FM2005: A frog at Kenilworth Road

[FrogMan]

Well, here I am. I have decided to put pen to paper, err, fingers to keyboard and I'll present you my dealings with my Luton Town side in FM2005. Why the title you may ask? Kenilworth Road is the name of where the Luton Town Hatters play their home game

I am quite addicted with this game right now, and despite a pretty busy family life, I try to find a little 20 minutes every evening to at least play a little, at least get through one match (league or Cup). That way, I went through my 2004-05 season in about 3 and a half weeks. I'll see how often I'll update this dynasty, or how deep I go into details, but I have found I need a place to talk about my team, and what happens with the players, opponents, the team board, etc.

First things first, why Luton Town? It all goes back to a few months ago, when I played CM4 for the first time. CM4 was my first foray ever in the Championship Manager/Football Manager world. I had read about it many times and knew about people taking a low team and making it a championship caliber team. I wanted a challenge, but not a crazy kind of challenge, at least not for my first experience. Luton fit the bill pretty well, as they had a little transfer budget ($36k IIRC), had just been promoted from division 3 (now League One), and their fans were expecting them to battle relegation with pride (or something like that). I thought "Perfect!" So I started reading about them, even signed up for their real life email newsletter. I played with CM4 on and off over the Summer, waiting for FM2005 to be released. When I got my copy of FM2005, there was no way I could manage anybody else other than the Hatters and their Orange and Blue shirts. The Challenge was on.

Luton Town start the 2004-05 season in League One, and we are now in the middle of October 2005, meaning I have already played one season (2004-05) and the beginning of a second one. The 2004-05 season was rough. I experimented with tactics a lot before finding one I liked and the result was a long stretch of losing at the beginning of the season. IIRC, we lost 8 in a row at some point, putting us in a very rough spot, in 22nd place of 24, with about 15-18 games to play. Just so you know, the bottom 4 teams in League One get relegated to League Two. When I started playing with my 4-3-3 I started seeing wins happen, and when we were not winning, we were always in the game, as opposed to sometimes losing 1-4 or 0-3 before switching tactics. With that 4-3-3, we are creating scoring chances, we are very often outshooting the opponent. I like it and will keep on using it, even though I'd like to develop another tactics, if only to throw a wrench in my opponent's gameplanning

When I read about Eaglesfan27 getting the dreaded vote of confidence, I smile a little. I smile because I have received it numerous times when the team was in the dump. All I wanted of that first season was to survive it, get to the next season without relegating, since I was about sure that I'd have been fired if we had relegated. I also knew I had to survive until the following season, since I had signed 8 players on Bosman transfers and they were all going to get to the team on July 1st, 2005. I had to be there to welcome them

We finished in 15th place and, thus staying well out of relegation zone, but it took us up to the 45th game of the season to secure us a spot in League One for 2005-06. The board was at least satisfied with my managing of the season, taking my name off the "insecure" list in the jobs security screen. phew!

Signing so many players had a bad effect on the team's finances though, and me being kind of a newb still with managing a soccer team, I saw the team's wage bill grow from being 5k under budget to a whopping 20k *over* budget! Great, one more thing for the team board to complain about. I knew I had to win, or else that would be a long season. And guess what, the pundits didn't like my chances either, as they set the odds of my team winning the title at 40-1, down from the 20-1 odds they had set for me only a season ago... The wage thing got itself sorted out when the team board allowed me more wage budget after I transfered out the Fans favorite player or last season, a bold move, but one worth it, as it netted us 750k in transfer money. Because of that sale, I still have roughly 500k available, and I'm starting to think about what I could do with it

We started the offseason with a some rough times, but we played Aston Villa twice at home for good money, but they were easily better than us, so I took the losses with a grain of salt.

The season is going fairly well so far. We win or draw fairly regularly and the times we've lost, we were usually in the game. Weird thing is I get the feeling that we are playing through maybe the toughest part of our schedule, as we played the teams in 2nd, 4th, and then 5th place in back to back to back contests. And through all that, we were in 5th place at some point!!! We are currently in 14th place, with 3 wins, 4 losses, and 3 draws for 12 points after 10 gamesand a +1 goal differential. As I said, I'm happy about this start to the season, as it seems we have played a bunch of tough teams so far. There will come a time when we'll play the bottom feeders...

A word about my tactics. I play two types of 4-3-3, but they both could be called 4-2-1-3, as I have 4 in the back, 2 DMC, one MC/AMC (depending on the version) and 3 strikers on top. Here are two pics of my tactics...



I started with only outward arrows on both the FCR and the FCL, but I recently added forward arrows on the two fullbacks and backward arrows on the two centrebacks and I have seen some good results, including back to back clean sheets when I started doing this. I adjust the different sliders of the team tactics a little every game, and some players have special individual orders, but I won't get into them now, maybe later.
Next up, a look at who these Hatters of Luton Town are...

FM

[Eaglesfan27]

I love the title.. great pictures as well as an all around great first post

[FrogMan]

Here's a look at my players, starting with the keepers and moving on up to the strikers. Next to the players' name are his position(s), his age, and current value...

GOALKEEPERS
Mark Goodlad, starter, (GK, 26yo, $80k)
One of the many Bosman trasnfers the team made in the offseason. He is the glue that holds the the defensive side of my team together. Has averaged some great form ratings at first in the season with a little drop of late.

Rob Beckwith, backup, (GK, 21yo, $90k)
An original Hatter. Still pretty young, he was the starter last season, but showed his inexperience at times, forcing my hand to sign a more experienced GK to back him up. They actually rotated back and forth until Goodlad got hot and won the starting duties outright.

DEFENDERS
Matt Carbon, starting left fullback, (D LC, 30yo, $60k)
Another one of the offseason acquisitions. I brought him to play left defender, but he's showing unhappiness right now, after I've played him at that position, telling me he thinks I'm not playing him in his strongest position. He even was telling me that I am not listening to my players... Will have to see if it's not better to play him in center...

