Fm20 Norwich city

[Ronaldo Beckham]

I just rejected a £109 million offer for Thomas Almada from Man City lol.

[Ronaldo Beckham]

Norwich Season 4 Review

I managed to get 4th place in the Prem, I was hoping for 3rd but we just weren't good enough and had Champions League footy to concerntrate on.

I managed to get to the quarter finals of the Champions League losing to Barca 3-2 on aggregate.

Mason Greenwood was my star player this player with 23 goals in 41 games.

Thomas Almada didn't have as good of a season as last season but that was mostly due to playing on the left wing instead of up front but he still got 9 goals and 7 assists

Mickael Cuisance continues to be the king of assists with 13 assists for the season and 4 goals.

Look at this team, so many talented players in my first 11.

I also won the Premier Manager Of The Year which was good.

[hickmanrocks]

Norwich – 11.07.2024

 

I‘ve complete my 5th season with Norwich City. Finished 6th in the table which I was happy with. Finished 8 points away from ECC qualification.

 

My league places have been 8th, 7th, 6th, 5th, and as above 6th.

 

1st Team (2nd team)

 

GK – Emil Audero (Alessandro Russo)

DR – Max Aarons (Andrea Andrenao)

DC – Ben Godfrey (Alessandro Bastoni)

DC – Armel Bella-Kotchap (Davide Bastoni)

DL – Jamal Lewis (Gaizka Mancisidor)

DM – Eduardo Camavinga (Gustavo Assuncao)

MC – Carles Alena (Ryan Gravenberch)

MC – Sergio Gomez (Arthur)

AMR – Pedri (Fabio Andre)

AML – Michel Peter (Talles Magno)

ST – Mauro Icardi (Diego Kiaku)

 

 

Notable players –

 

Emil Audero – Bought from Sampdoria for £6 million in June 2022 to be 1st choice keeper. Outstanding goalkeeper, particularly for what I paid for him. Still on the 1st contract I gave him when he joined at £50k per week. Has a buyout clause of £75 million and Inter and PSG are interested. I’m not actively interested in selling him but if his buyout clause is met I’ll realise a significant amount of profit.

 

 

 

Arthur – I found Arthur transfer listed by Barcelona in December 2023. I picked him up for £16.5 million with Barcelona paying £100k of his wages until the end of his contract in June 2024. Now I could have waited 1 month to enter into a pre-contract agreement, but I spread the payments over 36 months and got them to pay the majority of his wages. Now his Barcelona contract has expired I’m paying him £42k per week which I reckon is pretty good. Not pulled up many trees as yet – no goals or assists in 10 appearances, but with a pre-season for him to get used to how we play I’ll be expecting an improvement.

 

 

Carles Alena – Bought from Barcelona in June 2021 for just £3 million. Now worth £45 million and paid £22k per week. He’s going to need a new contract or be sold but if sold I’m hoping to realise profit of more than £50 million. Still only 26 years old so I could give him a new contract and get another 4-5 years out of him before selling. Spent a large part of 2023-24 with various injuries but normally he’s a 1st choice CM alongside Sergio Gomez.

 

 

Eduardo Camavinga – Bought from Rennes for £30 million in July 2021. Now worth £47.5 million and has 4 years left on his contract that has a £120 million buyout. I play him in a DM role as a DLP. Still has room to improve his stats as he’s only 21. I’ve struggled to find DM's who wanted to move to me but luckily Camavinga wanted European football which I was able to offer.

 

 

Sergio Gomez – Bought from Dortmund for just £2 million in July 2020. Now worth £28 million but only has 1 year left on his contract. Has a lot of interested clubs in him and has a buyout clause of £80 million, which no-one has come close to triggering yet. He wants a new contract and I’m inclined to give him one rather than sell him. If a club offers £50-£60 million I’d be tempted to sell but I could give him a new contract and sell him in a few years if I wanted.

 

 

Fabio Andre – A Brazilian wonderkid I found playing at Flamengo. I trigged his buyout of £24 million to get him and he’s now worth £45 million. I have trained him in a AMR role as at the time I was lacking in players for this position. I have played him in his natural AMC position and he’s played well, but I don’t like playing with an AMC, preferring a DM to offer protection to my defence and build play from the back. As an inside forward I try to take advantage of his speed, dribbling and finishing. My scouts rated him as 90+ and you can see he’s rated at 4 gold stars and 1 black. He’ll get a new contract in 1-2 years and I plan on keeping him for as long as I can.

 

 

Pedri – The last of the players I have bought from Barcelona and another I consider a bargain. Bought for £15 million in January 2023 and now worth £32 million. Similar to Fabio Andre in that I play him on the wing when his natural position is AMC. But his stats aren’t bad for a winger, lacking a bit of pace but good dribbling and first touch. Also only 21 so plenty of time for him to improve. I accepted a bid from Burnley for £45 million in 1 payment in 12 months time, with a 50% sell on fee but he rejected the contract they offered. I ended up selling Harry Wilson instead (see below)

 

 

Mauro Icardi – Bought from Real Madrid in August 2023 for £30 million with another £7.5 million in performance bonuses. Despite our strong league finishes I felt that we lacked firepower and my strikers in particular were not scoring enough goals. Icardi was bought to rectify this and he has been decent without being outstanding. Thomas Buitink (see below) had an amazing season where he scored 20 goals in the league but this was very much an exceptional one-off season. I adjusted my tactics as with Icardi’s best role that of a poacher I’ve tried to use my AML/AMR as wingers with support functions to get the ball to him. Fabio Andre is useful as a sub as an attacking Inside Forward, though this does negate Icardi somewhat.

 

Notable sales –

 

Teemu Pukki – Sold to Newcastle in June 2020 - £16 million. Scored just 3 league goals for me.

Emi Buendia – Sold to Newcastle in June 2022 - £40 million. I couldn’t get a tune out of him – he kept getting ‘uninterested’ during matches and wouldn’t listen to my shouts.

Jude Bellingham – Sold to Arsenal in June 2023 - £76 million. Bought from Birmingham for £22 million in July 2021 so I realised a profit of £54 million.

Thomas Buitink – Sold to Besiktas in July 2024 – £30 million. Bought from Vitesse for £6.5 million June 2021 so I realised a good amount of profit.

Harry Wilson – Sold to Bournemouth in July 2024 - £45 million. Bought from Liverpool for £10 million in July 2020. Was a good player for me, averaging double figures for assists and getting around 5-10 goals per season. However with Pedri being younger (thus with more time to improve) and Fabio Andre needing more game time I decided to sell him. £45 million with a 50% sell on clause I consider good business.

 

Finances –

 

Finances are looking very healthy. Overall Balance has been achieved through careful player management (buying cheap and selling high as in the case of Jude Bellingham) and Europa League participation. I’d like to try and get it to £200+ million before the new season starts, just cause it seems like a nice figure in my head. Debt is at £0 but are facilities could be improved to ‘State of the Art’.

