Congrats on the job. I hope it is a long and successful run with you at the helm :D

Dec. 6, 2010 -

Christopher Eagles and Stewart Downing were both selected to the EPL team of the week.

We had a fairly favorable draw in the 3rd round of the English FA Cup. We will be hosting Watford who are currently 24th in the English Championship.

The match will occur on January 8th, 2011.

Dec. 11, 2010 -

Fans of Arsenal are cursing their luck because 28 year old striker Javier Saviola suffered a fractured skull in practice today. He will miss approximately the next 3 months of the season. That should hurt their title chances.

Fractured skull in practice. That has got to hurt.

Dec. 11, 2010 -

Today we play Birmingham in an EPL match. Birmingham is currently 8th in the EPL. We are currently in 1st. Birmingham's keeper, Jose Moreira is having a very good year. Left winger Eusebiusz Smolarek has had a great year so far. Centreback Matthew Upson has great physical ability. Rudy Carlier is a 24 year old French striker who is becoming a star. He already has 10 goals on the year, and he looks like he has the talent to double that tally by the end of the year.

We are 4-5 favorites.

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

GK: Howard
DL: Chivu
DC: Lucio
DC: Ferdinand
DR: Brown
ML: Downing
MC: Cook
MC: Fletcher
MR: Eagles
SC: Saha
SC: King

S1: Barthez
S2: Ruud van Nistelrooy
S3: Mamam
S4: Smith
S5: Alfonso

Sweet. I order my laptop a few hours ago (3.2GHz P4 (the Pentiun M's are just too expensive-and don't really have the power yet of the P4); 2GB RAM, 80GB Hard Drive-should get it around the second week of March).

I launch a practice dynasty with Airbus of the Wales Premier League. Funny thing is, the grounds is called the Airfield. Is this team any relation to Airbus, the airplane maker?

I got my first real taste of butt-wiping, a 3-0 defeat in my first friendly. We are predicted to battle regulation, so I have alot of work to do. My scout (who's not good, but I trust him), found a 24-year-old midfielder named Mark Croomie from Northern Ireland. I am already tickled about his talent. :) We need to badly find a solid, realiable starting goalkeeper. I didn't download the patch, but I am just playing around now.

Any suggestions on the training, or any good sites?

14 minute mark: Cook passes between two defenders.. Saha has the ball.. hard shot.. good save by the keeper.

31 minute mark: Chivu starts the counter attack.. passes it King at midfield.. he passes long to Saha.. he dribbles into the box.. shoots.. wide right.

38 minute mark: downing dribbles down the left sideline.. passes it to Cook.. he shoots.. the keeper blocks it.. King is there for the rebound.. shoots.. upper left corner.. GOAL!!!! 1-0.


Halftime: Up 1-0, but a very even game so far. Birmingham has over 30,000 fans here today.


49 minute mark: Smolarek with a long shot.. Howard blocks it.. Carlier with the rebound.. powerful shot.. Howard dives.. catches it! What a save.

51 minute mark: Brown collided with Carlier.. he is hurt and has to come off for the game.

61 minute mark: Howard stops a hard long rane shot from Sychev.

64 minute mark: Chivu intercepts the ball.. passes to Eagles at midfield.. he passes to King.. King passes to Saha just outside the box.. Saha with a long range strike.. upper right corner... the keeper dives. it is out of his reach.. GOAL!!!! 2-0.

70 minute mark: Saha collides with Upton and is hurt. I put Ruud van Nistelrooy on for him.

I also bring on Alfonso for Downing.


Game over. 2-0 win for us.

We outshot them 11-7 (8-4 on target)

Craig King won MoM, 8 for form, 21 of 22 passes, 0 tackles, 3 of 10 headers, 4 runs, 2 fouls drawn, 1 assist, and 1 goal.

Sounds like a fun place to start playin around.

As far as training, I highly recommend the Gary training schedule if you want a really good training schedule. It is the only thing I download. However, if you want to fool around with making your own training schedule, I would just recommend trying to go with a balanced approach. As far as a good website, I really like the dugout, but I don't remember if that is where I got the Gary schedules from or if I got them directly from SI's site.

EDITED: The dugout's address is thedugout.net

Dec. 12, 2010 -

Watford has sacked Graham Rix today.