Chris Coyne, starting centreback (D C, 26yo, $110k)
An original Hatter, who played some good games last season, but got tired toward the end of the season. I will have to be careful not to overplay him this season... Been called up a few times for Australia's nationa team, but has not played yet...

Mark Williams, starting centreback (D C, 35yo, $6k)
Another one offseason acquisition. Was first brought in to be a starter, but may be relegated to the bench if I start playing Carbon in center a bit more. Will still be helpful coming off the bench, or in replacement of Coyne if he gets tired later on in the season...

Kevin Foley, starting right fullback (D/DM R, 20, $200k)
Another original Hatter. He also got tired a lot, even earlier than Coyne last season. will have to be careful here too, but he is young and has a lot of potential. Currently part of Ireland's U21 squad, has 4 caps.

Sol Davis, backup left fullback (D/DM L, 26yo, $36k)
Another original Hatter, who was my rock solid left defender last season. May have to come back in that role if I move Carbon to centreback.

Curtis Davies, backup centreback (SW/D C, 20yo, $40k)
Young original Hatter who shows his young age with rather edgy performance. Can be great, then be bad, from game to game. Because of that, I have a hard time putting him in the game every week, even though he played very often last season.

Russell Perrett, backup backup centreback (D C, 32yo, $6k)
An original Hatter. Only used when we're in trouble due to injuries or suspensions.


Next up, midfielders and up...

FM

[FrogMan]

MIDFIELDERS
Richard Johnson, starting defensive midfielder (DM C, 31yo, $28k)
Another offseason acquisition, the anchor of our midfield. Is currently injured for a few weeks, so we'll need one of the young kids to step up.

Adam Chambers, defensive midfielder on rotation (D/DM RC, 24yo, $48k)
Recently acquired on a free transfer after West Brom decided to let him loose. Has played some good game for us and should keep on growing with the team.

Keith Keane, defensive midfielder on rotation (D/DM RC, 18yo, $1.4M)
An original Hatter, also a member of Ireland's U21 squad and has taken the field with Kevin Foley a couple of times lately, doing well. Doubles up as a backup to Foley whenever it is needed. Has a lot of potential and could be a star for the team for many seasons.

Bobby Wilde, backup defensive midfielder (DM LC, 24yo, $44k)
Acquired on a free transfer in the middle of the 04-05 season. A weird player with amazing corner kick skills, great crossing skills, but about nothing in terms of marking, passing, or heading skills. Even weirder is that he performed so well last season that he was a regular fix in our midfield, often getting form ratings of 8. I guess his great work ethic and teamwork skills help him in the midfield

Lee Mansell, attacking midfielder on rotation (AM C, 22yo, $52k)
Another original Hatter. Fairly young, he was stable enough last season to earn most of the starts at the AMC position, feeding the strikers with quality balls on a regular basis. Has not been as steady this season, we will have to keep an eye on him.

Mark Jones, attacking midfielder on rotation (AM C, 21yo, $56k)
Acquired as part of a "live and learn" mistake where I offered him a contract, to be effective at the end of his current contract, but he was not eligible to a Bosman transfer. Oops. Had to pay 180k in compensation while his value was only 18k on his former team. The good thing is that his value has since soared to 56k. Is often getting better ratings than Mansell, but also seem to get tired a bit faster.

James Pinnock, backup attacking midfielder/striker (F C, 27yo, $56k)
Another one of them offseason acquisition, he's a forward playing mostly as an AMC, but he spends more time on the reserves team that the main one.

Steve Robinson, backup midfielder (M RC, 30yo, $20k)
An original Hatter. Has been hurt for the last 2 months, and is just getting back to training, so I have a hard time evaluating where he stands. He played mostly AMC last season, but with the recent injury to Johnson, he may be called to play some DMC too...


And next, the strikers...

FM

[FrogMan]

FORWARDS
Steve Howard, starting center forward (S C, 29yo, $280k)
The star of the team, everybody loves him ans thinks he's a great player. Seriously, this is the name I see come up the most among player profile when they mention another player from the team, as in "Thinks Howard is a good player"... Plays in the middle as Target Man because of his great heading skill and his good physical strength. He lacks pace though. Is the team's penalty kick master and goal scoring leader... The only player for whom I have a player card online, click here to see it.

Bartosz Tarachuslki, starting right forward (S C, 30yo, $48k)
Yet another one of them offseason acquisitions. A very well rounded striker, who could also play the middle spot in replacement of Howard. Has not scored many goals so far, but he's made some pretty nice moves on the wing...

Elvis Hammond, starting left forward (S C, 25yo, $150k)
And yes, another offseason acquisitions. A bit younger than the other two starters, he could help us for a longer time. He's got flair and can pull some great games at times...

Matthew Blinkhorn, backup forward (S C, 20yo, $80k)
An original Hatter who saw a lot of playing time when we made the switch to 4-3-3 last season, and made the most of it, improving vastly his heading, finishing, and off the ball skills. At only20, he could be with the team for a long time, and even with the many new players, he still sees a lot of first team playing time...

Enoch Showunmi, backup forward (S C, 23yo, $700k)
Another original Hatter, who's dropped in the doghouse, sort of. His value got all the way up to 950k last season and he was hot, en fuego, but he's cooled of quite a bit lately and he's able of the best and the worst at times. To be noted that he is the only left footed forward on my top strikers...

These round up the players you are most likely to hear about when I'll be reporting about first team play with this Luton Town side. I have some depth, especially at forward, and it was needed at the beginning of October 2005, when 4 of my starting strikers go injured and I went all down to 6th and 7th on the depth chart, but even that low, they are capable of fighting and clawing their way on the field...