 

 

As above our corporate, training and data analysis facilities could be raised 1-2 levels to achieve ‘State of the Art’ status so I will approach the board about this soon.

 

Problems / Miscellaneous

 

Youth Recruitment – This is my one big problem area. We have ‘Exceptional academy coaching’, ‘Exceptional youth recruitment’ and ‘State of the art youth facilities’ but we’re producing no more than 2-3 star players, if that. I know it takes time and I know that the ratings are comparable to what I have already at the club but in pure stat terms the youth intakes I’ve been getting have been, frankly, garbage. The database I’m running is from the ‘beta’ and I know there were early problems with low determination on youth intakes so my game could be affected by this. I don’t know if updates retroactively ‘fix’ saves, I don’t think that they do.

 

Age gaps in positions – I’ve reach a point where there are seemingly low or in some cases very low options for players in certain positions at a young age. To use an example if I want to find a defender under the age of 23 I feel the options are poor. To demonstrate here is a screenshot of central defenders available to me aged 23 or under -

 

Saliba isn’t going to swap Arsenal for Norwich. Luciani I think is a newgen and Napoli just won Serie A in 2024 so he has no reason to move. Harfield is at Man Utd so again, isn’t going to move to Norwich and on it goes.

 

This is not to say that there aren’t players to buy, I just don’t think they are worth it. I’ve found other players in positions with high potential (such as Fabio Andre, I’ve found at least half a dozen wingers with 80+ potential) but I’m really struggling to find central defenders with high potential that my scouts recommend or that I see with good stats.  I know that finding a ‘Messi’ type player is rare but I’m seemingly finding more players in some positions (wingers for example) than in others (central defenders and defensive midfielders).

 

 

 

Edited March 5, 2020 by hickmanrocks

[Ronaldo Beckham]

Doing well @hickmanrocks I am envious of your bank balance in your save with Norwich. But that is cos I am stubborn and don't want to sell any of my star players.

It is nice to see you still have Jamal Lewis, Max Aarons and Ben Godfrey there. I also sold Pukki to Newcastle after he only got a couple of goals for me.

Its nice to see others contribute in here.

[Sean3h]

I've just finished my first season with Norwich and... well... it was incredible!

 

Season 1 review

 

EPL - Finished 3rd(!!!!!!!) - I ended up being a point behind winners Man City, who ended up winning the title on GD over Liverpool. There were 2 results in the last 5 games that could have won me the league in hindsight. The first was a 2-2 draw vs Man City at the Etihad - they scored in the 92nd and 93rd minute to equalise. The second was a poor 1-0 los at home to Watford - we dominated but just couldn't put the ball in the back of the net. Even so, we can be VERY proud of how this has gone. We finished top of the possession table with 57%, and were the 3rd highest scorers & 4th best defence. With a better squad I think we'll be just fine!

FA Cup - Can forget about this one. We went out in the third round to Brentford in extra time of the replay. Very disappointing.

Carabao Cup - Lost to Liverpool in the Quarter Final, so nothing to be ashamed of there.

 

Transfers:

I made some similar transfers to others in this thread, we brought in:

Allan Campbell - Motherwell - £2.1M

Scott McKenna - Aberdeen - 6M

Lewis Ferguson - Aberdeen - £1.3M

Thierry Correia - Valencia - Loan (Cover for FBs)

Wuilker Farinez - Millonarios - £2.2M (January)

Angel Gomes - Man Utd - Loan (January)

 

Angel Gomes was absolutely incredible. I brought him in to cover for Buendia who had picked up an injury. He ended up playing 14 league games for us, scoring 9 goals and making 2 assists, playing either AML or AMC. Very impressed, and I'm going to see if I can secure his services for next year as well.

Thierry Correia was great too. Again, I initially brought him in as cover but he was superb at both DL and DR, even keeping Lewis out of the team for a little while. 

 

Player stats:

Top goalscorer - Teemu Pukki - 19

Highest Average Rating - Ondrej Duda - 7.31

Most Assists - Emi Buendia - 12

 

Looking ahead

There's plenty of strengthening needed for next season as we'll be going into the Champions League. I've received an offer in excess of £50M for Cantwell (£42M up front, £10M in 3 12-monthly installments) from Arsenal and I'm not sure whether to let him go or not. I can bring in Vinicius Jr for £20M, but his wages will be much higher than the £20K Todd is currently on.

I don't think I need to strengthen too much in goal, hopefully Farinez will be fine as my first choice next year with Krul as a backup.

Defensively, Aarons & Lewis will be fine for a long time. I may try to bring in Thierry Correia again (maybe permanently) as he can cover both of them. McKenna has impressed me and I will continue to play him with Godfrey, but replacements for Klose and Zimmermann are probably needed.

At CM, Ferguson/Campbell/Trybull are all pretty good but there's definitely room for some quality there, I'll be keeping an eye out for at least one good DLP.

Between AML/AMC/AMR, Buendia and Cantell (if he stays) can probably hold 2 of those 3 down. The departing Duda will leave a big gap, and neither Stiepermann or Hernandez have impressed enough to warrant keeping them around. Huge improvements neeed here.

Striker wise, we again are desperate for reinforcements. Pukki just isn't good enough. He went huge spells of the season not scoring, and his deputy Idah didn't do much better. Idah went 13 games without a goal, before scoring his first goals for the club by netting a hattrick against Aston Villa. He ended the season on 4 goals, so not great. Drmic can leave.

In summary, I think our shopping list is:

1 youth GK (3rd choice)

2-3 CBs (ideally 1 youth)

1-2 CMs

2-3 attacking midfielders (at least 1 youngster)

2 strikers (or 3 with a youth prospect)

I'm not sure how realistic that is with our £45M transfer budget (£56k free wage budget) but I'll see what I can do! I may have to settle for some bargains to try to steer me through the CL group stages.

[Flettycfc]

Just finished 2nd season with Norwich, really enjoying this save, lost 2-1 away to chelsea last game of season and man city drew 1-1 with arsenal so could of qualified for champions league if we beat chelsea but not to be, so euro cup 2 it is unless we beat arsenal in the fa cup final

 

Edited April 6, 2020 by Flettycfc

[Flettycfc]

Happy days, fa cup winners 🙂

[bruffell06]

On 06/04/2020 at 21:01, Flettycfc said:

Just finished 2nd season with Norwich, really enjoying this save, lost 2-1 away to chelsea last game of season and man city drew 1-1 with arsenal so could of qualified for champions league if we beat chelsea but not to be, so euro cup 2 it is unless we beat arsenal in the fa cup final

 

How are you setting up? I had a great second season finishing seventh but in my third season nothing seems to be working for me.

[Flettycfc]

I go with that most of the time, seems to work out ok for me

[Flettycfc]

Finished 2nd in season 4 and lost in semi finals of champions league to real madrid, so good season all round, going into 5th season now, had a good win in friendly match aswell haha

[LincolnCanary]

Hi everyone,

As a season ticket holder at NCFC (although I've almost forgotten what live football is like!) I almost always have a game as Norwich on FM. This year is no different.

