Wigan and the EPL - A short stay? [Archive] - Front Office Football Central

Eaglesfan27

03-14-2005, 03:04 AM

Greetings fans. This is the continuing chronicle of Christopher Engles. Christopher started his career in Harrogate at the tender age of 29.

In my first season, I struggled to survive at Harrogate, but we started turning it around by the end of the season. In our second season, Harrogate and I began our ascendcy together. In our third season we continued our meteoric rise and advanced from the English Conference National into League Two. In our fourth season, we continued to fly to the top as we won the English League Two title and earned advancement. In my fifth season, I made the hard choice to leave Harrogate in the middle of the season to take an opportunity at Wigan. I didn't do that well at Wigan but I managed to make sure we avoided relegation and I arranged to have many Bosman players come join us. This was key, as we acquired many good players. In my sixth season as a manager, I managed to forge these Bosman players into a cohesive unit with the group that was already there. I had my most impressive season yet, and we won the English Championship.

This is a link to the entire sixth season. The first post in this thread has links to all of the previous seasons as well: http://dynamic2.gamespy.com/%7Efof/forums/showthread.php?t=36645

So, now I'm in my 7th season. This could be a short stay. It could be a short stay for me at Wigan, because the media thinks Manchester United is interested in my services as manager. I'm only 35, so they may think I'm too young. However, I'm also reportedly viewed as a World Class Manager right now. However, we'll see in the next few days/weeks if Manchester United wants me as manager or not. If they offer me the job, I'd be sad to leave Wigan, but I know I could not pass that opportunity up. They have been my favorite club since I was a young lad.

However, if they pass me up, it could be a short stay in the EPL. The talent in this League is so top notch and it is very competitive. We lost Stuart Elliott one of our best veterans, but we brought in a young talented left winger named Fode Mansare. We have a good core of older veterans. If they can keep their level of play up, I think we can avoid relegation. I hope we can. The 24.5 million dollars we received in EPL TV rights is very nice, and I'd really like to see us get that again next year. It has certainly solved our budgetary problems for the short term.

My first friendly has already occurred, and I would refer you to the previous thread which covered that (as well as the World Cup 2010.)

Thank you for reading my account of my adventures as a football manager.

Eaglesfan27

03-14-2005, 03:27 AM

July 14, 2010 -

Today we have a friendly with Zeleznicar. This should be an easy friendly for us to win.

1st minute Mansare passes to Begeorgi in the left corner of the pitch.. he crosses to Paulista in the center of the box.. Paulista heads it into the lower left corner of the goal. GOAL! 1-0 lead.

3 minute mark: Mansare turns on the speed.. races down the left sideline.. crosses to Paulista.. he shoots.. wide left.

9 minute mark: Mansare with a nifty pass into the box for Benayoun.. he shoots.. the keeper saves it.

Halftime: 1-0 lead. They have over 5,000 fans at their stadium.

75 minute mark: Gerken has made quite a few good saves in the last 5 minutes as the backup defense is giving up some good shots.

Game over. 1-0 win for us.

We outshot them 17-5 (7-3 on target)

Their keeper won MoM. Gerken played really well this match. Mansare looked good this match too.

Eaglesfan27

03-14-2005, 03:50 AM

July 18, 2010 -

Today we play Vojvodina in a friendly match. Again, I will be starting the same lineup.

GK: Paddy
DC: Hutchinson
DC: Osorio
DC: Jarzebowski
ML: Mansare
MC: Rolfes
MC: Benayoun
MC: Stewart
MR: Teale
SC: Begeorgi
SC: Paulista

1st minute: Paddy with a great save.

7 minute mark: Mansare with a good dribble down the left sideline.. his cross is blocked by the defender.

30 minute mark: Mansare crosses to Benayoun in the box.. he heads it.. the keeper saves it.

Halftime: A very blah first half. 0-0 tie.

I bring in the second team.

50 minute mark: Melara passes down the right sideline.. Paulo gets it.. dribbles between two defenders.. hard shot.. the keeper blocks it.

Game over. Everyone played ok, but no one really excelled.

We outshot them 8-7 (3-1 on target)

Their keeper won MoM.

Eaglesfan27

03-14-2005, 03:56 AM

July 21, 2010 -

Liverpool has spent 33 million dollars to get Gael Clichy, a 24 year old left fullback, from Arsenal. I wonder who Arsenal is going to spend that money on.

daedalus

03-14-2005, 06:14 AM

Alright, I'd be willing to part with Clichy for a nice 33 large. I can forgive that type of sale. :D

SunDancer

03-14-2005, 06:52 AM

SirFozzie

03-14-2005, 10:15 AM

Bumping to show the active thread.

Eaglesfan27

03-14-2005, 10:55 AM

Eaglesfan27

03-14-2005, 10:56 AM

Alright, I'd be willing to part with Clichy for a nice 33 large. I can forgive that type of sale. :D
Clichy looks very good in 2010, but I still think Arsenal made out great on that transfer. Clichy was "valued" at 12 million dollars ;)

Eaglesfan27

03-14-2005, 11:23 AM

July 21, 2010 -

Today we have a friendly at Obilic, another team from Serbia & Mont.

We are using our same starting lineup and I'll probably play them for 60 minutes today.

13 minute mark: Mansare passes a through ball for Begeorgi.. he fakes out a defender.. fakes out the keeper.. only another defender between him and the goal.. the defender tackles him and clears the ball.

18 minute mark: Osorio is called for tripping a player.. Mansare is mad at the ref.. he argues.. gets in the ref's face.. yellow card.. Mansare continues to argue.. he is lucky to only have a warning.

25 minute mark: Begeorgi just had one of the most amazing dribbles I've ever seen.. he received the ball deep in our end after Jarzebowski headed it to him. He faked out at least 5 defenders (some of them twice) as he dribbled it all the way down the pitch before passing to Benayoun in the box.. Benayoun shoots.. over the bar.

40 minute mark: Mansare with a nasty dribble down the left sideline that fakes out two defenders.. then he cuts inside the box.. strong dribble.. crosses to Paulista by the far post.. he heads it... into the crossbar!

Halftime: 0-0 tie.

49 minute mark: Mansare dribbles up the left sideline.. passes to Benayoun in the box.. hard shot.. lower left corner.. the keeper dives.. saves it with a clean catch.

50 minute mark: Begeorgi gets a pass from Rolfes just outside the box.. passes between two defenders to the center of the box.. Paulista gets to it.. shoots.. GO.. offside call on Paulista.

61 minute mark: Second team is subbed in.

91 minute mark: Spiller passes to Paulo just outside the box.. fakes out a defender.. shoots.. wide left.

Game over. 0-0 tie.

Begeorgi looked very impressive this game.

Eaglesfan27

03-14-2005, 11:34 AM

July 24, 2010 -

Arsenal is reportedly trying to buy Newcastle's Daniel Jensen, an attacking midfielder. It will reportedly cost in the region of 14 million to pry him away from Newcastle.

A list of Wigan matches picked for Television were released today:

Sun Aug. 29, 2010 - Fulham v Wigan.
Monday Sep 13, 2010 - Wigan v Sunderland
Sunday Sep 26, 2010 - Wigan v Manchester Utd.
Sunday Nov. 21, 2010 - Wigan v Newcastle.
Monday Dec. 6, 2010 - Wigan v Man City
Sun Dec 12, 2010 - Bolton v Wigan.

This makes me wonder, when is Manchester United going to make a decision about a manager? Will I be managing against my old team on national TV?

Eaglesfan27

03-14-2005, 11:59 AM

July 25, 2010 -

Today we travel to play Harrogate Town in our final friendly before the EPL seasons starts!

I'm moving Stewart out of the starting lineup and putting Spiller in. Otherwise I'm leaving my starting lineup in to play 60 minutes (since we have over 2 weeks til the season starts.)

Harrogate is now playing an interesting 3-4-3. In this game they have the following lineup:

GK: Richard O'Connor
DC: Joe Barnett
DC: Trent McClenahan
DC: Craig Morgan
ML: Andrew Wright
MC: Sammy Moore
MC: Steven Brogan, a good young Scotish player
MR: Stephen Cooke
FL: Andy Farrell
FC: Jermaine Palmer
FR: Jamie clarke

It is gratifying to see so many of my acquisitions are still with the club.

5 minute mark: Teale passes into the box to Begeorgi.. he shoots.. upper right corner.. nice save by O'Connor.

14 minute mark: Paulista crosses to Benayoun who hits it on the half volley.. O'Connor dives.. blocks the shot.

22 minute mark: Morgan with a good defensive play against Begeorgi.

25 minute mark: Benayoun passes to Teale who dribbles down the pitch.. into the box.. shoots.. wide left by inches.

28 minute mark: Benayoun passes it to Paulista just outside the box.. he shoots.. hard curving shot.. nice save by O'Connor.

40 minute mark: Teale passes to Mansare just outside the box.. good shot.. O'Connor punches it over the bar.

44 minute mark: Mansare with a great dribble down the left sideline.. crosses to Paulista in the box.. he heads it.. into the crossbar.

Halftime: 0-0 tie. Harrogate has a full house with 3795 fans here today.

50 minute mark: Mansare burns two defenders.. dribbles in towards the box.. then crosses for Benayoun in the box.. he heads it.. upper left corner.. GOAL!! 1-0.

65 minute mark: Morgan passes long to Jermain Palmer.. he burns my defenders.. into the box.. shoots.. Paddy with the save.

I sub in the second team a bit later than planned.

71 minute mark: Lunt is tackled hard by Cooke.. Lunt is hurt. I have to put Hudell on for him.

Game over. 1-0 win.

Benayoun looked particularly good today.

We outshot them 21-4 (9-1 on target)

Richard O'Connor had a 9 for form and won MoM.

Eaglesfan27

03-14-2005, 12:05 PM

July 28, 2010 -

CRAP! Manchester United just sold Brazilian striker Porcellis to Middlesbrough for 4.8 million and they are looking at selling a few other players too. I liked the look of Porcellis and if they are going to bring me in, I want to decide who goes and who stays.

condors

03-14-2005, 12:18 PM

maybe you should apply for the job?

Eaglesfan27

03-14-2005, 12:21 PM

July 29, 2010 -

My assistant has reminded me that the following players have contracts expiring within the next 12 months:

Dean Gerken
Greg Kelly
Georges Ambourouet
Abraham Paz
Ricardo Osorio

I definitely would like to resign Gerken, Kelly, Osorio.

I'll be on the fence about Paz. It depends upon his demands. I'm unlikely to resign Ambourouet.

I contact Gerken first: He is requesting 3,800/week for the next 3 years. He is currently paid 3,800/week. He is a good 2nd or 3rd keeper, and I agree to his request.

Greg Kelly - He is currently making 3,200/week. He wants 8,200/week for 3 years. My AM feels that he is a good rotation player and that we should keep our offer under 9,000/week. I decide to offer him the 8,200/week that he is asking for.

Georges Ambourouet is currently making 15,500/week. His agent has told me that he isn't interested in re-signing with us, since he isn't getting any PT. He is already transfer listed by request. I'll continue to hope that someone makes a bid on him.

Abraham Paz is currently making 6,800/week. He wants 19,000/week. That is much more than I'm willing to pay for this guy who is essentially a backup. I pass on making an offer.

Ricardo Osorio is currently making 29,500/week. He wants 44,000/week to sign a 2 year extension! My AM doesn't believe I should pay more than 35,500/week and I agree with him. This guy is getting older and he might start slipping soon. I offer him a 2 year deal at 35,500/week.

Eaglesfan27

03-14-2005, 12:23 PM

maybe you should apply for the job?
I've strongly considered that. I've never applied for a job in any version. They have always come to me. My fear is that if I apply and don't get it, Wigan will be upset with me. However, I'm considering breaking my general practice by applying for this job.

Eaglesfan27

03-14-2005, 12:45 PM

July 31, 2010 -

Greg Kelly has signed a new deal with Wigan.

Gerken signed the new deal.

Ricardo Osorio rejected my offer, but is willing to negotiate. I decide to offer him 38,000/week. That will be my final offer.

Eaglesfan27

03-14-2005, 12:48 PM

Aug 2, 2010 -

Lazio have signed Christian Daniel Ledesma from Newcastle for 32 million dollars!

Southampton signed Giovanni van Bronckhorst from Barcelona on a free transfer.

Wigan's Ricardo Osorio has put pen to paper on a new 2 year deal.

Eaglesfan27

03-14-2005, 12:51 PM

August 2, 2010 (Later that night) -

WOW! It has happened. Manchester United chairman David Gill has just contacted me because he believes "I will be the ideal person to replace ex-manager Ruud Gullit." I wonder if I was really their first choice? Why did it take them so long to offer me a job?

In any case, Gill indicates that the board would give me a transfer budget in the region of 94 million dollars to fund the purchase of new players!

The current wage bill is about 1.7 million dollars/week and the board indicates that I will be able to increase the wage budget some!

I feel bad leaving Wigan, but I knew they were a stepping stone going into this job. I will take the Manchester United job. I don't plan on ever voluntarily leaving this job.

weinstein7

03-14-2005, 01:01 PM

mazel tov :)

BigDPW

03-14-2005, 01:03 PM

CONGRATS!!!!!

BigDPW

03-14-2005, 01:03 PM

I have never had the time and energy to play a LLM game long enough to get hired by one of the big boys... I typically start with Spurs and try to get them to the Champions League Title...

Eaglesfan27

03-14-2005, 01:08 PM

August 4, 2010 -

I woke to this newspaper article as I made it official last night:

"Wigan Athletic Boss Christopher Engles has decided to end his reign at JJB Stadium by resigning from his position as manager.

As yet the media seem unwilling to speculate as to who will replace Engles at JJB Stadium."

There was also this article:

"Managerial legend Christopher Engles has today been named as the man to succeed Ruud Gullit at Manchester United. The highly-respected manager, who turns thirty-six next birthday, replaces Ruud Gullit in the hot seat at Old Trafford.

with the club harbouring expectations of winning the Premier Division this season, the pressure will be on Engles to use his welath of managerial experience to build a title-winning side.

Wigan will now be looking for a new manager."

I'm a managerial legend? When did I become that? Cool :)

I also had a personal meeting with David Gill. He welcomed me to Old Trafford. He assured me that I can rely on the full backing of the club's board and that we will be expected to win the EPL this season. He reiterated that I will have the extravagent transfer budget of 94 million dollars to spend on players.

I also woke to find the announcement of the official odds for the EPL title. Arsenal, Chelsea, and Liverpool are all 7-4 co-favourites to win the EPL title this year. The rest of the main contenders are Manchester United at 2-1, Aston Villa at 20-1, and Southampton at 33-1.

I can't help but wonder what Wigan's odds are.

Also, there was a reporter from the Daily Star knocking on my door this morning. He wants a brief interview. I know that getting along with the media will be an important part of my job as manager. Still I need to get a new place to live. However, I decide to grant this interview. His main question is: The bookies are tipping you to win the title this season. Do you think you will win the title? I respond, "We have a chance of winning the title, but the players must stay focused and give their best every match."

Eaglesfan27

03-14-2005, 01:09 PM

Thanks guys :)

FrogMan

03-14-2005, 01:13 PM

weehee!!!! Congrats!!! :)

FM

Eaglesfan27

03-14-2005, 01:18 PM

The first thing I decide to do is look at the finances.

The club lost 7 million dollars last season. Despite that, they still have 167 million dollars in the bank.

As promised, I have a transfer budget of 94 million dollars.

The current wage budget is 1.6 million. The board is allowing me to have a wage budget of up to 3.2 million dollars/week!

We can expect money from quite a few big name transfer items when they get sold again:

We will get 30% of Cristiano Ronaldo's next sale (I really wish the club hadn't moved him.)

We will get 40% of Lee Lawrence's next sale.

We will get 40% of Giuseppe Rossi's next sale.

We will get 30% of Charlie Wilson's next sale.

We will get 40% of Phillip Bardsley's next sale.

We will get 30% of Michael Armstrong's next sale.

The club recently sold Hatem Ben Arfa for 16.5 million dollars to Club Atletico de Madrid, Hatem was/is a very talented 23 year old french midfielder, but he wasn't getting along with his teammates. As a result, the club sold him last week at significantly below his value which was 25 million dollars.

The club also recently sold a talented striker in Porcellis for 4.8 million. This kid lacked foot speed, but was otherwise a very good striker. In looking at his scouting file some more, I'm not as disappointed by his sale. He is too slow to be a great striker in my opinion.

The club does not have any current future transfers in scheduled. I need to look at the roster immediately, and decide where we need to fortify. I also need to get to know my staff and look at who we need to bring in, if anyone.

Eaglesfan27

03-14-2005, 01:19 PM

Bah, Humbug :)

Grats and all, but.. Bah.. :D
LOL! :D

I will take Arsenal down ;)

Thanks and thanks FrogMan :)

SirFozzie

03-14-2005, 01:20 PM

Bah, Humbug :)

Grats and all, but.. Bah.. :D

Eaglesfan27

03-14-2005, 01:36 PM

A Look at the Staff:

Hmm this is interesting. I'm positive that the Debug Mode worked at the start of this career and I could see Bill Fotherby's ratings, but I can't see Gill or anyone else's ratings at Manchester United. I didn't really want to see anything other than how old they are, but that is interesting.

Wow! I just looked at my new contract. I go from making 7,000 dollars/week at Wigan to 47,000 dollars/week here! I definitely have to buy a new house.

My new assistant manager is Carlos Queiroz. He has been an assistant manager here for several years, and I wonder if he is upset that I leaped into this job and he didn't get it? Carlos is 57 years old, and he is known in the football world as a great assistant manager with excellent tactical abilities, great at coaching outfielders, excellent with youngsters, excellent at judging ability and potential of players. Basically, he has everything I look for in an AM and he is signed for 3 more years. I hope he serves out that contract. He could be a very valuable ally in deciding who to play and who to sit, particularly on my U18 team.

Dave Ryan is a long time coach with the club who is currently making 4,200/week. He is known as an excellent teacher who is particularly good at working with youngsters. He is best at working with outfield players. He is also quite good at judging player's ability.

John Cooke is a long term coach with the team who is currently making 3,800/week. He is known as an excellent teacher of outfield players who is also particularly good with youngsters. He will be a valuable asset. He is only 49 years old and I hope we can keep him for a long time. His contract expires after this season. I decide to offer him a raise to 4,200/week on a new 3 year deal.

Arthur Albiston is a 53 year old Scotish coach who is also an outfield coach that is superb at working with young players. He is also signed only through this year. He currently makes 6,400/week. I hope to renew his contract. He is asking for 6,400/week on a new deal. I offer him that on a new 4 year deal.

Tony Coton s a 49 year old coach who is a very good keeper coach. He isn't that good at working with youngsters. He is currently making 5,600/week. He is signed for 3 more years.

I plan on pursuing one more keeper coach who is among the best in the world if I can find one. I also plan on pursuing one more good outfield coach.

The club only has 2 physios!

Garry Armer is a 45 year old physio who is excellent at treating patients. He is currently signed for 2 years at 1,750/week.

Neil Hough is a long time Manchester Utd Physio who is currently making 4,800/week. He has a great reputation as an excellent physio.

I plan on hiring 2 more physios.

We currently have 4 scouts:

Derek Langley is a 50 year old long time scout. He is very good at judging current ability, and excellent at judging future potential. He currently makes 1,450/week.

David Bushell is a 51 year old long time scout. He is excellent at judging current ability, and even better at judging potential. He makes 2,000/week for the next 2 years. I hope we can keep him around for a long time.

Mick Brown is a 59 year old long time sout who is considered superb at judging current and future ability. He is signed for 3 years at 1,250/week.

Roy Keane is a former player who became a sout last year. He is very good at judging current ability and excellent at judging potential. He was one of my favorite Manchester players. He is signed for 2 years at 1,200/week. I look forward to working with him.

I don't think we need any more scouts at this moment, unless there is a top notch scout out there just looking for work.

Eaglesfan27

03-14-2005, 01:48 PM

August 4, 2010 -

In looking at excellent keeper coaches, there is one name that stands out. Brad Friedel has retired from playing and is viewed as having the potential to be an excellent keeper coach. However, he is not known as working well with youngsters. If he was at least a little better at this, I would probably hire him, but he is viewed as horrible at working with youngsters. I keep looking.

Fabien Barthez is a 39 year old keeper/coach who is well known to the Manchester faithful. He still has decent playing skills, and everyone agrees that he has the potential to be an excellent coach. After looking at our squad and seeing that Thomas Heaton is a good, but not excellent backup, I decide to approach Marseille about acquiring Barthez to be a player/coach. Marseille wants 340,000 dollars for Barthez. I decide to make that offer.

In looking for Outfield coaches, Paul Thompson is the only name that sticks out as a potentially good hire. He is a 31 year old coach from New Zealand who has a reputation as an excellent outfield coach. He only wants 700/week to come work here. I agree to that amount.

In regards to Physios, I decide to offer Paul Underwood the 550/week that he is looking for. He is regarded as a very good physio.

I also offer 550/week to Ivo Ulich.

condors

03-14-2005, 02:00 PM

awsome, congrats!

Can't wait to see the squad

Wayne Rooney > everyone else

Eaglesfan27

03-14-2005, 02:04 PM

August 4, 2010 -

Time to look at the roster of the current top squad:

Tim Howard is a 31 year old Amerian keeper. He has excellent reflexes, great aerial ability, excellent ommand of the area, great communication. His handling, Kicking and One on one ability are all a little below par for this level of play. He has excellent mental and physical attributes. He is our clear #1 keeper at this point. Last year he had 24 clean sheet and 61 goals total conceded in 61 appearances.

Thomas Heaton is a 24 year old English Keeper who is currently the #2 keeper. He has above average aerial abilities. He has above average command of the keeper area. However, he is slightly below average in handling, one on ones, rushing out. He has terrible kicking and throwing ability. He has poor reflexes. He is valued at 2.6 million dollars. I won't transfer list him immediately, but I don't think he has what it takes to be a top notch EPL keeper. I will be looking to move him in the future.

Defenders:

Mikael Silvester is a 32 year old French player who has been with Manchester United for a long time. He can play the sweeper position, left fullback, or centreback. He is very fast and still has excellent physical abilities. He has good mental attributes. He is good at marking, tackling, and ok at heading. His positioning isn't as good or consistent as I would like.

Zdenek Grygera is a 30 year old Czech Republic player who was recently acquired by the club before I was hired as a Bosman signing. He can play sweeper, centerback or right back. He has very good all around skills. His positioning, composure, decision making ability, tackling, passing, and first touch ability are what really stand out as exceptional in this player, but he isn't weak at anything. He looks like he will be a good first team player.

Wes Brown is a 30 year old English player who is one of my favorites from following the club over the years. He is a fast right back/centerback who has superb physical abilities. He is a relentless tackler. He is good at marking and heading. He generally has excellent positioning. He has been used as a rotator in the past, but I'll likely give him a chance to start quite a bit.

Frederic Forunier is an 18 year old French left fullback who has potential but is very raw. I'll certainly move him to the reserve squad to get some experience.

OOC: Ahh, finally a patient shows up at the clinic. I'll continue the roster breakdown later.

daedalus

03-14-2005, 02:20 PM

Congrats! :D

Heh.The club lost 7 million dollars last season. Despite that, they still have 167 million dollars in the bank.

As promised, I have a transfer budget of 94 million dollars.

The current wage budget is 1.6 million. The board is allowing me to have a wage budget of up to 3.2 million dollars/week!Looking back:Now that I'm manager of this club, it's time to assess what we have. First of all, we are in a precarious financial position. We currently have a little under 50,000 dollars in the bank. We are currently about 300 dollars under our wage budget which is 4,600 dollars/week.

Both the chairman and the press tell me they are expecting us to finish in the top half of the league. However, due to the limited amount of money in the coffers, we have a whopping transfer budget of 0 dollars. However, in a moment of surprising generosity, my chairman tells me we can spend about 75% of whatever transfer money we raise. Of course, I've heard that he might go back on his word.

