FM15: Wolverhampton Wanderers "Wolves" - Out of Darkness Cometh Light

[safcrhys]

Anyone else having an unsual amount of high scoring games? I swear the average amount of goals scored a game so far on my save is 4.

Got about 16 games left and I'm 8 points clear of Leeds who are second.

[Barnsley]

Anyone else having an unsual amount of high scoring games? I swear the average amount of goals scored a game so far on my save is 4.

Got about 16 games left and I'm 8 points clear of Leeds who are second.

I'm finding this at the minute, some strange scores a lot of 4-2 3-2 3-3 2-2 for my games, I seem to go 2 down very early on but end up coming back or vice versa, 2-0 up and being pegged back to 2-2 3-2 etc. Not had any 1-0s this season or 0-0! (I guess thats why we pay 400 quid for a season ticket , entertainment at the palace)

[safcrhys]

I'm finding this at the minute, some strange scores a lot of 4-2 3-2 3-3 2-2 for my games, I seem to go 2 down very early on but end up coming back or vice versa, 2-0 up and being pegged back to 2-2 3-2 etc. Not had any 1-0s this season or 0-0! (I guess thats why we pay 400 quid for a season ticket , entertainment at the palace)

I got beat 7-5 off Blackpool in the FA Cup Fourth Round, not one of my players had a rating under 6.4.

[mg539]

Have you got the latest patch? The release-day game produced very high scoring matches but this was fixed in one of the earlier patches. I think the latest is 15.2.1...

[safcrhys]

Have you got the latest patch? The release-day game produced very high scoring matches but this was fixed in one of the earlier patches. I think the latest is 15.2.1...

I thought steam updated the game with the latest patch automatically?

I've checked and my save is using patch 15.2.1.

[mg539]

Yeah steam updates automatically - it plays havoc with my anti-virus

I assume it's just a coincidence then. In the last six games I've played at least one side has kept a clean sheet, fortunately I have in five of them whilst my opponents have only kept two! (i.e. W4 D1 L1 )

How is your save going safcrhys? reached the promised land?

(I guess thats why we pay 400 quid for a season ticket , entertainment at the palace)

Were you there yesterday Barnsley? Nail-biting stuff! If only Iorfa and Stearman were that good in the game.

[safcrhys]

Thats how its looking so far, pretty much nailed on to be fair now.

[safcrhys]

Wolves 2014/15 Review

Transfers

Our only signing of the season was left midfielder Martyn Woolford who arrived from Millwall for £1m. Leaving the club were George Swan who joined Swansea on a free and Georg Margreitter who signed for Brighton for £475k. I had my eye on a few other players but we simply lacked the funds, beside that the squad was more than capable of achieving our pre-season target of a top half finish.

Season Review

A fantastic season for the club as we beat Reading's record points total of 106 set back in 2006. The opening day produced our only 0-0 draw of the season at Craven Cottage against promotion favourites Fulham but we quickly went on a winning run, incredibly winning our next nine league games in a row as we rose to the top of the table in late August and never relinquished our leadership of the division. Manchester United knocked us out of the Capital One Cup in the 3rd round in late September with a 4-2 win after extra time at Molineux but our focus was of course on gaining promotion. That nine game winning run included a 4-0 hammering of Wigan and a 4-1 away win at Millwall.

Our winning run was halted at home to Middlesbrough in late October, the Teessiders earning a deserved 2-1 win after a poor performance from us. Leeds were emerging as serious contenders for top spot, they had little trouble stuffing us 3-0 at Elland Road in our very next game. I was concerned the wheels were going to fall off but we then disposed of Birmingham by 3 goals to 0 before a decent 3-2 win at Ipswich. A trip to Derby was always going to be a tough fixture and they beat us 4-3 in a very entertaining game. Scoring goals was never a problem for us during the season, we scored 118 but conceding 63 seems like quite a disgusting amount, Leeds conceded 20 goals less than us during the campaign and it is something we are going to have to work hard on next season in the Premier League.

We responded to defeat at Pride Park by embarking on a five game winning run but we ended the year with 2 defeats in a row, a 2-1 loss at Watford being followed by a disgusting 5-1 home loss to Brentford. It was one of those games where we dominated but every time they went forward they seemed to score, certainly we never deserved to lose by such a scoreline. The team rallied and we never suffered another defeat in the league all season, so we are so far undefeated in 2015 in league football! We needed a replay to get past Charlton in the FA Cup third round but I played the kids in the next round against Blackpool at Bloomfield Road and although we scored 5 goals we conceded 7!

We won 16 of our last 22 league games, so suffered 6 draws, most of us which were garnered after promotion was sealed, a little annoying how the players took their foot off the gas but perhaps I am being a little hard on them given our points total! We won most of those games despite struggling to keep clean sheets but by far our best performance of the year was a 6-0 thumping of Cardiff away from home on February 28th. Our player of the year was James Henry who scored a remarkable 19 goals from right midfield and garnered 24 assists along the way! He will be rewarded for his amazing form as a key member of our squad next year. Leon Clarke started the year slowly but soon got into his stride, finishing the season with 24 goals and 13 assists. Clarke's partner in crime up front was the promising Nouha Dicko who struck 19 times and contributed 12 assists. My only signing Martyn Woolford meanwhile scored 15 times from the left wing and got himself 15 assists.

