FM14: Aston Villa - Prepared

[Marc Albrighton]

First thing you want to do with villa is take up the 1 year options on some of the younger players, some real potential in there. Could probably even be in the main squad as backup after 1 season.

[phillip5150]

Ok...I think i can post images now! My first season review. Playing FMC

I was delighted with my 1st season as Villa as I finished 8th, behind Everton on goal diff only. Only 7 pts of 4th. Here is the table...

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I didn't buy anyone but did bring in a couple of loans, at the start of the season I brought in Josh MacEachran & Rubin Rochina. Both were poor for me so I cancelled

Rochina & brought in Vargas. Again Vargas was not good for me so I decided in Jan to get rid of both. I brought in Fletcher from Utd & Gomez from Wigan. I was much

happier with these two. Fletcher really beefed up the midfield as a Ball winning MC or DMC. Gomez I used as a MC Advanced Playmaker.

Fletcher Played 17 no goals and Ast4 AvR 7.04

Gomez played 25 G3 Ast 4 AvR 7.05

The 2 loans really helped my season.

Players in/out in my 1st season...

I set up 2 main tactics, home & away. Took a while to gel but I was generally pleased.

At home... 4-3-1-2 Attack , I decided as we seem to play better away from VP that I would play with 2 up top at home. Lots in midfield and let my FBs attack.

My preferredd 1st 11 was

Guzan,

Luna, Okore, Vlaar, Lowton

Gomez, Fletcher, Sylla (or Westwood)

Helenius

Weimann, Benteke

Helenius played 28, G5 Ast6. Weimann Pd31 G8 Ast8, Benteke Pd34 G14 Ast6, Kozak Pl16 G6 Ast1

Gabby played more away. Pl 19 G7 Ast2. Lowton Pl32 G1 Ast6, Luna Pl38 G4 Ast6

My away formation was 4-3-3 Counter Attack

Same Defense & Midfield although I would swap Gomez for Westwood or Delph. I played 2 Inside forwards normally Gabby on the left & Weimann on the right. Benteke

up top with Kozak as his sub.

We won 10 away and 9 at home. Some big results at home though...Best one was costing Man U the title on the last day of the season, We won 3-0 with Kozak

getting all 3. I was so happy! hahaha

Randy is still delighted about the league finish, I got 6m to spend and a new 3 yr deal. I am however now expected to finish mid table...Pressure!

I decided to Sell Bent to Fulham as I cant see him coming back to us now irl. So I brought in Ola Toivonen from PSV on a free.

Unfortunatly he got injured in pre season & has only come back 3 games into the season.

Here is my transfers in/out so far in my 2nd season. I tried to get Ganso from Sao Paulo. I agreed terms but he didnt get a WP. I brought back Fletcher on a season

long loan. I bought Livermore from Spurs & Moses from Chelsea. I signed Gomez on a free & brought in Marin on loan from Chelsea. I also brought in a another CB/LB

squad player from Real Madrid Leandro Cabera. I may sell Clarke as his performances have dropped badly.

I brought in a young striker from FC Nordsjaelland called TroelsKragelund for 350k. Scout reports he has 4star potential. I loaned him back for the season as well.

I hope to get into Europe this season & win a cup. I was knocked out of the league cup by wigan on pens. So its the FA cup for me!

Ill post a season 2 update after the Jan transfer window.

[jimbob1000]

Had to quit my Villa save, strikers just stopped scoring altogether.

Last count was 134 shots without a goal???

[benmerrick]

Simao deal fell through, just a few hours of the window left and need cover for cm. damn my job interfering with fm time!

[benmerrick]

Had to quit my Villa save, strikers just stopped scoring altogether.

Last count was 134 shots without a goal???

A bit like villa in real life at the moment then!

[Mikal]

Alright Villains. Started my unemployed save and many failed job interviews later I see that Villa had been relegated after the first season, finishing 18th, so I applied for the job and I was successful enough to be offered the job! When I joined I was given no transfer budget and we were £250k p/w over the wage budget. I had to try and ship a lot of the heavy wagers out as soon as possible. On top of that the key players I would love to keep are all unhappy and transfer listed (by request), however I will be hanging on players like Benteke for as long as possible.

Basically while I am playing as Villa I'll be keeping an eye on this thread as well as updating with my own updates. Good luck chaps.

[smplfc123]

Good luck to all fellow villa players!

I am currently playing as Villa, nearing the end of september now and i've had a decent start.

Villa 2-1 Everton

Chelsea 3-0 Villa

Swansea 1-1 Villa

Sunderland 1-3 Villa

Villa 0-2 Arsenal

Lost in league cup to Preston in 2nd round which was disappointing.

Not a bad start, looking to finish this season in mid table which would be a step above the avoid relegation target that the board have set me.

I've turned 1st window transfers off as i feel i make too many changes normally to begin with. This way i'm giving more players opportunities.

I need to strengthen cm badly in January and i could do with getting the big earners off the bill that don't start, e.g Hutton and Given.

Playing a mix between 4-5-1 counter and 4-4-2 Attack.

Like i said good luck to all fellow Villains and i'll keep up with the updates as much as i can.

[Aandy]

Right, finally reached mid-season so here's an update.

Season 1 is going pretty well so far. We're sitting 7th in the table, three points behind City in 3th and two points behind Chelsea, Spurs and Newcastle who are separated by goal difference. Moyes' United are running away with the league so far and are 7 points ahead of second place Arsenal.

