FM12 - Chelsea F.C. Thread - A Mix of Youth and Experience

[bucket]

ahhhh 36th game - Vs Spuds. Won 2-1. They were all over us in last 10 minutes but held on. 2 games to go and 1 point between us and United

[bucket]

Nooooooooo lost 1-0 to SWANSEA!

[bucket]

Last game of the season. I've got Fulham at home and United have relegated Wolves at Wolves! 2 points behind them now. 1st season without winning a trophy. Going to be sacked don't you think?

[Bracken]

Bracken

Torres managed to get me 43 (54 in 59 overall) and I'm happy with that, don't go ruining it for me by beating it so quickly after I achieved it!

He's made it to 42 goals, I've rested him for the next game. One game of the season left, I might play him, but I might rest him to leave your record intact. Fantastic achievement mate, congrats

Last game of the season. I've got Fulham at home and United have relegated Wolves at Wolves! 2 points behind them now. 1st season without winning a trophy. Going to be sacked don't you think?

Unlucky mate, really hope United slip up for you, I don't think you'll be sacked (IRL of course would be different), but let us know.

Coming up to the end of season 1 on my game, expect a monster post when that happens...

[bucket]

I beat Fulham 2-0 and Wolves lost to United 2-0. Oh well, let's see what happens!

[J.T]

Nooooooooo lost 1-0 to SWANSEA!

I also lost to Swansea, 2-1 Away :|

[Intercept]

Quick update as I'm a bit tired to do an entire one.

Won the Premier League with relative ease. Finished on 97 (31 Wins - 4 Draws - 3 Losses) points with a goal-difference of +87 (Scored 108 - Conceded 21). Pretty happy with the league as a whole with Torres being the pick of the team with Willian, Costa and Mata all very very close second. Massive shout-out has to go to Ramires who was a monster in his midfield role. Bossed the Midfield in every important game allowing my forwards to do as they pleased.

The Domestic Cups were a bit of a nightmare for me. Managed to get into both finals but lost the League Cup to Newcastle 2-1 and then followed that up by losing the FA Cup to Tottenham 2-1 as well. Pretty dissapointed but I felt my youngsters did really well in both competitions when called on.

The Champions League. The Holy Grail. The one thing if I won I could get Chelsea relegated and still keep my job. After a straightforward group and a weird Knockout Round and Semi-Final (re. posts above) round I got into the Final against Bayern. Was pretty much a one-sided affair as I stormed them off the field 5-1. Still not sure how I demolished them so thoroughly but I'm not complaining. Managed a Double in my first season, now to try and claim the other two cups before possibly moving on or creating a dynasty with Chelsea. Who knows!

[essien_5]

Why are United and in particular Rooney so good in the game?!

Just played them at old Trafford, lost 3-1. Ashley Cole was given a straight red, deemed harsh and Torres was then sent off for complaining about it...and I have Liverpool away next. Typical!

United now a point clear after 27 games.

[J.T]

Just lost 5-1 at Old Trafford, I am suffering horrendously with injuries, resulting in me having to play josh mcechran at AML and piazon at AMC

[bucket]

Woohoo got a 5 year contract! Right now to make the squad my own.

[ballinisahabit90]

Rooney and Hernandez have got 65 goals between em on my save!

Just about to play Liverpool in FA Cup semi final, ive got Athletic in the Champs League semis and im a point behind United with 6 to go!

[Bracken]

Congrats Intercept, a fantastic achievement, don't worry about the domestic cups, you'll get em next time.

Unlucky to both essien and JT, we all hate games like those where everything just seems to go against us.

Nicely done bucket, tell us how it goes! My season round up coming up next, it'll be a monster of a post!

[essien_5]

And without Torres, just lost 2-1 to Liverpool. The wheels have fallen off me thinks

[ballinisahabit90]

I lost 3-1 to Liverpool, and Torres broke his ankle

[bucket]

Any second season players to look out for?

[Bracken]

Final round of Fixtures

Premier League

1 point will secure us the title, with 3 games left, this is was the next crucial game.

Chelsea 6 - 0 Bolton

Torres 2', 12', 32'

Sturridge 6'

Muniain 48'

Paul Robinson OG 51'

And the title is ours! Reminds me of the 8-0 Wigan victory IRL, we brought it home with style, the front 3 were fantastic but Mata really took the plaudits, MoM as he set up 5 of the 6 goals. Incredible player.

