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FM2005: a frog in the Premiership
This dynasty is the continuity of the one and only FM2005 career I have played since getting the game on November 15, a couple weeks after it was released. It started unpatched and has now been patched twice :)
It all first started in 2004-05 with Luton Town (see FM2005: a frog at Kenilworth Road), from where I eventually got sacked after 4 years of fun and a half year of nightmare ;) I went on to get a second job, this time with the Queens Park Rangers (see FM2005: a frog at Loftus Road). They were in the English Championship when I got there, we got demoted after my first half season there and my reporting picked up at the start of my first full season at the helm of the team, now down to League One level. We dominated the league that season and promoted to the Championship, where we had a heck of a start to the season, going 22 games without defeat to start it off. We slowed down a bit, eventually finishing 3rd after the regular season, missing out on an automatic promotion in the last game of the season. We then went on to the playoffs, which we won to finally allow us to promote to the Premiership. Here we are, going to the Premiership, bringing Premier football to Loftus Road for the first time since the 1995/96 season, just one season removed from being down to League One level. To be perfectly honest, I'm a bit nervous about taking this big plunge. I'm sort of a newbie in all of this CM/FM world. I played CM4 a little last Summer, and that was the first version of CM I'd ever owned/played. I first played with Luton Town in League One. I started this career again with Luton Town in League One, we had a stint in the Championship and came back down, crashing to heart, all this time with very modest transfer and wage budgets. Then I went to Q.P.R. maybe with a bit better transfer/wage budgets, but that much more. This time, I'll have to deal with players that have much bigger wage demands, that are worth more, and that are usually better in skills than the kids I used to pick up on free transfers left and right. It should be interesting, that's the least I could say, if not for you, at least for me it'll be ;) All that being said, I can't guarantee we'll remain in the Premiership for a long time but we'll fight with everything we got. Right now, we're guaranteed one season (they've never demoted a team in mid-season have they? ;) ) and I hope to survive that first season and build from there... The date is June 6, 2010, and this is where the story picks up... Hope you'll enjoy the read! FM |
Woohoo, I've made the move!
Lookin' forward to it, FM. :) /tk |
Goodluck in the Premiership! Have fun! :)
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congrats with the promotion FM, and good luck with battling in PL!
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Congratulations Froggy! A few loans and some bargain signings and I'm sure you'll be fine.
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I recommend you just send the dogs after chelsea players going for some more 8 month injuries :)
good luck |
Thanks everyone!
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bargain signings, yeah, I'd like that. Hopefully I can find my next Keigan Parker, or my next Jeppe Lund Curth or my next Tom Howell, well you catch my drift ;) Loans, well I'm having a hard time with those. I don't have the reflexe to offer to loan a player when he's transfer listed by his team. Maybe I'll develop that instinct out of need :) FM |
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LOL! that's an idea :) And that's another thing that kind of feels weird about being in the Premiership. I feel kind of intimidated by the big name teams, like I'm a kid in the big league now... Just like I was intimidated by having to play two Premiership demotees in my first 3 games of last season in the Championship. Thing is, we came out of these games with 3 wins :) FM |
Good luck Froggie. I just got my new blazin laptop, downloaded the 5.0.5 patch, and will set up a game tonight, and start my real venture. Hopefully I'll get a dynasty together.
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June 6, 2010
This is it, the official beginning of the Summer program. I have set everybody to the "resting" schedule as far as training goes. I'll probably do some cleaning of my U18 candidates, for now they've all been moved to either the Senior squad, or the reserves squad, in preparation of the possible promotion of a new class of kids. I'm also sending my scouts left and right, myself scouring through the list of players available, either transfer listed, or coming up with unprotected contracts, since I've only got $750k to spend on the market. For now, I'm having a hard time finding anything really much better than what's already on my squad. That's another problem I have right now. I've grown to like these guys. Heck, they've pulled me through two very nice seasons so far. Guys that were there before I got here, like Big Dan Shittu, Nigel Quashie, Marc Bircham, and guys I've brought on, like Keigan Parker, Jeppe Lund Curth (who's still 7 months from coming back though), Andrew Johnson. Some of them I feel just need to get a little better to have a very bright future, like the aforementionned AJ, or even John Davies, even at only 18 years of age. I'm a bit sentimental with this and it will take a player who's clearly better than what I have for me to make a move... Speaking of good player, I see one 28yo Brazilian DM C, currently playing in Germany. Name is Fabio Rochemback and he looks very, very solid all around. Valued at $8.6M and would be available on a Bosman type transfer. The good thing is he's "only" asking for $24.5 with a 750k signing fee for a 2 years deal. I say "only" since most of the players I think would be difference makers as new signee/transfers are all asking for weekly wages of upward of $35k, while my team board will not allow me to offer more than $28k. My assistant believes he would become an essential member of our first team. While I don't always listen to what he says, it's not often that the words "essential member" appear in his assessment of a possible signing of mine. Usually it turns around "useful" or "active", when they're not called "not worthwhile", but most of the time for the latter, I agree with him :) Anyway, I ask my scouts for a report on him. I transfer list Chris Day, asking $500k for the experienced keeper valued at $700k. He's one of the latest to want clarification about his role at the club... I offer Scott Blake to a few clubs. I'm asking $1.8M for the 18yo midfielder valued at $2.4M I offer Mark Taylor around, to many clubs. I ask $60k for the 19yo midfielder valued at $120k. FM |
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Thanks. I got the email notification but it doesn't show your signature. I was like "who's Galazy???" :) Sweet news about your laptop, have fun with the game, it's simply mind blowing :) FM |
June 8, 2010
Here's a quick overview of who's on the roster right now, sorted by player's value. This mostly serves as an example of how much a club's reputation, or the league it plays in, is important to a player's reputation from which value is a byproduct.
Some players, like Andrew Johnson, have seen their values take huge jumps (AJ went from approx. 6.6M to 8M) while not playing amazingly better in the end of the season than during the season. Same goes for players like Lee Mansell on a much smaller scale. He was valued at around $100k all season long last season. He's now valued at $850k, wow... Some other players have seen their value skyrocket simply because they have been huge part of our success last season. Best example of that are Jeppe Lun Curth, and maybe even more Keigan Parker. I pointed that out in the other thread, but Parker for one saw his value jump from around $1M to $5.6M. Most of this is probably due to him being in the spotlight by scoring more than 20 goals last season, that helps... Finally, there are some nice kids in there. Again, AJ is high on that list, but at 20, we can't really consider him a kid anymore. By kid, Matt Cross is a nice one, but I'm even more impressed by promising striker Justin Wall, who at 17 years old is already valued at $3.6M. He gained tons of value following his loan spell at Cheltenham, compared to another kid, Tom Howell, who gained his value early on and could be on the verge of exploding if he gets more playing time with the first team. Chris Chapman is another young chap who's got a bright future ahead of him, as does John Davies, whom I find a bit undervalued, but that's mostly because he only had 5 appearances with the senior squad all season long last season... FM |
June 9, 2010
The 2010 World Cup has started. I usually don't pay much attention to international competition, although, it is the World Cup, so I may. I'll at least take a look at how my players are performing. To my knowledge, only two Rangers are playing in the World Cup this time around: Marc Bircham with Canada (Canada qualified for the WC?!? That's gotta be a bug, quick, somebody ping Marc Vaughan!!! ;) ) and Danny Shittu with Nigeria. Barrow offers to loan Michael Parker, a kid who was on our U18 squad all of last season, for 3 months. Who would loan a player for three months on June 9??? Loan would end on September 9... oh well, they would pay 100% of his tiny wage, so I accept. June 10, 2010 Nobody wants of Scott Blake. I kind of expected it, I may offer him around a little later on, probably for a smaller fee with some future sale percentage... June 12, 2010 Michael Parker has no intention to go on loan at Barrow. I see that Everton is now scouting Danny Shittu. I'm sure they understand that I see Big Dan as possibly the toughest player to replace on my squad. When he's in there, we have something special on our defensive line, something I can't put my finger on, but we're definitely better with him than without him... June 13, 2010 Michael Synott requests to be transfer listed. I grant him his request. Valued at $1M, I ask $900k for him. I may possibly offer him around for a much lower price though. He never got it going with us... Danny Shittu played well for Nigeria in the WC. He got rated at 7 in the 0-0 draw of Nigeria against the Czech Republic. June 14, 2010 Marc Bircham acted as the captain for Canada and played well, getting rated at 7 in Canada's 0-3 loss against Brazil. June 15, 2010 My scouts get back to me on Fabio Rochemback, among others. I gotta say I sent two of my scouts to the World Cup, maybe they could come back with some unknown superstar, either on an unprotected contract, or somebody playing on a small club somewhere and I could land him, who knows... Back to Rochemback, the first news is awesome. Both scouts think he would instantly command a place on our first team. However, they also both think it would be very unlikely that he could get a work permit in the foreseeable future, bummer... Following that report, I realized that I've spent a week looking at possible players, and I've not found much that is either better than what we have, or that is affordable to us, poor Rangers. It also hits me that now that we're in the Premiership, the top division in England, we'll have to abide by the transfer windows... hrm, that's something I'll have to keep in mind... FM |
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Hmmm.I got it set-up to show my sig. It will be fun to read how you handle trying to build from the ground in the Premiership, and seeing how Doc can keep the United on top of the Premiership. Can you set-up it up to minimize or half-screen the game, and have Word open in another? |
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no, no, I see your signature in here, but it's not visible on the email notification, even though I get the text of your post, and the name of the poster. For example, here's the text I just received as a notification of this post you just made: Quote:
As you can see, I get the text of your post, just without the signature... As for having Word (or notepad) opened while playing the game, I'd rather not. There have been some weird things that have happened in the past with my computer setup. My PC is only an Athlon 2000 (1.67Ghz) with only 256Mb of memory and while FM2005 runs just fine with the leagues I've got selected (England only from Conference North/South and up), it's not the best to have something else open at the same time. Weird thing that happened in the past was while saving a screenshot with IrfanView. It saved all right, but when I tried to go back to the game, it would not go back. The game was there at the bottom of the screen, on the status bar (or whatever it is called) but I just could not get back to it. I ended up having to kill the process, losing the one match I had played in that session. No need to tell you that I now get a bit nervous whenever I do screenshots or when I have another app open while playing the game... I like writing down notes, most of the time cryptically, and then add some meat around the bone. I understand that it may turn off some people to sometimes read after the fact, but, heh, that's how I'm having fun, tons of it actually :) Hope you, and many more, will keep on visiting, should be an interesting season, especially if we can have a good start to the season... FM |
Thanks, I was wondering how you write the dynasty. Now, when you open the game, it says, "Version 5.0.5" at the top of the screen, that means it has the lastest patch, correct? Also, how the MLS now, with the patch?
