FM 2005 - Striker Extraordinare

[Crapshoot]

Having started a new career with Hearts, I come in with one goal - breaking the Old Firm's Hedgemoney on the Scottish Premier League Title- a procedure I've given myself 3 years for. As Hearts, I'm doing fairly well come mid-season, but I need a striker. Playing for fellow SPL league team Dunfermerline, Noel Hunt has a mediocre average rating (7.06), and is listed as a "Backup" - but all he seems to do is score goals. Through 15 games (11 starts, 4 sub appearances) - he's socred 9 goals. The Duns are fairly cheap in their asking price, and I spent my 200K pounds on the guy - thinking I need one solid striker to support my loan star (Neil Mellor).

He ended up okay :D. His record with me in the SPL:

18 games, 21 goals, 2 Assts, 5 MOM, and a 7.89 rating. He averaged more than goal a game - and pretty much carried me to 2nd place. Just wow.

[Marc Vaughan]

Thats pretty cool - I had a similar situation with Cambridge City in FM2006, signed Molango (Brighton striker) when he was released by his previous club, big physical striker ... came into the team wanting to prove something and hit 18 in 15 starts his first season.

Never quite hit those heights again, but stayed solid for me until we hit Division 1 where quality over physical acumen started becoming a bit more important ...

[DaddyTorgo]

let me load up FM2005 here in a second and tell you all the story of Vagner Love and his time spent as Rosenborg where (if memory serves me correctly) he averaged a goal a game over the course of 2.5 seasons before I had to sell him on for like 3x what I paid for him...

[illinifan999]

After making my way up to get an offer from Real Madrid I bought a disgruntled Ricardo Montolivio from ManUtd, put him on the left wing and he led the Spanish Premier division in goals for the next 3 seasons. Not a striker, but was one of the most dominating players I have ever seen in CM/FM. Too bad I lost that game when my hard drive died. :(

[DaddyTorgo]

better even then I remembered!!

Vagner Love (bought to Trondheim in 2006 for 3.4 million).

2006: 23 appearances...22 goals and 11 assists - 8.17 avg rating
2007: 23 appearances...22 goals and 10 assists - 8.22 avg rating

sold to athletico madrid for 8 million in 2007

[MrBug708]

In one of the older versions of CM, circa 2001, I had a striker who I plucked from conference at age 17 and he ended up being a national team striker for England by age 19. Too bad the saved game became corrupted. It was in season 2017 or so as well

[Blade6119]

Im the MLS i had a guy go for 42 goals in 17 games....and the next season he scored 2 in 20....lol

[Sadalia]

The Duns are fairly cheap in their asking price...

(puts pedant hat on) Dunfermline's nickname is actually "The Pars," which dates from the early 1900s although no one seems certain of its origin (takes pedant hat off). I got Hunt for the Aberdeen team I had going a few months ago and he was great for me too, though I didn't keep a record of his stats. In real life, I think Hunt has come on as a second-half sub 8 times, getting three goals, which is a reasonable return in such limited playing time. Seems there is some potential there.

[edit]Oh, and break the Glasgow tyranny![edit]

[Crapshoot]

Sadalia, I recognized the error later , but figured no one would care. :D Point taken.

[Critch]

The Scottish data researcher may have a soft spot for Dunfermline, my all-Scottish team that just won the SPL is made up of ex-Pars. Langfield in goals, Wilson in central defence, Nicholson and Mason in midfield. All good and all available cheap. No Hunt in my team though, with him being Irish.

[Butter]

After making my way up to get an offer from Real Madrid I bought a disgruntled Ricardo Montolivio from ManUtd, put him on the left wing and he led the Spanish Premier division in goals for the next 3 seasons. Not a striker, but was one of the most dominating players I have ever seen in CM/FM. Too bad I lost that game when my hard drive died. :(

I had to sell that same guy very recently from my Peterborough Utd. dynasty.... sold him to Chelsea. He's not doing well for them either. He just doesn't like English football. When he played well, he was absolutely terrific, but more often than not he was a ghost on the field.

[Crapshoot]

Nicholson is the first midfielder I buy with a lower team. He's a solid, cheap guy who always does well in the Roy Keane role in that midfield.

And yes, the Scottish researcher was ridiculously generous - half the young talents (Webster, who I didnt sell, Gordon, who I did, Hammell, Stephen Caldwell, Zander Diamond, Ian Murray, Steven ) in the SPL walk into EPL teams, and have Italian/German teams chasing them. Stupid Hibs refuses to sell me Derek Riordan, even though I offered more than double what other teams do. I understand we're rivals, but they turn down double the money ?

[Crapshoot]

7 games this season. No goals. I hate this game. :D

[RPI-Fan]

Fictional career, CM4 (3 versions ago, or so)...

Jon Palmer had ~150 career games, 150 goals, 100 assists... simply amazing.

Also a great example of the major flaw in CM4: this guy never, EVER got one bite of interest from ANY other teams, ever, despite being put on the transfer list for $0 with a very modest contract.

[Crapshoot]

Noel Hunt - still nuts. Now season no 3, after winning the title in season 2.

8 games, 10 goals, 7.89 rating. I do not know how he does it.

[Eaglesfan27]

Rooney is having an amazing season for me this year despite being 32. :)

[Marc Vaughan]

Im the MLS i had a guy go for 42 goals in 17 games....and the next season he scored 2 in 20....lol

IRL Kurt Nogan was like that for Brighton in the 80's ... for one season he averaged nearly a goal a game up to christmas, Premiership (or Div 1 as it was then) clubs were sniffing around him and rumours of million pound transfers were common, cue a fall from form and not ONE goal for the rest of the season ...

(He finally toddled off somewhere for a fairly nominal fee the next season where he failed to do much)