Going well in the cups, through to the Carling Cup semi-final after beating Chelsea 3-2 at Stamford Bridge. We've got Forest in the semis. Coincidentally, we face Forest twice in a week after drawing them in the FA Cup 3rd Round too. Performance of the season so far would have easily been the win over Fulham, however unfortunately my boys were tiring badly near the end of games, allowing Fulham to pull two back - aided in no small part by Okore getting sent off after I made all three subs. More on that in the tactics section.

Since implementing this new tactic, we have only been beaten by Utd, Arsenal and City. I'm happy with this, as there is no way I expect to get any result against them with the squad as it stands. Fun fact: our 3-2 win at Anfield was Rodgers' last game in charge of a struggling (ending the year in 14th) Liverpool. He has been replaced by Guus Hiddink. Jol has also been sacked by Fulham, replaced by Martin O'Neill.

Transfers

Tactics

After lucky results against Palace and Southampton, a terrible loss to Swansea convinced me to try something else. As a result I downloaded the 'Arrigo Sacchi 4-4-2 V2', which is available through the Tactics & Training forum. This two banks of four has given my team the defensive solidarity which I was unable to provide myself. The tactic itself needed a couple of tweaks, with my team tiring badly in the final third as well as giving away needless penalties and red cards. After making a couple of adjustments, the team has found a good rhythm and are as effective going forward as at the back.

Squad

I've a couple of outstanding performers so far, from Benteke being as solid as ever to Helenius excelling in the AF role, netting 9 in 17 but personally my highlight has been Delph. After experimenting and having him as LM he has been brilliant, working his socks off for the team and even chipping in with the occasional strike. Honorable mention for Nathan Baker, who despite being frustated to the point of handing in a transfer request, has been brilliant when called upon. Albrighton has been bright on the wing and has been rewarded with a new 3-year contract. I have decided to bypass Bennett's awful defensive ability by retraining him as LM, where he has been OK when required.

With a bit of luck we can continue this form and finish in the top-8, although if truth be told I would rather finish a solid 10th. Finishing high up the table is great, but I really don't think the squad is deep enough for a potentially long Europa League campaign.

Considering we have Forest in the Carling Cup semi and have West Brom and Newcastle in the other semi, I am optimistic that we have a good chance of getting some silverware this year. A good FA Cup campaign will be good too, but that depends on us not getting drawn against a top-4 club.

I plan to keep hold of Benteke through the January window, though I am prepared to sell him in the summer and use the funds to buy Mitrovic.

[NabilH]

Just finished season 5, aaargh, 3 points off the title, lost FA Cup final. so far only won the league cup but getting so close to the title, this coming season im hoping to defo win the league and get far in the champions league, its haardd to win with villa this time around ,first 2 seasons are solid with no money.

[smplfc123]

Right, finally reached mid-season so here's an update.

Season 1 is going pretty well so far. We're sitting 7th in the table, three points behind City in 3th and two points behind Chelsea, Spurs and Newcastle who are separated by goal difference. Moyes' United are running away with the league so far and are 7 points ahead of second place Arsenal.

Going well in the cups, through to the Carling Cup semi-final after beating Chelsea 3-2 at Stamford Bridge. We've got Forest in the semis. Coincidentally, we face Forest twice in a week after drawing them in the FA Cup 3rd Round too. Performance of the season so far would have easily been the win over Fulham, however unfortunately my boys were tiring badly near the end of games, allowing Fulham to pull two back - aided in no small part by Okore getting sent off after I made all three subs. More on that in the tactics section.

Since implementing this new tactic, we have only been beaten by Utd, Arsenal and City. I'm happy with this, as there is no way I expect to get any result against them with the squad as it stands. Fun fact: our 3-2 win at Anfield was Rodgers' last game in charge of a struggling (ending the year in 14th) Liverpool. He has been replaced by Guus Hiddink. Jol has also been sacked by Fulham, replaced by Martin O'Neill.

Transfers

Tactics

After lucky results against Palace and Southampton, a terrible loss to Swansea convinced me to try something else. As a result I downloaded the 'Arrigo Sacchi 4-4-2 V2', which is available through the Tactics & Training forum. This two banks of four has given my team the defensive solidarity which I was unable to provide myself. The tactic itself needed a couple of tweaks, with my team tiring badly in the final third as well as giving away needless penalties and red cards. After making a couple of adjustments, the team has found a good rhythm and are as effective going forward as at the back.

Squad

I've a couple of outstanding performers so far, from Benteke being as solid as ever to Helenius excelling in the AF role, netting 9 in 17 but personally my highlight has been Delph. After experimenting and having him as LM he has been brilliant, working his socks off for the team and even chipping in with the occasional strike. Honorable mention for Nathan Baker, who despite being frustated to the point of handing in a transfer request, has been brilliant when called upon. Albrighton has been bright on the wing and has been rewarded with a new 3-year contract. I have decided to bypass Bennett's awful defensive ability by retraining him as LM, where he has been OK when required.

With a bit of luck we can continue this form and finish in the top-8, although if truth be told I would rather finish a solid 10th. Finishing high up the table is great, but I really don't think the squad is deep enough for a potentially long Europa League campaign.

Considering we have Forest in the Carling Cup semi and have West Brom and Newcastle in the other semi, I am optimistic that we have a good chance of getting some silverware this year. A good FA Cup campaign will be good too, but that depends on us not getting drawn against a top-4 club.

I plan to keep hold of Benteke through the January window, though I am prepared to sell him in the summer and use the funds to buy Mitrovic.

Good update mate! Much business through the January window?

