In Honor of Sir Alex Ferguson -- Reviving the Sir Alex Ferguson Challenge!

[wynter]

Majority of the difficult matches out of the way first and we tend to do very well against similar level teams so the fact we're in 8th already gives me a lot of confidence after 6 games. We crashed out of the Carabao Cup after a horrid loss to Luton, but it's not really important at this stage of the save so the games off to focus on the league is probably to my advantage.

[TheEarl]

Well I am gone for only half a day, and wow so much activity here, I love it

First I must once again thank @jaysdailydose for re-living this challenge. Over the years I have played FM so much, but had my ups and downs. At first managing one club for a long time was always my focus. Then I lost interest in the game for a bit, and Journeyman challenges like The Ultimate Football Manager Challenge, became my savior. Now I was a bit down, and lost some interest for that also, then this challenge kind of saved my interest for the game.

Welcome to all new challengers, and congrats to those trophy hunters. Especially @Makoto Nakamura for a brilliant start at Huddersfield.

Its time for me to bring my updates "live" again. I will do it with a "double month" end of season two writing about both April and May. From season 3, I will make updates 3-4 times per season.

[TheEarl]

The Earls quest to over achieve Sir Alex Ferguson

Coming into April we had so much to play for, and so many big games in a short space of time. I will skip a few of the matches, that didn't matter too much, but you can see them all in the Fixture List below. Sorry this will be a very long update, so I will try to keep it brief. For home grown players, Fraser Hornby was an unused sub until Mason Holgate came back from injury midway into April. Holgate would then either be unused sub, come on as a sub or start the rest of the matches, I will not mention it individually.

April 2019

6th Apr - Tottenham (H) - 4-1 - WIN

Goals from: D.Calvert-Lewin, C.Tosun (2) and I.Gueye

Another great win over Tottenham. They seem to be our favorite team to play. 3 goals in the second half did the trick.

10th Apr - Man.City (A) - 1-2 - LOSS

Goal by: an own goal

We where not up for it this time. We could only have a consolation goal, that was an own goal. The good thing, Chelsea lost a few days later also to Man.City.

13th Apr - Liverpool (A) - 2-2 - DRAW

Goals by: D.Calvert-Lewin

Wow what a comeback. From 2 goals down, Calvert-Lewin netted twice after corner kicks. It was very important for morale, that we didn't loose this Derby.

16th Apr - Barcelona - 3-0 - WIN

Goals from: B.Henrique (2) and Arthur

When I look back in 27 years, this has to be one of the very highlights. Barcelona came with all their stars, and we went rampant from the start. 2-0 up at half time, before Arthur added an important third goal. No away goal for Barcelona, and we could actually win this tie. Bruno got sent off at 3-0, so he won't be playing at Camp Nou.

19th Apr - Stoke (H) - 3-0 - WIN

Goals from: D.Calvert-Lewin, Sandro and Manuel Mecca

A heavily rotated team, and still we could win easily. Since I only signed 8 players this season, all of them could play. Youngsters Job Doufikar and Manuel Mecca made their debuts, and Mecca scored on an assist from Doufikar.

24th Apr - Barcelona (A) - 0-2 - LOSS

Lionel Messi was injured, and we kept 0-0 until half time. Coutinho scored early in the second half, and the second goal came 5 minutes from the end. The most nail biting moments of my career so far, but we got it 3-2 on aggregate and a semi final against Arsenal.

27th Apr - Charlton (N) - 3-0 - WIN (FA-Cup)

Goals from: D.Calvert-Lewin, J.McCarthy and Sandro.

A Championship side in the semi final, thanks for that and an easy win in a busy period. 

May 2019

1st May - Leicester (A) - 0-1 - LOSS

Too many games lately, and with the results we could have won the league this day. Tierney was sent off, and would miss 3 domestic games after this.

4th May - Aston Villa (H) - 3-0 - WIN

Goals from: D.Calvert-Lewin (2) and C.Tosun

WE WON THE LEAGUE!!! Still 2 games to go, but this meant nobody could catch us. We would then win 1 game and loose 1 game at the end of the Premier League season.

7th May - Arsenal (A) - 2-1 - WIN (CL)

Goals from: C.Tosun and D.Calvert-Lewin

Finally Aubameyang didn't score against us, and a great first match in the semi final of Champions League. Could we win a treble already?