I'm itching to go play, so I'll see ya later with maybe some reports

FM

[NoSkillz]

Great start! And very interesting tactics (especially with me being a newb and just using a pretty vanilla 4-4-2 to start)...

I'll definitely be following along!

[FrogMan]

thanks, always nice to see some Canucks in the house

FM

[FrogMan]

I'm not too sure how I'll go with the reporting of my match results and other news, since my computer doesn't seem to like me having anything more than FM2005 opened at once. What I did yesterday is take notes when when the game was going on, without even noting who was in the starting lineup. I realized that afterward, but I'm still unsure if I will even report that or not, will depend on my mood I guess. Sometimes I'm just too anxious to get there and play the darn game For today, I took notes as events happened and I'm writing this here on notepad during coffe breaks (and I'll keep going over lunch break)...

I'll also try and report general team news (transfer news, international call ups, achievements, awards, board confidence updates) as they happen.

Transfer News
In my last playing session, I had made an offer to buy AMC Marc Bridge-Wilkinson, can't remember his former team though. We could say that Bridge-Wilkinson is an old friend of mine, as I had signed him before in my CM4 career, and he used to give me great games. After both Mark Jones *AND* Lee Mansell went down with injuries a couple of weeks ago, I thought I needed to get some more depth, and with some 500k in my transfer budget, why not even improve the position. Bridge-Wilkinson had a value of 260k, and that's the bid I made. At this point, still waiting on an answer...

October 19, 2005
home vs Walsall (currently in 4th)
Well, my stretch of tough games keeps on going, when we host Walsall, currently in 4th position. I go in with my "A" version of the 4-3-3 in this game, starting Mark Jones at AMC, and what a decision that was. Jones goes on to score two goals, his first two with Luton. First one was a nice combination play, one-two style between him and Matthew Blinkhorn. The second one was all Keith Keane pumping a high, long ball to create a great counter attack and Jones taking it home from there. The rest of the game, we controlled the ball very effectively, holding a clear advantage with 56% possession.
Final Score: Luton 2, Walsall 0
Shots (on target): Luton 15 (7), Walsall 8 (2)
MoM: Mark Jones with a ratings of 10, the first Hatter with a 10 in a looooong time

We move up to 10th place with the win.

FM

[FrogMan]

Scouting/Transfer News
After the game, I get some new from my scout whom I'd asked to have a look at Gavin Mahon of Watford. Mahon was saying that he felt he had achieved everything he could at his current club. I thought maybe now was the time to try and sign the sweeper/defensive midfielder. My scout says Mahon would definitely move into the starting lineup and would be a useful addition to my team. Even if my bid for Bridge-Wilkinson goes through, I'd still have 240k left in my transfer budget. I decide to bid 180k for Wahon, despite his value being set at 200k.


Transfer News
The bid for Bridge-Wilkinson has been accepted! We now have to agree on terms for a contract. We make hims an offer for first team money, so around $5400 a week, and he accepts! This is all nice and good, but with it, we just pushed the wage bil upward, and we're now 6k over our budget limit and the team board isn't all that happy about it. I'll have to see where I can skim some...

October 22, 2005
home vs Watford (currently in 3rd)
This is our third match in seven days, and my starting eleven is not at 100%. More than that, it's another toughie,as we take on the 3rd placed Watford. I shuffle my strikers a little, but decided to leave Steve Howard as a started, despite him being at around 91% condition when comes gametime. I'll see if I need to sub him out in the second half. Bridge-Wilkinson doesn't get to team in time, so I play Mark Jones despite him also having low condition at the start of the game. I'll have Lee Mansell ready to take over if he gets too tired. I had not scouted them too much before the game, but as soon as I see the game preview and see their 3-5-2 lineup, with the 5 middies on a straight line accross the field, I decide to change my team tactics and ask my players to play with a little longer style of passing. I'm hoping that we can pump balls over the heads of their middies and don't want to play a short passing game, especially in the middle where it would basivally be my two DMC against their 5 middies... The game starts fast, and while we are not having many scoring chances at first, one scuffle in Watford's penalty box results in Steve Howard being awarded a penalty. With his great penalty kick skills, he quick cannons a bullet through the keeper and we're up 1-0 after only 7 minutes. A freakish deflection off of Kevin Foley results in the tying goal. I say freakish, since I rally had to watch the slowmo replay and read the commentary to realize why my keeper Mark Goodlad had jumped to the left while the ball had come in to his right... 1-1 was the score then, it will remains that way... We had a much better second half, creating many more scoring chances compared to the first half.
Final Score: Luton 1, Watford 1
Shots (on target): Luton 11 (6), Watford 15 (5)
MoM: Steve Howard with a ratings of 8

We move down slightly, to 11th place.

FM

[daedalus]

Wow. Interesting tactic, Frogger. I've never tinkered with pulling back the centrebacks before. I'm DEFINITELY going to try that out. I've never tinkered with arrowing the two defensive middies forward before but have heard of folks having success with it, have you tried that one?

[FrogMan]

Originally Posted by daedalus

Wow. Interesting tactic, Frogger. I've never tinkered with pulling back the centrebacks before. I'm DEFINITELY going to try that out. I've never tinkered with arrowing the two defensive middies forward before but have heard of folks having success with it, have you tried that one?

I have read about people doing that too, but I was sort of concerned with how many goals we were conceding with my previous tactics and I really wanted my DMCs to be there to sort of help my centrebacks clean out the middle, and also be the starting point of any attacks, so I don't want them to be too up forward. I may try and play with it at some point, especially when I get a game where I'd want some extra offensive push.

Playing the two centrebacks pulled back, I feel like they are both playing like sweepers, and the feeling I really get is that they do clean the box out of any rebounded balls the keeper could have let go inadvertantly...