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Yeah, about how I write the dynasty, it's mostly writing down notes on a 5"x8" notepad, since it fits nicely between my mousepad and the keyboard :) I print the lineup screen prior to every game, and league tables every now and then. When something happens that I'd like to comment about, say a question from the media, or some manager mind games, I'll save a screen shot from the inbox message I get in-game, and I only writed down "media question, screen" to remind me to go take a look at the screenie. I always name my screenshots starting with the date (aammdd) and a name that reminds me what it's about, say "100523jdavies.jpg" was the player profile of John Davies on May 23, 2010. That way, they all sort by date (year, month, day) and within a day, by subject... I'm anal retentive like that ;) Yes, if it says "5.0.5" on top, you're patched, at least I hope so since that's what my games says :) The MLS, I got no clue, maybe someday I'll start something with it, but now I'm playing with only England on... FM |
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I think that sentimentality will go out the window once you find out who can play at this level and who can't. It really isn't fun watching players you like get roasted on the pitch. Of course your lack of transfer funds means you are sentimental by default. :) |
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yeah, I guess you've pretty much circled my whole sentimality problem. Not many players I could get for 750k would be much better than the guys I have on my team, at I don't see any right now. And I'm not gonna spend it to exchange for quarters for a dollar. I'm kind of waiting to see if the transfer budget will be increased once we get some of that TV money that Premiership sides get. And one other thing that could change the whole thing is if I get any kind of offer on one of my players. Keigan Parker Still has that $3.8M minimum release fee clause that is active on his contract, and he's valued at over $5M right now. This means that anybody could come and make a $3.8M bid on him and I would have to accept it. 3.8 + 0.75 would still give me $4.5m to go shopping, which would not be too bad either... I have a few players I'm also thinking of listing for transfer, so it's not all said and done... FM |
June 20, 2010
Huge day of news, some good, some not so good... Starting with the good news... Marcus Kelly has been unanimously voted Q.P.R.'s Player of the Year by the supporters, and for good reasons, as his average form rating of 7.82 in competitions matches is a new Q.P.R. team record! Look at his stats sheet for the last season:
He wasn't in there to score goals, but still managed 6, while assisting on 12 others. He was named Man of the Match an astounding 16 times, another Q.P.R. team record. Another team record was broken, this time really on a team level, as the average attendance of 18583 we recorded this past season is a new record high, sweet! We can only hope to bring more people this season, at least to come see teams like Chelsea, Arsenal, Man United, etc... We're given $24.5M for Premier Division TV Rights, woah! That's a lot of money... but that's about the end of the good news :( Now with the bad, or sad news... None of that new money will go to either an increase in transfer budget, or wage budget :( The team board appraisal mentions that they are very please with my performance as manager this season. They make it known that the team is expected to fight bravely against relegation from the Premier Division in the coming season. All nice and cute up until now, here's the kicker: "The Q.P.R. board have indicated that they will initially limit your transfer budget to $750k until you have proven your ability." Say that again?!? :mad: I may not get the chance to "prove my ability" with no better players :( And it's not as if the team's finance were deep in the red either. We finished last season with around $7M in the bank account, after earning a profit of about $3.5M and with season tickets and TV money, we now have close to $33.4M in the account... Dang, they really don't want me to have it easy... Among bad/sad news, I get the news that our U18 squad has received a new batch of youngsters and frankly, they all suck, baaaaadly. I'll report more in depth about them a little later on, but frankly my first look at them wasn't too exciting... Amon other news, Notts Co offer to loan Scott Donnelly for another 3 months. They would be paying 100% of hi $800 weekly wage, so I accept. Danny Shittu played well without excelling in Nigeria's 0-2 loss to USA. Freddy Adu scored a goal in that game. I offer Michael Synott around, to all Championship and League One club. I'm asking $600k for the defender valued at $1.3M FM |
Hmm it almost seems as if the board WANTS you to fail in the Premiership. That really makes no sense to me.
/tk |
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yeah, it is making me even more nervous about the whole move up... Hopefully we can get a couple lucky wins early on and get the team morale up and I'll ask for some more transfer budget then... Even before we got the huge $24.5M TV money, we still had $7M, they could/should have given me something more than $750k to ge ready for the season, especially knowing that the huge TV money was coming up, it's not like this $24.5 is a special payout that has never happened in the past... Oh well, I guess they manage as a real world company would, lotsa dumb moves made in the real world ;) FM |
I mean, I can understand they don't want to expand it by TOO much, especially at first, but not increasing it at all really just doesn't let you be competitive, especially considering your assistants recommend upgrades across the board. Oh well, good luck!
/tk |
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hehe, I know, I wasn't expecting them to allow me to spend $20M of that new $24.5M, but geez, they could at least have giving me 3 or 4 of them... Oh well, they've set the bar at "fight bravely against relegation from the Premier Division" and I'd really like to make them crap in their pants by doing at least that and surviving that first season in the Premiership. I think I said the same thing when we got back to the Championship with QPR, that the first is always the toughest. It's gonna be the same this season. If we can somehow simply survive this first season, we could be in great shape for season 2 in the Premiership. Hopefully, there will be a season 2 ;) FM |
June 21, 2010
Marc Bircham was again the captain for Canada in their 0-0 draw against Liberia. He was said to be in magnificent form, impressing both pundits and managers for the entire match. Coach Joe Gallen, who had been with the team since before I took over, is now without a contract and has decided to leave the club. I've place an advert to find a replacement and it shouldn't be too hard to find a better coach than old Joe who wasn't very good with kids especially... June 22, 2010 I off Mike Cook around. I'm asking $1.5M for the 17yo midfielder valued at $3M. Nobody wants of Michael Synott... June 23, 2010 Scott Donnelly agrees to go on loan at Notts Co. He'll be there for 3 months. June 24, 2010 I offer $26.5k to Fábio Rochemback, despite my scout's reports that he probably wouldn't get a work permit. The offer is for two years and includes a $750k signing fee. (it just occured to me, what if he aggrees to a deal but never gets a work permit, thus cancelling the deal, does he get the signing fee?) I decide to test the waters with Keigan Parker. The striker is currently earning $6,600 per week and he wants $28.5k and a $600k signing fee. More importantly, this new deal would push his minimum release fee form $3.8M to 9M. I offer him $20k per week with a $400k while not touching the other clauses. This is significantly less than what he's looking for, but still a whole lot more than what he's earning now. His current contract runs through Jun 2012, so it still has 2 years left on it. June 25, 2010 We get some offers for friendlies: QPR - FC Bayern on July 21, a Loftus Road, I accept Roochdale - QPR on July 18, on their pitch, I reject Nottm Forest - QPR on August 1, on their pitch, I accept The Nottm Forest friendly includes a fee paid to QPR for $18k. It's the first time I've had a team offer me a fee to go play them on their pitch. I use this tactic all the time to bring teams to our pitch, but I had never seen it offered to me before... Danny Shittu played well without excelling (rating of 7) in Nigeria's stunning 2-1 win over England. Marc Bircham also played well without excelling in Canada's 1-0 win over Holland. I also find this one a bit surprising... June 26, 2010 Keigan Parker rejects our offer but is willing to negotiate. I up the weekly wage to $23k per week while not changin anything else. Fábio Rochemback accepts our offer but there's no "accept/delay/cancel" button. The work permit dance begins... FM |
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Nope, he only gets it when he becomes part of your roster |
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good, made sense too. Thanks for confirming. FM |
It sounds like you're saddled with a conservative board. Also, the scouts never think anyone will get a work permit.
