FM14: Glasgow Rangers - The teddy bears are on the march!

[Ryknow]

Congrats! Quite an achievement considering you trust in youth. How's Spendlhofer looking? I googled him but couldn't find future screenshots. I see Gorbkov and Asuquo tore up the league, and Europe it seems.

[Limmy]

Rallav - Hats off to you sir, brilliant stuff!

Managed to unearth another bargain defender for my side after selling Faure to Copenhagen for 3.5mil. Edgar Le from Barcelona, signed for a measly 28k which was his release clause and has scored 5 in 10 so far and looks like he'll be a key player for years to come. After seeing how good he turns out in the Newcastle thread, Adam Campbell will get game time alongside Cerri to hopefully develop as well as I've seen him in other peoples saves. My only concern is that he's not had alot of game time over the past few years, but with my 5 star attacking and shooting coaches, hopefully there's time for him to reach his potential! 2 goals on his Old Firm debut has stood him in good stead to become a fan favourite anyway...

[rallav]

Thanks guys.

Gorbkov only played in 25 league games so iam really proud of him. Its true Asuquo was player of the year for me.

Was tempted by Adam Campbell too, but i think its too late now for me. Tell us how he did?

And here´s a screenie of Spendlhofer, yes he got ppm of long bullet throws, have to say his attributes lowered a bit through summer window. Throws and Tackling are at 18 during the season. The 3 years he is playing for me now, he was only injured two times for a total of 1 month.

He´s also my Vice Captain.

[kane_richards]

Has anyone noticed something similar to this issue;

I finally got into the Prem and actually won it due to a glorious capitulation on the part of Celtic who, after the split, failed to win any of their 5 games. Thanks very much.

Anyway, my question is, the time came for tax to be paid (thankfully), budgets to be set etc. and a new main kit sponsorship was announced, but it was actually almost half what it was (£625k as opposed to the earlier £1.28m). As I'm obviously flying high, is it right my sponsorship would actually go down? I don't know when this sponsorship was signed (it might have been done before the game started).

[coley5836]

That happened to me as well although it was only about £100k less than the previous season.

Going by real life it's probably realistic as the board will be pocketing most of it!

[rallav]

Happened to me aswell, was about 300k less than the previous season.

[fuzzrab]

Sorry that i haven't been very active, pretty sweary word poor to be honest, in this thread recently. I'm a bit of a cricket fan so have been following England round Aus for the last few weeks ( not that glamourous as i live in Aus). Hopefully after the Melbourne & Sydney tests i can devote my time to updating this thread and giving it the time it deserves.

P.S. i realize the percieved conflict of interest from a Scotsman supporting England in anything. My excuse is that until Scotland get a test team i'll suport England, Not a grand patriotic statement to be fair but the truth none the less.

[kane_richards]

I'm getting conflicting signals here from my scout...

[Ryknow]

No worries fuzzrab, as an Aussie (with Scottish parents) I understand your commitment to watching the cricket, albeit I never get into it. I do enjoy the mate ship it brings in Australia though.

Kane: That's really weird and you should probably post that in the bugs forum. That can be a result of a player having little chance of getting a work permit, so despite his talent he gets downgrade in recommendation. However, Kjaer has his EU status being a Dane and all. For that price and wages, seems like a top deal.

[kane_richards]

The only explanation I can think of is that my scout is a wizard, because Kjaer ended up moving to Wigan (3 times the wages, go figure) and in his first match he ripped his hammy, 3 months out. He was perfectly find when I scouted him however

[Ryknow]

Been busy with all the holiday season stuff, but each time I say I'll do a season summary on here, I end up just playing FM instead.

Into second season of the SPL and making some good signings. Team is playing great attacking football. The patch has really helped those CCC opportunities. Still in a transition stage, by that I mean the team I have isn't entirely who I want. They all do their job and I've got attached to some of the players but it all feels very mercenary-ish due to most transfer being free agents with some loan signings. Really trying to avoid spending money because €5mil on one player could be used to get multiple pre-contract deals signed.

I'll hopefully post some screenies soon of who I've brought in and my promising youngsters, and do a bit of a season summary.

[rallav]

@Ryknow: What tactic do you use now? How is it working? And what team are you planning to build? You got a Key player to build your team around? (i did with Castillo)

Really not playing much but the patch was good for creating chances, i agree. Have a few days off...maybe this thread will live more in the coming weeks?

Would love to see some screens of you guys, and especially what your approach is regarding transfers.

Totaly offtopic: Castillo is rumored to transfer to Leverkusen. Great job by the FM Researchers! (If he turns out to be that good as in game he would make it at Leverkusen in real life...yeah you can´t compare that i know ..)

[The Art of Drowning]

Won the SPL in my first year up as Rangers. Has everyone been playing Pascazio and Gibson, they are my first choice partnership at the back. Absolute class.

[Ryknow]

2015/16 SUMMER TRANSFER INS

I won't list them all, as I got a few newgens in.

Craig Gardner: Free - Spend all last season as a free agent refusing to talk to us because we were in the Scottish Championship, only for him to immediately join when we went up. He had a decent season and has been kept on as he's only on €5k pw and 28 years old.

Daniel Frahn: €325k - Scored 5 in his first few games only to get injured and lose his place for the rest of the season. Was sold at the end of the season simply because we wasn't getting game time. Great player for this level though.

Dennis Praet: Free - A promising Belgium midfielder who was on €14k pw. He joined with many other midfielders so never got a long spell in the team. Was sold 6 months later for €2.1mil.

Dean Furman: Free - The former Rangers lad was found in the same position as Praet. Too many midfielders meant he was offloaded 6 months later to reduce the wage bill (Was on €14k pw too).

Darren Fletcher: Free - Joined for only €6k pw and has been a great player and tutor.

Michael Rensing: Free - Joined as backup on a 1 year deal, played 3 times and returned to Germany at the end of the season.

Esmael Goncalves: Free (See below) - Joined in August on €14k pw. My idea was to use him on the right but he pushed everyone out from the lone striker role and took it for himself. Scored 24 goals and got called up to the Portugal side for the EUROs where he won 3 caps.

David Goodwillie: Free - Only was on €3.5k pw after initially wanting much much more. He found out his options were limited and he joined. Good player, but hardly got a chance due to Esmael.

Christophe Berra: Free - Was brought in for experience at CB but Murray Wallace and Koray Günter played well all season. He left at the end of the season.

Loaned Players - Peter Crouch, Henri Lansbury, Sebastian Kerk had their deals cancelled either before the window closed or in the January window. Preferred to use my own youngsters and they weren't really needed.

