Dexter_Morgan Posted September 17, 2017 Share Posted September 17, 2017 After the previous attempt failed I decided it would be easier to restart this with a new thread as it was 10 years or so in when the save wouldn't load. As before I will take over a big (doesn't have to be a Juve, United, Barca necessarily, but a traditional well known) side that are in need of a rebuild as time goes on, this could be a relegation (or relegation scrap) 5+ years without a major honour that kind of thing. One thing I have changed from the previous save is i'm going straight in to it and as I hinted earlier it is indeed at Ipswich Town. Ipswich Town With a prediction of 10th and a board expectation of mid table this is a decent squad to work with, Mings and Bishop both young players with decent potential to be decent players and a few in the youth side that may make the step up appeals to my vision of creating a young hungry side capable of being a lot better than their current position. With only £1M in the bank to spend transfers were always going to be a tough one for us so it wasn't an overly busy window with just 1 keeper coming in and one going out From the previous attempt I was never convinced about Bartosz Bialkowski in goal and though he will be number 1 this season Sondre Rossbach will be getting chances here and there with the intention of him eventually taking over from Bialkowski. Life at the club couldn't have started any better really, the Sheffield Wednesday is the only thing i'd count as a blip at the moment but apart from that we have started well and getting a last minute winner against your local rivals is always a nice feeling. Attacking we look good and the defence seems to be well drilled so hopefully we can pick up and keep up the good form. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dexter_Morgan Posted September 17, 2017 Author Share Posted September 17, 2017 Reserved Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
BoxToBox Posted September 17, 2017 Share Posted September 17, 2017 Awesome. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
withnail316 Posted September 17, 2017 Share Posted September 17, 2017 Best of luck with the second attempt. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dexter_Morgan Posted September 18, 2017 Author Share Posted September 18, 2017 Ipswich Town November - December 2014/15 Not perfect but more than good enough to lead the way just past the half way stage so I have to be happy with it. There is a fear I will lose a few players this coming window, with Celtic, Leicester, Palace, Watford, Hull and Sunderland after various players and tbh I think everyone is disposable in this squad apart from Mings and Bishop, i'm trying to get Bernardo Silva in from Monaco and it's only the agent fee that's stopping it from going ahead so fingers crossed I can get that over the line especially as I see the right hand side our weakest position as it stands Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dexter_Morgan Posted September 19, 2017 Author Share Posted September 19, 2017 Ipswich Town January - May 2014/15 I'm not sure how we hung on to claim automatic promotion let alone the title but somehow we scraped through it Those last 6 games really were poor, we should have been comfortable with 2/3 games to spare in reality but we did our best to blow it. That said it's done now and there's no point looking back as we look forward to returning to the Premiership. The Bernardo Silva deal didn't materialise during January and whilst I will do a proper transfer report in a separate post I can confirm he is amongst 2 big signings that we confirmed as soon as the transfer budget came in. There's a pair of Bosmans to come in too and hopefully a few more as I look for a striker, CB and RB at the very least though i'm not confident on getting everything in which case I will probably try and make do without a striker if it comes to a case of finances. Only one aim and that is survival, with the improvements made so far and hopefully a few more I feel it is achievable even though the end of the seasons form does have me slightly worried about a few players attitude. No absolute shocks across Europe in terms of relegations Palace, Sunderland and QPR went down in England, Malaga and Espanyol in Spain, Rennes in France and Sassuolo all sides that may be worth looking at snapping players from. One half decent regen came through the intake with the potential to be a good Prem player but overall a poor intake Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dexter_Morgan Posted September 21, 2017 Author Share Posted September 21, 2017 Ipswich Town June - August 2015/16 An extremely busy summer but I feel we got some superb work done during it Geoffrey Kondogbia and Bernardo Silva being the 2 obvious ones but the raid for Nicola Sansone wasn't a bad deal either and we only just missed out on Zaza and Winston Reid in other deals too or this would have been a perfect window, i'm not greedy though and delighted with what we have managed as we are now a lot more stronger all over the pitch. On the pitch and a reasonable start though I felt Derby and Leicester were there for the taking but at least we are picking points up. I have no illusion that it will be easy to stay up but I am actually confident we can which is rare for me as I am usually a doomlord But the new signings have settled in quickly which isn't always the case so that certainly helps any slight doubt I may have had. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
deltablue Posted September 21, 2017 Share Posted September 21, 2017 At least you got to start with Mings and Murphy. I imagine Dozzell was too young to feature in this version? Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dexter_Morgan Posted September 21, 2017 Author Share Posted September 21, 2017 No Dozzell on this Bishop is turning in to a handy player though Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dexter_Morgan Posted September 22, 2017 Author Share Posted September 22, 2017 Ipswich Town September - October 2015/16 Not the best few months in the world when you glance at it but considering the defeats were to Spurs, Liverpool and Man Utd it suddenly doesn't seem anywhere near as bad. Obviously I don't want us to be losing but points against the top 6/8 are nothing but a bonus at this stage so I can't be too critical though I have recognised the need for improvements at RB and CB plus depth pretty much in every position. The most pleasing thing at the moment is the attacking players are doing exactly what I brought them in for and for that reason I am still confident that we will pick enough points to keep us up. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dexter_Morgan Posted September 22, 2017 Author Share Posted September 22, 2017 Ipswich Town November - December 2015/16 It was only doing the screenshot for the fixtures I realised we lost so many games in that period Again though looking at it there's a few decent sides we played there so not worried especially given the fact we pick up points against teams around and below quite regularly, as long as we can continue doing that then with the buffer we have i'd be happy come the end of the season to finish somewhere around the position we currently are. As the winter window comes up i'm hoping the board makes funds available as I have pinpointed a few players who could improve the squad but unfortunately there is no budget as it stands. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dexter_Morgan Posted September 23, 2017 Author Share Posted September 23, 2017 Ipswich Town January - February 2015/16 Usually i've been less critical about losing to bigger sides but the heavy ones this time around weren't acceptable if i'm honest especially the home game to Liverpool where we were terrible, yes I don't expect us to win but I couldn't even recall a shot on goal. On the other hand we did do reasonably well in the other games which is what in truth was always going to be what kept us in the division but i'd have just liked a bit more fight in us than what we managed in the games against United and Liverpool. With only 3 games in March i'm not going to bother with another report until the end of the season, I think 3 wins from the remaining 10 games is the minimum i'd expect but it'd be good to get 5/6 from them though with City, Arsenal, Chelsea and tough games against Everton, Villa and Newcastle amongst these last 10 I can't really expect that many wins, but i'd hope for some fight. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dexter_Morgan Posted September 24, 2017 Author Share Posted September 24, 2017 Ipswich Town March - May 2015/16 Overall a good first season in the top flight for us, a few of the heavy defeats at the bigger clubs bothered me in the 2nd half of the season though as it didn't matter how good we had been playing just before those games we just seemed to get totally overawed by the occasion which is something that needs to be addressed in this coming window. The new signings I felt did really well for us and between them created and scored a half decent number of goals which was invaluable as this level seems too high for McGoldrick whom I am regretting being a bit too greedy for now when clubs were coming in for him while we were in the championship, I was holding out for £12-15 while I was being offered £7-8M in hindsight I could have at least got a decent player with potential with that fee. The aim for next season isn't too big in all honesty, just improve in a few positions and hopefully rise a spot or 2 higher, I only have a £23M kitty so I have to be realistic with what I can get with that, i'll probably have a look at what is available from Stoke who are probably the biggest side to go down across Europe this year and hope to pick up a bargain or 2 from there. A bit of strength in depth is needed too but just how much we can get there depends on the main targets first. Only one player of note from the youth intake again, he seems pretty well distributed so hopefully we can produce a decent player out of him. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dexter_Morgan Posted September 24, 2017 Author Share Posted September 24, 2017 Ipswich Town June - August 2016/17 Reasonably happy with the signings though the lack in depth is still obvious defensively, in midfield and attacking areas I think we have at least on paper one of the strongest of those around the mid table mark so at least if we have injuries/suspensions it should be pretty close to like for like. It really is difficult to say where we are at the minute as we've started the season with quite a few injuries and a suspension or 2 added in i'm not sure on a tactic yet (in fact i've yet to make one i'm completely happy with during either attempts at this save) so with that in mind i'm letting the Chelsea and Spurs results slide but once everyone is fit which should be by the game after the internationals and these scores keep happening then I will really have to consider a new approach, in fact a deadline day £15M bid for Mings was tempting as I was thinking of a 3-5-2 (wide midfielders not wingbacks) it didn't really give me time to get an adequate CB which would be needed to play that formation but maybe i'll re look in January at that possibility if my current brainwave of a 4-2-3(narrow)-1 doesn't work out Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dexter_Morgan Posted September 24, 2017 Author Share Posted September 24, 2017 Ipswich Town September - October 2016/17 That is probably the best 2 months we have had during the entire save so far, I did touch that the early part of the season was disrupted due to injuries and suspensions in the last post and it certainly looks like we are starting to click now. I think one of the main factors in this is that we are kind of playing 4 strikers in the tactic now after a reshuffle What I have in this line up is the CF and SS swapping with each other and the 2 DLF's swapping and it seems to be finding spaces that we previously weren't finding. I've also got the players to press more (including prevent teams playing out from the keeper) and it seems to be working. Babacar and Silva in particular were working well at what they were doing until Babacar picked up an injury but thankfully that hasn't disrupted us too much and tbh Bakkali needed a run of games at some point anyway. Apart from that and in goal where Pacheco and Rossbach are so close I can't settle on one this is the strongest XI now which i'm happy with as I didn't really want to do a 3 at the back here, at least not yet as Mings is one of our better players and it's too far in to his development now to change him to a natural CB (something I did think about at the start of the save) I've got £19M to save now, i've bid for a CB and RB for the first team and a few kids but as always with any British saves the work permit could be a problem hence Arango going straight back out on loan but i've got to look at it that if I can get them in and loan them out they'll either get in the nation teams eventually to get a WP or there's a profit potential there which of course I have to still think about as we are spending a lot on wages each month and though we are making a profit I would rather have a bit more in the kitty Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dexter_Morgan Posted September 24, 2017 