Millwall wants to borrow Michael Wood. Michael is an 18 year old midfielder with great potential (and valued at 6.2 million dollars) but he is very raw. I agree to let Millwall have him on loan.

Bolton has sold one of it's better players, Chris Baird, at a deep discount of only 750,000 dollars to Levante.

Dec. 15, 2010 -

Today we travel to play FC Kobenhaven in a meaningless UEFA Group D game. It is meaningless since we already qualified for the next round. However, I won't throw complete scrubs out there, so we will be playing plenty of good players. Their best player is keeper Johan Wiland who is quite good. Left fullback Andriy Smalko has been an intimidator this year. Left winger Migeul Caneo is a talented scorer.

We are 4-7 favorites.

It's raining with temperatures in the high 30's.

GK: Howard (I really should have given Barthez a start, but too late now.)
DL: Silvestre
DC: O'Shea
DC: Ferdinand
DR: Grygera
ML: Downing (likely only playing 45 minutes)
MC: Cook
MC: Mamam
MR: Eagles
SC: Saha
SC: King

S1: Barthez
S2: Ruud van Nistelrooy
S3: Chivu
S4: Smith
S5: Alfonso
S6: Beville
S7: Djemba

5 minute mark: Downing passes to Saha in the left half of the box.. hard shot.. lower left corner.. the keeper saves it.

25 minute mark: King steals it at midfield.. passes it long to Saha.. he dribbles past a defender.. shoots.. past the keeper.. over the bar.

33 minute mark: Eagles passes to King in the box.. King fakes out a defender.. blasts a shot right over the keeper's left shoulder.. GOAL!!!! 1-0.

36 minute mark: O'Shea passes to Saha in the left corner of the pitch.. he centers to Cook in the middle of the box.. Cook with a quick shot.. upper right corner.. GOAL!!!! 2-0.


Halftime: Up 2-0. They have over 41,000 fans here today.


King is tired, I sub Smith on for him. I sub Alfonso on for Downing, to get experience for Alfonso.

53 minute mark: Howard stops 3 quick shots from their players before the defense finally clears it.

71 minute mark: Sjkerbaek heads it to Mogensen in the box.. he beats O'Shea with a move.. shoots.. upper left corner.. it's past Howard.. GOAL. Still up 2-1.

72 minute mark: We answer immediately, Mamam passes to Saha in the box.. he shoots.. the keeper blocks it.. Smith gets the rebound.. shoots.. past the keeper.. GOAL!!!! 3-1.


Game over. 3-1 win for us.

We outshot them 22-10 (12-4 on target)

Ferdinand won MoM, 9 for form, 17 of 19 passes, 9 of 9 tackles, 11 of 11 headers, 4 interceptions.

Grygera and Eagles also had 9's.

Downing had his first 7 of the entire year (everything else had been higher.)

eagles....help me out here, I want, I must buy this game....been reading your dynasty and I blame you, so tell me (pretty please) where to go to order it. I seem not to be able to find it. thanks, good luck with your dynasty, don't let Glazer ever buy the team :)

Dec. 17, 2010 -

We have been assigned to play Steaua in the first knockout round of the UEFA. That match will occur on 2/17/2011. The draw for the 2nd round was done today as well. If we win, we will face either Auxerre or Genk in the next round. Steaua is a good Romanian team. However, we shouldn't have too many problems beating them if we play a quality game.

If you are in the USA, I recommend trying to get World Soccer Manager from maybe a Gamestop near you or try to order from their website. If you can't find it, or you want the FM version, I would order from gogamer.com. They deliver quickly and I've never had a problem with them.

LOL about Glazer. I definitely won't let him buy the team ;)

robbgmaier:

gamestop.com.

Dec 19, 2010 -

Today we host Liverpoool in a televised EPL match. This match will be huge for us. We are currently in 1st place, Liverpool is currently in 2nd. Liverpool has talent at every position. Their keeper Chris Kirkland is having a good year. He and their centrebacks Vincent Kompany and Jordi have helped Liverpool concede the fewest number of goals on the year. The left fullback Gael Clichy has been completely dominant. Their right fullback Jamie Carragher has been quite good. Their left winer Luis Garcia has set up goals and chipped in 5 goals as well. Their midfielders, Andres D'Alessandro and Steven Gerrard, are both world class. Tehir right winger Anthony Le Tallec has had a rough year, but is still playing well. Their two top strikers are Djibril Cisse and Michael Owens. Owens was recently hurt, but Yakubu and Valdo have both stepped up nicely in Owen's place. They will be tough to beat.

