FM15: Newcastle United F.C. - Sack Pardew.com

[brussels]

We were on course to finish the Premier League unbeaten

First world problems... I'm jealous

well... I've just binned my save

Got sacked after winning 1 game in 15, and we were bottom of the table.

Last game against Everton I replayed it out of curiosity, 3 times with 3 different team talks and 3 different tactics, we would concede every time early (2' , 10' and 2') into the game.

Last game a penalty at 2' that was in fact a dive

Honestly I don't quite understand why the AI adds intentional stuff like that just to ruin the experience. Actually it made me loss the will to keep on playing anymore.

I feel cheated, and like the game is scripted.

I have spent maybe 10-12 hours watching those games like a r-tard when maybe it was already decided by the AI that I'd be sitting bottom of the table and fired.

At first I thought it could be that I should have signed different players, and be more strict getting rid of the players that didn't perform the previous season... fair point.

I also tweaked the tactics a little bit but in general we were creating CCC but squandering them, and the defensive mistakes were pretty childish...

But I wonder if that made a difference at all, seeing how events eventually evolved.

I don't understand... first season in FM15 I manage to make it 6th, getting pretty close to a CL spot. 2nd season I sit bottom of the table and nothing I do seems to work.

Time for a break I guess. And probably I'll come back and give it another try in the future, before starting the magpies save I was thinking about either a "LLM globetrotter" save or a top club (have never managed in Italy or Germany, and I'd love to troll Guardiola a little bit).

All the best to the rest of you with your Magpies saves. When I get rid of this lump in my throat I'll make sure to drop by and check how you guys terrorize the BPL and Champions League.

[Jops14]

Hey all, thought i'd post my career with Newcastle so far, always do my first save with them and refuse to leave until I win a title. Has to be said to me this seems like the best Newcastle team in years (at least on fm). Good players who can either perform or be sold at a decent price (although not in the first season).

First couple of seasons not a huge amount to shout about, massively struggled to score goals, couldn't get anything out of Ayoze, top scorer first season was De Jong with 11 goals, and second year it was Lacazette with only 8!!! Nevertheless I finished 7th followed by 6th the following year, finding a formation to settle on was tough but eventually settled on one of my most succesful from last year the 4-1-2-1-2, just a classic narrow diamond.

Major transfer in first year were:

In

Jetro Willems - £10m

Hachim Mastour - £1.5m

Patrick Roberts - £11m

Dele Alli - £3.5m

Eder Balanta - £7.25 (January)

Out

Williamson - £2m

Dummett - £1.8m

Gouffran - £5.25m (A little upset seeing the prices some people got for him)

A lot of the transfers were done with monthly installments, and I got a January boost allowing me to buy Balanta.

2015/2016 - Finish 6th

In

Alexandre Lacazette - £8.25m

Sam Byram - £8.5m

Andy Carroll - £6.75m

Daniel Amartey - £4.7m

Kris Ajer - £900k

Gabriel Barbosa - £17.25m

Out

Davide Santon £9.75m

Daryl Janmaat - £9.25m

Emanuel Riviere - £5.25m

Hatem Ben Arfa - £9.25m

Various other squad players for small sums (Colo, Saylor, Abeid, Colback, Vuckic, Cisse, Obertan)

Couldn't score goals but most of those transfers became key in later success.

2016/2017 - 2nd, 90 points

In

Giovinco - £11m

Jose Gaya - £9m

Out

Siem De Jong - £8m

Ayoze - £12m

(Laudrup, Haidara, Ameobi, Darlow)

Difference between this season and the year before was Patrick Roberts stepping up, me settling on the narrow diamond and the signing of Giovinco, scored 15 goals and got 13 assists, meanwhile Chelsea were incredible, scoring 94 points.

2017/2018 - 1st, 84 points, FA cup winners

In

Sam Gallagher - £12.5m

Alessio Romagnoli - £7m

Leon Goretzka - £35m

Davide Santon - £15.25m

Nicola Gacesa - £1.9m (REGEN)

Out

Andy Carroll - £3.6m

Denis Suarez - £8.5m

Jamaal Lascelles - £6.25m

Jose Gaya - £23m

(Tiote, Rabiot, Aarons).

Obviously there is 1 big difference in this season. Goretzka. Had to heavily weight it bakc end and break the £100k barrier, but he was worth it, performed brilliantly all year (at this point Balanta is averaging 7.5). Tiote left as Amartey was easily first choice, not amazing stats but great performer. Santon came back to replace the leaving Gaya, as Willems hadn't developed as I hoped. Barbosa went and got 24 league goals and was superb, so we were finally able to score goals whilst keep them out the other end. Chelsea were easily beaten 3-1 in the FA cup as well.

From that point on I hadn't made many changes until the 21/22 season (current one) where a few players were too old. Bought no one of note in 18/19, and unfortunately resulted in me finishing 3rd, runner up in champions league and league cup, and out of FA cup in semi final, so not a great season.

