical aspects - and he has potential to develop. Quite a bit, actually.

And then, finally there was a takeover in Hull.

New guy wants to get them on the stock exchange and put money in. 

Let's see if Hull becomes one of the big teams soon...

Finally, we're getting close to the African Cup, and I am frightened already:

Koné and Djolobodji are my first team defence, Ndong and Khazri are my first team CM/AM, and Anichibe is a very important second striker.

This is basically 5 first team players missing for ... a lot of matches.

 

[twentythree]

Are crazy scorelines are a game wide thing or is it just in the Sunderland topic?

Im now at scored 48, conceded 54 from 23 games.  This is after Defoe scored his 3rd hat trick of the season inside 23 minutes away at Old Trafford before we went on to concede 6.  The age old 3-1 up at half time, knowing the ai has done that teamtalk and you're going to lose no matter what scenario.

[JR_Junior]

@Jean-Luc December is always the worst! 

My first Africa Cup was funny because my players were available to play a game one day early from the first Africa Cup game. 

And nobody likes Borini? Poor guy! He sucks for the most of the time, but I like him!

@twentythree My league numbers with Sunderland

16/17 - 50 scored 47 conceded

17/18 - 59 scored 39 conceded

18/19 - 34 scored 28 conceded (30 games(

Things slowed down this year, but not that absurd numbers I think. I conceded 3 goals only twice this season and  three times last season. I conceded more than three only once, 3-6 against United in first season. And won a 6-2 against Crystal Palace once. 

---------------------------------

Got the day free because I was sick and played a lot! Got eliminated from Champions League to Atletico (0x0, 0x1)...we almost scored in a corner at 91 minute in the second game

I'm 8th in the league...but the team is really streaky. Trying a new tactic now...a simple 4-4-2...won against Norwich 2-0 but they're the last in the table, so I need to test more. And with 12 games played, Berahino is already our best scorer with 8 goals, Wilson also has 8 but in 28 games. León has 4 in 25...I think I will have to part with him at the end of the season.

Also, i had to use Jake Hackett from the u18 in one game...he isn't great but I was really short in midfielders. The 2019 youth intake was awful again.

[twentythree]

Got completely found out, lost nearly every match in 2017 and finished on 31 points.  Somehow there were 3 teams worse than us.

New season looks ominous as Defoe is in no state to keep us up again, Im off to the tactics forum to mastermind another 17th place finish.

[JR_Junior]

Nothing worked in the last third of the season and we finished only 11th. Ugh. Kinda disappointed...I'll give a shot but I'm not really excited with the team anymore. I'll try to make changes...Borini had the worst average rating of the season and is the first of the transfer list. Sergio León and Khazri will be leaving too. I already signed Marcus Edwards on free from Tottenham and Diego Laxalt from Genoa...last season all my left-midfielders were inside forwards and all my right-midfielders were wingers, so brought Laxalt to be a left winger and Edwards to be a right inside forward to add more flexibility to our tactics...and Edwards is only 20 years old. He had a bad season for Burnley, but he looks good...let's see if he can improve:

 

I feel stuck in this mid-table zone now...but without Champions League, I think i'll try to push for a cup title.

[JR_Junior]

I had lot of money after City bought Elneny £25m, so I did an irresponsable thing  Crystal Palce were relegated, so I took my chance.

I'll build my team for a BB attack with Berahino and Benteke. I hope it works!

Sam Byram will leave too...that's why I brought Naughton. Byram was happy to renew his contract as a reserva and then one day later I propose a new deal, West Brom comes with a bid and I refuse because I like the guy and all that...he then comes and says he wants to leave because he feels he's going to be more important there...ugh...byebye. I hate players that want to leave! I still have £27m for transfers...so if I lose any other starter, I will have no problem buying a replacement.

 

[twentythree]

Me: "Jermain, I love you but you cant run anymore.  How about a new contract as a player-coach."

Defoe: "£432k per month please".

2 weeks later...

Me: "LA Galaxy have bid £1m, you can talk to them".

Defoe: "They've offered me £30k, goodbye".

[carlmiles1879]

Moyes is hinting that if bids come in for PIckford and Kone in January he will sell, we are pretty much doomed.

