FM16: Rangers = The Magic Hat & The Journey To 55!

[Mr_Demus]

Started with Rangers last night.

Sold a couple of players, as I wanted to use my 532, but no key players.

Brought in:

Hiram Boateng - Crystal Palace (Loan)

Tyias Browning - Everton (Loan)

Kris Stadsgaard - FC Copenhagen (Loan)

Sam Gallagher - Southampton (Loan)

Only played friendlies so far, but my team seems decent enough

[AllyJoseph]

Just started my first save in Scotland since CM4. Only my second time ever in Scotland.

I tend to stick to England but with dynamic leagues I may go for a long term Rangers save, enjoying myself so far.

Jason Cummings is a monster, 20 in 18 so far. Brought in James Tunnicliffe on loan and Isaac Osbourne on a free as there seems to be a lack of experience and depth in CM roles.

Any tips on what to do post promotion? Is it still a cakewalk(apart from Celtic)? Easy to get league rep up?

[AllyJoseph]

Got promoted, made a bit of a meal of it, Cummings got 32 in 44 apps and got 3 Scottish caps scoring 2 goals. Won the challenge cup at a canter. Scottish FA Cup final against Celtic was horrible, Celtic dominated me. Doesn't bode well for next season, AND they've signed Kristoffer Ajaer which makes things super grim.

I ended up letting every go I could as there was a lot of dead weight eating up wages including some very poor kids on upwards of £1,000 a week. Too many to list here. I sold Halliday for 200k to Sheff Utd, shame because he hadn't really done anything wrong and was a useful utility player. Sold Waghorn for 500k to Hearts, again was a shame as he actually did very well for me out wide scoring a lot of important goals, however I have an abundance of talent out there.

I brought in a host of players.

Junior Hoilett was a free transfer as was Kenneth McAvoy. Both have hit the ground running out wide and shows my decision to offload two wingers was a sound one. Dan Burn was another key free transfer at center back as it was a position that desperately needed strengthening. Rob Elliott joins from Newcastle on a free as goalkeeping cover after we sold McCrorie to Watford for £1m.

Scott Allen makes the cross from Celtic to Rangers for 220k which I think is a steal and he went straight into the heart of our midfield alongside Ryan Tunnicliffe who made his loan permanent for 120k from Fulham.

Zelalem loan extended for no wages, Cameron Bothwick-Jackson comes in as leftback/center back cover, he's probably better than what we have but what we have is good and my own players so they start unless they massively under perform. Adam Maher comes in on loan from AZ, outrageous AMC to be able to snag on a loan to buy, but Jason Holt has been a revelation and Scottish international so probably a rotational player. Jeff Reine-Adelaide from Arsenal becomes the first wonderkid to agree to join us, he's probably already good enough for a top premier league side so this was a coup and a half. He's destroyed the teams he's played against thus far.

I expect us to be in the top 4 this season but defensively we still look a little ropey.

[FrazT]

Anybody had any success in getting Wallace to become a coach at the end of his career? He has this set as a long term goal in his profile, but I cant find a way to encourage him to take the badges before his contract runs out and I am unlikey to extend it

[AllyJoseph]

Anybody had any success in getting Wallace to become a coach at the end of his career? He has this set as a long term goal in his profile, but I cant find a way to encourage him to take the badges before his contract runs out and I am unlikey to extend it

I found him surpluss to requirements due to his extortionate wages in comparison to the rest of the squad so I can't help you.

Third season I have cracked it I think, after a decent season last season we won the league cup. Europe was a bust, got knocked out straight away in qualifying, I definitely want to improve on that next year. This was the year of making money. Youth intake was incredible, one lad was apparently the best of his generation, but he was injury prone. Chelsea came knocking and I got 3m +40% sell on + 2m based on appearances. Liam Burt's development was great as well but couldn't turn down 1.1m from Leicester. Junior Hoilett after a great season went on his way back to the prem for 2m. I ended up with a sizeable amount of money considering the league I was in.