How and where do you play Weimann and Agbonlahor when you start them or bring them on? I'm only now starting to get somewhere with Gabby by playing him RM as a winger in a 4-4-2 but i just can't seem to get a decent performance out of Weimann wherever i play him!

[smplfc123]

31st December and here is an update!

Currently sitting 7th in the table.

Won 9

Drawn 5

Lost 5

Scored 25

Conceded 19

Really happy with the way things are going so far.

Benteke, Tonev and Lowton have been the stand out performers so far.

Started the game with transfer off so will now be looking to strengthen the midfield in Jan only if the right players are available and will be looking to get rid of the likes of Hutton and Given. Hopefully i can hang on to a top table finish and do well in the FA cup, although i've been given the tough draw of Everton in the 3rd round!

Also managed to get Albrighton to agree to a new contract for a less weekly amount and herd to a new contract with his wages only rising by £2k extra a week.

[Aandy]

Good update mate! Much business through the January window?

How and where do you play Weimann and Agbonlahor when you start them or bring them on? I'm only now starting to get somewhere with Gabby by playing him RM as a winger in a 4-4-2 but i just can't seem to get a decent performance out of Weimann wherever i play him!

Thanks mate.

No business at all in January. Couple of loans out of the club, but they are all regulated by the head of youth development. I had just over £1m in the bank, but there was nobody who took my fancy for that kind of money. I'm satisfied that the squad as it is now will be enough to get a comfortable top-half finish. Bayern are sniffing around Benteke but no offers yet.

I rotate Gabby with Helenius as the starting AF, sometimes having Gabby and Helenius together with Helenius in the Benteke role. Weimann has been a peripheral figure for me, though is starting to get more game time now. He's a one-dimensional goal scorer, so I am using him more as a impact sub and a cup player more than anything. He's scored 7 in 16 (8 starts, 8 subs) but is only ever an option against weaker opposition.

[Aandy]

31st December and here is an update!

Currently sitting 7th in the table.

Won 9

Drawn 5

Lost 5

Scored 25

Conceded 19

Really happy with the way things are going so far.

Benteke, Tonev and Lowton have been the stand out performers so far.

Started the game with transfer off so will now be looking to strengthen the midfield in Jan only if the right players are available and will be looking to get rid of the likes of Hutton and Given. Hopefully i can hang on to a top table finish and do well in the FA cup, although i've been given the tough draw of Everton in the 3rd round!

Also managed to get Albrighton to agree to a new contract for a less weekly amount and herd to a new contract with his wages only rising by £2k extra a week.

Tonev surprises me. His attributes are awful so I've not really used him. How impressive has he been?

[smplfc123]

Tonev surprises me. His attributes are awful so I've not really used him. How impressive has he been?

Don't get me wrong he hasn't set the world alight, but he's contributed with 4 goals and 6 assists in his 20 games and they seem to be at vital times too.

Benteke has kicked off and handed in a transfer request! I rejected a £30m offer for him from Bayern. I'm determined to hold on until the summer where i can look properly for a replacement.

[odh83]

Just sprinted through a couple of seasons finishing 15th and 11th respectively, winning the LC as well.

Not Villa related, but Newcastle just won the league in my 2nd season!!!... and then Harry Redknapp was sacked 2 days later. Brilliant.

This has been the toughest FM I have played.

[Aandy]

Guzan tore his groin, meaning he'll be out for the rest of the season starting with the FA Cup semi against Everton.

Not saying that it is entirely down to Guzan being out, but here's what happened.

One of those games where they were as good as we were bad.

8 more shots than them, but less on target and 0 goals. As far as bad days at the office go, they don't get much worse than that.

[Marc Albrighton]

Ouch, been there too many times.

Not playing as villa yes until a new patch that hopefully fixes the me a bit but i am testing out some tactic ideas now and again. Trying a 433 earlier played 10 and was top of the table having only conceded 1 goal from open play the rest set pieces but then i come up against 15th placed cardiff. 4ccc's for me and about 13 saves for their goalkeeper and then boom on the break they scored in the 80th with genuinely their first attempt on goal. From there i completely collapsed the same tactic that had been controlling games against couldnt buy me a win, even lost 5-0 to spurs with soldado scoring 4 despite only scoring 1 in the previous 10

Thought i was onto something with that tactic!

[Aandy]

Ouch, been there too many times.

Not playing as villa yes until a new patch that hopefully fixes the me a bit but i am testing out some tactic ideas now and again. Trying a 433 earlier played 10 and was top of the table having only conceded 1 goal from open play the rest set pieces but then i come up against 15th placed cardiff. 4ccc's for me and about 13 saves for their goalkeeper and then boom on the break they scored in the 80th with genuinely their first attempt on goal. From there i completely collapsed the same tactic that had been controlling games against couldnt buy me a win, even lost 5-0 to spurs with soldado scoring 4 despite only scoring 1 in the previous 10

Thought i was onto something with that tactic!

Yeah this version seems more difficult than ever to create a consistent working tactic. Mine is based off a downloaded tactic, but I am constantly changing things for it to fit my team and style of play.

2013/14 END OF SEASON REPORT

The end of a pretty successful season for the club, bringing home the Carling Cup, reaching the Semi's of the FA cup and finishing a brilliant 6th in the table.

The Table

Finishing 6th, 12 points ahead of 7th place West Brom and with just 3 points separating us from Chelsea in 2nd place is fine by me.

The Squad

Top Goalscorer: Benteke, of course. 21 in 38 appearances.