I've just completed the first season. I don't use the data updates - I prefer to start the season with the players the club starts the season with. 

I had a good start, poor middle and strong end. I play a cautious 4-5-1 possession based style which kept me tight and created chances but I struggled to put the ball in the back of the net. I won a lot of games 1-0 in the first six weeks including Vs Man City. After the international break, my form deteriorated. I won just two games between October and January, although i got a lot of draws. Coming into January, Pukki and Drmic had a grand total of 5 goals between them. My wingers were entirely ineffectual as well.

When the window opened, I sent Patrick Roberts back to Man City to free up a domestic loan for Rhian Brewster from Liverpool. I also signed Jordan Ibe from Bournemouth for £2.2m, and signed a young winger on loan from Barcelona. The trio rejuvenated my side. I lost only five games between January and the end of the season to finish 10th. 

Of the summer signings, I signed Juan Foyth (ball playing DC on loan from Spurs) who was good while he played, but often injured, Tyler Roberts (box to box cm on loan from RB Leipzig) who was inconsistent and my signing of the season, Carlos Alena (MC advanced playmaker from Barca). 

I've got Alena and Brewster coming back for a second season on loan from Liverpool and Barca. I'm trying to live up to the bargain set up my board to develop young players, so I've signed quite youthful players with plenty of potential. I'll post a screenshot later but I've definitely brought the average age well down and bought a few real assets for the club. 

[npjones88]

Hi all,

Into November with Norwich and having a blast. Playing on the latest patch having started the game this week. 

Feel like I pulled off some midfield transfer wizardry in the first window. First thing I did was cancel the loan contracts to free up some money - Krul will do for the number 1 jersey. McCallum and Bushiri came straight back from their loans to cover the crippled defence. 

 

TRANSFERS

Out (£): Trybull 8m, McLean 9m, Vrancic (Loan 160k/m), Drmic (Loan 100k/m), Leitner (Loan 130k/m), Rupp 10m* Agreed for Jan

Total sales 27m

In (£): Stevie Mallan 400k, Reece Oxford (Loan 7.5m option), Lovro Majer 2.7m, Victor Campazuno 400k, Ricardo Krishna 1.6m, Martin Olsson free, Nicolo Armini 600k, Thiago Almada 4m, Mile Svilar 2.2m, Gelson Fernadnes (loan)

Total purchases 13.9m

Two possible transfers which can be done for Jan are Yari Veschearen for 10m and Amine Gouri for 10m.

Think I'm pretty keen on the Yari deal - have not managed him before and I see him, Almada, Cantwell and Emi supplying our forwards for years to come. My only reservations with Gouri are the way it'll cut into to adam ida's playing time. He's at six appearances and two goals and I like the look of the young kid - Pukki is undisputed number 9. The beautiful Finn has 12 goal or assist contributions in 10 starts, including TEN in his first four games as we started on fire! Although if Spurs make a bid in January I may have to let Teemu go as he is almost 30 and any decline in ability will see him struggle - I will be glad I brought in Gouiri if this is the case! 

 

After an incredible August we have struggled for goals a little as teams start to figure us out but we are still unbeaten in 11 league games.  Knocked out of the Caribao in round 4, key performers have been Pukki, Emi, Majer and Lewis.

I love the all-British defence and bringing in Oxford ensured the back line were of similar ages and could learn he game together. Oxford isn't perfect and 7.5m to bring him in permanently isn't nothing so if anyone has any other young defender suggestions I'm open to suggestions. 

Similar to LincolnCanary above, my average age has come right down and I've culled the average midfielders from the squad which is the biggest issue with Norwich on this years FM, I think. I'm expecting us to be inconsistent and it'll be a rocky road fending off attention for the young stars I'm trying to assemble but foundations are there. 

Any ideas for strikers to replace Pukki or defenders to steal Oxford's role?

 

Final thought - damn, Norwich's coaching team was crap! Realised in September and had to address that. Awesome physios though. 

 

Edited April 15, 2020 by npjones88

[Flettycfc]

6th season Won the champions league and finished 2nd in league

[Dodecalicious.]

On 15/04/2020 at 10:46, npjones88 said:

 

Any ideas for strikers to replace Pukki or defenders to steal Oxford's role?

 

Keep an eye on Tosin Adarabioyo at Man City. Picked him up for 2.7m as his contract was ending on my Celtic save. 6'5'', can pass, serious arial threat.

 

 

[npjones88]

He's on my shortlist. I'll be delighted if they run his contract! Also Taylor Harwood-Bellis looks decent at city. 

I'm into March with season 1. The transfer window was exciting. 

Out went Hanley and Hernandez for a combined 18m (somehow?!) The board also agreed to my request for an additional 8m in funds as we were flying high in 5th!

In came Amini Gouiri 10.5m, Reece Oxford permanently 4.4m, Scott McTominay loan, Vincent Aboubakar loan, Rob Holding 8.25m

Form has been steadily declining all season. Pukki has been on a cold streak and Todd Cantwell is averaging 6.65 in his last 17 appearances. He's had so many chances but played so so poorly since August. I believe his lack of pace is showing. Is he really that slow in real life? I've seen him play and he looks quick enough. Anyone have any tips on getting him to work? At the moment he's playing in the U23s to try and build some form. I don't want to cast him out unless I have to.

[LincolnCanary]

7 hours ago, npjones88 said:

Form has been steadily declining all season. Pukki has been on a cold streak and Todd Cantwell is averaging 6.65 in his last 17 appearances. He's had so many chances but played so so poorly since August. I believe his lack of pace is showing. Is he really that slow in real life? I've seen him play and he looks quick enough. Anyone have any tips on getting him to work? At the moment he's playing in the U23s to try and build some form. I don't want to cast him out unless I have to.

I've given up on Todd after I got a fairly big offer from Fulham. Mind you, this is Todd from the original data update, so I would hope he's been given a bit of a bump. I'm afraid I can't help except to say I got my best performances from him when I absolutely singled him out for praise and made a big effort to get his confidence sky high. 

[LincolnCanary]

So! Screenshots.

Season 1 was about getting that midfield sorted. Carlos Alena is definitely a player I can recommend; as is Ibrahim Amadou. Brewster and Ibe both proved to be superb signings too.

Season 2

I spent a lot of money in season 2. But lots of the players I splashed out on are players for the future; Jude Bellingham, Luke Matheson, Salah-Edine; all players that went pretty much into the U23s or loaned out. The idea is to get a bit a conveyor belt of talent going. 

As for first team signings, I have to recommend Jack Butland, Jamie Shackleton and Ezri Konsa. I definitely overspent on Matty Longstaff who has not developed as I hoped, but the big deal I made for Han-Noah Massengo is definitely baring fruit; he's developing into a very good, young player. Dan James proved an inspired loan signing too - 10 goals, 8 assists from out on the left. 

