FM14: Newcastle United - Vive La Revolution

[james_wilko]

End of Pre-Season 2015

Transfers

Not too bad on the transfer front, was worried I wouldn`t be able to replace Anita and Sissoko but Fernando and Wilshere are definitely good enough to do so. Also brought in a few quality youngsters in Patterson and Matthews who will be my future RB and AMR respectively. Also some good freebies in Hernanes (from Lazio) and Guzan (Villa) to bulk out the squad.

Still feel bad about letting HBA go, but Batshuayi on the left and Schurrle on the right are making me think this might have been the right choice as both have been in great form. Went to check on him at Madrid, only one sub appearance and he was rubbish in it. They are ruining his career

Fixtures/Competitions

Another two trophies, when it rains it pours eh? Delighted with the team and the way we are performing. Only player I am a bit worried about is Martinez, who in 7 games only has 2 goals and no assists. Hopefully it`s just a case of finding his feet.

But in the Champions League we are getting **** on again. Galatasary, Juventus and Monaco making up the other teams in our group. Nevermind keeping hold of our title, I`m worried we might not get out the group!

[DandyDon]

But in the Champions League we are getting **** on again. Galatasary, Juventus and Monaco making up the other teams in our group. Nevermind keeping hold of our title, I`m worried we might not get out the group!

Pretty tough group, but I reckon you should make it out of there with the squad you've got

I've been making very slow progress through the first transfer window on my new save, and having to work today so won't have the chance to get the season properly underway till late tonight.

I have managed to raise some decent funds by selling Tiote, Obertan, Gutierrez and Marveaux (felt a bit sorry for Marveaux as he was actually looking in great form in some of our early friendlies, but I needed a little extra cash to secure one of my signings). So far I've added Salvio in on loan again, have secured Honda on a free transfer to arrive in January and I have a loan offer in for the other Benfica winger Gaitan. More importantly I've managed to sign Andre Ayew from Marseille and Giuseppe Bellusci for the 1st season and persuaded Marc Bartra to sign from Barcelona which I'm very happy with.

I'm hoping that I might be able to organise a deal for either Tom Ince or Will Hughes before the transfer window closes so I can add another young English player to the squad, and if I can get the prices low enough maybe even sign both of them (highly unlikely at this point unfortunately, but might get lucky)

[DBurns]

@james_wilko

Some nice transfers there! mind posting up your squad?

@DandyDon

Just like you, I've started again although I didn't get too far into my season on the beta. Just loading up my save now and planning on similar sales as yourself. Incoming I'm unsure of who to bring in as I haven't quite decided on a formation to use!

[james_wilko]

No problem, first team squad here:

Squad looks bigger because I have several of the U21s called up for a cup game.

[Abramovic]

Really wanted to post more in this thread as my season went on but sadly couldnt. So here is a mini update as such

The best way i can describe my season is inconsistent. Despite currently being in 5th place after 32 games, i have a feeling i will finish 6th or 7th. Maybe i should be happy with that.

It could be my tactical approach but i cannot get either fullbacks to preform. avg rating of 6.30 i think is the best i can muster (could be higher but either way disappointing ) Zaha and Honda have been crap as well. the only silver lining has been performances of Ben Arfa and siabo mate who was signed from red bull salzburg

playing a mix of 4321 and 41221

[|maze|]

Yeah no problem, I have two the one above and a 4-5-1 version.

4-5-1

http://www.sendspace.com/file/8a9q34

4-3-3

http://www.sendspace.com/file/9dlkmh

Don`t think this is plug and play so you will need to get players who fit the formation. Example being Colo, the tactic has a high line which he will struggle with.

And it doesn`t show in the formations, but the AMR is actually set as a winger not an Inside Forward, I just have Schurrle only set as winger there but I have been meaning to update to just winger.

Thank you. Will look at your tactics for inspiration. I'm struggling with my 4-1-2-2-1. My Full backs can't seem to defend at all. Whether its the ME or my tactics I don't know. Do you know of a good place to learn more about shouts combinations?

[Abramovic]

Thank you. Will look at your tactics for inspiration. I'm struggling with my 4-1-2-2-1. My Full backs can't seem to defend at all. Whether its the ME or my tactics I don't know. Do you know of a good place to learn more about shouts combinations?

the only way i can get some sort of performance out of my team defensively is to constantly use , tight marking & hassle opponents at all times

[jlawlor91]

Why is Remy rated so badly? Maximum attribute is 15?!

[Statistical Approach]

Just played one half season on this as Newcastle. Wondering what happens long term. Chances of a takeover? what are the budgets like etc? the board have given me nothing so far and I'm only getting a fraction of the money I've brought in through selling deadwood.

In terms of how my save is going.....