15ht May - Arsenal (H) - 4-2 - WIN (CL)

Goals from: R.Oxford, B.Henrique (2) and Arthur

This was much closer than the result indicates, Arsenal was 2-1 up at half time and the tie was even. The game balanced on an edge, but Bruno was the decider with a goal 18 minutes from time. In stoppage time Arsenal lost it completely and we could score twice more. 6-3 on aggregate and a final against Chelsea.

25th May - Man.City (N) - 8-2 - WIN (FA-Cup)

Goals from: D.Calvert-Lewin (3), I.Gueye, Arthur (2), Sandro and an own goal

This must go down as the most stupid performance in an FA-Cup final ever. We where 7-0 up before Man.City could respond. The shot count ended at 20-14, but at a time during the match it was 19-3 in our favor. THE DOUBLE WINNERS!!!!

1st Jun - Chelsea (N) - 0-2 - LOSS (CL)

No magic treble victory for us, as Hazard scored twice early in the game, and we could never find a response. Tierney got sent off again and will start the next season suspended in Europe.

Final League Table:

Fixture list:

Various screenshots of awards, titles, best XI etc. :

[TheEarl]

And a few more screenshots:

As you can see, the finances turned out good in the end, so it was false alarm earlier in the season. I will still take a complete overhaul of my team, and get rid of deadwood before the 2019/2020 season. Expect me to use a bit more time going forward now.

@jaysdailydose this means a significant increase in my points tally for this challenge.

Fun facts:

1st ever goal scored by: Theo Walcott
50th ever goal scored by: Idrissa Gueye
100th ever goal scored by: Theo Walcott

Overall statistics:

104 games played - 73 wins - 15 draws - 16 losses - 298 goals scored - 111 goals conceded - 70,19% win percentage

Challenge Progress

Domestic Titles

1/13 Premier League Titles

1/5 The Emirates FA Cup Titles

0/4 Carabao Cup (League Cup) Titles

0/10 English Community Shield

European Titles

0/2 UEFA Champions League

1/1 UEFA Europa League - COMPLETED

1/1 UEFA Super Cup - COMPLETED

0/2 FIFA Club World Championship

3/5 Milestones completed (FA-Cup within 4 years, Premier League within 7 years and Premier League/FA-Cup double within 8 years.)

Edited May 24, 2018 by TheEarl

[jaysdailydose]

Congratulations, and helluva season, @TheEarl!

Here's your new entry on the board:

TheEarl (Everton F.C.) - 4 Trophies, 3 Milestones - 2,500 Points (2017/18 UEFA Europa League, 2017/18 UEFA Super Cup, 2018/19 Premier League, 2018/19 FA Cup - Challenge Milestones: Won FA Cup within 4 Seasons, Won Premier League within 7 Seasons, Won Premier League/FA Cup Double within 8 Seasons!)

[kozmik]

Looks like I might have a Class of '92 equivalent on my hands.

[TheEarl]

On 09/05/2018 at 05:50, jaysdailydose said:

FULL Completion of ALL CORRECT Trophies and Milestones within 27 years will net you *10,000* points.  If you are able to obtain more trophies, your points will be added to the Hall of Fame as a higher score, but ONLY IF YOU HAVE AT LEAST THE CORRECT TROPHIES.  So, if you win 20 Premier Leagues in 27 years, but you've only won 2 Champions Leagues and no Europa's, you WILL NOT outrank someone who has the correct trophies.  If you don't win your first FA Cup in 4 Seasons, we will acknowledge your point total, but NOT as a "Full Completion."  I hope this makes sense, if it doesn't, I'll gladly break it down.    

 

 

@jaysdailydose is this 10000 points extra or just 10000 points totally? Cause if you win more than whats required but miss one Milestone, you could still achieve more than 10000 points right?

[MarcxD]

West Ham 2017-2018

It certainly was a season of ups and downs...

Beat Stoke 5-1 in my second game in charge but could not hold on to that kind of performance. The worst moment undoubtedly was a 9-0 loss to Spurs. The whole team had an absolute nightmare... João Mario had the highest rating with a 6.5, and he got a red card after 28 minutes. Imagine that! It seemed that was a turn around match though, since subsequently we got some better results and points, including a win over Liverpool at the very end of the season.

A mid-table finish in the end. Not too unhappy with that really!

I brought in one player in January to bolster up the midfield, will look more closely at revamping the squad next summer.

As far as club issues are concerned I am trying to get the facilities upgraded as quickly as possible.