FrogMan

03-14-2005, 02:31 PM

Thanks and thanks FrogMan :)no problem. Now that I've reported about it, go read this post (http://dynamic2.gamespy.com/~fof/forums/showthread.php?p=732584#post732584), you'll laugh ;)

FM

Barkeep49

03-14-2005, 02:58 PM

This is an exciting time!

nfg22

03-14-2005, 03:01 PM

Do you think any wigan players have the potential to come to you?

RPI-Fan

03-14-2005, 05:13 PM

Congrats, Eaglesfan27!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Are you going to take the "big splash" approach to buying players, or "jigsaw puzzle" approach bringing a bunch of good or very good players in?

~rpi-fan

Eaglesfan27

03-14-2005, 07:12 PM

Thanks condors. I definitely agree that Rooney has impressed me in the World Cup matches I watched. I'll be looking forward to seeing him on a daily basis.

Thanks for the great look back Daedalus. I really think those humble beginnings make me appreciate what I have at Manchester United now.

FM, I'll be reading that post in just a minute :)

I definitely agree Barkeep. I had a meeting with my boss from 5-6 PM and it was a good meeting, but in the back of my mind I was trying to think of what I'm going to do with the squad. It was tricky, because I definitely had to pay attention to what he was saying too ;)

nfg, I think Begeorgi might have the potential, but I doubt it. I'm not considering any of the other players at least at this time. Wall is good, but I don't think he is EPL top tier good. I already have my favorite DC in mind that I plan on acquiring if we need a DC and he isn't too old (Lucio.)

RPI-Fan, thanks! I'm not sure yet. I'll have a better idea once I look at my squad. In the past, I've had to go with a jigsaw approach, and in CM 03/04, I went with the jigsaw approach in my Manchester Dynasty. I suspect that is the way I'll go. However, if once I'm done viewing the team I see that we have most of the pieces already in place, I'll go for one or two big splash players.

Eaglesfan27

03-14-2005, 07:43 PM

FM, I read that post and really did laugh hard (and posted a quick reply in your thread) :)

Continuing with the defenders:

Cristian Chivu is a 29 year old Romanian Legend who is an excellent left back/centerback. He does everything well. I think he will be a top notch defender for at least a few more years. His contract is over 110,000/week and he is valued at over 22 million dollars.

John O'Shea is a 29 year old left back/centerback who is very solid. He particularly excels at positioning. He has excellent physical attributes. He is currently making 41,000/week and is "worth" 10 million dollars.

Rio Ferdinand is a 31 year old centreback who is a top notch defender. He does everything correctly. He has superb heading ability, excellent marking, tackling, positioning. He is "worth" 15 million dollars and is making 140,000/week.

Finally, Phil Neville is a 33 year old right fullback/defensive midfielder. Time hasn't caught up with Neville yet and he is still someone who very good tackling, marking, positioning. His foot speed is starting to decrease slightly.

As a group, I think we are very strong along the defensive line. I still think Lucio might be a great addition if he isn't too expensive or too old (of course I know he will be expensive.)

condors

03-14-2005, 07:44 PM

just one warning with you being at Manchester United your first season is very important as it can be your last. If you make a large splash you may want to avoid a player who doesn't speak english. Usually its not an issue but if you spend 40 million on that wonderkid winger and he dosen't settle or is homesick and never performs. That can be devastating. I am not saying don't get any talent from overseas. Just if you make a huge record signing be very carefull. I am really enjoying your dynasty and would hate to see it end soon.

Use your wealth of mangerial experience to raise many trophies at the theatre of dreams!

Eaglesfan27

03-14-2005, 07:59 PM

Midfielders:

Looking at the numbers, this might be my biggest area of concern.

Although we might not have the depth, we have great quality at the top.

Eric Djemba Djemba is a 29 year old Cameroon midfielder. He has excellent physical skills, great mental skills (except or flair which is low) and excellent dribbling, passing, first touch, long shots, tackling, and technique. He is currently valued at 11.5 million dollars. He is currently making 74,000/week.

Darren Fletcher is a 26 year old Scottish player who has been with Manchester for a while now. He doesn't have the best foot speed or strength, but he has absolutely superb mental attributes. He is a top notch technician who is a superb passer with great first touch. He has really developed in the last few years. He is making 47,000/week and he is valued at 30 million dollars!

Souleymane Mamam is a 25 year old attacking midfielder/right winger who is good, but not great. His best attributes are his high work rate and technique. He has a good first touch, good finishing ability, and good pace. He currently is valued at 6.2 million and is making 22,500/week. If I'm going to use an attacking midfielder, I think Benayoun might be better than this guy.

Christopher Eagles is a 24 year old English attacking midfielder/right winger. He is definitely better than Benayoun. This guy has superb crossing ability, great technique, great first touch, excellent mental attributes, and good physical attributes (but his pace is only average at best.) He is making 58,000/week and is valued at 10.5 million.

Damien Duff is a 31 year old Irish left winger who is very fast, has great acceleration, balance, agility and stamina. He has excellent mental attributes including outstanding creativity and flair. He has good dribbling and passing ability. He is not much of a shooter, but he could do a great job of setting his teammates up.

Jamie cook is an 18 year old attacking midfielder. He is already developing into an excellent player. He has great passing ability, great off the ball play, excellent crossing and passing ability. He is a superb penalty shooter. He doesn't jump well though and he lacks good natural fitness. I'll be cautious with this talented 18 year old to try to foster his development. He is already valued at 13 million dollars and he is making 4,200/week.

I see the usefulness of acquiring one great player in the midfield, perhaps for the right wing? I'll think about this more.

Eaglesfan27

03-14-2005, 08:00 PM

FrogMan

03-14-2005, 08:18 PM

FM, I read that post and really did laugh hard (and posted a quick reply in your thread) :)

Thanks for visiting/posting. I had a good laugh too when it happened :)

FM

Eaglesfan27

03-14-2005, 08:18 PM

Finally we wind up with forward/striker.

I think this position has top notch quality and depth.

Alan Smith is a 29 year old right forward/centre forward who has excellent physical attributes with extremely good acceleration and balance. His pace is very good. He has top notch mental attributes acrosss the board and has absolutely superb anticipation and he is very aggressive. His finishing skill is just good, but he has excellent first touch. He has very good heading skill, good passing, and good technique. His creativity and flair are both very good. He is currently valued at 25 million dollars and he is making 83,000/week.

Akin Serhat is a 29 year old right forward/centre forward from Turkey who lacks the top notch foot speed that I would like. However, all of his other physical attributes are good. He has excellent physical attributes, except for his teamwork which is poor. He also shows poor concentration according to my AM. He is a very good finisher, who has fair first touch. He is an excellent passer. He is currently valued at 20 million dollars and he makes 93,000/week. I think that he might be a good transfer candidate.

James McFadden is a 27 year old Scottish player who plays left forward and centre forward. He has very good physical attributes. He has very good mental attributes accorss the board. He has excellent dribbling, first touch, passing, and technique. He has excellent creativity and flair. His finishing is just average. He is left footed which is important in the offense I plan on using, and he could be my first or second string striker on the left side of the box. He currently makes 45,000/week and he is valued at 14 million dollars.

Wayne Rooney is a 24 year old(!) striker who already has 73 caps and 31 goals for England. He can use either foot and he plays centre forward. He has across the board excellent physical attributes. He has top notch creativity and flair. He has excellent mental attributes. He has top notch first touch, dribbling, passing, technique, long shots, and good finishing. He is currently valued at 74 million dollars! He is making 160,000/week. He is clearly a first string starter. He is the only unhappy player right now as he feels he isn't completely fit and ready for football.

Ernesto Marino is a 24 year old Italian Striker who is currently on loan at Millwall. Marino is a good striker who has decent pace, above average physical attributes. He has good mental attributes except or his work rate which is low. He has good dribbling ability, average finishing, average first touch, good heading and passing. I don't see him as being a regular contributor, but he could play in a pinch.

Ruud van Nistelrooy is a 34 year old Dutch legend who has very good physical attributes even at his advanced age. He has excellent mental attributes. He has good penalty taking skill, excellent finishing, and good first touch. His heading ability appears to have deteriorated. He used to be a star, but he is still a good rotation player. He is in the last year of a contract that pays him 190,000/week. He is valued at 2.2 million dollars. There is talk that he might retire after the season.

Louis Saha is a 31 year old French striker who used to be a mainstay starter. He has excellent physical attributes including outstanding pace. He has above average mental attributes particularly strong flair in his play. His dribbling and finishing are average at best. His first touch ability is good. His penalty taking is excellent. He is currently making 100,000/week. He is valued at 4.2 million dollars.

Right now, I think McFadden, Rooney, and Smith are the top 3 strikers with Saha and Ruud van Nistelrooy also getting a good share of PT.

Eaglesfan27

03-14-2005, 08:26 PM

I'm just going to hit the high points on our reserve squad (of which there are quite a few.):

Alfonso is a 19 year spanish left winger who has very good physical attributes, good mental attributes (but poor flair), very good passing. He has good heading, long shots, and dribbling. If he continues to develop, he could be a regular contributor in 2 years. He could play in a pinch now.

Jimmy Murphy is an 17 year old centreback who is already showing flairs of potential. He has average passing, marking, heading, determination, and bravery. If he develops, he might be a regular contributor down the road.

Also looking for standouts on the U18 squad:

Lee Rose is a 16 year old keeper who is already developing nicely. He'll be one to keep an eye on.

Mark Watson is a 15 year old midfielder who shows promise.

That is the entire squad.

It is going to be a tough decision on where to bolster the squad.

Eaglesfan27

03-14-2005, 08:41 PM

Aug 4, 2010 -

Considering who I should pursue, I check out a few possibilities:

Cristiano Ronaldo - My scouts feel this 25 year striker/midfielder has truly blossomed. He is a superb dribbler who has great technique, good creativity, top notch flait, top notch agility and balance. He has excellent skills except for his teamwork which isn't so good. He is currently valued at 68 million dollars. I wish they had never sold him, but I don't see myself reacquiring him at this time.

Joaquin is a possibility - His age is a little concerning, 29, but he is still a world class right winger. He has excellent speed, great acceleration, top notch dribbling, great crossing, and passing, great frist touch, mostly top notch mental attributes. He has superb flair and creativity. He is a very tempting choice. He is currently with Real Madrid and he is valued at 34.5 million dollars. He speaks fluent English as well as Spanish.

Bastian Schweinsteiger is a 26 year old German player who has good pace, excellent physical abilities. He has very good mental attributes accorss the board. He is a very good passer, an excellent dribbler, and good crossing. He is currently starting for Milan.

Andres D'Alessandro - IF I go to a 3-5-2 like I was running at Wigan, I would definitely want this 29 year attacking midfielder. He is a top notch finisher who has excellent dribbling, flair, creativity, technique, and pace. He has top notch physical skills. However, if I keep running a 4-4-2 (which I'm considering) I wouldn't really be taking advantage of D'Alessandro's abilities.

Landon Donovan - 28 year old USA player whose versatility intrigues me. He has excellent physical abilities. He has great creativity and flair. He has excellent mental attributes. He has very good dribbling, finishing, first touch. He is an excellent passer. He can play and forward position or either wing. He can use either foot well. He is valued at 30 million and is playing for Milan currently (as are quite a few of these possibilities.)

Freddy Adu - Only 21 years old and already a very good player. He has good pace, excellent balance and stamina. Very good mental attributes. Excellent technique, passing, first touch, dribbling, and finishing. He is currently with Barcelona and he is worth 27.5 million currently.

Phillip Lahm - A 26 year old right winger who can also play right fullback, left fullback or left wing. He has excellent pace, physical attributes, mental attributes, and good passing ability. He has superb crossing ability. He is currently with Inter and he is valued at 23 million dollars.

Jermaine Jenas - This 27 year old right winger/attacking midfielder is a skilled player who has good physical attributes, very good mental attributes, excellent passing, good crossing, and excellent heading.

These are my top few choices at the moment. I need to decide if I'm going to run a 3-5-2 here. If I am, I will likely go after D'Allesandro. If I don't, I am leaning towards Adu particularly as I see him still having room to grow in talent since he is only 21.

Eaglesfan27

03-14-2005, 08:50 PM

Aug 4, 2010 -

I really do need to make a decision about our tactics. They are currently running an attacking 4-4-2 with both wings pushing up some. I like the formation for the current players. I don't think I would need to acquire too many players and it would be just a matter of slotting in one or two new guys. Even though, I usually like to bring my own tactic to a club, it seems that the 4-4-2 would likely be best here.

I anticipate a starting lineup as follows for the top team:

GK: Howard (if he doesn't do well early, I will be looking to acquire a better keeper.)
DL: Silvestre or John O'Shea
DC: Cristian Chivu
DC: Rio Ferdinand
DR: tossup between Zdenek Grygera and Wes Brown
ML: Damien Duff
MC: Eric Djemba Djemba
MC: Darren Fletcher
MR: Christopher Eagles (although I'd like to get an even better right winger and let Eagles play in the middle some. You think I would give him more of a chance to be a star with his name being so similar to mine.)
FC: James McFadden or Alan Smith
FC: Wayne Rooney

Again, I think midfield would be the only significant area to add depth on this team.

I ask my Mr. Quieroz what he thinks we need to improve on. He believes that we need to improve the depth in the midfield and among the attackers. He believes Ruud van Nistelrooy is too old to be an effective striker any longer. He thinks Jamie Cook is a weak midfielder. He also thinks Jamie Cook has the best chance to become a star in our midfield. I agree with both of his assessments.

So, after careful consideration, I'm going to try to keep the 4-4-2. I'm going to pursue someone who can play right wing at a very high level. I'm also going to pursue a young left fullback at some point to develop behind O'Shea and Silvestre.

Eaglesfan27

03-14-2005, 09:24 PM

Giving this some more consideration:

I'll need a left winger in the next season or so as Duff is starting to decline. Christopher Eagles looks good at right wing on the tape, but not great. I'd like to get someone who could play either wing if possible. If I don't, I'll get a right winger this year and a left winger next year. I've also takena look at Lucio. He is 32, but he is still a top notch defender. He is currently valued at 15 million. That would be kind of pricey for a 32 year old defender. As much as I want to manage him, I'll have to pass as Milan isn't willing to let him go for less. Despite this, I decide to make them an offer of 15 million to see if they will let him go for this price.

Now, I need to figure out who is going to be my big ticket item. I'm not going to offer more than 15 million for Lucio.

Looking at my previous list:

Cristiano Ronaldo - I'd really like to have him back on the club. 67 million is so expensive. If I could get him a bit cheaper, I'd really like to reacquire him. Of course, with the next sale clause I will get back 30% of my purchase price. The fact that he can play either wing is a big plus. Also, he is only 25 and would have several more years of quality play. The biggest drawback is the reputation that he lacks team work at times.

Joaquin - His speed is so tempting. He might be the fastest guy I'm considering. He doesn't have any significant weaknesses except his relative lack of natural fitness. He is 29 so this in combination with his poor fitness might make him suspectible to injury. Otherwise, he might be a top choice.

Schweinsteiger - No weaknesses, but isn't truly the best at anything. However, he is really very good at everything. Milan considers him an irreplaceable player and are unlikely to let him go for any reasonable price.

D'Allesandro - He doesn't fit my needs since I will continue to run the 4-4-2.

Donovan - Superb speed and acceleration. He might be the quickest guy I'm considering. His relative lack of crossing is a downer. He does everything else good. Also a poor tackler.

Adu - Not great at crossing the ball either. More of a central midfielder or striker. I'd love to acquire him at some point because I think he has the potential to keep getting better since he is only 21. I think he could be a great investment. He'd also be an ideal central midfielder/striker. I might pursue him if I have a decent amount of money left over after my first acquisition (I don't want to use all 93 million this year.)

Lahm - This 26 year old is so good at crossing. Has everything I'm looking for. Inter is quite attached to him. He can play both wings. If I can convince Inter to let him go, this might be my top choice. My biggest concern is that fullback is his favored position.

Jenas - Not a superb crosser like I want.

I also will add Shaun Wright-Phillips to my list of possibilities. He is playing very well for Germany and he has very good crossing, dribbling, physical skills, etc.

So, trying to narrow it down to a top 3...

1. Lahm - I'm worried that Inter won't let him go for a reasonable price. I'm even more worried that he will be upset he isn't playing fullback, but he has great skills.

2. Joaquin - Close to #1. His natural fitness worries me. He could be a very expensive bust if I sign him to a big deal and he gets hurt.

3. Cristiano Ronaldo - If his teamwork was better, and he wasn't so expensive he would be my top choice.

I bite the bullet and make a 23 million dollar offer to Inter for Philipp Lahm.

I'll wait to see what happens with this offer and the offer for Lucio before I make any further offers.

Eaglesfan27

03-14-2005, 09:44 PM

August 5, 2010 -

Gimnastic has made an offer of 400,000 dollars for Santi. Santi is a 19 year old keeper in my youth system that I forgot to mention. the previous administration put him on the transfer list and made his asking price 400,000. I'm not sure why they did that. At 19, he looks like he has the makings of a potentially good keeper. He is valued at 1.8 million. I hate to change asking price at the last minute as I think it is unprofessional, but I just took over. I raise my counter offer to 1.2 million. If they want to pay that, I'll let him go.

Darn it! Inter wants to buy away a few of my best players. I'm glad Manchester United hired me before they sold these guys. Specifically, Inter is offering 19 million for Cristian Chivu. I rejected the offer.

Also Inter has made an offer of 110 million dollars for Wayne Rooney!!! They are offering 20 million up front, 62 million over 2 years, 28 million after 50 league games, and 30% of next sale. I reject that offer as well.

James McFadden has publicly complained that he wants a better contract. I wish he had come to me privately, but I must admit that he is worth more than the 45,000/week he is currently paid. I contact his agent to see how much they want. His agent is requesting a deal worth 73,000/week for 3 years with a signing bonus of 1.4 million. Mr. Quieroz thinks that McFadden is a useful first team member. He thinks we should offer up to 67,000/week as well as the requested signing bonus. I decide to split the difference and offer him 70,000/week, but I make it for 4 years instead of 3.

Eaglesfan27

03-14-2005, 09:49 PM

Aug 7, 2010 -

Alan Smith injured his neck in training today. He will miss 2 weeks approximately (including our season opener.)

Ivo Ulich has agreed to come work for us as a physio.

Eaglesfan27

03-14-2005, 09:56 PM

Aug. 7, 2010 -

Marseille has accepted my offer for Fabien Barthez. I'm going to make an offer to him. He wants 26,500/week to be a player/coach. My AM doesn't believe he is worth signing, but I disagree. I'm going to offer him 20,000/week. If he accepts, I think he would become my 2nd string keeper and be the backup in almost every game.

Inter have completed rejected the 23 million dollar bid for Philipp Lahm.

Valencia have made an offer of 19.5 million for Cristian Chivu.

Milan have made a counter offer of 20 million for Lucio. They actually want 11.5 million up front and 8.8 million over the next 6 months. I'm afraid that I'm buying him because of my love of him from the past. Can he still do it now? He looks like he can even at the age of 32. That is so expensive for such an old player. He is very driven, and I think he will continue to play well even now. It's a tough decision. I counter with 17 million dollars.

Lucky Jim

03-14-2005, 09:57 PM

Congrats man. Worldclass Manager, it has a nice ring to it :D

Eaglesfan27

03-14-2005, 09:58 PM

August 7, 2010 -

After further consideration, I make another offer of 30 million for Lahm.

This will be my final offer for Lahm at this time. If they refuse this, I will go after another name on the list who has more world wide renown. I need a player who is going to sell merchandise as well as be a big time player.

Eaglesfan27

03-14-2005, 09:59 PM

Congrats man. Worldclass Manager, it has a nice ring to it :D
Thank you :D

Eaglesfan27

03-14-2005, 10:05 PM

Aug 7, 2010 -

Awww. crap. Chivu is unhappy that I rejected an offer from Valencia. He really wants to go to Valencia as they are one of his favorite clubs.

At. Madrid have made an offer of 17 million for Cristian Chivu. I reject that offer.

If Chivu pushes to go, than I will really need to acquire Lucio. It won't just be a choice from the heart, but he is one of the best centrebacks in the world.

Eaglesfan27

03-14-2005, 10:07 PM

Aug 8, 2010 -

Louis Saha injured his calf in training today and will miss about two weeks.

Eric Djemba Djembia has injured his ankle in practice today and will miss about 2 weeks.

Eaglesfan27

03-14-2005, 10:39 PM

Aug 10, 2010 -

Barthez has accepted our offer. I guess you can come home again.

Inter has rejected our 30 million dollar offer for Phillip Lahm.

My scout watched a bunch of Chelsea players and feels that Wesley Sneijder might be a great acquisition. I have to agree with him ater reviewing the tape. He will definitely be added to my list of possible targets.

Milan has accepted my 16.9 million dollar offer for Lucio! If Lucio accepts the deal, I will be paying them 7 million up front and 9.9 million over a year.

Lucio wants 110,000 dollars/week for a 2 years plus 1.1 million signing bonus. My AM thinks that Lucio will be a great player and think we should offer up to 140,000/week. I decide to just offer what Lucio is asking for but I'm going to extend the deal to 3 years. The guy still looks faster than most players on the pitch and in better shape, even at the age of 32.

Eaglesfan27

03-14-2005, 10:42 PM

August 10, 2010 -

Call me sentimental, but I offer Barcelona 67 million for Cristiano Ronaldo. He is a world renown attacking midfielder at the age of 25. I think I'll be able to coach him to play nicely with his teammates. He is supremely talented. I won't go above the 67 million though. (I still can't believe I'm offering this much for one player.)

SunDancer

03-14-2005, 10:59 PM

Eaglesfan27

03-14-2005, 11:01 PM

Aug 11, 2010 -

My scouts think that 20 year old Barry Parker who is currently playing for Derby is going to have a great career and would be an excellent signing for any team. He is raw, and isn't ready to play for us yet, but I can see the potential. I decide to contact Derby to see how much they want for him. They are currently asking for a million dollars. I offer that.

Eaglesfan27

03-14-2005, 11:16 PM

EF,
You gotta be wrapped up in this game so much. The drama is intense and on-the-edge, fun to watch. Thanks for explaining the thinking-process, makes the dynasty alot more interesting. Milan seems to be really be shopping hard? Just curious, who have been the highest "valued" are "sold" players in the dynasty so far?
I'm definitely enjoying the game and very involved in it. I'm glad to write down my thinking process as it helps me clarify it for myself. Milan and Inter always seem to be spending money on bringing in quality players. Milan had a bad season and they seem to be more aggressive than usual.

I'm not sure about which players are the highest "sold" players in the dynasty as I don't have that history readily available. Under my profile, it lists the highest I've paid for a player and the highest I've sold one for.

I can tell you who the top 10 "Valued" players in the world are right now:

1. Wayne Rooney - He is the highest valued player in the world at 74 million dollars!

2. Carlos Tevez - 26 year old forward from Argentina. Has amazing speed, great all around skills. Valued at 73 million dollars. He is currently playing for Juventus.

3. Robinho - 26 year old forward from Brazil. He is an all around talent who has superb dribbling and technique. He is playing for Barcelona and he is valued at 72 million.

4. Fernando Cavenaghi - 26 year striker from Argentina. He was one of my favorite players in CM 03/04. He is a great striker who mental attributes are amazing. He is valued at 71 million dollars. He is currently at Real Madrid.

5. Fernando Torres - 26 year old Spanish striker who has great dribbling and technique. Wonderful scorer. He is valued at 70 million dollars. He is currently playing for Milan.

6. Cristiano Ronaldo - 25 year old forward who can play any forward spot, any midfield spot. If I get him, I might play him on the left side. He has great skills with a lack of team work being his only problem. He is valued at 67 million. He is also playing for Barcelona.