I tried offering Defoe a player coach role as other players I offered it too accepted lower wages sadly he wanted a payrise but then got injured and retired anyway.

Second season update, won the EFL cup 1-0 against Arsenal, team was in pretty bad form in the run up and not scoring many so decided to go defensive and try to restrict Arsenal and somehow snatched it. Beat Shalke in the europa league 1st knock out round, lost the first leg 3-2 away then amazingly won 4-0 at home. Got Man u to come in the 6th round of the FA cup. Struggling a bit in the league sitting at 10th at the moment. Couldn't get Berahino on loan Chelsea didn't want him to leave due to first team commitments while he is in the U23 squad and has played a grand total of one match the community shield against me. First season I was scoring for fun and conceding a fair few too, this season scoring less and conceding less. Brought Asoro back to the club in Jan as I needed another striker and he has been decent, mostly gets used off the bench or in cups and has scored a few especially as an impact player off the bench towards the end.

Hull got a takeover in my game then got relegated the same season.

[JR_Junior]

On 28/11/2016 at 21:36, twentythree said:

Me: "Jermain, I love you but you cant run anymore.  How about a new contract as a player-coach."

Defoe: "£432k per month please".

2 weeks later...

Me: "LA Galaxy have bid £1m, you can talk to them".

Defoe: "They've offered me £30k, goodbye".

I wish players took that paycut here. The other teams always ask for me to help them to pay a part of the player's wages.

[carlmiles1879]

So lost 6th round of FA cup managed to snatch a win against Porto in the second knockout round of the europa league some how (0-0 at home 1-1 away through fluke really they hammered us) doing a bit better in the league now Babacar is back from injury up to 9th. Got Roma in the EL quarter finals and hammered them 4-0 at home. Looking to sign Elneny next transfer window as he is listed and I am thinking about changing to a full fledged 4-3-3 and having two hard working midfielders like Elneny and Ward-Prowse with Tielemans as a more creative option. Considered buying WIlshire as he is listed too and for only 3mil but been injured allot this season he is still a good premier league player but just worried I will end up with another perma injured player like Rodwell is. 

Looks like Palace might go down this season so I am keeping an eye on Benteke but scouts think he will want massive wages, might attempt to get Moussa Dembele from Stoke (the Moussa Demebele that starts at Celtic) tried last season but the wanted huge wages I said no so he signed for Stoke on less than half what he wanted from me lets see if a season of flirting with relegation has changed his tune.

On IRL news front its is a strong rumour that Ellis Short has put the club up for sale for £170million, but no interest as of yet although it is common knowledge that a Chinese consortium looked at it in the summer but were put off by the price so maybe they will come in again and it is rumoured that Red Bull are looking for a club in England but they usually prefer to take a smaller club from low leagues but the huge prize money in the EPL might tempt them. So maybe this season SAFC will be bought and we could get a bit more money coming in but more than likely it will be next season IF it happens most investors will either wait till we retain premier league football (means the owner has ambitions so could be good) or will only bid if we get relegated and the price drops (stingy chairman looking for a deal probably bad news). On a fun note SAFC have supposedly hired an American firm to help sell the club who have produced a 3 page booklet for potential buyers wonder how much that cost.

[IndyManager]

In my save I took over at Sunderland prior to season 4 (2019-20) after they had been relegated. There were only four players remaining from that player list at the beginning of the thread, McNair, Ngong, Asoro and Donald Love - and I've let Love go on loan.

 

We are joint top of the table after nine matches with a very young group (mostly brought in rather than promoted from youth). Asoro is developing into a quite a good striker and I may not be able to keep him. I don't need to sell as the financial backing thus far has been strong.

 

[Romers]

Hi Guys. Just started a Sunderland save after reading this thread, struggled to make a save stick this year but I think an ageing squad and a team that has never kicked on with a huge fan base is perfect!

Question - I started with first window budgets disabled, how much can I expect to be given in January and then next season?

[nexting]

I started a Sunderland save recently with first window disabled and I'm disappointed to approach January with no budget being made available. Sitting in 6th aswell and due to lose my African contingent real soon!