We are 5-4 favorites.

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

GK: Howard
DL: Chivu
DC: Ferdinand
DC: Lucio
DR: Brown (I believe this is my best back 4 line.)
ML: Downing
MC: Djemba
MC: Fletcher
MR: Eagles
SC: McFadden
SC: Rooney (still not in superb condition, but this is a big game.)

S1: Barthez
S2: Ruud van Nistelrooy
S3: Damien Duff (fresh back from injury)
S4: Cook
S5: King

The TV announcers believe that Stewart Downing will be my key player. They think Cisse will be Liverpool's key man. They think it will be a tight game, but they like our recent superior form and our dominance at home. They predict we will win a close match.

1st minute: Downing steals the ball.. goes by Carragher.. Carragher grabs his jersey.. yellow card for Carragher.

16 minute mark: Downing passes a nice through ball towards Rooney.. Rooney is tripped by Kompany.. yellow card for Kompany.

26 minute mark: Clichy crosses it into the box for Valdo.. Howard rises above Valdo and tries to catch it.. bobbles it.. into our goal! Own goal for Howard! :( Down 1-0.

36 minute mark: Djemba with a hard long shot.. it deflects off Kompany.. goes to Fletcher.. he shoots a hard long range shot.. Kompany blocks it. Jordi clears it.

43 minute mark: Eagles crosses for Rooney.. the keeper punches it away before it can get to Rooney.. it bounces to Djemba.. hard shot.. curving.. it deflects off Luis Garcia.. into the left side of the goal! GOAL!!!! 1-1 tie. That is Djemba's 5th goal of the year.


Halftime: 1-1 tie. We have over 75,000 fans here today watching and cheering us on.

52 minute mark: Downing trips Le Tallec.. yellow card for Downing.

55 minute mark: Downing passes to McFadden in the box.. hard shot.. good save by the keeper.

57 minute mark: Uh oh.. bad planning on my part as Rio Ferdinand is hurt, and has to come off. I forgot to put a Defender on my list of 5 subs.. really stupid move on my part. I put Duff in at left fullback and slide Chivu into centreback slot.

66 minute mark: Duff with a good defensive play!

73 minute mark: Carragher with a hard two footed tackle on Downing.. yellow card for Carragher.. that is his second, he is ejected.

82 minute mark: Downing crosses for Rooney.. hard shot.. good save by the keeper.. the rebound goes to Djemba.. hard shot.. it hits a defender.. bounces to Fletcher.. shot.. deflected by a defender.. a scrum for the ball.. finally they clear it.


Game over. 1-1 tie.

We each had 9 shots. We each had 4 shots on target.

Downing won MoM, 9 for form, 16 of 21 passes, 0 of 7 tackles, 0 of 3 headers, 12 runs, 4 fouls drawn.

Post Match Info:

Downing is suspended for a game for too many yellow cards.

Rio Ferdinand damaged his neck and will miss about a week.

James McFadden strained his wrist and will miss about a week.

With the tie, we remain in 1st place. We are officially at the halfway point. We have a record of 12 wins, 5 draws, and 2 losses for a total of 41 points. Chelsea is in 2nd with 37 points, but Liverpool has played one less game and are potentially only 2 points behind us. I'll be doing a full midseason report later tonight or tomorrow morning (most likely later tonight.)

OOC: Well, I finished the work that I had to get done much faster than expected. So, back to FM ;)

Looking at the standings at the midpoint on the local website, I'm happy to see we are at the top:

Notable Team Statistics:

We are in 5th place for goals scored with 33. Newcastle and Chelsea are 1st with 37 goals. Liverpool has 36 goals despite playing one less game than all of us.

Our 13 goals allowed is tied for 2nd best. Liverpool is 1st best with only 9 goals allowed.

Our Goal Differential of plus 20 is second best in the league. Liverpool is first best with an impressive plus 27.