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Conservative board, maybe, but they did give me $5M as seed transfer money when I got on board, two seasons and a half ago, so they were not always cheapos... About work permits, my scouts have been telling me about 50-50 when it comes to work permits. I currently have two at the 2010 World Cup and they recommend players, that I can't afford but that's another matter, and sometimes they say the player could not get a WP and sometimes they say he could. They were right with Mfundo Shumana a flaymboyant midfielder from Cape Town that I had signed at one point, now I'll hope they're wrong about Rochemback... FM |
June 28, 2010
I start offering friendlies around, gotta do that at some point :) Well, I striker out twice, asking big time clubs Arsenal (for 08/04) and Manchester United (for 07/26), but they both reject our offer for a friendly. While looking at our list of fixtures and in my ever learning experience, I see that league play in the EPL only starts on August 14, and we'll play only 38 games... That's all news to me, well not the 38 games, I vaguely knew about that, but I find the start a bit late... I do know that top teams will play a ton and a half of extra league games though. I decide to make a final offer to Keigan Parker. I offer him $25k per week and $260k in signing fee. I offer a friendly to Liverpool on August 5 and they accept to play us. We'll pay them $60k for their presence. June 29, 2010 The decision on Fábio Rochemback's work permit is expected for July 13. Marc Bircham played well as captain of Team Canada as they lost 1-3 against USA in the second round of the World Cup. The game was tied in regulations but the Americans scored twice in extra time. Landon Donovan had 2 goals over the course of the game. I'm quite impressed by Canada's showing in that World Cup. First to qualify was nice, I've not seen them qualify often in my living time, but to make it to the second round of the World Cup is pretty amazing... June 30, 2010 Woah, Keigan Parker puts pen to paper on a two year deal. That's sort of unexpected. After he'd rejected the first few offers, I thought he was gonna fall in the Matt Cross mode of rejecting everything. While going through the transfer market, I find a 23yo striker named Igor Nadal Lázaro, a Spaniard playing currently playing with Real Madrid. The kid's got great physical skills and an amazing way to finish it off. He's not world class in his other skills, but he's no slob either. He could do well in support of my main strikers (Johnson, Curth, Parker) and could even push Brooker for playing time while Jeppe Lund Curth is away with his broken leg. While he's only 23 and his contract is unprotected, I see that I wouldn't have to pay compensation to Real Madrid to pry him away. Currently valued at $2M and earning $8,800 per week, he's asking for $22.5k per week and a signing fee of 160k for a 3 year deal. I offer him $15,500 per week and a $90k signing fee for a one year deal, that way if he doesn't fit, he'll be let go without too much hurt. His current contract runs through July 31, 2010. FM PS: my advice to my readers would be to keep on reading and come back when something's posted. This first post covers 2 of the 47 notepad pages of notes I've taken over the weekend. I don't wanna spoil the fun, but plenty has happened in this offseason ;) |
July 1st, 2010
It's the start of the transfer window. The Team Board is very pleased with my work as manager. Hopefully it'll at least stay that way for a little while... I offer two more friendlies, this time to teams out of England: Ajax accept to come play us at Loftus Road on August 9. We'll pay them 60k for their trip. However, Dinamo Kiev reject our offer for a friendly on July 26. David Marek Rozehnal joins QPR on a free transfer. I see him as a pretty solid centre-back that should complement Danny Shittu pretty well. He'll turn 30 in a few days, but has good, if not always great, all around skills, as you'll see by taking a look at his player profile (click thumbnail)...  He comes to us on a pretty affordable contract and shouldn't hurt the team's wage budget too much if he drop right back to the Championship after only one season... I also just noticed the Premiership logo to the left of everyone of our player's name. Sweet :) After seeing a few offers made for him, Chelsea left fullback Celestine Babayaro catches my eye. He could be a player I'd like to put a bid on, as they want to get rid of him and are asking only 550k for him. Fábio Rochemback is now officially out of contract. His work permit approval is still pending... Iván "Kavi" Kaviedes is also now without a contract with QPR and he leaves the club. This makes me sad, but he didn't fit into our plans anymore... Gino Padula's contract is also over, but he's okay with staying at the club on a month by month contract. At $5k per week, I'm not okay with that option. I release him. I get a message that Keith Keane is now out of contract with Luton. I ask my scouts for reports on the former Irish U21. He could challenge Craig Crane hard for the right full back spot... I get some weird feeling when I approach to sign a defensive middie called Renato Forster. I wasn't too sure I wanted to sign him (asking too much for what I see skill wise), but when I approached to sign him, I see that the Team Board is now allowing me to offer wages up to $48k per week, woah! It has never been higher than $28k before today. Looking at the wage budget, I see that they upped it to $480k per week. We're currently a tad over 210k, niiiiiice!!! I see that Darren Evans is being scouted by Millwall. I offer him to them for $3M + 10% next sale. He's currently valued at $3.6M. While looking at free agents, I see an interesting prospect, Igor Biscan. He's described as a strong centre-back of 32 years of age. He's from Croatia and played in the 2010 World Cup for his country with good form ratings, and he's been playing in the Premiership since the 2000/01 season, with Liverpool then Aston Villa. He's asking for a wage of "only" $19k per week with a signing fee of 40k for a 2 year deal. I offer him $17k and a $40k signing fee but for a one year deal, as a rotation player (so he knows what to expect). FM |
July 3, 2010
I keep on scouting free agents and possible free signing, in the hopes of finding some good help on the cheap side, possibly free of any transfer fees... Millwall say no to Darren Evans... July 5, 2010 We get a good response to our coach advert. There are many succky ones in the bunch, but Mark Proctor, a coach currently with Darlington, catches my eye. He's pretty good with youngsters, at managing his men, and at coaching outfielders. In addition to that, he's got a very high level of discipline. He wants $900 per week and it would cost us 90k in compensation to Darlington. I offer him $900 per week and I let the advert continue. I need to find at least one, maybe two, good to very good goalkeeper coaches. This could help Kasper Schmeichel and Paul Davies develop. They're still fairly young (23 and 21 respectively) so they may still have some learning left to do... I find 39yo Edwin Van Der Sar, an eccentric fello who's great at coaching keeper. He's a free agent, planning to retire on July 13, 2011. I think he could come as a player/coach for one season, but he's asking for $12.5 per week while my board limit spending on him to $4,200. I offer him that, if he rejects, I may offer him to come as a coach only... I'm also thinking about changing my assistant manager, for no other reasons than I think having an upgrade in that area could help the team. I'm especially looking for a guy with higher reputation than mmy current assistant, John Gorman. While looking at possible replacements, I find Bruno Conti, currently coaching with Roma. He's got national reputation and is amazing (read 20) with youngsters, at motivating players, at evaluating player's abilities and potential, as well as in his tactical knowledge. While he says it would take a very large contract offer for him to even consider agreeing to terms, he's only making $2,600 per week now and my team board must agree that he's worthy of something since they allow me to go as high as $12.5k per week for him. I offer him $10k per week and a signing fee of 60k. Roma would have to be paid a compensation of $420k. FM |
July 6, 2010
Quite the twist today. While I was thinking that maybe I was stuck with a conservative board, only happy to be making money, I get called into the board chairman's office. Bill Power tells me that he would like to raise the club's profile by bringing in a high-profile player. Power added that a top signing could really put Q.P.R. on the map and create a sense of excitement around Loftus Road. Before I was able to point out the tiny tansfer budget, he also added that should I find the right player, the board is willing to allow me to exceed the current transfer budget, providing the amount concerned doesn't put the club's overall finances into the red. Woah, I'm stoked! I leave him, speachless and I get back to work, not restricting my scouting to low budget buys... Exciting times! There a few holes I could plug, thinking about a killer middie to feed the strikers, or a killer keeper, or a god left, or right full-back. Well, just about anything actually :) July 7, 2010 Bruno Conti agrees on a contract to become my assistant. As I look at his profile, it hits me that he speaks only Italian, oopsie. Let's hope he'll be able to give me the team report properly :) In my inbox, I get the news that Youssouf Hersi has rejected Plymouth's latest offer. I've had my eyes on him for quite a while. He's a 27yo AM C valued at $6.4M and is currently very unhappy at Plymouth. He is described as a flamboyant midfielder. I ask my scouts to report on him. Mark Proctor agrees to deal with us and becomes our newest coach. Oopsie #2, the compensation money (for him and for Conti) came from our transfer budget, should have thought of that. We're now down to about $250k left in the budget. Click the following thumbnails to see Conti's and Proctor's coach profile...   Igor Biscan agrees to a 1 year deal and joins us. The 32yo free agent D/DM C is described as a strong centre-back and has played for quite a few seasons in the Premiership, look at his stats sheet for the last few seasons:
And his stats for the 2009/10 season were at least very reasonable too:
I find it reassuring that he's played at that level for a long time. That way, he shouldn't be too starstruck when the season starts... I'm even thinking that he could play ahead of David Marek Rozehnal. You can check out Biscan's profile by clicking the following thumbnail.  At only $17k per week for a one year deal, he's definitely a bargain. I just realized that we only have 4 friendlies set for now. I go and offer the following: Chelsea at Loftus Road, 07/29, they reject it Roma at Loftus Road, 07/15, they accept and we'll pay them 90k for the trip Luton at Kenilworth Road, 07/18, they accept it. I thought that playing Roma, given my assistant's ties to them, would be a nice idea, and I just had to go back to Kenilworth Road. I was worried about them not taking it, since they already had 7 friendlies booked, but they agreed to make it 8. Weird, but I have a feeling they wanted me to go back :) I now have tow assistant on staff and John Gorman is still acting as the #1 dude. I don't wanna pay the $190k I'd have to pay him to release him, so I offer him a new contract as a coach. He's currently earning $1850 per week as my assistant and is looking to increase that to $6400 with a new contract. My team board allows me to offer him only $4800, so I offer him that, for a one year deal. FM |
July 8, 2010
Edwin Van Der Sar rejects us, not willing to even negotiate. Oh well, I let go... The chase hots up for Chelsea left full back Celestine Babayaro. They are looking for $550 for the experienced full-back who's been with them since the 1997/98 season. He's also had decent form ratings over the years. I see that Portsmouth have offered $380k for him. I may be tempted to make a bid... I offer a friendly to Rangers on July 26, 2010. They accept and we'll pay them 56k for their trip. July 9, 2010 We learn that the QPR-Roma friendly match on July 15th has been picked up for live TV coverage. Nice... John Gorman accepts our contract offer and now becomes a coach with us. Bruno Conti now takes over as assistant manager. FM |
July 10, 2010