7. Diego - 25 year old attacking midfielder from Brazil. He is currently playing for Chelsea.

8. Kaka - 28 year old right winger/attacking midfielder who is valued at 64 million. He is currently playing for Milan too.

9. Valeri Bojinov - 24 year old striker from Bulgaria. He is valued at 62 million. He is currently playing for Lazio.

10. Antonio Cassano - 28 year old striker from Italy. He is currently valued at 60 million dollars. He is playing for Roma.

The thing about "value" is that it is sort of a free floating concept. It is dependent upon age, past production, potential future production, and it can fluctuate greatly. As these players get older, their "value" will go down significantly. Also, teams may not sell some players even if you offer 2 times the value. Least that is my experience in the past.

Eaglesfan27

03-14-2005, 11:35 PM

Did you get your financial reward from the Championship title?

Will you include a brief preview (maybe break-down in categerios, "Elite (teams fighting for the title), 'Solid", "Avoiding Regelation") of the EPL?

Wow, the United finished 5th last year? Are they slidding (like Liverpool is in real-life), or just had an off-year? See Newcastle has come back strong after just nearly avoiding regulation the last few years. Also, is Southampton for real?

Here is a brief preview of the EPL:

Top Title Contenders:

1. Chelsea - They have won 5 consecutive titles. They have more money than ANYONE. They are the team to beat.

2. Arsenal - Despite finishing 3rd last year, I think they are clearly the 2nd strongest team. Thierry Henry is still a dangerous striker at 32 years old. They have young talent in Javier Saviola and Jose Antonio Reyes. Their goal keeping has been top notch the last few years. Their best players are aging, so they could slip.

3. Liverpool - They finished in 2nd place last year. Andres D'Alessandro is such an explosive scorer from the midfield. He doesn't show any signs of slowing down at 29 years old. They have a very solid midfield. Their defensive line is imporving with the recent acquisition of left fullback Gael Clichy. Chris Kirkland is a top notch keeper.

4. Manchester United - They finished 5th last year, but with my hopeful acquisitions and my keen management I believe we are a good title contender.

Second Tier:

Southampton - They finished in 4th and they are a rising team, but I don't see them as true threats to win the title. They don't have many truly elite stars. Their best player is striker James Beattie who is starting to slow down at 32 years old. I suspect they will slide a few spots this year.

Aston Villa - They finished 6th last year. They could surprise this year. They have a very talented striker who may be familiar to readers of the dynasty, Darius Vassell. The kid kept getting better and he has risen through the ranks over the years. Gareth Barry is still a good player. They also have a very good striker in Luke Moore.

Tottenham - They finished 7th last year. They rely on striker Jermain Defoe who is a top tier player. Keeper Paul Robinson has widely been recognized as the best English keeper in the last 3 years. Centerback Ledley King is a quality player.

Newcastle - They have a top notch striker in Lukas Podolski but Milan is trying to buy him away from them. If they sell him, they better get a player who is equally as talented. Otherwise, they will fall.

Middle of the Pack:

Middlesbrough - They finished in 9th last year. They have a bunch of good players, but no truly top notch players.

Birmingham City - They finished 10th last year. I expect them to finish lower this year. Their best player is french striker Rudy Carlier.

Fulham - They finished 11th last year. They have Milan Baros who is a very good striker. Collins John is an excellent partner for him. Their keeping is sketchy and they will likely need to beat opponents with wide open offense.

Blackburn - They finished 12th last year. They have a good duo at striker with Paul Gallagher and Jonathan Stead. Midfielder Barry Ferguson is an excellent all around midfielder. Their defense is shaky.

Will be fighting to avoid relegation:

Wigan - You should know all about them. :)

Reading - They finished 14th last year, but they could fall if breaks don't go their way. They don't have any superior players and they will need a great team effort to make it happen. Their best player may be former QPR player Wayne Routledge.

West Brom - They have a bit better chance at climbing towards the middle of the table and avoiding relegation. However, if striker Johan Elmander goes down with injury, this team will be in trouble. Their shaky goal keeping could also doom them. Federico Vilar is a shadow of himself, but he is their starting keeper.

Bolton - They have had a decreasing position each year for the last 3 years. They finished 15th last year. They will be relying on their duo of excellent midfielders in Roberto and Kevin Nolan. Striker Filipe Oliveira also has potential to be good.

Man City - They finished in 16th last year. They are getting old, and haven't done a good job in bringing in new talent. Their best players are all 30 or older. Striker Ryan Smith is 23 and could be a star that would fill some of the experience void that will inevitably hit.

Sunderland - They finished in 17th and barely avoided relegation last year. Marco Streller needs to play well at striker for them to score. Midfielder Chris Robson will also be very important.

Leicester - They came up with Wigan last year. If Dean Ashton can play well in the EPL, I think they will manage to stay up. That is a big IF.

Everton will need a great performance from it's very good midfield to avoid going back down. In particular Andy Reid and Tim Cahill will need to play well.

Eaglesfan27

03-14-2005, 11:43 PM

Aug 13, 2010 -

LUcio accepted my contract offer. The move is delayed due to a work permit being needed.

On the news tonight, Kevin Keegan told the sports reporter that he doesn't fear us. He doesn't believe we have the talent to win the title this year and that we might have the talent for next year if we get a few key signings.

I decided to reply to the media with good humour and didn't disparage Keegan at all, but focused on the fact that I believe we have the talent to win the league title this year.

Cristiano Ronaldo signed a new 3 year deal at Barcelona worth 37 million dollars!

Eaglesfan27

03-14-2005, 11:48 PM

Aug 14, 2010 -

Carlisle have asked to borrow one of my reserve keepers, Manu. Manu needs some PT, so I agree to the offer which has them paying 100% of his salary.

Derby rejected my offer for Barry Parker.

Barry Parker has told the media that he is unhappy that Derby isn't allowing him to come to such an illustrious club as Manchester United.

Eaglesfan27

03-14-2005, 11:52 PM

Aug. 14, 2010 -

Today we travel to play Leicester in our EPL Season Opener. Leicester should be an easy team for us to beat. They will be relying on their strikers, Dean Ashton and Andrew Johnson, to help them win today. Their best midfielder is Ben Watson. Zander Diamond is their best defender, but he might be leaving the club soon. Their keeper Joe Lewis is a young improving keeper.

We are heavy 1-2 favorites.

It's sunny with temperatures in the mid 60's.

GK: Howard
DL: Silvestre
DC: Chivu
DC: Ferdinand
DR: Brown
ML: Duff
MC: Mamam
MC: Fletcher
MR: Eagles
SC: McFadden
SC: Rooney

S1: Heaton
S2: Grygera
S3: Neville
S4: Akin Serhat
S5: Ruud van Nistelrooy

RPI-Fan

03-15-2005, 12:05 AM

For the first time, I've tried an EPL career. I'm using my favourite team, Palace, so it's a real challenge!

At the new calendar year in my first season, we're above the relegation line, in a dogfight with 5 other teams! I haven't made many acquisitions, as I don't have much money to spend.

Managing a big club is just as if not more challenging than controlling a small club! With a small club you don't even have to worry about splitting up your money - if you see someone who is good, you pay as much as possible for them. With a big(ger) team, you need to really use some foresight. Just because you have the money to spend, doesn't mean you can spend it.

Also, contract decisions are tougher. You can't always just bring back your best guys at all costs like you can in the lower leagues. Additionally, sometimes you need to sell guys who are 2nd-tier -- not starting quality, but also players you'd like to keep around. These guys are worth so much, though, that sometimes it really is necessary to take the money and run.

With my Palace team, I have some contracts that are expiring that I don't know if I should renew or not. Just like in real life, Vasilis Lakis is so inconsistent. Some games, he'll give a MoM type effort, just blazing trails up and down the right side of the pitch. Others, he looks clueless and is a waste of space. Ditto (to a lesser extent) for Wayne Routeledge. Nicola Ventola, a pesky Italian striker, has been just the same way. In fact, Gabor Kiraly, Joonas Kolkka, and Andy Johnson (is this the same Andrew Johnson that's been with Leicster for a while in your universe???) are the only guys who have been truly professional for me.

I've brought in a Norweigan, Frode Jonsenn, whose value has approximately doubled when arriving with our team. I signed him for L1.5MM -- now he's valued @ L4.3MM. I hope he can be a great strike partner for AJ up top! Ventola has not shown the ability or will to step it up game after game as an elite striker.

Sorry for going off on a tangent, just thought I'd try to relate how I think it is just as or more difficult to manage a (relatively) big club [Premiership level] than it is a lower league side!!!

~rpi-fan

Eaglesfan27

03-15-2005, 12:15 AM

3 minute mark: Ferdinand intercepts an offensive effort and passes it deep.. Diamond passes back to the keeper.. McFadden intercepts the pass back to the keeper.. dribbles to his left around the keeper.. fires it into the net! GOAL!!!! 1-0.

8 minute mark: Ferdinand with a good defensive play.

10 minute mark: Rooney dribbles down the right sideline.. burns two defenders.. crosses to McFadden.. he heads it.. the keeper saves it.

17 minute mark: Howard stops a long range shot from Watson.

23 minute mark: McFadden intercepts it in our own box.. dribbles down the middle of the field.. is approached by 5 different defenders.. weaves around them.. amazing dribble.. all the way down the pitch.. into the box.. dribbles towards the left post.. finally shoots.. lower right corner.. GOAL!!!! 2-0. What an effort!

36 minute mark: McFadden with another super dribble.. is tackled hard by El al-douf. Yellow card to their midfielder.

39 minute mark: Chivu tackles Ashton in our box.. penalty shot awarded.. Ashton steps up.. shoots.. lower left corner.. GOAL. Still up 2-1.

44 minute mark: Fletcher collides with Quashie their midfielder.. Quashie is hurt. His part in the game is over.

Halftime: Up 2-1. Leicester has over 32,000 fans here today.

52 minute mark: Watson passes into the box for Ashton.. he shoots from 15 yards.. hard shot.. Howard saves it.. Chivu clears the rebound.

54 minute mark: Silvester with a good defensive play.. gets it to McFadden at midfield.. he passes to Rooney just outside the box.. Diamond catches Rooney before he can make a move.

56 minute mark: Chivu with a long pass to the right corner of the pitch.. Rooney gets it.. crosses.. perfect cross.. McFadden wiffs.. misses a perfect opportunity to score his hattrick.

63 minute mark: Phil Neville on for Mamam. Rooney is tired and not playing that great. I put Ruud van Nistelrooy on for him.

69 minute mark: Watson passes into the box for Ashton.. great play by Ferdinand to stop him.

74 minute mark: Ferdinand takes a free kick from midfield.. kicks it to Ruud van Nistelrooy just outside the box.. he turns.. fakes out a defender.. blasts a shot into the lower right corner.. GOAL!!!! 3-1.

76 minute mark: Ashton gets a breakaway.. shoots from 18 yards out.. Howard with a great save.

81 minute mark: Watson steals it from Ferdinand.. passes it to Ashton who shoots from 20 yards.. Howard easily saves it.

85 minute mark: Duff with a corner kick to chivu.. he heads it.. barely over the bar.

89 minute mark: Johnson gets it on the right wing from Camero.. he crosses into the box.. Chivu misses a play on the ball.. Ashton shoots.. upper left corner.. GOAL. Still up 3-2.

Game over. 3-2 win for us :) I'm a little worried that our defense gave up so many good opportunities to Ashton. Chivu and Ferdinand both looked shaky at spots. I'm suddenly very glad that I should have Lucio here in 2 weeks (after his WP is approved, which I'm certain it will be.)

They outshot us 14-10 (10-5 on target in their favor)

James McFadden had a 10 for form, won MoM, 22 of 23 passes, 0 of 3 tackles, 4 of 10 headers, 2 interceptions, 5 runs, 2 goals.

Eaglesfan27

03-15-2005, 12:19 AM

Eaglesfan27

03-15-2005, 12:25 AM

Aug 15, 2010 -

Barcelona have rejected the 67 million dollar offer for Cristiano Ronaldo.

Barcelona's Cristiano Ronaldo has informed his manager that he is worried by the small roster size. He is concerned without competition that players on the club will become complacent.

With the flat out refusal to sell Cristiano Ronaldo at any price, I revert back to my list and contact Real Madrid about Joaquin. He is currently valued at 34 million dollars. I offer them 34 million for him.

Eaglesfan27

03-15-2005, 12:32 AM

Aug 15, 2010 -

Real Madrid has offered 54 million for Wayne Rooney. What are they smoking. No way am I selling at that price (or any price.)

Everton has signed Zander Diamond away from Leicester for 3.2 million dollars.

Eaglesfan27

03-15-2005, 12:39 AM

Aug 17, 2010 -

Suddenly I'm wishing I had sold Chivu. Chivu suffered a herniated disc in his back today in training. He will need surgery to correct this problem and is expected to miss 3 months. The acquisition of Lucio is looking better by the moment (assuming he gets his WP.)

Manu agreed to go to Carlisle on loan.

Eaglesfan27

03-15-2005, 12:58 AM

Aug 17, 2010 -

Real Madrid have flat out rejected the offer for Joaquin. Now, I find myself reconsidering my course of action. Where do I need a player the most? Is it really right wing? No, I don't think so. I think I really need a player at left wing since Duff is 31 and no one else can play left wing well. Also Duff didn't look that good in the 1st match. Christopher Eagles at least looked good in the 1st match and he is only 24. If I'm going to possibly overpay, I will look at left wingers now.

1. Vicente - This 29 year old Spanish left winger plays for Valencia. He has exceptional spped, acceleration, great mental attributes, excellent dribbling, crossing, and passing. He is valued at 41 million. I wish he was a bit younger. Otherwise, he is a great choice.

2. Arjen Robben - this 26 year old left winger is currently playing for Chelsea. He has excellent speed, acceleration, agility, balance. He has very good mental attributes. He isn't good as a defensive player, but he is a very good passer. He is good at crossing. He is only 26 which is appealing.

3. Jose Antonio Reyes - This 26 year old player can play left wing or striker. He has excellent pace, great physical abilities, great mental attributes, very good crossing, passing, dribbling, and finishing. He is a very tempting choice. I doubt Arsenal would ever agree to sell him, but if they would, he might be the best choice.

4. Wesley Sneijder is a 26 year old who can play either side. He is currently with Chelsea. He doesn't really have any downside. He is actually top of my list from this group so far.

5. Stewart Downing - this 26 year old player is currently at Newcastle. He has excellent attributes across the board. He is only low on strength and bravery. He is right up there at the top of the list.

6. Anthony Osei - This 24 year old from Ghana is currently playing for Milan. He has top notch speed. He is a superb passer, great at crossing, and a decent dribbler. He might be 3rd on my list.

I'm going to pursue Downing and I'm going to go after him hard.

Downing is valued at 22 million. He has a 35.5 million dollar release clause. I start off by offering 26 million dollars.

Eaglesfan27

03-15-2005, 01:16 AM

Aug 18, 2010 -

Darn. Souleymane Mamam has broken his leg in practice yesterday. He will miss up to 3 months. Now, my midfield is feeling a bit thin.

Today we host Middelsbrough. They are currently 16th in the EPL. They will be relying heavily on striker Alejandro Sanchez Fernandez who is a very skilled striker. Left winger David Bentley is also a solid player. Right winger Hanno Balitsch is still a good player for them. Their defense is just average and striker Jan Lastuvka will have to play well to stop us.

We are 4-6 favorites.

It's sunny with temperatures in the mid 70's.

Our stadium is a 75300 all seater with retractable roof and under-soil heating. I wonder how many fans we will get here today.

GK: Howard
DL: Silvestre
DC: O'Shea
DC: Ferdinand
DR: Brown
ML: Duff
MC: Cook (the kid gets a start with the multiple injuries.)
MC: Fletcher
MR: Eagles
SC: McFadden (earned a second start)
SC: Rooney

S1: Barthez
S2: Grygera
S3: Neville
S4: Serhat
S5: Ruud van Nistelrooy

Eaglesfan27

03-15-2005, 01:36 AM

11 minute mark: Eagles with a cross but the keeper intercepts it before McFadden can head it.

28 minute mark: Ferdinand passes down the left side of the pitch to Duff who dribbles donwn the left sideline... crosses into the side of the net.

31 minute mark: Silvestre gets a yellow card for a trip on Fernandez.

35 minute mark: Duff is tackled before being able to cross for the 4th or 5th time today.

36 minute mark: Silvestre intercepts it at midfield.. passes it down the left sideline to Duff.. he immediately centers into the box.. McFadden gets it.. shoots.. upper right corner.. GOAL!!!! 1-0.

37 minute mark: Cook intercepts it at midfield.. passes it to Duff on the left wing.. Duff dribbles up the left side.. he crosses over Rooney's head.. Fletcher gets it just right of the box.. passes it into the box for Rooney.. he immediately kicks it into the upper left corner of the goal! GOAL!!!! 2-0.

40 minute mark: Brown plays a long pass down the right sideline.. Rooney gets it.. beats two defenders.. dribbles between them again.. into the box.. shoots.. the keeper blocks it.. but can't control it.. McFadden gets the rebound.. fires it into the net. GOAL!!!! 3-0! 3 goals in about 5 minutes.

Halftime: 3-0 lead. We have over 68,000 fans here today!

50 minute mark: Duff intercepts it at midfield.. perfect through ball to the edge of the box.. Rooney gets there.. dirbbles into the box.. shoots.. upper left corner.. the keeper blocks it.

60 minute mark: McFadden passes to Rooney.. he is tripped by Magnin.. yellow card for Magnin.

70 minute mark: Leon Andreassen shoots a hard shot from 30 yards out.. it deflects off O'Shea in the box.. and that makes it sail into the right side of the net.. GOAL. Still up 3-1.

I've given McFadden time to work on the hattrick, but he didn't do it today. He is tired now, so I bring in Serhat for him.

Fletcher is also tired, I put Neville on for him.

74 minute mark: Duff crosses for Rooney.. he heads it.. into the crossbar.

Game over. 3-1 win for us :)

We outshot them 16-6 (10-2 on target)

Damien Duff played much better this game. In fact, he had a 9 for form and won MoM, 34 of 42 passes, 1 of 2 tackles, 0 of 7 headers, 2 interceptions, 7 runs, 1 assist.

Eaglesfan27

03-15-2005, 11:45 AM

SunDancer

03-15-2005, 12:08 PM

(OOC NOTE: Just finishing up a short session during my lunch break.)

August 21, 2010 -

Ciriaco Cano, Blackburn's manager, has told the press that he doubts I will be able to guide the team to the title this year. He feels that I have a lot to prove as a manager at this level, and that with our clubs meeting tomorrow, he doesn't feel his Blackburn side has anything to be concerned about.

He has got under my skin. I reply, "Ciriaco Cano is questioning my ability? I wonder if he is still good enough to be an English Premier Division Manager? I don't think he is. I don't think he is cut-out for football at this level, and I think he should seek a different role in football."

Nice....Love the media interaction. Can coaches have an effect on the team and game in the situations you just describe, or even further media "battles"? I just order the game from gogamer.com. I don't have a laptop yet (prolly not til the end of April/May), but I think I can go over the game manual and get a grip on it. The laptop is close, just waiting for the "funds" (which I have, just waiting): Intel(R) Pentium(R) 4 650 w/HT Technology 3.4GHz, 2.0GB DDR2 SDRAM, 533MHz (2x1024MB), 80 GB 4200 RPM Hard Drive. I can't wait.... :D

condors

03-15-2005, 12:42 PM

yes as a manager you can weekly cause other teams to play poor and your team to play above what they are capable of

there was a post about it over at sigames.com that talked about it

some people make it a weekly thing, i myself talk when i have good things to say, i also take note what players what players can get taken off their game(and try to replace them as i am worried they may not show up in big games)

kingfc22

03-15-2005, 04:50 PM

Didn't check this last nite. CONGRATS!!!!

Eaglesfan27

03-15-2005, 05:56 PM

Didn't check this last nite. CONGRATS!!!!
Thanks :)

Sundancer, it seems team's managers are playing mind games much more at the EPL level. Last game, 5 of my players had reactions to the media battles (you can get a hint about their reaction from their player profile.)

Eaglesfan27

03-15-2005, 06:37 PM

Aug 21, 2010 -

Newcastle rejected the 26 million dollar offer for Stewart Downing.

I up the offer to 30 million dolllars.

Eaglesfan27

03-15-2005, 06:46 PM

Aug 22, 2010 -

Today we travel to play Blackburn. Blackburn is currently 13th in the EPL while we are in 3rd at this early point in the season. Blackburn has a mediocre defense led by centreback Petri Pasanen. Their midfield is solid and is led by Morten Gamst Pedersen. Their strikers are very good with Paul Gallagher and Jonathan Stead being a very good duo. Their keeper Matteo Chiodi is only 21 and he is very raw. He has started their first three EPL games and he has conceded 5 goals. He looks like we should be able to shred him apart.

We are 4-6 favorites.

It's sunny with temperatures in the mid 70's today.

GK: Howard
DL: Silvestre
DC: O'Shea
DC: Ferdinand
DR: Brown
ML: Duff
MC: Cook
MC: Fletcher
MR: Eagles
SC: McFadden
SC: Rooney

S1: Barthez
S2: Grygera
S3: Neville
S4: van Nistelrooy
S5: Alan Smith

Eaglesfan27

03-15-2005, 07:00 PM

This game is televised. The announcers think we should win easily. They think Rooney will be our ket player. They think Gallagher will be their key player.

14 minute mark: Eagles passes to Rooney in the box.. he curves a hard shot towards the left side of the net.. the keeper saves it.

21 minute mark: Duff overpasses Rooney blowing a good opportunity as the ball sails out of bounds.

32 minute mark: McFadden is called for being offsides ruining a great scoring opportunity as Rooney hit him with a great pass.

40 minute mark: Rooney passes to McFadden in the box.. hard shot.. hits the left post.

41 minute mark: After passing it around.. Cook gets off a good shot.. the keeper saves it.. he is playing better than I expected.

Halftime: 0-0 tie. Blackburn has over 31,000 fans here today.

50 minute mark: Howard stops a long range shot.

51 minute mark: Duff passes to Rooney who heads it to Eagles inside the right half of the box.. he shoots.. good opportunity.. the shot is into the right side of the netting. What a terrible waste.

55 minute mark: Ferguson takes a free kick from 25 yards out.. curves it between a crack in the wall.. it keeps curving.. into the upper left corner of the net. GOAL. Down 1-0.

63 minute mark: Duff with the corner kick.. finds Eagles by the far post.. he heads it.. just wide of the net.

72 minute mark: Alan Smith on for McFadden. Neville on for Cook.

91 minute mark: Eagles crosses for Smith.. he shoots.. hard shot.. the keeper saves it.

Game over. 1-0 loss. A very disappointing loss, particularly after the trash talking. No one played bad, but only Eagles got an 8. Everyone else had 7's.

We outshot them 11-10 (8-4 on target)

Their keeper, Matteo Chiodi won MoM.

Eaglesfan27

03-15-2005, 07:16 PM

Aug 24, 2010 -

Newcastle has rejected the 30 million dollar offer for Stewart Downing.

I'm having a hard time deciding if he is worth more than that. It's a tough decision.

I only have a week left, so I better make a decision soon.

I decide to up it to 33 million for Downing.

My scouts are also thrilled with Vincent Kompany who is a 24 year old Belgium centreback/defensive midfielder. This player looks to be an amazing player who could be an anchor in my midfield for years. I decide to offer Liverpool 30 million dollars for him.

Eaglesfan27

03-15-2005, 07:29 PM

Liverpool have rejected the 30 million dollar deal for Vincent Kompany. I up my offer to 34 million and 50% of next sale.

Newcastle countered my offer for Downing. They are asking for 41 million dollars. I found this counter laughable as he has a release clause of 35.5 million dollars. I decide to offer them the release clause amount for him. I don't think Duff needs to be replaced yet, but I don't think he has too much more time left. I need to get a good young player behind Duff/alongside Duff. Also with so many frequent games, I need two very good players at each position.