Finances

We started the season in decent financial shape with around £12m in the bank and no debt or loans. We lost around £1m a month throughout the season and I'm just about in the red now but with the club about to enjoy the riches of the Premier League our projected balance is close to £40m. The board have given me a preliminary transfer budget of £13m which would be fantastic and more than I'd expect, but I'll be careful not to get the club into debt.

Next Season

Obviously the plan is just to survive in the Premier League really, we'll have to bolster the defence but I am fairly confident in the ability of my forward players. I don't want to upset the balance of the squad with too many new arrivals but it would be extremely dangerous to go into the top flight and simply say you have an attack and we will have one which is kind of what we did this year but we managed to get away with it. Looking forward to taking this great club up into the top flight and hopefully we can come out on top against Aston Villa and West Brom in our derby games.

[safcrhys]

Bolstered the midfield with Joe Ledley from Palace and signed Darren Bent on a free transfer, kind of wishing I pulled the plug on the Bent deal now though and signed Yaya Sanogo from Arsenal who we had agreed a contract with but I wasn't that keen on spending a lot of money, always being mindful of the fact that I don't want the club to get into too much debt. The other free signing I made was Tyler Blackett on a free transfer to use as back-up in the centre of defence after we let Roger Johnson go at the end of last season. We did spend some money on signing a pair of much needed full-backs, Fabio came in from Cardiff for £3.4m as I don't think Sam Ricketts is good enough for the top flight and we spent £650k or thereabouts on signing Razvan Rat from PAOK, Rat is ageing but is still a quality signing for us.

Last season we couldn't agree a contract with Bakary Sako so it was with regret that I had to let him go on a free transfer, thankfully though once he had left the club we managed to approach him with a contract and he agreed so we have him in the squad for the first game of the season against Burnley at Molineux, a game we have to win because we have Man Utd away and then Chelsea coming up after that.

[Terrance]

During my second season, I signed several more wonderkids to my squad instead of going out to buy veterans (have not bought any veterans at all in this save except for keeper). I finally found a good keeper - Maarten Stekelenburg. Joe Gomez is also developing into a good natural RB. We finished 6th in the standing, lost to Tottenham in the Semi-final for the FA cup, lost early in Capital One to ManU, and lost early in the Euro Super Cup.

During the offseason, I sold almost all the original players from the previous regime except for Doherty because I'm thin at fullback. With the money selling Batth and the rest of them + board money, I picked up many great players from Argentina and still have enough in the bank to pick up more wonderkids whenever I spot them. With these Argentinians + the development of Ademoglu, Jesus Vellejo, and Hachim Mastour (wonderkids from season 1), I just know I have a chance to win the PL next season.

I'm now half-way through my third season and am 2nd in the standings behind Arsenel. I sold Hachim Mastour for 40+ mil in the first January transfer window. I needed the money to collect more wonderkids for the future, and the current wonderkids behind him have much more potential. Everything could not go better. I'm about to face Arsenal in the Capital One Cup finals.

I picked up Brighton and Cardiff as feeders. I'm trying to get FC Red Bull Salzburg (Austria) and eventually RC Lens (France) to become my feeder because they have "top" youth facilities. My first attempt failed in trying to get FC Red Bull Salzburg. I will continue to try until I get them. I'm 4 star rep right now and they are 3.5, so perhaps I need to increase my rep before they accept me as a parent club.

[Jimbo_the_red]

Managed to achieve promotion in my first season.

I turned Luke Garbutt's loan into a permanent signing for 400k.

I also signed Jem Karacan from Reading for 600k.

James Wilson was key towards the end of the season scoring some important goals as I finished 2nd some way behind Norwich who finished the season as comfortable champions.

I shipped in alot of silly goals and am looking for a defender to partner Batth at the back as I do not feel Stearman is not good enough to play regularly in the PL.

[mg539]

Managed to achieve promotion in my first season.

I turned Luke Garbutt's loan into a permanent signing for 400k.

I also signed Jem Karacan from Reading for 600k.

James Wilson was key towards the end of the season scoring some important goals as I finished 2nd some way behind Norwich who finished the season as comfortable champions.

I shipped in alot of silly goals and am looking for a defender to partner Batth at the back as I do not feel Stearman is not good enough to play regularly in the PL.

I signed the FM favourite Eder Alvarez Balanta for about £4.5m and £20kpw wages, so a large part of your budget but definitely worth it! I also signed Micah Richards on a free after he became a free agent and those two along with Batth were my central defence for the second season (1st in PL)...

