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FM18: The English Football League Thread - EFL in FM18


Jogo Bonito

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4 minutes ago, smplfc123 said:

Totally understand where you are coming from and If this save does go wrong, i'll look at maybe changing it for my next save.

Understood in turn. But the game is hard enough as it is without handicapping yourself unnecessarily. 

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Great win over Norwich, well done. I've always admired your insistence on taking a low level rep, but as I've said before, it would be a shame to waste a good opportunity just because of rep issues. Anyway, it looks like you've turned a corner so I don't need to say I agree with @warlock even if I do :lol:

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@robterrace Shame you had to lose Marques, but what a good price. Same with Valente. What is your transfer budget looking like now ? Looking good for promotion, hopefully Ardiles can replace the goals of Marques. 

 

@karanhsingh Those players have seriously come on. Nyambe looks superb.

 

@smplfc123 Solid start with Ipswich. Look forward to seeing how the young players develop. Definitely one of the toughest challenges in the championship in my opinion. 

Edit: Seems I was a page behind. Good to see the you are on a good run @smplfc123.  @warlock That is a really good start with. As i said above, definitely one of the toughest challenges so to be top is very impressive. Good to see Grant Ward doing so well. I had high hopes for him at Tottenham when he was with us, especially after some good loan spells. 

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7 minutes ago, sammo10 said:

@robterrace Shame you had to lose Marques, but what a good price. Same with Valente. What is your transfer budget looking like now ? Looking good for promotion, hopefully Ardiles can replace the goals of Marques. 

Transfer budget is OK, think it went to about £15m after Marques went.. As for Ardiles, heres a screenshot from March for you.. 

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1 hour ago, sammo10 said:

Good to see Grant Ward doing so well. I had high hopes for him at Tottenham when he was with us, especially after some good loan spells. 

Ward's performances are probably the key to our position. Not surprisingly, just ahead of the January window Premiership teams are sniffing around. I'll be really upset if I lose him!

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Picture this : we are 1-0 up against Chelsea, a very very hard fought game, scored in the 82nd minute. I then go ultra defensive, play two DMs, have told my players to play totally safe and waste time when possible. 

We have the ball on the counter and my centre back Webster for some reason starts lugging forward and overlaps my CM. He then gets the ball passed to him on the left flank and he can easily run it into the corner. Instead he loops a cross over with his weaker foot which the keeper catches. 

10 seconds later from a direct counter attack the ball is in my net. Final score 1-1. Lovely 

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6 minutes ago, karanhsingh said:

Picture this : we are 1-0 up against Chelsea, a very very hard fought game, scored in the 82nd minute. I then go ultra defensive, play two DMs, have told my players to play totally safe and waste time when possible. 

We have the ball on the counter and my centre back Webster for some reason starts lugging forward and overlaps my CM. He then gets the ball passed to him on the left flank and he can easily run it into the corner. Instead he loops a cross over with his weaker foot which the keeper catches. 

10 seconds later from a direct counter attack the ball is in my net. Final score 1-1. Lovely 

That actually happens quite often to me as well! Not that they always score, but my players take huge risks when on contain, even though it seems obvious that keeping a hold of the ball and wasting time is the way to go. Very frustrating, and I haven't found a way to counter it yet. Might be down to some of my tactical settings, I guess. Just not sure which one...

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3 minutes ago, Adzke said:

That actually happens quite often to me as well! Not that they always score, but my players take huge risks when on contain, even though it seems obvious that keeping a hold of the ball and wasting time is the way to go. Very frustrating, and I haven't found a way to counter it yet. Might be down to some of my tactical settings, I guess. Just not sure which one...

Yes exactly, this is the first time in recent memory it actually cost me. 

Put them on play safe, waste time, slow tempo and mixed passing. Not sure what else could be done! 

I have never actually seen anyone “wasting time” on FM. 

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1 hour ago, robterrace said:

Transfer budget is OK, think it went to about £15m after Marques went.. As for Ardiles, heres a screenshot from March for you.. 

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He looks good! You should probably get him to work on his technique. 

Are you using a face pack for regens as well? Yours look much better than mine :lol:

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7 hours ago, karanhsingh said:

Also to the guys playing Ipswich - Nydam seems to be developing well in my game. Probably has good potential ability. 

He certainly does - I've been playing him regularly and he hasn't let me down. My coaches rate him as a potential 4.5* prospect and I'm inclined to agree.