Top Assists: Bacuna, with 13 in 27 appearances. His deliveries from free kicks and corners has been invaluable.

Most MOTM: Benteke again, 9 MOTM performances.

Top Defender: Tony Moon, with an average rating of 7.22 from 42 appearances. He provided 5 assists and made a whopping 152 key tackles.

Top Midfielder: Simone Padoin. My Juve loanee was superb when employed on the right, with an average rating of 7.19 from 28 appearances, including 4 goals and 8 assists. It's a shame he's just turned 30 otherwise he would be top of my summer shopping list.

Performance of the Season: Undoubtedly the 5-1 Carling Cup win over Newcastle, we were on blistering form that day and nobody would have beaten us. Notable mention goes to the 3-0 beating of Man City in our final home game of the season.

Notable Awards: Benteke was named Players' Young Player of the year ahead of Christian Eriksen and Jonjo Shelvey and in the substitutes of the Players' Team of the Year. I was named 2nd place in the Manager of the Year award, behind David Moyes and ahead of Steve Clarke.

What now?

Next I need to build my squad for a European adventure. I want to get rid of Bent, Ireland, Given, N'Zogbia and Stevens. If I can find a good enough upgrade, I'll also look at selling El Ahmady. If I get a good enough offer (£25m+) I will sell Benteke and use the money to buy Mitrovic.

I need to strengthen the following areas:

- A new GK; either to provide backup or to replace Guzan

- Another centre back, ideally young and willing to be 4th choice

- A solid DM, with good enough attributes to step straight in to the DM role but also able to cover the DLP when required

- A hard working winger who can work on both flanks.

[Aandy]

I've also got a couple of decent talents in the U18's, with one being particularly notable.

Fitting name for a potential future Villa legend.

Just a shame is determination isn't higher, but he has all the raw potential to become a great player.

[smplfc123]

Well the season comes to an end with us finishing in 8th place.

Overall i'm very happy with that final standing, good platform to build on for next year.

I was up in 4th after 20 odd games, but due to the lack of quality and depth in the squad, we fell away when the injuries, bans and bad form inevitably kicked in.

I'm definitely going to shake things up in this window if i have a budget that allows me too, having played the first window with no transfers allowed.

My poor performance in the cups is something i really want to improve on next season and i'm going to aim to at least match my 8th placed position in the league!

[Aandy]

Ok...I think i can post images now! My first season review. Playing FMC

I was delighted with my 1st season as Villa as I finished 8th, behind Everton on goal diff only. Only 7 pts of 4th. Here is the table...

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I didn't buy anyone but did bring in a couple of loans, at the start of the season I brought in Josh MacEachran & Rubin Rochina. Both were poor for me so I cancelled

Rochina & brought in Vargas. Again Vargas was not good for me so I decided in Jan to get rid of both. I brought in Fletcher from Utd & Gomez from Wigan. I was much

happier with these two. Fletcher really beefed up the midfield as a Ball winning MC or DMC. Gomez I used as a MC Advanced Playmaker.

Fletcher Played 17 no goals and Ast4 AvR 7.04

Gomez played 25 G3 Ast 4 AvR 7.05

The 2 loans really helped my season.

Players in/out in my 1st season...

I set up 2 main tactics, home & away. Took a while to gel but I was generally pleased.

At home... 4-3-1-2 Attack , I decided as we seem to play better away from VP that I would play with 2 up top at home. Lots in midfield and let my FBs attack.

My preferredd 1st 11 was

Guzan,

Luna, Okore, Vlaar, Lowton

Gomez, Fletcher, Sylla (or Westwood)

Helenius

Weimann, Benteke

Helenius played 28, G5 Ast6. Weimann Pd31 G8 Ast8, Benteke Pd34 G14 Ast6, Kozak Pl16 G6 Ast1

Gabby played more away. Pl 19 G7 Ast2. Lowton Pl32 G1 Ast6, Luna Pl38 G4 Ast6

My away formation was 4-3-3 Counter Attack

Same Defense & Midfield although I would swap Gomez for Westwood or Delph. I played 2 Inside forwards normally Gabby on the left & Weimann on the right. Benteke

up top with Kozak as his sub.

We won 10 away and 9 at home. Some big results at home though...Best one was costing Man U the title on the last day of the season, We won 3-0 with Kozak

getting all 3. I was so happy! hahaha

Randy is still delighted about the league finish, I got 6m to spend and a new 3 yr deal. I am however now expected to finish mid table...Pressure!

I decided to Sell Bent to Fulham as I cant see him coming back to us now irl. So I brought in Ola Toivonen from PSV on a free.

Unfortunatly he got injured in pre season & has only come back 3 games into the season.

Here is my transfers in/out so far in my 2nd season. I tried to get Ganso from Sao Paulo. I agreed terms but he didnt get a WP. I brought back Fletcher on a season

long loan. I bought Livermore from Spurs & Moses from Chelsea. I signed Gomez on a free & brought in Marin on loan from Chelsea. I also brought in a another CB/LB

squad player from Real Madrid Leandro Cabera. I may sell Clarke as his performances have dropped badly.

I brought in a young striker from FC Nordsjaelland called TroelsKragelund for 350k. Scout reports he has 4star potential. I loaned him back for the season as well.

I hope to get into Europe this season & win a cup. I was knocked out of the league cup by wigan on pens. So its the FA cup for me!

Ill post a season 2 update after the Jan transfer window.

Great result costing Utd the title!

How's your season 2 been coming along?

[smplfc123]

Coming to the end of the 2nd pre-season now and i've done a few dealings, trying to make this team in to my own.