[mg539]

Season Two Summary

I managed to scrape 6th place, gaining two places on the final day of the season to qualify for Europe after just one season in the PL. It was a case of 'what might've been' after starting the season so well but Europe is adequate compensation . This time it was Liverpool (now double PL champions) that knocked me out of the early rounds of both cups.

Tactics

I played in the same style as season one but mostly as a 4-1-2-3 DM Wide, moving the wingers back for bigger matches to create a 4-1-4-1. I started experimenting near the end of the season but this didn't go well so I reverted back to the 4-1-2-3 for the last three games of the season, winning them all (admittedly against poor sides) with what was mainly my 'B' team.

Transfers

As soon as the scouting restrictions were lifted I sent mine across the globe, which paid off with a couple of great finds. I also managed to sign Jeronimo Rulli on a free as his contract had almost expired at Sociedad; he should be my 'keeper for years to come. Eder Alvarez Balanta and Micah Richards came in to strengthen the centre of my defence while Carl Jenkinson signed on a season-long-loan at Right Back.

I needed a DM and had a toss-up between Lucas Silva and Mattias Kranevitter who signed. I got Dele Alli to link my midfield to attack and Rotariu to compete with Sako. Divock Origi was my second Premier League season-long loan to lead the line in attack. I once again raided Barcelona for international loans of Adama Traore and Kaptoum.

I sold Stearman and Edwards for not much money and released Ricketts, then in January I got good money for both Jacobs and RvlP and used the cash to sign Mark Noble from relegated West Ham who are in administration and Aaron Cresswell (also West Ham) who joins in the summer.

Progress

As above I started the season well but after January I really struggled to get any momentum and the season would've petered out to nothing had I not gone back to some old players and old tactics for the end of the season. The irony is their good performances probably means they will be sold as imo they don't have the calibre to cope with European football. The only players I want to keep for next year from the initial squad are Batth, Sako and Dicko who all performed well in the PL - lots of selling to come!

Cresswell should solve left back so I need to buy a right back and another centre-back. I want Tielemans for my midfield and a really decent right winger, but the obvious need is for a couple of strikers since Dicko is my only quality forward (I will sell Siggy). Hopefully Origi will come on loan again and I'll sign another. I'm going to try Terrance's method for selling players to raise the cash.

Amibition: Has to be champions league qualification...

[Merdain]

If anyone is looking for the reliable partner for Batth going into the premier league you should check out Edoardo Goldaniga. He was released by Juventus at the end of the first season in my game and was fantastic, although he did start complaining at the end of the season about wanting to play in the EURO cup.

AC Milan came in and offered 21 million so I let him go, so not a bad return on investment.

[Terrance]

I just won the PL in my 3rd season, but had to lose both cup games and Euro games along the way because I used young wonderkid subs in those games and saved my best players for the league games. Next season, I will try to focus on Euro and league games. If the rest of my kids develop as well as I hope then I might be able to win the cup games with a rotating squad.

I just sold Doherty for 14.5mil. He is the last player from the previous regime. My CWB is the most important players for all my tactics, so letting go of Doherty was easy since I have brought in so many youngsters to fill that role and perform well. Second most important piece is the CD. Balanta is fast enough and Jesus Vellejo is now fast enough to fill in the other side. The more that I win, the more likely opponents will set up counter style tactics so I need the fast and smart CWB and CD to get back into position. Seems like I have so much trouble finding a good young GK in FM15.

My base tactic is 4-3-2-1 (3 mid-fielders, 2 IF, and f9) slow tempo control that I use for most games against equal or weaker opponents. Every once one a while, I use a high tempo control flexible 4-3-3 (3 strikers and 3 mid-fielders) to throw off the opposition or when I play against teams that are stronger. Stronger teams usually play a slow control game, so I don't want to play the same style or else they will dominate without us. I am still having trouble finding a good counter/defensive tactic. The defensive/counter tactic I made gave opponents too much shots and possession against me. The only one that kind of work is 4-1-2-2-1 high tempo defensive highly flexible.

I now have state of the art training facility and top youth facilities. Molineux stadium will finish its 45000 seating capacity upgrade before the 4th season. I have been using a tactic where I only sign a 1 year contract every year with the club because every contract renewals I always ask for slightly higher transfer budget and payroll.

[Jimbo_the_red]

I signed the FM favourite Eder Alvarez Balanta for about £4.5m and £20kpw wages, so a large part of your budget but definitely worth it! I also signed Micah Richards on a free after he became a free agent and those two along with Batth were my central defence for the second season (1st in PL)...

You read my mind, Balanta deal agreed for 6M. Looks superb. If anyone is looking for a centre half buy this guy, he looks a beast and is only young.

I will post all of my summer transfer business when I am next on my laptop.

[Tezread]

Promotion in Season 1 and won the League Cup

Season 2 finished 15th in Premier league

My leading players were Adama Traore, Tielmemans, Will Hughes and Danny Batth. Also bought Jovic who made a quiet start but is settling in

Board is very cheap - only have £23m to spend in season 3

I have just been offered the Arsenal job :-).................