Season 2 began like an absolute train. I was very good, and found myself top 4 for the vast majority of 2019. As always, form dipped for November and December (not too bad, just lots of draws) and my performance in the cups was abysmal. January proved less transformational than last season; I limped into February but found myself picking up form towards the end of the season. I finished 5th; which I was thrilled about.

Less thrilling was the news of a takeover I got February/March time. Three consortia were all vying to buy Norwich. One promised massive investment, one promised big name signings, the third promised a big name manager. Fingers crossed for the first one, I ended with the second - and with that big money bids went in for Kasper Dolberg and Jonathan David. Neither player I really wanted. Uggh. I also fell out with the board when they cancelled the upgrades to the youth and training facilities that were well underway. My state of the art facilities were taken from my grasp, which as a manager looking to develop talent from within is a massive shame.

Emi Buendia remains a bit of an enigma to me. I've seen evidence he can be an absolute boss in this game. Sadly, I'm not seeing it consistently. I still play him - and I still get decent enough performances. But every once in a while he will have a strop. The first was about a new contract. The second was because Bayern Munich bid for him - it was an absolutely appalling bid. With a value of £29m, Bayern offered me £17m. The most recent was selling Amadou; subject to a fairly substantial bid from Real Madrid. 

Season 3

Amadou is not the only player I've sold in S3. Jordan Ibe attracted a big bid from Southampton; he said he wanted to go as I was only offering him rotational football, whereas they promised regular football. Todd Cantwell also got moved on. He's in the last year of his deal and played maybe half a dozen times last season; I just couldn't find a way to get him playing well. Rafael Leao, who I was pretty chuffed to get last season, proved frustrating and actually declined as a player. Getting the chance to make a profit, I cashed in when I got a bid. I sold off Sam Byram and Teemu Pukki, replaced by Luke Matheson and Adam Idah who have both blossomed on loan last season. Despite not being my players, I'm going to give Dolberg and David a shot; I'm not quite yet done in the market either. I need wide men to offer competition to David and Buendia (Dan James is on the loan list and I'm leaning towards bringing him back on loan) and a deep lying playmaker to replace Amadou. That position is absolutely key to my tactic, so I'm trying to ensure I get it right. I had hoped to bring in Rodri from Man City after he was listed, but he turned me down for Lyon. 

Updates after I complete S3. 

Edited April 21, 2020 by LincolnCanary

[bendixkunert2]

started for fun.

Turned transfers off first transfer window.

First season went decent:

 

 

was a season filled with ups and downs. Defense was really bad though but we played attacking football so you gotta take it I guess.

 

and transfer window start of 2nd season:

didn't really intend to do that much but then Aarons and Emi wanted out and Tottenham and Man United both made 70M bids. So that changed my strategy significantly. Some absolutely massive transfers have been made.

 

 

Did overpay for a couple players but overall pretty happy. Hope to establish Norwich in the BPL with improved depth.

[collisonmullan]

Have seen a few people after young British players for this team who are realistic signings. Here are a few who I sign that go a bit under the radar. 
 

CB - Jonathan panzo. Can be signed after 1st season and can also play left back. Ball playing defender

CB - Taylor Harwood-Bellis. Another great option at BPD. Can be on loan and signed longer term. 
 

Lb - Jake Vokins from Southampton. A different option who has a really good all round game. 
 

Cm - tommy Doyle. Another you can Loan from city then sign. A really good youngster who has great stats already at a young age. 
 

AM - Danny Loader from Reading. Has good stats for the position and is very versatile. 
 

there is also a AMR at hull. But I can remember his name. 
 

last of all is my favourite player to sign this year. Joe Gelhardt from Wigan. Has great stats and scores plenty for me in my Leicester save. 
 

I have these players currently in my save and they have been excellent so far. If you want to build a British core/ team then these guys are worth a look. Will supplement the likes of Aarons Godfrey Lewis and Cantwell. 

[npjones88]

Season 2

Well bloody hell. Am into September of season two and to say the last few months have been a whirlwind is an understatement. At the back end of the year several teams above me absolutely capitulated, most notably Chelsea who lost about 8 out of 10 to end the season. We played average at best with mixed results but secured fourth with a game to go! 

Then transfer season rolls round and that was just silly. I will summarise the significant ins and outs

Outs - £102m

Pukki, who had an incredible August in season 1, completely switched off for periods of the season, going on massive goal droughts and averaging about one goal in 4 for the remainder of the season. Subsequently, Man Utd and Spurs lost interest but in the summer it was Bournemouth, Sheffield Utd and Newcastle in a bunfight for his signature, with the Blades winning out for a cool £35m. Add this to a raft of other bit part players going for between 5 and 10m a piece and outgoings amounted to a whopping 102m by close of the window - add this to a fairly meagre budget of 40m and that's quite a warchest.

These outgoings included 17 year old Springett who I negotiated up from 1m (5m) to 7m (12m). He doesn't look like much and to put it into context that is more upfront than i paid for Almada or Oxford or Majer and potentially more than Gouiri or Verschaeren or Holding. I think they got robbed. Just in case though I put in a 50% of next fee clause. Worth bearing in mind though for anyone starting a game, I'm guessing he has decent potential. 

Ins - £112m

First piece of summer business in was a young CB called Gvardiol for 6.5m. Never heard of him before but at 18, a left footer and a good attribute spread he's a perfect 4th choice defender.

A replacement for Pukki was essential. I was looking for value and this boiled down to either Fabio Silva or Sebastiano Esposito for around 20m. I could have found a cheaper fee somewhere else but any half-decent striker of a reasonable age wanted 50k a week plus! I also negotiated this before most of my outgoings so was trying to be as frugal as possible. In came the portuguese for 17m and onto an intensive Strength training schedule for him - he will become our target man and a different option to Gouiri.

Whilst searching for players I stumbled across Sergio Gomez who I remembered from previous FMs, inexplicably transfer listed by Dortmund for 1.4m??? Straight in, he was! Even if his potential is lower than in past years he will improve somewhat, get some games with me and help with rotation around champions league games.

I sold Krul as he's never been my favourite player, played worse than Svilar all season long and, despite his real-world heroics, didn't save a single penalty for me. Was looking for an upgrade on Svilar and, having scouted all the National U21s, discovered that Svilar's younger compatriot was available - in comes Vandevoordt for 14m. I love a player whose name I can't say! In the final week of Transfer Window Donnarumma become transfer lister for 35m and INTERESTED!? but by that time I couldn't afford his fee or wages. Frustratingly, I worked out if I didn't bother with Vandevoordt early in the window I could probably squeak out a deal for him. Oh well. 

Now comes the big one. A physical enough midfielder to play a variety of roles, whilst performing his own specialist job to make us a better team. Another player I have never signed... Sandro Tonali for 32m and 100k/week! On double the wages of our next highest earner, I hope this won't become an issue and have a clear, first choice midfielder to build a team around. 