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Here we go guys.. :D

 

 

At the start of the season, some wise people made Doncaster Rovers 3rd favourites for promotion from the division. By the time Christmas and the January transfer window ticked around, I'm sure that we would have been favourites.

 

About halfway through February, we'd had 3 draws on the trot, and QPR had drawn level with points with us. A home draw with Manchester United in the 5th Round of the FA Cup seemed to wake us up though, and 3 days after the draw, we pulled out what can only be described as a fantastic victory against West Brom, putting the visitors to the sword with 4 goals in 20 first half minutes as part of a 6-3 win.  

 

For some reason, the defence was somewhat rocky in the second half of the season, probably due to the departure of Valente, who had done an excellent job shielding the back 4, whilst being the 'step off' point for counter attacks and the like. 

 

A 4-0 defeat at Old Trafford summed this up, as despite dominating the possession, our Premier League hosts ran away with the match, with goals from Andre Silva, Gelson Martins, Romelu Lukaku, and a Ruben Vinagre own goal.

 

The more surprising thing about the cup fixture, was the return from injury, some 3 weeks earlier than expected, of club captain, Miguel Luis. The Portuguese midfielder had been the biggest cheerleader for the club during his injury, constantly dealing with issues his teammates brought to light, and finding time to encourage them when things got tough.  His entry from the bench with 20 minutes left at Old Trafford was the highlight of a poor day.

 

With no more cup competitions to worry about, the day we had been building towards came on the 2nd April, with a 3-2 victory against Derby County. Bursting into a 3-0 lead in front of a capacity crowd at the Keepmoat, thoughts went on to other things in the 2nd half, as Derby scored 2 goals to keep us honest. However, once full time came, we could celebrate the unlikely promotion to the Premier League that had come to light, and also, start looking at where we needed to strengthen for the next campaign.

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The biggest shock of all, was the board giving us a budget with which to be competitive next season. It wasn't going to be our thing to go up and run through the division like we had done in the Championship, we needed to go up, build with the next level of player, and then, a few years down the line, hope that the youth recruitment that we had done in recent months would pay off, and have players ready to step in.

 

With the departure of a couple of loan players at the end of the season imminent, and the feeling that some of the incumbents weren't up to it, the first player to sign on the dotted line was an attacking one.

 

Timothy Weah, an American international, had been playing in France for PSG. The son of legendary AC Milan striker George Weah, he had grown up in the US, before moving to France and into the setup at the Stade Municipal. In the past couple of seasons, he had played at Hamilton in Scotland, and at Mechelen in Belguim. Despite his diminutive stature, he was technically brilliant, excellent with the ball at his feet, and very direct, the sort of player that would fit in well in the Premier League.

He was on the transfer list, and despite his initial valuation of £9m that came up in the scouting reports, a fee nearer to £4m was agreed, and he signed a 4 year deal to move to Doncaster.

 

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We didn't have long to wait to secure the title. Following a 2-2 draw, away at Watford, where we could have secured it, a Friday night fixture against Nottingham Forest (who had shot up the league since Jason Tindall had arrived) presented the opportunity. 

 

Everything was secured within the first 10 minutes, as first Carlos Ardiles, and then Vittorio Parigini scored, which meant that the capacity crowd could celebrate in front of the TV cameras. With 3 games left after this one, it went further than I wanted, but, winning the title meant that we could relax a bit.

 

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With the title secured, recruitment moved into overdrive, with 5 players agreeing to move to the club within the days afterwards.

 

The first signing, is one, despite his declining attributes, and his age, I feel will provide a great deal of support and tutoring to the younger strikers at the club. 

 

A striker who was willing once the offer for him was accepted, to say he'd come to the club as a backup. He'd scored over 250 goals in his career, including nearly 150 in the Premier League at nearly a goal every 130 minutes. He'd found his opportunities limited at his club, and decided to leave. 

 

Making the move across the Pennines, was Manchester City legend, Sergio 'Kun' Aguero.

 

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We also looked for a more defensive minded left full back, as Ruben Vinagre, despite offering a great deal going forward, wasn't fantastic defensively, and a lot of goals conceded, had come from our left wing.