[Terrance]

I'm a huge Tielman fan. I could not get him until the 3rd season due to finance or he didn't want to sign with us earlier. He is my best player for corners and free kicks. I have had Jovic for 1.5 seasons. He developed nicely, but there are too many strikers on my team. I'm trying to convert him to left IF, but he is not fast enough. The only time I get to use it in his natural striker position is when I play 4-3-3 with 3 strikers up top. He performs admirably as a IF, but far superior as a striker.

So are you going to take the Arsenal job?

[Tezread]

No way am I taking the Arsenal job!!

I really need some full backs though. I have £8m to spend and need a left and right full back.

I have Luke Garbutt stil who is ok but need a wonderkid who is preferably English?

also on the right as well?

[mg539]

No way am I taking the Arsenal job!!

I really need some full backs though. I have £8m to spend and need a left and right full back.

I have Luke Garbutt stil who is ok but need a wonderkid who is preferably English?

also on the right as well?

That's what I like to hear!

Not a wonderkid but Joe Gomez from Charlton can be trained to be a decent right back. Carl Jenkinson is also solid and Arsenal might be willing to let him go cheaply (In my save Southampton have just bought him for £2m at the start of season 3).

On the left there's Kieran Gibbs, Danny Rose and Ryan Bertrand and Kyle Naughton can play both right back and left back. How much they cost and how good they are I suspect varies from save to save...

[Barnsley]

I'm now into 4th season with Wolves, first season in the prem after taking 3 to get up there! I came 14th, started off well and faltered towards the end. Conceeded 78goals though, struggling to find a decent keeper around - any ideas?

defence is quite strong, Batth, wisdom mangala at the back but i still conceding a ridiculous amount of goals!

Currently using Andre Hansen who has been great but i need someone to take me to the next level.

[Terrance]

I'm now into 4th season with Wolves, first season in the prem after taking 3 to get up there! I came 14th, started off well and faltered towards the end. Conceeded 78goals though, struggling to find a decent keeper around - any ideas?

defence is quite strong, Batth, wisdom mangala at the back but i still conceding a ridiculous amount of goals!

Currently using Andre Hansen who has been great but i need someone to take me to the next level.

Since you're deep into the game, I think you should look out for unhappy GK or transfer listed ones. There are some really good deals every once in a while.

78 goals is way too many. You need an major upgrade on defense or tactical adjustment before and/or during games. Get temporary GK and defensive players on loan.

[Barnsley]

Not looking good! Not managed to sign a keeper and not managing to put any chances away despite having a brilliant attacking line up! Currently lying in 18th with 2 wins from 10 and a huge -9 GD already. I have been keeping the ball 60%+ each game but not putting the chances away! I'm sure it will click at some point though and i will start climbing my way towards the mid table position i require!

Team as follows,

Hansen

Wallace(Loan), Batth, Mangala, Rowe(Weak Point)

Ali

Odegaard, Cristante,

P.Roberts, Sako (Hard to replace his goals)/Halilovic(loan from barca),

Schrijvers

[Tezread]

I already have Joe Gomez so will try him there although his natural position is ball playing defender.

I may have to tweak my tactics as currently its suited to wing backs

I have bid for Aaron Creswell from West Ham

[Tezread]

well I got Marcus Rojo on loan instead :-) big gamble this

[mg539]

@Tezread Doh! Yes Cresswell is who I've got but completely forgot about him lol, tbh my suggestions for RB probably aren't much use since I play with full backs and usually my RB is the more defensive one. I've changed that this year by buying Cresswell and Junior Caicara for LB and RB, seems to be going ok so far... be interested to hear how well Rojo does!

@Barnsley You're not wrong that you have a very good team attacking-wise but not sure why you've got Dele Ali playing as a DM - having someone with both tackling and marking in single figures there isn't going to offer much protection. Obv I haven't seen any of your games so I could easily be wrong but imho having a more defensively minded player there would really help your goals-against column.

[Terrance]

I'm now 2/3 through my 4th season. The highlight so far is:

1. Selling Pavel Savitskiy for 80+ mil to bayern. I have was not willing to sell and turned down many offers but they were persistent and I could not resist once I saw 80+ mil.

2. Before I sold Savitskiy, I bought a world class regen age 17 for 30 something mil. The kid is amazing and I will post screen shots soon. He plays same position as Savitskiy so letting go of Savitskiy was an easier decision.

3. I loss many games at the start of the season. The games lost my was due the new starting unit mixed with the kids I was nurturing over the past 1-2 seasons. I dedicated my preseason to team cohesion and teamwork, so it could have been worse. Once I hit November everything turned around with a 2-0 win over MU and I have not lost since then (a couple of draws though). My rotation is now complete to the point I have a 1st team of starters and a separate 2nd team of starters.