Outs

Sylla

Bent

Ireland

Delfouneso

Sissoko

and lot of youngsters sent on loan or released or on a free that weren't good enough

Ins

Schemeichel - Free

Nyom - Free

Dier - £325k

Batth - £635k

Falque - Loan

So by my signings you can see that i'm looking to continue to bring in young players, keep the fast-paced appetite for the game running through the squad.

2 great free signings to add strength in depth.

Probably wont be bringing anymore players in as it stands.

[Marc Albrighton]

Surprised you let sylla go, really useful player and surprisingly good 2-3 seasons in.

[Wyer]

I'm quite surprised that some ppl are struggling with Villa.

Yeah they have a poor side but with cashing in on the right ppl ie Benkete the squad is something to build on.

Bacuna is gem as a RM. Had him valued at 12 mil at 1 point and just sold him for 8 mil to Parma, considering he was my back up RM at the point I sold him the cash I got was great.

[odh83]

I'm quite surprised that some ppl are struggling with Villa.

Yeah they have a poor side but with cashing in on the right ppl ie Benkete the squad is something to build on.

Bacuna is gem as a RM. Had him valued at 12 mil at 1 point and just sold him for 8 mil to Parma, considering he was my back up RM at the point I sold him the cash I got was great.

Cashing in is easier said than done, especially when the board were only offering a maximum of 25% of transfer revenue to reinvest for the first 2 seasons, even when I had over £20m in the bank.

[Aandy]

Pre-Season Preview: 2014-15

Just completed my final pre-season friendly so it's time for a quick preview.

Pre-season got off to a slow start, with me experimenting with a 4-2-3-1 and an adventurous 3-3-2-1-1. In the I switched back to my tried an tested 4-4-2, but with a couple of tweaks:

I gave the DM's defensive roles and changed overall team mentality back to Fluid/Attacking. As can be seen from the 28 goals scored and 0 conceded in the 3 games after I made the changes, I could be on to something. Of course I was playing weak opposition, but the overall team play was very impressive.

Transfers

Benteke wanted to leave, so there wasn't much I could do there. N'Zogbia, Bent and Ireland (who isn't on the list as was released on a free) freed up some extra cash in the wage bill. Despite having a good season, El Ahmady wasn't likely to get any football this season. I've also got Southampton and Marseille sniffing around Sylla, but I want to keep him as his work rate and physicality mean he is a very useful man to have in the squad.

Joe Ledley is a solid player. He's a hard worker and has the technical/mental attributes where it counts. Personally I feel £5.75m is a bargain.

Stefan Strandberg was recommended by one of my scouts. Good all-around defensive attributes and a decent passer of the ball. Good backup for CB as well as DM.

Aleksander Mitrovic... Well, need I say anything that we won't already know? A brilliant young striker with good attributes around the board. The perfect replacement for Benteke.

Adam Smith. With there being no real cover for Lowton and Luna (the defensive ability of Bacuna and Bennett are insignificant at best), I needed someone who would be able to fit that role. Cue my scouts with yet another golden find. He was out of contract at Spurs and is damned near perfect cover for both left and right back.

Simone Padoin isn't on that list, but I have renewed his loan from Juve for another season. He was brilliant last year, can cover every position in midfield and to my surprise was even voted Fan's Player of the Year! If only he was just a couple of years younger.

This season I have to wrestle with the Europa League, having to enter through the qualifying rounds thanks to my Carling Cup win. I am however optimistic that I now have enough depth in my squad to effectively fight on two fronts.

Fingers crossed these players and this tactic can allow me to cement the club well and truly in the top-6 and allow a good base from which to grow.

[Walk On]

Hello chaps. I've started a new career with the Villains. I'm hoping to achieve great things over the coming seasons, but I'm expecting a tough start given the lack of financial backing.

So far I've played the first league game of the season against Crystal Palace at Selhurst Park and managed to win 1-0 thanks to a Helenius goal. Benteke has picked up an injury keeping him out for the next 4 months which is annoying.

The only signings I've made have been Mahamadou Diarra and Anthony Reveillere for free. I've sold Chris Herd to Crystal Palace for £1.4m and loaned out a few reserve players.

I've tried asking for money but Randy Lerner isn't having any of it, so it looks like I'm stuck with the squad I have for now. Hopefully I can either sell somebody or get some help from the board for the January window.

My objective this season is to finish in a Europa League position, possibly win one of the domestic cups and play steady possession football successfully.

NB: Can somebody enlighten me as to how you post screenshots of just part of the game window eg the league table or tactics screen? I've noticed a lot of people doing it and I'm not sure how.

Thanks!

[Aandy]

Welcome aboard the good ship Villa. Nope, we have no money (the free-spending days of Martin O'Neill were nice but the lack of Champions League football means it wasn't sustainable).

The squad is good enough to finish top-half, although missing Benteke for 4 months will hit hard.

I don't know if there is a special way of uploading screenshots but what I do is window the game, screenshot that, copy to paint, crop, upload to tinypic.com and use the link from there.

[Wyer]

Cashing in is easier said than done, especially when the board were only offering a maximum of 25% of transfer revenue to reinvest for the first 2 seasons, even when I had over £20m in the bank.

Just got to really do some home work with scouting out good & cheap players.

Failing that, download someone elses tactic to help.

I had 95 mil in the bank end of the 5th season and still only got 25 mil to spend.

[smplfc123]

Hello chaps. I've started a new career with the Villains. I'm hoping to achieve great things over the coming seasons, but I'm expecting a tough start given the lack of financial backing.