Arsenal put in a $380k bid for Celestine Babayaro... hmmm, okay, I offer $400k for him, despite only having $240k in transfer budget. We'll see how that shakes up... France wins 4-1 over USA in the World Cup 3rd place playoffs. It was 1-1 after regulation when France put in three in extra time... I think I may have found a solid goalkeeper coach in Jamie Johnston. Currently unemployed, he's rated at 20 for coaching goalkeepers and 18 for working with youngsters. He wants $1800 per week, I offer him $1200 per week... July 11, 2010 Igor Biscan plays for Croatia in the World Cup final against Uruguay. They lose, but he played well, getting rated at 7. Uruguay are the World Cup champions. The Manager of Team Canada, Frank Yallop decides to leave his post. That's interesting, although I'm unsure if I'd be interesting by it. Maybe, maybe not... Jamie Johnston rejects my first offer. I offer him what he wants, which is not that big a deal, $1800 per week. My scouts report that they're done with their scouting of the World Cup. Mel Johnson found 19 suitable players and Mike Fairclough found 13 suitable players. I'll have a look at their list... I change my transfer bid for Celestine Babayaro to $550k after Southampton put in a bid for $500k. July 12, 2010 Southampton, them again, have offered a contract to Keith Keane. He's still a free agent and he wants $20.5k per week with a $56k signing fee. I offer him a "no strings attached" one year deal worth $18k per week with a $20k signing fee and a bonus of $1800 per appearances. As I said before, he could challenge Craig Crane and John Davies pretty hard for the right full-back spot. I offer Michael Synott around. I'm looking for $500k for him. FM |
July 13, 2010
Fábio Rochemback's work permit has been turned down. Grrr, this feels like déjŕ vu... I appeal the decision. We should know on July 20th. From the listing of my scouts on the World Cup, I see this amazing 24yo Colombian named Freddy Guarin valued at $8.4M. He's currently playing with Fenerbahçe and is described as a playmaking midfielder. I think he'd fit the bill as a high profile player. I offer them $8.4M. July 14, 2010 Jamie Johnston accepts our offer and signs with us, but I'm a goof. I offered him a contract to become an assistant manager, doh! I immediately make him another offer, for the same wage, to be a coach... Oxford put in a bid for Michael Synott. They're offering $56k now, $380k over the next 24 months, and 50% of the next sale. Not bad, I accept the offer. Portsmouth are the latest in the Babayaro stampeed. They put in a bid at $498. That's an odd number :) July 15, 2010 Dag & Red want Mike Cook back with them for another 3 months loan. They'll be paying 100% of his salary so I accept. I learn that the friendly between us and FC Bayern, scheduled for July 21, 2010 at Loftus Road, has been picked up for live TV coverage. Always nice :) FM |
July 15, 2010
We play our first friendly of the offseason, at Loftus Road, against Roma. This match is on TV. The oddsmakers have Roma as 1-2 favorites to win. Danny Shittu is seen as the key man for Q.P.R. while Ivan Pelizzoli is seen as the same for Roma. They fancy Roma to win as they think there's more about them than Q.P.R. I don't have the lineup for this one. Nobody but maybe Kasper Schmeichel will play more than 45 minutes with a massive change at halftime. The half ends scoreless, but I'm very surprised how well it's gone for us so far. We're outshooting them 7(2) to 2(1) and winning possession convincingly with 56% with a big 25% of us controlling the ball on their end of the field. Neither team will be able to score in the second half either and we kind of slowed down on attack. But we didn't let them come either, which I think is good. Final Score: 0-0 Marcus Kelly is named Man of the Match with a rating of 8. He had 11 runs past opponents, picking up where he left off at the end of last season. Both keepers got rated at 8, Schmeichel in the first 60 mintues, Davies in the last 30 minutes. Steve Brooker suffered a minor injury which turns out to be a damaged shoulder. He'll miss 5 days. FM |
July 16, 2010
Jamie Johnston signs a new contract with us, as a coach finally :) Keith Keane rejects the contract offer from Southampton and signs a one year contract with us. The 23yo D/DM RC, former U21 player for Ireland (25 caps/1 goal) is simply described as a defender but as you'll see by looking at his profile, he's got some skills that could make him develop into a pretty solid right full-back.  Michael Synott agrees to a deal with Oxford. We get $420k for the full-back that cost us only $48k a year ago. Too bad he wasn't able to impose himself in the offseason last season. No matter where I played him, he got more 6's than 7's and that's not good enough for me. He goes to the media saying that his Q.P.R. hell is finally at an end. Oh, the drama queen... Our latest offer for Celestine Babayaro is accepted, but when I go to offer him a contract, well, it's not good. His agent tells me he's not interested in a move to Q.P.R. Bruno Conti recommends $38k per week and tells me he believes he'd become an essential memeber of our first team. I offer him that, $38k with a $240k signing fee. While looking for keepers, I spot two interesting ones. First a Brazilian playing at Cruzeiro. The guy's named simply Jefferson, and I find that funny. He's a 28yo keeper with continental reputation, valued at $8M. I ask my scouts to report on him. The second one is currently playing for Manchester City, Dave Reynolds. The kid is only 20yo but is described as a WONDERKID! WOAH, That's the first time I come accross one of these :) Walued at $8.2M I offer $10M. That would certainly be the kind of player that would cause excitement at Loftus Road... Mike Cook agrees to go on loan at Dag & Red for 3 months. FM |
July 18, 2010
We play Luton Town at Kenilworth Road. I'm always a bit sentimental when I go back to Kenilworth Road. Luton are now in League Two. Hopefully for them, it'll only be a short stay down there and they'll go right back up to League One. They score early on, in the 5th minute, but we reply in the 36th minute, when Keigan Parker relays a Marcus Kelly throw in to Andrew Johnson who scores. The half ends 1-1 with us dominating them, especially in shots, 9(6) to 2(2). No goals will be scored in the second half. Final Score: 1-1 Keigan Parker is named Man of the Match with a rating of 9. He completed 19 of 21 passes, 6 of them key passes. Keith Keane had a solid game too, completing 30 of 35 passes and winning 6 of 7 headers. Chris Chapman had a minor injury in the game. It turned out not to be so minor, as it's a shoulder injury and he'll miss 2 weeks. July 19, 2010 Brazil, Spain, and Italy all appoint new National Team managers. This reminds me about Canada and the fact they've still not appointed a replacement to Frank Yallop. I'm still unsure about it though, not too tempted... Unsurprisingly, our bid for Dave Reynolds is rejected. I offer $12.5M plus Paul Davies. FM |
July 20, 2010
WOOHOO!!! Fábio Rochemback has been granted a conditionnal British work permit for his move to Q.P.R. Don't know how conditional it is, but I can now accept and finalize the move, weehee!!!! The 28yo will be great for us in the midfield, he's got great skills all around, a continental reputation, and best of all, he's a free transfer, signed for two years at the "modest" wage of $26.5 per week. Take a look at his player profile:  As the signing is announced to the public, I get the news that Q.P.R.'s Commercial Director noted his monthly financial update that the purchase of Rochemback is likely to cause a sharp increase in revenue from shirt sales. Sweeeeeet! Me happy! :) Following on the momentum of the free signing of Rochemback, I go back to a player I've had on my shortlist for quite a while: Plymouth's Youssouf Hersi. He's a 27yo flamboyant midfielder that would add quite a bit to our attack, at least from where I see it. I offer them his current value, $6.4M. July 21, 2010 Nigel Quashie strains his groin and will miss at least two weeks. At least cause usually groin=physio and that's the case. Specialist says it's going to be 4 big weeks of physiotherapy for the 32yo, dang! FM |
Conditional, meaning if he doesn't get significant playing time on the first team, then they can revoke his permit.
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That's what I thought it was. If it's playing time with my team, then I don't have to worry about that, he'll get plenty :) FM |
July 21, 2010
We play FC Bayern at Loftus Road. I saved the lineup, kind of to give you an idea of who's playing and where... They show a 4-1-2-1-2 diamond formation. This is Fábio Rochemback's first game with us. Ben Watson has to leave the game injured in the 89th minute. Marc Bircham comes in. Andrew Johnson scores in the 15th minute, as a free kick from Tom Howell got headed toward the goal by Keigan Parker but the keeper only deflected it to AJ who had an empty net in front of him. The half ends with us ahead 1-0. We're outshooting them 8(5) to 4(1). Rochemback was rated at 8 until the last minute of the half. He's completed his 23 passes. Matt Cross has suffered a minor injury in the first half. Final Score: 1-0 We didn't score in the second half, despite unleashing the dogs on them. We outshot them 14(6) to 6(1) and their keeper is named Man of the Match. The TV team thought that Bayern would win, could have thought that we'd snatch a draw, but they admit they never thought we'd win this one. It's only a friendly, but I'm happy. Back at the clubhouse, the bad news hit, and hard. Ben Watson has suffered a torn groin muscles and will miss at least 2 months. My physios are all unanimous, he should have surgery to correct it for good. Dang, the hit is ever worse, he'll miss 4 months... At least Matt Cross' injury is only a damaged foot and he'll miss a week, but the blows to our midfield are hard to take... FM |
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The conditional work permit means he has to play at least I think 75% of the first team games he is eligible for (not injured/suspended). If not, when his contract ends, the team cannot renew it, |
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That's even clearer, thanks. Looking at him, would anybody doubt he'll play 75% of the games he's not injured or suspended? :) FM |
to add on Rochemback, his $9.4M value ties him with our highest valued player at the moment, Andrew Johnson...
FM |
So, how has the board responded to these moves? Are they still willing to let you go after some players?
/tk |
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75% of league matches |
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At that point, other than the comment on the increase in shirt sale, the board had not commented on my signings. I consider that the Rochemback signing was a big one, but it didn't really register to them as one, since it didn't cost a penny to the team. They were still willing to allow me to go over the transfer budget if I found a high prestige kind of player... FM |
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yeah, I figured so, or at the least, 75% of competitive matches. What I meant is that I don't expect to let him off the field very often, except if he's injured or suspended... FM |
Congrats on Rochemback's permit. :D
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Thanks, as you can sense from all my comments, I'm very happy with the signing. Quote:
Yeah, I've been meaning to look him up, see what's behind that, but I always forget to. At the moment, Jefferson struck me as funny. You get used to exotic sounding nicknames, but to see Jefferson, I found it funny... it may be just me though :) FM |
July 22, 2010
I'm getting to have some doubts about Matt Cross' ability to perform at the high level the team is now playing. I mean he got rated much more often at 7 than 8 last season in the Championship and I'm worried that he will hit the wall in the Premiership. I find Phil Townley, a 23yo winger capable of playing on either sides of the pitch, much like Marcus Kelly, but who is right footed, to Kelly's preference for his left foot. Valued at 4.2M, Norwich has transfer listed him by request and are asking only 3.8M for him. I offer them just that, $3.8M... Among the players scouted by my scouts at the World Cup, there's this kid, a Colombian named Freddy Guarin currently playing at Fenerbahçe in Turkey. Valued at $8.8M, but I've seen offers over $12M for him. I offer them $8M and center/left midfielder Chris Chapman for him. That's a total value of $12.2M... Another player I have on my shortlist is flamboyant midfielder Mfundo Shumana, currently playing at Ajax CT. Hi work permit was rejected last time, but he must have played in some international competition since then because I see that Leicester have just offered $220k for him. His value is only at $150k right now and it is kind of low, probably because he's playing in a small market. I offer $240k for him. July 23, 2010 Our offer for Dave Reynolds is rejected. I Let it go, he'd cost way more than I'd like to pay for a single player... FM |