Author Share Posted September 24, 2017 Ipswich Town November - December 2016/17 We were 2 late Leighton Baines (his first 2 goals of the season) free kicks away from going in to 2017 in a CL spot, admittedly our next game is Chelsea away so probably would have been straight back out but it would have been a nice little way to end 2016. I've really enjoyed the season so far and even if we don't make Europe I see a lot of progress this season and with a few signings in defence and GK I think we'll be a really strong team. I lost on Toprak understandably to Real Madrid so the CB I was after never materialised but I did make 2 signings with the extra budget For £7M this is a cracking deal, he's a few notches up from Basic who to be fair has done well but Pizarro was too good not to sign considering the lack of realistic good full backs available to us. for £3.7 and a glowing report I couldn't resist a punt on this lad, he's broke in to the Twente team this year and has done reasonably well, with McGoldrick on his way he'll mostly be reserve/sub this season but i'm hopeful of him having a good career at the club long term Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dexter_Morgan Posted September 25, 2017 Author Share Posted September 25, 2017 Ipswich Town January - February 2016/17 The start to the year has been beyond anything I could have expected, a fightback from 3-1 down at Chelsea is the only time we didn't come away with a win and given the circumstances I can hardly call that a blot on our record A 3-2 win at City gave us our first win at a top 6 side to finally get that hoodoo off our backs too so things really can't be going any better which of course is worrying me especially as March sees us start off at Man Utd in the cup and then mid-late March back to back away games at Liverpool and Arsenal will be a big test for us. Man Utd visit Portman Rd in the penultimate game of the season too so i'm still not sure top 4 is realistic but top 6 is certainly the minimum I would hope for now. As you see in the table we certainly have no problem scoring goals now, having the front 4 rotate and play so close together is certainly something I never thought of doing before but teams struggle to cope with it, this of course leaves opposite sides full backs free to do what they please and double up with wingers against our full backs which probably contributes to our high against tally but i'd rather see that and us attack well than dull 1-0's every week. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
deltablue Posted September 25, 2017 Share Posted September 25, 2017 Cracking form Gromit! Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dexter_Morgan Posted September 26, 2017 Author Share Posted September 26, 2017 On 25/09/2017 at 13:41, deltablue said: Cracking form Gromit! Thought you'd be happy 1 game left to play so should have the report done soon (no spoilers) Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dexter_Morgan Posted September 26, 2017 Author Share Posted September 26, 2017 Ipswich Town March - May 2016/17 Some people might be a bit surprised to read this but i'm disappointed with the way we ended the season. We went to the Emirates and with the form we were in at the time I expected a lot better showing than the one we gave, that result obviously made the chance (albeit slim) of pipping them to the title impossible, but it wasn't just that game that bothered me. The 3 defeats in a row were in a lot of ways even worse, we had 2 goal leads in each of them and threw it away. Don't get me wrong the season in general was brilliant and maybe the fact those 4 games happened so close together has taken the gloss of something I should be pleased about but i'm a perfectionist so it does irritate me when sloppiness comes like that, also 60 goals against for a team in 2nd just isn't acceptable either. On to the positives the midfield and front 4 were outstanding, the swapping of positions seems to have been a big key to this, usually i'd have reservations about so many swapping but when I started with the formation back in September I was a bit desperate to get us going after the poor start (albeit not entirely by our own fault) and with the forwards we had it was hard to keep 6 happy battling it out for 3 spots, especially when in reality our back up midfield is not as strong as the back up forwards so I thought why don't save myself a problem and play to our strength and thankfully it worked. This upcoming window is possibly our biggest yet, the squad just isn't strong enough to compete on 4 fronts but we still need a better CB at the very least as a starter too. One main thing off the pitch that is very notable and exciting for the club.... A great tribute for a great manager, really pleased it wasn't given a generic name like Ipswich Stadium or something. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
deltablue Posted September 26, 2017 Share Posted September 26, 2017 Pleased with 2nd, and a perfectly chosen tribute name. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
kidthekid Posted September 26, 2017 Share Posted September 26, 2017 Great second season in the EPL. I have to admit, I am surprised that the formation is working so well, with the two APs in the CM slot. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dexter_Morgan Posted September 26, 2017 Author Share Posted September 26, 2017 1 hour ago, deltablue said: Pleased with 2nd, and a perfectly chosen tribute name. I am too, there's still things which I need to work on without taking away the attacking threat as the goals against needs to be reduced by at least 15/20 and in all honesty I've gone a bit stupid in other areas of the pitch again (or more truthfully one player) and on kids so I don't see much changing this year either but I did at least balance the depth of the squad a lot better this year. I'll do the signings tomorrow as still got a few friendlies to play. 13 minutes ago, kidthekid said: Great second season in the EPL. I have to admit, I am surprised that the formation is working so well, with the two APs in the CM slot. Thanks Now you mention that about the CM's due to the new signings I am considering dropping one of those in to a DM position now to offer the back 4 a bit of protection, we have Chelsea away 1st game so i'm going to get a clue pretty quickly if that is going to change things any Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dexter_Morgan Posted September 27, 2017 Author Share Posted September 27, 2017 Ipswich Town 2017/18 Transfers These three plus (Ake who I didn't bother doing a screenie as only a loan) are great additions to the squad, there's probably only Gerson who will start most weeks for