FM

[FrogMan]

October 29, 2005
away at Chester City (currently 24th)
Finally! I think. We finally get to play somebody out of the top 10 teams of League One. While trying not to take newly promoted Chester City too lightly, I know that now is the time to give some of my regulars a breather. That includes my starting keeper, Mark Goodlad, whom I replace with backup Rob Beckwith. Not that Goodlad needs the rest, but I also want to give Beckwith some first team playing time and keep him in playing shape, in case an injury should happen to Goodlad. This is also the first game for attacking middie Marc Bridge-Wilkinson, who shows some great stuff at some point and ends the game with a 7 ratings, being replaced late in the game by Mark Jones. We try and try, but nobody can connect and we end up with a draw, despite outshooting them two to one. Bartosz Tarachulski was everywhere, creating chances left and right, and earns the 3rd MoM in a row for a Hatter...
Final Score: Luton 0, Chester City 0
Shots (on target): Luton 8 (2), Chester City 4 (1)
MoM: Bartosz Tarachulski with a ratings of 8

We move down slightly again, to 12th place.

This is it for the matches played in that playing session, so I'll introduce a little chart I like very much. It shows how your position in the league table has changed over the course of the season.



As you can see, we started with a loss that put us in 23rd, but since then we've stabilized ourselves and hang in between 9th and 14th, a position I'm satisfied with, at least for now.

Transfer News
My first offer for Watford's Gavin Mahon was categorically refused by Watford. I like him a lot, given that he his a sweeper/defensive midfielder, so I up the ante to 220k, even though he's only valued at 200k. A few days pass and that bid is also rejected without even a chance for negotiation. I decide to declare my interest, see what they will say. Well, Watford's manager doesn't say a word, but our fans speak out, and loud. They are telling me, through the media, that they would be unhappy to see me sign Mahon. That's good information to me and I decide to let go of him...

International Call ups (part 1)
Keith Keane and Kevin Foley both get called up by the Ireland U21 squad for a pair of international friendlies that will be played on November 11th and November 15th. I don't put any restriction on their participation in these friendlies, even though I had not realized at the time that the team has a long break from November 9th to November 19th...

Achievement News
Bartosz Tarachulski makes the League One Team of the Week, following his great play in the Chester City match.

Team Board News
November 1st comes and the Luton team board tells me they are pleased with my management of the club. Things are looking good.

International Call ups (part 2)
Four other Hatters have been called up for international friendlies. I almost freaked out, fearing I'd lose close to half my team for almost a week, especially after the first two call ups for Foley and Keane. This is where I took a look at my fixtures list and realized the team had no match scheduled from November 9th to November 19th. The call ups are for defender Chric Coyne, keeper Dino Seremet (a backup of the backup, I'm kind of puzzled he's on any national team, may have to look into it... SVN is what, Slovenia? weird), striker Bartosz Tarachulski, and defender Mark Williams. They're all set to play on possibly two matches each, on November 12th and November 16th.

FM

[mrkilla22]

Good read so far FM!

[FrogMan]

thanks, glad to see you aboard

FM

[MizzouRah]

Good read!


Todd

[FrogMan]

thanks Todd, was wondering when you'd show up

FM

[Desnudo]

Froggy, I tried a variation of your more defensive tactic and it worked wonders. I was getting slaughtered in away games with the 4-3-3 I was using. I did adjust some arrows on your tactic, taking the up ones off the fullbacks and MC. I also added arrows to the side for my DMs. I made these adjustments when I was really getting pushed hard on the wings early on in the game. As you noted, the DCs seemed to do a real good job of clearing the line.

You'd think that would result in lots of attacks down the middle and it did, but all the attacks seemed to result in long shots which are fine to me. Net result 3-0 victory when I was heavily the underdog! Thanks for the idea Froggy.

[terpkristin]

Well Froggy I'm here!
I love the FM updates, makes me wish my computer wasn't a joke.
However in lieu of purchasing FM05, maybe I'll reinstall CM0304 and try running it again.

Keep it up!!!
~tk

[FrogMan]

Originally Posted by Desnudo

Froggy, I tried a variation of your more defensive tactic and it worked wonders. I was getting slaughtered in away games with the 4-3-3 I was using. I did adjust some arrows on your tactic, taking the up ones off the fullbacks and MC. I also added arrows to the side for my DMs. I made these adjustments when I was really getting pushed hard on the wings early on in the game. As you noted, the DCs seemed to do a real good job of clearing the line.

You'd think that would result in lots of attacks down the middle and it did, but all the attacks seemed to result in long shots which are fine to me. Net result 3-0 victory when I was heavily the underdog! Thanks for the idea Froggy.

wow, pretty cool. Glad to see my own little tactic could inspire you

Got two questions though: where has the ribbit.jpg gone? I thought it was cool to see the tactic in a graphical presentation. I have saved it and could host it if you are okay with me presenting it here. I may very well use some of these ideas on my team.

Second: were you using a 4-3-3 before I mentioned it? I was getting the feeling that not many people a 4-3-3, and it was sort of why I liked it

About the long shots thing. I used to get that, many, many long shots tried, and since my strikers are not that effective on a long range, it resulted in me having like 20 shots, but only 2 on target. What I did is put the two outside strikers on the "rarely" setting for their tendency to fire long shots. I still get many chances, but they tend to be better ones...

FM

[FrogMan]

Originally Posted by terpkristin

Well Froggy I'm here!
I love the FM updates, makes me wish my computer wasn't a joke.
However in lieu of purchasing FM05, maybe I'll reinstall CM0304 and try running it again.

Keep it up!!!
~tk

Thanks tk, glad to see you finally come along

FM

[Eaglesfan27]

This is a great read! I wonder if you wouldn't mind sharing with me how you are getting such great shots of your tactics and the league position chart screen into this thread.(I forgot that was there and really need to look at it.)