JANUARY WINDOW - INS

After moving on Praet and Furman, Gardner decided to get injured for ages. So I brought back Steven Davis on a 6 month loan deal. To add a bit of bite I brought in HSV's Calhanoglu on loan to rotate with Law.

Transfer out's aren't exciting. Just a bunch of players loaned out, released or sold for low figures.

2015/16 Season Roundup

Was a pretty exciting season but for the end. We were looking good all season but Celtic were 1-3 points ahead for the most part. Then an Old Firm win meant we leaped into 1st place, with Celtic suffering from the defeat and having a string of poor results. However, on the home stretch with our last 8 games to go the boys completely stuffed it. We went on a run of now wins in six games, four being draws. So infuriating as the forwards just wouldn't score. So in the end the title went to the other half of Glasgow, but fueled our drive for next season.

Hearts were my bogey team after I failed to beat them all season. They knocked us out of the League Cup then beat us only a few days later in the league. After knocking Celtic out in the Scottish Cup we then met Hearts in the Final. After poor results all season against them we smashed them 3-0 to lift the trophy.

Esmael Goncalves at the end of the season after the EUROs.

[Ryknow]

2016/17 SUMMER TRANSFER INS

Alan Tierney: (See below) €2.5mil - Irish newgen fullback. Can play either side and averaged 7.76 at Ross County last season. 10 POM awards in the Championship. I probably shouldn't have spent the money but sometimes you find a newgen you just really want.

Ruben Perez: Free - The deep lying playmaker adds some more quality to the side.

Quentin Beunardeau: Free - Looks a decent GK. Still young so was loaned out.

Chris Cohen: Free - More quality for the midfield.

Zacharie Boucher: Free - Either first teamer or rotation goalkeeper.

Jamaal Lascelles: Free - Joins Murray and Günter in the CB role. Will rotate with those two.

Marcelo Larrondo: Free - Argentinian target man. Good scoring record in Serie A.

Ryan Mendes da Garca: Free - Needed a wide man and this guy wanted €16k pw initially. Joined on trial and signed a deal for only €5k pw.

Darijo Srna: Free - Didn't really need him as Adam Smith is amazing at RB, but it's Srna! I love this player so had to bring him in even though it 'broke the bank' in a sense. Our wage bill is fine, but he's the highest earner on €34k pw. He takes all the freekicks and corners. A true leader as well.

Loaned Players - Due to the Europa League commitments I figured I'd need a large squad hence all the transfers. I also brought in Lucas Ocampos (RW) and Layvin Kurzawa (LB) from AS Monaco. Zakaria Bakkali (LW) also joined from PSV.

Had loan deals for Lukaku (Real Madrid) and Özil (Man City) accepted but of course the players declined to join. Had to try

Window is still open and I'm monitoring the free agents of Ashley Young, Lescott and Miyaichi. They all are willing to join but I'll see if their demands continue to reduce.

Notable transfer outs were Cammy Bell to Man City €1.2mil. His distribution was terrible. I know there is issues with the ME and keeper distribution but having 7 for kicking doesn't help.

Despite all the transfers we didn't even make the Europa League Group stage, haha. Thanks to the U21 EUROs I was without numerous key players, but still managed to ease to the Play Off's. We got FC Twente which I thought was manageable, only to realise their strikers are rather good. We won the first leg but struggled in the second leg, away from home. Pulled a late goal back, but there wasn't enough time to get that extra goal to send us through. Will reflect on the squad before the window closes but we have to win the league now, despite Celtic's top acquisitions.

Some Newgens

Signed from Morton in first season, Jan window. I use "Add Players" feature so some newgens were in the game from the start. Great little player but not the best as a lone striker. Desperately needs his technical attributes to increase.

HG Academy player. Developing well and has played a fair bit for us despite his age. 4.5 star PA

The player I bought this window. Didn't realise that Ross County sneakily put a loan back clause in the deal, but at least he'll get a tonne of game time as he was a key player for them last season. They just got promoted to the SPL as well. 4.5 star PA

Snatched from Derry City for €125k. Played a fair bit last season rotating with Lee Wallace. Needs constant game time though, so was loaned out this season. 4.5 star PA

Another Rangers academy player. He's developing well and will be tutored after he returns from loan. At 17 years old he's a first teamer at Dundee in the SPL, so should get a tonne of experience. 4.5 star PA

Snatched from Shamrock for €110k. He's coming along well and will stay at the club and get first team experience in easier games.

From the last youth intake, 2016 March. Bags of potential, and hopefully will be my long term keeper if he develops right.

And of course the highest earner at the club. Mr Srna. Quite the capture and still pretty good physical attributes for 34 years old. Only on a one year deal as a safety net.

EDIT: @Rallav

What tactic do you use now? 4-2-3-1 (the 2 are CMs), the other tactic is a 4-3-3 with two CMs and a DM just behind them.

How is it working? Going well, getting plenty of goals but sometimes I find it hard to get the main striker scoring. Only played 11 games into the season but Esmael hasn't scored any goals in the first 5 SPL games, yet scored 9 goals in our 6 Europa League qualifiers. Still unbeaten in the league, thanks to the inside forwards of Lingard and co.

And what team are you planning to build? A team with at least 75% of the squad being Scottish. Mainly going to start that when there are more newgens as the current Scottish players aren't flash, or are too expensive. I use that rule when playing in Germany. It's far easier using it there.

You got a Key player to build your team around? (i did with Castillo) Maybe Esmael, but not sure yet. I'd sell any real players tbh, I mainly only play for developing newgens, so my game really only gets going after 5 or so seasons.

[Murrayzoster]

2016/17 SUMMER TRANSFER INS

Alan Tierney: (See below) €2.5mil - Irish newgen fullback. Can play either side and averaged 7.76 at Ross County last season. 10 POM awards in the Championship. I probably shouldn't have spent the money but sometimes you find a newgen you just really want.

Ruben Perez: Free - The deep lying playmaker adds some more quality to the side.

Quentin Beunardeau: Free - Looks a decent GK. Still young so was loaned out.

Chris Cohen: Free - More quality for the midfield.

Zacharie Boucher: Free - Either first teamer or rotation goalkeeper.

Jamaal Lascelles: Free - Joins Murray and Günter in the CB role. Will rotate with those two.

Marcelo Larrondo: Free - Argentinian target man. Good scoring record in Serie A.

Ryan Mendes da Garca: Free - Needed a wide man and this guy wanted €16k pw initially. Joined on trial and signed a deal for only €5k pw.