So far I've played the first league game of the season against Crystal Palace at Selhurst Park and managed to win 1-0 thanks to a Helenius goal. Benteke has picked up an injury keeping him out for the next 4 months which is annoying.

The only signings I've made have been Mahamadou Diarra and Anthony Reveillere for free. I've sold Chris Herd to Crystal Palace for £1.4m and loaned out a few reserve players.

I've tried asking for money but Randy Lerner isn't having any of it, so it looks like I'm stuck with the squad I have for now. Hopefully I can either sell somebody or get some help from the board for the January window.

My objective this season is to finish in a Europa League position, possibly win one of the domestic cups and play steady possession football successfully.

NB: Can somebody enlighten me as to how you post screenshots of just part of the game window eg the league table or tactics screen? I've noticed a lot of people doing it and I'm not sure how.

Thanks!

Welcome Walk On!

I've not long finished the summer transfer window for the 2nd season and i've spent £1m on a combined total of 5 players, so the money doesn't rapidly increase.

It's a great challenge!

Unfortunately my cup bug has struck again as i went 2-0 away to peterbrough just to lose 4-2 after extra time

[Marc Albrighton]

Just got to really do some home work with scouting out good & cheap players.

Failing that, download someone elses tactic to help.

I had 95 mil in the bank end of the 5th season and still only got 25 mil to spend.

Sounds about right, thats what i had in the beta. On my current save ive just been testing tactics but i asked for the % to be increased and they agreed and then i had a message saying it was now 65% but when i sold a few players i noticed i didn't get any of it so i went back to the finances screen and it now says 100% but its now gone from 0 transfer budget to -300k which is really weird.

I'll see what happens in the next window.

[Marc Albrighton]

In january and it seems to have sorted itself out although its gone back to 50% which allowed me to adjust the budget and get in 4 frees for next season.

Vitinho, Vydra, Werner and Brandt all with 4-5 star potential! Attack should be incredible next season when the they all bed in!

[smplfc123]

Nice signings there mate!

Managed to get Gabby to agree a new deal on £10k a week less!

Really trying to sort out getting these wages down whilst still bringing in quality players!

2 wins out 3 in the premier league and the 1 defeat so far, 1-0 away to man city, not exactly a bad result, especially considering they spent nearly £130m in the summer!

Also, looking to make Villa Park in to a fortress this season, as a good foothold to get me in to Europe and then to use it when I eventually get in to Europe as I know the first time i get there it's not going to be easy getting points away from home!

[NabilH]

Started a new save, season 1.

Currently in February, in 4th 44 points. 1 point ahead of man city.

In ; Honda on a free

juhatz

josh mchechran on loan

sodinha

mahmaddou diarra

out

vlaar 7.25 million to OM

Helenius 3 mill to Hull

Benteke as target man wasnt scoring me goals but since i switched him to CF hes been a beast.

just beat man utd at villa park 3-2, benteke scored twice.

[smplfc123]

Started a new save, season 1.

Currently in February, in 4th 44 points. 1 point ahead of man city.

In ; Honda on a free

juhatz

josh mchechran on loan

sodinha

mahmaddou diarra

out

vlaar 7.25 million to OM

Helenius 3 mill to Hull

Benteke as target man wasnt scoring me goals but since i switched him to CF hes been a beast.

just beat man utd at villa park 3-2, benteke scored twice.

Nice deals there mate, a side from Vlaar but that's cos he's been a beast for me!

Yeah Benteke is awesome as a CF

[benmerrick]

Some how managed to delete my save game, was a few games into 2nd season and doing well (beat arsenal 3-1 with luna being sent off early on for me), luckily had a save file from the end of 1st season so started pre-season again.

Started the game in feb 2014 with villa in 16th, finished 13th, want mid table at least for this year

outs

bent - fulham £2.5m

n'zogbia - toulouse £1m

hutton - hull 500k

el ahmadi - heerenven £1m

herd - palace 250k

bennett - bolton 500k

stevens - free

given - chelsea £0

Guzan - man utd £1.5m

clark - celtic £1.5m

benteke - wolfsburg £29m + £1.3m over 12 months + £3.9m after 10 league goals = £34.2m

total out = £37.8m

ins

Stevie May - St Jonstone free

Matthew Briggs - fulham free

Albin Ekdal - Caligari free

Danny Batth - wolves free

Max Clayton - Crewe free

Marc-andre ter Stegen - Gladbach £4.4m

Jordan Mutch - cardiff £1m

Simon Tibbling - djugarden £1.9m

Aleksander Mitrovic - anderlecht £6.25m

Jannick Vestergaard - hoffenheim £7m

Nearly at the end of pre-season and not planning anymore business until Weimann asked to leave, a few german teams have made £2m bids, no where near his value and he's upset i wont let him leave. Will try and keep a hold of him until end of the window then get him on a new contract, he wont talk to me at the moment tho

[Aandy]

Some how managed to delete my save game, was a few games into 2nd season and doing well (beat arsenal 3-1 with luna being sent off early on for me), luckily had a save file from the end of 1st season so started pre-season again.