Followed up by bring in Prowse to rotate with Alli, Insigne and Bazoer as ST and DM backup, and Andreas Christensen as backup. Won the league that season and the year after I brought in Jordi Alba, and then in January Luke Shaw as Alba spent most of the yera crippled so was still playing Santon.

Finished 20/21 winning the league with 99 points, losing only 1 games (a 3-1 thrashing from Arsenal with only 1 more game left to play after...) culminating in a 41 game unbeaten streak in the premiership, so close to the invincibles...

WOn the Champions league at least, thrashing Chelsea 4-1 and taking the League cup.

and now to my current team:

http://steamcommunity.com/profiles/76561198052174832/screenshots/?appid=295270

(Link provided as I don't know how to stick the screens on here)

I've put up a few key players, including my latest transfers, many of the players I bought earlier (Ajer, Bazoer) went for ridiculous sums, I got taken over during about 2019 and that chairman has a bit more to pump into the club, not a Tycoon though.

Obviously many will question signing Messi for £10m at 34, signing him to £275k p/w and for 5 years, and I would 100% agree it's crazy, but after all i'm a football fan, and regardless of his age I want Messi in my team, because I rarely manage Barca so never get to play with him...

Mastour has become amazing, unfortunately I think he has a thing going on with the physio because he spends ages there, but I rotate him and Roberts very nicely, Krul has now also been replaced and i'll be letting him and Santon leave for free after this season. Amartey ended up becoming a superb player considering his fee, and I love the way Alli developed. Anyone wants to see specific screens uploaded i'll be happy to oblige. Problem now is balancing depth with the whiney players.

[HCFC_Clark]

Out

Siem De Jong - £8m

Ayoze - £12m

(Laudrup, Haidara, Ameobi, Darlow)

Big mistake selling Ayoze. I've had numerous bids of £60m+ for him and still knock them back.

[Jops14]

Big mistake selling Ayoze. I've had numerous bids of £60m+ for him and still knock them back.

Yeah you're probably right there, on my game he knows plays for Real Madrid after a couple of years at Liverpool, he attributes are pretyt great but I doubt he'd get into my team or would have done if I kept him, I couldn't get him scoring, he's never done better than 13 league goals, and 4 assists, so for me he doesn't cut it regardless of atts, because he can't score.

[col_nufc1]

I have finally signed some young regens for my Newcastle side, I am in pre season in the 5th season and these are the regens I've brung in so far, all of them are players for the future and I am debating whether to keep them or loan them out for first team games.

Somália was signed for £3m from Vasco.

Roberto was signed for £3.3m from Vasco.

Themistoklis Koundourakis was signed for £750k from Ergotelis.

Victor Negouai was signed for £575k from Nantes.

Henry Nnam was signed for £11.5m from PSV Eindhoven.

Julien Duboc was signed on a Bosman free transfer from Panathinaikos.

We have also signed Jonathan Tah (free) and Clément Grenier (£9.5m) and I am looking to bring in Leon Goretzka (around £55m ) and Josh Murphy (£26.5m). We still need a World class goalkeeper and I am looking at Marc-Andre ter Stegen but he will cost around £60m ish and I don't know if he's worth it. Anyone got any suggestions for a goalkeeper that would be interested in joining Newcastle ?.

[col_nufc1]

Damn it !!! I've just had a crash dump but luckily all the regens are on my last save but I'll have to try and sign the other players again.

I forgot to mention as well that I am now the Brazilian national team manager.

[Jops14]

Damn it !!! I've just had a crash dump but luckily all the regens are on my last save but I'll have to try and sign the other players again.

I forgot to mention as well that I am now the Brazilian national team manager.

Regarding the regens you signed, I personally would keep from Negouai down, and loan the others out. They could make a real impact, the others probably wouldn't get a look in and need first team football. One of the best moves I had was getting Morodovia in the Russian prem as a feeder team, most guys I send are guarenteed starters and get great experience and development.

Meanwhile, as I have nothing better to do, I have already finished my next season! Turns out that Lionel Messi fella is a pretty decent player. Even at 34 he scored 24 league goals in 30 games and set up another 14. My regen netting 20 goals himself. Took the league at a canter again and won the champs league with a 2-1 over Madrid. Barbosa and Roberts getting the goals. Was going to leave end of this season but decided to extend my contract a couple of years as I really enjoyed watching the team.

In the meantime, going to have a crack at the world cup with spain.

[Dodds']

Newcastle United 5th Review

Well we went very close to bagging the title this year, we were unbeaten till January time and we got beat off Huddersfield. Yes Huddersfield, however the season was very very good with a load of really good score lines. As you can see it went down to the last game, I'm kind of pleased I didn't win the league.

I also wanted to win the Europa League before getting into the Champions League but that didn't happen. As you can see the two Cups domestically were dreadful and the worst of my campaign here.