Edited May 24, 2018 by MarcxD

[TheEarl]

Nice to get the first season done @MarcxD and good to see investments in facilities. Good luck for the next season

[TheEarl]

The Earls quest to over achieve Sir Alex Ferguson

Season 3 Jul-Sep 2019

So as promised I will not write such heave updates from now on. 

I will not write match by match updates, but focus on key points. Regarding the challenge, the next year or maybe more, I will focus on bettering the club economy, develop facilities and try to increase future income. I will try to win something of course, but as for Milestones the only 2 left are 3 Doubles within 13 years and that Treble within 13 years. I will only go for them if I find my self in a good position towards the end of the seasons. League and Champions League will be my key focus points from a performance view. 

I made quite a bit of overhaul in the transfer window, letting a lot of players go, but also sold some for good money:

The rest of the outgoing transfers are loans. This resulted in a far better financial state than last season:

First up was a Community Shield match against Chelsea, and this time we got our revenge. So another "small" trophy in the bag for us:

In the league we got a brilliant start to the season, with key victories over Tottenham and Arsenal at home:

4 points gap to that other club already is a good margin so early on.

We got a fairly nice group draw in Champions League, but lost our first match to AC Milan at home. Our only loss of the season so far.

As for home grown players, Mason Holgate was the only one left from last season. So I brought in Beni Baningime from the youth squad to fill up in midfield. One of them would always be named in the match squad.

Fun facts:

1st ever goal scored by: Theo Walcott
50th ever goal scored by: Idrissa Gueye
100th ever goal scored by: Theo Walcott
200th ever goal scored by: Sandro
300th ever goal scored by: Bruno Henrique
 

Challenge Progress

Domestic Titles

1/13 Premier League Titles

1/5 The Emirates FA Cup Titles

0/4 Carabao Cup (League Cup) Titles

1/10 English Community Shield

European Titles

0/2 UEFA Champions League

1/1 UEFA Europa League - COMPLETED

1/1 UEFA Super Cup - COMPLETED

0/2 FIFA Club World Championship

3/5 Milestones completed (FA-Cup within 4 years, Premier League within 7 years and Premier League/FA-Cup double within 8 years.

So that should be another 50 points in your leaderboards @jaysdailydose

Edited May 24, 2018 by TheEarl

[jaysdailydose]

8 hours ago, TheEarl said:

@jaysdailydose is this 10000 points extra or just 10000 points totally? Cause if you win more than whats required but miss one Milestone, you could still achieve more than 10000 points right?

A full completion of all trophies and milestones is 10,000 points.  If you look at the leaderboard, you'll see "Full Completions" and "Sir Alex Completions."  Sir Alex's will be if you win more trophies than required, while still completing all trophies and milestones in the right timeframe.  So yes, you can miss a milestone, and still get over 10,000 points, but it would be a "Yellow Card Completion" if you missed a milestone or didn't have the correct trophies.

Hope that clears it up.  Sorry, I went to bed after updating last night.

[jaysdailydose]

Well, we won't be lifting the Super Cup... so I guess I'll have to get it when I win my next European trophy.  The lads honestly performed better than I expected against the Old Lady, Champions of Europe.

[jaysdailydose]

I certainly avoided a few groups of death here... I actually think I might have a decent chance of advancing...



EDIT: Sorry for the hard to read photo... I had to cut/paste as obviously the stages is too long for one screenshot.  I done my best.
 

Edited May 24, 2018 by jaysdailydose

[smp20]

[jaysdailydose]

Not in a long time have I had this one happen, so had to share:

[jaysdailydose]

I don't want to quote it, due to all of the screenshots, but excellent job of management through a takeover, @smp20.

Works out well for you, as I'm quite sure ANYONE would rather have Jeremy Peace running the show, instead of Mike Ashley.  Was the change in philosophy to the youth system much of a shock to the club's system?  I know it works out well for the challenge, but if you were playing under different philosophies, it could potentially make a large difference on your tactics and what not.

I *hate* having to play a possession system at Southampton.  My normal tactics win possession very well, but it never seems to "ring the expectations bell" for the game, unless I'm playing Short Passing/Retain Possession.  It is one of the reasons why I didn't do that well in the League the first season, was because I was consistenly having to dick with my tactics, and it definitely put me a touch behind on familiarity... especially taking over in November, with no preseason.

A lot of us have early trophies already, but that is definitely one of the pieces of management I'm most impressed with so far, so nice work!  Keep it up!

[jtiessen]

You guys are just flying through, I have yet to finish the first season :P And we are 1 point out of a relegation spot as we enter the January transfer window. My tenure might be rather short at the current pace.

