FM13: The Swansea City Thread - The only footballing team in Wales..

[Phenomenon]

Welcome to the FM13 Swansea City Thread.

Club History

Long before Swansea Town came into being, children had played football on a piece of waste ground on which vetch - a cabbage-like plant used for cow feed - grew wild. Vetch Field, as it became known, was leased by the Swansea Gas Light Company to the Swansea League who laid out clinker pitches.

In 1912, Swansea Town were formed as a professional club and took up residence. This was an ambitious venture given the dominance of rugby union in the area. The new football club adopted the same all white strip as Swansea RFU and apart from a few seasons when black shorts were introduced, they have worn all-white for most of their career. The club was known as Swansea Town but they changed their name when Swansea was granted City status in 1969.

The Swans were admitted to the Second Division of the Southern League and there they remained until they won promotion immediately before the First World War. As a result, they became founder members of Division Three when the Southern League Division was incorporated in 1920. They were a strong side in those days, winning promotion to the Second Division in 1925 as champions of Division Three (South). The following season they finished fifth in Division Two and reached the semi-finals of the FA Cup.

During the 1930s the club's fortunes declined, but they staved off relegation until the season immediately after the Second World War. They did not stay down for long, winning the Third Division (South) championship and promotion in 1949. They stayed in the Second Division for another sixteen seasons, reaching the FA Cup semi-final once again in 1964. The Swans also enjoyed the first of many European campaigns in 1961 by virtue of winning the Welsh FA Cup, a competition they have won ten times to date.

In 1965 Swansea slipped into Division Three and then Division Four in 1967. Hopes were rekindled in 1970 when promotion was won, but three years later the Swans were back in the basement and in 1975 they faced the humiliation of having to apply for re-election. There followed a remarkable revival under player-manager John Toshack, with successive promotions in 1978 and 1979 taking the club back into Division Two. In 1981, Swansea were promoted to the First Division finishing in a remarkable sixth place in 1982.

The decline that followed was even more dramatic. Relegated in 1983 and 1984, Swansea City was formally wound up on 20 December 1985. Fortunately a group of directors put together a rescue package and permission was granted for the club to continue its fixtures. For 12 months the future of the club hung in the balance and, unable to sign or loan new players, Swansea were relegated to Division Four in 1986.

However, the High Court finally approved the new board's rescue plan and Swansea City survived. Not only that, they won promotion to Division Three in 1988 and five years later reached the play-offs. In 1996, Swansea were relegated to what was now Nationwide Division Three (the old Fourth Division). Promoted as champions in 2000, the Swans lasted only one season at the higher level.

During the 2001-02 season the club changed hands several times and was again on the verge of bankruptcy, narrowly avoiding relegation to the Conference in 2003. By 2005, however, there was a new air of optimism at the club as they prepared to leave the Vetch Field after more than 90 years to move into the new purpose-built Liberty Stadium.

The move coincided with an upturn in fortunes for the Swans. After Football League Trophy success, promotion to the Championship was secured under Roberto Martinez, with the Spaniard kickstarting the new footballing philosophy at the club.

Just missing out on the play-offs in their first season back in the second tier, the Swans saw Martinez depart for Wigan but went even closer to the play-offs under Paulo Sousa. The former Portuguese midfielder left the Liberty after a year to join Leicester, with Brendan Rodgers taking his place. It proved a shrewd appointment - the Northern Irishman guided the Swans to Play-Off glory in his first season.

The Premier League welcomed its first Welsh side, and the Swans did club and country proud in a remarkable campaign which saw them finish 11th. Victories over Arsenal, eventual champions Manchester City and Liverpool were among the highlights of a season which silenced the critics.

With the club's success came huge interest in its assets, with Rodgers making the move to Anfield to take over at Liverpool. That meant another vacancy at the Liberty. A vacancy which would be filled by a true legend of the game in former Barcelona, Real Madrid, Ajax and Denmark midfielder Michael Laudrup.

Swansea Jacks

People born in the town (and by extension the fans of the football club) are known as "Swansea Jacks." There are two possible origins for this nickname. The first is a reference to the high reputation of local seamen ("Jack Tars") in the early 19th Century. There was also a famous black retriever called Swansea Jack who rescued no fewer than 27 people from drowning in the River Tawe and Swansea Docks during the 1930s.

General Infomation

Founded: 1912

Location: Swansea, Wales

Nickname: The Swans

Owners: Shareholders(Swansea City Football 2002 Limited holds 99.15%)

Chairman: Huw Jenkins

Finances: Secure

Estimated Value: 58M

League: English Premier League

Stadium: The Liberty Stadium (20745 all seater with undersoil heating)

Rivalries: Cardiff City(main), Bristol City(minor) Bristol Rovers(minor)

Swansea on FM

The Squad

Goalkeepers: Michel Vorm, Gerhard Tremmel, David Cornell

Right Backs: Angel Rangel, Dwight Tiendalli, Ashley Richards, Curtis Obeng, Daniel Alfei

Left Backs: Neil Taylor, Ben Davies

Centre Backs: Ashley Williams, Chico Flores, Garry Monk, Alan Tate, Kyle Bartley, Darnell Situ, Scott Tancock

Right Midfield/Wing: Nathan Dyer, Pablo Hernandez, Wayne Routledge, Gwion Edwards

Left Midfield/Wing: None

Central Midfield/Defensive Midfield/Attacking Midfield: Leon Britton, Michu, Ki Sung-Yeung, Jonathan de Guzman(loan), Mark Gower, Kemy Agustien, Lee Lucas, Henry Jones, Kurtis March

Strikers: Danny Graham, Itay Shechter(loan), Luke Moore, Leroy Lita, Rory Donnelly, Jamie Proctor

Based on the current squad, I would recommend a 4-2-3-1 Formation like the swans play in real life. I also think the strongest 11 looks like this:

I'm not in a position to suggest a particular tactic just yet, but my add one in the future.

The media's predicted finish is 19th, which I personally think is an insult to the swans. When in a meeting with Huw Jenkins, he states that you're target is to avoid relegation. For this you can get a tranfer budget of £10million. Personally, I told Huw to send me an email for other options and went for mid-table finish. This upped my budget to £12.2million and gave me a wage budget of £394k per week, of which £317k per week is currently being used.