 

Once again, we went into Europe to shop, and found a full back who was coming to the end of his contract at Dortmund, who could offer everything going forwards that Vinagre could, but was also more secure defensively. At the time he agreed to come, he was injured and had missed a large amount of time at Signal Iduna Park this season, but, he would fit into the setup perfectly.

 

Niklas Beste had been an U21 international for Germany, and, over the last 5 seasons, had racked up nearly 150 appearances for Dortmund II and Kaiserslauten, and would come on a free transfer.

 

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The next signing was one to cover Luis and Henriques in midfield, as I had doubts about the long term sustainability of our captain, following his knee injury.

 

Again, Germany was the location from where the player came, however, the French 23 year old had been transfer listed at HSV, and was available for less than half of what his value should be. 

 

A hard working, mobile midfielder, Matteo Guendouzi had endured a bit of a poor time since moving to Germany from Lorient, and, unable to break into the side, had asked to leave.

 

A fee of £2.9m, with another £1m payable upon the club remaining in the Premier League was agreed, and he would move on June 9th.

 

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The next two signings were ones for the future, with one, a goalkeeper, being reported as becoming the best keeper at the club in no time.

A big shot stopper, in the Kasper Schmeichel mould, 19 year old Joao Rodrigues had made 30 appearances for CD Nacional, and would move to Doncaster for £275k on a 4 year deal, which would see him initially back up Daniel Bentley (unless a better first choice was found).

 

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Also coming over, this time from Northern Portugal, was young striker Carlos Cunha.

 

At 17 years old, he would be one for the future, but he was similar in a lot of ways to our former striker, Pedro Marques. At £500k, he wasn't going to be entirely riskless, but, given a few seasons to develop, and some time on loan, hopefully, he could have the same impact as his compatriot.

 

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Back to the football...

 

After the title was secured, a few fringe players were given opportunities to impress, which led to defeats at Ewood Park against Blackburn, and in the last game of the season at QPR. 

 

In the last home game of the season, we signed off in style, with Carlos Ardiles hitting a hat-trick, and Willem Geubbels the other goal, in a 4-1 victory against Birmingham.

 

Since joining in January, the Spanish striker had scored 14 goals in 16 league games, which was supplemented by Geubbels with 10 in 17, and Rafael Leao with 21 in 36 (with 15 assists).

 

Topping the clubs scoring charts this season, and signing a new 4 year contract, was Vittorio Parigini. The 26 year old Italian had been a revelation on the right wing, scoring 21 league goals (25 in total), and providing 20 assists for his team mates, in 43 games. He wasn't near the top of the scoring charts, but, when the team scored 117 goals, with him being responsible in one way or another for nearly a third of them, he more than proved his worth.

 

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@robterrace Congratulations on a great job getting Rovers promoted and for creating history with the first ever Premier League moat! Incredible to think that Aguero is there, how old would he be now? I'm liking the name Ardiles playing an important role too.

19 hours ago, karanhsingh said:

Picture this : we are 1-0 up against Chelsea, a very very hard fought game, scored in the 82nd minute. I then go ultra defensive, play two DMs, have told my players to play totally safe and waste time when possible. 

We have the ball on the counter and my centre back Webster for some reason starts lugging forward and overlaps my CM. He then gets the ball passed to him on the left flank and he can easily run it into the corner. Instead he loops a cross over with his weaker foot which the keeper catches. 

10 seconds later from a direct counter attack the ball is in my net. Final score 1-1. Lovely 

Painful! I get this too when trying to close games out. Usually I concede when play continues with the defensive changes pending though, very frustrating indeed!

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13 minutes ago, Jogo Bonito said:

@robterrace Congratulations on a great job getting Rovers promoted and for creating history with the first ever Premier League moat! Incredible to think that Aguero is there, how old would he be now? I'm liking the name Ardiles playing an important role too.

Kun is 33 years old at this time, will be looking at him to tutor Ardiles, or maybe even the Serbian thats coming in. He'll give me a bit of experience and composure up front.

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After the enjoyment of the promotion, and league win, work needed to continue to improve the club, and the squad for the next season.

 

This was made easier, with the board announcing that the Keepmoat would be getting undersoil heating installed, as well as the club moving to a Category 1 Youth Academy setup, which would greatly aid us in bringing the youth talent through.