Barcelona has offered 19 million for Cristian Chivu. He is currently valued at 21.5 million. I counter by telling them I will accept 30 million for Chivu (I want to move him since he doesn't want to be here anymore - he'd rather be at Valencia.)

Eaglesfan27

03-15-2005, 07:35 PM

Aug 25, 2010 -

Today we host Fulham. We are currently in 5th while Fulham is having a good start and is currently in 3rd. Fulham's midfielder Thomas Hitzlsperger is playing great so far in the season. Their centreback Dean Leacock has played perfect defense. Their striker Milan Baros has 5 goals in 3 games! Their keeper Robert Green had a bad game two games ago and they sat him. Kasper Schmeichel played well last game. It will be interesting to see who starts against us.

We are 4-5 favorites.

It's overcast with a strong wing blowing through the stadium. Temperatures are in the mid 40's.

GK: Howard
DL: Silvestre
DC: O'Shea
DC: Ferdinand
DR: Brown
ML: Duff (I'd really like to rest him after just playing 3 days ago, but no one else can really play left wing which is why I need Downing.)
MC: Djemba Djemba
MC: Fletcher
MR: Eagles
SC: Saha
SC: van Nistelrooy (these guys used to be great together - Rooney and McFadden need rest after playing 3 games in a little over a week.)

S1: Barthez
S2: Grygera
S3: Neville
S4: Serhat
S5: Alan Smith

Eaglesfan27

03-15-2005, 07:47 PM

38 minute mark: vN with a great move to get inside the box.. beating two defenders.. passes to Saha.. he shoots.. the keeper saves.

Halftime: 0-0 tie. We have over 64,000 fans here tonight.

50 minute mark: Duff crosses long for Eagles who heads it wide of the net.

They are playing turtle and just crowding the box all day.

60 minute mark: I put Alan Smith on for Ruud van Nistelrooy. I'm also trying an experiment by putting Grygera in for Djemba who is tired.

83 minute mark: Alan Smith passes back to Fletcher just outside the box... hard shot.. inches wide left of the goal.

Game over. They played suffocating defense and kept 8-9 guys back at all times. 0-0 tie.

We outshot them 7-3 (3-0 on target)

Damien Duff had a 9 for form, won MoM, 26 of 37 passes, 2 of 4 tackles, 2 of 8 headers, 2 interceptions, 10 runs, 3 fouls drawn.

Eaglesfan27

03-15-2005, 08:01 PM

Aug 26, 2010 -

Wierd! Roma just offered Leandro Damian Cufre, a 32 year old centreback who is still good, plus 19 million dollars for Chivu and it says I rejected the offer before I even responded! I don't have any automatic rejections set up either (I double checked.) Oh well, I would have taken that deal.

Liverpool rejected my offer for Vincent Kompany. I'm making one final offer of 36 million dollars.

Newcastle accepted my bid (since they had to) and I've now contacted Downing's agent. Downing wants 83,000 per week plus 2.4 million dollar signing bonus. My AM thinks he is going to be a very good player for us and thinks we should offer up to 100,000/week. I offer the 83,000 that he is asking for. I ask him to sign a 4 year deal instead of a 3 year deal however.

Eaglesfan27

03-15-2005, 08:15 PM

August 27, 2010 -

Speaking in the build up to his match with me, Sunderland's rokkie manager Dave Jones admitted that he is jealous of the vast array of talent that I have availble to me. He said that he thinks that I should be able to crush most of our opponents.

I decide to give a polite response. I consider Dave Jones a friend, and i think he is one of the better managers in the game today and a nice guy as well.

Lucio's work permit has been approved and he is set to come here immediately.

Liverpool has rejected my latest offer for Vincent Kompany.

Stewart Downing has accepted my offer, and has told the media he is excited about coming to such a well supported club.

Barcelona have withdrawn their offer for Chivu.

With Kompany no longer an option, I decide to set my target a little lower. I go after Lyon's Michael Essien. This 27 year old midfielder from Ghana is a very talented player who speaks French and English. He has very good abilities across the board and is valued at 16 million currently. I offer them that.

Also of note, we made over 14 million dollars last month, and we have made over 13 million dollars this month.

Eaglesfan27

03-15-2005, 08:18 PM

Aug 27, 2010 -

Lucio has arrived. Fans are thrilled with this signing, and the commercial director tells me that he believes we will see a sharp increase in shirt sales after this purchase.

Downing has also arrived today. My Commercial director also believes this signing will cause a huge boost in shirt sales.

Fans are very concerned that Downing could disrupt harmony at Old Trafford.

RPI-Fan

03-15-2005, 09:32 PM

illinifan999

03-15-2005, 09:51 PM

I hate Frode Johnsen. He wouldn't resign with Rosenborg even after I maxed everything for him. Was always one of those guys that would score 1 goal a game, but he would need 10 shots to do it. I loathe him.

SunDancer

03-15-2005, 09:54 PM

Eaglesfan27

03-15-2005, 10:32 PM

Just beat ManU @ home in the FA Cup on the back of two goals from my lone acquistion, Norweigen striker Frode Johnsen!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Go Palace Go!!!!!!

I hope Downing works out for you... personally, I was hoping you'd acquire one of the Americans (Don-o-van or Adu). Nevertheless, I like that you decided you absolutely needed Downing, and didn't give up on it. It seems like there really is no reason for you to slow down in any negotiations, based on the amount of money you're making.
Congrats! :)

I really wanted to get Adu, as he is so good at such a young age, but his lack of footspeed really worries me. His pace is only 12, and that doesn't really fit my requirements for forward or winger. Then again, if I fill my most pressing needs, I may very well make a play for him next year. As far as Donovan, I like him too, but he wasn't quite good enough to justify the big money his team wanted for him. As far as Downing, I really hope he works out too. I think he will, but the fan's reaction worries me a bit. I'm certain Lucio should work out. He was amazing for me in CM 03/04. Of course, I ran a 3-5-2 with that team. But, I think he will be great in a 4-4-2 as well. His attributes show no sign of decreasing at age 32 (he still has mostly 18's for his physical attributes as well as all of the key attributes I look for in a DC.)

Eaglesfan27

03-15-2005, 10:32 PM

Keep an eye on Baros.....Maybe someone young enough and cheap enough to acquire if he has real potential?
He is certainly a possibility. I'm also scouring all of the national U21 teams now, keeping an eye out for young talent to acquire and develop.

Desnudo

03-15-2005, 11:32 PM

Congrats! :)

I really wanted to get Adu, as he is so good at such a young age, but his lack of footspeed really worries me. His pace is only 12, and that doesn't really fit my requirements for forward or winger. Then again, if I fill my most pressing needs, I may very well make a play for him next year. As far as Donovan, I like him too, but he wasn't quite good enough to justify the big money his team wanted for him. As far as Downing, I really hope he works out too. I think he will, but the fan's reaction worries me a bit. I'm certain Lucio should work out. He was amazing for me in CM 03/04. Of course, I ran a 3-5-2 with that team. But, I think he will be great in a 4-4-2 as well. His attributes show no sign of decreasing at age 32 (he still has mostly 18's for his physical attributes as well as all of the key attributes I look for in a DC.)

Congratulations on the job! I haven't had any major clubs offering me their job yet. It seems to be pretty rare.

In my experience, Adu plays best as an AMC behind the two forwards. So if you're using the 4-4-2, then it's probably not going to be his best formation. Kompany does very well as a centreback if you decide to get rid of Chivu.

daedalus

03-16-2005, 04:59 AM

Kompany is generally regarded as a centreback so that is probably considered his best position in the game.

Have you considered trying Smith out on the right wing? He might be a possibility there with both Shrek, er, Rooney and McFadden also available.

I think Eagles should be given more of a chance, if only for having such a similar name to his manager. :D

Hey, Chris . . . Can you do me a favour and check on Anthony Vanden Borre and Alessio Cerci, please?

winkingpirate

03-16-2005, 10:35 AM

On my Cardiff team, I run a 3-5-2, with Zander Diamond partnered in the back with the two belgians Vanden Borre and Kompany, and it has worked out great. Kompany and to a slightly lesser degree Vanden Borre are super solid in the back, their pace allows them to get to long balls that are played.

daedalus

03-16-2005, 12:40 PM

Awesome. Thanks, wp. :)

Vanden Borre was considered a "cultured centreback" in the demo and I snagged him for Arsenal (er, all 5 times I played it through) so I'm feeling slightly attached to dude. Never got around to snagging Kompany, though. Might try it whenever I get around to snagging the game.

Of course, if Wenger uses some of the Granada money on him in real life . . . well, I'll be even happier. :D

But, hey, we've got Pascal Cygan!

Eaglesfan27

03-16-2005, 04:46 PM

Aug. 28, 2010 -

Today we travel to play Sunderland. Sunderland is currently 13th in the EPL. We are currently 6th which is dangerous at Manchester United. We need to win this one. Sunderland is led by ehir strikers Sheyi Emmanuel Adebayor and Dirk Kujit are both playing well. Midfielders Paul Reid and Scott Harris are playing well as well. The defensive line has just been average. Ryan Warner has been horrid in goal so far this year. I hope he doesn't turn it around this game.

We are 4-5 favorites.

It's overcast with temperatures in the low 40's.

GK: Howard
DL: Silvestre
DC: Ferdinand
DC: Lucio (I expect great things, even right away.)
DR: Brown
ML: Downing (Ditto.)
MC: Djemba
MC: Fletcher
MR: Eagles
SC: McFadden
SC: Rooney

S1: Barthez
S2: O'Shea
S3: Neville
S4: Cook
s5: Smith

Desnudo

03-16-2005, 04:53 PM

Out of curiosity, why do you want to sell Chivu? He's the best central defender in my game.

Eaglesfan27

03-16-2005, 05:08 PM

10 minute mark: Downing passes to Djemba.. he shoots.. the keeper tips it over the bar.

19 minute mark: Lucio with a good defensive header.. gets it to Rooney at midfield.. Rooney with a perfect 40 yard pass that lands just ahead of McFadden.. he dribbles around the one defender.. dribbles into the box.. shoots.. upper right corner.. GOAL!!!! 1-0.

21 minute mark: Arca with a free kick curves.. hits the crossbar.. it bounces to Hume.. who powers it past Howard with a strong shot.. GOAL. 1-1 tie.

39 minute mark: Howard with a solid save of a long shot.

44 minute mark: Howard saves a long shot.. kicks it long.. it bounces past the defender.. McFadden outraces the defender.. gets it just outside the box.. fakes left.. dribbles right.. fires a shot into the lower right corner.. it's past the keeper.. GOAL!!!! 2-1.

46 minute mark: Fletcher with a good pass into the box for Rooney.. he fakes out the defender.. shoots.. good save by the keeper.

Halftime: 2-1 lead. Sunderland has over 48,000 fans here today.

47 minute mark: Downing with a great dribble down the left sideline.. crosses for McFadden.. he misses the header.. the keeper falls on the pass.

53 minute mark: Downing with a nice pass down the left sideline.. McFadden gets it.. crosses to Rooney who heads it.. past the keeper, but a defender heads it away!

56 minute mark: Downing with a few moves.. gets deep into enemy turf.. crosses to Rooney who heads it.. the keeper blocks it.

60 minute mark: Downing gets it at midfield.. plays an amazing pass that stops right in the middle of the box right in front of Rooney.. he fakes out the keeper.. shoots.. the keeper dives backwards.. Amazing recovery.. blocks the shot!

70 minute mark: Lucio joins the attack.. has a hard shot.. keeper barely tips it over the bar.. Downing on the ensuing corner.. looking for McFadden.. Ryan Warner jumps.. tries to head it away.. heads it into goal! Own Goal for Warner! 3-1 lead.

I sub out Rooney who is tired for Alan Smith. I also sub out Fletcher and put Cook in because Fletcher is tired.

76 minute mark: Cook passes it to Downing in the box.. shoots.. just wide right.

80 minute mark: Lucio with a good header.

Game over. 3-1 Win!

We outshot them 12-10 (but 7-5 on target in their favor)

James McFadden had a 10 for form and wins MoM, 25 of 27 passes, 1 of 4 tackles, 4 of 13 headers, 1 interception, 14 runs, 2 goals.

Downing also had a 10 for form. Lucio, Silvestre, Ferdinand, Fletcher, Djemba, and Rooney all had 8's. The rest of the team had 7's.

Eaglesfan27

03-16-2005, 05:09 PM

Out of curiosity, why do you want to sell Chivu? He's the best central defender in my game.
The only reason I want to move him is because he has complained repeatedly that I won't let him move. He wants to go to Valencia. If he wasn't complaining, I wouldn't be trying to move him.

Eaglesfan27

03-16-2005, 05:16 PM

Post Match Info:

David Gill was thrilled with our win over Sunderland.

Eaglesfan27

03-16-2005, 05:34 PM

Aug 30, 2010 -

Damien Duff and James McFadden were selected to the EPL Team of the Week.

I'm also exploring acquiring several young talented players to bolster the potential of our youth and reserve squads.

Eaglesfan27

03-16-2005, 05:48 PM

Aug 31, 2010 -

The first round of the Euro Cup was drawn today, and we will be hosting Dnipro from the Ukraine. We will be playing them on Sep. 16, 2010.

On the eve of the transfer deadline, Sevilla's Craig King has agreed to the contract offer we made. He rejected an offer from FC Bayern.

Craig King is a 20 year old English striker who has 6 U21 goals. He has a great deal of potential, and is known as a very hard worker. He is currently valued at 15 million dollars and we acquired him for 20 million dollars. We feel he could be a potential superstar, and that his value is likely to appreciate. We don't need him this year, but when Ruud van Nistelrooy retire in a year or so, and Saha retires, he will become very important. I'm going to get him some first team football this year too.

SunDancer

03-16-2005, 05:54 PM

Eaglesfan27

03-16-2005, 06:02 PM

Sep 1, 2010 -

Miguel Angel Ruiz Diaz's transfer to the club was cancelled as our application for a work permit was turned down.

Jorge Cobian's transfer from San Lorenzo was cancelled as his application for a work permit was turned down. Both were young talented players from South America who I thought might get WP's approved.

The board is still hopeful of a long and successful era with me at the helm.

Liverpool's Luis Garcia won the EPL Player of the Month. James McFadden came in 2nd! Gael Clichy of Liverpool came in 3rd.

Liverpool's Jordi has won the young player of the month. Chris Robson of Sunderland came in 2nd, and Craig Scott of Newcastle came in 3rd.

Fulham's Peter Taylor has won the EPL Manager of the month. Fernando Vazquez of Newcastle came in 2nd, and that darned Ciriaco Cano of Blackburn came in 3rd.

James McFadden won goal of the month for his long dribble down the length of the pitch past 5 Leicester players before he hit a well placed shot.

Eaglesfan27

03-16-2005, 06:06 PM

Just curious,
Whats the Euro Cup Also, how do reserve teams work compare to loaning players out? One option better then the other? Can you control the reserve/youth teams and what teams do they play against?
The Euro Cup is a prestigious tournament (not as prestigious as the European Championship Cup) that places various top teams from leagues throughout Europe against each other. Typically the top 4 EPL teams play in the European Championship Cup while the next 3 or so play in the Euro Cup. Since Manchester United finished out of the top 4, but in the next 3 in the EPL last year, this is the tournament they ended up in.

You can't schedule the main reserve/youth squad games, but you can arrange friendlies for them. If you are sending a player out to a good team, it is probably better to loan them out. However, if you are sending a player out to a team with poor training facilities or a poor staff, it is better to just keep them IMHO. My new young striker will not be loaned, unless it is to a top notch team in the European Championship. I'll get him plenty of PT on my reserve squad as well as some first team football.

Eaglesfan27

03-16-2005, 06:15 PM

Sep 4, 2010 -

Craig King and Jamie Cook were both selected to the England U21 team for a match against the Romania U21 team.

Eaglesfan27

03-16-2005, 06:22 PM

Sep 7, 2010 -

Port Vale (14th in League One) has asked to loan our young right fullback, Daniel Rowland for 3 months. They have good facilities, and I think the experience will do him good, so I agree to their offer in which they will pay 100% of his salary while he is gone (600/week.)

Eaglesfan27

03-16-2005, 06:27 PM

Sep 7, 2010 -

My AM reports that 21 year old wonderkid Craig King played well for England in the Euro U21 Championship Qualifyer today. Craig scored a goal and created a goal in a 2-0 win! The best thing is that my AM called Craig a "wonderkid!" I didn't even realize that he had this description before I acquired him. His value has skyrocketed to 30 million dollars already :)

Jamie cook also played and did well in this match.

Eaglesfan27

03-16-2005, 06:39 PM

September 8th, 2010 -

Multiple players were involved in international play today. All of the matches were European Championship Qualifying matches:

34 year old Ruud van Nistelrooy played as a substitute and did well in a 2-0 win Holland over Serbia & Mont.

33 year old Mikael Silvestre played well for France in a 1-0 win over Greece.

24 year old Worldclass striker Wayne Rooney played well but didn't excel in a 0-0 tie with Romania. Stewart Downing also started and played well without excelling.

Flamboyant forward James McFadden had a hattrick in an 8-1 win for Scotland over Azerbaijan. Darren Fletcher also played well in the match.

Eaglesfan27

03-16-2005, 06:45 PM

Sep. 10, 2010 -

Daniel Rowland agreed to go to Port Vale on loan for 3 months.

Wayne Rooney is complaining that he isn't fit yet. As a result, I pull him out of my starting plans for next week and put Alan Smith in the slot.

tanglewood

03-16-2005, 06:56 PM

EURO Cup = UEFA Cup
Euro Champions Cup = Champions League

They are just renamed for licensing issues.

Well done EF, great dynasty. :)

Eaglesfan27

03-16-2005, 06:57 PM

Sep 11, 2010 -

Today we host Arsenal in a televised match. Wayne Rooney has told me that he is too tired to play in this game which is disappointing. Arsenal's very talented team is led by left winger Jose Antonio Reyes who is world class. Midfielder Patrick Vieira continues to play well despite his advancing age. Strikers Thierry Henry and Javier Saviola are the best pair of strikers we will ever face. Their two best defenders Joseph Yobo and Sonkaya Faith are both injured for this match. Left fullback Ashley Cole has had a slow start this year, but he has the talent to be dominating. Their keeper Manuel Almunia has won many awards and is tough to beat.

GK: Howard
DL: Silvestre
DC: Ferdinand
DC: Lucio
DR: Brown
ML: Downing
MC: Duff (experiment in which he will slide inside for our biggest games.)
MC: Fletcher (Djemba is away on international duty still.)
MR: Eagles
SC: McFadden
SC: Alan Smith (since Rooney is unhappy and states he is exhausted.)

S1: Barthez
S2: O'Shea
S3: Neville
s4: Cook
s5: King (the wonderkid may get some PT today.)

Arsenal's Lineup is as follows:

GK: Almunia
DL: Ashley Cole
DC: Philippe Senderos
DC: Frank Wolf
DR: Fabrice Plet
ML: Reyes
MC: Manuele Blasi
MC: Vieira
MR: Jermaine Pennant
SC: Henry
SC: Saviola

Eaglesfan27

03-16-2005, 06:57 PM

EURO Cup = UEFA Cup
Euro Champions Cup = Champions League

They are just renamed for licensing issues.

Well done EF, great dynasty. :)
Thanks :)

Eaglesfan27

03-16-2005, 07:19 PM

2 minute mark: Lucio with an excellent defensive tackle on Saviola.

15 minute mark: Reyes burns Brown with speed.. strong cross to Saviola in the box.. Lucio is on him.. he shoots.. hard shot.. Howard with an impressive save.

16 minute mark: Downing crosses to Fletcher.. he shoots.. barely wide left.

25 minute mark: Howard stops a long shot from Vieira.

27 minute mark: Reyes burns Brown.. gets into the box.. shoots.. upper left corner.. GREAT save by Howard!

Halftime: 0-0 tie. Generally an evan match, but we are very fortunate that Howard made a few very big saves. We have over 75,000 fans here today!

60 minute mark: Eagles takes a corner kick.. finds Lucio in the middle of the box.. he heads it.. great header.. Alumnia barely tips it over the bar.

72 minute mark: I put Cook on for Fletcher and King on for Alan Smith who is tired.

81 minute mark: Reyes crosses to Henry who heads it to Saviola in the box.. Saviola fakes out Ferdinand.. dribbles to his left.. fires it up into the upper right hand corner of the net. GOAL. Down 1-0.

88 minute mark: Downing crosses to King who shoots.. Almunia punches it over the bar.

Game over. 1-0 loss :(

They outshot us 9-8 (6-3 on target)

Jose Antonio Reyes won MoM, 8 for form, 20 of 27 passes, 0 of 1 tackles, 2 of 7 headers, 1 interception, 6 runs, 3 fouls drawn.

Lucio had an 8 for form. The rest of the team had 7's.

SunDancer

03-16-2005, 07:20 PM

EURO Cup = UEFA Cup
Euro Champions Cup = Champions League

They are just renamed for licensing issues.

Well done EF, great dynasty. :)

Thanks, that clears it up.

Eaglesfan27

03-16-2005, 07:23 PM

International Round Up:

Eric Djemba Djemba had a goal and played a solid game for Cameroon in 3-0 win over Sierra Leone in the African Nations Qualifying match.

Eaglesfan27

03-16-2005, 07:49 PM

Sep 16, 2010 -

Today we host Dnipro in our first round Euro Cup match. Dnipro doesn't really have many quality players. Their best players are their keeper Igor Shevchuk who has played well this year. Timofei Kalachev has been a good midfielder. Olexandr Melnyk is a decent centreback. Roman Melnyk is a good striker.

We are heavy 2-5 favorites.

It's raining with temperatures in the mid 40's today.

GK: Howard
DL: Silvestre
DC: Ferdinand
DC: Lucio
DR: Brown
ML: Downing
MC: Djemba
MC: Fletcher
MR: Eagles
SC: Smith
SC: Rooney (he needs a great game against this bad team to boost his morale.)

S1: Barthez
S2: O'Shea
S3: Neville
S4: Ruud van Nistelrooy
S5: Craig King
S6: McFadden
S7: Cook

Eaglesfan27

03-16-2005, 08:10 PM

11 minute mark: Eagles takes the corner kick.. sends it to the middle of the box.. Ferdinand jumps.. the centreback pushes him down.. Penalty shot awarded! Lucio steps up to take it, powerful strike into the upper right corner of the net (Lucio is my best penalty shooter!)

15 minutte mark: Fletcher intercepts it at midfield.. passes it to Djemba Djemba.. he passes to Eagles.. Eagles passes back Djemba-Djemba.. he shoots a banana shot from 25 yards out.. it curves into the upper right corner.. GOAL!!!! 2-0.

18 minute mark: Downing with a brilliant dribble down the left sideline.. crosses to Rooney in the box.. powerful shot on the half-volley.. the keeper saves it.

21 minute mark: Eagles passes to Rooney in the center of the box.. hard shot.. the keeper saves it.

40 minute mark: Fletcher passes to Rooney in the box.. he shoots.. powerful shot.. the keeper blocks it! The rebound sails out to Djemba.. he shoots from 25 yards out.. curving shot.. upper left corner of the net.. GOAL!!!! 3-0.

44 minute mark: Downing with a long cross to Eagles.. he passes it into the box.. Rooney with a close range shot.. and the keeper stops it again! Rooney is looking a little frustrated.

Halftime: 3-0 lead. I thought we'd be winning by a larger margin, and I was hoping Rooney would have a few goals so I could rest him soon. I'll rest him no matter what at the 60 minute mark, despite us not having a game for 10 more days. We have over 62,000 fans here today.

47 minute mark: Brilliant dribble by Downing past three defenders.. he finally crosses to Djemba in the box.. Djemba blasts it.. over the bar.. just misses his hattrick.

60 minute mark: I put Ruud van Nistelrooy on for Smith, and King on for Rooney. I also put Cook on for Fletcher.