My assessment of the squad

Goalkeepers:

In Michel Vorm you have a top quality keeper who is a definate number one choice. Gerhard Tremmel is okay as back up, but only has one year to run on his contract, at which point I'll be letting him go and getting myself a younger understudy to Vorm. David Cornell is not good enough at this level and only has the potential to be a good championship keeper according to my coaches so I'll be selling him.

Defenders:

This is an area which my need a bit of improvement. Williams and Chico should be your best CB pairing, but Monk and Tate are not good enough(kills me to say it). Tate is okay as cover as he can play anywhere in the back four, but monk needs to go. Kyle Bartley is okay back up for now, and has the potential to be a good premier league defender.

Fullback positions must be given to rangel and taylor. Tiendalli can cover either fullback position, and so can Tate. Ashley Richards can cover the right back position, but you may be better off buying defensive cover and loaning him out to get games. This is the same situation for Kyle Bartley.

Midfielders:

This is an important area of the pitch for your team, especially if you have the intentions of making your team play like Swansea do in real life. Leon Britton is a good ball player and also has the stats to break up play for the opposition. De Guzman and Ki will also feature in your midfield engine. Kemy Agustien starts on the transfer list and should probably stay there, he doesnt look good enough. Same situation with Mark Gower. Lucas, March and Jones don't seem to have the potential to be good enough, but until I have played the game a bit longer I cant be sure. This goes for everyones potential by the way.

Wingers:

The swans are blessed with 3 natural right wingers who are good. Personally, I would play Hernandez there with Dyer on the other wing. Routledge is a good rotation player and can also play on either wing. Itay Shechter can cover on either wing, but is only on loan, and I personally wont be buying him after that. It may be worth looking at buying a more natural left sided prospect for the future.

Strikers:

Danny Graham looks pretty good on this team and should play the lone striker role well. Looks strong enough to hold up the ball and technicaly looks very good. Luke Moore and Leroy Lita can provide cover, along with Shechter, but I'll be seeling Moore and Lita and trying to buy someone who will offer better competition to Graham. Rory Donelly looks like a good prospect so I suggest loaning him out to get games.

Transfer targets

I'm not usually one for telling people who to sign and who to sell, it's your team, so manage it as you see it. However, this is what I'm going to do.

Selling: Moore, Lita, Agustien, Gower, Monk.

Buying: Cover at left back, competition at centre back, competition for michu(who can also compete for CM spots), a left winger and competition for Graham upfront.

So..

Can you bring glory to the Liberty Stadium? Can you stop the swans from becoming a victim of 'second season sydrome'? Can you add your own chapter to the growing history of Swansea City?

Good luck you Jack B*****d!!

[jackbastard1]

Nice work.

[Phenomenon]

Nice work.

Thanks. By the way, if you or anyone reading this, wants to add/change anything in the opening post then just let me know. I wrote it for everyone but input from others is fine by me.

[sbaxter1990]

Nice opening post just started my game with swansea and so far have loaned mancienne and bought in drenthe and reo coker on free transfer. Have also signed soriano from red bull as he looks a good striker. Who has everyone signed?

[Phenomenon]

I'm still in the window, but Ive signed Royston Drenthe(Free), Anderson(man united 4.2m), Jorge Ribiero(free), Andreas Cornelius(Fc Kobenhavn 2.2m). Also got Alan Dzagoev coming in for free in January. Still in the market for a CB. Know anyone good?

[-TonyVain-]

For a CB try Okore, Strandberg, Dragovic, Sviatchenko...?

[sadbearhandbook]

Just finished my first season. Can't get them to dominate possession or have above 80% pass completion, but managed to win the league somehow.

Signed Wellington Nem, Ronaldinho (Got him on a free in January, but went from being 4.5 stars before I signed him to 3 stars at the end of the season. Regret having him on £30,000p/w until 2015) , Adryan, Felipe Anderson, Amemilson and Jan Kirchhoff. All the young Brazilians had fairly low release clauses that I spread out of 48 months. So now I've got a good young squad that should start dominating within a couple of years.

Playing short passing, high defensive line, wide, passing focused down both flanks.

[kruna627]

Third place so far with wins away against chelsea (0-1) and home angainst Utd (2-0) which i am most proud of. Also tie against city (1-1) away from home. Try to play possesion football with short passes with playmakers Britton and Wellington Nem and picked up Reo-Coker from the free to work in the midfield. So far so good. Centre backs i have ashley williams and i don't agree with Chico cause i use Tate and he is on a average of 7.56 so far!!

[John Joe O'toole]

In first season with swansea in march and im 4th, really suprised how well ive done with them. I play a 4-4-1-1 with michu behind my lone striker.

Wanted to keep the core of the squad but let go the likes of - Gary Monk, Kemy Agustien and Luke Moore. I brought in Leonard kwueke, Wellington Nem, Adryan and Squillaci on loan. Didnt really strengthen in january because my team is doing well, at end of season i will be letting Tremmel and Gower go permanently but cant decice on whether to keep Guzman, he is only a back up midfielder for me though, so not sure on whether to keep. My priorities are cover for LB and RB, and another BWM to rotate with Britton because next season i will be playing alot more games if i get into europe. Nem and Kwueke have been tearing it up for me

[Phenomenon]

So here's my first proper update. It's Decemeber 4th. We're sitting in 10th position after 14 games, taking 19 points. Eff knows how you boys have been doing so well(well done by the way). I've been trying to get my team to play the possession game of the real life swansea. The stats suggest I'm not dominating possession, yet every time I watch a goal replay(thats all I have it set to show me) it's usually a one touch passing move that creates it. I can tell the team is playing the correct way, just want to dominate games a bit more. ar I've had 5 wins, 4 draws and 5 losses. To be honest, I'm content with that.

Just to update you on my transfers, in the summer I signed Royston Drenthe, Jorge Ribiero, Anderson, Wellington Nem, Andreas Cornelius and Jores Okore(Thanks for the recommendation TonyVain). I also have Alan Dzagoev coming in for free in January, and currently have an contract offer to bring Jose Baxter in for free too.