Notable Individual Statistics:

Stewart Downing's 8.79 average form is best in the league by a wide margin.

Damien Duff his alternate is 3rd best with an 8.08.

James McFadden is 4th with an average form of 8.00

Christopher Eagles is 7th with a 7.76.

No other team has even 2 players in the top 10 while we have 4.


Lucio is my top defender with a 7.52 average form which is good 23rd in the league overall.



The other two players in the top 5 are Daniel Bierofka of Aston Villa (8.33) and Jose Antonio Reyes of Arsenal with a 7.99.




The Top 5 Goal scorers at midseason are:

1. Adriando, Chelsea - 15
2. Jonathan Stead, Blackburn - 11
2. Lukas Podolski, Newcastle - 11
4. Dean Ashton, Leicester - 10
5. Milan Baros, Fulham 9.

James McFadden and Djibril Cisse, Liverpool are also tied with 9 team goals.


Louis Saha is second on my team with 5 league goals. Ruud van Nistelrooy is 3rd for league goals with 4. I didn't expect these veterans to be such key contributors at their advanced age (particularly Ruud.)


The top 5 in League Assists at midseason are:

Eusebiusz Smolarek, Birmingham - 8
2. Marius Niculae, Middlesbrough - 7
2. Mourad Meghni, Newcastle - 7
2. Fabian Ernst, Newcastle - 7
2. Andy Reid, Everton - 7

Christopher Engles is tied for 6th with 4 other players with 6 league assists. Damien Duff and Downing both have 5 assists.


Stewart Downing leads the league in MoM with 7. Duff is tied for 2nd with 6 MoM awards.

Dec. 22, 2010 -

Stewart Downing was selected to the EPL Team of the Week.

Today we host Leicester. We are currently in 1st while they are in 16th place. They are led by the dynamic scoring of Dean Ashton. If we can stop him, they should be easy to beat. Their defense is very good but their best centreback, Mark Hudson is suspended for this game. Their keeper, Paul Gallacher, is quite talented and will be tough. Their best midfielder, Nigel Quashie is hurt for this game. Right winger El-Hadji Diouf has performed well this year.

We are very heavy 2-5 favorites.

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

GK: Howard
DL: Chivu
DC: O'Shea
DC: Lucio
DR: Brown
ML: Duff
MC: Cook
MC: Mamam
MR: Eagles
SC: Saha
SC: King

S1: Barthez
S2: van Nistelrooy
S3: Neville
S4: Alfonso
S5: Smith

Poor Wigan...See what you've done? ;)

Man, I am getting hammered in my 6 games so far (all friendlies). 0-6, so far. Working the markets hard to cultivate talent.

4 minute mark: Duff dribbles strong up the left side of the pitch.. crosses to Saha in the left side of the box.. he heads it.. good save by the keeper.

11 minute mark: Wes Brown gets a yellow card for a trip on Watson.

22 minute mark: Eagles with a corner.. Lucio by the near post.. heads it.. just over the bar.

24 minute mark: Eagles crosses to King in the right side of the box.. he shoots.. hard shot.. the keeper makes a great save to push it wide right of the net.

On the ensuing corner.. Duff finds Lucio by the near post.. he heads it.. the keeper barely tips it over the bar.

41 minute mark: Chivu throws it in from the left sideline.. Saha heads it back to Cook.. he fires a shot from 30 yards out.. very fast, very hard shot.. it's past the keeper into the upper right corner! GOAL!!!! 1-0. That is this 18 year old midfielder's 5th goal of the year! Jamie Cook is going to be a star, I do believe.


Halftime: 1-0 lead. We have over 73,000 fans here tonight.


46 minute mark: Duff passes it to Saha in the left corner of the pitch.. he passes back to Cook at the edge of the box.. Cook with the hard shot.. it sails over the bar.

60 minute mark: Duff crosses to Cook who shoots a hard shot.. great save by the keeper to tip it over the bar.

61 minute mark: chivu throws it in to Duff.. he crosses towards the center of the box.. Eagles with a diving header.. the ball sails into the upper left corner of the net! GOAL!!!! 2-0. The announcer states "This team is looking like they are undefeatable at this point."

71 minute mark: Alfonso on for Duff and Smith on for King.


Game over. We dominated them this game. 2-0 win for us.