[Romers]

9 hours ago, nexting said:

I started a Sunderland save recently with first window disabled and I'm disappointed to approach January with no budget being made available. Sitting in 6th aswell and due to lose my African contingent real soon!

Yeah just got to Jan 1st myself with £1.7m despite being comfortably in 10th!  I can sell Lens & Larsson who don't fit into my system at all and raise that to £13.5m but no one particularly interesting is available. Had a deal agreed for Saido Berahino for around £10m but City came in and blew me out of the water on wages 

Anyone had any impressive in-comings in the first season or is it all about survival and clearing the dead wood before building?

[nexting]

On ‎06‎/‎02‎/‎2017 at 22:16, Romers said:

Yeah just got to Jan 1st myself with £1.7m despite being comfortably in 10th!  I can sell Lens & Larsson who don't fit into my system at all and raise that to £13.5m but no one particularly interesting is available. Had a deal agreed for Saido Berahino for around £10m but City came in and blew me out of the water on wages 

Anyone had any impressive in-comings in the first season or is it all about survival and clearing the dead wood before building?

I sold Cattermole 7m and Borini 11.25m, didn't manage to bring anyone decent in tho.

Finished the 1st season in 8th, level on 63 pts with Watford and Southampton, didn't really want Europa League football anyway. Defoe, 28 goals and top goal corer, and Januzaj, 13 goals 12 assists were my best players.

2nd season I've brought in:

Ajer

Tarkowski

Berahino

Schlupp

Manquillo

Amiri

Hourihane

Bassong

Will Hughes

Sitting 3rd after 12 games.

[Romers]

On 11/02/2017 at 10:35, nexting said:

I sold Cattermole 7m and Borini 11.25m, didn't manage to bring anyone decent in tho.

Finished the 1st season in 8th, level on 63 pts with Watford and Southampton, didn't really want Europa League football anyway. Defoe, 28 goals and top goal corer, and Januzaj, 13 goals 12 assists were my best players.

2nd season I've brought in:

Ajer

Tarkowski

Berahino

Schlupp

Manquillo

Amiri

Hourihane

Bassong

Will Hughes

Sitting 3rd after 12 games.

Nice solid season! Just finished my first this weekend too, as you can see below I enjoyed a comfortable 10th placed finish with JD banging in regular goals to become PL top scorer including 5 in one game against Everton at home

Looking for another solid mid table finish next season with maybe a push into the top half after signing Benteke and getting Berahino in on loan amongst a couple of other squad fillers (I'll upload my full pre season details later after work)

- Apologies for the photos my screenshots weren't working 

[oliverz4]

Hi there, I've just started a file with Sunderland myself, really fancied a challenge this FM, haven't really gotten into a file yet either so I thought this looked like a good idea, started the season with about 10 mil or so, so I bought Sebastian Haller for 7 mil from FC Utrecht as a different option upfront as I'm not a fan of strikers like Anichebe (defensive forwards etc. don't really fit into my style) also bought Ariel Cabral for 2.8 mil who has been a bargain cm, so yeah it could have been far worse this year, will see how we strengthen in the summer we definitely need new faces. I've even managed to get some good games/goals out of Borini for some reason, I find Khazri really inconsistent and Borini since he's come back has fit in a lot better. Only got 9 goals out of Defoe in 26 games so could be better but it's improved as the seasons gone on.

[oliverz4]

Well we had a good end to the season as well, had some bad run of form in places but finished in 12th so overall a good season considering, the board gave me 33 mil in the summer so I decided to use that in the positions we needed it most, striker was a problem last year, even though Defoe was our top goalscorer with about 11 goals it wasn't enough and we needed someone 'reliable' to bag the goals in...and my is this signing a gamble! had a 12.25 release clause after he joined Swansea and they subsequently got relegated, and attributes wise he has always been a perfect looking fit for my tactics, just can we get him to consistently score goals idk, either way I'm going to rotate him and Haller this season, Haller didn't have a good season only scored 4 goals but he was injured in parts and is still improving as he's young and fitting into my side. 