Darijo Srna: Free - Didn't really need him as Adam Smith is amazing at RB, but it's Srna! I love this player so had to bring him in even though it 'broke the bank' in a sense. Our wage bill is fine, but he's the highest earner on €34k pw. He takes all the freekicks and corners. A true leader as well.

Loaned Players - Due to the Europa League commitments I figured I'd need a large squad hence all the transfers. I also brought in Lucas Ocampos (RW) and Layvin Kurzawa (LB) from AS Monaco. Zakaria Bakkali (LW) also joined from PSV.

Had loan deals for Lukaku (Real Madrid) and Özil (Man City) accepted but of course the players declined to join. Had to try

Window is still open and I'm monitoring the free agents of Ashley Young, Lescott and Miyaichi. They all are willing to join but I'll see if their demands continue to reduce.

Notable transfer outs were Cammy Bell to Man City €1.2mil. His distribution was terrible. I know there is issues with the ME and keeper distribution but having 7 for kicking doesn't help.

Despite all the transfers we didn't even make the Europa League Group stage, haha. Thanks to the U21 EUROs I was without numerous key players, but still managed to ease to the Play Off's. We got FC Twente which I thought was manageable, only to realise their strikers are rather good. We won the first leg but struggled in the second leg, away from home. Pulled a late goal back, but there wasn't enough time to get that extra goal to send us through. Will reflect on the squad before the window closes but we have to win the league now, despite Celtic's top acquisitions.

Some Newgens

Signed from Morton in first season, Jan window. I use "Add Players" feature so some newgens were in the game from the start. Great little player but not the best as a lone striker. Desperately needs his technical attributes to increase.

HG Academy player. Developing well and has played a fair bit for us despite his age. 4.5 star PA

The player I bought this window. Didn't realise that Ross County sneakily put a loan back clause in the deal, but at least he'll get a tonne of game time as he was a key player for them last season. They just got promoted to the SPL as well. 4.5 star PA

Snatched from Derry City for €125k. Played a fair bit last season rotating with Lee Wallace. Needs constant game time though, so was loaned out this season. 4.5 star PA

Another Rangers academy player. He's developing well and will be tutored after he returns from loan. At 17 years old he's a first teamer at Dundee in the SPL, so should get a tonne of experience. 4.5 star PA

Snatched from Shamrock for €110k. He's coming along well and will stay at the club and get first team experience in easier games.

From the last youth intake, 2016 March. Bags of potential, and hopefully will be my long term keeper if he develops right.

And of course the highest earner at the club. Mr Srna. Quite the capture and still pretty good physical attributes for 34 years old. Only on a one year deal as a safety net.

EDIT: @Rallav

What tactic do you use now? 4-2-3-1 (the 2 are CMs), the other tactic is a 4-3-3 with two CMs and a DM just behind them.

How is it working? Going well, getting plenty of goals but sometimes I find it hard to get the main striker scoring. Only played 11 games into the season but Esmael hasn't scored any goals in the first 5 SPL games, yet scored 9 goals in our 6 Europa League qualifiers. Still unbeaten in the league, thanks to the inside forwards of Lingard and co.

And what team are you planning to build? A team with at least 75% of the squad being Scottish. Mainly going to start that when there are more newgens as the current Scottish players aren't flash, or are too expensive. I use that rule when playing in Germany. It's far easier using it there.

You got a Key player to build your team around? (i did with Castillo) Maybe Esmael, but not sure yet. I'd sell any real players tbh, I mainly only play for developing newgens, so my game really only gets going after 5 or so seasons.

Jamaal Lascelles is a quality player, i managed to sign him and he has been a rock at the back and even right back when required, his pace really helps as i play a high pressing game

[Ryknow]

Yeah he turned out great this season. I find it pretty difficult to drop Murray Wallace though, so not sure if I should move on Günter.

Made some big signings for the coming season that I will summarise hopefully tomorrow, as well as do a roundup for my 2016/17 season.

Just had my highest random bid recieved. Was for Sean Sutherland (above) for bit over €5mil. Turned it down of course as I want to keep talented Scottish newgens. Still hoping of getting a big offer for a player I'd like to sell. It seems I always get pathetic offers, even for my key players.

[Murrayzoster]

Yeah he turned out great this season. I find it pretty difficult to drop Murray Wallace though, so not sure if I should move on Günter.

Made some big signings for the coming season that I will summarise hopefully tomorrow, as well as do a roundup for my 2016/17 season.

Just had my highest random bid recieved. Was for Sean Sutherland (above) for bit over €5mil. Turned it down of course as I want to keep talented Scottish newgens. Still hoping of getting a big offer for a player I'd like to sell. It seems I always get pathetic offers, even for my key players.

I understand, i always want to play talented Scots over any other players when/if i can. I too also feel i get pathetic offers for my players, I currently have Danny Wilson worth around 3.8m and get no higher offers than 2.3m

[Ryknow]

Did you notice your players values slowly increase when your rep does? For instance Celtic's top valued player was €6mil, yet mine never went over €2.5mil until I won the league, despite their quality (eg. Loaned in a €6mil guy and it dropped to €2mil).

Now I've won the league my rep has increased a bit so the values are. Seems kind of unfair when they should really be valued a lot higher. I really don't like the way reputation works in FM, for example : McKay is loaned to a English Championship side and is value is €1.7mil despite his poor form. Then he returns to Rangers and he's worth €600k. He's not worth €1.7mil just for moving to a league.

/small rant over.

[Ryknow]

As seen in my previous post with the screenshots we made some top signings, but were knocked out of the Europa League early on. This meant I had to win the SPL this season. Cut a long story short...we did.

Anyways, to add to my transfer summary we made a signing on deadline day which proved vital in winning the title. Due to the departure of Cammy Bell, and the signing of promising GKs we were left without a experienced keeper. In came Kasper Schmeichel for €1.2mil and only €15k pw. I was looking at Smithies but he was going to cost €3-4mil and wanted much larger wages. Kasper put in the performances I expected and turned out to be a great purchase.

2016/17 Season Summary Roundup

It was a pretty exciting season as we stormed away in the first half of the season with only 1 defeat, but things got shaky around Feb/March as they did the season before. Luckily this time I had 3 tactics that were all Fluid and was able to change things up to surprise the opposition. This is probably the first FM I've ever played that gives me a lull in a season. Previous FMs I would just steam roll all the way through, but this version I've encountered lulls while in the SPL, usually near the end of the season. Won the league by 12 points in the end with a total of 93 points. I mainly used 4-3-3 (With a 1 Dm, 2 Cms) during the season, say 60-65% of the time, then my 4-2-3-1 and 4-4-2 to have a real go at team. One of the stand out performances was against East Stirlingshire in the Scottish Cup 4th Round, where we beat them 9-0. Six goals from Sean Sutherland in a 4-4-2.