4. I sold a back up wonderkid CB to Virreal (wrong spelling) in Spain for 30mil. I have a few others who are more CB who are more promising. This is the start of my new selling power. I think the next offseason will have more offers for my youngsters.

5. I lost in the capital cup semifinal to the hotspurs (can't seem to beat them... Ever lol). I passed the Euro qualifiers because my group was easy. I still in the early rounds of the FA cup. I'm now in 5th place and 14 points from the lead.

[Jimbo_the_red]

@Barnsley I agree with mg539 Dele Alli is never going to work as a DM. Advanced Playmaker would suit him, if you have too many players already in that role I guess sell him. Have a look at Gaston Gil Romero or Lucas Romero for DM. Both highly recommended on here, Diego Poyet looks decent if you want someone English.

[safcrhys]

I started another save with Wolves, Ikeme broke his leg and is out for 7 months so I doubt he will play again this year. Left me with a right headache but I signed an Italian goalkeeper on a free called Amelio who has a rating of 3 and a half stars so hopefully it won't harm us too much.

[Jimbo_the_red]

2015\2016 Season update

Transfers in:

Will Hughes £4.5M from Derby

Jason Steele Free transfer from Middlesbrough

Eder Alvarez Balanta £6M from River Plate

Jay Rodriguez £4.5M from Saints

Kurt Zouma Season loan from Chelsea

James Wilson Season loan from Man Utd

Kyle Naughton £1.2M from Spurs

Tyrone Mings £2M from Ipswich

Matej Delač £500k from Chelsea

Craig Wighton £1.4M from Dundee

Alex Pritchard £1M from Spurs

Harry Kane £9.25M from Spurs (Signed in Jan)

Adama Traore Loan from Barca (Signed in Jan)

Daniel Bentley £750k Southend (Signed in Jan)

Out:

Sam Ricketts released

Kevin Doyle released

Roger Johnson released

James Henry £3.1M to Leicester

Siguardsson £2.8M to Leeds

Jack Price 100k to Swindon

Lee Evans loaned to Charlton

Daniel Bentley loaned to Southend

League - A cracking season which ended up us finishing 6th in the league, unfortunately that was not enough to secure us a Europa League spot.

League Cup - 4th Round penalty loss to Blackburn Rovers

FA Cup - Semi Final 2-0 defeat to West Ham

Highlights in the league included a 2-0 away win at Manchester City and a 1-0 win at Arsenal.

Deli Alli and Will Hughes both won a full England cap during the season. Danny Batth & Harry Kane were both unlucky not to receive caps themselves as both were superb, Kane scored 9 goals in 11 leagues after joining in late Jan. Sako started off slowly and after a change in tactics he had a storming 2nd half of the season picking up the player of the year award for the 2nd season running. Balanta was also superb and proved to be one of the signings of the season in the Premiership.

My aim next season is Europa league qualification with a couple of key signings required.

[Jimbo_the_red]

My plans maybe scuppered somewhat as I've just been offered the Bayern & Juve jobs.

I was surprised myself as I still only have a national reputation, must have been impressed with my interview technique.

I wanted to give at least one more season at Wolves but I fear my head may have been turned, not yet made a decision.

[Kona]

If you need a goalie Nikola Leali from Italy is free after season one. He always turns into a top/star quality Premiership goalie after 2 years. He progresses really quickly used in a rotation with an older GK.

Wage is about 12K on a free. I buy him in all my saves. Just started a wolves save and will look for him after year 1.

Just a question how does Jacobs develop? Can he step up for sako and replace him in year one if I sell him?

Cheers

[Terrance]

Sako can sell for a lot. I wouldn't sell sako for less than 10mil. IMO Jacobs is average at best because he is not fast enough on the wing to consistently dribble past defenders in the PL. Sako is a little better at that.

[Terrance]

4th season summary

Although I lost several games at the beginning of the season, I warmed up in November and was on fire towards the end of the season in 1st place, 10 points ahead of Tottenheim. My kids develop very well and many of them have maxed out their PA. Here is the 4th season's world class players:

Bilal Angelini

Martin Odegaard

Luka Jovic

Eder Alvarez Balanta

Alper Ademoglu

Gabriel Barbosa

Guido Vadala

Humam Tariq

Youri Tielemans

Bilal Ould-Chikh

Adrian Rodriguez

Tariq (team captain) was named in the 2018 World Team of the Year & 2017 European Golden Boy. My rotation of the entire squad (ie Guido Vadala and Gabriel Barbosa at the 1 striker position) prevented anyone in my squad to earn the yearly awards, like player of the year award. I will continue to rotate my players and don't expect anyone to win the award. My salary is now more than $6 million yearly, and I'm still signing 1 year contracts. When I see a number high enough, I will sign a long term contract and have a safer job security status. My payroll is $124 million and have accumulated $224 million in transfer budget. Here is the transfer history:

2018 Transfer History

As you can see, my big money sale was Joe Gomez (thank you mg539 for the recommendation). I needed to sell Gomez and many other good (but not great) players in order to free up room for the better talent behind them. I now have 31 players on the first team (22-24 of them being fully developed, and the other players I use to sub into games to get experience). In order for all of them to get first team experience, I had to start loaning out the players who will probably not develop well enough for a permanent starter position. My previous idea of getting good affiliates was no good because they don't offer first team experience, so I offered loans and picked the ones who offers key player or first team player on a rival team in the Premier League or Liga BBVA. 4 players went out on loan to Everton, Burnsley, Fullham, and Rayo (Liga BBVA). I will probably have to loan out 1-2 more players. My scouting network is still scouring the world for better talent, and I'm trying to poach Barcelona, ManU, and Chelsea for their good players.