Top of the league by 4 pts. Out of both cups but haven't lost in the league. Basically the same team as I had at the start of the game other than Gomis up front and Gaitan on the left. Didn't even do a lot tactically. Just a 4141 formation with Gomis as a targetman and Hatem/Gaitan as inside forwards. I've missed at least 4 pens as well.

Mbiwa has been really useful as utility man when Debuchy and Santon have been exhausted/injured.

Cabaye and Hatem just silly good on this it seems. Gomis nothing special, 7 in 18 so good but hardly firing me to the title or anything.

Brought in Honda on a free but he only got to play 2 games before the game ended.

Vitinho coming at the end of the season who looks amazy, young Brazilian.

[DandyDon]

Really wanted to post more in this thread as my season went on but sadly couldnt. So here is a mini update as such

The best way i can describe my season is inconsistent. Despite currently being in 5th place after 32 games, i have a feeling i will finish 6th or 7th. Maybe i should be happy with that.

It could be my tactical approach but i cannot get either fullbacks to preform. avg rating of 6.30 i think is the best i can muster (could be higher but either way disappointing ) Zaha and Honda have been crap as well. the only silver lining has been performances of Ben Arfa and siabo mate who was signed from red bull salzburg

playing a mix of 4321 and 41221

From what I've read of the feedback thread in the General Discussion forum there was a problem with the average rating of players being too low regardless of performance level and result, particularly defenders. Was something SI were aware of and were working on (not sure if it was corrected in the 14.1.3 update or was still being worked on), so that might be partly to blame for your low average ratings for the fullbacks.

Honda took a while to settle on my Beta save but did improve.

[DandyDon]

Just played one half season on this as Newcastle. Wondering what happens long term. Chances of a takeover? what are the budgets like etc? the board have given me nothing so far and I'm only getting a fraction of the money I've brought in through selling deadwood.

In terms of how my save is going.....

Top of the league by 4 pts. Out of both cups but haven't lost in the league. Basically the same team as I had at the start of the game other than Gomis up front and Gaitan on the left. Didn't even do a lot tactically. Just a 4141 formation with Gomis as a targetman and Hatem/Gaitan as inside forwards. I've missed at least 4 pens as well.

Mbiwa has been really useful as utility man when Debuchy and Santon have been exhausted/injured.

Cabaye and Hatem just silly good on this it seems. Gomis nothing special, 7 in 18 so good but hardly firing me to the title or anything.

Brought in Honda on a free but he only got to play 2 games before the game ended.

Vitinho coming at the end of the season who looks amazy, young Brazilian.

Take it you're playing on the demo?

You won't get much from the board in the first 2 seasons transfer wise, but you will probably get some hefty bids for the likes of Santon and Debuchy if you have a good first season. I got and £8 million budget first season and then just over £10 million for second season on my beta save. Got a much better £20 million or so for start of third season though.

Toward end of second season was when I started getting news items about potential takeovers and I was actually in middle of an attempted consortium takeover partway into third season when the game was fully released and I decided to start a fresh save.

[Statistical Approach]

ahh ok cheers. And yeah playing on the demo, will either buy the full game tonight or try another 6 month save as someone else.

[Abramovic]

From what I've read of the feedback thread in the General Discussion forum there was a problem with the average rating of players being too low regardless of performance level and result, particularly defenders. Was something SI were aware of and were working on (not sure if it was corrected in the 14.1.3 update or was still being worked on), so that might be partly to blame for your low average ratings for the fullbacks.

Honda took a while to settle on my Beta save but did improve.

Glad to hear im not the only one having / had those issues

I should post / moan more often in this thread as my results since the post have been unbelievable. Honda and Zaha both stepped their game up and we managed to cling on to 5th place, Tottenham ran out of steam in the chase.

And to top it all off a 4-0 victory in the FA Cup final against Sunderland. They should give me the job for life not just 2 seasons extension that i got.

will try to get some screenshots up tomorrow but its been a while since i was proud of an achievement like this

[|maze|]

the only way i can get some sort of performance out of my team defensively is to constantly use , tight marking & hassle opponents at all times

Been having quite a success converting to a 442 Diamond. Currently on a 6 game winning streak. Haven't lost yet this season (end of October). Seems like the stupid and silly defending is a little better, having only conceeded 1 goal in the last five.

[james_wilko]

Really not enjoying my game since all the big name signings, decided to reload the pre season save just before I sold HBA to see if I can keep enjoying it. Definitely won`t be signing the likes of Wilshere this time round.

[Abramovic]

End of season 2013/2014

As promised here is a couple of images from my save.

After tearing my hair out at the start and moaning about inconsistency i just realised Krul had 17 clean sheets in the premiership which im obviously delighted with. Maybe i was expecting too much too soon but never the less it would have been nice to break top 4 season one

Apologies in advance should i break the screen adding these images , its been a while

End of season table

Transfers in and out

Squad

Ben Arfa with 14 goals as my top scorer is somewhat disappointing , but the lad is good.