Standout Performers:

Adam Smith (RB): Despite Srna signing, I had to constantly rotate between him and Adam Smith. In the end Adam Smith outperformed Srna, but in a mad daze I signed Srna to another year long deal after he sacked his agent. Despite his amazing attributes he only assisted a few goals and scored 1 freekick. So disappointing in the end and not worth €34k pw, so after interest gathered at the end of the season I offered him out and he's just left for Valencia for €850k. No doubt about it now that Adam Smith is my No.1 RB.

Murray Wallace (CB): Consistent and a rock in defence, plus a Rangers lad. He's become an icon at the club now. The fans just love him and voted him the fans player of the season, despite other more attacking players having a fine campaign.

Esmael Goncalves (ST): Despite going a whopping 10 hours without a goal during the season, the big man scored 32 goals in 46 games (all comps). He leads the line well but really lacks consistency and as a result only averaged a rating of 7.38 over the season (all comps). Has real competition for a place now, with my new signing (Will reveal in next post).

Lucas Ocampos (RW): Joining on loan from AS Monaco, Ocampos was brought in to add quality to the right hand side. With Cameron Stewart departing it was quite the upgrade. His first game after returning from the U21's Tournament resulted in a rating of 6.3. I was considering terminating the loan deal, due to no longer having the Europa League commitments and signing Ryan Mendes da Garca on a free. However, from his second game onwards he destroyed the league. Over 31 games in the league he scored 17 goals and assisted in 14 more. He was often the one player that consistently could be relied upon to get/create a goal for us when Goncalves wasn't scoring. He often got the opening goal as well, which proved vital in the end. After only 3-4 months at the club I received an inbox saying how Ocampos wanted to thank Rangers and the fans for his form, and as a result Rangers became one of his Favourite Clubs, in addition to me as a favoured personnel.

His deal with Monaco expired in the summer so he signed with us until 2020, on €38k pw. Fantastic acquisition.

Chris Cohen + Ruben Perez (CMs): Joint 'award' for these two recruits. They added much need quality to the midfield and will be kept on as they have experience and a degree of versatility to play other midfield positions. Played really well next to each other in the 4-3-3, with a protector just behind them.

[rallav]

Huge Updates. I like it. Congrats in signing Srna, one of the modern legends of football.

Regarding the Values, got the same issues.

Well Jero John is a pain in the ass for me. Some players clearly dont like him. Also my approach to critize him almost ever backfires in dropping of his morale. Plus he gets booked on almost every game.

I bet he got a low professionalism. So its for me to sell him rather quick and get a good supporting CM or should i...

Look at his stats (he got ppm of Tries Killer Balls often, Places Shots, Comes Deep to get Ball, Plays one twos, Dictates Tempo):

Or maybe i will give this fella a try who signed for me in 2014, moved through the youth ranks and played 54 games for me over 5 seasons (being loaned to FC Sion once).

Also Cunningham was signed in a similar move like Srna to an extension. Robertson is better by now, but they rotate this Season and it works really good.

Gorbkov got injured again and despite playing 25 games last season in the league and scoring 26 his injury record worries me. Should have checked that BEFORE i payed 10millions. Still have Noble and he is really good by SPL Standards but really decent by Champions League Standards (Which i consider the Premier Competition for me).

On side news Kieran Westwood joined me for half a year as a backup. After that this fella will get promoted to 2nd:

Some other Regens, all First Team Members:

Signed for 5Mil from Liverpool in 19-20, he did not really play there.

Signed for 6,5Mil from Boca Juniors in 18-19.

Signed for 3Mil from Pilsen in 19/20.

Signed for 2,5Mil from Midtyyland in 19/20.

Unbeaten for 2 Years now

[rallav]

I know my record had to go someday...but like this...cmon please.

25 January 2020, Agdestein goes for a Header...and my Defenders fall into sleep, well its the 93 minute...

Maybe they were just too young to know United Bayern in 99.

[Ryknow]

That record is obscene! I think I only managed 40 odd in older versions, mainly because I'd get cocky and play the kids.

Terrible way to stop the unbeaten run, but you have to laugh. Players just had a brain fart. Far better than you getting smashed by a side.

So what's your problem with Jero? He looks fantastic to me, and those stats look fine for an attacking midfielder? Why is he annoying you? Is it simply him getting carded? His agressive attribute is very low so he could have a high 'Dirtiness' attribute. Jusging by those stats, 5 yellow cards in 22 SPL games seems fine to me. If played at CM it could be the instructions you give him make him tackle more, but he's only got 9 for tackling so might cause more fouls as a result.

Players shouldn't hate him as his personality is Leader, which is regarded as being a positive personality. However, I'm not sure if the Leader personality translate into good professionalism. I'd assume so, but either way maybe the players who don't like him have negative personalities. At the end of the day it doesn't have much effect. Not everyone needs to get along.

For example, despite being with me for 3 or so successful seasons, Günter is yet to have any of the Rangers players/staff on his favoured list. He doesn't hate anyone, he just doesn't like anyone enough.

Shame about Gorbkov. He looked deadly when you signed him, but all those injuries will eventually take their toll. Tbh, most have been rather short spells on the sidelines though. He's been lucky that most are short term and all been very random. Just watch out for repeats of previous injuries (hamstring - after he recovers from current tear). He might be injury prone but just to general injuries/niggles, instead of injury prone in the long term Kieron Dyer sense.

[rallav]

Yeah i had to laugh at that too.

John was suspended for the last year Semi Finals of CL and Cup because of Yellow Cards. He is injured now for 3 months and i heavily scouted midfielders in the transfer window.

He will stay because he is just the best for me at the moment.

I know the injuries on Gorbkov are random but i tend to have 2-3 strikers in the first team rooster so i need consistency there.

At the moment its Gorbkov (injured), Noble (injured) and John (injured) which a Regen out on Loan. So some youngsters got their first Team Debut.

With his contract running out in 2021 i will sell him in the summer and look for a replacement, if i find one...

[Ryknow]

Yeah I'm still at the stage of getting in bosmans each season. So my team has a somewhat 'mercenary' feel to it. Luckily I'm finding players who will be at the club for a number of years, but for a while I kept upgrading areas of the team with bosmans. So effectively I didn't have a settled lineup from season to season.