In other business I brought Januzaj and Manquillo back on permanent deals, United decided they would transfer list Januzaj for 6.5 mil and I thought that was a bargain considering how much potential he's got, only issue is he asked for a mininum fee release clause of 26.5 mil but that's not too bad could have been worse lets face it for a club like Sunderland we'd do well to get that much, then you've got the solid reliable Manquillo who was one of my best players last season so that one was a no brainer. After that I decided to bring in Pozuelo on a free as a rotation option to Cabral, he's quicker than Cabral so is a different option in cm, and so far has started like a house on fire as Cabral is out for 2 months, scored some really nice goals as well so on a free that one was a bargain, then I got Perin as goalkeeper was a weak position last year, it was either Perin or Ospina who were the best options and I went with Perin as his wage demands were lower and he was cheaper plus a bit younger, could even get better you never know, I will keep Pickford but I don't think he's got the ability to be what we need, then after that I brought in Scalera, Zebli as they have potential and I always prefer youth backup players to players who will moan and complain, then I got Costa as he was on the transfer list and looked really good considering his asking price, and Sanchez would give us cover and experience.

On the sales front sold Borini as his high wages weren't respective to his abilities, also tried very hard to get rid of Cattermole but everyone wanted us to pay wages for them to buy him and I don't like doing that especially due to the fact he has 4 years left on his contract (whoever signed him up to a 6 year deal in 2015 grrrrrrrrr really annoying), same with Rodwell, loaned out some of the younger guys to give them more experience and to see how they develop, plus released some of the players who were on frees and were also surplus or past it. Also decided to keep Coates and Lens for this season, will probably not play Lens much but Coates will become my 1st choice his attributes are the best out of all my cbs so since he has been on loan to Sporting he has really improved.

All in all a good season and if we keep it up this season, so far started with 4 wins and 3 losses so we're in 6th not too shabby, it could well be a good season for us!

[Sunlinlad]

Hi lads,

 

just started a sunderland save save and struggling with, well, everything.

 

any tips on signings I can make, formations roles etc would be massively appreciated as I've seen some have finished very high in their first season and I could do with some pointers.

 

thanks in advance 

[Sunlinlad]

On 15 February 2017 at 14:42, oliverz4 said:

Well we had a good end to the season as well, had some bad run of form in places but finished in 12th so overall a good season considering, the board gave me 33 mil in the summer so I decided to use that in the positions we needed it most, striker was a problem last year, even though Defoe was our top goalscorer with about 11 goals it wasn't enough and we needed someone 'reliable' to bag the goals in...and my is this signing a gamble! had a 12.25 release clause after he joined Swansea and they subsequently got relegated, and attributes wise he has always been a perfect looking fit for my tactics, just can we get him to consistently score goals idk, either way I'm going to rotate him and Haller this season, Haller didn't have a good season only scored 4 goals but he was injured in parts and is still improving as he's young and fitting into my side. 

In other business I brought Januzaj and Manquillo back on permanent deals, United decided they would transfer list Januzaj for 6.5 mil and I thought that was a bargain considering how much potential he's got, only issue is he asked for a mininum fee release clause of 26.5 mil but that's not too bad could have been worse lets face it for a club like Sunderland we'd do well to get that much, then you've got the solid reliable Manquillo who was one of my best players last season so that one was a no brainer. After that I decided to bring in Pozuelo on a free as a rotation option to Cabral, he's quicker than Cabral so is a different option in cm, and so far has started like a house on fire as Cabral is out for 2 months, scored some really nice goals as well so on a free that one was a bargain, then I got Perin as goalkeeper was a weak position last year, it was either Perin or Ospina who were the best options and I went with Perin as his wage demands were lower and he was cheaper plus a bit younger, could even get better you never know, I will keep Pickford but I don't think he's got the ability to be what we need, then after that I brought in Scalera, Zebli as they have potential and I always prefer youth backup players to players who will moan and complain, then I got Costa as he was on the transfer list and looked really good considering his asking price, and Sanchez would give us cover and experience.