We outshot them 20-4 (10-3 on target)

Eagles won MoM, 10 for form, 20 of 27 passes, 3 of 3 tackles, 0 of 2 headers, 2 interceptions, 13 runs, 1 foul drawn, 1 goal.

Every other starter had an 8 for form, except for King who had a 7.

I do feel bad seeing them flounder. They should be using Fabrice Begeorgi more. They are wasting his talent.

It takes time to learn the ropes, and bring in good talent, but I'm sure you'll turn things around.

Where exactly are the Gary training schedules?

I don't remember if I got them from thedugout.net or SI games site. However, you can find them by searching for "GARY Schedules" I think. They are done by a Greek guy named Lysander or something like that. Oh yeah, I could send them to you via email I think. If you want, give me your email address (via PM or whatever.)

Check in the training folder here: FM Downloads

on the strength of this and not wanting to give up Robben, i elected to start playing cech alot..

he's rewarded me by quite a few wins in a row with several cleansheets...

including 5-0 and 3-1 victories over Arsenal and Man U...

Congrats :)

Dec. 26, 2010 -

Today we travel to play Middlesbrough in an EPL match. They are currently in 13rd place, while we are in 1st. Two of their most consistent players are hurt for this match. Keeper Jan Lastuvka will have to be strong for them to beat us. Their midfielders, Leon Andreasen and Johny Alejandro Acosta, are both playing well this year. Chris Riggott is a good centreback. Salvatore Bruno and Marius Niculae are decent strikers. They lead the team with 4 goals each.

We are heavy 4-7 favorites

It's raining with temperatures in the high 30's.

GK: Howard
DL: Silvestre
DC: O'Shea
DC: Lucio
DR: Grygera
ML: Duff
MC: Cook
MC: Mamam
MR: Fletcher
SC: Saha
SC: van Nistelrooy

S1: Barthez
S2: Marino
S3: Neville
S4: Alfonso
S5: Smith

4 minute mark: Duff crosses to Fletcher just outside the box.. hard shot.. upper left corner.. the keeper dives.. tips it over the bar.

6 minute mark: Bentley gets a long pass from the keeper.. passes it to Niculae in the box.. he shoots.. upper right corner.. Howard dives.. it's past him.. GOAL. Down 1-0.

22 minute mark: Duff dribbles up the left sideline.. crosses to Fletcher.. who heads it to van Nistelrooy just outside the box.. he shoots an average powered shot.. upper left corner.. I watch in amazement as it sails past the keeper! GOAL!!!! 1-1.


Halftime: 1-1 tie. Even first half. They have over 35,000 fans here today.


46 minute mark: Acosta gets a yellow card for tripping Mamam.

62 minute mark: Ruud is tired, I sub on Alan Smith for him.

75 minute mark: Duff is very tired, I sub Alfonso on for him.

81 minute mark: Fletcher with a long pass to Smith.. he dribbles into the box.. shoots.. the keeper blocks it.. Saha racing to the rebound.. Riggott beats him to it and clears it.

86 minute mark: Lucio heads it to Saha at midfield.. he passes long to Smith.. Smith dribbling towards goal.. the keeper comes out to meet him.. he fires a shot.. past the keeper.. it sails inches wide left.

91 minute mark: Long pass to Smith in the right corner of the pitch.. Smith gets to it, crosses to Cook.. he shoots.. the keeper with a great save.


Game over. Disappointing 1-1 tie.

We outshot them 16-6 (7-5 on target)

Mamam won MoM, 9 for form, 18 of 22 passes, 5 of 6 tackles, 1 of 1 headers, 1 run, 1 foul drawn.

Dec. 28, 2010 -

Grygera, Brown, and Eagles were all selected to the EPL Team of the Week.


Today we host Blackburn. We are currently in 1st place. Blackburn is currently in 12th place. Blackburn has a very good defense lately, and one very good scorer. Jonathan Stead has 12 goals in 20 appearances. Their left winger Morten Gamst Pedersen has done a good job of setting him up. Their keeper, Javi Munoz has been brilliant the last month. Their centrebacks, Petri Pasanen and Rossi Jarvis have played well.

We are heavy 4-7 favorites.

It's windy with temperatures in the 40's.