I've done the same this season but kept the core. I've still to sell a player for a large sum. Got a bid of €7mil for Sean Sutherland (newgen above), but due to being Scottish I keep turning any bids down. Plus I need HG players atm. Had a bid for Günter of around €5mil, which negotiated up to €6mil, but I want at least €8mil. He's valued at €3mil and a key player, but I wouldn't be fussed if he left, even though he's a fine player. I'm hoping we get some bids for players come the end of the summer window as my wage bill is €450k pw. Still under Celtic's wage bill, but far too high for my liking.

After the season tickets we ended up with a €20mil profit margin, with a €40mil balance, so I'll be looking towards the UCL Group Stage to finally get a bit of cash, plus sell a player or two. If not we'll make a loss for the year.

[Ryknow]

2017/18 TRANSFER INS

Yaya Sanogo (ST): Free - Cracking signing and scored 8 in his first 6 games to put us into the Group Stage of the Champions League.

Lavin Kurzawa (LB): Free - Was on loan with us last season from AS Monaco and impressed. Rotates with Lee Wallace.

Adam Campbell (ST): Free - Brought in but immediately loaned out to Swansea. Initially wanted €14k pw, but once on trial only asked for €5k pw.

Tongo Doumbia (DM/CM): Free - Adds extra steel to midfield and has gone straight into the DM role in the 4-3-3 formation.

Javi Garcia (DC/DM/CM): Free - Was tracking him then he got released and he wanted €50k pw, then once released wanted €125k pw, but I signed him for €15k pw when he joined on trial.

Lucas Ocampos (LW/RW): Free - Was devastating last season while on loan from AS Monaco. Delighted that he joined.

Wesley Sneijder (CAM): Free - 33 year old Sneijder brought in to tutor Russell (newgen). Rated 4 star in the SPL so still great ability for the league.

Loaned Players:

David Silva (LW/CAM/RW): New Man City management don't use CAMs, so they have Özil, Silva and Nasri sitting in the reserves. So stupid. Got Silva on loan very early in the transfer window. Averaging over 8.00 after the early UCL stages. Already scored 2 cracking freekicks.

Kyle Bartley (DC): Brought back to Ibrox to cover in defence due to some departures.

Anthony Martial (LW/ST): Crazy talent and with his contract expiring in 2018 I might be able to do a 'Ocampos/Kurzawa' and sign him on a free. Might struggle for game time though, so will need to settle for LW role.

Notable TRANSFER OUTS:

Koray Günter: €7.5mil - Wanted to sell a player and I have the DC spots covered. Good fee/

Srna, Nicky Law, Aird and McKay - Bit over €2mil. Not needed any more.

[Ryknow]

Got a tough draw for the UCL group.

Didn't expect this. Was unbeaten until the last day, where my lads switched off against Marseille and we got smashed 4-0. Didn't matter though as we had already qualified. Huge cash flow from UCL meant the board upped my transfer budget from €2mil remaining, to €18mil. I just adjusted it to allow for a higher wage budget, and they further increased it from €10mil to €18mil again. Safe to say I have money there, but still signing bosmans and promoting youth.

So Strachan is a mastermind...

Fastest hat-trick?

Sheridan is developing well thanks to the Koray Günter sale.

As has Idris, who looks set to be my goalkeeper next season. Signed on free a few years ago and looks great now.

Midway through the season. Got Shakhtar in the next round of the UCL and currently top of the SPL table with Celtic and St. Mirren only a few points behind. Very competitive at as I've only draw 2 and lost 3.

Lingard was sold for €7.25mil as I have a load of attacking talent coming in on bosman for next season. Position is covered now until then though. He plays well but really not well enough. Not enough assists and goals.

[brento]

Currently playing a edited database Scottish league expansion but with Rangers in english league two and Celtic in english championship availible on this website.

When training u18 do I put individual training on heavy or average?

[Ryknow]

I'd put them on average. Don't want youngsters getting too many injuries. In Scotland we don't have U19 fixtures so I normally move the best youngsters to my first team so they train with the seniors. Then just mark available for the reserves.

U19 only comes into play with the U19 Champs League, which I then just mark them available for U19.

Let us know how you get on. I started a save on FM13 like you have, but quit after a season because all the youth that came through were English. I thought I did as people say, to avoid the problem, but couldn't be bothered starting another save.

[Ryknow]

Cruising through this save thanks to my holidays. However, my definition of cruising is probably different to others. Still in the 2017/18 season.

Just got knocked out of the UEFA Champions League Quarter Finals by AC Milan 3-3agg. I wasn't too fussed as all our fixtures were pilling up, plus I had injuries to my key players. Still an impressive run for our first season. I'm hoping we just caught everyone offguard and it's not always this easy. The money though is amazing. So much prize money and the TV rev for the UCL is still to be announced.

As a result I bought Tom Cairney from Brighton for €4.8mil (I hardly spent money). He's not exactly needed as a key player but he'll be used as one as I need more Scottish players. I currently have 5 in the Scotland setup, Murray Wallace, Lee Wallace, Russell (newgen), Sutherland (newgen) and Walsh (been at Hearts for 3 seasons on loan, scored many many goals).

Got a tonne of bosmans coming in the summer to add depth and be first teamers, so the summer will be busy with me deciding who needs to leave.

Brian Sheridan (above) is a first teamer now, although for big games I used Murray Wallace and Kyle Bartley(loan - possible Bosman). Robert Russell (few posts above) is first on the team sheet when we use a AMC, and Idris (above) will likely be first choice keeper next season despite Schmeichels great form.

[Ryknow]

Good year for us because we had success and made a tonne of money.

Celtic ran us to the final day where we had to win or draw to guarantee the title. Was a good season for St Mirren too.

Due to having €50mil in the bank thanks to the success in the Champions League I decided on asking the board to upgrade the facilities. They approved the senior and youth training facilities for a combined fee of around €10mil. Nearer the end of the season I decided on asking to expand the stadium as our attendance figures compared to the capacity is normally around 95%.

They initially gave me this.

But reconsidered and decided to make the capacity a whopping 64,000. In the one hit it will cost us a bit, but we can easily recoup that money once it's finished.

As a result, we are off to Hampdem. I suspect some intense fixture congestion due to Queens Park and the latter Cup finals using the stadium, plus my Champions League games. So I better get a big squad as we might have some weird fixture build up.

Due to getting in the Quarter Finals we took quite the leap up the rankings

And go straight into the Group Stage. This one is weird as this season coming we also go straight into the Group phase despite average European runs by Celtic. Could be due to decreasing success by the other leagues (Belgium and co) and the huge success of the Scotland team.

And just a random screeny showing I avoided the €0 sponsorship deal that has been mentioned in this thread before. Might have been patched.

Now it's off to try and sell players with 1 year left as many are asking for much larger deals. The downfall of success.