now at least but i've finally got a player for every position that I feel is good enough to step in whenever there's an injury/suspension/rest needed. In Youri Tielemans case i'll probably want to play him a lot more than just rotational though because as we know he is potentially a world class midfielder but at the moment Bishop and Geoffrey Kondogbia are definitely ahead of him in big games at the very least but i'd be hoping to give Tielemans 25/30 starts depending how well our season goes. We got away without a back up to Mings last season but Cristiano Biraghi is more than good enough to give competition to him and for such a cheap price (Udinese were relegated) this was one of the easiest choices I made over the summer. Gerson coming in is obviously the big one, I nearly did this in the winter window but it meant blowing the lot of that budget so decided to hang on, even then this wouldn't have happened this summer but once Monaco came in for Sansone with that bid I managed to get £6M after 20 appearances and £6M after 10 goals plus a 20% sell on added in clauses too which basically covers Gerson's fee which was good enough for me to decide to swoop for Gerson, long term I think i've got the better deal but we'll see There's also another youth lad coming from Colombia in January that'll i'll link later and I keep meaning to post a Russian I signed 18 months ago that will arrive next year, i'll try and get that done in the next report as he really does look a player. With the ones i've signed they aren't good enough for the first team but I want to give them until Xmas so I can at least train them the way I want before I loan them out. Hawbir Kassem would have been here last year but I decided to spend the last bit of the kitty on Fischer instead as the first team was more important at that time. Pacuaru could be our future right back, he's balanced enough to be able to work on him properly to get him a natural in that role though his pace does concern me a little but at 17 he has plenty of time to get to a better level. Michal Madziala I see as Kondogbia's long term replacement if he develops well, Kondogbia is tutoring him so hopefully that helps his development. I've added Switzerland and Poland to the DB too as there doesn't seem to be signs of much decline in any big club yet though still early, so even a big club struggling in a lesser league will be a temptation later down the line. I did think about Brazil and Argentina being added to the list but in all honesty in Brazil the title swaps every year anyway and with quite a few big names it'd be hard to gauge what counts as a struggling side Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dexter_Morgan Posted September 29, 2017 Author Share Posted September 29, 2017 Ipswich Town August - November 2017/18 (2-0 CL win v Anderlecht out of shot) As you can see it has been a brilliant start by us, the player performances are really high, there's only Biraghi with an average rating under 7 which is really impressive. I'd have to check but I think our goalscoring may be slightly lower than this stage last season but i've rotated the side almost every game in fairness which makes the season so far even more impressive. Gerson and Youri Tielemans have settled in better than expected (though Gerson should have a few more goals if being critical) but I feel the performances are better than last year and the only complaint I can really have is we are still letting a few too many in but even then it's been an improvement on last year which I put down to having a DM in there now, I may change the inverted wingbacks to more natural ones next to see if that helps in that regard. For a 4th seed side I think we couldn't have asked for a better CL group, don't get me wrong Dortmund were a side I was worried about and Portuguese sides have a habit of being decent in FM, especially when the league is loaded but it could have been a lot worse and to get out of it after 4 games and maximum points after 5 was really pleasing. The good thing about getting out so quick is it means my first XI can concentrate on the league for the next few months and I have every intention of going for that over everything else as we aren't really ready to win the CL but the groups are important to do well in for both our rep and finances for now as £900k a month in loans is putting us back a bit on top of the wages we pay out now (thankfully the move to the new stadium is only 18 months or so away to help with that) Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dexter_Morgan Posted October 7, 2017 Author Share Posted October 7, 2017 Ipswich Town December - February 2017/18 Not quite the fantastic form of the first third of the season but we're still hanging in at the top and there's only the Bournemouth defeat that is counted as one we should have won though the United one was disappointing after leading twice, even a draw would have been a good result as it would have kept things in our own hands. Overall though the season has been going well so far considering this isn't what you'd exactly call a transitional season but more a rotational/come transitional one as I try and get some of the younger players in around the time of European games and easier league games, it actually seemed like our goalscoring was down on last season due to the rotating but looking now at the post I made this time last year it is almost the same (3 short of the 28th game this time last year) and it was only a late rally of high scores from March onwards last year that pushed us over the 100 goal mark so obviously my mind was playing tricks thinking this was worse in that regard I'm not convinced the title is realistic even with our position, a win at Spurs next would be a step in the right direction but a 3 game run of Man City (H) and then Liverpool and Arsenal away is probably too much to ask of our players especially with Shawcross out for the season so top 3 will be good enough I feel with a proper go at it next year. One transfer which was pre agreed and finally joined in in January is Ivan Zapata, he's nowhere near the first team this season as obviously I don't use wingers/wide midfielders so he's having a good 8 months being retrained as a LB/LWB in the hope he can eventually topple Mings in that position, I have the same problem with Bishop in some ways too now as they're both at their peak and excellent players but they're not at the very top, obviously I don't intend selling either of them as one they are homegrown and good players but i'm at the stage now where I need to either buy better or hope to produce better if we're going to compete for titles ect; on a long term basis, in fact there's a few like this (Shawcross, Smith, the 2 keepers) that need upgrading but obviously they're not part of the club in the same way as those 2 are Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dexter_Morgan Posted October 7, 2017 Author Share Posted October 7, 2017 I've only played another hour and what was already a bad fixture list courtesy of beating Chelsea in the CL has turned in to this I've saved and turned straight off as I lost to Swansea in the league being stupid with reserves after the Chelsea game (even though we battered them) and I know our limits, go for one and write the other off but even then United can still overtake us in the league thanks to that stupid Swansea game as they have one in hand Real and Atletico Madrid are the sides left in the CL so not even like a easy shot at that, head is saying go for the league as United have won the CL in this save so don't even qualify for my next club quota even if i did do them over but even then i'm dependant on 3 big league games and there's no way we'd win all 3 with the squad so thin (Gerson is out for the season now too along with Biraghi and Shawcross) so it's a chance of 3 league wins or 3 CL wins, the one thing i'd say is from a moral point of view is it's fine to win the CL if you've won your domestic title recently which I haven't done, i've been nowhere near until this season and it's our first season in Europe too so not like we're experienced there, the tactics aren't changing but faces will and it's a tough one that I may have to leave until the morning Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dexter_Morgan Posted October 8, 2017 Author Share Posted October 8, 2017 I had written the game off as soon as United went 3-2 up as we've lost all ability to defend in recent weeks and was expecting them to score again so to say i'm amazed and delighted we turned it round is probably an understatement. Just the small matter of Real Madrid in the final now, though they are 15 points behind Barca in the league so obviously not as invincible as they could be, nevertheless it's still a very tough game Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dexter_Morgan Posted October 8, 2017 Author Share Posted October 8, 2017 Ipswich Town March - May 2017/18 I'm deliberately keeping the CL final out of the first part of this post because I am clicking forward to it as I write so I can say how the season went without that game changing my thoughts in any way. In the end just before my league game against City we had been knocked to 2nd place without even kicking a ball thanks to United's earlier win which looking at my set of fixtures compared to theirs meant my mind was made up to go with my strongest side at Old Trafford in the CL rather than the City game and take it from there and with their only league defeat for the rest of the season being on the final day when already confirmed champions plus the fact we did win the United tie I have to say it was either a masterstroke by me or very lucky (it was this really ) I'd say even though a same points, wins, defeats and draw tally as last season we've made progress really this year as it's been done with a lot more rotation due to the CL run, the defence is still a worry but I do have eyes on a CB and a world class keeper on a Bosman (the CB is done though i'm hoping the keeper reduces his wage demand before I commit as nobody else has matched his demands thus far either so I am in no rush to do that as i'm sure if nobody else goes in for him then he'll be cheaper when without a club) Along with Chelsea these have been rejected, Arsenal was tempting but failed to meet the criteria with them winning the title (I had forgotten about that so good job I checked ) So now to the moment @deltablue has been waiting for Ipswich in a Champions League final........... It's not the maddest CL Final I ever seen on here (I can't remember who top of my head but there was a 6-5 only a few weeks back in a different thread) but this is certainly the craziest i've had for a long time and I think it could also be my first CL win on FM15 (I may have done it with Red Star Belgrade but other than that I know for sure I haven't) so i'm chuffed with this more than any other i've had in a long time (including Rhyl). My only slight moan is that I would have liked to have done it with a league title to my name as i'm a traditionalist in that sense but I certainly wasn't not going to try and win it. I don't think this is even close to my best set of players to ever won the CL either but this tactic just suits every single player and the front 4 working so close together really does give every side we play problems. There's no intention of leaving at the moment, i'd like to win the title first at the very least before it enters my head by own design but a move to a club that fits the criteria may tempt me before that comes to pass but there's nothing really going on around the game that is making the big sides struggle too much atm so it may even be a weaker league that pulls a shock up so to help with that both Ukraine and Russia have been added for next year. Off the field and i've improved youth coaching, recruitment and facilities as now we finally have a bit of money to spend in other areas and I want to have this club as up to shape as possible before I do actually leave Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
deltablue Posted October 8, 2017 Share Posted October 8, 2017 That is insane! Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dexter_Morgan Posted October 8, 2017 Author Share Posted October 8, 2017 Ipswich Town June - August 2018/19 It's been a busy and what I feel a productive summer for us. Jeison Murillo unwanted by Chelsea is good enough for a starting place for us, Maxym Koval is a huge upgrade in goal and Marcelo Meli is on a par with Geoffrey Kondogbia (who is still our best midfielder) so i'm hopeful that even with rotation now the squad is in a much better place to challenge for the title. Sime Vrsaljko is obviously well known and quality back up for Pizarro and to get him so cheap when Besic our previous back up went for 3 times more is a cracking bit of business, similarly Pacheco going for not much less than we paid for Koval was a good deal and even though Scuffet and Rulli were first choices for number 1 this was probably the best realistic target we could get at a reasonable price. Andrey Nikulin is a player i've waited 3 years to join, he's developed so well already that even though he's being retrained to play as a striker that he's going in to the 1st team squad straight away. The rest i've had my eyes on for a while but not had the resources to get, I am actually surprised that I got them before anyone came in considering the way the scouts rated them Too early to tell but the signs are good that the defence is tightening hopefully by the end of October I will have a better idea and see if it needs any more improvement Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dexter_Morgan Posted October 8, 2017 Author Share Posted October 8, 2017 6 hours ago, deltablue said: That is insane! Knew you'd be happy Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