[FrogMan]

Originally Posted by Eaglesfan27

This is a great read! I wonder if you wouldn't mind sharing with me how you are getting such great shots of your tactics and the league position chart screen into this thread.(I forgot that was there and really need to look at it.)

don't mind at all. Screenshots are really easy. When in the game, hit the "PrintScreen" key on you keyboard. This does a "copy" of your screen. Then open your favorite picture editor, or in my case, my picture viewer IrfanView (freeware) and do a simple paste (ctrl+v). Irfanview, shile being a very simple, light picture viewer, allows you to crop the picture to only what you need. You then save it to your disk and host it somewhere. I use Photobucket which is also free up to 25Mb and allows hotlinking. You can then insert the image in your text with the WYSIWYG editor we have here...

Ask here or by pm if you need more help...

FM

[Desnudo]

Originally Posted by FrogMan

wow, pretty cool. Glad to see my own little tactic could inspire you

Got two questions though: where has the ribbit.jpg gone? I thought it was cool to see the tactic in a graphical presentation. I have saved it and could host it if you are okay with me presenting it here. I may very well use some of these ideas on my team.

Second: were you using a 4-3-3 before I mentioned it? I was getting the feeling that not many people a 4-3-3, and it was sort of why I liked it

About the long shots thing. I used to get that, many, many long shots tried, and since my strikers are not that effective on a long range, it resulted in me having like 20 shots, but only 2 on target. What I did is put the two outside strikers on the "rarely" setting for their tendency to fire long shots. I still get many chances, but they tend to be better ones...

FM

Hey, go ahead, I took it down because I couldn't get it to format with this page. It kept pushing the edge out, and I know how we all dislike that.

I am using a more attacking 4-3-3 at home, I think it's the standard one with 3 MCs and 3 Fwds although I've customized the instructions. I'll also occasionally move the FR out to the AMR position with an up arrow to shake things up. I was having trouble scoring with anything else with the patch game so decided to give it a go. The long shots thing isn't a problem for me, I meant for the other team.

I'm currently 2nd in goals scored and 4th in goal differential, although somehow that equates to 10th place.

[FrogMan]

Originally Posted by Desnudo

Hey, go ahead, I took it down because I couldn't get it to format with this page. It kept pushing the edge out, and I know how we all dislike that.

Ahh, I see why now. I opened it with IrfanView, and there it is, a small field in the middle of a big white space. Cropped it and it's now fine. Here's what Desnudo's 4-3-3 looks like:


I tell ya, that IrfanView thingy is very nice to use

I like what you did with the DMC, adjusting to strong wing attacks. I'll keep this in mind for in-games adjustments...

FM

[jbmagic]

i see tactics in this game makes a difference depending on your opponents weakness, strength, etc


how many different tactics can you do in this game?

[RPI-Fan]

Originally Posted by jbmagic

how many different tactics can you do in this game?

∞

[Eaglesfan27]

Thanks FM! (I should have realized you were doing it like the reference thread - I kept trying to use the ingame print function.)

jbmagic - the tactics are the most fun part of the game for me. There are many different things to do with them, and they all have real effects in the game.

FM - Keep up the great work.. Wonderful read

[FrogMan]

Originally Posted by jbmagic

i see tactics in this game makes a difference depending on your opponents weakness, strength, etc


how many different tactics can you do in this game?

just like RPI-Fan said, the possibilities as infinite, or almost. Only in stock tactics, there are some, what 30 or more predefined tactics, but then you can do all kinds of twists, like the arrows, or moving players around a little, give players individual orders and all that. It is indeed very interesting, but can also be very frustrating

FM

[FrogMan]

FA Cup news
The draw for round 1 of the FA cup is done and we will play Petersborough, a League Two team, on November 16th. For a moment, I start to freak out a bit, since many of my players will be away on international duty....

End of the month News
For some reason, the end of the month had not arrived, contrary to what I mentionned in a previous. I guess I had simply anticipated the pleasedness of the team board Nevertheless, they are really pleased with my work

Achievement News
With the end of the month comes the many league awards, and for the first time in my career, a Hatter receives a monthly award. Mark Jones is named the Young Player of the Month for League One. WOW!!! That 180k fee paid in the offseason is looking better and better every day...

November 1st, 2005
LDV Vans Trophy South, 2nd round
home vs Forest Green (currently 15th in Conference National)
I need some help about the odds for this game. We are favorite at 1-8, while Forest Green are favorite at 12-1. Does this mean that someone has to bet $8 to win $1 if we win?? Anyway, I've started taking notes of my starting lineups, so it will probably help the whole team become a bit more "alive" as you'll see the names a bit more...
S: Showunmi - Howard - Blinkhorn
AM: Mansell
DM: Wilde - Chambers
D: Davis - Williams - Davies - Foley
GK: Beckwith
Since it's a game that looks a bit easier than our usual league games, and we'll have a good stretch of game coming, I decide to sit a few regular and play some players who don't often see the field. That includes striker Enoch Showunmi, defensive middie Bobby Wilde, and centreback Curtis Davies. The game starts and not even 2 minutes had been played that Kevin Foley does it all, a throw in, picked up the loose ball that followed it, then centered it to Showunmi who pushed it to Mansell who strikes a very precise shot for the 1-0 goal. Int the 37th minute, they are forced to finish the game with only 10 players after one of theirs had received a red card. As if it wasn't tough enough for a conference team to play a League One team on our pitch... Showunmi again contributed to the second goal of the Hatters, a diving header by Steve Howard.
Final Score: Luton 2, Forest Green 0
Shots (on target): Luton 12 (6), Chester City 1 (1)
MoM: Steve Howard with a ratings of 8

We re through to the quarter final...

FM

[FrogMan]

International Call ups
Defender Jacopo Piotto has been called up for an internation friendly with the Italy U19 squad. He's not even a backup on our team, I let him go without restrictions...

Player praise
I decide to praise the good form of Mark Jones in the media, following his title of Young player of the month. The fans approve of the praise and everybody is happy...