On the sales front sold Borini as his high wages weren't respective to his abilities, also tried very hard to get rid of Cattermole but everyone wanted us to pay wages for them to buy him and I don't like doing that especially due to the fact he has 4 years left on his contract (whoever signed him up to a 6 year deal in 2015 grrrrrrrrr really annoying), same with Rodwell, loaned out some of the younger guys to give them more experience and to see how they develop, plus released some of the players who were on frees and were also surplus or past it. Also decided to keep Coates and Lens for this season, will probably not play Lens much but Coates will become my 1st choice his attributes are the best out of all my cbs so since he has been on loan to Sporting he has really improved.

All in all a good season and if we keep it up this season, so far started with 4 wins and 3 losses so we're in 6th not too shabby, it could well be a good season for us!

 

On 1 December 2016 at 10:55, carlmiles1879 said:

So lost 6th round of FA cup managed to snatch a win against Porto in the second knockout round of the europa league some how (0-0 at home 1-1 away through fluke really they hammered us) doing a bit better in the league now Babacar is back from injury up to 9th. Got Roma in the EL quarter finals and hammered them 4-0 at home. Looking to sign Elneny next transfer window as he is listed and I am thinking about changing to a full fledged 4-3-3 and having two hard working midfielders like Elneny and Ward-Prowse with Tielemans as a more creative option. Considered buying WIlshire as he is listed too and for only 3mil but been injured allot this season he is still a good premier league player but just worried I will end up with another perma injured player like Rodwell is. 

Looks like Palace might go down this season so I am keeping an eye on Benteke but scouts think he will want massive wages, might attempt to get Moussa Dembele from Stoke (the Moussa Demebele that starts at Celtic) tried last season but the wanted huge wages I said no so he signed for Stoke on less than half what he wanted from me lets see if a season of flirting with relegation has changed his tune.

On IRL news front its is a strong rumour that Ellis Short has put the club up for sale for £170million, but no interest as of yet although it is common knowledge that a Chinese consortium looked at it in the summer but were put off by the price so maybe they will come in again and it is rumoured that Red Bull are looking for a club in England but they usually prefer to take a smaller club from low leagues but the huge prize money in the EPL might tempt them. So maybe this season SAFC will be bought and we could get a bit more money coming in but more than likely it will be next season IF it happens most investors will either wait till we retain premier league football (means the owner has ambitions so could be good) or will only bid if we get relegated and the price drops (stingy chairman looking for a deal probably bad news). On a fun note SAFC have supposedly hired an American firm to help sell the club who have produced a 3 page booklet for potential buyers wonder how much that cost.

 

On 25 November 2016 at 23:51, JR_Junior said:

@Jean-Luc December is always the worst! 

My first Africa Cup was funny because my players were available to play a game one day early from the first Africa Cup game. 

And nobody likes Borini? Poor guy! He sucks for the most of the time, but I like him!

@twentythree My league numbers with Sunderland

16/17 - 50 scored 47 conceded

17/18 - 59 scored 39 conceded

18/19 - 34 scored 28 conceded (30 games(

Things slowed down this year, but not that absurd numbers I think. I conceded 3 goals only twice this season and  three times last season. I conceded more than three only once, 3-6 against United in first season. And won a 6-2 against Crystal Palace once. 

---------------------------------

Got the day free because I was sick and played a lot! Got eliminated from Champions League to Atletico (0x0, 0x1)...we almost scored in a corner at 91 minute in the second game

I'm 8th in the league...but the team is really streaky. Trying a new tactic now...a simple 4-4-2...won against Norwich 2-0 but they're the last in the table, so I need to test more. And with 12 games played, Berahino is already our best scorer with 8 goals, Wilson also has 8 but in 28 games. León has 4 in 25...I think I will have to part with him at the end of the season.

Also, i had to use Jake Hackett from the u18 in one game...he isn't great but I was really short in midfielders. The 2019 youth intake was awful again.

 

On 25 November 2016 at 15:16, Jean-Luc said:

Berahino looks great.

Not following the Premier League too closely, so I didn't know him before.

I was so far happy with Pickford, but I am not playing at Champions League level, of course.  Interesting to see that Kirchhoff and Koné are still with you.

Any tips lads?

[oliverz4]

 

1 hour ago, Sunlinlad said:

 

 

 

Any tips lads?