In came Predrag Rajkovic, insanely good keeper, I don't think much needs saying about him. Tyrone Mings replaced Wallace who I let go for next to nothing for 450k which was a steal. Alan Hutton rejoined for free as Travernier started the exodus by joining Newcastle for 3m. Darren Fletcher joined on a free. Yoann Gorcuff joined on a free which was a signing far too good for Scotland and he has dominated AMC. Bilal Ould-Chikh came in for 110k, soft spot for him from an old game. Gary McKay-Stevens joined for 250k as rotational player, 2nd Celtic player to sign for me. In came a few loans but they havent been great, pick of the bunch Ruben Loftus-Cheek. I tried to get Adelaide again but he wasnt interested.

Kenneth McAvoy was the pick of last seasons permanent signings winning...signing of the season. Rangers player of the season, Young SPL player of the Season, Irish Young and Senior player of the season. His value went up to 4m and he scored an insane amount of goals and assists. Pivitol member of my side.

[Pippadoc]

Into my second season after a relatively comfortable title in the Championship, although I got knocked out of the two important cups before the expected Semi Finals. Not been too busy in the transfer market. I extended Zelalem's loan for another season and I have Rolando Aarons in on loan for the season as well. I brought Seko Fofano (DM/MC) on a free and I have Raul Aguilar (DC) in as a player/coach.

My star signing has been Mikkel Thygesen from FC Roskilde for £70k. He's been doing great as a box-to-box midfielder with 3 league goals in 10 games, and another 5 in 3 League Cup games.

I've not really got rid of anyone, apart from the players whose contracts expired. Looking to get a couple of deals in place for some young Croatian players before the January window opens.

Celtic are looking tough to beat, they brought Loic Remy in during the summer and he unsuprisingly opened the scoring in the first Old Firm Derby of the year (a 2-0 loss, although the second goal came late as I was chasing an equaliser).

I'm playing a 4-2-3-1 and it's been working great so far. I can't seem to fit O'Halloran into the squad, despite retraining him as an MC, debating selling him in January. Has anyone had much success with him?

[AllyJoseph]

I'm playing a 4-2-3-1 and it's been working great so far. I can't seem to fit O'Halloran into the squad, despite retraining him as an MC, debating selling him in January. Has anyone had much success with him?

O'Halloran was really disappointing, I tried him out wide but Kenneth McAvoy and Junior Hoilett were better. Adelaide was far too good for Scotland. I then tried him up top but Jason Cummings was on fire and as a rotational player he was hampering Hardies development. I ended up offloading him for around 250k to save on his wages.

As for Celtic my major hurdle was Patrick Roberts. He was insane for them on his two loan spells. He's now worth 21m and doesn't look like he's returning for a 3rd. Serge Gnabry has just joined them on a free though so that could be a problem.

I brought in Vladimir Weiss in my own attempt to strengthen with real quality, he's ripping teams apart.

Scotland just upped their co-efficient so 2 Champions League spots now. Hopefully even second place will see real money seep in.

Interestingly, Lucas Boye is dubbed the new Mario Kempes and a french lad i cant remember the name off hand is the next Michel Platini, so i may have a real side on my hands soon.

[AllyJoseph]

Finally lost Rajkovic to Valencia for a poor 7.5m minimum release fee. I would highly recommend him for any Rangers save but try to get a higher release fee. Valenica have slapped at 38m release fee on him and he's worth 19m now.

A youth player I had signed for Chelsea for 4m, just sold his sell on clause for 7.5m which was fantastic for us. I signed a Brazillian center back for 5m and ploughed a lot into wages. Our poor wage structure is stopping us from landing many of my targets so we're still heavily reliant on loans and frees. The moneys there to spend i just cant match wage demands.

Hopefully that'll improve now the league rep is upto 14th and Celtic improved the coefficient so 2 Champions League spots.

[Pippadoc]

Had a pretty solid first season in the SPL, coming in 2nd to Celtic. The Cups were less impressive, with a 3rd Round League Cup exit to Hearts and shocking 4th Round FA Cup exit to Alloa.