International Call ups
I get a message that Mark Jones has been brought in to the Wales U21 squad in replacement of another player. I'm not too sure what that means, as no date for a friendly is mentionned. I'll keep an eye on him...

Cup News
The LDV Vans Trophy South quarter final draw happens and we'll play Millwall at home on November 29. Millwall, even though they are now in our league, were in the English Championship last season, from where they got relegated. This won't be an easy game... Among other Cup news, our FA Cup round 2 match against Petersborough, that was due to be played on November 16th, has been moved to November 23, due to international call ups. I breath a deep sigh of relief...
FM

[tanglewood]

Originally Posted by FrogMan

I need some help about the odds for this game. We are favorite at 1-8, while Forest Green are favorite at 12-1. Does this mean that someone has to bet $8 to win $1 if we win??

Yes, the first number is the amount you win if you bet the second number.

So at odds of 1-8, an $8 bet would win you $1 giving you total winnings of $9. In other words, you were the very overwhelming favourite.

[FrogMan]

Originally Posted by tanglewood

Yes, the first number is the amount you win if you bet the second number.

So at odds of 1-8, an $8 bet would win you $1 giving you total winnings of $9. In other words, you were the very overwhelming favourite.

Thanks, that's what I thought it was, but I had never seen so good odds in my favor before

FM

[FrogMan]

November 5, 2005
away at Bradford City (currently 15th, only 1 point behind us)
S: Hammond/Howard/Tarachulski
MC: Bridge-Wilkinson
DMC: Johnson/Chambers
D: Davis/Carbon/Coyne/Keane
GK: Goodlad
Being that this game is away, I decide to go with a more bit more defensive tactic and I take off the forward arrows on my fullbacks. I also give the start to Marc Bridge-Wilkinson, since I think he's a better rounded kind of middie to play in the laid back position, but with a forward arrow, instead of having him sit right behind the strikers. This game goes without much, and the number of shots is relatively low. We lose possession big time, with them holding the ball in our defensive zone an astounding 29% of the game!!! We hang on and get the 0-0 draw. Given the possession number, I'm happy with it.
Final Score: Luton 0, Bradford City 0
Shots (on target): Luton 6 (3), Bradford City 8 (1)
MoM: Adam Chambers with a ratings of 8

Unexpectedly, we move up to 11th position with the draw.


Contract News
Looking at my team's wages, I see that Marlon Beresford is currently earning 4k a week to sit on his arse and watch the young lads of my reserve team work theirs off. See, Marlon has already announced his retirement, effective at the end of his current current. I decide to see if he's be open for a mutual termination. Not unexpectedly, he refuses...

Achievement News
Adam Chambers is named on the League One Team of the week, following his good showing in last Saturday's match. That his first award of the kind ever.

Contract News
After a few days have passed, I decide to see how much it would cost me to release Marlon Beresford on a free transfer. What?!? Only 28k?!? I could not click that button fast enough. For the cost of only 7 weeks of salary, Marlon Beresford is released on a free transfer. This comes at a cost though, as Marlon was on a player/coach contract, and him being a goalkeeper, he was the team's main keeper coach. An advert is immediately placed for a replacement.

FM

[FrogMan]

November 9, 2005
home vs Barnsley (currently 19th, only 3 points behind us)
S: Hammond/Howard/Blinkhorn
AMC: Jones
DMC: Johnson/Chambers
D: Carbon/Williams/Coyne/Foley
Being at home, the forward arrows are back for the fullbacks and AMC Jones is played way up top, right behind the strikers. I don't always do much scouting on my opponents. Sometimes I'm only too anxious to get out and play, and sometimes I make adjustments as I get to the game. It was the case in this game, when I saw that Barnsley was going to play some 4-4-2 diamond formation. I had set my team to try pushing the passes through the middle. That diamond in the middle kind of persuaded me to change this to at least a mixed distribution of passes... In the 13th minute, an amazing long cross pass from Kevin Foley, from deep on the right, all the way to the middle of their defensive zone, creates a great opportunity for Steve Howard. He makes the best of it, converting the one-on-one with the keeper for the 1-0 goal. For my North American friends, think of that pass as a long bomb, 45 yardish, from a QB rolling to his right, passing right in the middle of the field, behind the safety and the receiver catches it in stride. It was a beauty Even the commentator couldn't believe it, saying that Foley's superb vision made the goal... They tie the score with some great passing right around our penalty box, spinning some of our defenders out of their shorts. 1-1 was the score then, it will be the final score...
Final Score: Luton 1, Barnsley 1
Shots (on target): Luton 8 (4), Barnsley 5 (1)
MoM: Barnsley's Liam Nalis with a ratings of 8
Hatter of the Match: Kevin Foley with a ratings of 8, but even if he had played as crap the rest of the game, I'd have been tempted to give it to him anyway, if only for that amazing pass

Hatter of the Match will be known as HoM in the future and isn't an official award given by the game. It's only something I'll do whenever the Man of the Match award is given to a player from the other team...

Following the draw, we drop to 13th place after 15 games out of a schedule of 46, or almost one third into the season. I'll take this for now, as this is much better than the 21st-23rd position we held at about the same time last season...

International Roundup (part 1, Nov. 12)
Kevin Foley played well for the Ireland U21 squad before being replaced, getting a ratings of 7. Keith Keane also made the trip but didn't play. Mark Williams cam in as a sub for the North Ireland national team and played fairly well, also getting a ratings of 7.

International Roundup (part 2, Nov. 16)
Kevin Foley and Keith Keane were both said to have solid performances for the Ireland U21 squad.

Injury News
An ankle injury will keep Matthew Blinkhorn away from the field for a period of two weeks. It sucks, but we don't lack depth as far as strikers go, so we should be all right.