FA CUP FINAL

Poyet was talking so much non sense before the match started , as i foolishly responded to his attempts at mind games. Needless to say i dont think he will be trying that again

So yeah overall im delighted how it all went, the only downside is i have a feeling i will lose Ben Arfa and Cabaye has never forgiven me for not allowing him to talk to PSG.

[OutClassed]

Started up my first game on FM14 with Newcastle (as per). Decided to do something that I wouldn't normally do and sold one key player in the very first window. Ben Arfa was upset I wouldn't let him talk to Chelsea and I couldn't salvage the relationship so he put in a request. Ended up selling him for £32.5m (Only a disappointing £7m upfront) to Real Madrid. A bid came in from Chelsea for £5m more, but I didn't want him haunting me all season so rejected their offer. Following him out the door were Obertan and Gutierrez for over £5m each.

Looking at the squad it seems very unbalanced and I'm regretting bringing in the free transfers I did. Adam Vass might not be too bad because he's only on £2k a week and has looked solid when I've used him. However, Reveillere is on £20k and isn't going to get much game time. I brought him in quite quickly, but also ended up bringing in De Vrij who could have covered RB as well. Honda seemed like another good choice, although I'm struggling to get him to perform. The two transfers I'm most excited about though are Ince (£3.8m) and Hughes (£10M). Hoping to integrate these two early on and have them as first choice as AML and AMC.

I've played 6 league games so far and only recorded 1 win, but only lost twice which isn't too bad. Struggling to find my first choice midfield and attack, so that inconsistency might be harming my form. The aim for this season is to hopefully make it into the Europa League.

[Abramovic]

just been offered 21 million up front for Santon. Need the funds but its arsenal which makes me think i should keep him

edit: sold him, hopefully with these funds i can keep my attacking big boys

[jlawlor91]

There's quite a few different approaches I fancy as Toon boss this year:

- Give Joe Kinnear all responsibility

- '5-4-1' with 3 CBs and Debuchy and Santon bombing forward

- Replace Tiote, Ben Arfa and Santon with Diame and 2 other cheap'ns

- Try get a French XI (3/4 there)

I've started my normal approach so far and I've signed Tom Ince for £3m, Honda for £2m, Mason Bennett for £600k and I'm trying to get Ayew, Batushayi and Damaio after selling Shameobi, Williamson, Gutierrez, Elliott and a couple others. Griezmann rejected me

[OutClassed]

I think the 541 formation would actually work really well with the squad we have. I think I may be almost 2/3 of the way for your 3rd point by January. Tiote handed in a transfer request after I promised we'd be challenging higher up the table. I think if I get an offer close to £20m for him I might just sell him and bring in Diame.

[|maze|]

Been having quite a success converting to a 442 Diamond. Currently on a 6 game winning streak. Haven't lost yet this season (end of October). Seems like the stupid and silly defending is a little better, having only conceeded 1 goal in the last five.

Might add to this now. I am still unbeaten with my 442 diamond by mid desember. I have tweaked it to my group of players, and made some shouts combos. At times I go out with the 'wrong' strategy and struggle, but as soon as I adapt I punch back. Gouffran has proven to be a super sub for me. I'm not going to lie, some matches I've been increably lucky. I beat Man City 1-0 away, and Chelsea 5-3 at home. Can't seem to tighten up my defence as much as I'd like, so at times I get the odd 2 goals conceeded from what I believe is a glitch in the ME.

[Hamzterz]

Wow, that was close!

The last game was home against Arsenal... If only we had won that game 3-0 in stead of 3-2...

[DandyDon]

@Hamzterz

Unlucky, about as close as you could have gotten. Looks like Caulker had a fantastic season for you too.

[tool-nes]

Hey guys, many impressive savegames with my beloved Newcastle United here

I came 7.place in my first season.

Brought in Damiao, Balanta and Salvio (loan), major out was only Obertan and Jonas.

Before second season I have brought in Corchia, Borini, Vela, Vitinho, Strandberg, Perin, Fierro, Pjanic (loan) and Salvio (loan). Out went Gouffran, Cisse, Colo, Debuchy and Steven Taylor.

I have not found a way to get Ben Arfa to work as good as I know he can, any advice on how to get the best out of him?

I am currently using him OMR, Inside Forward. I have also tried him as Trequartista in the OM position.

Formation is currently 41221 or 4231.

[Scully11]

Has anyone else bought Barbosa i didnt really use him at the start of the season now everytime he plays hes scores including a hat trick against Man Utd in a 4-1 win

[Scully11]

Hey guys, many impressive savegames with my beloved Newcastle United here

I came 7.place in my first season.

Brought in Damiao, Balanta and Salvio (loan), major out was only Obertan and Jonas.

Before second season I have brought in Corchia, Borini, Vela, Vitinho, Strandberg, Perin, Fierro, Pjanic (loan) and Salvio (loan). Out went Gouffran, Cisse, Colo, Debuchy and Steven Taylor.