We had a fantastic start to the season losing only two and drawing one game in the league up to the end of November. After that though we just couldn't find any consistent form the rest of the season failing to win more than two games in a row at any point from December on. We ended up 12 points behind Celtic despite being 4 points clear at one point in the season, and it all came down to inconsistent play and an awful head to head record (1 draw and 3 losses).

Ryan Hardie was our top scorer with 20 goals including 17 in 37 league games, but I can't help feel disappointed with him overall. He was inconsistent all season and missed far too many solid chances. That was really a theme of the second half of the season, we could create solid scoring opportunities but we just missed far too many of them.

During January I brought in a couple of promising young Croatian regens who got some game time this season and will hopefully grow into a starters down the line. I also brought in Steven Whittaker to provide some quality depth a DL as Ryan Sinnamon really didn't come on as well as I'd have hoped. I ended up selling Martyn Waghorn to Wigan for £250k.

The budgets for this season are very similar to last year (£200k p/w and £700k to spend) which was a bit of a disappointment given we've now secured Europa League football. We've lost Gedion Zelalem for next season (Arsenal wanted me to pay his £36k p/w wages to have him back), I did manage to bring Rolando Aarons in for another year, although I'm know paying his full £5,750 p/w wages. I've managed to agree to sell O'Halloran for £100k to Hamilton, I'm to get rid of Aird, Kiernan and Andy Halliday - if I get a nice high offer for Ryan Hardie, I'll probably get rid of him, I prefer players who aren't inconsistent and he certainly cost us points with it last year. I need to bring in a new Deep-Lying Playmaker to replace Zelalem and possibly a striker if Hardie does move on, otherwise I'm looking for a long-term replacement for Wallace and some other youngsters to develop

[ftblmanager]

So I've finally started my game with Rangers in FM16. Going to use it for a story I think.

I've played 3 games, 2 cups and 1 league, won cup 3-0 and 1-0 in the league.

I've brought the following staff onboard:

Jon Goodman Fitness coach 4 stars

Des Bulpin Tactics coach 4 stars

Bob Paterson Attacking coach 3.5 stars

Hamish French Shooting 3.5 stars

Ideally I'd like another goal keeping and a ball control coach but board won't budge. I'm putting together physio, and scouting team and will update as and when done. Also thought about using a DOF but I think I won't this time (normally do); at least until I'm in the Premiership.

Players in

Sam Gallagher ST Southampton Loan 3.5 stars-5 stars

Jamie Hanson MC Derby Loan 3.5 stars-4.5 stars

Both solid player, Gallagher could potentially be crucial this season with goals, I managed to get him over 4 English Championship teams. Hanson is solid and can play DM as well. Looked at bringing Fleck back but his agent wanted 120k so I ditched that for a while. I'll most likely add 2 more players before the window shuts.

[ftblmanager]

So I'm on the 2nd of January this is how my season is looking:

Rangers 12 7 1 43

Hibs 12 5 3 41

Falkirk 10 8 2 38

Tight at the top, I'm drawing far to many games, I'm really lacking that game changer player or move just now.

Petrofac cup lost semi final v Raith on pens

Scottish cup 3rd round V Dundee Utd

League cup Lost 2nd round Raith Pens

Bad showing in the cups so far, Dundee utd next.

Goals Sam Gallagher 13, Travenier 8, Billy King 7

Assist Travenier 8, Gallagher 6, McKay 4

So far I've agreed Fleck on a free contract, and looking at some other players to strengthen for next season. McCrorie left for Southampton after moaning about me rejecting same move in summer, and being injured for the first half of the season, for £1.4 million.

Sadly lost David Weir to the assistants job at Blackburn, nothing to keep him. I gave Des Bulpin the job and signed Lee Sharp to take over defensive coaching.

[angusadams]

Started a Rangers save at the start of the week.