 

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Another young goalkeeper was targeted as well, with the giant Arsenal U19 goalkeeper David Brown moving for £600k. Like Rodrigues, he had the potential to be a fantastic shotstopper in the future, but needed to work on his distribution and communication. Unfortunately, the arrivals of Brown and Rodrigues would mean that Tomas Pombo would find his chances at a premium, and would probably have another season on loan.

 

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Away from the Keepmoat and Cantley Park, Manchester United once more won the Premier League, as well as securing the double with a victory over Liverpool in the FA Cup Final. Swansea, Fulham and Sunderland were relegated.

 

In the Championship, QPR finished 2nd behind ourselves, and Nottingham Forest, who sat in the bottom half of the table when Jason TIndall arrived from Bournemouth, secured promotion in the Playoff Final with Rodel Richards and Pawel Cibicki scoring the goals to see Reading off. Huddersfield, Colchester and Preston were relegated, with Preston conceding 104 goals in the season. 

 

Hull and Bradford City secured automatic promotion from League One, with Exeter City clinging on their coattails and winning the playoff final. Southend, Mansfield, Northampton and Gillingham suffered relegation.

 

In League Two, Kevin Nolans Notts County secured the title by 7 points from Swindon, with Port Vale very close behind. Leyton Orient continued their recovery after their trip to the Conference by winning the playoff final against Yeovil. At the other end, Tranmere and Scunthorpe were relegated to the Conference, with AFC Fylde and Boston United replacing them, with the latter defeating Morecambe in the final, which would have made it a very good season for the Northwest.

 

Leicester picked up the Carabao Cup at Wembley, defeating Sunderland 2-0 in the final, whilst Arsenals U23 side secured the Checkatrade Trophy on penalties against Rotherham.

 

Real Madrid were successful in their defence of the Champions League, with extra time goals from Sergio Ramos and Theo Hernández were more than enough to see off a Paulo Dybala inspired Manchester City side, despite spending most of the extra period down to 10 men following Dani Carvajal red card.

 

Valencia made it a good year for Spanish clubs in Europe, winning the Europa League following a 2-0 victory over HSV in Salzburg.

 


 

Lastly, with it being a World Cup year, the tournament being moved from the UAE to Australia, there was no home nation representation, with England losing out in the qualifying group to France, Scotland to Portugal, and Wales finishing 4th in the Scotland group. None of the teams were close to picking up a 'Best 2nd Place' qualification, as the Netherlands, Denmark and Serbia picked those up.


 

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Some recent results from my game - 

We somehow make it 2 wins at the Etihad in as many months, and satisfyingly both have been typical smash and grab style :D Helps that I hate the club with a passion IRL

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We then FINALLY get one over local rivals Burnley, who humiliated us 4-0 last year and we are still winless against in the league too. This was very pleasing!233482717_BurnleyvBlackburnRovers_MatchReview-3.thumb.png.1eb52ca91d33c314c620e62daa95abfa.png

And then finally, we had this crazy mad game which has broken our record (and probably the PL as well) for highest number of goals in a game!

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Will post up a mid-season update soon. 

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Just now, karanhsingh said:

@robterrace - love what you are doing at the club! Can you post a screenshot of Weah? Also have the board expanded your stadium or still at the same capacity?

Still at the same capacity, just over 15000.

Heres Weah,

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As well as a bonus...

 

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Really up and down with the form at the moment. Coming towards the end of November and we are sitting in 17th.

Hoping to stick this season out and then start to re-structure the team the way I want it, with the youngsters being the base to build on and around.

How are you getting on @warlock?

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30 minutes ago, smplfc123 said:

Hoping to stick this season out and then start to re-structure the team the way I want it, with the youngsters being the base to build on and around.

 

Thats the way my save will be going within the next couple of seasons. Get safe in the Prem, then unleash the youngsters.

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Peterborough Season 17/18 Mid-Season review 

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League Table

We currently sit 3rd in the league behind the two favourites Wigan and Blackburn. We have been in the top 2 for the majority of the season but an inconsistent January has seen us drop out of the automatic places. It's a ridiculously tight league and one defeat could see us drop out of the play off places and that is how it has been all year. Impossible to call how the league will look at the end of the season, except the inevitably of Blackburn picking up the title. 

 

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Results

We have had some very pleasing results in the league. Wins against the top 2 the standouts. Unfortunately we went out fairly early in all of the cups. I took all 3 fairly seriously and was gutted to go out the FA Cup to Hull as I was really keen on a big draw. 