I have not found a way to get Ben Arfa to work as good as I know he can, any advice on how to get the best out of him?

I am currently using him OMR, Inside Forward. I have also tried him as Trequartista in the OM position.

Formation is currently 41221 or 4231.

I had the same problem then put him AMR inside forward attack and set him to dribble more and get further forward this season he has played 31 games with 12 goals and 15 assists

[Abramovic]

After selling Santon and Mbiwa for 21m and 17.5 upfront i went on a bit off a spending spree

Transfers In

| Date               | Person                | From               | Fee                |
| -------------------------------------------------------------------------------------|
| 10/6/2014          | Vasilis Torosidis     | Roma               | £1.4M              |
| -------------------------------------------------------------------------------------|
| 30/6/2014          | Jean-Armel Kana-Biyik | Stade Rennais FC   | £4.1M              |
| -------------------------------------------------------------------------------------|
| 7/7/2014           | Danny Rose            | Tottenham          | £9.25M             |
| -------------------------------------------------------------------------------------|
| 22/7/2014          | Ezequiel Garay        | SLB                | £12.75M            |
| -------------------------------------------------------------------------------------|
| 3/8/2014           | Georginio Wijnaldum   | PSV                | £3.2M              |
| -------------------------------------------------------------------------------------|
|                    | Total                 |                    | £30.78M            |
| -------------------------------------------------------------------------------------| 
/[code]
[b]
Transfers out 

[/b][code]| Date               | Person             | To                 | Fee                |
| ----------------------------------------------------------------------------------|
| 13/6/2014          | Sylvain Marveaux   | SC Bastia          | Free               |
| ----------------------------------------------------------------------------------|
| 18/6/2014          | Kevin Mbabu        | Millwall           | Loan               |
| ----------------------------------------------------------------------------------|
| 22/6/2014          | Mike Williamson    | Blackpool          | Ln Fee £52K p/m    |
| ----------------------------------------------------------------------------------|
| 23/6/2014          | Shane Ferguson     | West Ham           | Loan               |
| ----------------------------------------------------------------------------------|
| 23/6/2014          | Davide Santon      | Arsenal            | £21M               |
| ----------------------------------------------------------------------------------|
| 30/6/2014          | Shola Ameobi       | Free Transfer      | Free               |
| ----------------------------------------------------------------------------------|
| 30/6/2014          | Paul Dummett       | Free Transfer      | Free               |
| ----------------------------------------------------------------------------------|
| 30/6/2014          | Steven Logan       | Free Transfer      | Free               |
| ----------------------------------------------------------------------------------|
| 30/6/2014          | Michael Richardson | Free Transfer      | Free               |
| ----------------------------------------------------------------------------------|
| 30/6/2014          | Jonathan Mitchell  | Free Transfer      | Free               |
| ----------------------------------------------------------------------------------|
| 30/6/2014          | Lewis Aird         | Free Transfer      | Free               |
| ----------------------------------------------------------------------------------|
| 1/7/2014           | Conor Newton       | Bournemouth        | Free               |
| ----------------------------------------------------------------------------------|
| 4/7/2014           | Romain Amalfitano  | Empoli             | £575K              |
| ----------------------------------------------------------------------------------|
| 5/7/2014           | Rob Elliot         | Charlton           | £925K              |
| ----------------------------------------------------------------------------------|
| 5/7/2014           | Freddie Woodman    | Dinamo Buc.        | Loan               |
| ----------------------------------------------------------------------------------|
| 6/7/2014           | Curtis Good        | Bolton             | Ln Fee £40.5K p/m  |
| ----------------------------------------------------------------------------------|
| 6/7/2014           | Haris Vuckic       | RB Leipzig         | Loan               |
| ----------------------------------------------------------------------------------|
| 6/7/2014           | Gael Bigirimana    | Swansea            | Loan               |
| ----------------------------------------------------------------------------------|
| 7/7/2014           | Remie Streete      | Ipswich            | Loan               |
| ----------------------------------------------------------------------------------|
| 7/7/2014           | Mehdi Abeid        | SC Bastia          | Loan               |
| ----------------------------------------------------------------------------------|
| 8/7/2014           | Brandon Miele      | Stevenage          | Loan               |
| ----------------------------------------------------------------------------------|
| 13/7/2014          | Mapou Yanga-Mbiwa  | AS Monaco FC       | £17.75M            |
| ----------------------------------------------------------------------------------|
| 14/7/2014          | Lubomir Satka      | Birmingham         | Loan               |
| ----------------------------------------------------------------------------------|
| 27/7/2014          | James Tavernier    | Charlton           | £600K              |
| ----------------------------------------------------------------------------------|
| 29/7/2014          | Ryan Taylor        | Yeovil             | Loan               |
| ----------------------------------------------------------------------------------|
| 1/8/2014           | Sammy Ameobi       | Crewe              | Loan               |
| ----------------------------------------------------------------------------------|
| 1/8/2014           | Rolando Aarons     | Mansfield          | Loan               |
| ----------------------------------------------------------------------------------|
| 6/8/2014           | Jonás Gutiérrez    | Fulham             | £900K              |
| ----------------------------------------------------------------------------------|
|                    | Total              |                    | £41.38M            