My 4th season was not a complete success. I lost to Barcelona in the Euro semi-finals and lost to Tottenheim (again!) in the FA cup quarter or semi finals. I did manage to capture the capital one cup because the good teams were knocked out early. The goal for next season is to strengthen my squad to win everything. I have the right amount of depth and quality in my roster.

[Loud Metal Wolf]

I'm still in my first season with wolves playing 4-2-3-1, almost at the January transfer window but won't be signing any players unless they are bargain prices.

My philosophies are:

Sign youngsters

Develop our youth and bring them into the first team

Only sign players whose nationality is from the UK

My current first team is;

Ikeme/ McCarey

Doherty/ ricketts

Batth/Iorfa

Stearman/ Ebanks landell

Golbourne/ Hause

McDonald/ Evans

Price/ Rowe

Henry/van la parra

Jesse Lingard/ Edwards/ Ryan Mason

Sako/Jacobs

Dicko/ McAlinden

At the start of the season I snapped up a lot of youngsters and the best so far is Tristan Sword, plays AMC and has some great stats for a 16 year old. My scouts have already found loads of decent good youngsters with 4 star potential who are on my shortlist.

Once offers come in for sako, van la parra and Dicko they will be off.

I should get promotion this season as we have a good lead in the championship.

[mg539]

Good to hear of someone else stepping into KJ's shoes Loud Metal Wolf

You're braver than me in trusting the kids so much - I'm not good enough tactically to succeed with anything other than the best players I can afford! Question is, if/when you get promoted, will you stick with the kids or will you be tempted to bring in some foreign blood?...?

[Loud Metal Wolf]

January is almost finished and I did pick up a bargain, Micheal Keane from Man United for 1.2 million, that's including add one as well.

At the moment promotion should be a certainty, I can't remember for certain but last time I looked at the table I have a 19pt lead at the top.

Depending on how much they have developed I will stick with the kids being back up players and getting game time, I have a good few youngsters out on loan getting regular game time who are around 17-19 years old, Porto and SLB keep trying to buy bancessi but I am having none of it at the moment, will develop him further and once his value goes up then I will sell.

I might get rid of Ethan Ebanks landell and hause unless they dramatically approve, they can have good games but they are inconsistent, Iorfa is turning into a well rounded CB, price, evans and saville are all consistent and proven their worth against the top teams. McAlinden is a beast, Dicko couldn't hit a barn door to begin with but McAlinden was banging them in, hunte, bancessi, flatt, sword, Breslin and poynton I am attempting to develop and see in the premier league.

In my curent game I have on loan Jesse Lingard (amazing AMC), Ryan mason and Shane Ferguson. Mason is always getting injured for me and Shane Ferguson I am undecided but he is coming into his own now, all of these players have options to buy (shame I don't have any money!!)

Will post screenies when I can, I had a good cup run in the capital cup, won against Luton, battered sunderland but went out on penalties to everton. In the FA Cup we beat west ham, newcastle but lost 4-3 at home to Man United.

[mg539]

I've posted this in Tactics and Training but I reckon this is as good a place to get advice as any!

I'm in the third season and I have 3 great youth players. My academy has produced a fantastic prospect already:

What role would you recommend training him for? Any areas you'd look to develop?

A UK scout found this guy at Port Vale:

He looks amazing for his age but Marking and Jumping are very low for a centre-back. Can they improve enough for him to be a great defender? Or would I be better re-training him as a DM?

But best of the lot is this guy:

He looks like he could become an amazingly brilliant right winger, but I'm worried that might waste his talents a little - would you see him in a more complex role?

All are rated as having fantastic potential so I'm really excited to see how they develop and hope to build my team around them in the future (but nervous I'll mess it up!)

Any thoughts much appreciated

[Terrance]

I think the 17yr old english kid is good for DM or CM roles with defensive specialty, not CB because of height. I like this kid the most out of all 3. He has great tackling, work rate, and teamwork. He looks like he has the potential to be a starter for the national team.

I'm not sure about the 16yr old english kid. His finish is very poor, so I would not put him anywhere near the attacking 3rd. I think I would convert him into a CWB in the backline, or attacking FB to match your tactic. He has a good starting speed for those roles. The only reason I prefer a defensive position over his current natural CM position is because I like my CM (no matter what type of role) to have great mental stats. This kid does not have high enough starting mental stats. If you did convert him to the right corner, then my only concern is his height, poor heading, and low jumping. Opponents may send long passes right over his head, which may force of of your center backs.