Ayoze, he's a god literally buy him at any price. Playing at AMR as a inside forward free roam, he's such a player. Scoring 20+ goals in the league from that position is crazy and the last time we seen that was Cristiano Ronaldo in the Premier League.

I can also see that Man Utd will now be a little pissed losing Jesse Lingaard for £2m and now performing on the level of Hazard. He's worth £15m+ so you can now call me the Wheeler Dealer - Also Odegaard took over the Anita reign this year due to him getting injured and now reaching the age of 30, Odegaard made me feel like I didn't Anita anymore and that makes me sad.

As you can see above with Ayoze, He's basically our main goalscorer hopefully Vadala and Floriano don't get injured next year and bag for fun. As I've said before Odegaard took over Anita on the stats and the pitch... and Balanta still loves a tackle, as well as a card.

[shorty11857]

Just out of interest, how did you get Ferreyra firing? I found him too inconsistent in my 4-2-3-1 with 1/2 advanced playmakers and an inside forward behind him. I've sold him now for £15m and replaced him for Javier Hernandez (funds are low), but got frustrated with him after a while.

Not really sure what makes my set up too different, had him in my first two seasons as a sole Advanced Forward in a 4-1-2-2-1 lineup and he just seemed to score for fun. First season he got 25 goals in 40 games, second season he managed 45 in 57 games. Seems especially good in Europe, 12 goals in 12 games for me last season

Into the start of November now on my third season had a fair few major transfers in the pre-season

Out:

Colback - Burnley 2.5m

De Jong - West Ham 8.75m

Gouffran - QPR 2.5m

Savitskiy - Man City 24.5m (and he wasn't even registered for the league, hope he enjoys rotting in the u21s)

Santon - Man City 17.5m

Lascelles - Man City 18m

In case you can't tell one team decided to pretty much buy me out

In (Excluding a bunch of youth signings):

Roussillon - Free (Solid enough player, replacement for Santon not as good but still good performances usually)

Adam Hertzog - Free (Signed from an amateur US team, not great yet but has a lot of potential and been using him as my back-up keeper)

Pre-season was pretty hard on me as well with both Cabella and Coloccini picking up 3+ month injuries. Coloccini is probably never getting into the first team again after it and Cabella's attributes have dropped a fair bit hoping I can get them back up again

This season has also seen Ante Coric, Humam Tariq and Luka Jovic be promoted up to the first team all are playing solid in rotation roles right now

In terms of regens here's some of the most promising ones I've picked up

Got offered this guy who was 15 and had no club. Don't know where he came from but not going to say no to him anyway

Next up is the most promising guy from my own youth intake

Keeper I mentioned up above rated as the next Tim Howard, hoping he can be a long term replacement for Krul has a long way to go but no hurry on him

Another two players to add to the shockingly good American amateurs collection, both seem to have really good potential but are a bit older than I'd like.

So anyway definitely sending my scouts back to the States again hoping for some more super amateurs

[Dodds']

Newcastle United 6th Season Preview

Well it hasn't been the start of the past couple of seasons (losing a game so early) however battering Chelsea 5-1 after getting beat so convincingly in the Community Shield was nice. Can see us using a 4-3-1-2 formation this year more than the 4-1-2-2-1 as the amount of fantastic strikers we have, can see Ayoze bagging more than 30 goals again!

However the Champions League draw hasn't been exactly nice to us, hopefully we can sneak into 2nd place however I wouldn't turn down the opportunity to go and win the Europa League. After 2 cracks and not winning it, hopefully 3rd time is the charm?

Transfers in have been a huge success imo, although I could have done with a few more players that can challenge for first team places but hopefully January will zoom around and if I need anymore that can be done then.

Getting rid of Krul wasn't a popular thing around the fans, neither was Cabella but getting those prices for them I couldn't turn them down. Especially with getting Scuffet in for the next 7+ seasons for only a few million more. I've also got a Brazilian left back in that I've been waiting two years to get and he's looking a fantastic little player.

Also Per Jonasson was brought in by my HOY, and I'm glad the offer was accepted he could be Gedman's partner for years to come in the future.

Per (CB)-

Palhinha (LB)-

[Stu_UBJ]

Right, I'm getting to the halfway point of first season. Been a tricky old start, but sitting 5th currently.

Made a few signings, although only one is a starter....

Bilal Ould-Chikh - Vaclav Cerny - Wilfrid Kaptoum - Jesús Vallejo

Borek Dockal looks a cracking winger, and will replace Obertan in the squad, and also improve that area. May see a few appearances for the young lads coming in. Vallejo is 4th choice DC this season, and is being tutored by Coloccini. Other younger lads not loaned out will be given chances hopefully, as I look to make this a youth orientated save(though not exclusively).

Totally overhauled the staff too. Managed to get an increase on staff numbers and used it. David Coles is new AM, whilst Wim Jonk is HoYD.