Despite spending so much money i didnt invest in a top class striker , meaning im starting my season with only 2 recognised strikers :o

on a happier note won the charity shield against united

[colquhoun4]

Hey guys

Had a bid from arsenal for Mapou Yanga-Mbwia of 26.75mill

Mapou was class last season and regular first teamer but have abit of depth with Balanta, Colo, Taylor and Rugani. Question is would you guys cash in??

[Abramovic]

without knowing all ins and outs i would be inclined to sell. I sold him for less

you can invest that money into 2 decent players at least

[DandyDon]

Season 1 -2013/14 - Progress Report

Right time for a bit more waffle

After deciding to start a new save with the release of the full game I've made painfully slow progress through the summer transfer window, then blitzed my way through the fixtures so I'm now at the end of January in the first season. So far, so good and I'm very happy with the squad I've got and the form they've shown so far.

Transfers Out

I started the transfer window by selling Gutierrez to Everton for £4.75 million and Gabriel Obertan to Marseille for £4 million as soon as I saw those clubs were interested. We lucked into starting a bit of a bidding war for Tiote after Atletico Madrid came in with an £8 million offer. Eventually ended up accepting a £15 million bid from Benfica for him (turned down a similar bid from Liverpool as they were only willing to pay £4.5 mill upfront). Despite some good form in pre-season I decided to accept bids from a couple of French clubs for Marveaux as well and he eventually moved to Stade Rennais for £4 million (could rise to £6.75 mill depending on a couple of clauses). Final player out was Mike Williamson who went off to Palace for £1.5 mill, but we're only getting £250,000 upfront there.

Transfers In

The first signing of the summer was adding French fullback Anthony Reveilliere on a free as a back up to Debuchy. Then made a move for Giuseppe Bellusci when I saw that his club had accepted a couple other bids for him and we got him for just £1.5 mill. My other defensive signing was Marc Bartra of Barcelona in a deal that will eventually rise to £6.75 million, I went for him as I love to have at least one centre back at the club who can develop into a comfortable ball playing defender and Bartra definitely has the potential to do that, was amazed when my scouts reported that he might be available for less than £7 million.

I couldn't find a striker I wanted that was available for a reasonable price so in terms of attacking players I've brought in three wide players who could hopefully provide a bit of a goal threat and creativity. Andre Ayew arrived from Marseille for £7 million (half upfront, the rest over 24 months to follow), Tom Ince from Blackpool for £2.8 million which I thought was a bit of a bargain and finally Eduardo Salvio on a loan deal for the season. We also clinched a contract with Keisuke Honda to sign for us in Januaury.

I ended up missing out on Nico Gaitan as Benfica took him off the loan list and after signing Ince we didn't have enough budget left to also sign my other target Will Hughes. However in November the board released some more funds and we went back in with a bid for Hughes and managed to secure him for £5 million.

Results so far

We've been in fantastic form for the first half of the season, managing some great results against Chelsea, Man City and Arsenal. (Admittedly results against Fulham and West Brom stopped me getting too over excited). Much like my Beta save we've struggled to get consistent goals from the strikers, but we're getting a good return from the midfield so far. Andre Ayew has scored 12 already and Salvio had added 8 before getting injured. Ben Arfa and Ayew have been the stars of the side so far, the defence have been hard to judge as despite a number of clean sheets and our league position all of them are struggling to get an average rating over 7.

These were probably our best 2 results so far. We took our opportunities well against Chelsea but I was even happier in a way with the performance against City. Down to 10 men inside 10 minutes but we kept pressing City and creating chances and looked very safe defensively.

Our form dipped quite a bit in January, but we did manage to end the month with a vewry good performance against Spurs to get back to winning ways. I'm not sure we'll keep the form up to the end of the season as our style is pretty combative and we're currently topping the table for Yellow cards and pretty near the top for Reds as well so I'm sure that injuries and suspensions could derail us shortly.

League Table as it stands

[OutClassed]

What formation are you playing Don?

I'm having a problem creating chances at the minute and have slipped from Europa League contention into the bottom half of the table. I play a 4-5-1 with 1 DM, 2 CMs and 2 W- sometimes this changes to a 4-3-3 with the wingers pushed up to the striker line. It worked alright for me in the first half of the season, albeit I leaked goals left, right and centre, but recently it just seems to be hitting brick wall after brick wall.