The next one is bizarre. Watford went down and Deulofeu, who I always shortlist when playing in a top league, is transfer listed for £0. I bid, I offer 65k wages and a large sign on fee to beat off competition and in he comes. He will cover Beundia. Not bad for free. 

Left back cover came in the form of 5m Josh Tymon from Stoke. Onni Valakari comes in for numbers in midfield for 2.5m and Jonas Wind comes in for 2.2m to be fourth choice striker behind Silva, Gouiri and Idah. I like to be flexible to switch to a two up top formation during the season if required.

Transfer deadline day came round and as a clutch of fringe players left (Klose, Stiepermann, Drmic, etc) I snapped up an unhappy Gravenbirch for 10m, Marco Asensio on loan for squad depth and one of my favourite players on this years FM and (making Tyman sort of redundant) Owen Wijndal for 19m. Owen is so good he almost eclipses Lewis as first choice left back. I'm loyal to my boys, however and start the season with the same first XI that took us to fourth last year. Transfer dealings have been exhaustive - 'Arry, eat your heart out! For a sum £20m layout over 2 years, though, I think Delia is getting decent value for money out of me. 

2020/2021 Squad

Continuing to play a pretty standard 4-2-3-1 

Leaves the bloated, 29-man squad looking like this

Svilar / Vendevoordt

Aarons / Byram

Godfrey / Oxford

Holding / Gvardiol

Lewis / Wijndal

Majer / Tonali

Mallan / Gomez

Beundia / Deulofeu

Almada / Gravenbirch

Verschaeren / Cantwell

Gouiri / Silva

Squad players (ill informed transfers, youth or surplus to requirements) Tymon, Asensio, Valkari, Idah, Wind, Armini, Tramoni.

Crazy how much I have transformed the squad. Desperately want to make Cantwell work but nothing I do gets anything out of him, training ratings suck, attitude is indifferent when I pull him up on things. The kid must have some naff Hidden Attributes. 

 

 

Edited April 29, 2020 by npjones88

[Nodge]

Since lockdown, i upgraded my laptop and bought the full FM version after taking Cambridge to the prem on the Touch version. 86 hours later I've now just finished my second season so i'll go through chronologically, maybe over a couple of posts, to fill you in on the save. If anyone is unsure about a save with the Canaries, then hopefully this can commit you to them. Brilliant English youth prospects, fantastic facilities, a full stadium, a board that doesn't have massive expectations and decent finances mean that Norwich is an excellent club to start with. I'm also totally not biased.

Season 1 - 2019-20

After analysing the squad, i decided i wanted my fullbacks to attack and my attacking midfielders to roam with freedom, with a focus on dominating the ball and playing good attacking football. I settled on a 4-2-3-1 wide trialling with Buendia being my key player as an advanced playmaker from the right.

Transfers In: 

• Thomas Ouwejan (£3.1m) - backup at LB
• James Garner (loan from Man Utd) - add some steel and height to midfield
• Lewis Ferguson (1.1m) - sent on loan for experience
• Thiago Almada (6.6m inc. add ons) - To play as AM central
• Noah Jean-Holm (1.8m) - bought in Jan. Sent on loan for future
• Badiashile (6m) - bought in January to be first choice CB
• Matthias Henrique (10.25m) - bought in Jan to be first choice CM

Transfers Out:

Numerous loans and frees from the bulging U23 squad. Perennially injured Onel Hernandez shipped out for 900k in January as needed free space on wage bill along with Grant Hanley for 2m who played okay in Zimmerman's absence at the start of the season but didn't suit the passing out from the back style i desired.

My first team was made up of Krul, Aarons, Godfrey, Badiashile (from Jan), Lewis at the back, Tom Trybull in DLP alongside James Garner in CM, with Cantwell as inverted winger from the left, Almada in AM, Buendia on the right, Pukki up front.

The season got off to a shambles with a 3-0 loss to Burnley after a good preseason. I wondered if we had it in us, such was the poor showing against premier league opposition. Fortunately, there followed 2 wins in the league in a row that settled us and gave us confidence that we were making the right moves. The highlights of the season included a 4-0 win against Newcastle (who then tonked us 3-0 in the Fa Cup 3rd Round), a 2-0 at home to Leicester and a 1-0 win away to Chelsea. Our problem was that we usually either won the game fairly comfortably or lost comfortably. I endeavoured to make a proper away tactic in time for next season. The season ended with Norwich in 10th, far removed from relegation which I was pretty happy about. Pukki was top scorer with 12 goals and Buendia was absolutely majestic. I already love the man, but now i'd die for him. Without him and some excellent luck with injuries we'd have languished toward the bottom of the table. He scored 5 goals but assisted 18, getting an average score of 7.49.

A successful season and one to build on now young players like Badiashile and Lewis had garnered extra experience at the top level. We certainly needed more depth for next season if we were to improve and i needed to keep key players. Unfortunately, my plans for doing business early in the transfer market were scuppered due to a board takeover. There were a couple of heart in mouth moments as i worried i might lose my job but fortunately they saw sense and let me continue. The new board were a little more ambitious, wanting me to avoid a relegation battle next season. I still miss Delia.

 

 

Edited May 10, 2020 by Nodge
wrong pic attached

[npjones88]

On 10/05/2020 at 07:42, Nodge said:

My first team was made up of Krul, Aarons, Godfrey, Badiashile (from Jan), Lewis at the back, Tom Trybull in DLP alongside James Garner in CM, with Cantwell as inverted winger from the left, Almada in AM, Buendia on the right, Pukki up front.

How did you get on with Cantwell? I'm just getting ready for S3 and I think he's a great player in real life but had to send him on loan to italy in January as I can't get anything out of him. Ive tried him in the role you have him in but I think the rest of the attack moves too fast for him as he never performs. I think the PPM combo of tries tricks and beats man repeatedly are really reducing his effectiveness as he's not quick and agile enough to get away from defenders (certainly not if he insists on beating them more than once!)

'Big' Ben 'The God' Godfrey aka. White Men Can't Jump

Dilemma

Season 3 planning and Arsenal have come in with a 98m bid for Godfrey. The intention was to keep the three core defenders but 'Big' Ben Godfrey was the weakest central defender last year and given his competition was a teenage due of Armini and Gvardial as well as the bang average Holding and Oxford that is a surprise.

Atttirbute-wise he's come on leaps and bounds but, ironically, i think it is leaping that is his issue. Jumping reach of 13 combined with less than elite strength, bravery, aggression and heading mean he doesn't dominate like I need my defenders to. The plan this season had been to find an aerially dominant defender to pair with Holding whilst the teenagers bulk up and rotate 'The God' in at right back for the tougher games - he had his best matches bulldozing his way up the line and using his composure and passing to contribute in the final third. 

With around 100m I could make a play for Zouma or Tomori or even eder militao who is unhappy and Adarabioyo is a free agent in a week so I don't think I will miss him if he goes. 