Players that left were Monk, Moore, Agustien and Gower. March, Ben Davies, Alfei, Situ, Donelly and Cornell all went out on loan. Alan Tate is leaving for Fulham for close to 1m in January after requesting a move. Didnt really want to sell but he wont get games so I had to let go. Tiendalli has also requested to go, so will be looking for a new club for him soon. Want to sign a good young left back and a good young goalkeeper soon. Suggestions?

[kruna627]

Yeah I see why you're not doing so well. The old FM rule that if you sell to many players and buy to many players you just can't perform. Try to hold it out and next season will be much better then this season. The new players are good but you just can't buy a whole new team in a year (look at Q.P.R. this season). And players like Drenthe is a good backup but is not likely to perform any better then for instance Leon Britton or Nathan Dyer which you already have.

[Phenomenon]

End of season update:

Well that was a lot tougher than I expected it to be! Ended up finishing 10th in the league, but at one point in March I was 3 points away from the relegation zone. I'm happy with the way my team attacks, just need to tinker with the defense to stop leaking goals. Seem to be win the possession battle and scoring goals from good passing moves.

League: 10th

FA Cup: 4th round (Lost to Leicester at home after beating Liverpool away in the 3rd round)

League cup: 2nd round (Lost to Charlton away, but with a second string team)

Best win of the season: Either beating Liverpool 2-0 at Anfield in the FA cup or beating Stoke 5-0 at the Britania.

Worst loss: An 8-0 hammering at Old Trafford. Seemed to be powerless to stop them scoring, also couldnt get the ball of them.

Top Scorer: Danny Graham - 14(13 league goals)

My player of the season: Royston Drenthe (Most consistant, and chipped in with goals)

Transfer Ins and Outs

The reasoning behind the Jerome loan and Iaquinta freebie was to try to loan Cornelius out to get more games, it didn't work so Iaquinta and Jerome played hardly any part whatsoever. Signed Periquis to allow Bartley to go out on loan, which he requested, but he refused to go too.

New season..

I'll be expecting to get into Europe this year, as my tactic started to produce more positive results towards the end of the season and players will have had time to settle in. Aiming for 6th, don't want to be too ambitious considering my resources. Will still be playing youth and back up players in most cup games so not really expecting too much from them.

Likely to try to sell some of the reserves like Lita and Obeng, but everyone in the first team should be staying apart from Tremmel, Ribeiro and Iaquinta, who will be leaving on frees. Want to sign a goalkeeper as an understudy for Vorm, a left back as an understudy for Taylor, and a right back as competition for Rangel.

[bornyesterday]

Just had a great result in the FA cup, talk about an upset! Even our own fans were pessimistic going into this after City being unbeatable all season:

Anderson is a beast, it's like having a cheat player compared to the rest of the squad.

@Phenomenon, I had Drenthe too but he was so inconsistent, is there some trick to handling his personality to get the best out of him? I sold him back to Everton for 2.6 million which is not a bad return considering he was free.

[John Joe O'toole]

Start of second season, because i finished 4th i had to win the play off to get into the champions league and i drew sporting lisbon so didnt expect too much, but beat the 6-2 on aggregate! Also Danny Graham is really good! Im hoping he will get more playing time this season because im competing in 4 competitions, Leonard Kwueke is my first choice, and im surprised by how good Nathan Dyer is constant 7.0+ ratings and interest from other prem clubs but im not selling, trying to keep the core of my team intact.

[bornyesterday]

Start of second season' date=' because i finished 4th i had to win the play off to get into the champions league and i drew sporting lisbon so didnt expect too much, but beat the 6-2 on aggregate! Also Danny Graham is really good! Im hoping he will get more playing time this season because im competing in 4 competitions, Leonard Kwueke is my first choice, and im surprised by how good Nathan Dyer is constant 7.0+ ratings and interest from other prem clubs but im not selling, trying to keep the core of my team intact.[/quote']

How do you handle your team at half time? I'm having a lot of problems losing goals in the second half:

I mostly let the assistant take the team talks and the team always shows "delighted" as their reaction but I still seem to struggle.

[kane_richards]

Hi, I'm asking in here because it's a Swansea question and I guess this is the best place. I've been approached by Swansea in my game and just like real life, the contract offer highlights the Club Philosophy of "Possession Football".

That's fair enough however I was just wondering how easy that is to actually implement in game? Is it simply a case of playing direct passes and retaining possession or do I need to go further? Also, what's the criteria for meeting it? Do I need to have 90%+ pass completion or the like is it more loose

[Mingus]

For team talks i am as harsh as possible. for home games i always select not happy with your performance if i am drawing or winning by less than 2 goals, dont get complacent for winning by 3+ goals and angry i want to see more from you if losing. for away games i use not happy when losing by 1 goal or drawing, dont get complacent when winning and angry want to see more when 2 goals down. I am currently in my 3rd season, won the PL in 2nd so we are favorites for a lot more games now, I also try to ensure that all my players have high determanation and ideally proffessional personalites so that they dont get angry when i shout @ them.

I think what you are looking for with team talks is to get as many players as possible with the green "looks motivated" icon. angry team talks will sometimes get you "looks fired up" and nice ones get you "looks happy/delighted" neither of which you really want imo, but given the choice i would take a fired up player over a happy one.

[Phenomenon]

@Phenomenon, I had Drenthe too but he was so inconsistent, is there some trick to handling his personality to get the best out of him? I sold him back to Everton for 2.6 million which is not a bad return considering he was free.

I didn't really treat him any different to any other player. The advantage he had with me was that he got a lot of playing time because Routledge, his main competition, was injured for a lot of the season. I won't be keeping him after my 2nd season though, will look to cash in and find someone with a bit more of an attacking threat.

Hi, I'm asking in here because it's a Swansea question and I guess this is the best place. I've been approached by Swansea in my game and just like real life, the contract offer highlights the Club Philosophy of "Possession Football".

That's fair enough however I was just wondering how easy that is to actually implement in game? Is it simply a case of playing direct passes and retaining possession or do I need to go further? Also, what's the criteria for meeting it? Do I need to have 90%+ pass completion or the like is it more loose

I don't think you will be judged on specific stats, they will probably just expect you to try to play a possession based game with some nice passing moves. At the end of the day, if you are picking up the right results, they're not going to complain too much. Good luck if you took/take it.. keep us updated.