Tried to sign quite a few players and I failed for numerous reasons - too high wage demands etc. Cummings went to Burnley and has played shocking for them scoring 4 in 32...... sopretty glad i didnt get him.

I bought in Hiram Boateng on loan and extended zelalems loan.

To cut long story short I won the treble of league, challenge cup and scottish cup. So i have euro for the coming season.

In January i picked up Jordan Houghton from chelsea. Who played very well since signing.

Tavernier got 26 assists and 14 POM in the league.

Hardie got 28 goals from 35 in the league.

But overall a solid performance from everyone.

for the coming season I have signed:

Jordan Williams on loan from Liverpool

Mitch Hancox on free from Birmingham

Daniel Bentley on free from Southend

John Fleck on free from Coventry

Alberto Escassi on free from Llagostera

Nahki Wells - 1.5m from Huddersfield

Joe Gomez - loan from Liverpool

I adjusted my budget for Nahki as I needed another 1st team striker.

Tried to sign Michu on a free but he went to Bristol City instead.

Just playing pre season at the moment and have sk sturm gratz in euro cup 2nd qual

My 5loan players are

Zelalem

Ball

Boateng

Williams

Gomez

I expect them to play a huge part in the current season.

In other news Celtic only scrambled home to SPL title 1st season sacking deila at christmas and st johnstone leading at the split but falling away to 3rd.

I am hugely enjoying this game so far and hope it continues to that extent.

[steve0271]

Started a Rangers save recently which is going really good so far.

1st Season: played a 4-3-3 to take advantage of the quality Tav and Wallace have when bombing forward.

1st SEASON SIGNINGS: :- relied heavily on loan market.

Preseason signings:

bought: Jason Cummings for 350k plus 150k after appearances & goals. did well and scored 20 in 35 games.

Bought: David Gray from Hibs for 28k as back up to Tav.

Free: Marek Cech as back up Wallace.

Loan: Alex Kiwomya from Chelsea - scored some important goals as F9. 11 goals in 9 starts & 15 sub appearances.

Loan: Jordan Rossiter from Liverpool - key player as ball winning midfielder. solid

Loan: Shaun MacDonald from Bournemouth - started off well but others performed better after a small injury, did the job though.

January Signings:

Loan: Simone Palombi from Lazio (young striker 1.5yr loan)- 4 goals in 7 games (Back up to Wags / Cummins / O'Halloran)

Loan: Sandi Lovric from SK Sturm Graz (young def mid 1.5yr loan) - Back up loan, played well when needed.

Loan: Richie Towell from Brighton - had alot of injuries and suspensions. started well but got a bad injury.

loaned players out: Ross Lyon, Clark, Law, Thompson, Hardie

Sold: Robby McCrorie for 125K + 40% profit clause

League: Finished top of the championship with 96 points, undefeated in the league. Won 30 and Drew 6.

Challenge Cup: Lost in Semi Final to Hibs. who then lost to St. Mirren in the final. haha

League Cup: Lost to Dumbarton 2-1 at Ibrox in 2nd round. 0-0 up to 58th min then got Rossiter sent off, they then scored in quick succession on the break. 2 shots on target = 2 goals. where we had 18 and 5CCC.

Scottish Cup: Lost in Qtr Final to 'Them' 2-1 - pretty even match and could've gone either way.

Top players used:

James Tavernier - played 37 - scored 5 - assisted 22 - Man of Match 16 - Av Rating 8.43

Lee Wallace - played 38 - scored 0 - assisted 15 - Man of Match 2 - Av Rating 7.99

Jason Cummings - played 35 - scored 20 - assisted 7 - Man of Match 3 - Av Rating 7.36

Michael O'halloran - played 38 - scored 22 - assisted 10 - Man of Match 3 - Av Rating 7.61

Martyn Waghorn - played 36 - scored 21 - assisted 5 - Man of Match 2 - Av Rating 7.38

worthy mentions: Wilson , Rossiter and Zelalem

SUMMER EXITS: friggen lots too many to mention: senior wise: Miller, Temps, Bell, Cech, Gray, Law, Hardie (Loan), Forrester

2nd SEASON SIGNINGS: Mostly free's and Loans

Bought: Mike Van Der Hoorn, a CD from Ajax - 1.2M various clauses and paying up

Bought: Stephen Mallan from St, Mirren - 190k various clauses and paying up - one for future but playing well so far too.