We came fourth in each of the first two seasons and I have a young, attacking squad who improve all the time. All we lack now is pace on a wing so 100m could be thrown at Leon Bailey and/or Calvin Stengs giving me an attack of:

             Silva/Gouiri

Bailey    Almada    Ami

With Verschaeren and Stengs to come in and cover the AM strata. 

 

Do I sacrifice one of the 'Holy Trinity' for a shot at the league title or continue to be patient with my young guns and look to find a truly elite partner for him? It leaves me short of the Home Grown four for this years Champions League too, until Almada, Verschaeren and Armini qualify at the start of S4.

Edited May 12, 2020 by npjones88
adding screenshots

[npjones88]

Damn forgot the most exciting piece of news!!

Free transfer season for S3 is a Goalkeeper.

Feel like it requires a drumroll but Gianluigi Donnarumma comes in for 0m on a salary cap busting contract of 150k/week.

Bizarrely Oblak is also moving for free in a week and no one has snapped him up. He will negotiate with me but what would I do with him? We also have Kepa unhappy and transfer listed for peanuts. The AI doesn't seem to value keepers on this save. 

This will mean Mile Svillar leaves on loan or permanently with Vandevoordt playing backup to Buffon Mark II. Might make a cheeky play for the original Buffon on a free to provide some mentoring and training ground class for a season too. 

[Nodge]

On 12/05/2020 at 11:59, npjones88 said:

How did you get on with Cantwell? I'm just getting ready for S3 and I think he's a great player in real life but had to send him on loan to italy in January as I can't get anything out of him. Ive tried him in the role you have him in but I think the rest of the attack moves too fast for him as he never performs. I think the PPM combo of tries tricks and beats man repeatedly are really reducing his effectiveness as he's not quick and agile enough to get away from defenders (certainly not if he insists on beating them more than once!)

Do I sacrifice one of the 'Holy Trinity' for a shot at the league title or continue to be patient with my young guns and look to find a truly elite partner for him? It leaves me short of the Home Grown four for this years Champions League too, until Almada, Verschaeren and Armini qualify at the start of S4.

Cantwell is a squad player for me now come start of season 3 (will post review of season 2 soon). I also had reservations about his lack of pace and his PPM's. I initially didn't want him cutting in as i wanted Buendia to do that from the other side and Cantwell to hold some width but he failed to manage it so i adjusted my tactic. My tactic in first season had most of the play on the right. Playing as an inverted winger attack he scored 9 goals and 3 assists in the first season from 37 appearances. I also rate him in real life but i'm not sure he's cut out to be anything other than a decent premier league squad player for a mid-table side. I haven't seen massive improvements (i only gave him 3 starts second season, 21 sub appearances) in his game either.

Of the holy trinity of Lewis, Aarons and Godfrey i would try to keep them all together as the English spine of the side for a while. Godfrey is a great defender, trains well, shows massive improvement and is a team leader for me now and vice-captain after a leadership course. The 90m figure is extremely tempting though but i like to keep the band together. This is personal preference though! You probably won't get anywhere near that for a CB again however... Something similar happened with Buendia for me in the 2020 summer transfer window and i held on. My ambition is to keep some of the old guard active in the club, particularly the English players as i do seem to keep buying foreign players on every FM. I'm trying to hold some form of club identity together from that winning Championship season. Zimmerman has been my captain despite not playing much for 2 seasons, Pukki is a team leader and a good back up for me, Cantwell is a squad player. Krul will stick around til the contract ends. Buendia is a God amongst men and possibly the most talented player i've seen play for Norwich so I plan on never selling him and Godfrey, Aarons and Lewis also fall into that bracket despite lesser footballing ability.

[npjones88]

For me, Aarons is the man. He is one of the best RBs in the world now and so important to how we play. Godfrey trained strength on double intensity for two seasons and didn't get his jump past 13 and I have several defenders slightly less able but adept at carrying the ball out of the back, therefore...

I bit the bullet. Aarons out 99m (You're welcome York City*)

He is replaced by the exact type of player we need: a less sophisticated wrecking ball of a brick outhouse monster: Kurt Zouma comes in for 26m

The additional money looks to be going towards a window of incomings that looks like:

Leon Bailey 70m

Esposito 24m

Moriba 30m

Belingham free

Zouma 26m

Branthwaite (possibly/possibly not) 22m

Adarabioyo free

Donnarumma free

All deals done or soon to be finalised. 

 

Curve ball transfer options who would massively improve us include:

Foden available for 80m

Todibo available for 81m - His attributes match Godfrey almost point for point except that this boy is an aerial threat.

Stengs available for 71m

Ihatteren available for 28m

Kessie available for 28m

Luis Alberto available for 55m

Chiesa available for 42m or Loan for wages. 

Could cobble together the money for any of these wildcard transfers but it would probably mean dislodging someone from the squad who I am pretty happy with. 

 

*York city get 10% of the fee, enough to keep them going for a decade! I played a LLM save with the Minstermen in 18 or 19 and had a dream of a save, eventually making premier league and building a squad of mostly youth intake. I even had the fabled region brothers too. Only time it ever happened. I signed a 16 year old winger from Cork city and two seasons later his little brother came through the academy! A centre back with 198PA. Big brother's level was League 1 really but I kept him in the squad out of loyalty. 

 

 

[Nodge]

Season 2 - 2020-2021

The team had performed well the previous season despite limited depth and not too much money spent. Aside from Almada and Garner, who was on loan, the first team was not really improved until January with the arrival of Badiashile and Mattheus Henrique after some more money was released from the board. However, depth was an issue, the first team did need improving, particularly up front and on the LW.

Transfers In:

• Tonali - (£16m) Atalanta was relegated and i couldn't believe he expressed slight interest and for that cheap fee. Tonali would replace Toy Trybull as DLP. I went over my mental wage cap of 60k to sign him on an 80k wage.
• Finlay Robertson - (3.2m) For the future and sent straight out on loan to Mansfield where he became L1 Player of the season.
• Talles Magno - (18m) Brazilian wonderkid LW who would replace Cantwell
• Rhian Brewster (loan) Pukki and Brewster vied it out for a starting place in my team. Brewster managed just 8 goals, 5 assists from 27 starts with Pukki outscoring him but i got him on loan again for the following season.
• Lee O'Connor (1.8m) - future back up RB, straight out on loan. 
• Gavin Bazanu (375k) - future GK prospect from Man city
• Adam Hlosek (9m) - Wonderkid RW signed in January who made a strong impact early on as back up to Buendia.

The longest running transfer saga was that of Buendia who had a series of suitors after being the 5th best player in the league last season and assist king. Utd, Spurs, Arsenal and more were all in for him. I speculatively kept negotiating for £95m and Man Utd actually matched it! I deliberated selling him but then remembered how much we relied on him the previous season and turned down the agreed negotiation. He wasn't happy but by October he was okay again and he signed a better 5 year contract before January. My constant praise of him i think had an influence as we were 'very close' before the bids came in

Transfers Out: 

Plenty of loans and frees. Drmic, who i was disgusted to learn was on 50k p/w when i first fired up this save and failed to score a single goal, Phillip Heise (1.8,), Vrancic (550k), Leitner (4m), the permanently unhappy Sam Byram (2.5m) and Rocky Bushiri (15m) to China in January leaving me with 3 CB's for 5 months!