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Squad 

Goalkeeper: Jon Bond has been comfortably number one and has only missed a couple of games. Connor O'Mally put in some promising performances when filling in. 

Defence: Leon Davies has already racked up 19 appearances, despite just turning 19 and had overtaken Liam Shepard by the time January come around. Now with Lenihan on board, he will offer some better competition but has some work to do to win the shirt back off of Leon. The three centre halves, Taylor, Tafazolli and Baldwin have all been solid. I've felt comfortable when having to rest one and can't really decide between any of them as to who the main pairing should be. That shows with the fact they have all played roughly 23 games. Hughes was my only left back up until January before we added some depth on loan. He has been reliable and I am desperately trying to secure an extension on his contract that is up in the summer. 

Midfield: Charlie Colkett has been our best player this year. I had doubts if he'd fit into the two man midfield, but I swapped the role from a box-to-box to DLP and he just runs games. Jermaine Anderson has been in and out but has done OK when filling in. The ball winner role next to Charlie has been mainly filled by Michael Doughty, he's not really comfortable in that role which is why Lapsile has come in, as a more natural ball winning midfield. Gwion Edwards and Michael Duffy has been fighting each other for the right hand slot. Both with strong goal and assist stats. Happy Duffy settle into English football nicely and if ever had to sell Edwards, I'd have no issue promoting him to be the main man on that side. On the left Marcus Maddison is comfortably in control of that shirt... However... He is now desperate to leave the club. He wants to play in the Championship. Unfortunately for him he tore his knee ligaments the day the January window opened. That meant I was unable to get any money in to replace him, but it does mean I have 6 months to scout the right man to come in. It also gives young George Cooper the chance to stake his claim. 

Strikers: The strongest area of the squad. Omar Bogle to top scorer at the club with 17, Jack Marriot has got 13 goals and 13 assists and the surprise performer Junior Morias has a very impressive 13 goals, most from the bench. He looks an exciting prospect and has given me some real selection headaches. Akinde has proved useful as well. Nice to have a different option and has scored some really key goals, including a brace in a 2-0 win. We could quite easily finish the season with 3 players hitting 20 goals. 

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Transfers 

Quite a few changes in the January window: 

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Out - 

Chris Forrester - He was getting very few games and our second highes paid player on £5K a week. That was money that could cover Charlie Colkett's wages, so after offering out with no success I let him leave on a free. 

Leo Da Silva-Lopes - This one shocked me. He was in and out of the side, but definitely not guaranteed a start. When he kicked up a fuss about a new contract I noticed he was wanted by about 10-12 premier league clubs. I offered him out without a specific asking price and was pleasantly surprised to see multiple bids of £2m plus come in. Double the release clause he wanted in the contract I would not offer him. I negotiated them all with different clauses to each club. The two negotiations that were agreed on were a £4m upfront offer from Southampton and the £3.1m bid from Burnley. That also included a 40% sell on of the full transfer fee if they sell him. I accepted both and let him decided. It was the Burnley one he accepted. I know he is a talented youngster but I did not expect anywhere near this amount for him. If he is better than I am giving him credit for then I should reap the rewards anyway as I should receive a nice fee if a bigger club comes in. We recieved abou £1.1m of this to spend on the squad and I've signed what I hope will be my first choice CM combination with it. 

Liam Shephard - He didn't really impress at RB and when you lose your spot to a 17 year old from league 2, you probably aren't cut out for this level. Took what I could get and replaced. 

Danny Lloyd - Never impressed when played and wanted him off the wage bill. 

 

In - 

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Tom Lapslie (£475k) - This one is a bit of a gamble as we paid out a fair amount. We were lacking a natural ball winner to go next to Colkett though and Lapslie is a natural in the role and has some strong attributes in key areas. 13 in tackling and marking alongside some great physicals such as 18 work rate, 19 determination and 15 in teamwork in bravery. Looks like a warrior. 

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Charlie Colkett (£375k) -  I activated the loan release clause as soon as the Leo deal was finalised. A stand out performer for us with unrivalled technical ability. 

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Myles Kenlock (Loan) -  We needed cover for Hughes who was our only left back until January. He looks promising and will hopefully provide some competition. 

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Brian Lenihan (105k) - After selling Shepard and only have young Leon Richards at right back we needed to get someone in. I think this an absolute bargain. Very good attributes attacking and defensively. Should get better as well for a very small fee. Also helps with the 'Sign players from Chairman's country' philosophy that Darragh MacAnthony has given me. 