Bought: Jhon Arango 5K - needs a work permit but loaned out to dutch team. one for future

bought: Nicolas Godoy from River - 2.2M - paying up and various clauses - need WP but on loan for now. though perhaps a silly transfer

considering the financial state of club. should make profit when i sell. playing well at NAC Breda with clubs interested in him already.

Bought: Colombian regen - 250k - AMC / MC - how he got a Work permit and Arango didnt is beyond me.

Free: Callum Booth - LB back up for Wallace

Free: Windass & Crooks as previously agreed

Free: Max Grun from Wolfsburg II - my new No.1 Goal Keeper ahead of Wes. this guy is awesome!!!

Free: John Fleck - still young and decent player for SPL. not played much yet though.

Free: Yoan Severin - released from Juventus - some potential. sent on loan and playing well for Partick

Loan: Mortiz Leitner from Dortmund - Ln Free 11.75 p/m - awesome midfielder

Loan: Federico Vietto from Racing Club - Striker 18 year old and scoring for fun as my CF or AF. 8 in 11 games.

Loan: Matt Miazga from Chelsea - DC cover for Wilson and Van Der Hoorn.

Loan: Cristian Cuevas from Chelsea - LB cover & if i change tactics for IF's

so far in season 2 im top of the SPL: Played 7 won 6 draw 1 - 19 Points (Celtic 'Them' are on 17 Points)

Cummings and Vietto ripping the league apart. Tav is injured the now which has effected my tactic but we're coping.

shall update at the end of the season.

[Whatawaster95]

Any of you guys played with this database? Looks really good, unrealistic, but could be fun.

http://steamcommunity.com/sharedfiles/filedetails/?id=565337523

[trueblue]

Having a really tough time with my save in the Prem. Been in the top flight 3 seasons and cant get past second. First season won the championship and Petrofac Cup easy. 1st Season in the Prem came 3rd but it wasn't until Dec of the 2nd season in the Prem I finally got some money. Still haven't signed anyone on over 10k a week as trying to build for future. After winning the Scottish Cup last season and developing a wonderkid I was hopeful for this season past,, alas got pipped on final day and lost to them by ONE point.

Dont think its ever taken me this long to reclaim top spot but seen at least a few others finding similar so trying to keep upbeat. This season I managed to beat Celtic twice in the lg and one draw so definitely catching them.

I also had to face the fact my best player and the wonderkid got bought out on their release clauses so have had to reshape everything. On the bright side those sales gave me some much needed cash.

Have got Will Grigg, Tom Bradshawe, Stevie May and Ryan Hardie as my main strikers

Brought in Kenny Maclean from Aberdeen and after 4 seasons on loan picked up Rolando Arrons on a free

Over the course I have brought in a few veterans every year to help the younger ones then move into coaching, such as Reo Coker, Scott Parker and Michael Carrick

Other players you may not be so familiar with

Caleb Stanko 950k now worth 2.5mil

David Syne Kilmarnock - 800k now only 500k but stats have gone way up and coach report has him with quality potential

Isralel Puerto - free now worth 1.6mil

Stephan Kingsley - free

Pol Garcia Juventus - free now worth 600k

Niklass Dorsch free - now worth 800k

Tiemoue Bakayoko - 5.75mil biggest buy just before season past, got injured (typical) now worth 3mil but still got really good potential

Bilal Boutobba - 5mil

Danny da Costa - 2.5mil

With this team I SHOULD be able to win the lg,, most of them came in tho for that season just past so probably wont look for much this summer window and just let the team gell,, perhaps a loan here or there,,