MarcxD Posted October 8, 2017 Share Posted October 8, 2017 Congratulations on winning the CL.... amazing, and what a final as well! Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dexter_Morgan Posted October 9, 2017 Author Share Posted October 9, 2017 Ipswich Town September - October 2018/19 What was looking like a straightforward start to the season just took a sharp change out of nowhere, we went in to the Liverpool game in great form and out of nowhere took a real hiding, the Feyenoord game was as much of a shock as we are clearly miles better then them and to top it off a 94th minute equaliser by Roma has us struggling to get out of our CL group and I just have no answer for it so I can't even be mad about it I can't even blame reserves as they were all the strongest line ups too so i'm just hoping it's one of those blips you get through the season and not a case of us thinking we're there now. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dexter_Morgan Posted October 9, 2017 Author Share Posted October 9, 2017 12 hours ago, MarcxD said: Congratulations on winning the CL.... amazing, and what a final as well! Cheers mate, I did think we had a chance against Real as they weren't particularly high scorers in La Liga but their defence is excellent so a high scoring game like that was the last thing I expected Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
deltablue Posted October 9, 2017 Share Posted October 9, 2017 Nice tight CL group Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dexter_Morgan Posted October 9, 2017 Author Share Posted October 9, 2017 Ipswich Town November - December 2018/19 Hopefully after a tricky spell we've started to get back on track, having a big run of wins again is always confidence building especially as it seems the goals are flowing again along with this return to form. Playing in the CWC means the home game against United is moved to mid January and with their form we really can't afford to lose to them as they just match us stride for stride each week If we do lose that game then I think it's over already, it would be nice to leave Portman Road as champions but United are so good that it wouldn't be a disgrace not to win it as we're only in our 4th season in the division so still new to challenging for big prizes, I would hope we'd win it by the end of next season though as that's probably the time i'd be looking to leave as we'd have moved in the Bobby Robson stadium which is something I knew from the second it was announced was something i'd love to oversee as the club starts a big new chapter in it's history 3 hours ago, deltablue said: Nice tight CL group Yeah it was, i'm glad in a way it was like that as all too often the group stages are boring. We have PSG in the next knockout which is a tricky one too especially with Arsenal and PSG either side of the first leg (sound familiar? ) Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
kidthekid Posted October 9, 2017 Share Posted October 9, 2017 mental final. Great work Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dexter_Morgan Posted October 9, 2017 Author Share Posted October 9, 2017 Ipswich Town January - February 2018/19 I wouldn't say we've been brilliant but with such a heavy fixture list and losing Youri Tielemans until April time I think we've done reasonably well to be where we are at the moment, some games have been a struggle to keep the midfield fit so it's been a case of pick 2 and substitute one at half time to try and reduce fatigue, thankfully the March and April league games aren't as tough so i'll be able to start giving Nick Powell a run again as he's back from his own injury (he's been quite a handy squad man over the last few years surprisingly). Things were nearly a lot worse as I initially accepted a £40M+ clauses deal from Man Utd for Bishop but after discovering Valencia wouldn't accept less than the 50M clause for Marco Asensio I cancelled it due to being £10M short, though for that extra £10M I would have had the better deal and may look back in to that in the summer. A Chelsea bid for Paul Smith came in for £9M and tbh i'd hardly played him all season as he's been a disaster against anyone decent (I was forced to play him in pretty much every bad defencive showing the side has had up until the point he left) so I took it, obviously not wanting to leave myself too short as the 2 U21's I have aren't quite ready I paid £19M for Jesús Vallejo who just needs to stay fit as I think he'll be a good long term CB for us March starts with us playing the league cup final against Arsenal which i'm taking seriously as it'll be the first trip to Wembley under my reign though with a 6th round FA cup game at home to Leeds i'd be hoping we're back in April for a semi final. 1 hour ago, kidthekid said: mental final. Great work Thanks a lot, it was unbelievable watching it as were real underdogs even if they didn't have the best of seasons Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dexter_Morgan Posted October 10, 2017 Author Share Posted October 10, 2017 Ipswich Town March - April 2018/19 As Alex Ferguson once said "it's squeaky bum time" and 3 of our next 4 games are against his former side as we're about to see exactly where our season is headed. This time last year I was talking about going for one or the other but I believe even though nowhere near perfect this squad is a lot better equipped than back then so while there may be a few changes it won't be as drastic as back then. The first game is a league fixture on the Saturday at Old Trafford and quickly back there a few days later for the CL semi final. I may review the lineup for the league game against Spurs before the 2nd leg but that depends on the situation at the time. Apart from Villa at home our league form has been really good recently, we're not really battering anybody but at this point I don't care as long as the points are coming. The Southampton cup game was a disappointment as we were 2-0 up at one stage but it's done and in all honesty winning everything was always going to be too much to ask of us anyway in a country like this Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dexter_Morgan Posted October 10, 2017 Author Share Posted October 10, 2017 Ipswich Town April - May 2018/19 