81 minute mark: A boring second half is finally more exciting as Djemba Djemba passes to Jamie Cook who hits a half volley from 25 yards out that sails into the upper left corner of the net! GOAL!!!! 4-0. That is Cook's first goal for Manchester United.

Game over. 4-0 win.

We outshot them 20-1 (14-1 on target)

Eric Djemba-Djemba won MoM, 10 for form, 29 of 33 passes, 0 tackles, 2 of 7 headers, 2 runs, 1 assist, and 2 goals.

Downing also had a 10 for form. Eagles had a 9 for form. The rest of the team had 8's except for Rooney who only had a 7.

illinifan999

03-16-2005, 10:09 PM

Well my name was linked as a possible manager to take over Man City. I wasn't a favorite but still being named is pretty cool. Too bad I have Man Utd as my favoured clubs. ;)

illinifan999

03-16-2005, 10:32 PM

dola

it went to Jurgen Klinnsmann. Man I remember watching him a long time ago. He was my favorite player for awhile.

Eaglesfan27

03-16-2005, 10:35 PM

I'm sure you'll get one of the big jobs soon. As for me, with our slow start, I'm afraid I might not last at Manchester United for long. If I survive this season, and we don't come close to winning the title this year, I'll probably switch to a 3-5-2 next year (a very similar one to what I ran last year at Wigan.)

SunDancer

03-16-2005, 10:36 PM

Is a 3-5-2 a pretty tough tatic to run?

illinifan999

03-16-2005, 11:09 PM

Boy you were right. Just a couple weeks after not being chosen for the Man City job, the US National Team comes up and offers it to me. Wow.

Desnudo

03-17-2005, 01:36 AM

Is a 3-5-2 a pretty tough tatic to run?

It requires good holding midfielders to maintain possession, otherwise you run the risk of getting shredded down the wings. If you can't control the ball, then you will lose, generally.

condors

03-17-2005, 06:38 AM

daedalus

03-17-2005, 06:53 AM

My AM reports that 21 year old wonderkid Craig King played well for England in the Euro U21 Championship Qualifyer today. Craig scored a goal and created a goal in a 2-0 win! The best thing is that my AM called Craig a "wonderkid!" I didn't even realize that he had this description before I acquired him. His value has skyrocketed to 30 million dollars already :)He might not have been tagged that prior to the transfer. Going to a club like Manchester United does wonder for your reputation. [I belief reputation plays a fairly significant part in the "Wonderkid" tag, along with ability and potential.]81 minute mark: Reyes crosses to Henry who heads it to Saviola in the box.. Saviola fakes out Ferdinand.. dribbles to his left.. fires it up into the upper right hand corner of the net. GOAL. Down 1-0.Sorry but, uhhh, I cheered that a little bit. But just a little, though.

Ahhhhh, the wonders of Ash and JAR. Wonder where they'll be plying their trade next season.

Eaglesfan27

03-17-2005, 08:35 AM

Boy you were right. Just a couple weeks after not being chosen for the Man City job, the US National Team comes up and offers it to me. Wow.
Congrats! :)

I'm still waiting to be offered a national team job.

Eaglesfan27

03-17-2005, 08:38 AM

i just wanted to add as i run a 3-5-2

getting 4 decent fullbacks can be a hard job, and if they have arrows and can contribute offensively they may need to get some games off.

You don't want to have a couple guys in your back line that your not comfertable with playing against Giggs, C Rondaldo, Robben, Duff, Downing, Shaun Wright-Philips as they will create chances at will (those guys will create chances vs just about anyone)
So true. I think it is easier to find a good number of good midfielders, then it is to find a decent number of good fullbacks. Then again, that might be just me? In any case, I've had success with the 3-5-2 with a few different clubs, including Manchester Utd in my CM 03/04 game. However, right now I definitely don't have the personel to run it. I need at least 3 more very good midfielders which I'm hoping to acquire in the upcoming offseason. For now, we are married to the 4-4-2 or a variant for better or for worse.

Eaglesfan27

03-17-2005, 08:40 AM

He might not have been tagged that prior to the transfer. Going to a club like Manchester United does wonder for your reputation. [I belief reputation plays a fairly significant part in the "Wonderkid" tag, along with ability and potential.]Sorry but, uhhh, I cheered that a little bit. But just a little, though.

Ahhhhh, the wonders of Ash and JAR. Wonder where they'll be plying their trade next season.

Ahhh, that makes sense :) I hope he lives up to that "Wonderkid" tag :)

It's ok. I would cheer the Eagles if you did an FOF dynasty in which they beat your team :) Hopefully, the Arsenal loss doesn't contribute towards me getting fired ;)

SunDancer

03-17-2005, 08:45 AM

Just curious, what type of tatics do AC Milan and the Italian teams use, and what's ype of talent do they require (I mean in real life)?

Eaglesfan27

03-17-2005, 03:19 PM

Just curious, what type of tatics do AC Milan and the Italian teams use, and what's ype of talent do they require (I mean in real life)?
I don't know enough about Milan or the Italian teams to comment on what those teams use IRL. Hopefully, someone else can answer this question.

Eaglesfan27

03-17-2005, 04:07 PM

Sep 24, 2010 -

Today the draw for the third round of the English League Cup occured. We will be facing Millwall on their pitch on Oct 27, 2010.

Our second leg Euro Cup match on Sep 30, 2010 has been chosen for live TV coverage.

SirFozzie

03-17-2005, 04:10 PM

I don't know enough about Milan or the Italian teams to comment on what those teams use IRL. Hopefully, someone else can answer this question.

Here's a bit of a story about AC Milan. Italian teams have been accused many times of playing catenaccio, or scoring one goal and then playing extremely negatively and trying to "kill" the clock.

Ancelotti, a likeable man from the Northern Italian countryside, tends to favour 4-4-2 but with a midfield diamond as opposed to two wide men and two operating centrally.

Eaglesfan27

03-17-2005, 04:18 PM

Sep 26, 2010 -

Today we travel to play Wigan! This match will be televised. We are currently in 11th place but we have played two less games than most of the top teams and we are only 8 points out of 1st despite that team playing two more games. Wigan is currently in 17th despite having played one more game than us. Their current record is 1 win 1 draw, and 5 losses. They are doing the intersting thing of playing Frode Mansare (the guy I acquired to play left wing) at striker! They are starting Wellington Paulista alongside him. Fode Mansare is the team's leading scorer with 4 goals in 8 games. Benayoun has 1 goal from his AMC spot. Wall and Osorio continue to play well. They have gone to a 4-3-1-2 and Rolfes has been a key player in the midfield.

We are heavy 4-7 favorites.

It's sunny with temperatures in the high 50's.

GK: Howard
DL: Silvestre
DC: Ferdinand
DC: Lucio
DR: Brown
ML: Downing
MC: Djemba
MC: Fletcher
MR: Eagles
SC: McFadden
SC: Rooney (he is finally in superb fitness, but still feels he isn't.)

S1: Barthez
S2: O'Shea
S3: Neville
S4: Cook
S5: King

Eaglesfan27

03-17-2005, 04:43 PM

4 minute mark: Paulo is starting with Mansare up front. Mansare passes it up front to Paulo who unleashes a hard shot.. the keeper saves it.

8 minute mark: Lucio picks up a minor injury that he will try to play through.

21 minute mark: McFadden dribbles between Wall and Osorio.. into the box.. hard shot.. upper right corner.. Paddy stops it.

29 minute mark: Djemba passes it long to Rooney.. he has a breakaway.. Whistle.. offside on Rooney called.

33 minute mark: McFadden gets a pass from Eagles on the left wing.. burns Jarzebowski.. dribbles into the box.. is fairly far wide of the net.. shoots.. a curving shot it flies parallel to the end line.. and curves into the upper right corner of the net!!!! GOAL!!!! 1-0.

39 minute mark: Lucio heads the ball to McFadden at midfield.. he plays a perfect through ball towards the box for Rooney.. Rooney beats the defender to it.. Paddy rushes towards it.. Rooney just beats him.. dribbles around him.. fires it into the net! GOAL!!!! 2-0.

42 minute mark: McFadden crosses to Rooney in the box.. powerful shot.. upper left corner.. Paddy saves it.

44 minute mark: Ambourouet crosses to Benayoun who heads the ball to Rix in the box.. Benayoun was drawing attention.. Rix is open.. hard shot.. upper right corner.. It's past Howard.. GOAL. Still up 2-1.

45 minute mark: McFadden takes it down the left side of the pitch.. crosses to Eagles.. he heads it.. barely wide of the net.

Halftime: Up 2-1. Wigan has over 25,000 fans here today.

47 minute mark: Ambourouet throws it into Longthorn who heads it to Rolfes.. Rolfes with a hard shot.. it deflects off Fletcher (what was he doing back there).. sails into the left side of the net. GOAL. 2-2.

59 minute mark: McFadden takes it up the left side.. burns Jarzebowski.. crosses into the middle of the box.. Eagles heads it.. Paddy with a great save to punch it over the bar.

62 minute mark: Downing makes a great move on Longthorn.. burns Jarzebowski who comes up to meet him.. passes to McFadden on the left corner of the pitch.. McFadden dribbles towards the box.. the keeper comes over to guard the left post.. McFadden crosses long.. far post.. Rooney comes running up.. diving header.. into the right side of the net!! GOAL!!!! 3-2.

64 minute mark: Ferdinand turns away an offensive burst.. starts the counter attack.. gets it to Rooney at midfield.. passes it up the pitch to McFadden.. he burns the two defenders that are back there.. shoots.. upper left corner.. Paddy with an excellent save.

70 minute mark: I'm going to give McFadden and Rooney a chance to get Rooney his hattrick.. I do decide to bring in Cook for Fletcher who is getting tired.

75 minute mark: Howard stops a long shot from Longthorn.

85 minute mark: Eagles crosses to Rooney.. hard shot.. great save by Paddy.

90 minute mark: Eagles crosses to Rooney.. hard shot.. lower right corner.. great save by Paddy.

Game over. 3-2 win for us.

We outshot them 19-12 (12-8 on target)

Rooney wins MoM, 10 for form, 20 of 21 passes, 2 of 2 tackles, 2 of 4 headers, 5 runs, 2 fouls drawn, 2 goals.

McFadden, Downing, and Eagles all had 10's for form! Djemba and Ferdinand both had 8's. The rest of the team had 7's.

Eaglesfan27

03-17-2005, 04:51 PM

Sep. 27, 2010 -

Downing, Rooney, and McFadden were all selected to the EPL Team of the Week.

Eaglesfan27

03-17-2005, 04:52 PM

Sep. 28, 2010 -

Rooney is still very tired from his match 2 days ago. It seems the previous manager might have overused him and he is frequently tired. I'm going to have to be careful about how I use him.

I'm sure the World Cup also left him more tired than usual.

Desnudo

03-17-2005, 05:07 PM

i just wanted to add as i run a 3-5-2

getting 4 decent fullbacks can be a hard job, and if they have arrows and can contribute offensively they may need to get some games off.

You don't want to have a couple guys in your back line that your not comfertable with playing against Giggs, C Rondaldo, Robben, Duff, Downing, Shaun Wright-Philips as they will create chances at will (those guys will create chances vs just about anyone)

That actually, technically, sounds like a 5-3-2 with two wingbacks. If I understand what you're describing correctly.

He might not have been tagged that prior to the transfer. Going to a club like Manchester United does wonder for your reputation. [I belief reputation plays a fairly significant part in the "Wonderkid" tag, along with ability and potential.])

The wonderkid tag comes soley from ability and potential. I believe you need at least a 160 in ability and 180 in potential. It's possible the guy could have been right on the edge and "popped."

Eaglesfan27

03-17-2005, 05:07 PM

Sep 30, 2010 -

Today we face Dnipro in the 2nd leg of the 1st round of the Euro Cup. We will try to rest a few our guys today as we have a 4-0 lead going into this leg of the match.

We are 1-2 favorites.

It's very windy today with temperatures in the mid 60's.

GK: Howard
DL: O'Shea
DC: Ferdinand
DC: Lucio
DR: Grygera
ML: Duff
MC: Djemba
MC: Fletcher
MR: Eagles
SC: Smith
SC: King

S1: Barthez
S2: Silvestre
S3: Neville
S4: Cook
S5: Saha
S6: Ruud van Nistelrooy
S7: Downing

Eaglesfan27

03-17-2005, 05:08 PM

That actually, technically, sounds like a 5-3-2 with two wingbacks. If I understand what you're describing correctly.

The wonderkid tag comes soley from ability and potential. I believe you need at least a 160 in ability and 180 in potential. It's possible the guy could have been right on the edge and "popped."
Thanks for the clarification on the wonderkid tag.. hopefully he plays well in his first start in the Euro Cup today :)

Eaglesfan27

03-17-2005, 05:25 PM

11 minute mark: Lucio with a long pass to King.. he plays a great pass across the box to Duff who shoots.. the keeper barely blocks it.. it trickles towards the goal line.. a defender clears it at the last second.

25 minute mark: Lucio gets a yellow card for a trip on the striker.

28 minute mark: Alan Smith gets a yellow card for a trip on Vitaliy Ivanov.

34 minute mark: Craig king gets a yellow card for tripping a player.

41 minute mark: Their keeper stops a flurry of shots by Smith, King, and Djemba.

Halftime: 0-0 tie. Dnipro has over 24,000 fans here today.

50 minute mark: Eagles has had a bad game. I pull him for Cook.

62 minute mark: King has picked up a minor injury. I put on Ruud van Nistelrooy for him. Fletcher is tired, I put Neville on for him.

64 minute mark: O'Shea passes it long down the left sideline.. Duff can't quite get to it before it sails out of bounds.

69 minute mark: Karpenko passes to Melnyk in the box.. he shoots.. hard shot.. upper right corner.. it's past Howard.. GOAL. Down 1-0.

82 minute mark: Djemba feeds it down the left sideline to Alan Smith.. he crosses for Ruud van Nistelrooy.. the pass curves.. into the upper right corner of the net! He didn't mean that one! GOAL!!!! 1-1.

Game over. 1-1 tie. We win 5-1 on aggregate.

We each had 9 shots. We had a 5-3 advantage for on target shots.

Eric Djemba Djemba won MoM, 8 for form, 26 of 34 passes, 2 of 2 tackles, 3 of 8 headers, 3 interceptions, 1 assist.

Eaglesfan27

03-17-2005, 06:53 PM

Eaglesfan27

03-17-2005, 06:59 PM

Oct 1, 2010 -

The Manchester Board is still hopeful of a long and successful run with me at the helm.

Arsenal's Jose Antonio Reyes has won the EPL Player of the Month award. Tim Borowski of Manchester City came in 2nd, and Sanli Tuncay of Chelsea came in 3rd.

Liverpool's Jordi has won the EPL Young Player of the Month. John Yates of Middlesbrough came in 2nd, and Alan Thomas of Tottenham came in 3rd.

Arsenal's Arsene Wenger won Manager of the Month as he led the team to three victories in four of their least league games. Tony Colbert of Liverpool came in 2nd, and Richard Money of Manchester City came in 3rd.

James McFadden won the goal of the month for his impressive goal against Wigan on September 26 in which he ran around an opponent and scored on a powerful curling shot.

Bruce Arena, coach of Aston Villa, has told Skysports.com that he doesn't think my side is good enough to end the season as champions. Arena did concede that, given a few quality signings, Manchester United might be a contender next season.

I reply by telling Soccernet.com that "I am very confident our team has the ability to go all the way."

Eaglesfan27

03-17-2005, 07:07 PM

Oct. 2, 2010 -

Watching the players has caused me to make a slight tweak to our basic tactics, but I will be continuing to run the 4-4-2.

Eaglesfan27

03-17-2005, 07:21 PM

Oct. 2, 2010 -

I've gotten about a half dozen agents approaching me with videos of their clients, but this is the first one that intrigues me. Dalibor Stevanovic is currently playing for Bradford City in League One, but he is being very dominant at that level. He looks like he might be able to play quite nicely as a rotator here. I don't plan on him being a long term solution, but he is only valued at a million dollars. I'm going to make an offer of 1.05 million for him as it meets his release clause.

An agent for David Vaughan has also approached me. He is currently playing for Preston and looks quite good both in practice according to my agents and in this video tape. I've ignored most of these pleas to come join us, but he would fit nicely in our midfield. He is currently valued at 2 million dollars.

RPI-Fan

03-17-2005, 07:25 PM

Eaglesfan27

03-17-2005, 07:27 PM

Oct 3, 2010 -

Today we host Aston Villa in a televised game. Aston Villa has an explosive scorer in Luke Moore. He is only 24, but he is quickly becoming one of the top strikers in the game. He already has 6 goals in 7 EPL league games. His partner Robbie Keane is also quite good. Their defensive line is quite good with centrebacks Liam Ridgewell and Olof Mellberg leading the way. Their keeper Leo Franco is a top notch keeper. Their midfield has been average this year with right winger Salomon Kalou being the most consistent this year.

We are even odd favorites.

It's raining with temperatures in the mid 50's.

GK: Howard
DL: Silvestre
DC: Ferdinand
DC: Lucio
DR: Brown
ML: Downing
MC: Djemba
MC: Fletcher
MR: Eagles
SC: McFadden
SC: Rooney

S1: Barthez
S2: Grygera
S3: Neville
S4: Cook
s5: van Nistelrooy

Eaglesfan27

03-17-2005, 07:28 PM

Palace was relegated on the last day of the season. :(

There were only 2 or 3 out of dozens possible scenarios where we got relegated, but the disastrous happened!

Ah, well, I've got AJ and Routledge, though both are starting to do a little chirping.:(

Hope you can continue to string together a few wins! I'm sure a run to the semis or finals of the UEFA Cup would do a lot towards keeping your job!

~rpi-fan
Sorry to hear that you were relegated :(

Thanks for the words of encouragement. I'm definitely counting on going far in the UEFA Cup to help me keep my job. I'm also still hopeful that I can get us to the top of the table or very close in the EPL :)

Eaglesfan27

03-17-2005, 07:45 PM

13 minute mark: Lucio initiates the counter attack.. long pass to McFadden.. he passes to Rooney.. he is tackled by Mellberg.. Yellow card for Mellberg.

22 minute mark: Lucio trips Moore. Yellow card for Lucio.

31 minute mark: Fletcher with a long shot that grazes the bar and sails over.

42 minute mark: Djemba intercepts a keeper kick at midfield.. passes it to Rooney just outside the box.. the keeper cmae out to challenge Rooney.. he chips it over the keeper.. it barely sails over the bar.

Halftime: 0-0 tie.

We have over 69,000 fans here today.

Rooney has had a bad first half. I will pull him if he doesn't do better in the next 10 minutes.

55 minute mark: Rooney has a 5 for form and has now picked up a minor injury. I pull him from the game, and put Ruud van Nistelrooy on.

64 minute mark: Eagles crosses to Djemba who shoots.. hard curving shot.. upper left corner.. Great save by the keeper.

73 minute mark: Cook on for Fletcher who is tired.

85 minute mark: McFadden gets it at the left corner of the pitch.. passes into the box for Downing who unleashes a hard shot! The keeper with an amazing save.

Game over. We had better ball possession time, but couldn't score. 0-0 tie.

We each had 7 shots, we each had 3 shots on target.

Stewart Downing had a 9 for form and won MoM, 16 of 17 passes, 2 of 4 tackles, 2 of 4 headers, 1 interception, 15 runs, 2 fouls drawn.

SunDancer

03-17-2005, 07:45 PM

Post Match Info: We won 110,000 dollars for winning against Dnipro in the Euro Cup.

We have been placed in Group D of the Euro Cup along with Real Sociedad, CSKA, FC Kobenhavn, and Sparta Prague.

We have been given 800,000 for playing in the Euro Cup Group Stage.

Thought you had to play two rounds of qualifying before the Group Stage in the UEFA Cup. Or did you have a "bye" in the first round?

Eaglesfan27

03-17-2005, 07:50 PM

Though you had to play two rounds of qualifying before the Group Stage in the UEFA Cup. Or did you have a "bye" in the first round?
I'm honestly not sure of all of the nuiansces in real life. But, I only had to play two legs against one team to get to the group stage with this team :)

Eaglesfan27

03-17-2005, 07:53 PM

October 5, 2010 -

Craig King, Jamie Cook, and Bob Wright have been called up to the England U21 squad for this match against Azerbaijan's U21 team. This will occur on October 8th.

Bradford City has accepted my offer for Dalibor Stevanovic (they had no choice.)

He wants 16,500/week plus 110k signing bonus. I offer him this. He will add some depth for us this season where we desperately need it.

Eaglesfan27

03-17-2005, 07:58 PM

Oct. 6, 2010 -

Preston rejected my 2 million dollar offer for David Vaughan.

Today we travel to play Everton. Everton is led by their superb left winger Andy Reid who has been dominant in the EPL this year so far. Keeper Richard Wright is a veteran who continues to play very well. Striker James Graham benefits nicely from Reid's plays. Centreback Anthony Gardner is an excellent defender.

We are heavy 4-6 favorites.

It's overcast with temperatures in the mid 40's.

GK: Howard
DL: Silvestre
DC: Grygera
DC: Lucio
DR: Brown
ML: Duff
MC: Djemba
MC: Cook
MR: Eagles
SC: Saha
SC: van Nistelrooy

S1: Barthez
S2: Serhat
S3: Neville
S4: O'Shea
S5: Smith

Eaglesfan27

03-17-2005, 08:19 PM

5 minute mark: Cook passes into the box for vN.. he shoots.. hard shot.. good save by Wright.

8 minute mark: Reid toyed with Eagles as he dribbled it up the pitch.

22 minute mark: Gardner gets a yellow card for pulling vN's jersey.

29 minute mark: Excellent defensive play by Li Tie to catch vN from behind just outside the box.

36 minute mark: Diamond collides with Saha, and Zander diamond can't play any more today.

45 minute mark: Duff plays it to Saha just left of the box.. crosses to vN who heads it.. powerful header.. just over the bar.

Halftime: 0-0 tie. Over 40,000 fans here supporting Everton today.

55 minute mark: Cook gets a yellow card for a trip on Gravesen.

64 minute mark: Brown with a hard tackle on Reid.. Reid is hurt.. Brown gets a Red card!

I take Saha off and put O'Shea into the game and slide Grygera out to the right fullback slot.

I put Alan Smith in for Ruud van Nistelrooy.

86 minute mark: O'Shea with a long pass to Smith who gets a breakaway.. dribbles into the box.. shoots.. Wright saves it.

94 minute mark: Lucio with a header to Eagles at midfield.. Eagles passes it to Smith in the right corner of the pitch.. he centers to Cook in the box... he blasts a shot to the upper right corner of the net... it's past Wright! GOAL!!!! 1-0!!!! WHAT A GOAL!! We pull victory from the jaws of a draw!

That is Cook's first Senior Goal!

The game ends 10 seconds later :)

Game over. 1-0 win for us.

Despite being a man down, we outshot them 13-12. We each had 4 shots on target.

Damien Duff won MoM, 9 for form, 28 of 36 passes, 6 of 7 tackles, 3 of 6 headers, 1 interception, 6 runs, 2 fouls drawn.

Howard, Lucio, Eagles, Cook, and Smith all had 8's. The rest of the team had 7's.

Eaglesfan27

03-17-2005, 08:27 PM

October 8, 2010 -

Dalibor Stevanovic accepted our offer. He is thrilled to be joining us as he is looking forward to playing in Europe. The deal will conclude on January 1st, 2011 when the transfer window opens up again.

Eaglesfan27

03-18-2005, 09:15 AM

Oct. 9, 2010 -

Craig King was a man among boys today. The 20 year old striker had an amazing 5 goals in the Euro U21 Championship Qualifying match for England against the Azerbaijan team. King scored all of the team's goals in the 5-0 win. Not surprisingly, he had a 10 for form as well as winning MoM.