Really hard to say mate, I was going to reply yesterday but signings are tough especially in first window, all I can really advise is Ariel Cabral is a fantastic player keeps the ball, passes the ball well if you need a cm playmaker, but whatever you do don't buy that Haller guy if you need a striker as he was a huge flop for me never scores doesn't do anything for the team, it's really tough I just largely kept the team the same first season apart from those 2 buys and only 1 was effective, I've done 2 seasons atm, finished 12th in 1st and 11th in 2nd so it's by no means easy just you gotta have the right tactics (defensive big sam style ones i'd recommend). Good luck anyway, I just sold Balotelli for 27 mil as Marseille hit his release clause, but I signed Diego Falcinelli and Jordan Ayew, plus also Mikel San Jose for 4.7, 7.5 and 15 mil each respectively. I'm in my 3rd season now in the summer before it and it still isn't easy last season was just as inconsistent as the 1st one, that's probably the main thing you'll notice if you're like me!

[oliverz4]

Just had to sell Manquillo today as well as Bayern hit his 20 mil release clause, next season will be interesting but I'm looking forward to it, ideally I still need a box to box cm as N Dong was so average last season barely scored any goals either just meh, scouted a few players though but none really fit the bill wanted Gnourkouri but he failed his work permit, so we'll see. Could do with another left back too as Van Aanholt is good attacking but weak defensively, wanted Gibbs but his agent was being unfriendly, after that we should be fine hopefully, and i obviously need a Manquillo replacement.

*EDIT*

Would give more detail but I'm in work, did manage to sign Gibbs eventually he's homegrown so good signing much better defensively than PVA, then I signed Joao Cancelo to replace Manquillo for 5.25 mil from transfer list, he isn't great defensively 9 marking 10 tackling but technically great so he's worth it, everyone else was just average who I scouted. Then I finally found a good box to box mid to take over from the really average NDong from last season, Jeff Hendrick! Great player cost me 16.75 mil, could have signed Tom Davies too but Hendrick is less of a gamble as he is the finished article. All in all I think it could be a great season this I have high hopes, very happy with my side. Only thing Im worried about is losing Januzaj as the big clubs are circling round him, I'm only going to accept offers though if they hit the release clause (26.5 mil) hopefully we can keep hold of him till the window shuts.

4-1-4-1

Gk:

Perin

Rb: Joao Cancelo

Cb: Mikel San Jose

Cb: Sebastian Coates

Lb: Kieran Gibbs

Dm: Jan Kirchhoff

Cm: Jeff Hendrick

Cm: Alexander Pozuelo

Rw: Adnan Januzaj

Lw: Vincenzo Grifo

St: Jordan Ayew

 

 

 

[Sunlinlad]

On 18 February 2017 at 02:01, oliverz4 said:

 

Really hard to say mate, I was going to reply yesterday but signings are tough especially in first window, all I can really advise is Ariel Cabral is a fantastic player keeps the ball, passes the ball well if you need a cm playmaker, but whatever you do don't buy that Haller guy if you need a striker as he was a huge flop for me never scores doesn't do anything for the team, it's really tough I just largely kept the team the same first season apart from those 2 buys and only 1 was effective, I've done 2 seasons atm, finished 12th in 1st and 11th in 2nd so it's by no means easy just you gotta have the right tactics (defensive big sam style ones i'd recommend). Good luck anyway, I just sold Balotelli for 27 mil as Marseille hit his release clause, but I signed Diego Falcinelli and Jordan Ayew, plus also Mikel San Jose for 4.7, 7.5 and 15 mil each respectively. I'm in my 3rd season now in the summer before it and it still isn't easy last season was just as inconsistent as the 1st one, that's probably the main thing you'll notice if you're like me!