I've done the same as last season end where I started the post before the last game, well last 2 actually as I go in to the final day against Fulham with the title technically out of my hands as ourselves and United have level points but they have a much better goal difference (+66 to my +55) and they are away to Wolves who are near the bottom so I think just like last year it's better to say how the season went a game or 2 early as I do believe it can be clouded for better or worse if you do it after a close situation like this, tbh it's more about the league though, a cup final is a one off and we've done well making it back and we've certainly had a harder run in this year to get this far so whatever happens there we've done well. No matter what happens we've obviously done better than last season in the league as we've got to the final day with a chance still and we will end up with at least 6 more points than the 2 previous seasons tally of 81 (twice) so there is improvement in that way, there's also the fact that unless we get a 20+ goal hiding we've sorted that side of the game out considerably with the new signings so that's a bonus but somehow our attack is lacking and I haven't actually changed a single thing apart from new players come in, i'm hoping as seems to be the case new signings take a year to settle in and our attack will get back to the way it was because this could be the thing that loses us the title. I think I made a big mistake with Zapata trying to convert him to LB too and though I haven't ruined him his tackling and positioning are not improving enough to suggest he's a long term replacement for Mings, a lot of the stupid games we had was where he was starting and looking back I should have done what I did with Andrey Nikulin and if any retraining it should have been AMC/CF but he developed quite a lot from when I signed him to when when he joined and me being stubborn I stuck to the plan even though I probably knew it was too late to do so with him So I think Enis Pacuraru being promoted from the u21's to be back up at right back and move Sime Vrsaljko to back up left back for the time being is the natural progression to sort this out and cash in on the interest in Zapata which will be at least 10 times the £575k I paid so not too bad financially, i've also just looked and realised i've gone on a long time about a back up LB but where I think it didn't work out it's probably cost me the league with my faith so obviously it is important to me Even if we fail in the next 2 games I think there's signs of getting better everywhere else but Youri Tielemans makes this team beat though so we do need a back up better than Bishop for him in case he has another 3 monther. I don't think i've ever had a CM as good as him week in week out on FM since a Scottish regen I had for Fulham on FM 09. On to the final 2 games then.... We did our part against Fulham in the last game at Portman Road but did it mean we ended with just a victory and a 3rd consecutive 2nd place or was it any more? United surprisingly slumped at Wolves which gave us the title I don't think I even enjoyed going 2-0 up because knowing some of the teams United had pushed aside (4-0 away at both Arsenal and Chelsea) plus the high scoring games against us they are a dangerous side but thankfully I needn't have worried as we claimed our first title since 1962 as we head on our way to the Bobby Robson Stadium. United were so good it's hard to say who deserved it, I was happy with the fight we put up all the way this time and there'd have been no anger as such if we did finish 2nd as I appreciated United's quality, just as I do begrudgingly with Liverpool as the Champions League final 13 days later meant we had no time to party. Liverpool have been a real thorn in our side recently so I did something I never take notice of and actually look at their weaknesses, I know I should more often but I believe in my way usually but they've just cut us open so much I did change from the 4-2-4 to a 4-2-3-1 and it just stifled them completely, maybe 2 chances I was worried through the whole game but the rest just seemed easy, the possession and shots stats actually surprised me at the end as it didn't feel that way to me. So with 2 CL's, a league, a league cup and CWC to our name obviously I have to think my job is done now but there hasn't been many sides that need a big rebuild and fits the criteria of either a relegation or no trophy within the previous 5 seasons which means there's not much scope for me to leave but after the Serie A season there is certainly potential for a move now... Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
kidthekid Posted October 10, 2017 Share Posted October 10, 2017 Awesome work Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
deltablue Posted October 11, 2017 Share Posted October 11, 2017 Arise Sir Dexter Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dexter_Morgan Posted October 14, 2017 Author Share Posted October 14, 2017 Ipswich Town June - September 2019/20 It wasn't a busy window as I really couldn't find much that would improve us, Asensio was on the radar in the winter but as I said finances stopped that going through though in some ways that wasn't a bad thing as it cost £10M less than Valencia wanted 6 months or so earlier. Zapata got an injury that seen him out until September so that stopped any hope of offloading him until then. As I had planned Etienne and Pacuraru both got promoted to the senior squad to boost the numbers United apart it's been a good start to the season, too often we've lost to Liverpool and United in the past and I combatted the Liverpool problem in the CL by changing to a 4-3-3 winger formation as a 1 off, it kind of goes against what I want to do but I think it'll be used the next time we play United too as for whatever reason it doesn't matter how many chances we have both teams rarely lose against us (the end of season stretch of 3 games against United is our best sequence to date and even then they scored a fair few goals against us in those games) Monaco and Wacker Innsbruck are our other CL group opponents alongside Schalke Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dexter_Morgan Posted October 14, 2017 Author Share Posted October 14, 2017 On 10/10/2017 at 23:58, kidthekid said: Awesome work On 11/10/2017 at 12:40, deltablue said: Arise Sir Dexter Cheers lads, hopefully I can have one more good season before I look to move on, I probably would have done it in the summer if it wasn't for the stadium move and the only club fitting with the save being AC Milan which I have ruled myself out unless they ever go down so as not to make it too similar to your version of this