Transfer News
As I do every once in a while, I decide to offer one of my higher valued players, that I feel isn't delivering as much as I'd expect, to other teams. Striker Enoch Showunmi has been on the transfer list for a long while and I decide to offer him to other teams for the discounted price of $500k. His value is currently at $700k. A day pass and replies come in that *nobody* is interested in Showunmi, oh well...

Injury News
As our long break is coming to an end, we get more training injury happening. Defender Sol Davis and striker Bartosz Tarachulski will both miss 5 days with injuries. Matt Carbon will play left defender for Davis, while I'll find somebody to fill in for Bart among my stable of strikers...

Loan/Contract News
Stuart Sinclair comes back from his loan at Conference side Cambridge City. While he was there for 3 months, with them paying every penny of his tiny $150 weekly wage, and they didn't play him, not even once!!! He says he is frustrated, that he really thought he was going to gain first team experience by going on loan. As we are sitting in my office, I tell him: "Stu, you are a good kid, but let's be honest, you are not a very good ball player, and you know what, I don't even want to pay you $150 a week... Stu, you're fired" *cue in Apprentice theme music*

FM

[FrogMan]

Personal News
No, not personal as in "the kid's sick, I have a cold, and I'm looking forward to the holiday break", but more as in "oh let's take a look at my manager profile". I like to pay a visit to that screen every once in a while, see if anything has changed. It says my reputation is "Local" I could have sweared that when we start, it's at obscure. Anyobdy can confirm this? It also say that my preferred formation is still the 4-4-2, even though it's been over a season that I've been playing solely with a 4-3-3 formation. Will it ever update in here? My mental skills ratings are as follows:
Ability to handle pressure: 10
Ambition: 10
Loyalty: 16
Media Handling: 20
Professionalism: 16
Temperament: 16

I could swear my media handling wasn't at 20 before, even though it's always been kind of high. Also, my loyalty and professionalism ratings were more in the 14-15 range before. Nice to see them go up. On the personal screen, they describe me as a media-friendly boss. That gave me a good laugh


FM

[FrogMan]

Originally Posted by Eaglesfan27

I'm still at obscure. That is where my manager started in reputation.

Okay, good to know. I've been playing about half a season more than you, and at the League One level, it kind of makes sense that after that period of time, I would at least be a little known, at least locally

My name must have surfaced in 2004 when the team board wanted to almost fire me

FM

edit: damn stoopid clock. This reply is about the post below it...

[Eaglesfan27]

I'm still at obscure. That is where my manager started in reputation.

Edit: Also, in CM 03/04, I ran a 4-1-2-1-2 for 4 or 5 seasons and it continued to say the 4-4-2 was my favorite formation. I don't know if this was fixed for Football Manager, but I suspect it was not.

[FrogMan]

November 19, 2005
home vs Oldham (currently 17th, only 3 points behind us)
S: Showunmi/Howard/Hammond
AMC: Bridge-Wilkinson
DMC: Johnson/Chambers
D: Carbon/Davies/Coyne/Keane
GK: Beckwith

It's been 10 days since our last game, so most of our players are at 100% condition, except the few who had been called up for international play. Because of injuries to both Matthew Blinkhorn and Bartosz Tarachulski, left footed Enoch Showunmi makes a rare appearance as a starter. So rare in fact that my assistant manager is telling me that he "severely lacks in match practice". We'll see how he does, but his backup is reserve player Roscoe D'Sane, who's not played once for the senior squad this season. I also give the start to keeper Rob Beckwith, since I've seen him improve his handling skills two whole points in the last two weeks, while Usual starter Mark Goodlad has given us some very ordinary performances in the last few games...

I jumble my tactics a bit, based on information gathered here and there on these forums. I have not been happy with our goal scoring and I want to try and create more chances. I first put my centrebacks on zonal marking, as opposed to the man marking they had been on since the middle of last season (thanks Desnudo). Also, being at home, I decide to allow my defensive middies to go forward a bit more, and to do so, I give them the forward arrows (thanks daedalus). To compensate, I take off the forward arrows on both my fullbacks. We'll see how it goes.

Game starts well, although I can't say it's because of the tactics switch, since our first goal comes on a great set pieces kick by middie Richard Johnson, from just outside their penalty box. We're up 1-0 after only 4 minutes. 21 minutes later, Oldham move the ball well, just outside the box, nothing to be worryied about, right? WRONG! Beckwith is caught napping as they score on a 30 yard strike, now tied 1-1. I'm pissed at Beckwith for letting that one go in, I was just about to ask Goodlad to warm up and go take his place, but I take a deep breath and the game goes on. The 63rd minute brings another great set pieces play by Johnson, as he pumps a neat bal to Curtis Davies, who had come up from his centreback position, all the way into Oldham'S penalty box, he converts for his 1st goal of the season, we're up 2-1.

A few minutes later, I realize that Elvis Hammond is burned out and since I have more confidence in putting Mark Jones in instead of the unproven D'Sane, I switch to a 4-2-2-2 formation, dropping the middle striker to a second attacking midfielder postion and that's where Jones goes. That tactic change served another purpose, as it is a bit more defensive, allowing us to control the ball a bit more and protect our 2-1 lead.

In the 90th minute, I see their keeper holding the ball up for like the 3rd time in the last 8 or 10 minutes. A few minutes before that, he almost created the tying goal with an amazing long kick right to one of their strikers that was waiting by one of my centrebacks. Amazingly, Steve Robinson, who had come in to replace a burnt out Bridge-Wilkinson, decides to go challenge him, and STEALS THE BALL FROM HIM!!! He'S left with an empty net, which is hit with a kick from the corner of their penalty box., We're up 3-1, and they will not catch us... I like wins with more than a tiny goal

Final Score: Luton 3, Oldham 1
Shots (on target): Luton 9 (6), Oldham 8 (3)
MoM: Richard Johnson with a ratings of 8 and two critical set pieces play

I like the ratio of shots on/off target and looking at the only two 8 ratings on the team going to my defensive middies, I'd think the tactic was fairly effective...