 

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1 hour ago, smplfc123 said:

Really up and down with the form at the moment. Coming towards the end of November and we are sitting in 17th.

Hoping to stick this season out and then start to re-structure the team the way I want it, with the youngsters being the base to build on and around.

How are you getting on @warlock?

Hang in there mate, survive this season and slowly start to implement your changes. This should get easier as contracts expire, when you can get your own loan choices etc. And also, don't forget, it's Ipswich and they can tread water at that level for a few seasons without any likely complaints from the board.

@sammo10 That's a great update. I'd taken young Davies from Cambridge in another save, he looks very well rated in FM18 for his age. I've also taken Akinde as he's always been a player I wanted to manage. These two were in L2 though, you're brave to take them up to L1. I hope the money you spent on your midfielders proves to be good value, that's quite a bit of money at that level despite the Leo sale.

I'd struggled to get Hughes or the other defenders playing well for me, but Leo & Gwion were mainstays of my team, along with Anderson, Forrester, Maddison. The best of the originals for me were comfortably Marriott and Edwards. Best of luck for the rest of the season.

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@sammo10 - nice update and good luck with the rest of the season. Hope you can get automatic promotion. Marriott is currently holding his own in the premiership for me as well so not surprised to see him doing well for you too. Sucks that you only got a third of the money from the sale to reinvest though. 

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1 hour ago, Jogo Bonito said:

Hang in there mate, survive this season and slowly start to implement your changes. This should get easier as contracts expire, when you can get your own loan choices etc. And also, don't forget, it's Ipswich and they can tread water at that level for a few seasons without any likely complaints from the board.

@sammo10 That's a great update. I'd taken young Davies from Cambridge in another save, he looks very well rated in FM18 for his age. I've also taken Akinde as he's always been a player I wanted to manage. These two were in L2 though, you're brave to take them up to L1. I hope the money you spent on your midfielders proves to be good value, that's quite a bit of money at that level despite the Leo sale.

I'd struggled to get Hughes or the other defenders playing well for me, but Leo & Gwion were mainstays of my team, along with Anderson, Forrester, Maddison. The best of the originals for me were comfortably Marriott and Edwards. Best of luck for the rest of the season.

Thanks @Jogo Bonito. I did feel it was a risk taking them both up, Akinde more so as he’s closer to 30. Been really happy with them though.

I really hope the money spent is worthwhile too. I’m hopeful Colkett can keep up how peformances. If he does then £375k will look like peanuts. He really has been great. Lapsie has started okay but he was definitely pricey. I had really struggled to find a true ball winning midfielder. 

I agree on Marriot and Edwards. They have been the standout originals for me as well. Maddison was starting to really shine and reach their level before his injury but I feel that might have something to do with Middlesbrough’s interest in him as he was pretty average first 15 games. 

31 minutes ago, robterrace said:

@sammo10 - Good update, Lenihan always turns out OK at that level, and losing Lopes, whilst difficult, is at least made up for with the fee received. 

Cheers @robterrace. Hopefully Lenihan does the job. I was happy with the fee and wouldn’t be surprised if I could get him back on loan at some point. He’s gone into the under 23 side. I probably could’ve added that clause thinking about it. 

25 minutes ago, karanhsingh said:

@sammo10 - nice update and good luck with the rest of the season. Hope you can get automatic promotion. Marriott is currently holding his own in the premiership for me as well so not surprised to see him doing well for you too. Sucks that you only got a third of the money from the sale to reinvest though. 

Thanks @karanhsingh. I hope so too but I’m not 100% the squad is ready for it yet. Definitely won’t complain though if we do make it. Great to see Marriot holding his own for you on the prem. I love him. Its his all round game that has surprised me. Has the most assists in the league! So good at getting in behind the defence. I am pretty frustrated about the money. Hope to get some of it in the summer as we have a healthy balance. Will be in trouble if not as Bond and Bogle are on loan and have proven to be two key players.

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4 hours ago, smplfc123 said:

How are you getting on @warlock?

Haven't been able to play much since Friday (too many social engagements!) but I'll be back to it tomorrow.

Hope you can kick on and secure at least that mid-table position - I have no doubt you'll do really well once you've got a squad and system you're comfortable with.