 

Thanks mate

[oliverz4]

It's really been such a frustrating long season this one, had a feel pain with injuries, we lost my new signing Diego Falcinelli in November for 4-5 months injured, whereas at the exact same time I lost one of my key players now Jeff Hendrick for 2-3 months, then we also lost Pierre Zebli for 4-5 months in December, plus I had Sebastian Coates breathing down my neck claiming I didn't strengthen the side which I think is a bit unfair as I did make an effort to with signings like Hendrick and San Jose, but that went over to my whole team so I had a whole team agreeing with Sebastian Coates that my squad had no depth which really annoyed me to no end, I placed him in the under 23s and sold him to China wasn't having that for the whole season and I had to draw the line and make a decision as the board were unhappy with the morale due to him. Had a few flops as well Ayew hasn't really worked apart from the odd game, San Joses been average-good some games, but is moaning now he want's to go back to Bilbao which makes no sense as he was just transfer listed with them when I signed him, then I've got Grifo who didn't work at all from last season, sold him in January and brought Jay Rodriguez in instead who at the very least will give us some pace. Gibbs was another player who got injured but PVA has been better than him even when he has been fit, out of all of them I'd say there's only Hendrick, Wozniak (Who I'll get to in a minute), Cancelo and maybe San Jose bit dubious on that one, that have worked out, I have high hopes for Carter-Vickers as well, was a lot of money but I wanted a young cb to fit the philosophy, it was either that or sign Malang Sarr for 20 mil and have a 32 mil non negotiable release clause, screw that! But either way it's been a learning curve this season, is getting a bit better now but we've gone through bad runs, have lacked a good striker since Balotelli left too, Wozniak looks a great prospect, brought a young guy in for a bit Marcus Francis both regens who did fairly well for his age, Falcinelli too early too tell as he's been injured and Ayews been pants really inconsistent. Out of my players from last season Januzajs been really bad this year only scored 1 goal in 18 appearances, would like to keep him as he's still young but may sign someone else like Roberts if he plays well for us or a right footed winger, don't think Watmores up to the level. Then you've got Helder Costa who was great last season also been similar to Januzaj, Grifo like I said I sold to Everton, had no pace but even then his technical ability was non existent compared to his actual attributes, guy was supposed to be good at fks and corners but he never did anything apart from the occasional one.

Either way I just wanted to update this and to give hope to Sunderland fans, I've enjoyed managing this team anyway and hopefully it keeps going for a while longer I have faith in the youth we have and hopefully we end the season well and get a mid table position again which is about the best thing for us at this moment. Will post some screenshots of some of my signings and some of my best players/prospects down below as well.

 

[nextqprmanager]

Oliverz4, good posts, but why not play Grujic? & San Jose is a DM not a CB, so maybe is not playing as well as he can?

Good luck

[oliverz4]

Thanks nextqprmanager idk I did a bit play Grujic but he disappointed me, only really signed him as we were having an injury crisis and we needed a cm to cover, and San Jose I just think I needed him more at cb he could play both I know but when I signed him I signed him because of his defensive attributes, he started moaning anyway as Bilbao came in for him and I rejected it so for the rest of the season I played Carter-Vickers Dlijibodjii more, occassionally played him even in dm a little bit but he wasn't playing well, at the end of the season I cut my losses and sold him to Bilbao for 20 mil rising to 30 mil not bad for a 30 year old anyway, and brought in Funes Mori to replace him. Finished the season in 14th and just started the fourth season now so hopefully it goes better disappointing season, I'd rather forget it to be completely honest got the job offer for Liverpool as well and was very tempting to take it but I wanted to be loyal to Sunderland as I still have a job to do and we do have some promising looking players. Still can't find a striker to replace Balotelli, just signed Shani Tarashaj from Palace for 12.5 mil, started slow in first 4-5 games hasn't scored yet but he should come good and I've got my reliable hot prospect Wozniak as 2nd choice now which is good as he gave me a good return last season scored some important goals too. Had a busy summer really finally caved in and sold Januzaj he had a really bad season last season so I've sold him to Marseille for 18 rising to 25.5 mil, only had a year left on his contract as well so I thought better to cash in, honestly I didn't want another below par season from him as last year he was non existent. Decided I needed someone a slight step up from Pozuelo to be my advanced playmaker too so I signed Adama Traore for 3.6 rising to 3.9 mil from AS Monaco, is a lot faster than Pozuelo so should do a good job in the middle, then I signed 2 new right wingers in the form of Patrick Roberts and Joel Campbell, both very similar players but should rotate well and both do jobs for me, Roberts was alright last season still young though and I'm hoping he gets better and realises his potential, Campbells been there done it I just thought his mental attributes looked a bit better than Roberts so I signed him as to be honest there wasn't a lot of selection in terms of quality right wingers, was either pacy wingers or great technically gifted slow players. Roberts cost me 14.25 mil and Campbell cost me 10.75 rising to 11.5 mil.