The defeat to Stuttgart was due to a much weakened squad playing. Will update at midway point of season

[Stu_UBJ]

Mid-Season Review 2014-2015

Here is how it is going at the midway point of the season

Looking good so far. There is the obvious 6 games without winning in the middle there, but it was a tough run of games, and we picked up form quite sharpish after that. Southampton game saw us 3-0 up, but threw it away in silly fashion. Yoann Gouffran managed to score 2 in the same minute against Cheltenham, and from the left was a constant threat. Ending the half of the season with a trouncing of Liverpool was great, with Gerrard and Sakho both red-carded in that game(Mario did score their goal).

Cannot complain with the league position. Only Chelsea have scored more than us, but the constant worry is the defence continues to be very leaky, the 6th worst defence in the league.

Three players already into double figures(Dockal, Ferreyra, Gouffran),and assists coming from all areas of the pitch. So far it is Coloccini that has been the most below-par player so far this season, something that has to change rapidly if we are to continue our European challenge.

[DandyDon]

Will try and do a proper update later on when I get home from work, but made a bit of progress on my save last night and reached the January window. Been a slightly oddball season so far, we're going reasonably well in the league bouncing between thrird and seventh over the last few weeks (depending on results, it was all fairly tight at the time) and currently sitting in 3rd.

We've had some very good games, then looked utterly unconvincing in a few. None of the strikers managing to really put their stamp on things so far. Every time one of them manages to string 3 or 4 decent performances in a row he promptly gets crocked. Ayoze was looking great early on, but has really struggled since coming back from a couple injuries. Coloccini has been impressive but I've had to give him two breaks to take a leave of absence when he complained about homesickness....the second one conincided with a bad run of form for us as due to injuries I had to start the youngster Vallejo alongside Steven Taylor with Dummet and a barely fit Ryan Taylor as fullbacks. If he complains again before the end of the season then I'm going to let him go I reckon.

Fortunately Cabella and Dockal have been performing very well and have been able to create chances for us even in some of our poorer performances while Gouffran has popped up with some important goals from out on the left wing. With the extra funds the board made available I've made a couple quick deals as soon as the window reopened. Dybala has been snapped up to play upfront, costing us £2.3 million upfront, rising to about £10 mill (depending on Goals Scored and International Caps). Also made a deal for Joshua Kimmich, a young German midfielder from Red Bull Leipzig, he will arrive in the summer as it was a loan back deal. I had hoped to try and bring in Andre Ayew as well, but missed out as he'd already agreed a deal with Napoli. So I'm still hunting for a creative left winger at the moment.

[Geordieboy52]

Cannot get in to a FM15 save so will be picking my FM14 NUFC save back up, am I ok to update in here or not?

[Nelson12345]

Hi everyone, there's some cracking saves going on here with Newcastle, I was just wondering what starting reputation you start with as I'm starting Sunday morning footballer with no qualifications and finding it hard to get past December in my first season!

[DandyDon]

Hi everyone, there's some cracking saves going on here with Newcastle, I was just wondering what starting reputation you start with as I'm starting Sunday morning footballer with no qualifications and finding it hard to get past December in my first season!

If I remember right you can ask the game to set your past experience to meet the expectations of the club you intend to manage. Think it defaults to former Professional for Newcastle. I usually set it to Sunday League if I'm starting at the bottom league available in a country, ex-International if I start with a top league club.

[Nelson12345]

Yeah that's how it works, I like to keep in as real as possible but it's verging on impossible as once you have one fall out with a player the rest of them team backs him and you lose the dressing room quickly, team talks are difficult as well as the players don't respect you!

[Stu_UBJ]

End of Season Review 2014-2015

So, the season is over. Could we keep out position in the top four, or would we slip away?

One signing in the winter window. Mathieu Flamini joins on a loan deal, as Tioté is at the AFCON, and Moussa Sissoko had torn hamstring(3 months).

Much better in this half of the season. Some great results in there, including Chelsea(3-0), and Southampton(3-2). Disappointed with the defeats to Burnley and Villa, and the draw in the derby should have been a comfortable win.

Fourth is brilliant. It does mean a potentially sticky qualifier for the Group Stage of the Champions League. It was slightly too close for comfort all the way down to 7th. A big gap to the top two, which looks like it could be quite a challenge to catch them up. Our defence is still an issue, something I will be looking into this summer.

Unfortunately, De Jong spent much of the season either injured or on the bench, managing just two appearances. Goals are in abundance, which is great, as are the assists. Anita, Colback and Janmaat were amongst the best passers of the ball this season in the league.

Borek Dockal - Facundo Ferreyra

Dockal was the signing of the season. his goals and assists were paramount to our league position. Facundo Ferreyra was joint top scorer in the league, missing out due to Falcao playing less minutes. Needless to say, I have made the £6m bid to sign permanently!

So, a great season overall, as we will compete in the Champions League next season. I will be looking to improve the squad in the summer, and I think a few players will leave. Already signed up to join in July are Zakaria Bakkali from PSV, and Roberto Peyrera from Udinese. Both will add some quality and also a little versatility to the side, and will surely sell for good money in the future.