As for the german kid, I think he is either a AMC or AML. He can basically fill most roles to match your tactic.

Are you playing same tactic?

[mg539]

Thanks for your reply Terrance. I'm currently experimenting with tactics which is part of the reason why I'm not sure with these guys.

The 17yr-old English kid I think I'm going to train him as a DM - his passing, marking and vision need work but that would seem to be his best role and like you I'd be concerned about playing him anywhere in a back four because of his height.

The 16yr-old I know is the weakest but since he has been generated in my own academy I really want him to succeed. Think I'll train him as a box-to-box midfielder to make use of his physical stats - I can always make him more defensive later.

The German kid - tbh I'm sure he's going to become a top player, so am going to train him as a winger to start with but might change later - very nice problem to have

[Long Islander]

I always play as Wolves and do not understand the game 100%. Is it a mistake to send players out on loan to get playing time? Talking about U-21 and U-18 guys. Or is it better to keep at home and get training at Wolves? But not get too much playing time.

In my 3rd season after winning promo in playoff 1st season from Championship. Held on to 16th place in 2nd season to avoid relegation even though losing last 9 matches of the season. Now 7 games into 3rd season, in 7th place at 4-2-1. Including 3-2 upset of Arsenal who won the league going away last season. Any advice would be appreciated.

[Terrance]

It's not necessarily bad to send players out on loan because they can get 1st team playing time. Its better to keep them because tutoring (increases hidden attributes such as professionalism and ambition) is the main reason to keep them and devoloping the players he way you want. When on loan loan you can't tutor and control training. If you keep them, give them game minutes (at least 15mins per game off the bench) and play them in friendlies and U games to keep their fitness close to 99%. Players attributes won't increase if not given any competitive playing time.

[Long Islander]

In my season 2 (1st in Prem) I was able to pick up Harry Kane on loan from TOT. Thank god. He was really the only bright spot. Could not retain him though as we were able to transfer from TOT but could't meet Kane's demands. (Wages) Bjorn was crap and Sako is the worst. I tried everything with him. Should be a natural IF but looks LAZY. Could be the ME. Can't get rid of him even now in 3rd season. Picked up Krul for GK and went unbeaten for 7 matches but he got injured and now on a 3 game losing streak. Before 2nd season picked up Cauley Woodrow from Fulham. Didn't show much in that season but is fantastic in this 3rd season. But now he pulled a hamstring and will be out 3 months. Purchased 5 1st team players that start most matches. I will comment on them in a future post. Playing a 4-3-3 asymetrical with some of the new roles. (From a Cleon post) Seems to be fluent and working.

I'm now going to try Sako back in the lineup for one last chance as IF in the AML slot.

Playing Norwich next in League Cup. Haven't beaten them yet 0w-2d-3L. But lost each match by only 1 goal.

[mg539]

Hi Long Islander. shame about Kane and Krul, you don't seem to have had much luck!

On Sako, he's a strange one - in my first season in the Prem he was very hit-and-miss for the first half of the season, but was fantastic second half of the year, scoring some crucial goals, so much so that I decided (being sentimental to real life) that I had to reject the advances from other clubs.

Now in my second premiership season he has again been hit-and-miss and for the first time he has looked off the pace in a couple of games (or as you put it, lazy). I think it's because (based on real life) he isn't very consistent so any drop in morale means he quickly loses confidence and performances drop (instead of laziness). The only way to solve this is a consistent run of games and hope he finds form but tbh I don't think I can take that risk anymore so like you am looking to sell him - only trouble being his value has collapsed since the summer!

One thing - he is very left footed so I would either play him as a winger on the left or an inside forward on the right - if neither are an option in your tactic it's definitely time to sell...

Btw which Cleon thread are you refering to? That sounds like a tactic I might try next season.

[Terrance]

Long Islander,

It's goig to be really tough selling the players you don't want at your current stage. There are not many teams looking to buy players in the middle of the season. Their sale value was highest during your first offseason (before start of season 2). It will be easier to offload players during the next offseason. Also you won't be able to sell any players who are in the last year of their contract because if you don't want them then other teams won't either. What I did was renew their contract and sold them a month afterwards.

[Long Islander]

Found the tactic. It took awhile because I had copied the details down from a twitter post earlier in the month. But the tactic is not on these forums but in one of his blogs on SI Sports Centre. It's called "The Starting Point- Part Two". Warning though-- I now have read the whole article again and he talks about developing PPMs that are essential to each role. I am unfamiliar (until now) about developing PPMs.