Eaglesfan27

03-18-2005, 09:27 AM

Oct 9, 2010 -

The following are all Euro Championship Qualifying results for my players:

Experienced winger Damien Duff was in magnificent form receiving a 9 for form. Despite his excellent play the Republic of Ireland couldn't score against Spain. John O'Shea played well on defense and the match ended with a 0-0 tie.

30 year old sweeper Zdenek Grygera never really got going and had a disappointing performance for his Czech Republic team as they lost to Albania 1-0.

24 year old World Class striker Wayne Rooney was the hero of the hour for England as he scored an incredible 4 goals for England against Azerbaijan. England won 8-0. Rio Ferdinand, Stewart Downing, and Alan Smith also played well in this match. Great, now Rooney will be tired for our next game.

34 year old striker Ruud van Nistelrooy played well as a substitute for Holland in their 3-0 win over Estonia.

29 year old forward Akin Serhat played well for Turkey, but didn't score. The match against Hungary ended in a 1-1 tie.

Eaglesfan27

03-18-2005, 09:34 AM

Oct 11, 2010 -

Damien Duff and Alan Smith were selected to the EPL Team of the Week.

Excellent! Our match against Reading on Oct 13th has been rescheduled for the 20th due to our high number of international call-ups.

Preston have offered 1 million dollars for my young striker Steve Burgess who is on my reserve squad. I decide to ask all of my coaches for their opinion of him, and they all feel that he has the potential to be a star. He is currently valued at 5 million dollars. Based on my coaches reports and his current value, I reject the offer.

SunDancer

03-18-2005, 03:05 PM

Eaglesfan27

03-18-2005, 06:38 PM

I got FM 2005 in the mail today. Not my laptop (which I hope to order this weekend, and get prolly mid-April). I thinking I could maybe try to install it on my mom's or my computer, and play with the "Big Three" league (Just the premier leagues of England, Spain, Italy). Just play around, learn, ect. I could then launch a real, full-out dynasty (with FOFC reports :) ) when I get my laptop.
Sounds good :)

As for me, I really want to play FM, but after a full day of work I have to go to a work related dinner :(

At least it is at one of the finest steak houses in the USA (IMHO and with a limited number of cities visited), Dickie Brennan's Steak House. :)

SunDancer

03-18-2005, 09:25 PM

Sounds good :)

As for me, I really want to play FM, but after a full day of work I have to go to a work related dinner :(

At least it is at one of the finest steak houses in the USA (IMHO and with a limited number of cities visited), Dickie Brennan's Steak House. :)

Steak. :( I hate having my mouth /jaw wired together (don't see my surgeon until the 3rd week of April). I miss out on the great foods for a while. I do actually have a normal-size jaw now (they distracted foward for a few months, then went in and molded it foward more. I hope the bone hardens quickly. But its worth it to go without good food for a while. This steakhouse is in New Orleans right?

Do you think it's worth downloading the patch right now, or should I just wait (til the laptop)? With a 5it takes a LONG time to download, and I'm really just going to get a grip on the game (not the serious, in-depth play you are having right now with all the countries I want) until then.

Eaglesfan27

03-18-2005, 11:27 PM

Steak. :( I hate having my mouth /jaw wired together (don't see my surgeon until the 3rd week of April). I miss out on the great foods for a while. I do actually have a normal-size jaw now (they distracted foward for a few months, then went in and molded it foward more. I hope the bone hardens quickly. But its worth it to go without good food for a while. This steakhouse is in New Orleans right?

Do you think it's worth downloading the patch right now, or should I just wait (til the laptop)? With a 5it takes a LONG time to download, and I'm really just going to get a grip on the game (not the serious, in-depth play you are having right now with all the countries I want) until then.
Oops, forgot about the surgery. Yes, this steakhouse is in New Orleans. Specifically, it is in the French Quarter right next to the in/famous Gold Club. Traffic was a beast, but tonight's dinner was one of the best business dinners ever. I was one of the most senior persons there, so I could afford to be fairly relaxed and have everyone else relax. We told some great stories and had a lot of laughs over some drinks and good food.

As far as the patch, it's a tossup. Personally, I would download the patch (doing it overnight if possible/necessary), but I could see the argument that it wasn't worth it since this is just a test game. However, the little bugs would bother me if I knew there was a patch out there to fix them.

Eaglesfan27

03-18-2005, 11:42 PM

Oct 13, 2010 -

The Following round-ups are also from the European Championship Qualifying matches:

Holland beat Iceland 4-0 and Ruud van Nistelrooy played very well as a substitute in this game.

Scotland beat Slovakia 2-1 and forward James McFadden scored both of those goals!

Turkey beat Liechtenstein 3-0, and Akin Serhat scored a goal for Turkey before being substituted.

The Czech Republic beat the Faroe Islands 3-1. Sweeper Zdenek Grygera assisted on one of the goals.

The Republic of Ireland lost to Austria 2-0, but Damien Duff and John O'Shea both played very well.

Eaglesfan27

03-18-2005, 11:54 PM

October 16, 2010 -

Today we host Southampton. They are currently in 11th place in the EPL. We are currently in 6th, but we have 1 less game than all of the other teams. Southampton is led by left winger Bobby Convey who is playing spectacularly. Keeper Jason Brown is playing at a top notch level. The centrebacks Danny Higginbotham and Martin Cranie are both playing well. Leon Best is playing very well at striker with 9 goals in 10 starts, but the rest of the offense has been average at best. James Beattie only has 3 goals in 13 games and he has been poor to average the last few games. Right winger Christoph Preub is skilled, but hasn't played well recently.

We are 4-5 favorites.

It's overcast with temperatures in the mid 50's.

GK: Howard
DL: Silvestre
DC: Ferdinand
DC: Lucio
DR: Grygera
ML: Downing
MC: Djemba
MC: Fletcher
MR: Eagles
SC: McFadden
SC: Rooney

S1: Barthez
S2: Cook
S3: Neville
S4: Smith
S5: King

Eaglesfan27

03-19-2005, 12:20 AM

2 minute mark: Eagles pass into the box to Rooney.. hard shot by Rooney.. the keeper blocks it.. Downing shoots the rebound.. another great save by the keeper.. Fletcher shoots the rebound.. another save by the keeper.. the defense finally clears it.

8 minute mark: Eagles is called for pushing a defender which ends a breakaway.. Djemba is angry at the call.. he argues.. yellow card for Djemba.

10 minute mark: Eagles passes to Rooney.. he puts a move on two defenders.. gets open in the box.. dribbles to his right.. around the keeper.. he seems to have an open shot.. shoots.. the keeper dives back.. punches it over the bar.

12 minute mark: McFadden steals it at midfield.. passes it to Rooney in the box.. he shoots.. barely wide left.

22 minute mark: Fletcher passes to Djemba just outside the box.. he unleashes a hard curving shot.. the keeper dives.. barely pushes it wide right. corner kick awarded. Downing kicks it to Lucio in the middle of the box.. he heads it to Rooney who shoots.. wide left!

32 minute mark: Amoah passes it into the box to Beattie.. Beattie puts a great crossover dribble on Lucio to give himself space.. shoots.. upper right corner.. it's past Howard.. GOAL. Down 1-0.

40 minute mark: Eagles passes to Rooney in the right corner of the pitch.. he crosses to Djemba just outside the box.. hard curving shot.. great save by the keeper.

45 minute mark: Downing puts a move on two defenders.. passes to Eagles.. he passes back to Fletcher.. Fletcher passes to Downing in the box.. he shoots.. hard shot.. towards the right corner.. it hits the post and bounces wide.

46 minute mark: Downing takes the corner.. it sails over Rooney's jumping attempt at header.. it sails to McFadden's feet to Rooney's right.. McFadden shoots.. upper right corner! GOAL!!!! 1-1.

Halftime: 1-1. We have over 65,000 fans here today.

50 minute mark: Downing steals it at midfield.. burns his man.. crosses to Rooney.. he heads it.. the keeper punches it away.. Djemba gets it.. hard shot.. the keeper saves it cleanly.

61 minute mark: Mcfadden crosses to Rooney.. who heads it.. over the bar. Rooney only has a 6 and is tired, I sub in King for him. Fletcher is also tired, so I sub in Cook.

72 minute mark: Downing gets a yellow card for holding Preub's jersey.

81 minute mark: Downing crosses long to Eagles just inside the right edge of the box.. he passes immediately to King just in front of the goal.. King gets it.. shoots.. upper left corner.. GOAL!!!! 2-1! That is King's first goal for Manchester United!

86 minute mark: Djemba steals it at midfield.. he passes to McFadden in the left corner of the pitch.. McFadden passes to Downing in the box.. he shoots.. lower left corner.. GOAL!!!! 3-1. That is Downing's first career goal for Manchester United!

Game over. 3-1 win for us.

We outshot them 22-3 (14-2 on target)

Downing had a 10 for form, won MoM, 10 of 15 passes, 0 tackles, 1 of 3 headers, 1 interceptions, 14 runs (he is having his way with most right wingers), 2 fouls drawn, 1 assist, and 1 goal.

McFadden and Djemba both had 9's for form. Ferdinand had an 8 for form. Rooney had a 6, and the rest of the team had 7's.

finkenst

03-19-2005, 12:22 AM

it's 2k4. i need a new goalie.

i can afford $50+mil.

who would you go get?

Eaglesfan27

03-19-2005, 12:28 AM

Post Match Info:

Stewart Downing injured his groin this match. He will miss approximately 2 weeks.

James McFadden damaged his shoulder and will miss approximately 5 days.

Eaglesfan27

03-19-2005, 12:29 AM

it's 2k4. i need a new goalie.

i can afford $50+mil.

who would you go get?
Personally, I'd go with Iker Casillas. I think he is one of the most consistently spectacular keepers in the game.

Eaglesfan27

03-19-2005, 12:57 AM

Oct 19, 2010 -

Alfonso, a young talented left winger has returned from his loan at Millwall. He looks much improved since when he went, and he is now valued at 11 million dollars. This young Spanish player will continue to play in the reserves, but he could get some time with my main team in the near future. He is appearing to have the potential to be a regular for us in a few years.

Eaglesfan27

03-19-2005, 01:03 AM

Oct 20, 2010 -

Today we host Reading. We are in 5th place (but still with one more game to play than anyone else) while Reading is in 19th place. Reading has a decent defense, but their offense is slow and not very productive. Striker Daniele Corvia leads the team with 2 goals. Their solid defense is led by Calum Davenport and Ibrahimi sonko at centreback and Steve Finnan at right back. Their keeper Iain Turner is having a rough season and is becoming demoralized. Their left winger Chris Cohen has been on of the most consistent performers.

We are very heavy 1-3 favorites.

It's sunny with temperatures in the mid 40's today.

Going to give a few stars needed rest in this fairly easy match.

GK: Howard
DL: Silvestre
DC: Ferdinand
DC: Lucio
DR: Brown
ML: Duff
MC: Cook
MC: Fletcher
MR: Eagles
SC: Saha
SC: Marino (a 24 year old striker who just returned from a successful loan period.)

S1: Barthez
S2: Grygera
S3: Neville
S4: Smith
S5: King

Chivu, O'Shea, Mamam, Downing, McFadden, and Serhat are all hurt!

Eaglesfan27

03-19-2005, 01:23 AM

1st minute: Silvestre gets the ball in our zone.. passes it up the left sideline to Duff.. he puts a move on a defender.. dribbles up the pitch.. into the left corner.. crosses to the near post.. Marino heads it.. into the upper left corner.. GOAL!!!! 1-0.

6 minute mark: Saha passes to Duff on the left wing.. he crosses long to Eagles.. he passes back to Cook just outside the box.. Cook unleashes a shot so hard that I don't see it until it stops in the back of the net! POWERFUL shot! GOAL!!!! 2-0. :)

9 minute mark: Saha passes to Eagles who crosses back to Marino.. he heads it.. barely wide left.

27 minute mark: Eagles crosses to Saha who heads it.. good save by the keeper.

38 minute mark: Duff centers to Saha in the box who shoots.. the keeper barely tips it over the bar. On the ensuing corner.. Duff finds Saha in the box.. he jumps.. he is pushed down by the keeper.. Penalty shot awarded! Cook (he has amazing penalty shooting ability) steps up... the keeper blocks his powerful shot.. Cook races to the rebound.. passes it to Marino in the center of the box.. Marino fires it into the open net (as the keeper had raced Cook to the rebound.) GOAL!!!! 3-0.

Halftime: 3-0 lead. We have over 65,000 fans watching us dominate Reading.

56 minute mark: Eagles crosses to Cook in the box.. hard shot.. the keeper barely tips it over the bar.

63 minute mark: Smith on for Saha, and Neville on for Eagles. I'm leaving Marino on to give him a shot at the hattrick. Lucio and Ferdinand are really starting to jell as a dymanic duo at centreback and are dominating the defensive end.

68 minute mark: No sooner do I praise him, then Lucio gets a yellow card for a trip on Tommy Smith.

85 minute mark: Neville crosses to Marino in the box.. he heads it.. barely over the bar.

88 minute mark: cook gets a yellow card for a trip on Finnan.

Game over. 3-0 win. We dominated possession today.

We outshot them 18-0 (10-0 on target)

Damien Duff had a 10 for form and won MoM, 33 of 37 passes, 4 of 5 tackles, 4 of 4 headers, 6 runs, 5 fouls drawn, 1 assist.

Cook had a 9 for form. Marino, Brown, Lucio, Ferdinand, Eagles, and Marino all had 8's for form. The rest of the team had 7's.

Eaglesfan27

03-19-2005, 01:36 AM

Oct 23, 2010 -

Today we travel to play West Brom. We are now caught up on games and we are in 2nd place (2 points behind first place Arsenal.) West Brom is currently in 8th place. They have excellent keeping by Federico Vilar complimented by a diverse offensive attack. Strikers Ben Paszkowec, Johan Elmander, and Michael Chopra each have 4 goals. Midfielder Mark Wilson has 3 goals, and left winger Kasper Lorentzen has 2 goals and a handful of assists already.

We are 4-7 favorites.

It's overcast with temperatures in the low 50's.

GK: Howard
DL: Silvestre
DC: Ferdinand
DC: Lucio
DR: Grygera
ML: Duff
MC: Djemba
MC: Cook
MR: Fletcher (Eagles needs a day off.)
SC: Smith
SC: King

S1: Barthez
S2: Brown
S3: Beville
S4: Saha
S5: Ruud van Nistelrooy (RvN for short.)

Eaglesfan27

03-19-2005, 01:55 AM

9 minute mark: They hit us on the counterattack.. long pass to Lorentzen who passes to Davis just outside the box.. he shoots a long shot.. upper right corner.. it bounces off the post.. and into the net! GOAL. Down 1-0.

43 minute mark: Howard stops a long shot by Davis.

Halftime: 1-0 lead for them. They controlled time of possession. They have over 30,000 fans here today.

61 minute mark: Cook with a spectacular 40 yard pass to get King an open shot.. he shoots a hard curving shot into the upper left hand corner of the net.. the keeper dives.. and catches it! Nice save for him.

65 minute mark: King is exhausted. I put RvN on for him. I also put Saha on for Smith who is tired.

68 minute mark: Duff passes into the box for Saha.. he shoots from 17 yards out.. lower right corner.. the keeper runs.. saves the shot.

75 minute mark: Silvestre with a nice pass over a defender to get the ball to Duff deep in enemy turf.. he immediately crosses towards the near post.. RvN outjumps Gaardsoe.. he heads it.. into the upper left corner! GOAL!!!! 1-1.

77 minute mark: Djemba steals it at midfield.. he passes to Fletcher on the right wing.. Fletcher takes a few steps.. crosses all the way across the field to Duff.. he dribbles up the pitch.. crosses towards the far post.. RvN with a diving header.. into the upper right corner! GOAL!!!! 2-1!

80 minute mark: Ferdinand heads away an offensive attack.. ignites a counter attack.. Cook with a 50 yard pass.. right to Saha who is just outside the box.. he dribbles into the box.. dribbles to his left.. fires a shot into the left side of the net! GOAL!!!! 3-1. That is his first goal of the season.

Game over. 3-1 win :) (Thanks to Ruud van Nistelrooy and Saha!)

We were outshot 9-5 (but 5-4 on target in our favor.)

Duff had a 9 for form and won MoM, 23 of 26 passes, 5 of 6 tackles, 6 of 11 headers, 2 interceptions, 4 runs, 2 assists.

Craig King had a 7. Everyone else on the team had an 8 (including the subs.)

Eaglesfan27

03-19-2005, 02:02 AM

Oct 23, 2010 -

David Platt has been fired from Brighton and Hove Albion's manager position.

Cardiff Striker Lewis Guy (I remember him from last year) has had his agent approach me with video of his client. The video is impressive as Guy had a 2 goal, 1 assist game. However, I feel we have a good group of strikers and that is one position I won't seek to add anymore unless the player is great or has the potential to be great. Guy is very good, but at 25 he is unlikely to improve further. I pass on making an offer at this time.

We are temporarily in 1st, but Arsenal hasn't played their match against Chelsea yet (it will be on Tv Tomorrow.) If they lose that match, we will legitimately have 1st all to ourselves. Otherwise, we will either be tied for 1st or in 2nd if they win.

Wigan is last in the league with a record of 1 win, 1 draw, and 10 losses so far.

Eaglesfan27

03-19-2005, 04:28 PM

October 24, 2010 -

Chelsea crushed Arsenal 5-1 and as a result, I'm currently alone in 1st place with all of the teams having played 12 games so far. We have 26 points with an 8-2-2 record. Liverpool is 2nd with 25 points. Arsenal and Newcastle are right beind us with 24 points. Chelsea is in 5th with 23 points, and Fulham is 6th with 22 points.

Eaglesfan27

03-19-2005, 04:33 PM

Oct 26, 2010 -

Grygera and Lucio were both selected to EPL Team of the Week.

Rio Ferdinand hurt his ankle in practice today :(

Here is an article regarding this in the newspaper:

"Rio Ferdinand is set to miss Manchester United's Crucial game with mighty Chelsea at Old Trafford on October 30th after suffering an ankle sprain.

The 31 year old central defender will be sidelined for at least 2 weeks and he is believed to be very frustrated at being injured during such an important stage of the season.

Fans of the Red Devils are praying that the team can hold together and sustain their challenge for the title whilst Ferdinand is absent."

Eaglesfan27

03-19-2005, 04:41 PM

Oct 27, 2010 -

Today we travel to play Millwall in the 3rd round of the English League Cup. Millwall is currently 20th in the English Championship. Millwall is a poor team in comparision to our own. Only striker Simeon Jackson worries me as he is an explosive scorer. He has 10 goals in 12 games for Millwall. The defense is led by centreback Ardian Serioux. Their keeper, Richard McDonald is playing fairly well. Tommy Doherty has been their most consistent midfielder.

We are heavy 1-3 favorites.

It's sunny with temperatures in the high 60's.

GK: Howard
DL: Silvestre
DC: O'Shea
DC: Lucio (would rest him if I had another DC that was good and available. We need Chivu back.)
DR: Brown
ML: Alfonso (Giving this talented 19 year old his first start against this inferior team.)
MC: Djemba
MC: Cook
MR: Eagles
SC: Saha
SC: Marino (I'm going to rest Rooney til he feels he is in superb condition again.)

S1: Barthez
S2: Grygera
S3: Neville
S4: Smith
S5: van Nistelrooy.

Eaglesfan27

03-19-2005, 05:04 PM

2 minute mark: Brown gets a yellow card for a trip on Jackson.

10 minute mark: Tommy Doherty is injured and has to leave the ame. Gary Dempsey comes on for him.

12 minute mark: Lucio gets a yellow card for a trip on Jackson.

16 minute mark: Christopher Eagles gets a yellow card for pushing Rhoys Wiggins! 3 yellow cards for our team already!

17 minute mark: WTF! Brown gets a second yellow card for pushing Simeon Jackson. BS! He is sent off.

I pull Saha off the pitch and put Neville in at right fullback.

19 minute mark: Wiggins gets a yellow card for tripping Eagles. About time they got a yellow card.

28 minute mark: Michael Spence gets a yellow card for a trip on Eagles.

31 minute mark: Eagles steals the ball at midfield.. dribbles up the pitch.. passes to Marino in the box.. he crosses the ball to Alfonso on the left side of the pitch.. Alfonso with a hard left footed shot.. upper right corner.. it is past the keeper! GOAL!!!! 1-0.

38 minute mark: Alfonso puts a move on 3 defenders.. dribbles up the left side of the pitch.. crosses to Djemba just outside the box.. he shoots.. hard curving shot.. it hits the crossbar and bounces back.. the defense clears it.

40 minute mark: Neville steals it deep in our zone.. long pass to Marino.. he shoots.. lower right corner of the goal.. the keeper dives.. pushes it wide of the net.

44 minute mark: Silvestre picks up an injury, but insists he can keep playing.

Halftime: 1-0 lead for us. We are dominating possession for at least the last 20 minutes. They have over 19,000 fans here today.

Our physios are unsure if Silvestre can make it through the 2nd half. I might have to move O'Shea to left fullback and bring in Grygera at DC. We'll watch the situation closely.

60 minute mark: Silvestre looks better now. Marino was just tripped by Matt Potter. Potter gets a yellow card.

63 minute mark: Adrian Serioux gets a yellow card for tripping Marino.

82 minute mark: Cook steals it at midfield.. passes it to Djemba just outside the box.. Djemba with a hard curving shot.. upper right corner.. the keeper tips it.. but it still sails into the goal! GOAL!!!! 2-0.

Game over. 2-0 win for us. Glad to see that we still could dominate possession and score despite being down a man most of the match.

We outshot them 16-9 (9-4 on target)

Almost eeryone on the team had an 8 for form except for Jamie Cook, John O'Shea, and Phil Neville who all had 7's.

Djemba won Mom, 26 of 27 passes, 4 of 5 tackles, 7 of 10 headers, 1 interception, 2 runs, and 1 goal.

Eaglesfan27

03-19-2005, 05:06 PM

Post Match Info: We were awarded 52,000 dollars for that win in the English League Cup. Wes Brown is automatically suspended for our next match.

Eaglesfan27

03-19-2005, 05:12 PM

October 29, 2010 -

We had a rather unfortunate draw for the 4th round of the English League Cup. We will be facing Chelsea on their pitch. Of course, they are also our next EPL opponent.

Eaglesfan27

03-19-2005, 05:23 PM

Oct. 30, 2010 -

Today we play against Chelsea in an EPL match. They have a very talented team and are currently running a pyramid shaped 4-3-2-1. They have left top notch talent at every position. Left fullback Wayne Bridge is still very good at 30 years old. Centreback Ricardo Carvalho is likely their weakest defender, but is still good. John Terry starts alongside him, and he is a very good centreback. Right back GLen Johnson is fast and talented. In the narrow Midfield they have talent across the board in Sanli Tuncay, Arjen Robben, and Wesley Sneijder (I wanted to acquire those last two players.) In their two attacking midfield spots, they have Joe Cole and Diego who are both very talented players. Finally at the striker position, they have Adriano who is a world class striker. They will be tough to beat.

Perhaps because we are at home, we are 6-4 favorites.

It's overcast with temperatures in the low 40's.

Despite my desire to rest Rooney til he is completely rested, I'm starting him this game. He hasn't played in 2 weeks and should be fit enough to play well.

GK: Howard
DL: Silvestre
DC: O'Shea
DC: Lucio
DR: Grygera (Brown is suspended.)
ML: Downing (freshly back from injury.)
MC: Djemba
MC: Fletcher
MR: Eagles
SC: McFadden
SC: Rooney

S1: Barthez
S2: Neville
S3: Duff
S4: King
S5: van Nistelrooy

TV INFO:

Wayne Rooney is considered out key player by the announcers while Petr Cech is considered Chelsea's top player. He has only allowed 15 games in 17 goals. The announcers are predicting that we will end in a draw today.

illinifan999

03-19-2005, 05:28 PM

Where do you get the TV info?