QPR 0 - 1 Chelsea

Kakuta 54'

Rested a fair few here, so wasn't too bothered, nice to get a win and keep the unbeaten record.

Chelsea 7 - 0 Newcastle

Muniain 19', 85'

Lampard 29'

Torres 33', 68'

John Terry 39', 43'

A great way to round off the season, thought I'd play the whole first team just to keep them fit for the CL final, and they played fantastically. Love results like this.

League Table, Conclusions and Awards

It was a fantastic league season for us, unbeaten all year with just 7 draws. Over 100 goals scored and 19 conceded (which is more than I’d usually like but a lot fewer than I thought it was going to be). Torres was outstanding, with the highest rating in the league of 7.84, Danny was second with 7.6 and Mata was a little further down the list at 7.54. Mata managed 30 assists in the league, he’s a creative genius, Danny was 4th with 14 which isn’t half bad, while Asamoah got the highest pass completion rate, which is always pleasing.

Footballer of the Year: Fernando Torres won it, followed by Mata

Players’ Player of the Year: Danny Sturridge took 2nd place here to Gareth Bale

Top Scorer: Fernando Torres with 44 league goals (sorry Intercept )

Players’ Young Player: Iker Muniain took second behind Anderson from Manure

Golden Glove: Cech, with 22 league clean sheets

Team of the Year: JT, Sturridge, Mata and Torres all made it, with Luiz on the bench

I won manager of the year too.

Champions League Final

Nerve wracking doesn't cover it! A fantastic game, really tense, had absolutely everything (included a disallowed goal for Barca in the 118th minute!) but we won it in the end! A brilliant debut season for us.

European awards:

Golden Boot: Torres, 15 goals

Best Player: Torres as well.

Roundup:

A fantastic season overall. Despite losing out in the FA Cup to Newcastle, we got everything else. The standout performers were Torres and Sturridge, who I'll post below, but mentions must also go to JT, Lamps, Muniain and the genius that is Mata. The only disappointments were Meireles who never played as well as my last save, and Donovan who also didn't reach the heights he did for me last time, he still played pretty well, just not sensationally.

Top Scorers:

Torres - 59 goals in 50 games

Sturridge - 18 goals in 44(1) games

Muniain - 18 goals in 35 (19) games

Lampard - 12 goals in 44 games

Lukaku - 11 goals in 12(18) games

Torres and Sturridge

Delighted with the season overall, just applied for the Olympics job for Team GB, and I'll let you know how that goes and my dealings over the summer. Come on the Chels!

[J.T]

Great season Bracken

Who are you're transfer targets for next season?

[Bracken]

Great season Bracken

Who are you're transfer targets for next season?

Well, I've already brought Kovacic in for £2.1m and Wijnaldum for £5.5m, but I'm mainly bringing in newgens and bringing youngsters up into the first team. Looking at a new LB though. I will be letter a few players go though, and I'll let you know when that's concluded. Trying to bring the wage bill down if at all possible.

Anyone else had their stadium expanded? I'm getting an extra 16,000 seats! It's great!

[J.T]

A left back to replace Ashley Cole or someone to be back up to Cole for a season or so?

[Bracken]

A long term replacement probably, looking at Alex Sandro from Porto who I signed on my last save but didn't get the chance to play much. I'll be promoting Bruma to the first team, possibly Kalas and Chalobah or a regen too. I'll let you guys know how it works out.

Anyone with any experience with how Bruma, Kalas and Chalobah turn out after a few seasons? Especially Chalobah who has between 3.5-4star PA for me (it differs between when I ask my coaches).

[J.T]

Look forward to it Bracken

Chalobah is highly rated in my game as well. Had Terry tutor him so far.

[lacoste8030]

For me Torres only has 11 in 18.

[Phil930]

Evening lads! This manage is coming out of retirement. After learning my trade in Italia Manager, then all in the CM Series, and FM through 2008, I'm back in the game.

Gone through all pages here and am very intrigued by both Ganso and Vrsaljko - might try and squeeze those signings in; Hazard looks good too. REally looking to start out with a 4-2-3-1 - would love the '2' to be Xavi and Iniesta, but thats not going to happen. Let's see who is out there!