Line up is usually:

DM: Tiote/Anita

CM: Cabaye

CM: Honda/Sissoko

AMR: Robben

AML: Ince

ST: Cisse/Gouffran

The two player ones are dependant on who's playing better at the time.

Bringing in Gomis from Lyon in the summer. He's scored 30 goals for them this season so hopefully he'll help me out next season! Can anyone tell me what the transfer budget is like for the second season? I'll hopefully finish in the top half this season and my sales were £30m more than my expenditure so far, although the majority of that is coming through monthly installments. Didn't realise how much of a ballache that would be until I didn't have the funds to sign any of the good regens that had just been brought into the game!

[Scully11]

What formation are you playing Don?

I'm having a problem creating chances at the minute and have slipped from Europa League contention into the bottom half of the table. I play a 4-5-1 with 1 DM, 2 CMs and 2 W- sometimes this changes to a 4-3-3 with the wingers pushed up to the striker line. It worked alright for me in the first half of the season, albeit I leaked goals left, right and centre, but recently it just seems to be hitting brick wall after brick wall.

Line up is usually:

DM: Tiote/Anita

CM: Cabaye

CM: Honda/Sissoko

AMR: Robben

AML: Ince

ST: Cisse/Gouffran

The two player ones are dependant on who's playing better at the time.

Bringing in Gomis from Lyon in the summer. He's scored 30 goals for them this season so hopefully he'll help me out next season! Can anyone tell me what the transfer budget is like for the second season? I'll hopefully finish in the top half this season and my sales were £30m more than my expenditure so far, although the majority of that is coming through monthly installments. Didn't realise how much of a ballache that would be until I didn't have the funds to sign any of the good regens that had just been brought into the game!

Second season i only got £10mil transfer budget but managed to offload a couple of players like sissoko for £16mil and cisse for £5.5mil so brought in cardozo to play as a complete forward support with Vitinho and Ben Arfa as inside forward attacks on the wing. Also i play 1 CDm who at the minute is Colocini who plays great as a half back then have Holtby as an Advanced playmaker attack in the centre with Cabaye as deep lying support alongside

Thats how my League table is looking at the minute.

[Hamzterz]

@Hamzterz

Unlucky, about as close as you could have gotten. Looks like Caulker had a fantastic season for you too.

Yeah, quite a letdown... But still better that i've hoped before the season started.

Caulker is great - won Fans player of the year too. Half of the season was played on the beta though, before the lower rating on defense

[DandyDon]

@OutClassed

Usually play a 4-2-3-1 formation and keep tweaking the instructions and roles depending on who is fit and available. Generally always have the team playing a fairly high line, hassling opponents with short passing. Have been using work the ball into the box as well, but not sure it's working that well for me in terms of creating chances for the striker. Have also used a 4-4-2 in the domestic cup games, giving the youngsters some games and a more defensive 4-5-1 in a couple of league matches. We're currently bouncing up and down between 2nd and 6th since I posted that update, lost consecutive matches to Man Utd and Liverpool that hit the confidence a bit and Cabaye is now out injured for 6 weeks so he'll miss the run in.

[Scully11]

Just beaten Monaco 2-0 at home in the 2nd knockout round of Europe so definately feel i can progress to the quater finals of the cup. ill post screenshots at the end of my season im still top of the league by 5 points after 28 games aswell so definately an amazing season so far

[Scully11]

Well ive now played the away leg and won 1-0 Barbosa with the goal that makes it 3-0 on agrigate to me. I also missed a penalty in this game aswell

[Scully11]

I cant believe it ive just lost in the FA cup semi final against Charlton on penalties looks like ill have to try and win Europe and the league

[OutClassed]

Unlucky on penalties Scully.

So into my second season and I was more active than I thought I would be. Shola, Gosling, Cisse, Gouffran, Tavernier, Honda, Vass, Coloccini, Good, Sammy, Amalfitano and MYM all left the club for a total of £54.5, (£26m of that was on MYM). That meant that the wage bill dropped a bit so I could focus on bringing in some more established, and aimed for English, players. It also meant that Tom Ince and Will Hughes were the only players I bought last season that are still at the club!

I reinvested those funds in Shawcross(£11m), Finnbogason(£4m), Jay Rodriguez(£3m), Gomis(Free), Xabi Alonso(Loan), Putsila(Free) and Caulker(£15m). I can't see me signing anyone else in January unless the board releases some more funds. I've brought into around £50m profit over the two seasons, but too much of it is in monthly installments and I only get 50% of the revenue pumped back in In terms of like-for-like replacements to funds I think I did alright. The transfer fees for Finnbogason, Rodriguez and Gomis were covered by Cisse's sales, and Shawcross and Caulker were paid for by MYM. The wage bill is roughly the same, but I think I have a stronger (albeit smaller) squad. Really happy with Alonso, I'm hoping to play him in DM as regista against some of the weaker sides.