Eaglesfan27

03-19-2005, 05:43 PM

18 minute mark: After Chelsea attacking us early, we initiate an attack. McFadden passes from midfield to Rooney in the box.. hard shot.. it hits the crossbar. The keeper pounces on the rebound.

31 minute mark: Djemba gets a yellow card for a trip on Diego.

Halftime: 0-0 tie. Lucio is playing a brilliant defensive game. Our entire team is playing well. We have over 75,000 fans here today. Downing is playing well, but is getting tired, especially since he just came back from injury. I might sub Duff on soon.

47 minute mark: Adriano gets a yellow card for a trip on Lucio.

54 minute mark: Bridge gets a yellow card for a trip in Rooney.

60 minute mark: McFadden collides with Terry and seems to be hurt quite badly.. McFadden has to be subbed out of the match. I put Craig King on for McFadden.

Downing also worn out, I put Duff on for him.

Game over. Hard fought match that ends in a 0-0 tie.

We each had 7 shots. We each had 3 shots on target.

Petr Cech wins MoM.

All of our guys had 7's for form.

Eaglesfan27

03-19-2005, 05:44 PM

Where do you get the TV info?
When you are in the preview screen where it shows both sides' formations there is a button on the upper right hand corner (at least on the skin I'm using) and if you click on it, one of the bottom options is TV Info.

Eaglesfan27

03-19-2005, 05:53 PM

Post Match Info:

Liverpool won their match and are now in 1st place. We are in 2nd, just one point behind Liverpool.

Eaglesfan27

03-19-2005, 06:01 PM

Nov 1, 2010 -

The Manchester United Board are very pleased with my performance as manager.

Aston Villa's Daniel Bierofka has won the EPL Player of the Month. Damien Duff came in 2nd, and Ledley King of Tottenham came in 3rd.

Jamie Cook won the Young Player of the Month Award. Craig Scott of Newcastle came in 2nd, and Jordi of Liverpool came in 3rd.

I won manager of the month for guiding my team to 4 victories in our last 6 games. Jose Mourinho of Chelsea came in 2nd, and Tony Colbert of Liverpool came in 3rd.

Eaglesfan27

03-19-2005, 06:03 PM

Nov 2, 2010 -

Alan Irvine has been sacked by Middlesbrough who are currently 16th in the EPL.

Eaglesfan27

03-19-2005, 06:17 PM

Nov 4, 2010 -

Today we host Real Sociedad in our first Euro Cup group match. This game will be televised. Real Sociedad is currently 10th in the Spanish First Division. We are currently 2nd in the EPL. Real Sociedad has been led by the superior play of midfielder Kleberson who is a former Manchester United player. He has had a great year so far. Their Turkish striker Nihat has also had a great year so far, and he has 6 goals in 11 games. Left Fullback Gabriel Ivan Heinze has led the defensive line which has been good. Their keeper, Asier Riesgo, is a top notch keeper.

We are even odd favorites.

It's overcast with temperatures in the 30's today.

GK: Howard
DL: Silvestre
DC: O'Shea
DC: Lucio
DR: Brown
ML: Duff
MC: Cook
MC: Fletcher
MR: Eagles
SC: Smith
SC: King

S1: Barthez
S2: Neville
S3: Grygera
S4: van Nistelrooy
S5: Alfonso
S6: Saha
S7: Djemba

The button for TV info is "view" with TV Info being the bottom option.

The announcers believe Lucio is our key player as we have only conceded 7 goals in the 12 games that the world class centreback has started in.

Kleberson is believed to be Real Sociedad's key player. The announcers believe it will be a close game, but that we will win.

Eaglesfan27

03-19-2005, 06:34 PM

1 minute mark: Cook passes to Duff in the left corner of the pitch.. he passes back to Cook just outside the match.. Cook shoots a shot that is so hard that I don't see it, but I hear it as it clangs off the crossbar. Romeo clears the rebound.

7 minute mark: Duff crosses to King who shoots.. his shot is blocked by a defender.. it sails back to Fletcher who immediately passes back into the box for King.. he turns.. shoots a very powerful curving shot.. it sails into the upper right corner of the net! GOAL!!!! 1-0. What a goal by King!

13 minute mark: Duff passes to Cook just outside the box.. very hard shot.. barely wide righgt.

27 minute mark: Fletcher passes to Alan Smith in the left side of the box.. good shot.. upper right corner.. the keeper saves it.

33 minute mark: Alan Smith falls down in the box on a breakaway.. yellow card for diving.

Halftime: 1-0 lead. Lucio has been key in shutting down their offense. We have over 65,000 fans here today.

62 minute mark: Lucio takes a free kick and passes it to Eagles just outside the box.. he passes back to Fletcher.. Fletcher shoots from 30 yards out.. hard low curving shot.. it curves.. curves.. into the lower right corner of the net! GOAL!!!! 2-0! That was an excellent curling shot, and it was Fletcher's first goal of the year.

73 minute mark: Bruno with a long range shot.. easy save for Howard.

75 minute mark: King is tired. I sub RvN for him. I also sub Saha on for Smith who is tired. Finally, I give Alfonso some experience since Duff is tired.

Game over. 2-0 win for us.

We outshot them 15-2 (9-1 on target)

Fletcher had an 8 for form and won MoM, 30 of 36 passes, 1 of 2 tackles, 2 of 7 headers, 3 interceptions, 1 run, 1 assist, and 1 goal.

Eaglesfan27

03-19-2005, 06:40 PM

Post Match Info:

We were awarded 160,000 dollars for that Euro Cup win.

Eaglesfan27

03-19-2005, 06:43 PM

Nov 6, 2010 -

Newcastle boss Fernando Vazquez has said that he doubts Manchester United will be able to put together a strong challenge for the EPL title this year. He says, "Christopher Engles still has a lot to prove at this level yet, and I don't think my side has anything to be worried about in our upcoming match."

I reply to Skysports.com with the following quote:

"From what I've heard, I'm not sure that Fernando Vazquez is the type of manager that should be in the game still. I'm never one to condemn a man from hearsay, and I will give Fernando Vazquez plenty of chances to prove me wrong."

weinstein7

03-19-2005, 06:50 PM

Eaglesfan27

03-19-2005, 07:05 PM

Nov. 7, 2010 -

Today we travel to play Newcastle in an EPL match. They are currently in 3rd place while we are currently in 2nd. They have a world class squad. Their keeper Kenneth Stenild has been amazing so far this season. Couple his excellent keeping with a great offense led by striker Lukas Podolski who has 14 goals in 14 appearances, and it is easy to see why Newcastle is doing well. Podolski isn't doing it along, his partner Diomansy Kamara also has 7 goals in 17 starts. Julio has 4 goals as well from the striker position. Midfielder Fabian Ernst has 4 goals. Their centrebacks have been average, but are quite skilled. It will be a tough match, particularly since I'm resting Rooney for our match with Chelsea in 3 days.

We are even odd favorites.

It's is windy, raining, and temperatures are in the low 50's.

GK: Howard
DL: Silvestre
DC: O'Shea
DC: Lucio
DR: Brown
ML: Downing
MC: Djemba
MC: Fletcher
MR: Eagles
SC: Saha
SC: Marino

S1: Barthez
S2: Neville
S3: Grygera
S4: Ruud van Nistelrooy
S5: Alfonso

Eaglesfan27

03-19-2005, 07:06 PM

EF,

How does correspondence with the media work in FM? Are you given a list of possible responses, do you mix and match from set phrase lists, or do you type whatever you want and then the engine identifies key words, or is it something else entirely?
You are given a choice of about 10 possible responses. You aren't told exactly how you will word it, but the choices are fairly obvious from the description of each response. You can also initiate media interactions about any player or manager at any time. It isn't restricted to replies.

Eaglesfan27

03-19-2005, 07:35 PM

9 minute mark: Meghni gets the ball from their keeper.. he passes it into the box to Julio.. Julio on the right side of the box.. blasts a shot.. upper left corner.. Howard dives.. it is out of his reach.. GOAL. Down 1-0.

12 minute mark: Meghni gets a yellow card for a nasty tackle on Downing.

20 minute mark: Saha steals it from a defender deep in their turf.. dribbles into the box.. shoots.. good save by the keeper.

26 minute mark: Downing crosses to Eagles in the right side of the box.. he shoots.. wide right.

Halftime: 1-0 lead for Newcastle. They are outplaying us at this point. They have over 50,000 fans here tonight.

52 minute mark: They have a full on attack.. Lucio intercepts a pass.. passes it to Marino just outside our own box.. he passes down most of the pitch to Saha who is hanging back with only 1 defender.. Saha puts a move on the defender.. dribbles into the box.. shoots.. upper left corner.. GOAL!!!! 1-1.

55 minute mark: O'Shea heads away a corner kick.. Marino gets the ball.. passes long to Saha.. he dribbles into the box.. shoots.. past the keeper.. it hits the crossbar! They clear the rebound.

58 minute mark: O'Shea with a header to Fletcher.. he passes to Djemba who is breaking down field.. Djemba with a breakaway.. hard shot.. good save by the keeper.

61 minute mark: Marino is tired, I sub on Ruud van Nistelrooy. I also sub on Grygera for Brown who is tired.

65 minute mark: Downing gets a yellow card for tripping Jensen.

73 minute mark: Eagles with a brilliant dribble down the right side of the pitch.. great moves on 2 different defenders.. crosses.. far post.. Saha with a diving header.. into the upper left corner.. GOAL!!!! 2-1! What a goal!

85 minute mark: Downing with a strong dribble.. crosses to Ruud van Nistelrooy.. strong header.. the keeper barely blocks it.. Eagles shoots the rebound.. Kroidrup saved a goal for his keeper by heading away the shot.

86 minute mark: Diego Placente gets a yellow card for tripping Eagles.

88 minute mark: Grygera intercepts a pass for Podolski.. he passes all the way down the pitch to the right corner of the box.. Ruud gets to it.. centers for Saha.. hard shot.. amazing save by the keeper to block it.. the defense clears.

91 minute mark: Downing crosses to Eagles who heads it to Ruud van Nistelrooy in the center of the box.. he heads it into the upper left corner of the goal! GOAL!!!! 3-1. Very nice looking team goal.

Game over. 3-1 win :) We dominated the second half.

We outshot them 20-10 (10-6 on target)

Downing wins MoM, 10 for form, 26 of 27 passes, 6 of 11 tackles, 0 of 2 headers, 1 intercpetion, 7 runs, 1 foul drawn.

Saha also had a 10 for form, Eagles had a 9. RvN, Silvestre, O'Shea, Lucio, and Fletcher all had 8's. The rest of the team had 7's.

Eaglesfan27

03-19-2005, 07:37 PM

Post Match Info:

David Gill was thrilled with our win over Newcastle tonight. We are currently first in the EPL with a 2 point lead over Liverpool. The TV news announcers feel that if we maintain our current form, no team will be able to stop us or catch us.

finkenst

03-19-2005, 09:03 PM

In the narrow Midfield they have talent across the board in Sanli Tuncay, Arjen Robben, and Wesley Sneijder (I wanted to acquire those last two players.)
fwiw, arjen robben is a "wonderkind" in my game.

Eaglesfan27

03-19-2005, 09:07 PM

Nov. 9, 2010 -

Mikael Silvestre, John O'Shea, and Christopher Eagles were all selected to the EPL Team of the Week.

Chelsea's manager Jose Mourinho told skysports.com that he thinks Manchester United might be too good for his squad in the upcoming English League Cup match. Mourinho declared that Manchester United know how important victory would be for their morale, and stated that he knew Chelsea's supporters would not be happy with going out in the cup to their rivals.

I reply, "I'm glad that he is afraid of my team. I consider Jose a friend, and I think he is a very good manager with a very good team. To top it off, he is a good guy. However, we plan on beating them."

Eaglesfan27

03-19-2005, 09:08 PM

fwiw, arjen robben is a "wonderkind" in my game.
He is considered a top notch veteran in my game in 2010.

Eaglesfan27

03-19-2005, 09:18 PM

November 10, 2010 -

10 of my players were called up for international play in 3 days.

Tonight we play Chelsea in the 4th round of the English League Cup. They are using the same lineup as last time. This match is also televised.

We are 6-4 favorites.

It's sunny with temperatures in the mid 50's.

GK: Howard
DL: Silvestre
DC: O'Shea
DC: Lucio
DR: Brown
ML: Duff
MC: Djemba
MC: Fletcher
MR: Eagles
SC: McFadden
SC: Rooney

S1: Barthez
S2: Neville
S3: Grygera
S4: van Nistelrooy
S5: Alfonso

Derby have made a request to borrow Alfonso right before the start of this match. I decline as I'm starting to use him now.

The announcers think Pablo Aimer who is starting in place of Coles will be Chelsea's key man. They think Wayne Rooney will lbe my key player. They predict a draw.

weinstein7

03-19-2005, 09:21 PM

You are given a choice of about 10 possible responses. You aren't told exactly how you will word it, but the choices are fairly obvious from the description of each response. You can also initiate media interactions about any player or manager at any time. It isn't restricted to replies.

Fascinating. FOF sounds worse and worse every day :)

Eaglesfan27

03-19-2005, 09:36 PM

9 minute mark: Fletcher passes to Djemba.. hard shot.. curving.. great save by Cech as he dives to prevent it from sailing into the right edge of the net.

12 minute mark: Robben with a hard shot.. good save by Howard.

19 minute mark: Robben passes to Aimar just at the edge of the box.. Pablo shoots.. blasts a shot into the upper right corner. GOAL. Down 1-0. That is his first goal of the year for Chelsea.

25 minute mark: Duff heads away a corner kick.. gets it to Djemba outside our box.. he passes long to Rooney who has a breakaway.. Rooney with a hard shot.. the keeper blocks it.. the rebound goes right to McFadden.. he taps the ball into the open net! GOAL!!!! 1-1.

30 minute mark: Lucio heads away a shot.. initiates the counter attack.. it gets to Djemba at midfield.. he passes to Rooney who is breaking away.. the keeper comes out to meet Rooney.. he chips it.. over the keeper.. and it sails.. under the bar, into the net! GOAL!!!! 2-1.

44 minute mark: McFadden with a brilliant dribble into the box, between two defenders.. passes to Duff in the middle of the box.. he shoots.. great save by Cech.

Halftime: 2-1 lead for us. Chelsea has over 42,000 fans here tonight.

50 minute mark: Carvalho trips Rooney on the line of the box.. it's called outside the box.. yellow card for Carvalho.

52 minute mark: Djemba and Aimar collide.. Aimar is hurt. Coles comes on for Aimar.

67 minute mark: Cole beats Lucio bad with a strong dribble.. goes into the box.. passes to Robben in the center of the box.. Robben shoots.. upper right corner.. with Howard blocking the left post from Cole, he has no chance. GOAL. 2-2.

74 minute mark: McFadden is very tired, I sub RvN on for him.

85 minute mark: Mutu (who came on as a sub) takes a corner kick.. Lucio and Adriano jump.. whistle.. Lucio is judged to have pushed Adriano.. the announcer thinks it was a dubious call! So do I! Mutu steps up to take the penalty shot.. He shoots it into the lower right corner! Down 3-2.

Game over: 3-2 loss :(

We were outshot 12-9 (8-7 on target)

McFadden won MoM, 8 for form, 10 of 13 passes, 1 of 5 tackles, 0 of 7 headers, 10 runs, 2 fouls drawn, 1 goal.

Eaglesfan27

03-19-2005, 09:46 PM

Nov. 13, 2010 -

Four different teams have asked to borrow Marino. 4 other teams have asked to borrow Alfonso. I tell them all no (and make sure they aren't listed for loan.)

SunDancer

03-19-2005, 09:48 PM

Eaglesfan27

03-19-2005, 09:53 PM

Nice to see you pounding away at the dynasty tonight. No steak or work to distract ya. :)

Few questions:
1) Is the League Cup or FA Cup is the most prestigeous English tournament? Also, what is the Community Shield Trophy (I noticed it today, and never heard of it)?

2) How is the lastest patch working? Have you noticed a difference?

3) With the regens starting to come in 2-3 years in the top tier, replacing the real players, think the game would be much more challenging, scouting, and more fun (and maybe more rewarding?)?

If you get a chance, check out the Intel processors thread in the General forum.
1. I'm not sure whether the League Cup or FA cup is more prestigious. Hopefully someone else can answer that. The Community Shield is a prestigious friendly match that is televised that matches two of the top teams from the EPL each year. I think it might match the League Cup winner versus the Division winner, but I'm not sure.

2. I've noticed that the little bugs that bothered me are gone :) I haven't noticed any bugs with 5.05 at this point.

3. I think the regens make the game more challenging since I don't know who is good. I've never played a career long enough to get to a totally fictional universe, but this could be the career where I do that, and I think it will be more fun and rewarding when I'm winning triples and quadruples with "fake players." :)

The triple is a combination such as the European Championship, EPL title, and League Cup title.

Eaglesfan27

03-19-2005, 09:54 PM

Dola -

I really look forward to trying the MLS with the new patch at some point, as I've heard from a friend or two that MLS careers are much more fun with the new patch. However, I can't tear myself away from this career/dynasty to check out the MLS at this point ;)

weinstein7

03-19-2005, 10:05 PM

So you wouldn't considering moving from Man U to say, DC United, as a step up?

illinifan999

03-19-2005, 10:07 PM

It would be more of a step down.

finkenst

03-19-2005, 10:14 PM

Personally, I'd go with Iker Casillas. I think he is one of the most consistently spectacular keepers in the game.
he was on my short list....

I tried for his value of 37.5m and was rejected. Upped to 50mil + Petr Cech with money spread over time... Tried a straight $70m transfer bid and got:

now real madrid want ... $1.5 million + arjen robben for Iker Casillas.

opinions on this?

Arjen is doing pretty well as a left/right winger...

I'm tired of my keeper giving up soft goals... Twice in one game on a freekick, my idiot keeper kicked it right into tthe player in front of him and the ball rebounded into the net. http://dynamic.gamespy.com/%7Efof/forums/images/smilies/mad.gifhttp://dynamic.gamespy.com/%7Efof/forums/images/smilies/mad.gifhttp://dynamic.gamespy.com/%7Efof/forums/images/smilies/mad.gifhttp://dynamic.gamespy.com/%7Efof/forums/images/smilies/mad.gifhttp://dynamic.gamespy.com/%7Efof/forums/images/smilies/mad.gifhttp://dynamic.gamespy.com/%7Efof/forums/images/smilies/mad.gifhttp://dynamic.gamespy.com/%7Efof/forums/images/smilies/mad.gif So, he's been benched in favor of cudicini who is doing better than cech...

SunDancer

03-19-2005, 10:25 PM

1. I'm not sure whether the League Cup or FA cup is more prestigious. Hopefully someone else can answer that. The Community Shield is a prestigious friendly match that is televised that matches two of the top teams from the EPL each year. I think it might match the League Cup winner versus the Division winner, but I'm not sure.

2. I've noticed that the little bugs that bothered me are gone :) I haven't noticed any bugs with 5.05 at this point.

3. I think the regens make the game more challenging since I don't know who is good. I've never played a career long enough to get to a totally fictional universe, but this could be the career where I do that, and I think it will be more fun and rewarding when I'm winning triples and quadruples with "fake players." :)

The triple is a combination such as the European Championship, EPL title, and League Cup title.

The last part, fictional players, sounds like fun. I actually look foward to having long careers. Plus, I think I could get "attached" to them more so then real-life players. I always get confused by your European Championship/Euro Cup names, then realize its the Champions League/UEFA Cup.

Eaglesfan27

03-19-2005, 10:27 PM

Eaglesfan27

03-19-2005, 10:30 PM

he was on my short list....

I tried for his value of 37.5m and was rejected. Upped to 50mil + Petr Cech with money spread over time... Tried a straight $70m transfer bid and got:

now real madrid want ... $1.5 million + arjen robben for Iker Casillas.

opinions on this?

Arjen is doing pretty well as a left/right winger...

I'm tired of my keeper giving up soft goals... Twice in one game on a freekick, my idiot keeper kicked it right into tthe player in front of him and the ball rebounded into the net. http://dynamic.gamespy.com/%7Efof/forums/images/smilies/mad.gifhttp://dynamic.gamespy.com/%7Efof/forums/images/smilies/mad.gifhttp://dynamic.gamespy.com/%7Efof/forums/images/smilies/mad.gifhttp://dynamic.gamespy.com/%7Efof/forums/images/smilies/mad.gifhttp://dynamic.gamespy.com/%7Efof/forums/images/smilies/mad.gifhttp://dynamic.gamespy.com/%7Efof/forums/images/smilies/mad.gifhttp://dynamic.gamespy.com/%7Efof/forums/images/smilies/mad.gif So, he's been benched in favor of cudicini who is doing better than cech...
Personally, I think they are working you over a bit. I think a great defense can minimize the importance of a keeper, and I would generally rather have a great young midfielder. However, If you only have to give up 1.5 million dollars, you should have enough money to get another great young midfielder. Also, if your own keeper isn't doing well, it might be worth doing. However, I have to say that Cech has been one of the top keepers in my game for several years. He, Almunia and Casillas are generally the top 3 keepers in Europe each year with Howard occasionally sneaking into the final voting.

SunDancer

03-19-2005, 10:31 PM

Glad I could help. :) I take it you got the house all to yourself tonight? :)

Eaglesfan27

03-19-2005, 10:31 PM

The last part, fictional players, sounds like fun. I actually look foward to having long careers. Plus, I think I could get "attached" to them more so then real-life players. I always get confused by your European Championship/Euro Cup names, then realize its the Champions League/UEFA Cup.
I really do mean to start calling it by their real names of Champions League and UEFA cup.

Eaglesfan27

03-19-2005, 10:35 PM

November 13, 2010 -

All of the following international matches were friendly matches:

Akin Serhat played well for Turkey in a 2-0 win against South Africa.

Zdenek Grygera had a 9 for form in a 2-0 win of the Czech Republic over Ireland. John O'Shea and Damien Duff played well for Ireland.

Ruud van Nistelrooy played well but didn't score in a 2-0 final of France over Holland. Mikael Silvestre played well for the French team.

James McFadden scored a goal and assisted on a goal in 4-0 Scotland win over Qatar.

Tim Howard had a poor performance despite the USA's 3-1 win over Guadeloupe. Landon Donovan scored 2 oals, and Daniel Karbassiyoon had the other goal.

Eaglesfan27

03-19-2005, 10:36 PM

Glad I could help. :) I take it you got the house all to yourself tonight? :)
Mrs. Eaglesfan works til 1 AM tonight :(

Oh well, least that leaves plenty of time for FM :)

SunDancer

03-19-2005, 10:38 PM

Tim Howard had a poor performance despite the USA's 3-1 win over Guadeloupe. Landon Donovan scored 2 oals, and Daniel Karbassiyoon had the other goal.

Guadeloupe? Never heard of such a country. Sounds like "Gotta-poop". This game is also educational. :)

Eaglesfan27

03-19-2005, 10:42 PM

Nov. 14, 2010 -

Holy crap! 15 players have been called up for international friendlies on November 17, 2010!

The players include:

Silvestre - France
Howard - USA
O'Shea - Ireland
Grygera - Czech Republic
van Nistelrooy - Holland
Alan Smith, Downing, Rooney, Craig King, Ferdinand, and Eagles - England!
Serhat - Turkey
Fletcher and McFadden - Scotland.
Djemba - Cameroon.

I give instructions to only use Rooney a maximum of 45 minutes in this friendly.

Eaglesfan27

03-19-2005, 10:53 PM

November 17, 2010 -

John O'Shea twisted his knee in practice yesterday, and will miss about a week.

International Roundup:

Downing played particularly well for England in a 0-0 match with Brazil. Ferdinand also played very well. Craig King, Eagles, and Rooney were all average.

Djemba had Cameroon's only goal in a 1-0 win over Uruguay.

Zdenek Grygera had a 9 for form and was very good for the Czech Republic in their 4-0 win over Egypt.

Howard played well in a 5-0 USA win over the Faroe Islands.