Back to my Wolves save. This tactic carried me well for a while. I was 4-0 in preseason and outscored my opponents 11-3 and outshot them 62-27. Lower foreign competition. Then went 6-2-0 in the Prem & 2 cup games outscoring opp. by 18-9. BUT now just looked back and was OUTSHOT 95-126 in those 8 matches. Terrible defense. Got to do something there. Even if I take out my upset of Arsenal, was outshot 7-21, Wolves still out shot 88-105. Then hit a low point. Have gone 0-4 in next 4 games but being outscored 1-10 which included losing to Norwich 1-2 and 0-2. Kind of expected to get killed by Man City 0-4 and Southhampton 0-2 but not to be outshot 39-78 in those 4 matches. The 2nd Norwich match was outshot 5-21. Luckily kept that match 0-0 until the final 20 minutes.

Will work on storing up defense. Got Everton next then Chelsea & Tottenham followed by Sunderland Stoke Swansea and Watford.

btw---Sako still was awful in the Norwich match. But so was the whole squad.

Got Krul back for Everton but Woodrow out for another month.

[mg539]

Thanks for the tactic info Long Islander

To be fair being out-shot isn't necessarily a bad thing; it depends what kind of shots they are. For (an extreme) example, if you only have 3 shots all match, but all inside the 6-yard box, all on target and score two goals, whereas your opponent has 10 shots from outside the penalty area, gets 3 on target and scores 1, which team would you prefer to be?

That's why I think clear-cut chances is a more relevant statistic, or at least shots on target. If I see an opponent shooting from outside the area I usually think that's a good thing - yes they'll score a couple over the course of the season, but it's the least likely place from which to score goals. Obviously the most relevant statistic of all is goals, which seems to have gone well for you for a while!

[mg539]

btw, does the Cleon tactic you're thinking of have a wide playmaker, roaming playmaker and raumdeuter? If so, here's a link to it on the forum, which has all the posts on the same thread (hopefully helpful )

http://community.sigames.com/showthread.php/403153-Building-A-Tactic-From-The-Beginning-And-Maintaining-It-Long-Term

@Terrance: Yeah, I know that's true but that doesn't take into account sentimentality of ppl like me! IRL he's our best player so I'm far too 'loyal' to him on the game than I should be. Similarly I could have cashed in with Dicko in the summer, but he's still my second-choice striker (new signing hasn't performed) and I've just offered Batth a new 4-year contract!

I realise it means I've lost out on a few million with Sako but taking real-life players to great success on FM is one of my greatest pleasures in the game. Hopefully I'll still get a couple of million for Sako and in the cases of Batth and Dicko I will achieve lots with them...

[Long Islander]

Just lost my next 3 matches. 3-0 to EVE, 6-1 to CHE and 2-1 to TOT. Was experimenting in EVE match, outshot 22-6. Zozula had all 3 goals. Tighter defense to CHE to no avail as they clobbered us 6-1. Hazard & Remy 2g and 2 a each. Outshot 27-8.

Changed formation for TOT and made both FBs on Def. Used DM-d as too many shots coming from top of box. Lost match 2-1 BUT should have drawn because linesman made error on offside goal. Sako, yes Sako had a beautiful run and goal and picked up PoM inspite of us losing. Used him as IF-s on the right and switched with WP-a on the left. Looked good in both positions. Took him off transfer list.

mg539, yes that's the tactic. Found it had no defense for me though.

Playing a 4-2-2-1-1 with a WP-a and IF-s on wings. Shadow striker and DLF-s.

We'll see how this does v. Sunderland & Stoke.

[Long Islander]

Played next 3 matches vs. teams lower than Wolves. Sunderland- WW beat them 1-0. Stoke- WW beat them 1-0. And Swansea- WW lost 0-1.

Happy with the Sunderland result even we were outshot by the Black Cats 19-12. Wolves had 54% possession and seemed to be passing the ball in triangles. Just couldn't break though with the many runs we had. Sako had the winning goal. Hurray again. Sunderland was at at disadvantage as they played on 3 days rest while we had 7. Also Martin Jol was fired a day before our match so they were managerless. After our victory, the Sunderland front office approached me about interviewing for the job. Why would I go there? QPR had approached me a week ago.

Now onto Stoke. A 1-0 victory again and outshot by 17-12 again. Sako had the assist as his FK caromed off the crossbar and Stearman put it in. Again 56% possession.

The loss at Swansea was frustrating. A 9th minute score by Bony off of a wrong way defensive header that landed right at his feet. Sako did little.

All 3 matches had the same theme, however. Defensive line was FLAT due to all playing a FB-d or CD-d. No movement up the line because of being out of defensive positioning. The other thing is that the other 6 outfield players were all on top of each other according to the heat map (average positioning.) Didn't look that way while watching the match.

So WWFC sits in 14th place at 6-2-7. Next 4 matches to finish out the 1st half are with Watford, ManU, Wigan and Liverpool.

Got lucky and drew Southend in the FA Cup.

Terrance---I'm also from USA. Long Island, NY. However, I spend Jan thru April in Florida. Might go to MLS preseason match in Bradenton tomorrow night. Orlando City vs. DC United. Hope to see Kaka.