July 24, 2010
Now comes the time to submit shirt numbers. For some reasons, I like that time of the season. I sometimes rearrange numbers to what I think this or that player would like :) Five of our league matches have been picked for TV coverage: Sunday, Aug 29, Man Utd v Q.P.R. (woah!) Sunday, Oct 17, Q.P.R. v Blackburn Sunday, Nov 28, Chelsea v Q.P.R. (woah!!) Monday, Dec 6, Q.P.R v Everton Saturday, Dec 18, Q.P.R. v Gillingham (relegation battle) Not bad, 3 out of 5 at home, two against big time teams and one against a fellow promotee, battling it out to avoid relegation... Our $6.4M bid for Plymouth's Youssouf Hersi has been accepted. He's currently earning $20.5k per week but is looking for a good increase in wage. He's looking for a 3 year deal at $38.5k per week with a signing fee of $700k and a $1,000 assist bonus. Bruno Conti seems to think that $31k per week would be reasonable. I offer him $32k per week with a $500k signing fee as a first team member (down from key member). I also boost the assist bonus from $1,000 to $4,000 as I'd want him to really be the sparkplug behind my strikers... July 25, 2010 Celestine Babayaro signs with Bolton. He mentions rejecting offers from some clubs, but our name never comes up, he never even considered our offer, oh well... My scouts get back to me regarding Jefferson, the Brazillian keeper. They both say he would instantly command a spot on our first team and that it's unlikely that there would be complication for a work permit, given the calibre of the player. He has a continental reputation. He's valued at $8M, I offer them that... My bid for Mfundo Shumana is accepted. He's looking for $20.5k per week and a 52k signing fee. He's currently earning $1850 per week and Conti thinks we could offer him up to $24.5k per week. I offer him $16.5k per week and 52k signing fee based on the fact that it's almost 9 times what he's currently earning... Our bid for Freddy Guarin, which I thought was very generous, is rejected. I let it be, for now... July 26, 2010 Canada appoints Pat Ercoli as the new Team Canada coach in succession to Frank Yallop. He's an unknown fellow, currently coaching the Rochester team in what I think is League A. I was intrigued by the post, but never really interested by it. I'm still too new to the whole thing to think about taking over a National Team in addition of a club. That and I feared that my Team Board wouldn't have been happy with me splitting time between the two. I'll definitely need all my time at Loftus Road for us to simply avoid demotion... Youssouf Hersi's agent announced that his client has rejected our contract offer. The player feels he is deserving of a better basic salary and is looking for me to indicate I will give him a key role in the team. His agent stated that Hersi will proceed with further negotiations, insisting that a significantly improved offer would be needed if terms were to be agreed. I sweeten my deal, offering him $36k per week with a $600k signing fee, not a bad offer, compared to the $38.5k and $700k signing fee he is still looking for. I also tell him he'll be a key member of our squad. FM |
July 26, 2010
We play Rangers at Loftus Road. What better setup than the Queens Park Rangers hosting the Scottish Rangers, huh? :) We're off to a flyer in the 4th minute, when Andrew Johnson converts a free kick played short by Keigan Parker. Top corner it goes. Funny how roles seem to be reversed so far this preseason, as Parker is feeding the ball to AJ more often and AJ keeps converting them into goals. Either way, I like goals :) The half ends with us ahead 1-0. We're pressuring them real hard, still playing our patient 4-4-2 formation. Shots are 10(4) for us, 3(1) for them. We'll add another goal very late, in the 83rd minute, when Justin Wall converts after a great triangle of passes that had their defense confused... Final Score: 2-0 We outshot them 16(6) to 8(2) and played really well as a team. I like that. I don't know much about Rangers, but always thought they were a good team. Not saying they didn't play well, or that we outrageously beat them, but I'm happy with the result against a good club like Rangers... Paul Davies got rated at 8 and their keeper was named Man of the Match. Most important thing, no injuries!!! July 27, 2010 Our bid for Phil Townley has been accepted. He wants $24k per week with a signing fee of $600k for a 3 year deal, also with a 15% yearly wage increase. I drop the yearly increase and offer him what else he wants. FM |
July 28, 2010
Our bid for Jefferson is rejected. I'm unsure now. When asking all my coaches about Kasper Schmeichel, they are all saying that the 23yo is showing a great deal of potential. Maybe we could get by with him, hope he'll develop a bit more. I still make a crazy bid for Jefferson, at $11M... July 29, 2010 I get the news about the Q.P.R. players that have contracts that will expire in the next 12 months. Squad by squad, they are: Queens Park Rangers a) Danny Shittu, Ben Watson, Keith Keane, b) Darren Evans, Nigel Quashie, Mathew Sadler, Lee Mansell, Steve Brooker, John Oster, Igor Biscan Queens Park Rangers Reserves John Boyle, Craig Birch, Michael Parker, Chris Day, Mark Taylor Queens Park Rangers U18 James Wilson, Stuart Kay, Mark Robertson, Daniel Howarth, Michael McDonald I split the senior squad in two groups. The (a) are players I'd most definitely want to sign to an extention. The (b) are players that I'm either unsure, or quite probably not willing to have sign an extention... Youssouf Hersi agrees to a deal to join Q.P.R.! And oh boy as this signing caused a lot of waves. First Hersi made it known that he is really optimistic of rising to the challenge of playing at a higher level. Second I get the simple message stating that the team Chairman, Bill Powell believes this player would be beneficial for the club, and has therefore decided to provide the extra finance needed to finalise the deal. Then I got a message concerning how mad the Plymouth fans were at Kevin McAllister, their club manager, for selling the popular attacking midfielder. The sale of Hersi to Q.P.R. for just $6.4M has provoked an angry response from the Plymouth fans who felt the player was a big part of the club and has been sold on the cheap. Finally, I received a personal message from Bill Power, expressing his delight that I have captured the signature of Hersi. Power commented that I was doing an excellent job for the club by signing such a high profile player. :) And who is this Youssouf Hersi? He's a 27yo flamboyant midfielder hailing from Holland who had a monstruous season in the Championship for Plymouth last year. In 47 starts, he scored 13 goals, assisted 11 others and was named Man of the Match 10 times. Look at that stats sheet for 2009/10:
On top of that, I feel he's been adjusting to the English football over the last three season, since coming to Plymouth in the middle of the 2007/08 season, look at his stats since coming to Plymouth:
Finaly, the player, what is he. I think he'll add good support to our strikers with his good passing, good long shots, and great first touch and ball control skills, as you'll see in his player profile:  I'm really happy with that signing. Mr. Power was right, he's getting everybody excited at Loftus Road :) FM |
July 30, 2010
We get the news that our August 5 friendly against Liverpool at Loftus Park has been picked up for live TV coverage, nice! Mfundo Shumana is ecstatic to have agreed on a deal to come to Q.P.R. He said that he is very keen to rise to the challenge or playing for such an illustrious club. He'll need a work permit though and we should get a decision on August 14. July 31, 2010 Our latest bid for Jefferson has been rejected. I feel that $11M was a lot of money and having spent some on Youssouf Hersi, I don't think I wanna pursue him. I think we'll make do with Schmeichel and Davies for now... August 1st, 2010 The Team board is back to being delighted with my managerial performance. Woohoo! The season has not even started. They must have really like the Hersi signing. The supporters are also delighted about the signing of Youssouf Hersi. They are very pleased with the progress the team has been making. Igor Nadal Lázaro arrives to the club from Real Madrid. The 23yo Spaniard striker comes as a free transfer and should give us some good depth up front. I'd describe him as a physical phenom with good if not great all around skills for an attacker, other than his finishing, where he is indeed great, as you can see from his player profile.  He's also pretty good at moving into space when the team has the ball. His arrival at the club pushed Steve Brooker further down the team's striker depth chart. FM |
August 1, 2010
We play Nottingham Forest on their pitch. For this match, given the two new signees on our midfield, I'm gonna try a new formation. It's basically a wide 4-1-2-1-2 formation that goes like this:  I see Youssouh Hersi and Fábio Rochemback as the anchors of this new formation, respectively on top and at the bottom of the field. I change nothing of my team instructions, meaning that we'll play our trademark patient ball control football that has served us well so far. The starting lineup is not my definitive starting lineup, as I have players who are already match fit, so I won't play them as much. It's a bit why Tom Howell is starting instead of Marcus Kelly on the left wing. The half ends scoreless but we're outshooting them 7(5) to 2(1). We're also eating them up in the midfield. Our global possession numbers are 12-32-13 (percentages on our end-middle-their end) to 12-20-11 (again our end-middle-their end) Their keeper is keeping them in the game, currently rated at 9. It takes us the whole second half before a couple of Justin Wall goals make it quick 2-0 for us. First in the 82nd minute, when he converted a 50 yard long pass from Igor Biscan, then 3 minutes later, when he converted a headed centre from Marcus Kelly. He almost added a third for the hat trick moments later, but his shot grazed the cross bar. Final Score: 2-0 We outshot them 13(9) to 4(1). I like that formation and how the ball moved on the field, albeit against possibly a lower calibre team. Funny how I come to refer to Nottm Forest, big competition for us last season, as a "low calibre" team :) Justin Wall is named Man of the Match with a rating of 8 and 2 goals. Keith Keane is also rated at 8. Marc Bircham suffered a minor injury in the game. Turns out Bircham's injury wasn't so minor, he'll miss two weeks with a twisted knee. Following the game, it hits me that the season starts in two weeks, so I take one more look at possible players and I see a 25yo left full-back that would be great for us. He's a colombian named Cesar Augusto Fawcett and he's currently playing with Rangers but he didn't play against us. He's got great all around skills and a continental reputation. He is currently valued at $5.6M. I offer them that. FM |
August 3, 2010
Craig Crane resumes training following his surgery and subsequent physiotherap sessions. Hrm, it's unclear how much I want him on the field now. Keith Keane is playing well and once he'll be settled at the club, I feel he may be better than Crane. John Davies is also a very talented youngster, probably more so than Crane. I may transfer list Crane sooner rather than later... Ukbetting.com announces the English Premier Division title odds. Arsenal have been made 6-4 favourites to win the English Premier Division title this season. The rest of the contenders are price at: 7-4 for Manchester United, 2-1 for Chelsea, 2-1 for Liverpool, 25-1 for Newcastle, and 25-1 for Manchester City. With prices for Q.P.R. starting at 2000-1, the bookmakers appear convinced that your team lacks the quality to mount any sort of title challenge in your first season up and that you would do well to stay in the division. I knew we we're heavy favourite... for demotion, but 2000-1!!! :eek: Following the odds announcement, A journalist from London's Evening Standard approaches me with a question that goes like this: "The bookies are tipping you for relegation this season. Do you think you will have to bolster your squad in order to stay up?" hrm, what to answer? I don't want everybody to call it a day before the season has even started, but let's be realistic, we could use some help... I answer that I think that by getting in one or two players, we should have a squad capable of avoiding the drop. I felt that it was positive enough, better than saying something like "we will drop unless I bring a whole new starting 11" and more realistic than saying something like "nah, we don't need anybody, we'll be just fine"... Well, looks like that answer of mine had a few of my players worried. Danny Shittu, Matt Cross, Andrew Johnson, and Craig Crane are all unsure whether they can perform well amid constant speculation surrounding their future at the club. Of these four, Crane and Cross are maybe on the bubble, Crane more than Cross, but AJ and Big Dan don't have anything to fear for their job. Especially Big Dan, who's really the anchor of our defense. AJ, well it will depend on how he develops over the course of the season... Our bid for César Augusto Fawcett is rejected. I offer them $7.5M + 10% of next sale... FM |