Talking of updates, I'm in the middle of January and fighting to keep myself in those Eurpoean football spots. Sitting in 6th, got Everton and Arsenal on my tail though. Signed Rodwell on loan just now, and trying to get Carroll on loan too. Also, changed my formation from 4-2-3-1 to 4-3-3, will explain everything in end of season update. Hows everyone else getting on?

[Wolves4Lfe]

Best role for Graham ? played him Poacher, Advanced Forward and Target man and he just simply never scores

Also Ki is so inconsistant its a joke at times he can have a blinder noe game and player below a 5.9 for the next 3 games playing him as a Box to Box midfielder i think that the right role for him ? seriously thinking of getting rid of him

[Phenomenon]

Best role for Graham ? played him Poacher, Advanced Forward and Target man and he just simply never scores

Also Ki is so inconsistant its a joke at times he can have a blinder noe game and player below a 5.9 for the next 3 games playing him as a Box to Box midfielder i think that the right role for him ? seriously thinking of getting rid of him

I use classic tactics with sliders now, so don't have a role for Graham, but I think before I switched to classic I used to play him as a complete forward. He has never been prolific for me, but just finished my second season and he's been my top scorer in both seasons, but only with 14 goals and 12 goals.

As for Ki, I can't really comment because he's back up to my first team. At the end of the day, if you think you can replace him with a better performer then go for it.

[bornyesterday]

For team talks i am as harsh as possible. for home games i always select not happy with your performance if i am drawing or winning by less than 2 goals, dont get complacent for winning by 3+ goals and angry i want to see more from you if losing. for away games i use not happy when losing by 1 goal or drawing, dont get complacent when winning and angry want to see more when 2 goals down. I am currently in my 3rd season, won the PL in 2nd so we are favorites for a lot more games now, I also try to ensure that all my players have high determanation and ideally proffessional personalites so that they dont get angry when i shout @ them.

I think what you are looking for with team talks is to get as many players as possible with the green "looks motivated" icon. angry team talks will sometimes get you "looks fired up" and nice ones get you "looks happy/delighted" neither of which you really want imo, but given the choice i would take a fired up player over a happy one.

I think you might be onto something Mingus, I've been aiming to fire the team up or get them motivated more at half time and I've had a few stronger second half performances. How do you handle your pre-match talks just out of interest?

[Hagginho]

Best role for Graham ? played him Poacher, Advanced Forward and Target man and he just simply never scores

Also Ki is so inconsistant its a joke at times he can have a blinder noe game and player below a 5.9 for the next 3 games playing him as a Box to Box midfielder i think that the right role for him ? seriously thinking of getting rid of him

I have used him as an advanced forward, has scored 18 in 35 in the PL.. He had a dryspell, but picked himself up now.. Playing Michu behind as an AM-support

[Mingus]

Pre-match i normally let my assistant do it. best you can hope for is 1 or 2 players motivated, i sometimes select i expect a win if we are heavy favorites, but tbh i dont think pre-match team talks have the same impact as h/t f/t ones.

Anyone else having issues with the amount if tax you pay? I won the PL and got the CL final in my second season, ended up with 80M in the bank at the seasons end. going into my 3 rd season with a balance of 40M or so and i am paying out 4-5M a month in tax and i have no idea why. my tax bill in season 2 was 10m, so far im up to january in S3 and i have paid out 28M in tax.

[f0rmat]

Decided to do a Swansea save this year.

Been interesting, fun and challenging so far. Currently half way through my first season and sitting 12th, which is alright.

First thing on the list was to get the board to upgrade the training facilities, a process which they agreed to and will take just under a year at around £2m or £3m.

Secondly, my transfers in:

Drenthe for options at AML and potentially LB. He's been mostly disappointing so far, and I doubt I'll keep him around much longer.

Ole Kristian Selnæs - originally bought as a future prospect, I've been forced to use him in a variety of roles and whilst he hasn't been exceptional, he hasn't embarrassed himself either. Currently being tutored by Britton and under intense training to get his physicals up a little.

Kweuke - largely disappointing. Doesn't seem to shine either alone or up front with Graham. The only saving grace has been playing against bigger teams, he is an excellent defensive forward. I've played him against Utd, Chelsea, City and the rest and had a couple of excellent results, albeit not directly from him but I'm still crediting him with the effort.

Ekdal - an old favourite from FM12. Bought very cheaply IMO and provides great competition for the CM spot. Will develop well too.

Lugano - has been a very astute signing if I do say so. A little too old to consider buying and I was initially sceptical about his pace/acceleration but he's done a very fine job at the heart of my defence.

Doria - only arrived in Jan and hasn't had any time to play yet but one for the future mostly.

Wellington Nem - somewhat unimaginative signing I know, but I haven't been impressed with any of Graham, Michu or Kwueuke, so I bought Nem with the hope of shaking them out of their funk or even just replacing them. Done well in his first game and will hopefully settle in better with Doria here too.

Transfers Out -

Nothing of surprise here - I let Lita go out on loan, Agustien went for £2.5m to Heerenveen (which I thought was good business), Moore went to Bolton for £1.1m, and Tiendalli went to Derby for £1.6m

Currently trying to flog Hernandez because he's basically useless, despite his appealing stats. Couple of clubs interested so hopefully I can get some cash for him, of the decent variety.

Like some others, I'm struggling to get Graham scoring - he's got 6 goals in 17 so far which isn't really ideal. Tips?

[Phenomenon]

Decided to do a Swansea save this year.

Been interesting, fun and challenging so far. Currently half way through my first season and sitting 12th, which is alright.

First thing on the list was to get the board to upgrade the training facilities, a process which they agreed to and will take just under a year at around £2m or £3m.

Secondly, my transfers in:

Drenthe for options at AML and potentially LB. He's been mostly disappointing so far, and I doubt I'll keep him around much longer.

Ole Kristian Selnæs - originally bought as a future prospect, I've been forced to use him in a variety of roles and whilst he hasn't been exceptional, he hasn't embarrassed himself either. Currently being tutored by Britton and under intense training to get his physicals up a little.