That best player I lost was a wee gem,, Italian player called Leonardo Mancuso,, got him from Catanzaro for 325k for first season in Prem,, first season 8 goals 6 assts, second season 10 goals and 12 assts , his attributes shot up as well,, Bordeaux came in tho and paid the 4.5mil release clause and off he went

Oh well hope the boys finally do it next season

[liamjackson1]

Bit late to the party but anyway. In late February of my first season and if I dont win the league it will be a real shock. The table is looking like this:

 

1. Rangers - P26 - W19 - D5 - L2 - PTS 62

2. Falkirk - P26 - W12 - D8 - L6 - PTS 44

3. Raith - P26 - W11 - D7 - L8 - 40

Hibs lagging behind in 4th. Currently playing a 4-4-2 Diamond Wide. 

Brought in Jason Cumming who is on 35 goals already, Lewis Stevenson and Stephen Kingsley as Wallace begged to be sold, Joe Dodoo on loan in January who has scored 7 in 7. Brought in Razak and Vaulks to sit in the DM position. 
 Stormed through into the Challenge cup final where I think Im playing Dunfermline however lost in both other cups to Kilmarnock and Inverness losing on penalties both times.

 

[Wightman]

Where's the Rangers Fm17 thread?

[Whatawaster95]

Any one making a FM17 thread?

[ftblmanager]

I'm in the process of making it right now 

 

[surreybear]

Excellent! I've just downloaded the game and need all the helpi can get

[Whatawaster95]

3 hours ago, ftblmanager said:

I'm in the process of making it right now 

 

Good Stuff!

[Supergers]

Any word on the guide, looking forward to it.

[Whatawaster95]

Any update on a Rangers FM17 thread? 

[trueblue]

Yeh ,, don't bother.  I just got sacked after attempting my second save with Rangers in FM17.  I have never been sacked in a gers save before EVER!! and now twice.

 I tried everything,,,,,different formations,rotating players, player instructions, set piece instructions, player roles, team talks , team and individual training (both doing it all and on the other save allowing the assman to step in), bringing in coaches, scouts and all the other staff positions needing filled,, I also did the same for the U20's and set about improving training facilities 

Nothing I seemed to do made any difference.  In one save I tried following all the assman advice on pre match tactics (even if I didn't agree) and on the other I did my own thing esp not changing when I got a couple of wins,,sadly it never got a good run going either way.

In my first save I got the bullet just before or after the Jan window,, even tho we where in 3rd place only a couple points behind hearts in 2nd,,, I had even beat Celtic that season in the first OF game so I thought they where a little harsh considering it first season back up,,, but they said expectations where to win lg and I was out the cups.  In my second save I deserved it tbh as we had slipped to about 5th.

I used the loan market bringing in decent players in both saves and even managed to get the Board to buy Ozturk from Hearts and Kenny Mclean from Aberdeen in my second save.  

I honestly dont know what you are supposed to do ,, the fact that there isn't a Rangers FM17 thread already tho might suggest I'm not the only one who has given up lol.

[Rino72.]

First time poster, long time reader and die hard bear!

I agree with the above, it's definitely alot tougher this year without having the extra few years to shape your squad as most players you're dealt with at the start of the game are poor to say the least.

In my FM17 save I'm just heading into February still within a whisker of a title challenge, 6 points off the top. 

Have majorly rebuilt the squad - Moving on the likes of Barton, Hill, Kranjcar, Crooks & Windass whilst adding the following:

Diego Poyet (Free)

Ingridi Sigurdsson (£10k)

Matthew Knox (£50k)

Louis Schaub (£1m)

Josh Murphy (Loan)

Carles Aleña (Loan)

Ainsley Maitland-Niles (Loan, signing permanently in summer)

Axel Tuanzebe (Loan)

Abdou Diallo (Loan) 

Also signing Ethan Ebanks-Landell & Herve Ongenda on frees in the summer.

As you can see, the loan market has to be exploited as the money isn't simply there which is painful until European football comes back into the picture.

If I have the time tomorrow, I will fire up an FM17 guide with helpful tactics etc.