GK: Howard
DL: Silvestre
DC: Chivu
DC: Lucio
DR: Brown
ML: Downing
MC: Djemba
MC: Mamam
MR: Fletcher
SC: Marino
SC: King

S1: Barthez
S2: van Nistelrooy
S3: Neville
S4: Alfonso
S5: Smith

6 minute mark: Fletcher passes long to Downing on the left wing.. he burns two defenders.. dribbles into the box.. draws the keeper over to him.. fires a pass to Marino.. Marino easily shoots it into the open right half of the net! GOAL!!!! 1-0.

36 minute mark: Downing with a free kick from just left of the box.. he passes it to Marino by the far post.. Marino dives.. heads it.. into the upper right corner! GOAL!!!! 2-0.


Halftime: 2-0 lead for us. We have over 75,000 fans here today.


51 minute mark: Howard picks up an injury.. he insists he can keep playing.. I'll be watching him closely.

54 minute mark: Lucio gets a yellow card for a trip on Gallagher.

71 minute mark: James Faulkner trips Downing and gets a yellow card.

King is tired, and I sub Smith on for him. Fletcher is very tired, so I sub Neville on for him.

81 minute mark: Downing passes to Djemba on the left wing.. he dribbles up the left side of the pitch.. beats a defender.. passes into the left side of the box to Marino.. he blasts a shot into the upper right corner of the net! GOAL!!!! 3-0! That is his hattrick. That is also his 5th goal of the year.


Game over. 3-0 win for us.

We outshot them 7-2 (5-0 on target)

Ernesto Marino wins MoM, 10 for form, 14 of 17 passes, 0 of 1 tackles, 3 of 7 headers, 1 interception, 2 runs, 3 goals.

Djemba also had a 10 for form. Downing had an 8. The rest of the team had 7's.

Dec 30, 2010 -

My assistant reminds me that I have three players whose contracts expire in 6 months.

Christopher Eagles - This 25 year old right winger has played better than I ever expected. Mr. Quieroz thinks he is a key player, and I agree. He is asking for 73,000/week and 1.5 million signing bonus. I agree to this request.

Barthez - He said he wanted to retire, but now he is willing to listen to an offer. I offer him 20,000/week to come back a player/coach next year.

Ruud van Nistelrooy - This 34 year old striker has remained effective as a rotation player. He wants 120,000/week which is his current salary. I agree and offer him 120,000/week for a 1 year extension.

Dec 31, 2010 -

Based on the recommendations of my scouts, and the superb play of his on videotape, I made an offer of 14 million dollars to Monaco for a young promising striker named Adriano. Adriano is from Brazil, and Monaco has accepted the offer. Unfortunately, Work Permit issues may prevent this deal from going through, but I have to try to get this youngster who already looks as good as some of my better players. He is only 19 years old.


Barthez has signed the 1 year extension we offered him, and has said it will be his last year as a player.

January 1, 2011 -

The board are pleased with my performance as manager.


Arsenal's Jose Antonio Reyes has won the World Footballer of the Year award. Zlatan Ibrahimovic of Juventus came in 2nd, and Ronaldinho of Barcelona came in 3rd.


Ibrahimovic won the World Player of the Year award. Adriano of Chelsea came in 2nd, and Thierry Henry of Arsenal came in 3rd.


Reyes won the European Footballer of the Year Award. Ibrahimovic came in 2nd, and Ronaldinho came in 3rd.


Barcelona's Victor Valdes has won the European Goalkeeper of the Year award. Manuel Almunia of Arsenal came in 2nd. Sebastian Saja of Club Atletico de Madrid came in 3rd.


Barcelon'a Jaime Gavilan won European Defender of the Year. Daniele Bonera of Milan came in 2nd, and Sonkaya Fatih of Arsenal came in 3rd.


Ronaldinho won the European Midfielder of the Year award. David Pizarro of Juventus came in 2nd, and Rodrigo Ferrante Taddei of Roma came in 3rd.


Ibrahimovic won the European Striker of the Year award. Robinho of Barcelona came in 2nd, and Borut Semler of FC Bayern Munchen came in 3rd.



Stewart Downing won the EPL Player of the Month Award. Christopher Eagles came in 2nd, and Michael Ballack of Chelsea came in 3rd.