[joe__the__man]

Ordered my copy of FM12, should be arriving Tuesday and I'll probably be joining you lads in here

[bucket]

Well, I've already brought Kovacic in for £2.1m and Wijnaldum for £5.5m, but I'm mainly bringing in newgens and bringing youngsters up into the first team. Looking at a new LB though. I will be letter a few players go though, and I'll let you know when that's concluded. Trying to bring the wage bill down if at all possible.

Anyone else had their stadium expanded? I'm getting an extra 16,000 seats! It's great!

Can't believe that the Chelsea researcher is still allowing that to happen. We have all these problems about expanding IRL so why should it be the reverse in the game? Crazy. And btw no I've not got the stadium expanded.

[lukekarts]

Yeah for me the two major issues with Chelsea are the fact the stadium can be expanded, and that Sturridge has low professionalism. The the evidence is all there that the stadium can't be expanded, as for Sturridge, unless someone has deemed him leaving City for Chelsea as all about money (probably, but that would make him equal to every other footballer, right?), then there's no evidence to suggest he's unprofessional.

In fact, he comes across quite well: http://www.dailymail.co.uk/sport/football/article-1333077/Daniel-Sturridge-Im-like-players-.html

[silv3rf0xx]

Would that be better than playing him upfront?

while he is still young when he hits his mid 20's then he should be ready for up front

[essien_5]

Yeah for me the two major issues with Chelsea are the fact the stadium can be expanded, and that Sturridge has low professionalism. The the evidence is all there that the stadium can't be expanded, as for Sturridge, unless someone has deemed him leaving City for Chelsea as all about money (probably, but that would make him equal to every other footballer, right?), then there's no evidence to suggest he's unprofessional.

In fact, he comes across quite well: http://www.dailymail.co.uk/sport/football/article-1333077/Daniel-Sturridge-Im-like-players-.html

My understanding is that he had a bit of an attitude when he was at City and when he arrived at Chelsea but that got drummed out of him quickly when he came here and now he's really humble, media friendly and hard working.

[essien_5]

I'm in March first season (2012) and just found a French regen at Lyon with 199 PA!!!!!

However he is already 19 and his stats are very ordinary considering his huge PA. His determination is also about 13-14 aswell so I have reservations he will ever get to that level. However just over £2m compensation I think is worth a punt!

There is also some other good regens, including an unreal 16 yo defensive midfielder at Roma. They want £11m for him but I guess there is a positive now to not spending any of my transfer budget yet

Also I'm sure I saw a post a while back which detailed the dates each year newgens from certain countries are produced but I can't find it now, anyone have the link?

[joe__the__man]

Yeah for me the two major issues with Chelsea are the fact the stadium can be expanded, and that Sturridge has low professionalism. The the evidence is all there that the stadium can't be expanded, as for Sturridge, unless someone has deemed him leaving City for Chelsea as all about money (probably, but that would make him equal to every other footballer, right?), then there's no evidence to suggest he's unprofessional.

In fact, he comes across quite well: http://www.dailymail.co.uk/sport/football/article-1333077/Daniel-Sturridge-Im-like-players-.html

Sturridge has been rated by the Bolton researcher, as he played there last season.

___

Before I start my game I'll be making some minor adjustments to the data anyway. Probably nothing drastic, but I'll let you know what I've done.

[ballinisahabit90]

2nd season in a row and my Chelsea boys reach the Champions League final and for the 2nd season in a row Barcelona beat us :@!

We won the League for the 2nd year in a row and claimed the League Cup but lost to Liverpool in the FA Cup semi final.

[silv3rf0xx]

did you guys know Sam Hutchinson is still playing. i thought he retired through injury?

http://www.chelseafc.com/page/LatestNews/0,,10268~2509080,00.html

[Intercept]

did you guys know Sam Hutchinson is still playing. i thought he retired through injury?

http://www.chelseafc.com/page/LatestNews/0,,10268~2509080,00.html

He isn't officially contracted to us at the moment if I recall. He is working with the reserve team as well as getting his coaching badges. It's all very tentative because of his previous injuries, so they aren't saying he is back because I don't think he realistically expects to play competitive high level football again.