[rallav]

Congrats on the recent Results. Also more money to invest!

Ive not played in a long time, lacking motivation because of other games, and dont know if i should continue with Rangers, so this explains my absence in this thread.

[BurghBear]

Hello all, been reading the thread for a couple of days as I've been settling in to the new game. Lots of good stuff and hopefully I'll be able to do similar. Just starting my second season now and developing the youth. Won the league in the first season easily as expected even with playing youth all the time but wasn't impressed with the style of play we were using. Playing about with formations etc so will post something when I find a style I'm happier with.

[Ryknow]

Welcome to the thread!

Yeah it took me a while to settle on a formation and style, and tbh I still haven't and I'm in Jan 2019. I have a 4-2-3-1 (now with two DMs), a 4-3-3 (1 DM and 2 CMs) and a 4-4-2. Mainly use the 4-2-3-1 but now I'm considering going back to using 2 CMs as I've arranged for a world class Aussie CM to join in the summer (Bosman).

---------

Made €40mil from season ticket sales this season thanks to moving to Hampdem. Once we move back to the 64,000 seater Ibrox I'd expect the same if not more. Wage bill will blow out next season due to the amount of big bosmans I just got. I need to be cut throat and sell some players. Cruising in the league with a very multicultural squad. Still quite a few Scots though, but only a few are first team regulars. Better than Celtic though, they don't have a single Scottish player in their first team. Had some issues with high potential Scottish newgens not developing well or getting injured. Luckily I have the best crop of Scottish newgens though.

Been offered so many job interviews recently, Roma, Lyon, Marseille, Norwich, HSV, Gladbach, Zenit, and so on. Don't think I'll ever leave though, but tempted to start an alternative save with one of the nations that has the best newgens. But I'd feel I was wasting precious Rangers save time. I need to get myself an international job, Strachan is 61 atm, so hopefully he retires. He has done an amazing job with Scotland.

[Ryknow]

From the last youth intake, 2016 March. Bags of potential, and hopefully will be my long term keeper if he develops right.

Safe to say that Williamson is developing well. Played 14 games this season, mainly cup games and against easier teams but ended up playing the final 6 games of the season. This screenshot was taken as he just got called up to the national team for the first time, and after it picked up his first cap. Looks set to be the No.1 Scotland keeper. Due to Lee Wallace leaving (he asked) we now need to find a new captain, and my assistant recommended Williamson. Still not sure who I will pick, and whether I should throw Williamson in as my first choice next season.

In his 14 appearances he made around 4 terrible mistakes that led to goals, so I'm hoping his decisions attribute increases as they came about from making poor choices. Either way, he'll be my long term keeper due to coming through the academy, being Scottish and loving the club.

[BurghBear]

He looks great,excellent improvement.

I'm still in October of the 2nd season and doing fairly well with keeping to my youth policy. Tried to play the fringe players for a few games there to put them in the shop window with a view to selling them in January but ended up getting beat two games in a row, the second being the semi of the Challenge Cup. I spat the dummy a bit and released a bunch of them but I don't regret it.

Playing a 4-5-1 at the minute with 3 central midfielders and two attacking mids on the wings. Have tried various roles for the CM's but I've got them all as BBM now. Always seem to destroy teams in terms of stats but either end up winning 1-0 or maybe 2-0. Still playing about with it.

Youth players are making good progress and getting game time, average age of my team is usually about 20. Hoping to sell a few players at the end of this season for some decent money and start building a squad I'm happy with that can develop.

Did anyone else have difficulty signing decent coaches due to wage constraints? Found plenty of great coaches who were available but couldn't agree a contract!

[Ryknow]

Yeah signing decent coaches is difficult until you get to the SPL. Sometimes it's better going for the cheapest option with the highest coaching attribute and forget about the DDM. They'll still give you a relatively high coach rating, but just make sure their contract is set to run out when you get back to the SPL as you'll be able to get better ones.

Just make sure the staff wage bill doesn't get out of hand. Also, for some reason the board reduced the staff allowed for me upon promotion to the SPL. You might avoid it though, as I think it was just a glitch.

I've reverted to using my 4-3-3 now due to bringing top CMs. It uses two CMs and one DM.

Using three BBMs sounds like suicide to me, but at lower level you might get away with it. Mainly because when your team attacks they all will bomb forward and will leave you incredibly exposed for a counter. I'd suggest:

DLP - CM(D) - BBM

The CM(d) will hold his position more and offer that cover, as will the deep lying playmaker, while the BBM can go do what he wants. Ether that or change the DLP to a AP(s). I found McLeod was good in either of these roles.

[BurghBear]

Yeah I had similar thoughts, I tried DLP - BBM - APM and a few other combo's but it didn't seem to be working for some reason. The 3 BBM seems to work at the moment and they work well together with 1 going forward and the others staying back automatically but I was worried about the step up in class. Keeping an eye on it and have a few other formations to revert to just in case! I have about 5 young players for that position just now all with about 5 stars potential so using 3 CM allows them playing time, I don't usually play that way.

[Ryknow]

Yeah same. I've got far too many CMs this season and I may have to loan some out just to reduce the way bill. Got carried away with bosmans and signed 4 top CMs, despite having good ones. In August at the moment so still have time to reduce the hefty wage bill.

[BurghBear]

Did you get anywhere with the FFP thing? Rather confusing. I don't have that yet as still in the Chmp

[rallav]

In my opinion Financial Fairplay will never be an issue for you.

After you get a 64000 seater money wont be an issue and you should be able to win atleast one trophy per season even when doing decent.

It might be an issue if you pay way to much wages but you`ll need alot of Cristiano Ronaldos for this.

I played with a 4-1-2-2-1 or 4-1-2-3 (depends on point of view). Using the same in a different save with Peterborough.

GK (D+distribute to defenders), CB (D), LB/RB (Auto or D, get forward IF theyre quick enough)

Utilising one classic Defensive Midfielder and two Central Midfielers (one more defensive oriented on auto and one more offensive oriented on support) plus two wingers and a Complete Forward (think of atleast 1,78 height and good workrate/teamwork, all them other strikers wont net you 50 goals a season). The Wingers are equally important because theyre on attack and score/assist a lot (passing, crossing, workrate!!, composure very important for me also teamwork is a plus beside the needed speed and agility). I still play them wingers on a WIDE position and they get forward alot (well i also got that highlighted to make more runs at defense).