[jaysdailydose]

1 minute ago, jtiessen said:

You guys are just flying through, I have yet to finish the first season :P And we are 1 point out of a relegation spot as we enter the January transfer window. My tenure might be rather short at the current pace.

I've only just started my second season.  3 matches in.   

Remember, two of the challengers are playing on Touch, too, so they are always going to be faster than the rest.  Take your time, make sure you do everything you can to dig yourself out of the battle.  Don't let anyone else's speed impact you at all.  To finish, we all have to get through 27 seasons, so there are going to be times they are going to miss days and you'll pick up time, so it is truly nothing to worry about.

[theonets]

Finished my first season finally

11th, not great, but hopefully I can go far in the Cups next season. Going to aim for the FA Cup specifically since I only have 3 seasons to win that from now on

 

 

Horrific youth intake in general, these two are the best "prospects" but well off right now

Wish Wales was enabled lol, could have loaned these two out to their top team, might even get CL experience..

[jaysdailydose]

Haven't done this in a while, either... clean sweep of the Young Player of the Month podium.

[theonets]

18 minutes ago, jaysdailydose said:

Haven't done this in a while, either... clean sweep of the Young Player of the Month podium.

Wish I had some youth talent lol

 

I'm signing up some released players who have potential to be PL players in the future, the state of my youth intake was that bad

Edited May 24, 2018 by theonets

[theonets]

Anyway, this is going to be a busy off season. Inter want all my players, and all my transfer targets for some reason -_-

 

Other than that, there is so much deadwood to move on at Watford, I've got some good players out on loan coming back 

[jaysdailydose]

Wife and I are on a quick store run so a bit of time to update.  My first summer window just ended and I again managed to keep Virgil van Dijk at St. Mary's, which is just fine by me.  In the winter window, I had tried to keep him at the club of course, but not enough to anger him.  Once I saw the teams that were looking at signing him, and they were 5 of the top 8 clubs in the world, I just said "I'll sell you as long as they meet a reasonable valuation." This summer, it was 35M, which was his exact valuation.  I didn't even ask for a premium.  I think the best offer I've seen to date was a potential 30M with clauses, and only like 17 upfront.  Barca only wanted to pay 17 all told.  I laughed them off and went about my business.  I was OK, especially once I'd signed Riedewald.  I would have just re-invested in another center-back.  Lindelof is rated very well in-game and unhappy and ready to move, and that was just one example.

Just fine keeping him too, though. Since the worlds biggest clubs want to be cheap.

 

I did get 30M off Pochettino for a 3* Gabbiadini though.  Thanks, Poch.

 

 

[jaysdailydose]

15 minutes ago, theonets said:

Wish I had some youth talent lol

 

I'm signing up some released players who have potential to be PL players in the future, the state of my youth intake was that bad

Well, I didnt spend over 20M on any of those guys, so keep them shortlisted.  Especially Havertz.  I've been watching games in extended (tactics work) and my goodness is this kid going to be special.  

It isn't often you see an 18 year old (just turned in June) that can score regularly from CM in the Prem, but he has been in the Prem and during my Europa League run. (9 in 19 since arriving, and all from CM, even though he is able to play in attacking midfield, I dont use him there.)

I'm developing my Gerrard.

Edited May 24, 2018 by jaysdailydose

[theonets]

2 minutes ago, jaysdailydose said:

Well, I didnt spend over 20M on any of those guys, so keep them shortlisted.  Especially Havertz.  I've been watching games in extended (tactics work) and my goodness is this kid going to be special.  

 

It isn't often you see an 18 year old (just turned in June) that can score regularly from CM in the Prem, but he has been in the Prem and during my Europa League run. (9 in 19 since arriving, and all from CM, even though he is able to play in attacking midfield, I dont use him there.)

 

I'm developing my Gerrard.

Sounds great, will look into him. Can't do so this season, need a new striker for my formation to play alongside Troy Deeney, and am hopefully going to land Kone from Sunderland since they got relegated.

 

Watford fans furious at me selling deadwood so far  

 

[jaysdailydose]

2 minutes ago, theonets said:

Sounds great, will look into him. Can't do so this season, need a new striker for my formation to play alongside Troy Deeney, and am hopefully going to land Kone from Sunderland since they got relegated.