Jamie Cook won the EPL Young Player of the Month Award. Craig King came in 2nd, and Ian Jordan of Bolton came in 3rd.


Chelsea's Jose Mourinho won EPL Manager of the Month. I came in 2nd, and Sammy Lee of West Bromwich Albion came in 3rd.


Very impressive that my guys came in 1st and 2nd for both the player of the month and the young player of the month.

January 1st, 2011 -

Ruud van Nistelrooy signed his 1 year extension. He said, that he plans to retire as a Red Devil.

The Transfer Window is now open, and Dalibor Stevanovic has arrived from Bradford City. The midfielder should slot into our rotation immediately.

[quote=Eaglesfan27]January 1, 2011 -

The board are pleased with my performance as manager.


Arsenal's Jose Antonio Reyes has won the World Footballer of the Year award. Zlatan Ibrahimovic of Juventus came in 2nd, and Ronaldinho of Barcelona came in 3rd.


Ibrahimovic won the World Player of the Year award. Adriano of Chelsea came in 2nd, and Thierry Henry of Arsenal came in 3rd.

QUOTE]

Just curious, what is the difference between these two awards? Also, all the European awards, are they awarded to European players, or players who are on European teams?

I believe they are given out by different bodies, and can be for any player in any country (but tend to be dominated by European players.) Hopefully, someone will correct me if I'm wrong :)

EDITED to add:

The European awards can be given to any nationality of player, but they have to be playing in Europe.

Jan. 1, 2011 -

Today we travel to play Fulham. Fulham have done well this year and are in 7th place. We are in 1st place. Fulham's Thomas Hitzlsperger is a strong midfielder who has played well this year. Steed Malbranque is an excellent wing player. Left fullback Christian Schulz has played above his talent level this year. Keeper KAsper Schmeichel was playing well earlier in the year, but has had 3 bad games recently. Hopefully, we can continue that trend.

We are 4-6 favorites.

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

Djemba and Mamam are both away on international duty. This means that our new acquisition will get a start right away.

Also, Fletcher is hurt which will definitely necessitate the starting of Stevanovic.

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

S1: Barthez
S2: van Nistelrooy
S3: Neville
S4: Alfonso
S5: Smith

I think the Footballer of the Year is given out by a French group. The Player of the Year comes from another body, I'm not sure if it's FIFA.

1st minute: Chivu drifts up to support the attack.. he dribbles to the left wing.. crosses to Stevanovic.. he heads it.. into the upper left corner of the goal! GOAL!!!! 1-0! What a way for Stevanovic to start his Manchester United career!!

21 minute mark: Good defensive play by Chivu to stop their attack.

26 minute mark: Baros steals it at midfield.. passes it to Malbranque who draws two defenders.. passes between Ferdinand and Chivu to John in the box.. Collins John gets it.. shoots.. lower right corner.. it's past Howard.. GOAL. 1-1.


Halftime: 1-1 tie. They have over 22,000 fans here today.


62 minute mark: MAlbranque passes to Murtagh who passes to Hitlsperger.. he has "a trademark" striker according to the announcer.. powers it right past Howard.. GOAL. Down 2-1 :(

75 minute mark: Duff with a corner finds Eagles in the middle of the box.. powerful header.. upper left corner.. GOAL!!!! 2-2.

86 minute mark: Duff burns a few defenders.. down the left sideline.. crosses to the far post.. Rooney heads it.. over the bar.


Game over. 2-2 tie. Disappointing, but glad we got at least a point after going down 2-1 earlier in the game.

We were outplayed. We were outshot 11-8 (8-4 on target)

Duff won MoM, 10 for form, 29 of 35 passes, 6 of 10 tackles, 2 of 7 headers, 2 interceptions, 10 runs, 2 fouls drawn, 1 assist.

The rest of the team got 7's. Rooney was in Superb Condition before the game, but still only had a 7. He is in a real funk this year.

Jan 1, 2011 -

Eric Djemba Djemba had 3 assists for Cameroon in their 3-0 victory over Seychelles in the African Nations Qualifying match.


Chelsea won their 6th straight game. They are now tied with me for first, but we are ahead of them by 3 goals on the goal differential. Liverpool is 3 points behind us, but has an extra game to play still. They have a goal differential of plus 35 which is best in the league, so if they win they will be in 1st place.