Lets say a Pitch is 100 metres long. If the opposite got the ball it is for my team to pressure them at the 40 metres mark to get the ball back, the opposite team then has to shoot/pass the ball for 60 metres which gives me time, which increases their mistake quota and it doesnt bother me if i dont got the ball much because i overrun them with my speedy wingers and marvelous passing from the support CM. So the Wingers and the Forward dont pressure "much" but starting with the central midfielders (who need good stamina, workrate and teamwork) i set the player instructions to achieve my vision. As you can see in this thread it worked quite well! (have to say i rely on good standards too).

Long sentence short: Get speedy players with Determination!!!, workrate and teamwork (plus all the other stuff they need for the respective position) and take a look at your player instructions, these are more important now so looking at this i dont see any sense in 3 bbm´s. You might get away with it against weaker teams and maybe also in SPL but i doubt achieving any greatness against clearly better teams. And believe me playing against Barca, Monaco or also Leverkusen will frighten you in your First CL Season because they WILL be the better team on the sheet. So you need to be prepared and my advice is to build the team for this beginning with your first season in the First Division.

I also made the mistake to get not enough scottish guys and could only register 21 players in one CL Season (which was really a shame, four youngsters without CL experience, sad faces they made...i guess).

Edit: @Ryknow, Great Regen Goalie mate, but do i sense a little tiredness in managing Rangers or do I

[Ryknow]

Yeah, listen to rallav he's been there and done that with Rangers already on FM14. It's a much harder game tactically and you will get found out soon with those roles.

Along with, and repeating some of what rallav said:

Tips

- Make three different formations and tweak them while you can in the lower levels. I used 4-2-3-1, 4-3-3(counter) and a 4-4-2(to give strikers a run out, used against weaker teams). Should aim for a solid counter strategy for the UCL, and tough away games. It's all about balancing roles and duties, for instance if you have a Winger(a) you should set the fullback to (s), and vice versa, if not you can get seriously exposed if both are on attack. Same with the CM roles. Always have one defensively minded midfielder, but check his PPMs. They could contradict what you want. I'm finding my anchorman very valuable after switch to my 4-3-3 (1 DM). Gives the CBs an option at all times and the CMs an option to pass back to.

- Make sure you have enough HG players worthy of being registered. As with rallav, I also had to leave some blank spots. Now I'm fine, but it's not great first season back.

- Bosmans are your friend. Even now, I'm in 2019, I rarely spend money and capped first teamers at €40k pw. Trust me it's tempting when Özil and co. want to join you but I'm not breaking the bank for one player.

- As you are already doing, play those youth. It pays off once you're in the SPL, because all you need to do is add experience/extra quality through free transfers/bosmans.

- Continue to check back on the Player Search - Contracts - Expired. Some players get released outside the windows. Can get some great buys. Also offer trial first. They can reduce their wages once they check out the club.

- Don't worry about FFP unless you intend on buying players for €10mil and offering big deals.

- If you have amazing youth, offer them more wages and lock max contract length, plus max Optional Contract extension. Means you can technically sign a player to a 8 year deal. Best to do when they are young as it'll avoid you having to give them bumper new deals when you make the UCL. Something you can't, or shouldn't, do at Rangers.

---------------------

Once my 2019/20 summer transfer window is over I'll post a summary of ins/outs and a short summary of last season.

[Ryknow]

Edit: @Ryknow, Great Regen Goalie mate, but do i sense a little tiredness in managing Rangers or do I

Thanks, I've promoted him as the first choice for this season, Idris (German newgen) will be pissed. I'm loving this safe and bar a game breaking bug I'll continue to play it for quite a while. I always start a Bundesliga save, but that's normally after the final patch. My only bug bare atm is some ME issues and the difficulty at selling players sometimes. As I'm on Uni holidays I'm getting plenty of game time in before I go back. Can say I'm well addicted.

EDIT: Disappointed with the lack of posts in the club forums, but I guess most are waiting for final patch or are having too much fun. Was far more active posting for FM13.

[rallav]

The Bosmans! How could i forget about them. Shiny marvelous gems from Scandinavia, Africa or Ireland who will be the next ..well lets say... International Star Player for the Rangers.

Scout the youth!

I agree on ye point of view Ryknow, in FM13 this thread was more active which encouraged more people to play and top each other.

But maybe this will change with the Transfer Patch !?

Edit: Did not play Rangers, maybe will do when I get University Holidays , but i started completely new save, holidayed a bit and now 4 games in at Peterborough in Championship (16/17) and man do they suck.

[BurghBear]

Finally into the top division, won the championship without too much effort despite messing about with tactics for the first 5 months. Also won the Scottish Cup but didn't get the EURO place as the ban was still in place I'm told. Picked up a few good signings for free who had been released, Abdi Ibrahim and Luca Scapuzzi both formerly of Man City, do a great job and improved a lot in a few months. The youth policy has worked well, too well in fact as I have too many exciting prospects to know what to do with them. All training facilities and recruitment networks are being invested in and I've got a few million £ still in the bank to spend as needed. Will hold on to it for the right players though. Thinking of trying to buy mostly Scottish talent and see what I can do on that front but you always get tempted by the 5 star Brazillian for a few quid!

Tactics wise I am trying the same as before with one CM dropped to DM and the other two CM's as defend and BBM. Not seen how it'll work yet. A lot of success with the 4-2-3-1 Assymmetric and have a standard 4-4-2 as backup too. Doubt I'll manage to win the league at first time of asking as my youth policy will hold me back slightly but I'm not concerned, EURO place is all that is expected. Roy Keane is managing Inverness and won the league in 13-14 before Celtic won it back last year. Looking forward to a tough season before my team becomes rediculously overpowered for the league and I start looking at the job offers and getting tempted...

[Ryknow]

Wow, nice effort by Roy Keane. There was on season when I wasn't in the SPL yet that Celtic only won the league on goal difference.

Now things are different, they are a shell of a club and currently sit third in the league at Jan. Their squad building has been terrible, it's a shame the AI is so bad at building and keeping a squad together. Will try and do my update today. A lot has changed at Rangers. I'm actually spending money...

[BurghBear]

Ha! It happens to us all eventually! I wish the AI allowed for a bit more challenge, I've even tried loaning excellent players out to other Scottish clubs for nothing but doesn't really help that much.

[Ryknow]

Yeah, that sucks but you should get plenty of interest from SPL clubs and lower once in the SPL. All my youth (average U19) get approached by lower Scottish teams and I have no problem loaning out players in the main squad.

[Ryknow]

Quick Summary: Moving to Hampdem proved to be successful as we stormed the league winning by 13 points.

TRANGERS IN - Summary

Tom Cairney - €4.8mil - First time I spent money, but merely because I wanted another Scottish player. Had a fine season with 10 assists and 2 goals, but nothing amazing as I messed around with tactics and ended up using him as DLP in the DM role alongside another DM in a 4-2-3-1.