Kweuke - largely disappointing. Doesn't seem to shine either alone or up front with Graham. The only saving grace has been playing against bigger teams, he is an excellent defensive forward. I've played him against Utd, Chelsea, City and the rest and had a couple of excellent results, albeit not directly from him but I'm still crediting him with the effort.

Ekdal - an old favourite from FM12. Bought very cheaply IMO and provides great competition for the CM spot. Will develop well too.

Lugano - has been a very astute signing if I do say so. A little too old to consider buying and I was initially sceptical about his pace/acceleration but he's done a very fine job at the heart of my defence.

Doria - only arrived in Jan and hasn't had any time to play yet but one for the future mostly.

Wellington Nem - somewhat unimaginative signing I know, but I haven't been impressed with any of Graham, Michu or Kwueuke, so I bought Nem with the hope of shaking them out of their funk or even just replacing them. Done well in his first game and will hopefully settle in better with Doria here too.

Transfers Out -

Nothing of surprise here - I let Lita go out on loan, Agustien went for £2.5m to Heerenveen (which I thought was good business), Moore went to Bolton for £1.1m, and Tiendalli went to Derby for £1.6m

Currently trying to flog Hernandez because he's basically useless, despite his appealing stats. Couple of clubs interested so hopefully I can get some cash for him, of the decent variety.

Like some others, I'm struggling to get Graham scoring - he's got 6 goals in 17 so far which isn't really ideal. Tips?

I'm glad I'm not the only one who thinks mid table is doing well haha. Some nice signings there, especially Ekdal, just checked him out in my game and he looks good! Kweuke is at Lille in my game and worth 12m so stick with him. I tried to sign Doria but he chose Genk instead of Swansea, looks like a good prospect though, might bid for him soon.

What formation are you playing?

[f0rmat]

I'm glad I'm not the only one who thinks mid table is doing well haha. Some nice signings there, especially Ekdal, just checked him out in my game and he looks good! Kweuke is at Lille in my game and worth 12m so stick with him. I tried to sign Doria but he chose Genk instead of Swansea, looks like a good prospect though, might bid for him soon.

What formation are you playing?

I was at 8th earlier for a bit, and ideally I'd like to finish thereabouts. I've had a very up and down season, results wise.

Both games against City were very very close and the 2-3 defeat against Utd was very close too. Beating Liverpool 3-2 away was pretty nice. Edit : meant to highlight beating Spurs too. As an aside, I have plans to steal Dembele from them, as he's getting very little game time.

AS for formation -

I've found a little success with a 4-4-1-1, depending on who is available. Sometimes I like to play Selnaes at WM on the left (support) and have Drenthe at LWB (attack) behind him.

To be totally honest I haven't found a formation I'm fully happy with yet. I think once I upgrade my right back and bring in another attacking mid I'll be going 4-2-3-1 but currently Rangel gets too overran there and Taylor is still developing. What about you?

[bornyesterday]

Pre-match i normally let my assistant do it. best you can hope for is 1 or 2 players motivated, i sometimes select i expect a win if we are heavy favorites, but tbh i dont think pre-match team talks have the same impact as h/t f/t ones.

Anyone else having issues with the amount if tax you pay? I won the PL and got the CL final in my second season, ended up with 80M in the bank at the seasons end. going into my 3 rd season with a balance of 40M or so and i am paying out 4-5M a month in tax and i have no idea why. my tax bill in season 2 was 10m, so far im up to january in S3 and i have paid out 28M in tax.

What are your thoughts about post-match? Sometimes I feel I choose the wrong option and it has a knock-on effect in the next match, it might account for the random home matches my team fails to turn up to. Congrats on your achievments by the way.

I'm really enjoying my Swansea save, I feel like it's going to be a real struggle to take us to the next level though. I've attained two 5th league positions in my first two seasons, the second season we were hovering between 12th-14th for most of it but made a very impressive late surge.

Here are my transfers so far:

I did the first season with transfers disabled, think it probably helped as my form was very strong from the first match with no need to build up team cohesion.

Second season I tried to rebuild the squad with disastrous consequences (at first). Tomkins and McCarthy have been my strongest signings, Tomkins has become an absolute beast in defence and even got his first full England cap.

Currently in pre-season of the third year and I've tried to make only a couple of key signings, I took a bit of a risk splashing out on Ramirez but he has the potential to really strengthen the team.

Re-signing Joe Allen for 6.5 million is a bit of a steal!

Here are my league performances so far:

I really don't understand how people are taking teams like Swansea to Champions League finals in the second season etc. I feel like there is such a gulf in class between the top 4 and myself and the gulf is always being maintained as they keep signing world class players like Neymar etc.

[Phenomenon]

End of Season Update: Season 2.

Well, to put it bluntly I have failed. I said I would get a European spot, but I finished 8th, on 59 points. Everton and Arsenal finished on the same amount of points, only they both had a better goasl difference. I also reached the semi-final of the FA cup and lost 1-0 to Wolves(dominated the game too), so didnt qualify through that either.

League: 8th

FA Cup: Semi's(1-0 loss to Wolves)

League Cup: 2nd round(4-2 loss to Watford away.. still playing youth in that cup)

Best win of the season: Although I should be saying beating Arsenal 4-1 at the Liberty, it HAS to be beating the scum 2-0 in the FA Cup 6th round.

Worst loss: Didnt take a real hiding like the first season with United. Gonna have to be the Wolves semi, after dominating the game I felt robbed to not have come away with the win and a European spot.

Top Scorer: Danny Graham (12 goals, 11 in league)

Player of the Season: Ashley Williams (ever present at the back, solid and consistent.

Transfers

The players out of screen are the releases of iaquinta, Tremmel and Jorge Ribiero.

Delac, Wooton, Sanogo and Williams were all brought in for future. Very happy with the signing of Afellay on the free, but still unsure where to play him in my 4-3-3 formation. Gibbs, Curci and Lowton were all brought in as Cover for their respective positions.

New Season

I have once again opted for the European places expectation. This gave me a budget of about 15million all told, but I've spent 5.25m on Ciaran Clark from Aston Villa, and 2.6m on James McClean from Sunderland. Also got myself a new Head of Youth Development, who's signed a couple of decent looking newgens.