Tim Krul is being chased by PSG and a couple of other clubs, as are Davide Santon, Vurnon Anita and Yoann Gouffran. I would like to keep them all, but if the right bid comes in, they will be sold. Hopefully next season the extra games will allow me to give some of the younger players a chance to play, including the returning Karl Darlow and Jamaal Lascelles, along with Sammy Ameobi and Gael Bigirimana. Lascelles has all the makings of a top young English defender, and potentially a future Newcastle captain. Darlow will challenge for the starting spot, whilst Ameobi and Bigirimana will be given a chance to make their mark in midfield.

A couple of well-deserved accolades for Dockal. Also, van Gaal has been sacked as United manager, Pocchetino is no longer at City.

Nice budget to work with, with(hopefully) £6m already being used to secure Ferreyra, I have around £10m to spend, plus 100% of sales.

[DandyDon]

I've made a bit of a schoolboy error...signed Paulo Dybala to be my new main striker as I thought he had Finishing of 15 and a bunch of other nice attributes...then realised that was his Dribbling, his Finishing is actually 11 :o

However he has had a decent impact, 2 assists in his first 2 games. Setting up the winners in both games.

[Stu_UBJ]

@DandyDon my friend on another forum signed Dybala for Koln(?) and said he was outstanding. Said the finishing wasn't really an issue.

Also, Ferreyra has agreed to sign!! Very happy after what he did last season. Onwards and upwards

[DandyDon]

I think I've inherited the Phantom Ferreyra that Newcastle have in real life.....been pretty anonymous for me so far 1 goal and 2 assists in 15 starts to date.

Ayoze coming back into form though, 2 goals 2 assists in last 2 games.....injury round the corner then

[Scully11]

Well ive started again with Newcastle as i feel i have a good solid tactic to work with now after testing with PSG i have currently played 26 win 13 drawn 6 and lost 7 and im sitting in 6th position not many points between me and 3rd. Ive played arsenal 3 times in 3 weeks twice in a cup match once in the league and beaten them each time and ive also recently beaten liverpool. Not socring loads of goals from striker but sissoko has 11 goals and 8 assists in 27 games so not doing too badly. My strikers are scoring just not loads but are assisting a lot aswell. Will more than likely finish the season today and will update then

[Scully11]

1 thing i forgot to add im not going to make any transfers for at least the first 2 seasons and try and develop what i have. I have already played broccoli in a few games and hes not doing too badly getting about a 7 rating in his games which is fine for someone of that age

[Scully11]

Well finished the first season in 6th position with 19 wins 10 draws and 9 losses also lost in the FA cup final 3-2 in extra time against man utd anita got sent off then they scored on 116 minutes absolute gutter. At least im in europe next season alsopaid the £6 mil for ferreyra which im not sure if he will be my only signing as i didnt really want to buy anyone for the first couple of seasons time will tell though

[DandyDon]

Take a walk on the Tyne Side - Season 1 2014/15

Stealing a little inspiration from Stu_UBJ for the title there Finally made it past the halfway stage so figured I'd throw up a couple screenshots of the progress so far. The start of February and we're sitting 6th in the table, we had been up in third but a couple of bad results during the Dec/Jan fixture congestion saw us drop down a bit.

Results so Far

Very surprised we're as high up the table as we are considering how leaky our defence has been at times, but we've not dropped too many points in boring draws at least. We should have had three points in the draw with Villa, but managed to miss 2 penalties in that game. The heavy defeats to Man Utd and Chelsea weren't too surprising considering the injuries and other absentees we had at the time (Yes I am looking at you Colo).

Table as it stands

Ended up offloading Riviere, Williamson and Steven Taylor toward the end of the January window. Stoke taking a punt on Riviere while we managed to attract bids from Burnley and Aston Villa for the two defenders. Used the funds those sales raised to add another couple of young talents to the team. Brought in Niklas Stark from Nurnberg who is a DM but can play DC and MC and then Dorin Rotariu from Dinamo Bucharest to give us another option on the left wing. (He'll probably be first choice next season if he starts to develop as I hope).

After the crazy Spurs game we've got quite a nice run of winnable games coming up and with a bit of luck we can really secure our position in the top 6 before we meet the likes of Man City or Arsenal again.

[Scully11]

Ok may of been a little silly of me to say i wasnt going to make any signings as im now in the Europa league. I will maybe make a couple of signings to bulk out the squad. Trying to keep it mainly domestic based players or british

[shorty11857]

Just one of the most intense ends to a season ever

Final day of the season was 1 point clear of United, playing at home against Chelsea with Utd at home against 19th place Aston Villa

66 minutes into the game, things are not going well for me. Chelsea are beating me 2-0 and Utd just scored against Villa

69th minute, Ferreyra manages to intercept a clearance from a corner and get us on the board. Nearly straight from kick-off Ferreyra passes the ball to Tom Cleverley who manages to even the game up

Decide to go more attacking to see if I can get a winner, in the 90th minute Ante Coric takes a lovely shoot from 30 yards and hits the post

With that the game is pretty much over, when suddenly my latest scores updates with Agbonlahor scoring for Villa in the 93rd minute to even the United game up!