Already started the season well with a 2-0 and 1-0 win over Everton and Man Utd. The Man Utd result means that they haven't put a goal past my side in 3 attempts now!

[Scully11]

Well i have 2 games left in the league against chelsea and hull im currently joined first with chelsea so a win against them and a draw would win me the league i also have the final of europe against chelsea although not as confident about that one as balanta is banned for that game

[Scully11]

Here we go as promised is how Cardozo finished my season not bad for £9mil

He finished top scorer in the league

Also look at the crazy amount of goals MYM got me

[WabbitHunter25]

New to the forums but not FM. I always start with Newcastle as I have done in FM14. Reading through the posts on this thread and you guys have already gave me some new ideas for going forward. Hopefully I can contribute with some of my own things that seem to have worked. Great stuff guys.

Also I you guys have updated your progress I thought I would:

Transfered out:

Cheick Tiote £11.25m (£8m in installments) - Liverpool

Jonas Gutierrez £4m - Udinese

Gabi Obertan £3.2m (£2m installments) - Hull

Loaned out:

Gael Bigirimana - Huddersfield (can be recalled)

Haris Vuckic - Bolton

Sammy Ameobi - Tranmere

Dan Gosling - Crawley Town

Various Other younsters who won't be used.

Transfered In:

Will Hughes Derby £11.25m (£5m installments) + Paul Dummet - Loaned back for the season (no idea how people got him for £4m)

Maso Bennett Derby £???(forgot as Joke Kinnear arranged it) -Loaned back out to Brighton

Edaurdo Salvio Benfica - Season Long Loan

I started with a fairly easy pre season winning all but one, a draw against Roda JC. First in the league was Sunderland away, now my formation was 4-2-3-1 with Gouffran AMR, Ben Arfa AMC and Marveaux AML, Cisse STC, and it wasn't the greatest start, losing 5-1, Cisse scoring.

Next up was Southampton at home, 2-0 down at half time I changed tactic, putting gouffran up front alonside Cisse and moving Ben Arfa to AMR, ended up running out 4-2 winners cisse scoring a hat-trick, 2 assists for Marveaux and Ben Arfa, so Ikept the tactic for the next few games.

Then came Gillingham in the league cup, wholesale changes made, including starts for Miele, Kemen, Mbabu and Alnwick, won 2-0 with goals form Ameobi and Marveaux(sub).

West Ham away next and 3-0 up at half time Cisse x2 and Remy, back came West Ham to draw level in the 74th minute, but up popped Cabaye with a 25m rocket, won 4-3.

So sitting 4th in the league with 2 wins from 3 going into the international break fairly satisfied with results but not the amount of goals conceded, so I have brought in Steve Harford (defending attribute 17) who will hopefully sort things out.

Well pleased with Cisse, 6 goals in 3 and Remy looking good.

Going to use some of you guys ideas in terms of transfer targets in January (Wilson, Diame and Ince priorities) looking to Belgium for some young talent as that is a 'philosophy' of the club, any ideas?

[Scully11]

New to the forums but not FM. I always start with Newcastle as I have done in FM14. Reading through the posts on this thread and you guys have already gave me some new ideas for going forward. Hopefully I can contribute with some of my own things that seem to have worked. Great stuff guys.

Also I you guys have updated your progress I thought I would:

Transfered out:

Cheick Tiote £11.25m (£8m in installments) - Liverpool

Jonas Gutierrez £4m - Udinese

Gabi Obertan £3.2m (£2m installments) - Hull

Loaned out:

Gael Bigirimana - Huddersfield (can be recalled)

Haris Vuckic - Bolton

Sammy Ameobi - Tranmere

Dan Gosling - Crawley Town

Various Other younsters who won't be used.

Transfered In:

Will Hughes Derby £11.25m (£5m installments) + Paul Dummet - Loaned back for the season (no idea how people got him for £4m)

Maso Bennett Derby £???(forgot as Joke Kinnear arranged it) -Loaned back out to Brighton

Edaurdo Salvio Benfica - Season Long Loan

I started with a fairly easy pre season winning all but one, a draw against Roda JC. First in the league was Sunderland away, now my formation was 4-2-3-1 with Gouffran AMR, Ben Arfa AMC and Marveaux AML, Cisse STC, and it wasn't the greatest start, losing 5-1, Cisse scoring.

Next up was Southampton at home, 2-0 down at half time I changed tactic, putting gouffran up front alonside Cisse and moving Ben Arfa to AMR, ended up running out 4-2 winners cisse scoring a hat-trick, 2 assists for Marveaux and Ben Arfa, so Ikept the tactic for the next few games.

Then came Gillingham in the league cup, wholesale changes made, including starts for Miele, Kemen, Mbabu and Alnwick, won 2-0 with goals form Ameobi and Marveaux(sub).