Akin Serhat had an assist in a 2-2 tie between Turkey and Portugal.

Darren Fletcher and James McFadden both played well without excellin in a 1-1 tie between Scotland and Portugal.

Mikael Silvestre was excellent for France in their 2-0 win over Denmark.

Eaglesfan27

03-19-2005, 11:04 PM

November 20, 2010 -

Today we host Tottenham in an EPL match. We are currently in 1st place. Tottenham is currently in 8th place. The Hot Spuds (as I like to call them) are led by their star striker Carlton Cole who has 12 goals. Jermain Defoe is a top notch striker as well, and he has 10 goals on the year. Their midfield is led by Pedro Mendes who has 7 goals. Right winger James Milner has 5 goals as well. Centreback Mbulelo Mabizela has been great along the defensive line this year. His partner Ledley King has also played very well. Keeper Paul Robinson has regularly been starting for the English National Team and he is having a very good year. I'm surprised that Tottenham has lost as many games as they have.

We are heavy 4-5 favorites.

It's raining with temperatures in the mid 40's.

GK: Howard
DL: Silvestre
DC: Ferdinand (back from his injury just in time, considering O'Shea is hurt.)
DC: Lucio
DR: Brown
ML: Duff
MC: Djemba
MC: Fletcher
MR: Eagles
SC: Saha
SC: Marino

S1: Barthez
S2: Souleymane Mamam (freshly back from his injury, hoping to get a lead and begin reintegrating him into the playing time.)
S3: Grygera
S4: Ruud van Nistelrooy
S5: Alfonso

Eaglesfan27

03-19-2005, 11:24 PM

17 minute mark: Carlton Cole elbowed Lucio.. yellow card for Cole.

20 minute mark: Duff crosses to Saha in the left half of the box.. he heads it.. Robinson blocks the shot.. the rebound bounces to Djemba.. hard curling shot.. Great save by Robinson.

25 minute mark: We have several good shots by Fletcher and Djemba, but the defenders are blocking them before they even reach goal.

27 minute mark: Silvestre passes it up the left sideline to Duff.. he crosses to Djemba.. Djemba hits a strong curling shot.. upper right corner.. it curves away from the keeper.. hits the post.. and bounces in! GOAL!!!! 1-0.

38 minute mark: Eagles gets a yellow card for shoving Buffel down.

43 minute mark: Silvestre passes down the left sideline.. Saha heads it towards the left corner of the pitch.. Duff gets to it.. crosses it towards the near post.. Marino and Robinson jump.. whistle.. Robinson pushed Marino! Penalty shot awarded... Saha steps up.. looks confident.. hard shot.. lower left corner! GOAL!!!! 2-0.

Halftime: 2-0 lead. We have over 67,000 fans here today.

47 minute mark: Saha gets a yellow card for pulling Dafoe's jersey.

62 minute mark: Silvestre passes it down the left side of the pitch.. Djemba heads it towards the left corner of the pitch.. Duff gets to it.. crosses towards the near post for Saha.. he heads it.. good save by the keeper to push it over the bar.

I sub in Alfonso for Duff and Mamam for Fletcher to get them some PT.

72 minute mark: Matthew Taylor gets a yellow card for a harsh tackle on Eagles.

88 minute mark: Wes Brown slides hard into James Milner.. yellow card. He argues the call.. 2nd yellow card. He is ejected.

92 minute mark: Lucio trips Dafoe and gets a yellow card.

Game over. 2-0 win. We dominated ball possession.

We outshot them 11-4 (6-1 on target)

Damien Duff wins MoM, 9 for form, 20 of 25 passes, 0 tackles, 0 headers, 2 interceptions, 7 runs, 2 fouls drawn, 1 assist.

Saha also had a 9 for form.

Eaglesfan27

03-19-2005, 11:33 PM

November 21, 2010 -

Wigan managed to tie Newcastle 1-1 in a televised match tonight. Stuart Wall had their only goal on a corner kick. Wigan are firmly in 20th (last) place in the EPL with a record of a 1 win, 3 draws, and 11 losses for a total of 6 points. Bolton and Reading also both only have 6 points.

SunDancer

03-19-2005, 11:37 PM

Can we got a November-ending standing listing?

Eaglesfan27

03-19-2005, 11:40 PM

November 23, 2010 -

Liverpool has lost Michael Owen to injury for 2 months. That should hurt their chances of keeping up with us. They are currently in 2nd place and just 2 points behind us.

Eaglesfan27

03-19-2005, 11:41 PM

Can we got a November-ending standing listing?
Sure. Soon, I'll be at the halfway point of the season. The EPL has a smaller number of teams (20) and therefore only has 38 games (as opposed to 46 in the EC and other lower divisions.)

Eaglesfan27

03-19-2005, 11:50 PM

Nov 25, 2010 -

Chivu has resumed full training today. Suddenly we are starting to get some defensive depth back.

Today we travel to play CSKA in a televised match in the group stage of the UEFA Cup. CSKA is currently at the top of their league in Bulgaria. Angel Yoshev, their centreback, has been their best player. Their keeper Viktor Ilivanov is good, but not nearly of EPL standard. We should crush this team.

We are only 4-6 favorites.

It's overcast and in the 30's today.

GK: Howard
DL: Silvestre
DC: Ferdinand
DC: Lucio
DR: Brown
ML: Downing
MC: Djemba
MC: Mamam
MR: Eagles
SC: van Nistelrooy
SC: Smith

S1: Barthez
S2: Saha
S3: Grygera
S4: Fletcher
S5: Alfonso
S6: Rooney (will only play if we are getting beat towards the end of the game.)
S7: Neville

illinifan999

03-20-2005, 12:08 AM

I'm really starting to hate this game.

Marseille sacked their manager and I was named as one of the possible replacements. This time they approached me. I'd have way more money to spend on wages, but they did say that they are well over their wage bill and I'd need to correct that while at Rosenborg my wage bill is fine, but I can't offer players as much as I'd like to limiting the skill level of players I can bring in. I'd also be reunited with my former striker Frode Johnsen who left me for them. I might have to sleep on this decision.

Eaglesfan27

03-20-2005, 12:32 AM

TV Info: The TV announcers predict their centerback Angel Yoshev will be CSKA's key player. They predict Stewart Downing will be my top guy. They predict it will be a close match, but that we will win.

5 minute mark: Downing dribbles down most of the left sideline, burning three defenders.. crosses to Ruud van Nistelrooy in the box.. he immediately directs a shot into the upper right corner.. GOAL!!!! 1-0.

8 minute mark: Eagles collided with one of their players.. he is hurt and can't continue. I put Neville in for him.

21 minute mark: Downing crosses to Alan Smith. Yoshev pushed Smith down. Penalty shot awarded! van Nistelrooy confidently steps up.. shoots into the right side of the net.. the keeper dives.. it is out of his reach! GOAL!!!! 2-0.

31 minute mark: Markov gets off a shot from 20 yards out. Easy save for Howard.

Halftime: 2-0 lead. They have over 24,000 fans packed into the stadium today.

60 minute mark: Downing is tired, I sub Alfonso on for him.

66 minute mark: Neville passes it down the right sideline to Smith.. he gets to it.. he centers to Ruud van Nistelrooy in the middle of the box.. RvN settles it.. shoots.. upper right corner.. past the keeper.. GOAL!!!! 3-0! That is van Nistelrooy's hattrick!

Game over. 3-0 win for us :)

We outshot them 11-4 (8-1 on target)

Ruud van Nistelrooy won MoM, 10 for form, 21 of 23 passes, 0 of 1 tackles, 4 of 6 headers, 4 runs, 3 goals :)

Downing also had a 10 for form. Djemba had a 9 for form. The rest of the team had 8's.

Eaglesfan27

03-20-2005, 12:33 AM

Eaglesfan27

03-20-2005, 12:34 AM

Well, Mrs. Eaglesfan got home early! :)

So, I'll be waiting til tomorrow to do the update on the midseason and play some more.

SirFozzie

03-20-2005, 12:50 AM

1. I'm not sure whether the League Cup or FA cup is more prestigious. Hopefully someone else can answer that. The Community Shield is a prestigious friendly match that is televised that matches two of the top teams from the EPL each year. I think it might match the League Cup winner versus the Division winner, but I'm not sure.

2. I've noticed that the little bugs that bothered me are gone :) I haven't noticed any bugs with 5.05 at this point.

3. I think the regens make the game more challenging since I don't know who is good. I've never played a career long enough to get to a totally fictional universe, but this could be the career where I do that, and I think it will be more fun and rewarding when I'm winning triples and quadruples with "fake players." :)

The triple is a combination such as the European Championship, EPL title, and League Cup title.

1. FA Cup is a ton more prestigeous (it's the oldest knockout soccer competion in the world). The Community Shield pits the EPL winner vs the FA Cup winner. (Substitute 2nd place EPL or League Cup winner if they do the double)

Desnudo

03-20-2005, 03:36 AM

he was on my short list....

I tried for his value of 37.5m and was rejected. Upped to 50mil + Petr Cech with money spread over time... Tried a straight $70m transfer bid and got:

now real madrid want ... $1.5 million + arjen robben for Iker Casillas.

opinions on this?

Arjen is doing pretty well as a left/right winger...

I'm tired of my keeper giving up soft goals... Twice in one game on a freekick, my idiot keeper kicked it right into tthe player in front of him and the ball rebounded into the net. http://dynamic.gamespy.com/%7Efof/forums/images/smilies/mad.gifhttp://dynamic.gamespy.com/%7Efof/forums/images/smilies/mad.gifhttp://dynamic.gamespy.com/%7Efof/forums/images/smilies/mad.gifhttp://dynamic.gamespy.com/%7Efof/forums/images/smilies/mad.gifhttp://dynamic.gamespy.com/%7Efof/forums/images/smilies/mad.gifhttp://dynamic.gamespy.com/%7Efof/forums/images/smilies/mad.gifhttp://dynamic.gamespy.com/%7Efof/forums/images/smilies/mad.gif So, he's been benched in favor of cudicini who is doing better than cech...

I think Gianluigi Buffon at Juventus is far and away the best keeper in the game (reflected in real life). If you can pry him away, then you are set for years to come. Otherwise, I'd keep your current keeper and sign Sebastien Saja for next season. Other options are Marcos (Brazil keeper) or Shay Given at Newcastle.

Eaglesfan27

03-20-2005, 09:33 AM

Post Match Info:

We were awarded 160,000 dollars for winning against CSKA.

Christopher Eagles bruised his thigh. He will miss 3 days including our upcoming game against Manchester City.

Ruud van Nistelrooy bruised his rib. He will miss about 3 days.

Another 5 different teams have submitted loan offers for Alfonso, I continue to reject them at this time.

Eaglesfan27

03-20-2005, 09:35 AM

Nov 27, 2010 -

Richard Money told Football365.com that he doesn't think my side is good enough to end the season as champions. He did concede, if we have a few good signing, we might be a contender next season.

I reply, "I believe that we have the ability to go all the way and win the league."

Eaglesfan27

03-20-2005, 09:46 AM

Nov 28, 2010 -

Today we play Manchester City which is managed by Mr. Money. We are traveling to play them. They are currently in 12th place. We are in 1st. They are led by the superb play of centreback Damien Delaney (another hull favorite of mine in CM 03/04.) Tehir attacking midfielder Said Boutahar has been excellent at setting up players for goals, but the strikers have been fairly poor at converting them. Robert Earnshaw is the leading scorer with 6 goals, but no one else has more than 2. Tim Borowski has played very good football in the midfield. The keeper, Andres Palop, has been good despite facing a high number of shots.

We are 4-6 favorites.

It's raining with temperatures in the mid 50's.

GK: Howard
DL: Silvestre
DC: Ferdinand
DC: Lucio
DR: Grygera
ML: Duff
MC: Djemba
MC: Fletcher
MR: Mamam
SC: McFadden
SC: Marino

S1: Barthez
S2: Saha
S3: Chivu
S4: Cook
S5: Alfonso

Eaglesfan27

03-20-2005, 10:08 AM

32 minute mark: Up to this point, both defenses have been dominant allowing no good scoring opportunities.

33 minute mark: Lauth passes to Earnshaw.. he passes back to Lauth who shoots.. Howard blocks the shot.. Ryan Smith gets the rebound.. taps it into the open net. GOAL. Down 1-0.

39 minute mark: Mamam crosses to Fletcher in the box.. he heads it.. just wide right.

41 minute mark: Delaney trips Marino just outside the box.. yellow card for Delaney.

Halftime: Down 1-0. Their defense is shutting us down. They have over 48,000 fans here.

62 minute mark: Duff is hurt and has to leave the pitch. I put Alfonso on for him. Mamam is tired. I put Cook in for Fletcher, and slide Fletcher out to right wing.

77 minute mark: Alfonso crosses it to Marino by the far post in the box.. he heads it.. just over the bar.

88 minute mark: Marino throws it in to Grygera.. he heads it back to Marino.. Marine crosses to Ferdinand who is 25 yards out.. Ferdinand with a hard shot.. upper right corner.. it hits the post.. bounces into the net! GOAL!!!! 1-1. That is a big goal from Ferdinand!

Game over. 1-1 tie in which our offense was stifled most of the match.

We each had 9 shots (they had 5 on target, we had 2 on target)

Sylvain Distin who started left fullback had a great game and won MoM, 33 of 44 passes, 2 of 2 tackles, 8 of 9 headers, 6 interceptions, 3 runs.

Jonathan Spector who they recently acquired had an 8 for form and played stifling defense today.

Eaglesfan27

03-20-2005, 10:10 AM

Post Match Info:

Damien Duff fractured his arm and will miss about 3 weeks.

Grygera suffered a severe cut on his forehead and might miss our next game.

Eaglesfan27

03-20-2005, 10:23 AM

Dec. 1, 2010 -

We are in 1st place, but the board is only pleased with my performance!

Southampton's James Beattie won EPL Player of the Month. Joe Cole of Chelsea came in 2nd, and Nigel Quashie of Leicester came in 3rd.

Leicester's Mark Robinson won young Player of the Month. Criag Scott of Newcastle came in 2nd, and Chris Robson of Sunderland came in 3rd.

Birmingham's Joe Kinnear won Manager of the Month. I came in 2nd, and Bruce Arena of Aston Villa came in 3rd.

Eric Djemba Djemba's goal against Tottenham on Nov 20, came in 2nd for goal of the month.

We are still in 1st place. We are 2 points ahead of 2nd placed Liverpool.

Eaglesfan27

03-20-2005, 10:24 AM

1. FA Cup is a ton more prestigeous (it's the oldest knockout soccer competion in the world). The Community Shield pits the EPL winner vs the FA Cup winner. (Substitute 2nd place EPL or League Cup winner if they do the double)
Thanks for the clarification SirFozzie :)

Eaglesfan27

03-20-2005, 10:29 AM

Dec. 1, 2010 -

Today we host Sparta Prague in an UEFA match. Sparta Prague has a talented team and will be much tougher than CSKA. Their strikers are quite talented led by Jan Rezek who has 8 goals in 10 games. David Jurcik has 6 goals in 11 games. Their keeper Gabor Kiraly is talentd and will be tough to score against. Their right winger David Jarolim is very talented and has 4 goals and 8 assists on the year.

We are 4-5 favorites.

It's raining and the temperatures are in the mid 40's.

GK: Howard
DL: O'Shea
DC: Chivu (time to get him back in action
DC: Ferdinand (Lucio is tireless, but I need to give him a game off, now and then.)
DR: Brown
ML: Downing
MC: Cook
MC: Fletcher
MR: Eagles
SC: Saha
SC: Smith

S1: Barthez
S2: Silvestre
S3: Mamam
S4: Neville
S5: Alfonso
S6: King
S7: van Nistelrooy

Eaglesfan27

03-20-2005, 10:56 AM

3 minute mark: Downing with a brilliant dribble down the left sideline.. crosses to Saha.. he settles.. hard shot.. upper right corner.. great save by the keeper!

5 minute mark: Cook passes to Saha in the box.. hard shot.. the keeper blocks it.. Eagles shoots.. the keeper saves.

9 minute mark: We have a flurry of shots that their defenders and keeper deflect.

23 minute mark: Downing takes a direct kick from just left of the box.. passes it to Eagles in the center of the box.. he shoots.. over the keeper's left shoulder.. GOAL!!!! 1-0.

27 minute mark: Chivu with a good defensive play.

29 minute mark: Chivu passes it down the left sideline to Downin.. he passes to Cook just outside the box.. Cook passes to Fletcher who is on his right.. Fletcher with a blazing curling shot.. it Curls into the right side of the net just clearing the post! GOAL!!!! 2-0.

35 minute mark: Eagles passes it down the right sideline for Saha!?! What is Saha doing over there.. anyway.. Saha gets it in the right corner.. crosses to the near post for Smith.. he heads it.. into the upper right corner! GOAL!!!! 3-0.

Halftime: 3-0 lead for us. We are dominating them. We have over 66,000 fans here today.

48 minute mark: Chivu passes to Downing who burns two defenders.. crosses to Cook.. he shoots.. just wide right.

50 minute mark: Downing passes from midfield to Cook.. he passes it nicely between two defenders to Smith in the box.. he shoots.. lower left corner.. GOAL!!!! 4-0.

56 minute mark: Fletcher is tired. I bring in Mamam for him. Downing has had a brilliant game, but with the game firmly in hand, I bring on Alfonso for him. Saha is starting to get tired, so I sub King in for Saha to get King some experience.

75 minute mark: O'Shea passes to Cook.. he shoots from 25 yards out.. the keeper barely pushes it over the bar.

87 minute mark: Alfonso crosses to Smith.. he heads it.. over the bar. Missed opportunity for the hattrick.

Game over. 4-0 win for us.

We outshot them 19-7 (12-3 on target)

Downing won MoM, 10 for form, 12 of 12 passes, 1 of 1 tackles, 2 of 2 headers, 20 runs! 1 Assist. The guy has been dominant. He has 4 10's in his last 5 games. He has an average form of 9.44 on the season. I really need to praise him. I decide to do so after this match.

Smith had a 9 for form. The rest of the team had 8's except for the subs that all had 7's.

Eaglesfan27

03-20-2005, 11:01 AM

Post Match Info:

We won 160,000 dollars for that win.

Jamie Cook bruised his ribs and will miss 3 days.

That win qualified us to advance to the 1st knockout round.

Eaglesfan27

03-20-2005, 11:46 AM

Dec 5, 2010 -

Just before our match with them, Bolton has sacked Pepe More. Ruud Gullit is being touted as the favorite to take over the job. Remember, Ruud was the manager here at Manchester United before he was fired and I replaced him.

Today we host Bolton in a televised match. They are currently 18th in the EPL, while we are in 1st. They rely on their very good keeper, Jussi Jaaskelainen to keep them in matches. Their offense is anemic with midfielder Kevin Nolan being the leading scorer with 2 goals. Their defense is very good with centrebacks Nicky Hunt and Tal Ben-Haim thriving.

We are 4-7 favorites.

It's raining with temperatures in the mid 50's today.

GK: Howard
DL: Silvestre
DC: Chivu
DC: Lucio
DR: Grygera
ML: Downing
MC: Djemba
MC: Fletcher
MR: Eagles
SC: McFadden
SC: Rooney

S1: Barthez
S2: van Nistelrooy
S3: Mamam
S4: Neville
S5: Alfonso

The announcers pick Downing as my key man rather than Rooney! They pick Kevin Nolan as Bolton's key man. Not surprisingly, they pick us to win the match.

Eaglesfan27

03-20-2005, 12:13 PM

1st minute: Downing passes to Djemba just outside the box.. hard curving shot.. it sails over the bar.

3 minute mark: Wesley Sonck gets a yellow card for tripping Djemba.

6 minute mark: Nicky Hunt gets a yellow card for tripping Rooney.

8 minute mark: Downing with a great dribble to get past 3 men.. but he loses the dribble over the end line.

11 minute mark: Downing with a wonderful dribble past 2 men.. crosses for Rooney.. in the center of the box.. shoots.. over the bar.. he buries his face in his hands.. he knows he should have sunk that shot.

21 minute mark: Downing passes to Djemba.. he shoots.. over the keeper's shoulder.. it hits the crossbar.. it hits the keeper's back.. it bounces barely wide right. Corner kick.

30 minute mark: Downing crosses to Rooney.. he shoots.. great save by the keeper.

35 minute mark: Ismael gets a yellow card for tripping Downing.

41 minute mark: Downing crosses to Fletcher in the middle of the box.. he heads it.. good save by the keeper.

Halftime: 0-0 tie. We have kept the ball in their half most of this match. There are over 75,000 fans here today.

52 minute mark: Djemba with a long range curving shot.. the keeper catches it cleanly.

56 minute mark: Downing crosses to Rooney at the far post.. he heads it.. past the keeper.. but Hunt manages to head it away! He saved a goal for sure.

65 minute mark: Rooney is exhausted and only has a 6 for form. I pull him for Ruud van Nistelrooy. Djemba was just hurt. I pull him for Mamam.

77 minute mark: Chris Baird gets a yellow card for tripping Eagles.

78 minute mark: Grygera passes to Mamam.. he shoots.. inches wide left.

80 minute mark: Downing burns his defender.. passes to McFadden in the left half of the box.. McFadden with a hard shot.. lower left corner.. GOAL!!!! 1-0! That is McFadden's 10th goal of the year.

86 minute mark: Lucio stops a Bolton breakaway by heading away a pass that would have set up their striker for goal.. Lucio's header goes to Downing.. he passes long to Eagles on the right wing.. Eagles passes between two defenders to Mamam in the box.. he fakes left.. goes right.. shoots.. upper right corner.. it's past the keeper! GOAL!!!! 2-0.

88 minute mark: Eagles with a corner kick.. to RvN at the near post.. he heads it.. the keeper barely tips it over the bar.

Game over. 2-0 win for us.

We outshot them 16-4 (9-0 on target)

Downing won MoM, another 10 for form, 16 of 19 passes, 2 of 3 tackles, 0 of 3 headers, 21 runs! 4 fouls drawn, 1 assist.

Eagles had a 9. Rooney had a 6. The rest of the team had 7's.

I really wish I could get Rooney on track. I thought this relatively easy opponent would help him get back on the scoreboard.

SunDancer

03-20-2005, 12:25 PM

Dec 5, 2010 -

Just before our match with them, Bolton has sacked Pepe More. Ruud Gullit is being touted as the favorite to take over the job. Remember, Ruud was the manager here at Manchester United before he was fired and I replaced him.

Who takes over when the manager is fired, and they do not have a manager in place yet before a game?

Can Assistant Managers, Coaches, Physicos, Scouts all get "promoted" by the computer (I know we can do it, but do you see it with computer teams)?

Can a player become a coach, and in the long run, become a manager?

illinifan999

03-20-2005, 12:34 PM

A player can become a coach. I know with Marseille (I took the job) Barthez has qualified to become a coach, and he's looking to be a good pickup for that. It'll pop up with a message telling you that your player has recievied his coaching quals and he is looking forward to being able to use them at some point. Then you usually get the message that they're retiring at the end of the year.

Eaglesfan27

03-20-2005, 02:58 PM

Who takes over when the manager is fired, and they do not have a manager in place yet before a game?

Can Assistant Managers, Coaches, Physicos, Scouts all get "promoted" by the computer (I know we can do it, but do you see it with computer teams)?

Can a player become a coach, and in the long run, become a manager?
The Assistant Manager is in control. If there is no assistant manager, the most senior coach is in coach.

Yes, Assistant managers, coaches, physios, and scouts can all get promoted. I've seen teams steal my Assistant managers before to become their head manager. I'm sure they promote within too.

Yes, players become coaches. Brad Freidel of the USA is now a coach in my game. Roy Keane is a former great midfielder who is now one of my scouts. I purchased Barthez at the beginning of the season, and he is a player/coach. Players can do both towards the end of their career when they get their coaching credentials. In the lower leagues, you'll even see former great players who are still very good for the lower level of talent being player/managers.