Kyle Bartley - Free - Was on loan at the club last season and signed a deal with us 6 months later (bosman). Very solid performances across the season.

Georginio Wijnaldum - Free - Played very well but more of a rotation player as my Scottish HG talent, Robert Russel started ahead of him.

Anthony Martial - Free - Bags of potential but in the end disappointing. Was on loan the season before and both seasons used as a inside forward on the left due to only playing with one up front.

Milos Veljkovic - Free - Just click on 'Approach to Sign' randomly when scouring for bosmans and he only wanted €3k pw. Easy gamble. Retrained as DM, did really well. Now that I'm 2020 he's first choice CB and I'm getting bids from all the big clubs for him. Developed really well. Top class CB.

Tommy Smith - Free - Approached this guy early, before I signed Bartley to a bosman. Didn't need him, shipped out on loan then sold at the end of the season.

Dejan Meleg - Free - Blows hot and cold. Was on loan the season before but not sure he'll be sticking around. Left on loan in the winter break on a 1.5 year loan deal. Will be sold when he comes back.

Cedric Badjeck - Free - After he got released I signed him, not sure why as I only play with one up front. Had to be loaned out to reduce the wage bill. Was sold at the end of the season.

Tom Ince - €550k - Signed him to a deal in January (bosman) and clicked the 'Buy Now' option and Liverpool only wanted €550k. First two games were pretty average, then his form exploded. Scored 12 goals in his last 13 SPL games helping us to increase the gap over Celtic. His Dad manages Inverness and hates me.

Some Newgens - One was a USA newgen due to having links there I wanted to sign one. Another was my first Brazilian player. Huge potential but the guy was an idiot, had a fight with him over playing time despite him getting games and being a rotation player. Was bought for €400k in Jan and sold to Real Betis at the end of the season for €8mil. I don't need players like that, despite being labelled a Wonderkid. Never put in a great shift, but I felt he could have gotten me much more cash had I developed him more.

TRANSFERS OUT - Notable

Ruben Perez - €5.5m - This guy was amazing in the two seasons he was at the club. Creeping near 30 I moved him on. Kind of missed him this season, but wasn't prepared to give him €36k pw.

Jamaal Lascelles - €4.1mil - Tore his calf muscle twice in 2018, once at the club another while on loan. Had to get rid, didn't need him.

Kasper Schmeichel - €1.5mil - Ah, the old friendly ghost, Kasper was great and tutored both my keepers to what they are today. He left for Qatar to 'benefit his family financially'. Spent a year there and returned to us on loan.

Other transfers gave us:

INS: €8.64mil

OUTS: €14.89mil

SPL

Rangers 98pts

Celtic 85pts

Patrick Thistle 65pts

St Mirren 61pts

Peter Houston continued to do a fine job with St Mirren.

-------

UEFA Champions League

Went straight into the Group Stage of the which ended like this:

FC Bayern Munich 14pts

Rangers 9pts

Spartak Moscow 8pts

FC Porto 1pt

Had a fine game against Bayern where we came back from two goals down to claim a 2-2 draw.

Got Spurs in the 1st Knockout Round. Went two goals down to win 3-2 at home. Not good going to an away leg with two conceded already. Couldn't handle their attacking players and lost 2-0 away.

---------

Scottish Cup

Knocked out in the Quarter Final by Inverness 2-1. Shocking display by our forwards and Sanogo missed a penalty late on. Either way, not fussed.

---------

Scottish League Cup

I hate this useless competition but ended up beating Celtic on penalties in the final. Eh.

---------

I'm in January 2020 now so won't post any screenies in this post.

[Ryknow]

TRANFERS IN - Summer

Danny Wilson - Loan - Gives me a backup CB with a HG status.

Kasper Schmeichel - Loan - After getting his pay day in Qatar he returns to the club as backup. Always welcome for what he did for us.

Youousse Sankhare - Free - Part 1/4 of the CM overkill. Signs with a 50% of next transfer fee clause meaning he has much lower wages. Is cover for DM and CM spots.

Pierre-Emile Hojbjerg - Free - Part 2/4 of the CM overkill. Great signing but fell out with him after he leaked to the press about my team talk. No one else reacted like him as they are professionals and can take criticism. We fell out after 2 games and he was loaned out before the window closed. Despite him developing great I will sell this guy. Don't need players like that at the club...seriously two games and he has a hissy fit.

Abdoulaye Doucoure -Free - Part 3/4 of the CM overkill. Signed too many CMs but he can play DM too. As of January he has played his role, more of a rotation player though. Might be sold end of season.

Johnny Russell - Loan - Cheap deal, versatile and offered a HG nation. Never really featured and loan deal terminated in Jan.

Shinji Kagawa - Loan - As a BVB fan I jumped at the chance to sign Kagawa but in the end he wasn't needed as we adopted a 4-3-3 formation. Loan deal terminated in Jan.

Sead Kolasinac - Free - Was on loan last season as a backup DM, and is versatile. Signed for only €10k pw. Backup DM.

Mesut Özil - Free - Was released by Man City. Originally wanted €215k pw, Ha! I waited until the window closed and he wanted €54k pw. Finally accepted a trial and along with 50% of next transfer I got him down to €18k pw, haha. Just turned 31 and offers another threat when we use 4-2-3-1.

Newgens

Brendan Bahnsen - Free - Part 4/4 of the CM overkill. I got so many CMs on bosman deals but this was the main one I was after. I finally got an Aussie and he started his career at my local club. The reason he is on €40k pw is because for the last 5 seasons he's been plying his trade at Amkar in Russia, on some big money. Glad he signed and as of January he currently has scored 8 goals from CM. Great player alongside Robert Russell.

Winter Window Signings

Valerio Morra - €4.2mil - The flamboyant winger can play LW, LM, CM and CAM. As of yet I haven't even used him (just signed) but looking forward to it. Lacks acceleration but has some fine technical attributes. Pretty cheap deal tbh.

Nathan Long - €5.75mil - Tracked this guy for a while and had a deal ready to go for €2.2mil but then the MLS league kicked in (I added it to be playable) and the club wanted more. I'm rolling in money so he will be an investment. Contract is actually until 2027 (Just activated the 3 year clause). Scouts said he was 5 star with potential to be World Class, so I feel he will become pretty great. Just a shame about his jumping reach and bravery.

So far I have a few bosmans and winter window transfer pending. One very very large bosman pending work permit.

Transfers IN: €11.55mil

Transfers OUT: €28.79mil