[silv3rf0xx]

He isn't officially contracted to us at the moment if I recall. He is working with the reserve team as well as getting his coaching badges. It's all very tentative because of his previous injuries, so they aren't saying he is back because I don't think he realistically expects to play competitive high level football again.

ok well ill hope for a miracle for him as i could see him being a good prem player

[essien_5]

ok well ill hope for a miracle for him as i could see him being a good prem player

With how bad defensively Bosingwa is, Hutch could now be first choice RB for us, real pity.

He can't be insured currently to play football either due to his previous injuries.

[essien_5]

I'm approaching the final stretch of the first season and will give a more detailed update to the second half of my season when I finish it but my players have completely ran out of steam. My squad depth definately needs reviewing next season.

After losing to United in the league I went 5 games without a win, slipping from 1st to 3rd and 7 points behind United with 5 games to play.

I also played United in the Champs League quarter finals. I lost the first leg away 1-0, and with a depleted squad including playing Torres injured I managed to go 2-0 ahead at the Bridge with 10 minutes to go, only to concede with 3 minutes remaining and go out on away goals.

Amongst my slump I also played 3 games in 4 days, culminating in the FA Cup semi against Liverpool. Again with a depleted and tired team (including Torres playing with an injection) I went 1-0 down early, only to peg them back and then Mata to pop up on a rebounded Torres shot to stroke home in the 92nd minute!

I'm hoping, having won the League Cup, to beat United in the FA Cup final and at least pip City to runners up spot in the league. At least that would be a decent marker, but with certainly room for improvement in the second season.

[Intercept]

Going into the second season now. Had a bit of a busy day yesterday so didn't progress much. Anyway!

The Comings and Goings.

• Transfers Out
  
  • Released on a Free - Marko Mitrovic, Paulo Ferreira, Rhys Taylor, Salomon Kalou.
    Ross Turnbull - Man City - £2.1m
    Patrick van Aanholt - Peterborough - Season Loan.
    Raul Meireles - Sevilla - £13m
    Yossi Benayoun - Sevilla - Free.
    Kaby - AFC Wimbledon - Free.
    Matej Delac, Sebastian Toro, Lucas Piazon, Ulises Davila and Tomas Kalas - Vitesse - Season Loans.
    Total Earnt - £15.25m.

Pretty standard window. Let go of the dead-weight and those taking up far too much of my wage bill for their position in the team. Meireles was a hard decision to make but with the players I had in his position and the youngsters I want to blood in, I just couldn't see him justifying his wage sitting on the bench. Otherwise all the usual suspects left for new pastures along with me handing Vitesse a very very strong line-up of youngsters.

Transfers In

• Andre Harve ~ Regen - Lyon - £1.9m
  Jose Getachew ~ Regen - Lyon - £2.3m
  Lorenzo Crisetig - Inter - Free.
  Martin Montoya - Barcelona - Free.
  Total Spent - £4.2m

Again, pretty standard. Two good youngsters who can slot into the first team and two amazingly promising Regens from Lyon. Both are 16 and have the most amazing attributes I've ever seen for youngsters their age. They will easily slot into my first team within a year or two and cement the DC (both are central defenders) position for 10 years at the very least. I'll get screenshots up of them soon so you can tell me what you guys think. All this is dependant on them having good PA, but they are rated as 4 star and 4.5 star defenders so fingers crossed.

The Restructure of the Team!

So I decided to move from the 4-5-1 with a holding DMC into a more offensive outlook of a wide 4-2-3-1. It allows for Costa, Willian and Mata to all start which was what I was really to try and achieve. Anyway, this is how the squad lines up into the second season.

GK - Cech, Courtois.

DR - Vrsaljko, Montoya.

DC - Terry, Luiz, Toloi, Ivanovic.

DL - Cole, Bertrand.

MC - Ramires, Essien, Mikel, Romeu, Crisetig, Lampard, McEachran.

AMR - Willian, Kakuta.

AMC - Costa, Lampard, McEachran.

AML - Mata, Sturridge.

ST - Torres, Lukaku.

As you can tell from the team is that I have a wealth of MC's and can only really play two which, for the most part, will be Ramires and Essien (who has gotten his attributes stabilized to a degree after an extensive physical training regime after his injury). Mikel and Romeu are the obvious backups with Crisetig being the injury placed backup. McEachran is being shunted out of the squad at the moment but I'm retraining him to AMC as I don't think Lampard has the Flair to play that roll all that well. Finally onto Lampard who doesn't really have a spot in the team anymore with how we are setting up. Not exactly sure what to do with him but I definitely know he isn't going to be leaving any time soon!