Started the game in feb 2014 with villa in 16th, finished 13th, want mid table at least for this year

outs

bent - fulham £2.5m

n'zogbia - toulouse £1m

hutton - hull 500k

el ahmadi - heerenven £1m

herd - palace 250k

bennett - bolton 500k

stevens - free

given - chelsea £0

Guzan - man utd £1.5m

clark - celtic £1.5m

benteke - wolfsburg £29m + £1.3m over 12 months + £3.9m after 10 league goals = £34.2m

total out = £37.8m

ins

Stevie May - St Jonstone free

Matthew Briggs - fulham free

Albin Ekdal - Caligari free

Danny Batth - wolves free

Max Clayton - Crewe free

Marc-andre ter Stegen - Gladbach £4.4m

Jordan Mutch - cardiff £1m

Simon Tibbling - djugarden £1.9m

Aleksander Mitrovic - anderlecht £6.25m

Jannick Vestergaard - hoffenheim £7m

Nearly at the end of pre-season and not planning anymore business until Weimann asked to leave, a few german teams have made £2m bids, no where near his value and he's upset i wont let him leave. Will try and keep a hold of him until end of the window then get him on a new contract, he wont talk to me at the moment tho

Ouch, still at least you were only a few games into season 2. Annoying though as Arsenal are really hard to beat in this game.

How is ter Stegen going for you? I remember him being extraordinary in FM12 but not heard much about him in this version.

SOLD Weimann last night. I was going to keep him as his OTB, ACC and FIN mean he's a useful late-game poacher, but (a club I cannot remember right now) offered £6m for him. I got them up to £7.5m and off he went.

I'm now 2 games into season 2 with just over £6m in the bank but think I might save it for January as I can't think of any positions that need strengthening right now.

Any suggestions? My squad is as follows (position being how they fit into my system, italics being those who can play in multiple areas).

Playing a 4-4-2 (with DM's)

GK: Guzan, Steer, Given

Defence: Lowton (RB), Bacuna (RB), Luna (LB), Smith (R/LB), Baker (CB/LB), Okore (CB), Vlaar (CB), Strandberg (CB)

Midfield: Westwood (DM), Ledley (DM), Sylla (DM), Diarra (DM), Strandberg (DM), Bacuna (RM), Albrighton (R/LM), Moreno (LM), Delph (LM), Grealish (LM)

Forwards: Mitrovic (ST), Helenius (ST), Agbonlahor (ST), Moreno (ST)

The squad as it is I am pretty happy with, but if anyone can offer some objectivity and see anywhere there are needs particular strengthening then please suggest away.

Results-wise, it's going well so far. Only 2 games into the League season but currently 100%, with a 5-1 home win against newly promoted Watford followed by a 2-0 win at Goodison. My second-choice XI won the Europa league qualifier against a team I have never heard of, and have a playoff qualifier against another equally unknown team next.

Mitrovic has started well, with a hat-trick on his debut before missing the Everton game with injury.

[TheBigBoss]

I'd love to see what team instructions people are playing with Villa as they want to play Direct I'm playing the following.

More Direct Passing

Work ball into the box

Hit early crosses

Allow wide players to swap

Hassle Opponents

Stay on Feet

Higher Tempo

[Aandy]

I'd love to see what team instructions people are playing with Villa as they want to play Direct I'm playing the following.

More Direct Passing

Work ball into the box

Hit early crosses

Allow wide players to swap

Hassle Opponents

Stay on Feet

Higher Tempo

I had a chat with the board who allowed me to give up on direct football

I play:

Shorter Passing

Play Out of Defence

Play Narrower

Hassle Opponents

Push Higher Up Pitch

Higher Tempo

I'm also experimenting with Stand off Opponents and Stay On Feet, in order to cut down the amount of fouls my team are conceding (and yellow cards).

[pete62]

Noticed that Tonev doesn't even have basic Polish from watching the game on Saturday hes certainly fluent in Polish swear words

No Peter Withe in the icon list or Charlie Aitken in the legends list find that rather strange

[TheBigBoss]

Quick question to anyone playing as Villa who have gone past the second season what is their budget like ?

[Marc Albrighton]

^Well i've just finished my first in 8th and got 16m which surprised me a little. Not too bad although i have wage restrictions which is making it impossible to offer people the contracts they want.

Aswell as the 4 free's i mentioned above i got in Balanta for 7.5m which is costly but he will be a world class player and two brazilians Henrique and Lucas a left back and a defensive mid. Thats 7 in and got shot of wiemann, bennett on loan, kozak and marc left on a free also looking to get rid of tonev and that will be that for my transfers unless someone comes in for benteke.

Thats a lot of change so i expect the first few months to be a bit dodgy but i'll work them all in rather than just throwing them straight in, should be an interesting second season!

[TheBigBoss]

^Well i've just finished my first in 8th and got 16m which surprised me a little. Not too bad although i have wage restrictions which is making it impossible to offer people the contracts they want.

Aswell as the 4 free's i mentioned above i got in Balanta for 7.5m which is costly but he will be a world class player and two brazilians Henrique and Lucas a left back and a defensive mid. Thats 7 in and got shot of wiemann, bennett on loan, kozak and marc left on a free also looking to get rid of tonev and that will be that for my transfers unless someone comes in for benteke.

Thats a lot of change so i expect the first few months to be a bit dodgy but i'll work them all in rather than just throwing them straight in, should be an interesting second season!

Wow 8th thats some achievement I'm currently 17th in November, Good thing is I reckon the board are patient and will give me time, I just find myself struggling to stop conceding goals and there's a serious lack of goals without Benteke in my team

[Marc Albrighton]

Yea i'm happy with 8th using my own tactics, they usually fail miserably. 17th is a bit of a downer though i'd look at the tactics, think the squad is capable of a top 10 in the first year. Maybe even higher if you're a tactical whiz..