Can't believe I won the league, felt like it came out of nowhere, final table for the season is below

Also managed to defend the FA Cup, beating Chelsea in the final for the second year in a row!

Capital One Cup only managed to make the fourth round and lost out to Liverpool away

Europa League got to the semis but crashed hard against Juventus, in the away leg I missed a penalty in the first 15 minutes then conceded 2 OGs as the game finished 4-1, also managed to lose the home league 2-1 as well

Overall squad performances

Ayoze really went above and beyond this season, went from 9 goals in 36 last season to 34 in 56 with an impressive 25 in 35 league games

Nathan Redmond managed to get 23 goals in 52 as well, also got PFA Young Player of the Year

Ante Coric joined the first team with a bang, average rating of 7.66

Ferreyra had some minor fitness problems and a slight change in formation meant he was no longer the centre of all goals, still managed an amazing 7.78 average rating with 37 goals in 48 games along with 20 assists. Got a well deserved FWA footballer of the year award

Bigirimana honestly not sure what it is about him but when he gets a game he always puts in an amazing performance, feel like I should be more willing to start him but so much competition for a CM spot

Cabella spent a lot of the season injured and when not injured seemed to really struggle to get match fit

Honestly have no clue what my next step for the club is, never expected to win the league at all

[brussels]

Honestly have no clue what my next step for the club is, never expected to win the league at all

Next step is defending the title. Congratz!

Too bad you couldn't win the EL too. I find it really frustrating when you go all the way just to choke in the semis like that. And the EL is very difficult to win once you get into CL business with a team from the big leagues.

[Stu_UBJ]

@shorty11857 great season there, next step is easy, defend the title!!! And also improve in Europe.

---

Anyone else struggle to sell some of the players in teh second season? Really having a hard time selling HBA, Williamson and a couple of other players. Even offered players out for £0m and still no offers

[brussels]

Anyone else struggle to sell some of the players in teh second season? Really having a hard time selling HBA, Williamson and a couple of other players. Even offered players out for £0m and still no offers

HBA left of his own will to Chelsea iirc for 12m€ or so, I also sold Gouffran and Riviere for value.

Otoh the lower value guys like Williamson, Elliott etc... were difficult to sell or loan, even for zero selling price or loan at 0% salary, first and second season. Siem De Jong is a big problem too (I can't get him to perform and it's impossible to sell or loan him).

Coloccini was a problem too in my first save. He was unsettled and wanted to leave for Argentina, but wouldn't accept lower salaries (I didn't even have a chance to compensate). Eventually he accepted an offer from WBA for 2m€/yr :confused: (last time I checked WBA were not in Argentina )

Maybe it's a wrong policy, but I prefer to sell players for zero value and compensate them a little bit, and loose a bit of money, rather than having a guy in the reserves chewing 1-2M€ of my wage budget.

[DandyDon]

@Brussels

I'm with you, generally if a player is complaining about lack of matches and I'm unlikely to play him except in the most biblically bad injury crisis, then I will happily punt him for next to nothing if it gets him out of the squad and off the wage bill. My Director of Football didn't do a particularly good job offloading Taylor and Williamson, attracted no offers at any price. I manually offered them out for £500,000 each and got bids from Villa and Burnley. Not sure how that worked.

Still in the top 6 at moment heading in to March, so there's a chance of European footie there. No idea what sort of budget I'll get in the summer, but I think it's all going on replacing Colo as I'm fed up of his homesickness now. Chelsea and PSG were sniffing around Santon and Krul in January but didn't make any concrete bids, their interest is still there though so we'll see what happens in June.

@shorty11857

Congrats on your season there

[Stu_UBJ]

Strange....offered players out for £1 and they get offers.....

[brussels]

Hey DD

yeah Colo can be a PITA with his homesickness. Too bad because otherwise he's a pretty decent defender.

I hope to find someone during the january window, at least on loan, just in case Colo gets homesick again and refuses to play (I don't trust Williamson and Taylor has a day off every now and then).

Maybe this is a spoiler, but it's likely that Mapou doesn't get purchased by Roma. The downside is that other teams will make offers for him. But if you manage to convince him to stay he's a very good CB. I refused to sell him to Monaco for 15M and he got mad at me, but it's literally impossible to find a similar defender for less, and if I'm selling a good player, I want at least a bit more than market value. But who knows... maybe refusing to sell a couple of players was what made my first save go south.

Hope you manage to get Euro footie, keep it up!

[DandyDon]

Y'know.....I'd actually clean forgotten about Yanga-Mbiwa :o

[Stu_UBJ]

Hey DD

yeah Colo can be a PITA with his homesickness. Too bad because otherwise he's a pretty decent defender.