Will update with more once pre-season starts (and then finishes) and I've gotten the season underway!

[holmaz]

How do you click up the editor? :S cant find it :'(

[essien_5]

Its a separate 'app' you need to download and install from steam

[holmaz]

Thanks Essien found it now

[tahanaveed13]

Hey guys. I'm in January in my first season with Chelsea and on the top in the league. But suddenly, I have had injuries to Meireles (4 months) and Ramires (1 month). Also Mikel and Essien are at the African Cup of Nations. So I need to buy a good young DCM/CM. Any help ?

[morenoking]

Hey guys. I'm in January in my first season with Chelsea and on the top in the league. But suddenly, I have had injuries to Meireles (4 months) and Ramires (1 month). Also Mikel and Essien are at the African Cup of Nations. So I need to buy a good young DCM/CM. Any help ?

Yann M'Vila.

[Bracken]

Right, here's a little update on mine with my transfers and a few regens:

Transfers

In:

Alex Sandro - £14.5m, FC Porto

Ross Barkley - £7.5m, Everton

Georginio Wijnaldum - £5.5m, PSV

Mateo Kovacic - £2.1m, Dinamo

Carlos Fierro - £1.3m, Chivas

17 Regens - each between £1m-2m

Total: £52m

Out:

Ramires - £18.5m, PSG

Alex - £12.5m, Marseille

Meireles - £13m, Atletico Madrid

Essien - £4.5m, Milan

Benayoun - £3m

Mellis - £1.1m

Bertrand - £5m

PvA - £1.6m

Anelka - Free

Hilario - Free

Kabu - Free

Mitrovic - Free

Prosenik - £100k Leeds

Ake, Lalkovic, Mbaye Niang, Delac, Romeu, Adam Campbell, Piazon, Lucas Anderson - Loans

Total: £59m

Well, a lot of cash has changed hands, but it's been worth it I think. I've brought in an entirely new U18 team essentially, all with great potential. I have to say I'm most excited about the British youngsters, especially one young man who actually came up through the youth academy! In fact, we actually got 3 players with potential up through the academy which is a fantastic return for the first season. Here's an example of a couple:

Signed from Watford (weird), looks to be a great future RB, reminds me of an English regen I had back in FM08 or 09. Looking forward to his development

The first through the youth academy with the least potential (but still 3.5 stars). He's a right-footed AML, which means he fits perfectly into my formation as an inside forward. Man Utd have already bid for him, offering up to £2.5m, but he's going nowhere.

The second lad from our academy, looks good already and with a 4 star PA, he's going be a big part of what may well end up as an all-English back line because of the quality of the English regens.

And the last, and best, from our academy. He's been tutored by JT since he came into the game in March, and looks like he'll be his long term successor (unless Chalobah makes the position his own). I think he's the best CB I've ever had through a youth academy in my FM career, he's going to be a monster at the back for me.

My Team

GK: Cech, Courtois, Turnbull

DR: Ivanovic, Vrsaljko, Basham

DCR: Luiz, Bruma, Chalobah

DCL: Terry, Bruma, Chalobah

DL: A. Cole, A. Sandro

MCR: Asamoah, Barkley, Bruma

MCL: Lampard, McEachran, Wijnaldum

AMR: Sturridge, Kakuta, Wijnaldum

AMC: Mata, Kovacic, Wijnaldum

AMR: Muniain, Donovan, Wijnaldum

ST: Torres, Lukaku, Fierro

Overall I think I've got fairly decent depth, I can always recall Romeu and a couple of others if necessary, I brought Bruma back in as I wanted to see how he fairs this season, and CB is the only position I'm really a little light, I'm hoping the regens will be able to adapt fairly quickly to play some role this season. Should be an exciting season, I'll let you guys know how I get on. Come on the Chels!

[POG]

Some good looking regens there Bracken. I hope i get some that look half that good!

Onto a slightly disappointing update from me.

January 2012

http://cloud.steampowered.com/ugc/650996245844998711/95CA0CD671B01AA4FB302C11FBB6E228F5A0E422/

We're still top of the league after some disappointing performances but the biggest disappointment was losing in the League Cup Semi to Wolves! I know i played the youngsters, but on past performances they were more than up to the task. It's almost as thought the occasion got to them. They just didn't perform. There's always next year I suppose. The only bit of good news is that Terry and Torres are back from an injury so hopefully they'll inspire some better performances.