Season Review

I created an away tactic that was to prove crucial that was more reserved and better suited to the big sides. It still didn't prevent me losing 7-0 to arsenal away but made a huge difference in our FA Cup run and led to some much closer games than the previous season! Unfortunately, injuries were more of a factor this season and i lost Pukki, Badiashile, Buendia was several weeks whereas the previous season i barely recorded a serious injury. Whilst games were far closer in the league we only managed to get 5 points more than last season finishing in 9th with 60 points. The biggest 7 teams were outstanding with even 5th placed Liverpool recording 77 points when last season 5th got 64. Our best result was beating Leicester 5-0 at home (they still finished a place above us), we drew with Man City and lost 4-3 to them, drew with Spurs, Chelsea and Liverpool away and lost narrowly 3-2 to MU at Old Trafford.

The season would otherwise be a bit disappointing if it wasn't for our FA Cup run. We played Rotherham, Huddersfield, Wolves and then Liverpool (quarters), Man City (semis) and Spurs in the final. I knew the season was heading for top half of table mediocrity and studied Liv, City and Spurs carefully before the game watching videos of their games and tweaking my tactics accordingly. We managed two 1-0 wins in a row before the final with Spurs. Annoyingly Mattheus Henrique was injured in the week of the final in training and so Lewis Ferguson stepped up the plate. Something similar had happened in the Liverpool game where Zimmerman on 85% had to come in because Badiashile was suspended and did a fantastic job. It was a frankly dreadful final and the stalemate was only broken when little used Tom Trybull unexpectedly came off the bench to tap in Almada's free kick in extra time at Wembley! I cracked open a beer at 3pm in the afternoon and ran round the house. Absolutely glorious stuff and access to the Europa League the following season.

 

Edited May 13, 2020 by Nodge

[npjones88]

4 hours ago, Nodge said:

The longest running transfer saga was that of Buendia who had a series of suitors after being the 5th best player in the league last season and assist king. Utd, Spurs, Arsenal and more were all in for him. I speculatively kept negotiating for £95m and Man Utd actually matched it! I deliberated selling him but then remembered how much we relied on him the previous season and turned down the agreed negotiation. He wasn't happy but by October he was okay again and he signed a better 5 year contract before January. My constant praise of him i think had an influence as we were 'very close' before the bids came in

Emi is THE MAN for Norwich. Guy carries the team. He will go missing and churn out a little run of 6.30s and 6.40s once in a while, but he's an enigmatic winger, what do you expect? When he follows it up with 8 games scoring or assisting in a row you don't really mind. Wouldn't sell him for 200m at this point. 

[Nodge]

2 hours ago, npjones88 said:

Emi is THE MAN for Norwich. Guy carries the team. He will go missing and churn out a little run of 6.30s and 6.40s once in a while, but he's an enigmatic winger, what do you expect? When he follows it up with 8 games scoring or assisting in a row you don't really mind. Wouldn't sell him for 200m at this point. 

He absolutely is. And as i say, best player i've ever seen play for Norwich. Was my best player in the second season as well. Scored more goals, got less assists. To be honest, i don't blame you for selling Godfrey for that sort of money. I think CB's are a little more replaceable than attacking players and that money is obscene. I'll see how i do in this 3rd season and potentially consider cashing in big money for someone so i can reinvest it in the right places.

[npjones88]

13 hours ago, Nodge said:

He absolutely is. And as i say, best player i've ever seen play for Norwich. Was my best player in the second season as well. Scored more goals, got less assists. To be honest, i don't blame you for selling Godfrey for that sort of money. I think CB's are a little more replaceable than attacking players and that money is obscene. I'll see how i do in this 3rd season and potentially consider cashing in big money for someone so i can reinvest it in the right places.

Yeah I've never sold a CB for anywhere near 100m before. You also get the feeling he will be in and out at Arsenal and could come back in a couple of years for a cut price deal. It's funny how AI transfers work. I think there must be some coding which weights them as more likely to put big bids in for the human player's players. Godfrey, rating over two years is only a little over 7. Basically no goals or assists and whilst our defence was decent (3rd or fourth best in the league) Big Ben showed nothing to make another manager think he would take their defence up a notch, let along have Arsenal make him the most expensive CB in the world. Either way, I shan't complain. 

 

Speaking of the other two, Aarons is killing it but Lewis is underwhelming. I wonder if it's the Short Passing PPM that holds him back? Although as I write this I see that he and Aarons have identical PPMs. Lewis has slightly lower attributes almost across the board but i think it might be the flair and dribbling that make him less effective. Another theory is Emi: he must be a dream for a RB to maraud past, he has composure and passing to link up, as well as 'attempts one twos', which must help their effectiveness. Lewis has had Yari Verschaeren ahead of him and the link up just seems a little less natural. Lots to think on, as my back-up LB Wijndal performs even worse than Lewis, so it looks like a tactical issue. 

[LincolnCanary]

Season 3 and 4 done for me.

Season 3 was very successful. I tweaked my tactic so instead of playing a BBM I was playing a midfield with a DM deep lying playmaker (which was either Han-Noah Massengo or new signing Ronaldo Viera) , a AP att (either Erkan Eyibil who I got off the transfer list as a youth player in the first season and developed or Jamie Shackleton who I love because he bombs forward at every opportunity) and a Mezzala on either support or attack depending on who I was playing. The Mezzala role was absolutely owned by Matko Milijevic, who I unreservedly recommend at just £5.5m. 

Up front I had a forward trio of Kasper Dolberg, Jonathan Davids and rotated between Adam Hlozek and Emi Buendia. Dolberg played SC as Advanced Str, Davids as a IF Att, Emi/Hlozek as winger att. Davids and Dolberg were superb - a great relief given they weren't my signings, and if I'm honest Hlozek ended the season ahead in my mind of Buendia. He was great and another player I can really recommend.

Defence was largely as before. Jack Butland in goal, full backs Max Aaron, Jamal Lewis and centre halves Ben Godfrey and Moussa Niakhate. Moussa I signed for a bargain £6m after a release clause activated from his Bundesliga side. 

Everything clicked. I managed to develop a couple of young players to occasionally feature (Luke Matheson and Jude Bellingham) which earned me a huge amount of brownie points with the board and a combination of a tactic that worked well, individuals having the form of their life and a positive dressing room atmosphere had me finish 5th when I was just asked to get into mid table. My performance in the cups was not as good, going out in the third round of the carabao cup and fourth round of the FA Cup to teams I should really have beaten. I resolved to do better in the cups next year.