As for everyone else, I'm struggling to keep up with the explosion of posts, but it looks like you're all doing well... or better than that! KUTGW :thup:

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Blackburn Rovers 2019-20 Mid-season Review 

So we are just past the half-way mark, and having a crazy season. Here's the league table first -

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Somehow we find ourselves at the top of the league. We've had some unbelievable results, most notably away wins at Liverpool, City, Spurs and United. We were not the best team in any of those games so have definitely ridden our luck along the way.

However the last 3 league games have seen a defeat to Bournemouth and home draw against Swansea. So the cracks are beginning to appear. I always have a poorer 2nd half of the season than 1st, and last year with Blackburn too followed the same trend. So let's see if we can hold on.

I would be more than delighted with a top 4 finish and CL qualification of course.

Here are the latest fixtures:

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Squad stats sorted by appearances (few players missing)

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And our star player of the season so far, Jonathan Leko

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Who also amazingly just won the Golden Boy award!

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Of course he is still on loan from West Brom, fortunately I managed to get in a 20m option to buy. I have just tried to exercise that, but his agent asked  for 70k per week along with 3m each in signing & agent fees, which we couldn't afford. So they walked away from the negotiation. I will try again and hopefully have better luck. May have to ask the Board to relax the wage budget too as I absolutely need to get this guy.

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@karanhsingh Wow, amazing progress. Good luck in trying to hold out, but what an achievement if you have to settle for top 4 that looks nailed on. 

 

Leko looks amazing. TBF 70K looks pretty reasonable considering the year he’s had. Hope you are able to match those demands. 

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10 minutes ago, sammo10 said:

@karanhsingh Wow, amazing progress. Good luck in trying to hold out, but what an achievement if you have to settle for top 4 that looks nailed on. 

 

Leko looks amazing. TBF 70K looks pretty reasonable considering the year he’s had. Hope you are able to match those demands. 

I am loathe to break the wage structure at the club.. max wage right now is 30k/week. I went up to 50k for Leko, but it's more the signing & agent fees that ended the negotiation because the board  wouldn't let me exceed 1.6 million on either front. However I have to do whatever possible to get him before his loan contract runs out.

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Theres many things that can be guaranteed in life, death, and taxes for instance.

 

Another thing that you can guarantee, especially in sports, is the effect that losing an essential cog to your wheel is massive.

This came up about 10 days into July, when Sergio Aguero, who joined amid much fanfare, announced his immediate retirement, the day after picking up a serious hamstring injury. Frustrated doesn't do my feelings justice.

 

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Lots of players were targeted, mainly to improve the squad, as it is my intention that after a couple of years in the Premier League, to give the (hopefully) developed youngsters that have been going out on loan, some match time in the top flight.

 

First of the new players to come in, was Spanish midfielder Pedro Diaz. A product of Sporting Gijóns youth system, where he had made over 100 appearances in the B Team there, he had spent the last few seasons at Rayo Vallecano, making 100 appearances for them. Finding himself transfer listed following their relegation from La Liga, he was available for £2.1m, and willing to come as a rotation option in midfield.

 

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The next signing came the same day, with Serbian centre half Bosko Culjak joining on a free from Macva of the Serbian League. Physically strong and very fit, he was lacking in some technical attibutes, but, these could be worked on. Again, he was more than happy to come as a rotation option, and will be 4th choice centre back.

 

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Next on the list of players coming in was an attacking midfielder who had ripped me apart when on loan at Bolton in 2020/21. Marcus Edwards had been released by Tottenham over the summer, finding himself surplus to Rafa Benitez' requirements. A homegrown player, he would fulfil a spot on that quota, as well as being an important part of the squad.

 

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Next to come through the revolving door, was a player who I had coveted for a long time, but, due to the stature of the club previously, I had been unable to even attract his interest. Oriol Busquets was a product of La Masia, the Barcelona youth academy, and over the last 6 years, had made nearly 150 appearances in the heart of midfield in the Barcelona B team, only making a couple of appearances in the Copa del Rey in 2019 for the first team. As with most Barcelona products, he is technically and mentally good, and despite not being the quickest or strongest of players, uses his other attributes to his strength.

As he had been released from Barcelona, he was happy to join as a backup, and will provide a good alternative should we need to shore up defensively.