We move up to 8th place with the win.

Looking at the league table, I see that position 1 through 6 have a different background color. From the league rules, under promotion, they say that the top two teams win promotion to Championship, and under playoffs, they say that teams placed 3rd-6th qualify for Playoff. Anybody know what that means? I'm kind of confused. Does the winner of the playoff also qualify for promotion? Is so, darn, I'm really close to being part of the playoffs!!!


FM

[FrogMan]

Loan News
15yo defender Kevin Joyce comes back from 3 months loan. Given that he is only 15, he's not had any first team experience, but he has played, which is good. Joyce is one to keep an eye on, as he is already a physical phenomenon, with amazing height in his jumping, good acceleration, agility, pace, and stamina. By good, I'm not exagerating, we're talking of minimum 13 in all the above skills, with 16 in both agility and balance, and 19 in jumping Other than the good physical skills, which would mean nothing if the player had nothing elsewhere, he also already has great positioning (14), is very aggressive (13), has great anticipation (15) and is a hard worker (16). For skills specific to his position, he's already learned how to mark other players and does it fairly well (13). He still needs to work on his tackling (7) and heading skills (8), but he's very young, so he still has time. He turns 16 on December 12. Open question: 16yo is when a player can play first in competitive matches (first team), right?
FM

[FrogMan]

Achievement News
Adam Chambers is named on the League One Team of the week, for the second time in a row, considering we didn't have a game last week. He's developping into a nice defensive middie...

Loan News
Kyle Nix's loan at our club comes to an end. I took a shot in the dark with this AM LC, before I signed Bridge-Wilkinson and before Mark Jones emerged as a very viable attacking midfielder alternative. As I take a straw poll among my coaches, they invariably tell me that he lacks the quality to succeed at this level, and even more, I'm not too impressed with his skill set and the performances he's pulled with our reserve squad. The 19yo valued at $950k will return to his team without having played one match with our senior squad...

League Table News
Some League One games were played and we drop to 10th place, with one game on hand over the two teams that just passed us (16 games played for us, 17 games played for both Watford and Blackpool)...

FM

[SirFozzie]

Yup.. the top two teams automatically gain promotion to the next highest league.

The playoffs start like this...

3rd Place vs 6th Place
4th place vs 5th Place

a home and home series, two games, total goals scored, away goals as a tie breaker, 30 minutes of extra time played if still tied after away goals, and then penalty kicks.

If I remember correctly, the first game is at the lower placed team (5th and 6th place) and the 2nd game is at the 3rd/4th place team. This gives the higher ranked team an advantage to know exactly what result they need to go through (remember, whoever scores more goals at the opponent's stadium is the first tiebreaker if they are tied after two games)

The Playoff Final is played at a neutral stadium (used to be Wembley, currently Millenium Stadium in Cardiff, Wales is used I believe).

Standard Cup Rules, (ie 90 minutes, 30 Minutes Extra time and Penalty Kicks).

The winner earns promotion to the next higher league.

It gives the mid table teams something to shoot for nearer to the end of the year

[FrogMan]

Very interesting! We could very well be among those mid table teams when we get into the last stretch, definitely something to shoot for

FM

[SirFozzie]

As regarding your other question, about playing Professional Footy.. I went to the source, the English Football Association (the FA).. and this is what their rules state.

C. RULES RELATING TO PLAYERS


Players with Written Contracts


1. (a) Minimum Age

(i) A Player under eighteen (18) years of age and in receipt of full-time

education* in accordance with the Education Acts may not enter into a

contract of employment with a Club in membership of The Association or an

Affiliated Association.

(ii) A Player under seventeen (17) years of age may not enter into a contract of

employment with a Club in membership with The Association or an Affiliated

Association, except as a Trainee or Scholar as provided for by Rule C3.

[FrogMan]

hmmm, this is confusing. He signed a contract with me earlier this season, but his profile page still says "contract is unprotected"... From what you quote there, this would mean a 16yo could not play, but a 17yo could play, since a 16yo could only be a "trainee" or "scholar", right?

FM

[SirFozzie]

Correct.

Most oof the bigger teams have academies for their promising youth players, so they can train the kid and get him an education for him at the same time

[FrogMan]

Originally Posted by SirFozzie

Correct.

Most oof the bigger teams have academies for their promising youth players, so they can train the kid and get him an education for him at the same time

yeah, so this means he still has a year to learn some skills. With his unprotected contract, could anybody come in and sign him, as long as they pay the compensation? Can I say no, I don't want to let him go?

Seriously, he could be a major superstar some day and I'd hate to see him go...

FM

[SirFozzie]

Since he's on a schoolboy contract, he can "jump ship" at any time and sign with a bigger team (or more accurately, transfer to a bigger team's academy) and you only get paid for his training.

HIDE HIM, then the day he hits 17, sign him on a professional contract!

[FrogMan]

Originally Posted by SirFozzie

Since he's on a schoolboy contract, he can "jump ship" at any time and sign with a bigger team (or more accurately, transfer to a bigger team's academy) and you only get paid for his training.

HIDE HIM, then the day he hits 17, sign him on a professional contract!

ow, that would suck... Stupid question, but there is no real way to hide him, right? Maybe listing him as available for loan wasn't such a good idea then, right? I'll make sure to unlist him when I play tonight...

FM

[SirFozzie]

Hiding him means don't talk about him to the press, don't list him for loan.. yup yup

[FrogMan]

DAMN!!! *slaps forehead* stupid, stooopid frog!!!

Oh well, live and learn. I thought he was going to be eligible to play at 16, so sending him on loan sorta made sense. He only went to MK Dons and they relegated to League Two last season, so maybe nobody saw, maybe, right?

FM