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He seems very studious from his picture as well. He might bring a whole new level of culture and turtlenecks to the squad. :D |
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LOL! :D Yeah, as crazy as that sounds, that picture kept me from bidding on him at first. Just too much of a poet look for my taste ;) Let's hope the team won't follow suit and all wear powder blue turtlenecks for cold weather games, that'd be ugly :) At least the Commercial director didn't say this signing would significantly raise the number of shirt sales, or else I would have had to assume he meant turtlenecks shirts :) FM |
August 5, 2010
We play Liverpool at Loftus Road. This is our only friendly against a club from the Premiership and it's a big one. Liverpool has not finished lower than 5th in the last 11 seasons. They finished 7th in 1998/99 and before that, there were four more seasons of finishing either 3rd or 4th... This game is on TV and key mean are presented as being Marcus Kelly for us and Roque Santa Cruz for them. It's the first time that TV commentators have not picked Danny Shittu as our key man. Gotta mean something as far as how big Marcus has become for the team... Their prediction has Liverpool as 1-2 favourites. Before the game, I switch every player to a position specific training schedule. We go 4-1-2-1-2 again. With the emergence of John Davies and the signing of Keith Keane, Craig Crane is really the odd man out at right full back at the moment. Bruno Conti still thinks I should start him at that position, but I beg to differ. We'll see how it works out. They score two goals in the first half, both of them coming off corner kicks. I call that being unlucky because we're definitely holding our ground even though the half ends with us down 0-2. Shots are 6)5) for us, 4(3) for them and we're winning possession with 59%. They're barely touching the ball in the midfield and are definitely not putting a killer amount of pressure on our defenders. Igor Lázaro had an ugly first half, rating at 4, I guess he got impressed by the big names on the other side of the pitch... Matt Cross is not doing much better, rating at 5 after one half. Marcus Kelly had to leave the pitch, injured, in the 34th minute. Let's hope he won't miss considerable time. Final Score: 0-2 Not much happened in the second half but we held our own. It's a nice effort, despite the loss. Their two goals were sort of lucky goals, coming off corner kicks. Yeah, good teams don't let these goals happen, but I can't believe we'll let two goals in from corner kicks every game... Paul Davies rated at 8 in this game. We suffered two injuries. Marcus Kelly sprained his wrist and will miss a week. Our season opener is in 9 days, maybe he'll be all right. Andrew Johnson had a gashed head and will miss 3 days. After seeing that Derby had put in a bid to loan Fulham's 26yo right winger Malik Buari, I think it may be a good idea to do the same, so I do. I wasn't too impressed with Matt Cross' choke job against Liverpool. Granted, it may not happen again until midseason, but still I'd rather have two good wingers, one I would almost not pay, than be stuck with a starstruck kid who's not up to the level I need him to play. FM |
August 7, 2010
Our bid for César Augusto Fawcett is rejected again. We have $24M in the bank account. I offer them $10M + 10% of next sale. I also declare my interest for him, without much effect. August 8, 2010 Dang, Phil Townley agrees to a deal with us, but the move has to be delayed due to a lack of funds. I'm guessing the extra funds offer from the board was a one shot kind of deal... I ask to delay the transfer for one week. I also go to the board and request extra transfer funds, to which the Board politely remind me that they have yet to see a return from the money spent. Dang! I'm screwed on that one... I'm not about to give them a utlimatum either, heh... FM |
August 8, 2010
We play our final friendly of this preseason, at Loftus Road against Ajax. The crowd goes wild in the 33rd minute as Youssouf Hersi caps a great Q.P.R. move and scores his first goal as a Ranger. The half ends with us ahead 1-0. Shots are 4(2) for us, 4(0) for them. Possession is pretty even between the two sides... Not much happens and 1-0 is the final score. They outshot us on the game, 8(2) to 6(3). Everybody on our side rated at 7, and we come out of it without any new injuries, weehee! So, after 7 friendlies, we end up with 4 wins, 2 draws, 1 loss. That's not too shabby since I consider we played a few good teams in these games... FM |
August 9, 2010
As I did last season, I'll present the first ten games of the season, with some sort of commentary on the first 5... 1) 08/14, away, Portsmouth They finished in 10th last year, not much to report on them. Wouldn't expect too much, since it'll be our first Premiership match and I had our friendlies bundled toward the end of the preseason, while they have not played since July 31st, they'll be well rested. 2) 08/18, home, Southampton They promoted with us last season and will be fighting with us to stay out of the relegation zone. We split with them last season, winning 3-0 at home, losing 1-2 away. 3) 08/21, away, Newcastle They finished 6th last season and are usually sure bets to finish in the top 10. 4) 08/25, home, Tottenham They finished 11th last season, but used to be a top 6 club. May be on the decline. 5) 08/29, away, Manchester United Huge game on TV, at Old Trafford no less. They finished 4th last season, their lowest finish since the 1990/91 season, when they finished 6th. Let's hope our guys won't get the jitters... This game will also cap the first two weeks that will have seen us play 5 games in two weeks... 6) 09/11, home, Wigan 7) 09/18, home, Middlesbrough 8) 09/25, away, Liverpool 9) 10/02, home, Birmingham 10) 10/06, away, Fulham It's kind of weird that we'll play 5 in two weeks of play in August and only 3 in a full month of September... It's SPAM time!!! In an effort to clean up the roster, I offer a bunch of players around, with various prices... August 10, 2010 Fulham have accepted our bid to loan Malik Buari. Now to see if he accepts to come play for us on a 3 month loan. August 11, 2010 Oops, our bid for César Augusto Fawcetts has been accepted. Weird thing is he's asking less to sign with us than what he's currently making with Rangers. He wants $46k per week with a signing fee of only $180k. He's currently earning $48k per week. I offer him what he wants, but bump the minimum fee release from $10.5M to what I would pay for him, $11M. The transfer will probably hit the wall, but oh well... August 12, 2010 We got a ton and a half of no's in answer to the SPAMfest I just did, but we got one bid! Crewe put in a bid of $2M for Darren Evans. It's what we were asking for the centre-back valued at $3.4M. I accept the bid. August 14, 2010 César Augsto Fawcett agrees to deal to join Q.P.R. but as expected, the transfer hits a wall. We don't have the funds to make it happen. I ask for a one week delay, not sure why... The very same day, we get the news that Mfundo Shumana has been granted a conditional work permit, and can join our club, but he won't since we don't have the measley $220k to make the transfer happen. I also ask for a one week delay... FM |
Open question to my readers: Given the moves that have been made, and what little you know about the team, do you think the Rangers will be able to avoid relegation from the Premiership?
I look forward to read your comments :) FM |
no drop for you!
your possession against Liverpool showed you may fare better than you think. I am not suggestion a top 6 spot but 14th for the first season is my predicition with improvements to follow. Give Igor some time if he stays healthy i think he will bag 15+ for you this year in the league. |
I think mid-table is doable.
If your kids gel, MAYBE a run at Euro spots throughout the year |
August 14, 2010
We play our first match in the Premiership, away at Portsmouth. They finished 10th last season. Before the game, I send many players to the reserves squad. Among them, Ricky Hanson, Lee Mansell, Steve Brooker, and Nathan Jameson. Funny fact, none of my top three middies of a season ago (Quashie, Bircham, Watson) is in the lineup for the start of this season, not even on the bench... We go 4-1-2-1-2 again... I've been impressed enough with John Oster's moves on the wing to give him the backup winger spot. Well, here we go... And it's a rough start, as they score on a great move through the middle. We control the ball well the rest of the half though and the halftime score is just that, 0-1. Danny Shittu headed a corner kick just over the cross bar during injury time. Shots only 4(1) for us, 7(1) for them. They are shooting from the perimeter as we are controlling the ball fairly well with 55%. Keigan Parker hits a post in the 43rd minute and they take the ball forward. We're pace for pace with them, but the ball takes a lucky bounce and it's loose in our penalty area. They convert it for the 0-2 goal... Kasper Schmeichel is rated at 5 after that second goal. They have two shots on target and two goals. I pull him after that second goal, putting in Paul Davies. They add another goal in the first minute of injury time, as a free kick is send to a man on the edge of our penalty box. Final Score: 0-3 They did outshot us 15(5) to 9(3) but I never felt like we were being outclassed. Still, it's a big loss to open the season. We're sitting in 20th place out of 20 teams. I guess there's nowhere to go but up, isn't it what they say? FM |
August 15, 2010
Nigel Quashie resumes full training following his injury. Not too sure we have many spots open for him, but he's still a good middie. Dang son of a gun! Darren Evans snubs Crewe! He feels the contract they offered wasn't acceptable. He is not enthusiatsic about playing in a lower division and feels part of his local community and would fin it difficult to start again somewhere else. DAMNIT KID!!! YOU... ARE... 19!!! TAKE WHAT WE GIVE YOU!!! GRRRRR. Safe to say that he just earned a long term lease in my doghouse... Malik Buari agrees to join us on loan for 3 months. Here's his player profile:  He could be a solid right winger for us, will give him possibly extended playing time. He's currently transfer listed by Fulham, so I could even put in a bid if we ever find some transfer budget at some point... August 16, 2010 Tom Howell suffers a damaged neck and will miss 2 weeks. He played left wing in our first game and the plan was to play him at left full back when Kelly would be ready to start, now, we're back to the usual suspects at left full back... FM |
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Thanks for the prediction, honestly, the preseason has given me hope for the season too... Quote:
You think so? When I saw him the first time, he reminded me of Keigan Parker a lot. Amazing finishing with good to great physical skills. Keigan did give me 20+ last season, but I think the kid needs a bit more seasoning. Hopefully he can learn in the wings and provide good depth should anything happen to somebody up front... FM |
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Thanks for the prediction. Not that I have ever thought about finishing higher than 17th, thus simply avoiding relegation, but it's my first season in the Premiership, EVER, and I was wondering who gets to play in what Euro competition? I vaguely remember seeing the list of who was selected for what in the offseason, but didn't pay much attention to it. I think I remember some 8 or 9 club names on that list, split up among Champions Cup, Euro Cup, Euro Vase (I think)... If you can shed some light on that, I'd appreciate. FM |