Jan 2, 2011 -

Chelsea have offered 4 million dollars plus a 19 year old Italian striker named Michele Amoroso in exchange for Christopher Eagles. I tell them no.

Duff, Djemba, and Marino were all selected to the EPL Team of the Week.

Adriano has agreed to sign our contract offer. We now just have to hope the 19 year old Brazilian striker gets a work permit..

January 3, 2011 -

Today we host Sunderland. We are currently in 1st. Sunderland is currently in 15th place. Sunderland is led by their scoring which is primarily driven by striker Dirk Kuijt who has 10 goals and Sheyi Emmanuel Adebayor who has 5 goals. Left Winger Peter Lovenkrands has had a great year so far. Their defense has been suspect, but left fullback Julio Arca has played well. Their keeper Luca Brunoni has played horribly. Ryan Warner might start today and he has done better in the few limited starts that he has had.

We are 4-5 favorites.

It's very windy with temperatures in the mid 40's.

GK: Howard
DL: Chivu
DC: Lucio
DC: Ferdinand
DR: Grygera
ML: Downing
MC: Stevanovic (Djemba and Mamam are still on international duty)
MC: Cook
MR: Eagles
SC: Saha
SC: Marino

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

9 minute mark: Downing with a great dribble around three men.. into the box.. passes it sharply for Cook.. Cook misses the sharp pass.

18 minute mark: Eagles crosses for Stevanovic.. he settles it.. shoots.. right over the keeper's right shoulder.. pretty goal from 25 yards out! GOAL!!!! 1-0.

43 minute mark: Eagles with a long cross to Downing.. he dribbles towards the box.. passes to Saha who heads it.. the keeper saves it. Brunoni looking good today.



Halftime: Up 1-0. We have over 69,000 fans here today.


51 minue mark: Downing with a great dribble.. gets open.. crosses to Cook.. hard shot.. the keeper saves it.

62 minute mark: King on for Marino who is tired. van Nistelrooy on for Saha who is tired.

70 minute mark: Lucio passes to Eagles on the right wing.. he passes to King outside the box.. he passes to Cook just outside the box in the middle of the pitch.. hard shot by cook..it curves over the keeper's shoulder.. and hits the crossbar.

82 minute mark: Downing dribbles past three defenders.. into the box.. passes to Ruud van Nistelrooy.. hard shot.. upper left corner.. good save by the keeper.

85 minute mark: Downing with a corner kick.. Lucio gets it by the near post.. heads it to Stevanovic in the middle of the box.. he blasts a shot into the upper left corner.. GOAL!!!! 2-0. That is Stevanovic's second goal of the game! What a great first two games to start his Manchester United Career!


Game over. 2-0 win for us.

We outshot them 16-3 (9-2 on target)

Downing wins MoM, 10 for form, 18 of 20 passes, 3 of 6 tackles, 1 of 4 headers, 1 interception, 29 runs! This guy is everything I looked for in a left winger and more.

Eagles had a 9 for form. Stevanovic, Lucio, and Howard all had 8's.

The rest of the team had 7's.

Good to hear you're doing good. Marseille is great. Having a transfer budget and being able to use it is amazing. The only bad thing is that Rosenborg is ranked 3rd in the European Club rankings, and we're ranked 57th. And that we finished second, but not having a string of 15 straight wins that put us within 3 points of Monaco who just refused to lose. Then we drew, and they clinched. :( Might have to take a look at Eagles in my game. ;)

Just reading your thread, and talking about my game makes me realize how much I'm addicted to it. When I'm in the middle of a physics test wondering if playing Frode Johnsen in the other striker position would be better, and whether or not I should hire a new assistant manager it's pretty bad. School sucks because I know I'll have to have baseball, and that just cuts into my FM time. :mad:

I'd definitely look at Eagles. If you can get him young, and help him develop I think he is a great winger. I'm so happy I didn't get a right winger when I acquired my big ticket guys at the beginning of the year.

Same here. I'm addicted as well. I'm happy that Mrs. Eaglesfan and I got to spend quality time together tonight, but I'm also happy that she is now asleep so I can play some more FM before bed. ;)