 

Watford fans furious at me selling deadwood so far  

 

Thiago Maia as well.  I got him out of Brazil for £13M.  I think he's got a percentage of sale clause, but I'm not trying to sell him, I'm trying to play him.   

Good news for me... VvD apparently realizes I was trying to let him do what he wanted with his career, but people don't want to pay for him! 

[theonets]

5 minutes ago, jaysdailydose said:

Thiago Maia as well.  I got him out of Brazil for £13M.  I think he's got a percentage of sale clause, but I'm not trying to sell him, I'm trying to play him.   

Good news for me... VvD apparently realizes I was trying to let him do what he wanted with his career, but people don't want to pay for him! 

Maia's at Barcelona in my save

[theonets]

Beat United in my first game

 

Deeney and Poulssen (Who got the assist) out for 4-5 months

 

 

[jaysdailydose]

8 minutes ago, theonets said:

Beat United in my first game

 

Deeney and Poulssen (Who got the assist) out for 4-5 months

 

 

Do you not have enough physios or something?  Maybe I'm thinking of someone else's save, but you sure seem to get a lot of major injuries...

[theonets]

5 minutes ago, jaysdailydose said:

Do you not have enough physios or something?  Maybe I'm thinking of someone else's save, but you sure seem to get a lot of major injuries...

I think you might be thinking of someone else's saves. Though now you mention it, two of my physios were poached this summer

[jaysdailydose]

Just now, theonets said:

I think you might be thinking of someone else's saves. Though now you mention it, two of my physios were poached this summer

If you didn't replace, that'll do it every time.

[jaysdailydose]

Those first steps into the Champions League with a side are always awesome...

[theonets]

My 11 transfers this season, and err.... I didn't count how many left.

 

 

 

Very unhappy with the window. I had zero intention of buying Carroll or Janssen on loan, but those two injuries mean I do need the backup. Luckily, considering how **** he's been since signing, Carroll's only here for the year.

[jaysdailydose]

I think that window may be better than you think.  Allison isn't Donnarumma or anything on this game, but you could feasibly have the next 5 years in goal squared away.  Getting Maitland-Niles on a free... well, I don't even know how the hell that happens.  

He's not Aguero, but Andy Carroll IS a proven EPL goal scorer.  Janssen caught a tough break having to try to deputize Kane.  He needed regular football.  

I'm not guessing you had a ton of money to spend, so... you must make do where you can. 

How many scouts are they letting you employ?  

 

[jaysdailydose]

I just went and counted up, and I didn't have near the deadwood you did, so that window may be an even greater success.  10 players in my current squad were in the side when I got here, and I'm not really looking to get rid of any... although Ryan Bertrand can **** off and leave as far as I care.  He's already been replaced, and I'm guessing the splinters in his arse are going to start pissing him off soon.  The UEFA Super Cup was his only start of the season so far, and that was only because Jetro Willems had a knock.  I'd honestly play Matthew Targett before him if both fit at this point.

I love his personality, but everytime I'm in a highlight, I wind up yelling at the damned laptop (BERTRAND WTF ARE YOU DOING, WTF WAS THAT TO?) and the like.

I honestly thought he'd be a highlight, and instead, left back was one of the first areas where I sought reinforcements.  Maybe I can retrain him as a winger or something, where his idiotic mistakes don't ship as many goals.  

EDIT: OH... and Leicester City has Kylian Mbappe.  No, I'm not kidding.  Man, you can tell this is still FM17 with that one.

SECOND EDIT: Never mind, he's on loan... and he's been *****.

Edited May 24, 2018 by jaysdailydose

[jaysdailydose]

I needed a break, so any updates I'll do tomorrow afternoon EST.  Night.

[TheEarl]

After 3 days away from work, I need to go back to work today. So I am around 2,5 seasons into the challenge, now it will be a slower pace. I will try to finish the 3rd season tonight though ;)

[kozmik]

End of 2017-18 season:

Fairly happy with our final position, concerned about our away form. We'll have to do a lot better next season. I'll be aiming for a Europa spot, which should be achievable as long as we can get the right reinforcements in.

[TheEarl]

Nice to replicate SAF in your first season @kozmik

Good luck for the next season

[MarcxD]

West Ham 2018-2019

Two key players signed in Mexicans Lozano and Pineda and I couldn't help myself and signed two former Ajax players in Vermeer and Van Rhijn. I didn't really want to loan players but the way Isak played this season I'm glad I did.

 I sold Carroll since he doesn't fit with how I want to play.