oh, and I should post some position by position rundown of the team's roster at some point. I'm just too excited to be playing these days, so it may take some time, but I'll do it, someday :)
FM |
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How many spots you get is tied to how your country's teams do in european competition. If you go to the Champions League and check Coefficients or Seedings or something (not at home, I'll check when I get home).. you'll see. For example, it might go like this: 1st through 4th: European Champions League (Champions Cup): (1st and 2nd go straight to the Group Stage, 3rd and 4th enter at the Qualifying Rounds) 5th through (maybe) 7th: UEFA Cup (Euro Cup) (entering at certain levels) Entering at various levels depending on how they did. However, two spots in the UEFA Cup are reserved for teams that win the two cup competitions in England (the League Cup, and the FA Cup) If they're already in (finished in the top 5), then the runner up gets the spot, if they're both in, then the next team (6th place) gets the UEFA Cup berth. (if all four cup finalist teams are in at this point, 7th place gets the final berth (Maybe) 8th and 9th: Inter Toto Cup (Euro Vase) offers three teams berths in the Euro Cup. Some leagues offer the final inter-toto cup based on fair-play rrecords (ie, the team among those applying for it, who have the best record at avoiding yellow and red cards). |
Ah,here's the english FA's guide to European qualification:
As a result of England's place in the UEFA Coefficient Rankings, England has four places in the UEFA Champions League and three places in the UEFA Cup. Champions League * England is entitled to four places in the Champions League, i.e. the four top-placed teams in the Premiership. * If an English team wins the Champions League and finishes in the top four, we do not gain an extra place. * If an English team wins the Champions League and do not finish in the top four, The FA can request that this team qualify automatically for the Champions League, but the fourth-placed team in the Premiership is entered into the UEFA Cup. UEFA Cup * England is entitled to three places: one for the fifth-placed team in the Premiership, one for The FA Cup, and one for the League Cup. * If the winners of The FA Cup have qualified for Europe by other means, then the runners-up take their UEFA Cup place. If this team has also already qualified, then the UEFA Cup place goes to the next-placed team in the Premiership. * If the winners of the League Cup have qualified for Europe by other means, then the runners-up do not take their UEFA Cup place: the UEFA Cup place goes to the next-placed team in the Premiership. * If an English team wins the UEFA Cup and qualifies for the Champions League by their Premiership placing, then they qualify for the Champions League. If they win the UEFA Cup and qualify for the UEFA Cup through the Premiership or the cup competitions, then England does not gain an extra place. If they have not qualified for Europe through the Premiership or the cup competitions, then they qualify for the UEFA Cup as an extra team. Fair Play * In addition, three places in the UEFA Cup are reserved for Fair Play placings. * UEFA compile a Fair Play table of countries based on the performances of their national teams and clubs in Europe. * The top-placed team in that country's Fair Play table then qualifies. * Furthermore, the remaining countries with a Fair Play coefficient above a certain mark are placed in a draw. Two countries are drawn and their "fairest" teams also qualify. Intertoto Cup * England has two places in the Intertoto Cup. * Clubs in the Premiership who finish above the bottom three places (i.e. are not relegated) are eligible to apply for a place. * The places in the competition go to the two sides that finish highest in the Premiership of those that applied for a place. How the system works - The UEFA Coefficient Rankings The UEFA Coefficient Ranking of UEFA member associations, compiled according to clubs' performances in Europe, is the system by which places in UEFA's European competitions are determined. UEFA recently published the latest version of the Coefficient table which saw Spain remain at the top of the table, with England having taken second position from Italy. This final version was used to establish seedings for the participants in the UEFA Champions League and UEFA Cup this season (2004/05) and also determines the number of entries per competition for member associations in 2005/06. Calculation method * Performances by clubs in the Champions League and UEFA Cup but not results obtained in the UEFA Intertoto Cup, conspire to form the annual UEFA Association Coefficient Rankings table, with the 'oldest' season dropped each time for the purpose of the calculation. Coefficient value * The points obtained each season by the clubs representing a national association are first added together, then divided by the combined number of clubs from the said association having taken part in the two UEFA club competitions in question to produce the coefficient value of the national association concerned. Table of coefficients * The table of coefficients, which are calculated to the thousandth and not rounded up, is compiled as follows: o a win is worth 2 points (1 point for qualifying-round matches) o a draw is worth 1 point (1/2 point for qualifying-round matches) o a defeat is worth 0 points. Extra points * Clubs which reach the quarter-finals, semi-finals or final of the Champions League or UEFA Cup are awarded an extra point for each such round. * In addition, one point is awarded for participation in the Champions League. Final decision * In the case of equal coefficients, the UEFA Administration will take a final decision, taking into consideration the individual coefficient of the most recent season. * Games or competitions decided by penalty kicks do not affect the results of a match and points are only awarded for games which have been played in accordance with the results ratified by UEFA. |
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I had a Brazilian named Mike in my game. |
The top 4 teams in the EPL qualify for the CL, with the top 2 going into group play automatically. #5 + the two cup winners qualify for the UEFA Cup. If the cup winners are in the top 5, then 6 and/or 7 also qualify. 8-9 get the Intertoto Cup. You can see the rules by going to Standings/View/Rules.
My prediction: 16th. You should be able to beat out the other two promotees and at least one EPL team. Also, any chance of a screenshot of Guarin? I'd like to see how he compares to the Guarin in my game. |
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As for Guarin, I'll try to remember to save a screenshot of his profile. This went unreported, but he was transferred to Werder Bremen in my game... FM |
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regarding possession, I meant to ask you about that. Were you able to replicate this with your own squad and the tactic I emailed you? Just curious to see if it's only specific to my team or if you were abel to adapt it to your players... FM |
I like to think that you have good shot of at least keeping it competitive to stay up. Your new formation worries me though. Hope you know what you're doing :)
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I like Lázaro's signing as well. He's my favourite type of cheap prospect in CM/FM: mediocre-to-average tool everywhere EXCEPT what he needs most at his position. Off the ball is the second thing I look at after finishing with strikers and he's got oodles of both. First touch could use improvement but he's got pace to burn. He'll probably need to be paired with a forward who can create for him but should be able to score plenty. The only thing is he may need some time to adapt to a new country and club so be patient.
I DEFINITELY like the combination of Hersi and Rochembeck. Hopefully, you'll find a winger who can take advantage of the left winger position to connect between the two of them. |
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never got the tactic to load. it looks like a empty zip file. I went to a 4-5-1 with arrows up on the two left and two right 1 back on the center and my possesion seems much better. (playing with columbus and i have Cunningham and nobody else traded bundle for a midfielder) |
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For sake of discussion, what worries you in the new formation? (this will be my only question/comment for now as I don't want to spoil what has happened so far but has not yet been reported...) As for knowing what I'm doing, I wouldn't put all your money on that, hehe, but I'm having tons of fun isn't it what counts? :) Talking about fun, my son, the infamous Andrew, came next to me over the weekend, still enquiring about Luton. I guess he thought I had restarted with them or something and I reminded him they had sacked me and he asked me why. When I told him it was because we were not winning and they were not happy with that, he replied to me that having fun was the most important, that winning wasn't the only thing. I was crushed, I had to explain to him that higher levels, people are getting paid many, many dollars to play a game... He went, "oh, really?" Was just too cute... :) FM |
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Yeah, as I said before, he reminded me of Keigan Parker, who scored a bundle of goals for us, and to some extent of Jeppe Lund Curth. Jeppe is a bit more versatile and could be that creator of opportunities for Igor when he comes back. Being patient with Igor shouldn't be a problem. For now, he'll be coming off the bench as long as Parker and Johnson are healthy, and I'll take whatever he'll give me. Curth is still 4 months away from coming back from his broken leg, so that should give Igor plenty of time to get used to playing in England... Quote:
On the left side, I got Marcus Kelly, whom I trust immensely. It's the right side who got me worried, with Matt Cross still to prove himself. He spent a big part of last season "feeling the pressure of public expectation". Well, there'll be tons more expected from the public in the Premiership. We'll see how he bounces back this season. I also have Scott Donnelly on my reserves squad. Scott has been developping nicely the last two seasons, I may try him if Cross fails to produce... As for Hersi and Rochemback, they rock! :) FM |
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hrm, that's odd. You want me to try sending it over again? FM |
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please |
August 18, 2010
Match #2: we play Southampton at Loftus Road. Just like us, they also lost by a good margin in they first game, 1-3 to Wigan. It's a very important early game for us, as Southampton is clearly a team with which we'll be fighting for a place out of the drop zone. Hate to say that this early, but it's a must win. We're at home, yet they are 5-4 favourites to win this one... I leave Kasper Schmeichel as the starting keeper, hoping he'll rebound, but he'll definitely be on a short leash. I didn't report this, but we finished last game in the 4-4-2 formation (starting at halftime) and in fact started losing possession when we left the 4-1-2-1-2 formation. We open this game with the 4-1-2-1-2 formation again. Marcus Kelly is back in as the starting left winger, much closer to 100% and full match fitness. We come out clawing and before the game is 12 minutes old, we're up by two, weeeehhh!!!! First off, Youssouf Hersi plays a lovely ball for Keigan Parker on the right. Parker gets past one defender and launches what looks like a very weak shot on goal. Turns out the shot was deflected by a defender and the keeper can't adjust to the deflection. Then, in the 11th minute, as Andrew Johnson is running toward their goal, he's getting caught from behind. He's keeping the ball away from their middie, but the middie tries a sliced clearance but the ball goes toward their net and the keeper again can't adjust to the weird ball. With 3 shots, but none on target, we're up 2-0. We add another one in the 32nd minute when Danny Shittu wrestles the ball away from one of their strikers. Quick pass to Youssouf Hersi, which he converts into a lovely ball for a Keigan Parker on the move. He's so alone with the keeper, like the good old days, he can't miss, and he doesn't! Up 3-0! They get one back very late in the the half, on a nice centered ball to the 6 yard box. The half ends 3-1 and we're outshooting them outrageously, 12(3) to 3(2). We're also controlling the ball pretty well, with 56%, split 10-26-20, so very heavily toward their end of the field, I like that. Mathew Sadler makes a couple moves that make me real nervous in the second half, but we hang on and close the door to their attacks. Final Score: 3-1 We outshot them 17(5) to 6(4) on the game after pulling back in the second half. Youssouf Hersi is named Man of the Match and for good reasons. He received a form rating of 10, completing 39 of 45 passes, 10 of them key passes and he assisted on 2 goals. Keigan Parker receved a rating of 9 with 2 goals and an assist. Kasper Schmeichel rebounded nicely from his bad performance of game 1 with a rating of 9. Danny Shittu also had a nice game with a rating of 8, winning all of the 15 headers he went for. Sadler got rated at 7, but completed only 19 of his 32 passes, which I find unacceptable for a defender. You can't turn the ball over deep into our end of the field. It's a big, big win for us, our first in the Premiership! The team board is delighted with the win! August 20, 2010 Nathan Jameson goes to the media whining about not being part of the first team. He told a national newspaper that he was disillusioned by my selection policy and that he wants to be guaranteed regular first team football. He also added that he would look to leave Loftus road if he was unable to play every week. I got some news for you kid, whenever I tried you, you failed to deliver. Look at your stats sheet for 2009/10:
That's not the kind of stats sheet that impresses me in the least. Yeah you didn't start many games, but even when I played you as a started, you often times got to the half as the only player on the team still rated at 6. Start packing your bags if you can't take what I'm offering you... I offer Nigel Quashie around, asking $3.8M for the 32yo defender currently valued at $4.4M... FM |
August 21, 2010
Match #3: we play Newcastle on their pitch. They finished 6th last season and have drawn one and lost once this season. They beat us 0-1 in a friendly prior to last season but from looking at the match stats and possession numbers, it looks like it was a pretty even match. With two games in 3 days, I change a few players on the defensive line. I put in two new full backs, John Davies for Keith Keane, and Matthew Bates for Mathew Sadler. I also put in David Marek Rozehnal for Igor Biscan. The 32yo Biscan is having a harder time recovering from back ot back games, it seems... Prior to the game, I get news that the one week delays on the Fawcett and Shumana trasnfers are over. I ask both for one more week. Ajax CT rejects the offer of a delay and the transfer of Mfundo Shumana is cancelled. Seeing how we've signed two midfielders in Hersi and Rochemback, it doesn't pain me so much to see that one being cancelled... As we get to the field, Newcastle show a 4-4-2 formation with long arrows. Again we come out clawing, and this even harder, as it only takes us 8 minutes to be up by two this time, WOOHOO!!! The stuff dreams are made of for Q.P.R.! First off in the 4th minute, Youssouf Hersi's pass (again) for Andrew Johnson is knocked off by a defender, but only enough that it gets out of the way of the keeper, where AJ can pick it up and score on an empty net. Then, 3 minutes later, it's a center from Matt Cross to Hersi who makes a sweet pass to AJ sitting pretty on the edge of the box. He scores it off the post. Believe it or not, but we add to our lead before the half is over. This time, it's a sweet long pass from Matthew Bates to Andrew Johnson in the 25th minute. AJ simply nods the ball to Hersi in the middle. Hersi then proceeds to squeeze himself between their two centre backs before firing a shots that finds the back of the net. The half ends with us up 3-0. We're outshooting them 8(5) to 4(1). The big crowd of 46,074 just can't believe it. We stay pace for pace with them and in the 74th minute, the fans have had enough. With the score still 3-0 for us, they start leaving early. They've seen enough of this! Newcastle eventually take one back in the 89th minute after a nice move that saw the ball be moved from one wing to the other and back to center. Too little, too late... :) Final Score: 3-1 We outshot them 11(6) to 9(3). We pulled back deep for most of the second. Youssouf Hersi get a second rating of 10 in a row, earning him a second Man of the Match in a row. He scored a goal, added two assists to his tally, all this while completing 42 of his 46 passes, 6 of them key passes. AJ got rated at 9, scoring 2 goals and assisting on the other one. Five other players get rated at 8: Rozehnal, Shittu, Cross, Kelly, and Rochemback. Again, Bill Power can't hide his delight over this win, our second in a row. More than that, two wins by good margins, and two wins in which we were up 3-0 before letting in one goal, wow! FM |
Nice...
RANGERS FOR EUROPE! |
August 22, 2010
It's Sunday and some EPL games are played because of TV coverage and woah! Title holders Chelsea suffer a third loss in as many games as they get dropped 1-2 by Arsenal. Here's the league table after every team has played three games:
Phil Townley signs with Sheffield United, well shit... August 23, 2010 Woah, the English Premier League Team of the Week is announced and we place FOUR players on it!!! Look at this:  Not only four players, but both strikers on the Team of the Week call Loftus Road their home. Niiiiiiice!!! :) August 24, 2010 The transfer deadline is in one week. Unless the board surprise me with some new transfer budget, this is about it for me for now, until the next transfer window, in January, I think. There's not much that could help us in the free agents that are left unsigned... This just occured to me, are loans subject to the transfer windows? Maybe one of my readers knows, if so, enlighten me. I'm still learning, that's the fun thing with FM, some 5 months (real time) later, some 8 seasons (gametime) later, I'm still learning... :) Speaking of loan, I offer to loan left full back Sébastien Pocognoli until the end of the season. He's a 23yo Belgian currently playing for Marseilles. Valued at $4.4M, they're asking $2.4M for him but if I could get him on loan, he could fit well at the left full-back spot. I see that southampton and Ipswich are also scouting him... I set a deadline of today and they reply almost immediately with their approval for the loan. If Pocognoli accepts to come play for us, I'd pay $5.6k of his $27.5k weekly wage. A bargain... August 25, 2010 Today, I offered to loan another player for the season. This time, it's PSV's right winger Lennart Rhee. He's got a good set of skills and could at the very least offer good coverage in case an injury ever happened to Matt Cross. I'm feeling better about Cross, following our last two wins. He's played much better. I also set a deadline of today for Rhee's loan bid and PSV gets back to me immediately with their approval of the loan. If he accepts to come play for us, we'd pay 10% of his $15,500 weekly wage, or only $1,500 per week. That would also be a bargain... I also learn that Southampton have offered the requisite $2.4M for Sébastien Pocognoli, bastages... FM |
I think what surprises me the most about this last post of yours, FM, is that 3 of the 4 players named to the Premiership team of the week were ones you had when you came in...only 1 was a new acquisition. Neat stuff!
/tk |
August 25, 2010
Match #4: we play Tottenham at Loftus Road. They finished 11th last season and have one win, one draw, and one loss so far this season, sitting in 9th place. Prior to the game, I move a bunch of players to the reserves squad, as they are also playing tonight. I keep Nigel Quashie on the bench, as I think that the middie most likely to need to be replaced in-game would be Youssouf Hersi and I think Quash would be the one who would fare the best in the attacking middie spot. Had Ben Watson not been injured, he'd have been my first pick. Bircham is more of a defensive middie and I have that spot covered with Igor Biscan. We've had good success closing down the game with Biscan coming in for Fábio Rochemback late in games. It essentially gives us 5 defenders with one a bit more higher that the other four. I like that way of ending games when we get ahead, which luckily has happened in the last two games... :) They show a 3-5-2 formation with the 5 middies on a straight line. Well, I was almost getting used to us going up early on, but this time, they score first. In the 15th minute, a nice play through the middle results in the 0-1 goal. We keep on fighting and claim back the tie in the 26th minute, when Youssouf Hersi goes at it again. He gets a throw in from Mathew Sadler on the left side, goes past an opponent and fires a perfect cross pass to Matt Cross who strikes the ball with fury to make it 1-1. Even better, we take the lead in the 43rd minute, and you guessed it, Youssouf Hersi is in the middle of it all again. And Mathew Sadler is there too, as he sends a throw-in to Hersi again, but this time Hersi nods it back to Sadler who's the one to hit Matt Cross with the perfect center. Cross powers a header to the back of the net to make it 2-1. The half ends 2-1. Shots are pretty even, 4(3) for us, 4(2) for them. We're dominating in ball control though, with 57% split 7-26-24, so heavily toward their end of the field. Marcus Kelly suffered a minor injury early on so I pull him and put John Oster in his place. Kasper Schmeichel seems a bit shaky being the only Ranger rated at 6 at the half. In the 61st minute, Keigan Parker's condition has dropped to 65%. I put Igor Lázaro in his place. They mount some pressure, but we always find a way to close the door. We hang on for our third win in a row! Final Score: 2-1 We outshot them 11(5) to 8(5) despite pulling back in the second half. We did lose on ball control, but what we didn't let them control it on our end of the field. Youssouf Hersi is named Man of the Match for the third match in a row. We won those three matches, concidence? I think not... He had an assist in this game, completing 16 of 18 passes, 7 of them kay passes and had a form rating of "only" 9 after two 10's :) Matt Cross also got rated at 9 with 2 goalds and winning 9 of th 12 headers he went for. Bill Power is again delighted with the win over our rivals. And best of news, Marcus Kelly's minor injury is nothing to report about once the match is over... We're sitting in 3rd place following the win, I saved (and will probably frame) the league table after our 4th game... :)
FM |
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That speaks more of the previous manager, and maybe the fact he shouldnt have been fired. Or it could be he was a ron zook of sorts, great at bringing in talent but dont ask him to coach it. Either way 4 on the team is impressive if your man u or arsenal....4 on there from QPR is crazy! |
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and funny trivia fact, 3 of the 4 are players I sought out and brought to Loftus Road. Only Danny Shittu was there when I took over the team :) But what you say is very true and indeed pretty neat. These Rangers may have more to them than what people are giving them credit for :) FM |
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no, no, she meant that 3 of the four were with me before we got to the Premiership. Only Youssouf Hersi is a new acquisition... :) I was indeed too impressed not to save a screenie :) FM |
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Here's the screenie for Freddy Guarin:  Looking at him, he would make a very sweet addition to my Rangers, but oh well... Maybe someday the board will unlock some more money :) As I said, he signed with Werder Bremen. FM |
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I looked up Jefferson's real name, here it is: Jefferson de Oliveira Galvao with a ~ on the second a of Galvao, just don't know how to do it with my keyboard... I'd agree with using simply Jefferson in his case :) FM |
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Thanks for the screenshot. Guarin looks pretty much the same in my game. He's a pretty unique player. I get a lot of goals from long throws, long shots and free kicks when he's in the game. The best skill is long throws. I've never seen another player able to do it as well, in FM, as he does it. |
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yeah, "pretty unique" is about how I was categorizing him, that's why I was offering the house and more for him... I'm still happy with the bargains I signed though :) We're still a small club ;) FM |
Loans are subject to the same windows as transfers. In the EPL that means the window to bring in loans closes at the end of August. Although you can still loan players out.
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