Season 4 was an absolute rollercoaster. Jamie Shackleton left me for Newcastle for £38m. Ronaldo Viera left me for £32m to Bournemouth. The biggest blow was the loss of Jamal Lewis - £38m to Liverpool. I tried everything to persuade him to stay with no luck.

In their place came Mateusz Bogusz from Leeds who replaced Shackleton for £16.5m. Nohan Kenneh came in for Viera for £33m and I bought a pair of exceptionally potentially talented Brazilian regens, one as Jamal's replacement at left back and the other a striker. Adam Idah also came into the squad, the idea being him and the Brazilian (wonderfully named Aecio) could rotate into the side to develop them. 

Come January, I was 12th. Under pressure from the board and players attracting all sorts of interest. I lost Milijevic to Manchester City for a whopping £95m. Lorenzo Davids kicked up a massive fuss after I turned down an under value offer from PSG.  I ended up agreeing to sell him to Dortmund to keep the peace among my squad for £45m (worth £55m, imo). Adam Idah - furious at being denied his second new contract in 9 months after interest was reported in him from West Brom - got an offer of £70m from Spurs and off he went. Ezri Konsa also went off to Spurs for £36m. It left me with a threadbare squad, and unable to identify players I thought could replace them.

I kept the cash and changed my tactics. In place of the 4-5-1 that had served me so well came a 4-2-3-1 that saw Buendia take a central role, having been largely overlooked for Adam Hlozek due to his form last season. I moved Dolberg back into left wing as an inside forward (replacing Lorenzo Davids) and Nohan Kenneh became my new centre back partner for Ben Godfrey. It was a formation that fit the players I had left a bit better and gave me a more attacking outlet. So by the end of S4, my side looks like this...

Butland (GK Def)

Aarons (FB Auto) Godfrey Kenneh both (BPCB D) Estuevio (FB Auto)

Bellingham (AP Att) Massengo (DLPM Def)

Hlozek (Winger Att) Buendia (AP Att) Dolberg (IF Att)

Aecio (Advanced Forward Att)

The transformation was incredible. We went on a run that would have seen us challenge for the title if maintained over the season. We finished 6th, but won both the FA Cup and UEFA Europa League.

I'm now looking at season 5 - I've been offered the Man City job, but if I stay I have a £300m war chest to improve the side. Decisions, decisions. 

My big recommendations are Matko Milijevic, Nohan Kenneh, Adam Hlozek and Han-Noah Massengo for anyone who enjoys developing players.

Edited May 19, 2020 by LincolnCanary

[npjones88]

23 hours ago, LincolnCanary said:

Adam Idah - furious at being denied his second new contract in 9 months after interest was reported in him from West Brom - got an offer of £70m from Spurs and off he went.

Desperate to see your 70m Idah. I've somewhat stalled his development due to my own mismanagement of him but he is so nearly the player I want him to be. 

 

23 hours ago, LincolnCanary said:

I'm now looking at season 5 - I've been offered the Man City job, but if I stay I have a £300m war chest to improve the side. Decisions, decisions. 

You have to make a splinter save here and take the City job - you can always come back and resume with NCFC once you're finished/bored with city. I like the idea of getting poached by a top team, besting the league with them and then returning to Team A (Norwich) to pick back up with your core players and try to better what you could do with the Megabucks at Man City. Only question here is

Would a team rehire you in FM if you have previously managed them to some success but left for greener pastures? Or would you end up on a hidden 'disliked personnel' blacklist?

[LincolnCanary]

On 20/05/2020 at 15:32, npjones88 said:

Desperate to see your 70m Idah. I've somewhat stalled his development due to my own mismanagement of him but he is so nearly the player I want him to be. 

You'd be disappointed. Looking back at his stats, he had two loans and played just ten games scoring 2 goals. No clue why Spurs came in as hard as they did. I could never quite get him playing for me.

Although I've seen YouTube videos of him absolutely tearing the division up.

[npjones88]

My Idah looks like this - I've kept him at the club and tried to get him appearances where I can. Needs a boost to off the ball, or dribbling to make him more effective. Would b ideal if he had some kind of left foot too but training that will decimate whatever PA he might have left. I'd bite your hand off if you offered me 20m for him - 70m would be dreamland!

[luke4387]

Am I the only one who plays Godfrey as DM?

Also how is Leitner doing for people?

[roddam]

How good is Godfrey? I have opportunity to sign at start of season 3 for 30m with Leeds. His jumping and height worry me slightly. My other options are Malang Sarr 20m and merih Demiral 40m.  I require two of three.

[npjones88]

On 27/05/2020 at 16:45, luke4387 said:

Am I the only one who plays Godfrey as DM?

Tried him there and he played well. If you blasted his creativity from day one he'd make a class deep lying playmaker! 

21 hours ago, roddam said:

How good is Godfrey? I have opportunity to sign at start of season 3 for 30m with Leeds. His jumping and height worry me slightly. My other options are Malang Sarr 20m and merih Demiral 40m.  I require two of three.

He is a top, top player, but has the one weakness which you've identified. You might be able to incorporate a weaker aerial CB into your tactic, but I can't so he won't cut it at an elite team for me. He could make a really good DM as Luke says above, and is a VERY effective full back too, but if I were choosing a CB from your list it'd be Demi all day. My CBs need to stop attacks high up the pitch and recycle possession reliably so I can play an adventurous and high press. Having a key CB lose a header in that area is deadly for my teams. Home grown in England though, don't discount that factor.

[bruffell06]

Just finished the 24/25 season on my Norwich save and won the CL! I had finished 4th in the league also but as Man City won the Europa League it means they automatically qualified for the Cl next season so I had to win the final in order to qualify.

As you can see from the screenshot I have kept 3 of the original back 4 as they all develop fantastically. Tactically I completely ripped everything up and started again mid season as I wasn't happy with our teams performance despite being in and around the top 4 all season. The football we played wasn't particularly exciting so I thought I'd give a 'total football' brand of football a go inspired by a couple of threads in the tactics section as I felt we had the players to do so and this and the players took really well to it and the football was a lot closer to what I wanted to see. This led to me knocking out Liverpool and Chelsea in the Quarter Finals and semi final respectively. The one who seemed to appreciate the change most was Gio Reyna. Ive struggled getting performances and goals out of my LW in the last few seasons and he ended up on 15 goals with most of these coming in the last few months of the season.

Now as you can see Liverpool have come in with a monster offer of £165m for my number 9. I'm completely torn on whether to accept. It is the highest offer I've ever received in any FM. I already have another regen of very similar ability so I am inclined to accept and reinvest.

Edit - I should point out he only has 2 years left on his contract and throughout this season he has rejected all approaches to renew.

 

 

Edited May 31, 2020 by bruffell06

[dido53]

Hello dear friends.i played 6seasons with wolverhampton now want a New Challenge and i was between norwich and sheffield United (choosed to olay at FIFA:) norwich seems better core with Lewis aarons godfrey buendia cantwell so im gonna start again.im gonna go with 4123gegenpress with some minor tweaks maybe any transfer ideas are accepted thanks