I did without benteke for 4 months too i wonder if he's a bit injury prone in the latest database?

[TheBigBoss]

Yea i'm happy with 8th using my own tactics, they usually fail miserably. 17th is a bit of a downer though i'd look at the tactics, think the squad is capable of a top 10 in the first year. Maybe even higher if you're a tactical whiz..

I did without benteke for 4 months too i wonder if he's a bit injury prone in the latest database?

I tried to think about what I want from Villa so I decided to go with

Shorter Passing

Work ball into the box

Hit early crosses

Allow wide players to swap

Hassle Opponents

Stay on Feet

Lower Tempo

[NabilH]

UPDATE Season 1

[NabilH]

screenshots aint come out properly, have to press alt f9 and upload to tinypic, not coming out right though, anyway thought it would be interesting to share. looking to get Rincon next season, vitinho, and a solid cb. hopefully i get 4th but it might be too soon, would be happy with europa league.

[Aandy]

What I do is take a screen of each separate block on information, crop and upload from Paint. I find that usually results in the images being a bit more clear.

Anyway, 4th in season 1 is a great achievement! Will be interesting to see how you approach a season in the Champions League. Hopefully it'll go ok.

Had a brilliant start to season 2, winning all 5 opening games (Watford (H), Everton (A), Newcastle (A), Cardiff (H) and Man City (H)) before a mistake-laden 2-1 defeat in an open game against Spurs at WHL. My defence is looking tighter (whether it's something I've done I don't know, but my full backs are actually defending against wingers now), though still not quite watertight. Helenius has been tremendous, netting 6 times I think already. Mitrovic has had a mixed start, after scoring a hat-trick in his debut against Watford and another against Newcastle, he's tailed off and been pretty anonymous since. Of course 4 in 6 is still nothing to sniff at, but 3 of those 4 was in a 5-1 shellacking of a newly-promoted team. I might try him out as a Deep Lying Forward instead of a Complete Forward, see if that helps.

The transfer window has now slammed shut. I fended off interest in Helenius, Delph and Luna but sold Okore: Dortmund put an offer in which I negotiated to £12m in order to buy some time to find a replacement. Ideally I wanted a player who was as quick but also good with the ball at his feet. Unfortunately, this player doesn't exist (at least out of the pool of players who would be interested in joining us), but I did come across Jean-Armel Kana-Biyik, a French-Cameroonian centre back who plays at Rennes. Every bit as quick as Okore but with better balance, anticipation, marking and slightly higher strength. Rennes wanted £8m for him; a full £4m less than the player he is replacing. Deal! Signed him up and he's slotted in nicely in the heart of my defence with the Cover role alongside Vlaar as Stopper.

[Marc Albrighton]

I tried to think about what I want from Villa so I decided to go with

Shorter Passing

Work ball into the box

Hit early crosses

Allow wide players to swap

Hassle Opponents

Stay on Feet

Lower Tempo

I went for an all out possession tactic which is why i think i struggled at certain points as villa dont have the best squad for it, however if you persevere through some frustrating results long enough to build a squad that is capable it should be an interesting long term project. I had the team on ball control and defensive positioning all season and individually training on the roles i was using in the tactic unless they depserately needed other training and but for a couple of slump periods and bentekes 4 month lay off i reckon i could have got 6th.

[NabilH]

What I do is take a screen of each separate block on information, crop and upload from Paint. I find that usually results in the images being a bit more clear.

Anyway, 4th in season 1 is a great achievement! Will be interesting to see how you approach a season in the Champions League. Hopefully it'll go ok.

Had a brilliant start to season 2, winning all 5 opening games (Watford (H), Everton (A), Newcastle (A), Cardiff (H) and Man City (H)) before a mistake-laden 2-1 defeat in an open game against Spurs at WHL. My defence is looking tighter (whether it's something I've done I don't know, but my full backs are actually defending against wingers now), though still not quite watertight. Helenius has been tremendous, netting 6 times I think already. Mitrovic has had a mixed start, after scoring a hat-trick in his debut against Watford and another against Newcastle, he's tailed off and been pretty anonymous since. Of course 4 in 6 is still nothing to sniff at, but 3 of those 4 was in a 5-1 shellacking of a newly-promoted team. I might try him out as a Deep Lying Forward instead of a Complete Forward, see if that helps.

The transfer window has now slammed shut. I fended off interest in Helenius, Delph and Luna but sold Okore: Dortmund put an offer in which I negotiated to £12m in order to buy some time to find a replacement. Ideally I wanted a player who was as quick but also good with the ball at his feet. Unfortunately, this player doesn't exist (at least out of the pool of players who would be interested in joining us), but I did come across Jean-Armel Kana-Biyik, a French-Cameroonian centre back who plays at Rennes. Every bit as quick as Okore but with better balance, anticipation, marking and slightly higher strength. Rennes wanted £8m for him; a full £4m less than the player he is replacing. Deal! Signed him up and he's slotted in nicely in the heart of my defence with the Cover role alongside Vlaar as Stopper.

Awesome start to S2 mate, well done on keeping Helenius, i think i made a mistake in selling him now. You sold Okore for too cheap though, im sure i read you can get 30 million for him. I didn't finish 4th unfortunately, got 5th.

The reason i never finished 4th was because i lost 2-1 to Watford at HOME and we missed TWO penalties, grrrrrrrrrrr. Benteke missed one and Honda missed one. really pissed me off, benteke scored to equalise at 1-1, totally played them off the park and they score from a dodgy set peace. Overall, very happy with 5th though.