Then I signed Adam Llajic as well another good looking player was on the transfer list at Liverpool and it's fair to say he has been around, I really want to get my regen Lee Lynch more football as he definitely has a bright future with us but we need someone else too to play 1st choice, Rodriguez was a bit disappointing last season for me so I probably wont play him much this season and will look to give the emerging Lynch more opportunities as I believe in youth. Then after that I signed a cb called Jorge from Sevilla for 4.1 rising to 4.3 mil a promising looking cb who should give us a good 3rd choice option.

Haven't started well, had 3 draws and 1 loss though we're still finding our rhythm, also had a bit of trouble with Perin, Cancelo and now Scaleri asking to join bigger clubs, Perins backed down now but Cancelo and Scaleri are still moaning about it, I don't like selling players much unless I feel like I really have to or if I just don't like the way they're playing simply enough, either way I wont sell them unless they hit their release clauses. Honestly don't want to have a repeat of last season on my hands this season, the last 10 or so games last season were a real slog hit a really bad run of form and morale just dropped so it was tough to get results was only picking the occasional draw, it's like my attack had gone stale would dominate teams not finish them then thye would grab the winning goal and a lot of games would repeat like that for the whole season, anyway I'm going to leave a few more screenshots below some of the last games from last season, the table etc. and then obviously the new signings the new team and anything like that.

 

 

 

 

 

[Sunlinlad]

Finally started to come into some form. 

 

Just over half way way through the season (21 games) and in 11th on 29 points. 

 

Had a tough start and was in 19th up until early November, suddenly hit some form and I'm unbeaten in 7. Home wins against West Ham, Southampton, Leicester and away wins against Hull, Chelsea and Middlesborough with a draw with Burnley sandwiched in between, have pulled us clear of the relegation zone.  

 

Started the season signing William Kvist and Ludwig Augustinsson who have been quality. Also signed Kuki who has 7 goals in 15 starts. Defoe has been the star of the season with 10 goals in 17 games. 

 

Playing a 3-4-1-2 with wing backs which is working well. Both wing backs have 5+ assists so far this season. 

 

Early january and and I have sold Lee Cattermole to Lazio for £7.75m (£8.5m) and Patrick Van Aanholt for £3.9m (£4.3m) and signed a young CD from Ajax on loan to fill in for Kone and Djilobodji who are away to the ACON, don't have the wages to replace Cattermole, this transfer window which is a shame as I have £16million in the bank. 

[oliverz4]

On 23/02/2017 at 00:09, Sunlinlad said:

Finally started to come into some form. 

 

Just over half way way through the season (21 games) and in 11th on 29 points. 

 

Had a tough start and was in 19th up until early November, suddenly hit some form and I'm unbeaten in 7. Home wins against West Ham, Southampton, Leicester and away wins against Hull, Chelsea and Middlesborough with a draw with Burnley sandwiched in between, have pulled us clear of the relegation zone.  

 

Started the season signing William Kvist and Ludwig Augustinsson who have been quality. Also signed Kuki who has 7 goals in 15 starts. Defoe has been the star of the season with 10 goals in 17 games. 

 

Playing a 3-4-1-2 with wing backs which is working well. Both wing backs have 5+ assists so far this season. 

 

Early january and and I have sold Lee Cattermole to Lazio for £7.75m (£8.5m) and Patrick Van Aanholt for £3.9m (£4.3m) and signed a young CD from Ajax on loan to fill in for Kone and Djilobodji who are away to the ACON, don't have the wages to replace Cattermole, this transfer window which is a shame as I have £16million in the bank. 

Nice I never liked Cattermole myself, took me like 3 years to get rid of him, people wanted him just they wanted us to pay half his wages so I didn't do it but in the end I just decided I may as well but glad to hear you're doing well, I've had that ACON thing myself and last season it was really tough as I had a lot of players out on it, the first season is never easy but you'll probably survive by the sounds of it good sales/signings.