I hope to find someone during the january window, at least on loan, just in case Colo gets homesick again and refuses to play (I don't trust Williamson and Taylor has a day off every now and then).

Maybe this is a spoiler, but it's likely that Mapou doesn't get purchased by Roma. The downside is that other teams will make offers for him. But if you manage to convince him to stay he's a very good CB. I refused to sell him to Monaco for 15M and he got mad at me, but it's literally impossible to find a similar defender for less, and if I'm selling a good player, I want at least a bit more than market value. But who knows... maybe refusing to sell a couple of players was what made my first save go south.

Hope you manage to get Euro footie, keep it up!

On another save I have, Roma did buy him. Luckily they didn't on my Newcastle save, and nobody else bid. Obviously first choice, and with Lascelles closer to the first team already, looks like I am sorted there. Not had any issue with Coloccini yet though.

Managed to beat Bayern in CL Group, 90th minute goal from Bakkali on debut

[DandyDon]

Take a walk on the Tyne Side - Season 1 Update

Well we've gone on a little bit of a charge in the league since the last update and with other teams around us dropping points we're now up into third. Ferreyra seems to have finally found a bit of form (seems to have dawned on him that he might score if he tried getting a head on all those crosses Dockal keeps putting in). He's managed 5 goals in 8 games, though he's also been very wasteful with some good chances when put though against the keeper one-on-one. Vallejo too is finding his feet and with injuries to Coloccini and Sviatchenko he came in for the last few matches and won himself a Young Player of the Month award. Cabella and Dockal still proving to be the real touch of class for myside so far.

League Table

Liverpool and Arsenal both have games in hand over us and well have games against them to come as well (Home against Liverpool and away at Arsenal), but there's a sneaky chance of Champion's league Qualification no which I didn't think likely after the 4-3 defeat to Spurs.

Best performance so far

Easily our best showing so far. Keeping a clean sheet against Aguero and co. Gouffran continued his habit of popping up with important goals, he grabbed our second with a break-away goal just when City were putting on a lot of pressure trying to grab a quick equaliser. The result could have been even worse for City as Cisse had 2 efforts ruled out for offside as well either side of the 4th.

Rest of the Results

We've got games to come against Sunderland, leicester and Crystal Palace next before Liverpool visit, so with a bit of luck and 9 more points we could give ourselves a bit of a cushion and a great chance tfo Champion's league footie next season.

[brussels]

Great job DD, keep it up.

[Stu_UBJ]

@DandyDon Kranevitter looks like he is doing a decent job. I have him at Marseille on another save, and he is exceptional. Good stuff so far also

Anyone getting towards end of 1st season, Roberto Pereyra(Udinese) and Zakaria Bakkali(PSV) are available on frees, well worth a look

[DandyDon]

Cheers folks

Yeah Kranevitter is keeping Sissoko out of the side at the moment, forming a useful partnership with Tiote in centre of the park. Niklas Stark has being doing a great job in central defence too since he arrived. Slight worry now, Cabella just picked up an injury ahead of the Liverpool game that will keep him out for 3-4 weeks.

@Stu_UBJ

I'll have alook at those two, see if they haven't signed deals already. Always like to grab a summer bargain

EDIT: Bakkali unfortunately a no-go as he's agreed to head to old trafford in the summer....boooo

[Stu_UBJ]

Mid-Season Review 2015-2016

Halfway through the second season with Newcastle....

After last seasons form, I decided to make Facundo Ferreyra's loan deal permanent. Two free agents in after, with PSV winger Zakaria Bakkali and Udinese midfielder Roberto Pereyra joining. Sam Byram joins, and will offer competition for Janmaat. Noam Salomon looks a decent prospect, and will hopefully progress. Klaas-Jan Huntelaar joins on loan to cover Ferreyra and Ayozé. Finally Luka Jovic joins as a potential top striker in the future.

Outgoing Transfers

Quite a few outgoing. Missing off the list are the release of Jonas and Ryan Taylor. Both Rivieré and Cissé were simply not good enough last season. Marveaux doesn't fit into the style I play, whilst Williamson and Good were never going to be involved with both Yanga-Mbiwa and Lascelles back at the club.

Quite a pleasing half of the season. Disappointed however with losing 6 games in there, 3 or four should have been at least draws, if not better.

6th. Not too far off the Champions League positions, but again the top sides are starting to pull away. Scoring well again, but still defensively a little shaky.

Managed to negotiate what could have been a tricky play-off against Sporting CP. It seemed luck was not on our side when the groups were drawn, seeded 4th and placed in a group of Bayern, Inter and Ajax. I aimed for at least a 3rd place finish, but it turned out a lot better! Some great results helped, including wins against Bayern and Inter at home, making St James' Park a fortress for visitors from the continent.

Superb work to finish top of a hard group. Major surprise is that Bayern drop out into the Europa League, a real shock. Almost made it through unbeaten, but getting through is the main thing!!