A pretty good second full season, even though there were some inconsistency issues. Some amazing results and some very poor. Most importantly though, we won the FA Cup! Also a lovely thing to note: we scored the most goals in the league out of everyone!

Will definitely need to replace Isak, he performed really well on loan so that won't be easy. Happy to build further with players like Lozano and Pineda. Normally I'd like to rotate the team a bit more but I found that really hurt our chances.

Will be interesting to see how well we can do with the added Europa League fixtures next season.

Edited May 25, 2018 by MarcxD

[TheEarl]

Nice climb from 12th to 8th @MarcxD

And a really great win in the FA-Cup.

@jaysdailydose here is another contender for some serious points for you. Should be 700 by my recogning.

[kozmik]

4 hours ago, TheEarl said:

Nice to replicate SAF in your first season @kozmik

Good luck for the next season

Would be nice to replicate his second season too.

[TheEarl]

1 minute ago, kozmik said:

Would be nice to replicate his second season too.

Definately, but there is always the chance to do even better

[MarcxD]

1 hour ago, TheEarl said:

Nice climb from 12th to 8th @MarcxD

And a really great win in the FA-Cup.

@jaysdailydose here is another contender for some serious points for you. Should be 700 by my recogning.

Thank you!

I have a question though. I bought Loftus-Cheek from Chelsea in the new season, but only afterwards I realized that Chelsea can be considered the rival club for West Ham I should not do any transfer business with. Is that the case?

[smp20]

16 hours ago, jaysdailydose said:

I don't want to quote it, due to all of the screenshots, but excellent job of management through a takeover, @smp20.

Works out well for you, as I'm quite sure ANYONE would rather have Jeremy Peace running the show, instead of Mike Ashley.  Was the change in philosophy to the youth system much of a shock to the club's system?  I know it works out well for the challenge, but if you were playing under different philosophies, it could potentially make a large difference on your tactics and what not.
 

Cheers @jaysdailydose  - yes much better than having Mike Ashley. I already had 'attacking football' 'possession football' and 'develop youngsters' as philosophies so I've just lost two. Not too fussed though, will just play with freedom and attacking anyway.

I've tried to go with a Fergie-esque 4-2-4. Not a replica, but I think he'd approve of it.

I'm now just about to start season two and as expected it was a very busy summer - I had to go back and check how many transfers I was allowed 

[smp20]

Summer 2018 Transfers - Shaping The Squad

A very busy window - lots of outgoing players in particular! The deadwood was cut-off and I relucatantly sold Ritchie and Merino for bids I felt were too good to turn down. One of the signings coming in wasn't my own - Rodrigo De Paul was a loanee last season and must have had a deal agreed already after appearing in 20 games. I wouldn't have signed him, but he's a decent squad player. I raided the recently relegated sides with Zaha joining from Palace (only £15m upfront) and Vardy and Ndidi (eventually after work permit issues) joining from Leicester. We also added English talent in Drinkwater (Chelsea pay £50k of his wages ), a direct replacement for Merino, and Butland. Mangala was a steal at £6m despite his high wages. Our most controversial signing was bringing back Andy Carroll to the club; he will either flop or go on to become a cult hero in the Toon.

We have a revamped backroom with lots of Man Utd / Fergie favourites as well as a focus on bringing back some Geordies.

I'm very happy with the squad I've put together and I reckon we could push for Europe. We're expected to finish in the top half. Looking forward to the new season!

[smp20]

What a start to the new season 

[TheEarl]

56 minutes ago, MarcxD said:

Thank you!

I have a question though. I bought Loftus-Cheek from Chelsea in the new season, but only afterwards I realized that Chelsea can be considered the rival club for West Ham I should not do any transfer business with. Is that the case?

You would have to check with @jaysdailydose which club(s) is considered the major rival of West Ham.

[smp20]

21 minutes ago, TheEarl said:

You would have to check with @jaysdailydose which club(s) is considered the major rival of West Ham.

They're the third rival and they've done lots of transfer business IRL so this should be okay. Spurs or Millwall on the other hand....

Good job I don't want any Sunderland players 

[TheEarl]

9 minutes ago, smp20 said:

They're the third rival and they've done lots of transfer business IRL so this should be okay. Spurs or Millwall on the other hand....

Good job I don't want any Sunderland players 

Haha, well I think West Ham - Chelsea should be ok also, but its up to the "judge" to decice.

I would actually want one or two players from that unnamed team, but most of my team is better than them already. A talent wouldnt mind though, but will find them elsewhere.