 

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Another homegrown player to come in, once again, to act as a backup/ future option, was Corey Jordan. The centre back had been released by Bournemouth, and had made several appearances on loan in League Two over the past few seasons, being relegated with Carlisle, then making 40 appearances in a mid table Wycombe side last season. He will go out on loan this season, before coming into contention for a squad place next season. Given a 5 year contract, I see him as being a later developer than some of our players.

 

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Also coming in, was young Mexican centre half, Jorge Gutiérrez, who was sent on loan to Cartagena in Spain, and 18 year old Russian attacking midfielder Gleb Semenov, as well as South African playmaker Speedy Jingxi (which is possibly the greatest name ever). Jingxi had been at Supersport United in his homeland for the last few seasons, and is a full international.

 

The last signing of this update is 24 year old American winger Joshua Perez. He had been at Fiorentina in Italy for the past few seasons, but found himself on the fringes there. A fee of £125k meant there was little risk to the move, and it is likely he will move out on loan, with my preferred destination being somewhere in Germany for him.

 

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There were no outgoing player sales, with only Ernesto and Hakim El Mokeddam departing, both on free transfers at the end of their contracts.

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Slavko Erceg had spent the last half of the 21/22 season on loan at Partick, making 7 appearances. This time round, there was interest from his homeland, with NK Zadar, who were in the 2nd tier having been relegated, taking him for the season.

 

Tomas Pombo, the diminutive goalkeeper, had been on loan at Wigan for the first half of last season, before returning to Doncaster to be backup for David Bentley. This season, he'd gone to Real Betis in Liga 1 2 3, where Aitor Karanka wanted him to replace Peter Gulacsi, who was expected to leave.

 

Highly rated Irish centre half, Michael Mitchell had spent 2021/22 at Fleetwood in League 1, where the then 19 year old had made 35 appearances in the Lancashire clubs 14th place finish. There was interest from several Championship clubs for him, and he went to Bolton, where Steve McClaren was looking to improve on last seasons mid table finish.

 

17 year old midfielder, Craig King, was getting his first experience of the loan market, the diminutive midfielder, a product of the Academy at Cantley, had impressed Vincent Kompany and Wayne Rooney, and the youngster went out to Bradford, who had been promoted last season.

 

Another midfielder going out, was hard working 20 year old Portuguese, Pedro Lopes Sousa. The hard working defensive midfielder had impressed in the Scottish Championship with Ross County, and went out on loan to Mansfield, who had suffered a relegation to League Two. As such, it was expected that he would be an integral part of Scott Parkers side this season.

 

Former Manchester United youngster Callum Gribbin went on loan to Aue, who had been promoted to the Bundesliga last season. He wasn't expected to be a first choice, but, given his injury troubles last season whilst at Shrewsbury, a more settled season would be perfect for him.

 

Another 'homegrown' midfielder in 18 year old Scot Neil Harris, went out on loan to Kilmarnock of the Scottish Championship, having spent the second half of last season at Wrexham in League Two. An impressive number 10, it was hoped he would be ready for first team football by the end of this season. He had also spent time with the Scottish Under 21s, winning the European Championships with them, and securing the Goal of the Tournament, with a long range goal -

https://i.gyazo.com/c8b27abf02bc2e5eb102667315e1912c.mp4

 

The biggest prospect to be out on loan, was 19 year old Portuguese U21 international Bruno Oliveira , he had spent the 2021/22 season at Aue, making 24 appearances as they gained promotion to the Bundesliga. Rewarded with a new contract on his return, he headed out on loan to Serie A, where he would spend the season at Sampdoria, and playing in the Europa League there.

 

Jean-Francois Bircher returned to Home Park, Plymouth, where he had made 28 appearances last season, chipping in with 8 goals in League Two. Former Polish International Artur Boruc had obviously seen enough to get him to return this season, and its hoped that the 18 year old will chip in with valuable goals this season.

 

The last loan going out was Darragh Shaughnessy. The 20 year old had gained full Irish honours last season, despite having a poor season at Southend in League One as they were relegated. Mark Molesleys Walsall had obviously seen something in him (32 goals and 20 assists in 89 career appearances), and moved to take him for the season.

 


There were still a few players in discussions to leave on loan, and this would take place until the transfer window closed, eyes for the majority of the squad were on the final couple of friendlies, before preparing for the 13th August and the trip to The London Stadium to make our Premier League debut against West Ham.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

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