Looking at a major overhaul of players in the window. Will be selling Michu, Pablo Hernandez, Ben Davies, Darnel Situ, Rory Donelly, Lee Lucas, Daniel Alfei, Ashley Richards and Curci as they do not feature in my plans. May also looks at selling Britton(getting on a bit), Graham(not prolific enough), Chico(will be 4th choice now Clark is here), Rangel(getting on a bit) and Jose Baxter(not developed well enough).. all providing I get decent prices for them.

My tranfer targets for this season will be Nathanial Clyne(RB) and Luke Shaw(LB) both from Southampton, and Joe Allen(planning to retrain to DM to replace Britton) or Jack Rodwell(to replace Britton). Would be interested to know which one of the two you think I should go for. May look at a Striker if Graham goes, but I have Ishak Belfodil coming in for free so will give him a chance first. Also have Pogba coming in for free too.

Currently playing a 4-3-3 at the moment, but was constantly changing my formation last year, couldn't find a settled tactic that wouldnt let me down. My strongest 11(plus back ups) at the moment is..

GK: Vorm/Delac

RB: Rangel/Lowton

LB: Taylor/Gibbs

CB: Williams/Okore/Wootton

CB: Clark/Chico/Bartley

DM: Britton/Ki

CM: Anderson/Dzagoev

CM: Afellay/Williams/Pogba

RW: Dyer/Wellington Nem

LW: McClean/Drenthe

ST: Graham/Belfodil/Cornelius/Sanogo

Loving this new FM and the challenge of managing the Swans.

[f0rmat]

Just managed to get Salvatore Bocchetti to agree to a free transfer in the summer of 13/14. Only on around 25k p/w too.

[Phenomenon]

Just managed to get Salvatore Bocchetti to agree to a free transfer in the summer of 13/14. Only on around 25k p/w too.

Yeah I missed out on him, was gutted, he looks good!

Just signed Rodwell for 6m. Only downfall is that it came with a hefty 60k p/w contract. Another bad thing about that contract is that Alan Dzagoev had a 'match highest earner' clause in his contract. Might sell Dzagoev now and get Joe Allen in to replace him. Shame because Dzagoev's stats are looking good.

[JD nawrat]

I started a Swansea save today. Looking forward to it, made some nice signings, got my team ready. First game of the season is a trip to Newcastle. I got 1-3 up just after HT, with their only goal coming because of a Michel Vorm mistake (he dropped the ball allowing them to score). Nonetheless, keepers make mistakes, I can live with that...

Keepers shouldn't be making THREE mistakes though, which is exactly what Vorm did in the opener...

Nice rating, Vorm.

Second game against Spurs at home and we lose 1-0 because Vorm (SURPRISE!) makes a mistake and we conceded... Lloris, of course, was unbeatable.

So from two games where I should've got at least 4 points I left with 1. Frustrated and angered... nonetheless, things can only get better, eh?

For anyone interested, my sinings:

In:

Taras Stepanenko - £6M (record)

Gelson Fernandes - £3.2M

Wellington Nem - £3.5M

Rudi Skacel - Free

Angelo Henriquez - Loan (£80k loan fee)

Out:

Garry Monk - £500k (complained about being stripped of captaincy, couldn't be bothered with his moaning)

Curtis Obeng - £250k

Luke Moore - £1.5M

Kemy Augustien - £2.5M

EDIT:

Danny Graham GOAT. He's a beast (somehow).

6th after 9 games, having won 4, drawn 3 and lost 2 (losses are to Spurs and Man United). I am 14th in the Home Table (P4, W1, D2, L1) but amazingly I am second in the Away table (P5, W3, D1, L1) (the defeat was to United). got wins at the likes of Everton and Southampton (were top when I beat them, having won 4 of their first 4. spiralled a bit since I beat them, losing the four after I beat them, ha).

Danny Graham is saving me atm. Michel Vorm is not. the number of goals that are his fault are killing me. going to try and cash in on him ASAP and bring in someone better.

[Phenomenon]

I've not long started my 3rd season and Vorm will be leaving in January. Never performed all that well for me and is prone to a howler. I have a Brazilian keeper from Santos called Rafael coming in to replace him. Picked him up for free so Vorms days are numbered.

Quick update on my season 3 transfers..

Out: Michu, Hernandez, Curci, Situ, Drenthe, Baxter, Richards, Alfei, Lucas, Donelly, Rangel.

In: Ciaran Clark, Ishak Belfodil, James McClean, Robbie Brady, Jack Rodwell, Nathanial Clyne, Paul Pogba and 2 newgens signed by my HoYD.

Out on loan: Sanogo, Wootton, Bartley and 2 youth teamers.

Also, selling Ki to Inter for 2.9m to gain enough funds to sign Raheem Sterling for 7.25m.

[JD nawrat]

After publicly criticising Vorm and then speaking to him in private about it, he promised he'd improve. Next game is at home to Chelsea. He plays his game of the season and helps keep a clean sheet (only our third in the league in 10 games) and thanks to a Wellington Nem screamer in injury time, I managed to win 1-0. Superb win. I changed my tactics and decided that i had to be a lot more attacking at home rather than my usual balanced self (which is great away from home (evidently) but not so hot at home when I need to be best). I hope this victory will kickstart my home form.

Up to 4th with that win, but Newcastle have two in hand and are only 1 point behind me. Looks like I'm set for a very good season with Swansea.

Unfortunately I got knocked out of the Capital One Cup by QPR. I was losing 3-1 at Loftus and managed to fight back to 3-3 (Danny Graham coming off the bench to get both haha). Took it to penalties but we missed ALL FOUR (yup...) and Vorm could only save two of theirs. We lost 2-0 in a penalty shootout. Frustrating, but I met board expectations of Round 4 and now I can focus on the league anyway.

edit: some nice signings there, Phenomenon. How much did Paul Pogba cost you? On FM11 and 12 he developed into one of my best players at Stade Rennais but always cost upwards of £8M from the United reserves(!) - I'm guessing he might cost a bit more since he's at Juve where they'll probably make more of an attempt to develop him than United did. Sticking with a British (and Irish) theme throughout too, always have respect for people who manage to do that. I'm always too tempted to fall into signing foreign talent, regardless of how hard I try to avoid that, ha.