West Ham away next and 3-0 up at half time Cisse x2 and Remy, back came West Ham to draw level in the 74th minute, but up popped Cabaye with a 25m rocket, won 4-3.

So sitting 4th in the league with 2 wins from 3 going into the international break fairly satisfied with results but not the amount of goals conceded, so I have brought in Steve Harford (defending attribute 17) who will hopefully sort things out.

Well pleased with Cisse, 6 goals in 3 and Remy looking good.

Going to use some of you guys ideas in terms of transfer targets in January (Wilson, Diame and Ince priorities) looking to Belgium for some young talent as that is a 'philosophy' of the club, any ideas?

You have really overpaid on Hughes i know ive just finished my second season but got him at the start of second season and loned him back he only cos 2.2 mil

Also i think you should have maybe bought in a defender just because of the lack of cover in that area in the rest of the squad.

I would definately recommend Balanta for CB if you can afford him heres a screenshot of mine after 2 seasons.

He is only at 3 star current ability and can still rise to 5 stars

[Hamzterz]

Just started season 3, pushing for the Title hopefully.

Taylor (£2.3M) & Krul (£4.6M) wanted a new challenge, so I let them go - Cardiff & PSV was the buyers.

Cabaye wasn't happy with valuation of him, which broke down our relationship. With 1 year left of the contract, I didn't have any other option but selling him - he went toPorto for nearly £18M. Brought in Schneiderlin as replacement for £12.5M.

Gomis had a good season, but turning 30 and an £3.4M offer from Montpellier did it for me.

Lukaku was available in Chelsea, so I picked him up for £15M - very happy about that!

Marveaux was replaced with Will Hughes.

Unfortunately Papadopoulos was injured for 2-3 months in the 2nd game this new season, so brought in Jordi Amat on loan for 5 months.

My team

[Scully11]

I eventually finished my second season last night or early this morning should i say i won the league by 3 points on the last day of the season and also managed to beat chelsea in the european cup final although i had a few bans and injuries but the team scraped through and pulled it out of the bag not sure whats happening this season yet as i have a transfer embargo because Ashley is considering an offer for the club. Sold debuchy for 9 mil as he was starting to decline in his physical attribute due to a bad injury. Also sold Holtby for 13.5 mil to AC Milan as his price flew up to this after i won the Cup so offered him out straight away as i am planning on bringing in ross Barkley this season. Also plan on bringing in Luke Shaw as a replacement for Debuchy and move Santon to the Right. Then i need a striker as Cardozo is a mear shadow of himself compared to the start of the season although he was still banging in the goals he has poor physical attributes now

[WabbitHunter25]

@Scully11

thanks for the recommendation, which club does Balanta play for?

Looking back I might of payed to much for Wil Hughes but hoping to build my team around him, also hoping Vuckic and Curtis Good progress well as I would like to use them.

On the DC, I have Colo and Taylor as my prefered two but Colo is injured for 3 weeks so i'm using MYM. I have Williamson and Good as cover until January so hopefully I can stay injury/suspension free.

[Cedrik]

Anyone here knows why Alan Shearer is not in the game? Usually you could try and sign him as assistent after a few year

[Scully11]

For some reason Balanta has signed for PSG i offered him a new contract and hes just signed for PSG for £27mil although i didnt accept any offers and i told my director of football to reject all offers for him

[OutClassed]

I paid a similar price for Hughes (only around £10m though), but I'd say he was worth it. Played him as a starter for the majority of the first season and he's now at 3.5/4(can't remember) star ability at the beginning of the second season and looks set to be an England regular. I'm still gutted I couldn't get all the funds together to bring in Marco Verratti though- had a deal agreed in January for £12m and I thought the budgets would be able to be adjusted, alas that wasn't the case. This summer just saw him move to Madrid for £30m!

Hamzters, who you planning on bringing in to replace Krul or is Jefferson good for another few years?

Also, does anyone know any British DMs with top potential? Want to bring in a replacement for Tiote/Anita, but I reckon I might have to wait until next years regens.

[Scully11]

@Scully11

thanks for the recommendation, which club does Balanta play for?

Looking back I might of payed to much for Wil Hughes but hoping to build my team around him, also hoping Vuckic and Curtis Good progress well as I would like to use them.

On the DC, I have Colo and Taylor as my prefered two but Colo is injured for 3 weeks so i'm using MYM. I have Williamson and Good as cover until January so hopefully I can stay injury/suspension free.

Fair enough i would recommend using MYM all the time he was my player of the season and i think he scored 22 goals somehow mainly from corners. be careful with Balanta that he doesnt have a buyout clause cos he just got bought for £27mil by PSG without me getting a say in it

[Hamzterz]

Jefferson is really class. Wasn't very happy with Krul's perfomances, and since Jefferson joint us in january, he's been playing nearly every match - and very well.

Will look for a younger keeper to replace him, but I think he will be good enough for at last 1-2 seasons.