Essien is also back, but from what you've all said I don't hold out any hope. I haven't signed anyone in the window (starting to look like mistake!), just a couple of freebies to join in the summer.

[buckyohhare]

Braken - How did you get Barkley for 7.5 So jealous, They keep quoting me around 20 mil.

[Hegav]

Fernando Torres is such a beast!

I thought his 64 (all comps) goals in the 13-14 season would stay a club record but he proved me wrong. In the 14-15 season he scored an amazing 83 goals.

An absolutely incredible season.

[POG]

I've got the afternoon off work today so let's see if I can improve our form

February 2012

http://cloud.steampowered.com/ugc/648745092125519413/C877DDAB43D52B5D4E163374B585625E28A98F24/

We started the month slowly, carrying on from the poor performances of last month. Now that Terry and Torres are back though, things have improved and we have started dominating games again. After getting knocked out of the Champions League (hangs head in shame) I'm looking forward to trying to win a competition I've never won in FM, the Europa League. As you can see things have started well with an easy victory over Twente with Torres finding his scoring boots again!

I was really pleased with the victory over City, as due to internationals i had to play Romeu in central defence. He stepped up though and won't worry if I have to do it again! The only downside is, due to the draw at Everton, we are now 2nd in the league and a point behind United.

I'm sure I'll be back later today with another update or two. Hopefully with us regaining are rightful place at the top of the league.

[lukekarts]

I've had a great start to my season, mid-November now, and besides a slip up at Swansea, my team is running unbeaten in all competitions.

In particular, Lampard (Attacking Advanced Playmaker MCL) and Ramires (Supporting Box-to-box MCR) have been great. I can't stand Mikel but he's done an OK job in the middle.

Running a 4-3-1-2 formation. I can't complain too much but not getting anything out of Sturridge, just one goal in 8 league games. Tried him as Advanced Forward and Poacher at both FCL and FCR. I'll persevere though, and keep him in the starting lineup. Any suggestions on how to get more from him?

Upcoming Transfer Activity

Budgets were off for the first window, but I'm hoping by January I'll get some cash to spend. I've certainly identified weaknesses within the squad that need to be addressed, and players that need to move on.

Selling:

Salomon Kalou - just one appearance so far, really don't need him

Florent Malouda - I don't play wide men, and I'd rather play Mata/Lampard or even Anelka at AMC.

Didier Drogba - 1 goal in 6, I'll let him go at the end of the season

Alex - playing ok for me but I have other defensive targets in mind

Paulo Ferreira - no comment

Scouting:

Vrsaljko - looks like the best young DR in the game so he's on my radar and gonna make a bid in December.

Mats Hummels / Kagawa / Goetze - the Dortmund trio are on my scouting radar. I think Goetze will be too expensive, Hummels is perhaps the perfect long-term replacement for Terry so I'm monitoring him closely. Kagawa is talented and will offer a natural AMC/AMR to balance Mata, should I need to add more width to my attack. Will buy if the price is right.

Yann M'Vila - I dislike Mikel and think M'Vila can do a better job. I'll maybe wait and see what sort of impact Essien has on his return though, before making a bid.

Iker Munain - fantastic young attacking player. Spain have so much talent right now and I want some in my team.

Questions

How do I get more from Sturridge?

Who of the above should I make my top priority?

[Hegav]

Mats Hummels is starting to take over for John Terry for me and doing very well together with David Luiz. I was able to get Götze and Hummels for a decent amount as Dortmund were doing very poor in their league and they had 1 year left on their contract so if you have Bundesliga loaded you might be able them on discount. For DM, John Obi Mikel wanted a new challenge and I can recommend Fernando Francisco Réges to take his spot. The DR spot César Azpilicueta is amazing.

[POG]

March 2012

http://cloud.steampowered.com/ugc/648745092127608305/70B6530824AB6A50B9C1A29EE95D3D6E3E7728FC/

Ok, so I'm not happy! Another long month of poor performances and disappointing results. My tactics just don't seem to be working anymore. I may have play a separate save with a team I'm not so attached to so that i can try and sort something out. I'll give it to the end of the season but if things don't improve i may have a play around elsewhere before I come back!