[Phenomenon]

Nice to see Vorm's picked his form up for you. If he cuts out his mistakes for the rest of the season you could be flying high in Europe nexy year!

Picked up Pogba on a free transfer. Thought I'd give him a look seems as he's playing incredibly well in real life for Juve. Will let you know how he develops. Yeah I like to keep it as realistic as I can. Can't resist the odd foreigner at a bargain price or on the free but I prefer looking for the British players if I can.

[bentley2011]

Just started with Swansea. How do people play Danny Graham so that his pace doesnt hinder him scoring?

[jlawlor91]

I started a Swansea save last week after failing with Arsenal, Norwich and West Brom. Only just got round to it...

Transfers In:

Vegard Forren - £5.75m

Leonard Kweuke - £3.2m

James McClean - £4.5m

John Guidetti - Loan

Jores Okore - £1.5m

Anderson - Loan

Transfers Out:

Luke Moore - £500k

Garry Monk - £550k

Kemi Agustien - £1.5m

Mark Gower - £550k

Alan Tate - £1.2m

I'm playing a 4-5-1:

_____________________Vorm

Rangel______Williams_________Forren__________Taylor

____________________Britton

_________Anderson_____________Michu

Hernandez_________________________________Dyer

___________________Graham

Results:

Man United (A) - 3-0 Loss

Fulham (H) - 3-0 Win

Newcastle (A) - 1-0 Loss

Wigan (A) 2-0 Win

West Brom (H) - 4-2 Win

Stoke (H) 3-1 Loss

S'hampton (A) 3-1 Loss

West Ham (H) 3-0 Win

[JD nawrat]

Just started with Swansea. How do people play Danny Graham so that his pace doesnt hinder him scoring?

I find it nigh-on impossible to succeed with a target man. It is maybe just my system, I'm not sure. I have never got a TGM to work unless they're playing with another up top (Edin Dzeko with Aguero, for example). Therefore, I went with what I know best - Poacher. Since switching him to Poacher, Graham has scored a pretty remarkable (for his standards, comparing to others' in here, and by someone playing for an apparently-relegation-tipped side's standards) 11 goals in 9(2) appearances, only one of which is a penalty. In the league he has 9 in 8(1)... Even more remarkably, he's not the top goalscorer in the league. Darren Bent has 12 in 11 league games, ha. But yeah, Poacher works great for me. Give him plenty of supply and he'll do well. Nem (especially) plays some great passes which set up Graham.

[JD nawrat]

Next game Vorm drops the ball at Fletcher's feet and I end up losing to Sunderland.

I'm dropping him, stripping him of captaincy and looking to sell him ASAP. Why have SI made him so mistake-prone? He isn't like that IRL at all.

[f0rmat]

Next game Vorm drops the ball at Fletcher's feet and I end up losing to Sunderland.

I'm dropping him, stripping him of captaincy and looking to sell him ASAP. Why have SI made him so mistake-prone? He isn't like that IRL at all.

He's been decent for me. Certainly none of the clangers you're describing.

[JD nawrat]

so happy with how things are going at the minute. not won in my last two games (lost at Etihad, drew hosting Villa), but I think a slight drop in form was always going to happen considering how well my start went. I was aiming for 17 wins/around 50 points. I'm well over halfway there and I'm not even halfway through the season. things are going great.

[Rubentus_Juventus]

How'd you guys get Alan Dzagoev? Guy is unwilling to enter into any sort of talks with me at the start of the first season.

[JD nawrat]

I'm the exact same as you, R_J. Very frustrating. I lost out on him as he signed a contract extension at CSKA.

I have 7 games left to go and I'm sitting 4th. Looks like I'll finish 5th or 6th though due to pressure from Aston Villa and Chelsea.

[Phenomenon]

I had no problems with him at all. Went straight in for him as soon as I started the game. He's now with 9.5m and PSG are interested. Will sell him for the right price and bring Joe Allen back.

[JD nawrat]

5 games remaining and I face a trip to West Ham. thump them 6-1 and almost all of my team get into the TotW. 4 games remaining, still in 4th. quite a bit to do but I think we'll hang onto top 6 (the only places that'll get into the EL).

edit: about to play Man City at the Liberty and I am the favourite. wow. It's a very small thing but it means a lot. I've taken the club very far in less than a season.

[JD nawrat]

Season 1 - 2012/2013

Targets

1. Survive. Regardless of what else I set, I wanted to just survive.

2. If possible, finish mid-table - 14th or above.

3. Earn 17 wins in the Premier League, with the aim of surpassing 50 points.

Premier League: A very successful Premier League campaign, evidently. It went right down to the last day where Newcastle choked and got beat 4-0 by Sunderland. Had they won, I would've finished 4th instead. I still had enough to get top four regardless, I suppose. This is how I fluctuated throughout the league. Game Week 15 was a glorious week. Swansea were on top of England at one point... I earned my 17 wins (just about) and smashed my 50 point target. Here's my fixtures (split into 2 screens) of the season (league only).

Fixtures 1 | Fixtures 2

My cup campaigns were miserable. I made the 4th round of the Capital One Cup and the 3rd Round of the FA Cup. Nothing more shall be said of this.

This is my transfers (in and out) for the whole season.

Taras Stepanenko has the disinction of being my personal signing of the season. I was overwhelmed by the highly consistent, top quality performances he provided. He single-handedly kept fellow signing Gelson Fernandes out of the team. However, a special mention must go to Charles N'Zogbia. He was a total revelation behind Danny Graham. Look at his contributions:games ratio. Excellent. Without him I would've struggled towards the end of the season. Both men were record signings at the time (N'Zogbia still is, in fact).

Players of the Season

Initially this seemed like a straight forward decision, but the more I think of it the harder it becomes. It could easily go to Leon Britton, one of the very few players to start every single PL game for me. I could have also easily named Chico or Ashley Williams as the two formed a formidable partnership at the back which no doubt helped me get as high in the Premier League as I did. And then there's club top goalscorer and joint-second top PL goalscorer Danny Graham, who found the net an incredible 24 times in 37 games for me in the PL. However, the man who stood out most of all for me this season was undoubtedly Nathan Dyer, my top assister and second top goalscorer. He was also the only person besides Danny Graham to find the net in double figures.