delta Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dexter_Morgan Posted October 16, 2017 Author Share Posted October 16, 2017 Ipswich Town October - December 2019/20 It's been without a doubt our best start to a season, the United game being the only blip and the only real concern is I can't decide our combination in midfield so I have been changing them every game to give them equal time, if it wasn't for the fact i'm leaving at the end of the season i'd look at changing to 4-3-3 on a permanent basis but that would mean bringing at least 1 new face in for cover/rotation and I decided apart from Asensio I would leave any money left over for the new manager as I expect an exodus and I always try and leave a club in a healthy position if I know i'm leaving and there's potential for things like that happening. As I said, I can't really complain about too much that has happened so far, I do kind of wish that Spurs would have knocked us out of the League Cup if being really picky as that means 2 games have been rearranged on top of the game we have in hand already as we play City in the semi. One hope I have for the rest of the season is i'd like to get the FA Cup as it's eluded me so far it'd be a shame not to have that to my name with the club but I guess the league and CL's does make it easier to live without it Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dexter_Morgan Posted October 17, 2017 Author Share Posted October 17, 2017 Ipswich Town January - February 2019/20 A decent enough 2 months though losing to United in the cup was one result I wish I could have changed as I was desperate to leave with that to our name, I guess on the plus side it's a reason to come back at some point It's never good to lose but the Arsenal game is one of those you know it can happen and to be fair we deserved a point out of that but it's the Villa game that bothered me most straight after as we were 3-0 up and threw the points away. We have 3 games in hand but even if we win them all it would only put us 3 points clear, thankfully at this stage it's Spurs we're playing catch up to and not United and whilst i'm not claiming Spurs will be easy to brush off after a few years of fighting with United I know how hard it is to keep up with them. Speaking of United when I load up next we play them in the league cup final, to be honest i'll be glad to get this season over with so I'll only have to play them twice a year at most then Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dexter_Morgan Posted October 21, 2017 Author Share Posted October 21, 2017 Ipswich Town March - May 2019/20 That was arguably our best season yet, certainly in terms of performances it was, we scored a record amount of goals, conceded our fewest (which probably pleased me more than scoring more given the amount of stupid goals we've shipped over the years ) and in general it was good to watch us play play well and create lots of chances. After losing 4-2 at Old Trafford in the CL I honestly thought we were out of the competition, United seemed to have the upper hand on us much like Liverpool have been doing recently so for the second leg I reverted to what I call my "Liverpool tactic" as it was previously the only time i'd ever changed formation and it worked like a charm, we kept them quiet and even though it took until the 74th minute to break them down from half time onwards I had genuine belief we'd somehow get through, that's how well we played in that game and it was probably my favourite game of the whole career so far given what happened in the 1st leg. The rest of the run to claim our 3rd CL was relatively simple bar an early scare in the final (one where first choice keeper Koval got injured on the day of the game I will add). I thought for about 10 minutes over my decision to leave the club especially as I have said in previous posts the FA cup is something I really wanted and the way this season panned out I had been having doubts from January onwards because even though we'd been winning stuff this side was getting close to it's peak, I could see that in the games with stupid mistakes being cut out and I was really enjoying the season but in the end I remembered that this save isn't just about me cleaning up everything in sight and Ipswich certainly don't need rescuing given the fact we've been the best in Europe 3 years in a row too so I hit the button and i'm ready to have a new challenge. I did do one little thing before I left as I want this club to carry on being as successful as possible (apart from if our paths ever cross again of course) only an extra 7k or so but the 10K increase with the new stadium has brought in over £40M more than we had at this stage last year so this will probably mean an extra £35M or so on top of that per year and even more once the loans for the stadium are paid off. I must say being a United fan I wasn't happy with my replacement though As luck will have it (even though they aren't available yet) this year has seen Hamburg, Slavia Prague, Grasshoppers, Montpellier, Aberdeen and Genoa relegated also Fenerbache were a last day loss away from joining them so there's hope one of these don't settle in their new divisions and a job comes up as i'll go for any of these but the Genoa job and a chance to play 3-4-3 would be my first choice. If the CL final was a week earlier then I would have gone for the Bologna job as they've been stuck in Serie C for 2 seasons now and though they've never been a giant they've been a part of Serie A fairly often so i'd say that's enough to qualify them for this challenge. I've already turned down Chelsea (they qualified for the challenge) because I want a break from England and Monaco who were just about eligible but I don't think "only" finishing 2nd-4th each year is a disaster considering PSG are favourites every year, a mid table finish or lower and i'd have probably took it. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dexter_Morgan Posted October 21, 2017 Author Share Posted October 21, 2017 I forgot to mention in Scotland neither of the Old firm have been dominant, Rangers have been no higher than 4th and Dundee Utd had won 2 in a row until Hearts pipped them by a point this year, considering it's renowned as a poor mans La Liga it's refreshing to see the AI has brought a bit of fight north of the border and if that Aberdeen job comes up then it'd be tempting knowing i've more than 2 clubs to worry about. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
deltablue Posted October 21, 2017 Share Posted October 21, 2017 Is it possible for you to be 'guest manager' tomorrow? Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
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