In the next round we will face -

A very good draw, and one I am very confident of progressing past.

Some good performances again. Abeid has impressed on his few appearances. Ben Arfa had been someone I wanted to sell in the summer, but lack of interest means he stayed, and has played well since. Still, apart from Ferreyra, nobody quite hitting the form of last season, hopefully they will pick it up soon.

Also, some good news from the board;

After great money coming in due to European competition, I tried my chances to get things improved, and even a stadium expansion!

[DandyDon]

@Stu_UBJ

Looking pretty good so far

Some good freebie signings there, I missed out on those two as they'd accepted contract offers already.

[Stu_UBJ]

@DandyDon Pereyra has played quite a bit, took a bit of getting gelled into the squad, but starting to pick up some decent form. Bakkali is being used as an impact/rotation player. Got 4 players going for the AML spot at the moment(playing a 4-5-1)....Bakkali, Gouffran, Ameobi and Cabella. Don't want to lose any of the four, but at least one has to I think. May be Gouffran at the end of the season, although his form is quality. Either that, or change to a 4-2-3-1 and change DM to AMC.

[Stu_UBJ]

*Also cancelled Huntelaar's loan spell since Jovic joined, also wasn't making any impact, and I might as well use the spot for a young lad.

[DandyDon]

ARRRGGGGGGHHHH

finished the season, managed to grab third spot and Champion's League football....5 days later Bojek Dockal says he wants to leave to join Porto. tried talking him down but he's adamant he wants to move in order to win silverware. Soon as I end the conversation Monaco are in like a whippet with a bid for him.

[Baptista_8]

I bought FM earlier this week and have started with Newcastle. Doing well in the league so far. Gonna post up my transfers so far later!

[Baptista_8]

I'm in September.

[Stu_UBJ]

@Baptista_8 some decent transfers there. Romero should be a major player for years! Still think you got a relatively small fee for Tioté, currently towards end of 2nd season and received bids of near £20m in January. Blackett I have been looking at as a potential free at the end of this season, but not convinced by him, so will be interested to see how he does and progresses for you.

--

Managed to get the best draws possible in the CL. Drew RB Salzburg(as said above) and disposed of them quite systematically, and drew Celtic in the 1/4 finals, who I have again dumped out easily. Semi-Final draw is a tough one though, current holders Real Madrid. Other side is Barca v Zenit. Going to be a tough one!

[Baptista_8]

Thanks Stu_UBJ

Blackett was emergency cover really. Selling Williamson I only really had Colo and Taylor at CB! Have bought Curtis Good in to the first team as fourth choice CB but have just loaned him out for a month.

Neil Taylor in hindsight I might not have signed, tbh I completely forgot I had Santon to come back!

Priorities in January are a CB and a winger.

[DandyDon]

@Baptista_8

Taylor's not a bad pick up, you've always got the option to play Santon over at right back anyway. Needed him to replace Janmaat a few times due to Ryan Taylor getting injured again on my save.

[Stu_UBJ]

End of Season Review 2015-2016

Season 2 is finished...

Seven defeats in the second half of the season. 3 of the defeats should have been avoided. Not often a player scores 4(Ferreyra v Everton) and loses the game. Still seem to be having issues getting results against the bigger sides(barring the 3-0 win v Chelsea). Fatigue kicked in towards the end of the season due to fixture congestion.

5th, one place lower than last season. 2 points less than last season, and still a long way from the leaders. A goal less, but defensively much, much better, but still not at the level which we need it to be.

FA Cup & Capital One Cup

Not anything to write home about in the two cups. Got a chance to field more of the reserve players and see what they could do.

A truly remarkable run in the Champions League. In fairness the earlier rounds were very kind, and we took full advantage to reach the Semi-Final. A narrow loss at Real Madrid was followed by something remarkable at St James' Park, as we dominated the current holders and ran away comfortable leaders. The Final looms, and we will face....

Barcelona. Looks like it will be done the hard way. Whilst I want to win it, if we don't, we have done more than I ever thought possible so early in the career. Shame we can't do this in the league against this level of team.

Good performances. Nice to see the new signings adapting to the Premier League quite well. Only three outfield players didn't score, whilst only five failed to contribute an assist, some good and encouraging stats. The midfield trio of Tioté, Pereyra and Anita are playing very well together.

Vurnon Anita - Facundo Ferreyra

Anita is simply the engine of the midfield. Calm, composed and assured, with a great final ball, resulting in 16 assists this season. Ferreyra carried on where he left off last term, even better. A total of 40 goals this season, 31 in the league, winning the Golden Boot, well deserved. Lethal in and around the box, and has been excellent in bringing others into the game.

Next season will be a big test. A drop to the second competition in Europe is a little blow, but hopefully we can improve the squad and kick on for another Champions League chance. We may still be in the elite tournament, if we can see our way past Barcelona in the final....