This was tactical setup towards the end of the season. I would probably have started Marc Albrighton on the left wing but he suffered an injury at the same time Nem recovered so it worked quite fortunately for me. I'll maintain a similar setup next season.

My future transfers already agreed upon are Artem Milevskyi moving on a free transfer from Dinamo Kyiv and Jack Cork moving from Southampton to Swansea as a long-term replacement for Leon Britton for another new club record of £6.5M. I also want to try and bring in a new CB or two as well as an accomplished RB and maybe James McCarthy. Not much else needs strengthened upon really, as I'm quite glad with my strength in-depth. if a bargain comes along I'll snap it up but otherwise I'm pleased with things as they are. I might try and target a marquee signing...probably a striker as I need someone more consistent than Graham (if you look at my fixtures where I win about 3 in 10, you'll notice Graham doesn't score in (m)any of them at all).

I guess all that is left is to set myself targets for next season...

Targets for 2013/2014

1. Finish in the Top 8.

2. Do the club proud in the Champions League and aim for third or higher in the group (target will change accordingly with group difficulty).

3. Get a decent cup run (FA or League, doesn't matter).

Oh and one last thing. I signed a new contract with Swansea on a 3 year deal. I was offered 4 but I reduced it. Hoping to have a long and successful career with Swansea.

[Phenomenon]

Fair play that is an unbelieveable start. It makes me wonder what I'm doing wrong haha! I'm now hitting February my third season and sitting in 8th. Hoping to eventually finish around 6th. Struggling to pick up good results consistently.

Made a few good signings though. Bought Raheem Sterling for 3.8m and Kyle Walker for 9.75m and got Rafael(GK from Santos) for free in the last window. Sold Graham for around 5m, Lowton for 2m and Vorm for 5m.

[JD nawrat]

Very busy pre-season. I tried and tried to sign a quality CB and three or four looked to be set to join but chose PSG or some other money bags rather frustratingly.

However, I still managed to get in the following players.

Simao - Free

I have never heard of this guy. His agent randomly approached me and told me he was worth signing. I gave him a quick look-see and scouted him. 3* CA, 3.5* PA. Buy. I got rid of a lot of MCs last season, such as Mark Gower, Michu, Rudi Skacel and Ki, so I had to bring in some cover. Plus, Gelson Fernandes was costly (third highest wages before the start of the window) and wasn't even a starter, so I got rid of him for £3.5M and brought in Simao. He'll not start (Stepanenko will) but he'll no doubt prove useful considering I've got the Champions League to look forward to.

André Santos - £6M (Sporting CP)

I tried to sign André Santos prior to targeting Simao and once I saw the ridiculously cheap wages that Santos wanted, I went along with signing him anyway. It will no doubt be tough to keep Stepanenko, Santos, Simao, Britton and Cork all happy when I only play 2 MCs but I'll see how it goes. I'm looking forward to working with Santos because I enjoyed managing him as Sporting manager on FM12 (arguably my best player).

James McLean - £6.25M (Sunderland)

I had no intention of signing him but I saw Sunderland got relegated and he was transfer listed and I jumped on the opportunity. This resulted in Wayne Routledge being sold, but hey ho, no big loss. McLean looks like he'll be dangerous and his crosses should be lethal. Again, I've got 4 other wingers all capable of playing on AML but I need cover due to Europe, plus one of my biggest problems last season was injuries to the wings often resulting in the likes of Skacel and de Guzman playing out wide.

Abel Hernandez - £12.5M (Palermo)

I wanted a big marquee signing and I think I might just have found it. I'm extremely pleased to have landed Abel for such a small fee, it feels like an absolute steal at that price. He's going to lead my line and (hopefully) provide many more goals than Graham did (which is quite a lot in fairness).

I also signed Jack Cork and have Artem Milevskyi still to come in soon. I tried to get a RB too but ultimately failed in that (went for Kyle Walker but Spurs want £14M straight up which I cannot afford). I resigned Ashley Richards to keep as a back-up to the brilliant Angel Rangel. I'll use Bartley and Tate as my back-ups to the brilliant Chico and Williamson... if I can get any class CBs on the cheap I'll take them but I'm not holding my breath. I also need a back-up GK but that's not really an issue at the moment.

e: Danny Graham just demanded £51k per week in wages. Time to cash in on him, I think. With Abel and Milevskyi plus Nem having the ability to play ST, I don't need Graham. Not on those sort of wages, anyway.

Rogelio - £2.8M (Betis)

This guy popped up in my scout reports with 5* potential and I just had to have him. I managed to beat Real Madrid to him. I'll probably play him quite a bit this season despite him only being 15...

Gary Hooper - £2M (Celtic)

I needed a third choice striker because I got rid of Danny Graham for a very nice £8.75M to Celtic. Brought in Hooper for a bargain price. Good signing, I think.

Tam Coakley - £500K (Celtic)

This kid popped up in my scout reports as a 4* GK. Again, from Celtic. His value was a laughable £45K. His PA is now only 3.5* but that's still very good. Hopefully in about 4 years he'll be capable of starting for me.

Johann Carrasso - £325k (Stade Rennais)

In the meantime, Carrasso will be my back-up to Vorm. He was good for me in my Rennes saves on 11 and 12 so I hope he'll be good when called upon this year round. Nice cheap price, pleased with that.

This brings my spending for the window to an end. I spent £37M...

[JD nawrat]

Swansea.

Galatasaray.

Juventus.

Real Madrid.

crap.

...at least Juve and Madrid will get to visit Swansea.

[Phenomenon]

Tough draw. Good luck with that.

That Simao fella, the DM you signed, looks like a steal! Just checked him on my game and he's playing in China. Looks like he could be a very effective DM. Nice find!

[Phenomenon]

Tough draw. Good luck with that.

That Simao fella, the DM you signed, looks like a steal! Just checked him on my game and he's playing in China. Looks like he could be a very effective DM. Nice find!