***The Official Football Manager Thread***

[jasontoddwhitt]

Quote: Originally Posted by rsnomar05

I think you need better security than a relegation fight, unless you think it won't be difficult to keep Getafe up. I would hold out for mid-table or better.

I did end up taking the Getafe job. They were picked to finish 14th. I think I can get them there. Besides, after the long term save with Rangers on FM13 and this save, I was starting to get bored and needed a change of scenery. Plus, it's the first time I've ever been the favorite right out of the box for a job.

And two games, two wins for Getafe and suddenly their morale is coming out of the toilet. It's an older team, the payroll is maxed out. I've got some moves to make. We'll see what the January transfer window brings. Board did give me a couple million to work with, but I need some payroll flexibility first.

Rangers hired Billy Davies out of Sheffield Wednesday. They're paying him more than they were me. Ungrateful butts.

I'll also be curious to see if he undoes the nice young nucleus I built for him.

[ubernoob]

Don't get happy about the game at all or you end up with bull**** like this.



It ended up a 3-3 draw as they scored in the 93rd.

I still haven't lost in 16 or 17 matches and am in first on the table, but this team can't help but throw away so many points.

[gopher_guy]

I forgot how hard and mind-numbingly frustrating this game can be.

[jasontoddwhitt]

Just went up against Barca....they are leading La Liga by 13 points, have a +60 goal differential, and generally just scare me to death. I thought, what the hay, I'll just go right at them.

Pretty much kept a guy inside Messi's shirt all night, plus with the way I close down, once he got the ball, he was being hounded. Seemed like once Neymar went out, their attack stalled, although Messi got loose a couple times, but my keeper came up big.

Didn't get the payroll flexibility I wanted, and I brought in a couple strikers on loan as my attack is horrible (brought in Alfreo Finnbogason from Real Sociedad and Adrian from Porto). So now I'm really busting my payroll budget. The only player who got any attention was Pablo Sarabia. He's my best player, my most valuable commodity, and I need him to stay up....so that was a no go.

Hell, looking at some of these contracts, who the hell negotiated this stuff? It's going to be expensive to stay up as several of them have avoid relegation bonuses.

And just for comparisons sake....

Me: 5w-2d-3l
Rangers: 2w-4d-3l

And I applied for the US U23s job....they laughed at me and gave the job to Mike Petke.

[Hunkerdown]

YESSS!!! revenge!!

[jasontoddwhitt]

Personally, I'm very pleased with how my season finished at Getafe. Some impressive results, none more so than going into Bernabeu and securing a 2-0 victory over Real Madrid (I don't care if they were without Ronaldo and Bale, they've got plenty of quality).

However, the summer transfer period could be trying. The club is $8 million in the hole, and the board only gave me $375k in transfer funds. I may need to execute a fire sale and rebuild the squad. Roma is interested in Pablo Sarabia, and he has a minimum fee release clause of $22.5 million (he's currently valued at $17.75 million). He's my best player, leading the team in goals and assists. But his sale would put me back in the black and give me some much needed funds.

Found it hilarious that I finished 3rd in the Scottish Manager of the Year voting despite leaving in December.

Speaking of Rangers, old Billy Boy really stunk up the joint, finishing 6th after I had them fighting for first place. But they will be playing in Europa, finishing runner up in the Scottish Cup. 8 wins, 5 draws, and 12 losses (I got 12 wins, 7 draws, and 6 losses at Getafe). Pathetic....if only the Rangers board had matched Getafe's offer (I'm trying not to be bitter now).

How did he finish ahead of me in Manager of the Year voting?

Other notes:

* Barcelona broke Real Madrid's scoring record. Scored 128 goals and only allowed 25. Pure craziness. Messi with 51 goals across all competitions. Suarez with 40. Only one team in La Liga held them scoreless.....Getafe

* The rebuild at Manchester United is complete. Louis Van Gaal has led them to the top of the Premier League after finishing 4th in his first season. This despite Wayne Rooney having a lost season after suffering a twisted ankle, torn hamstring, and a double hernia in quick succession. It was United's defense that won the day for them, as their leading goal scorer across all comps was Javier Hernandez with 18.

* And then Van Gaal decides to ride off into the sunset and retire on top ala SAF. Favorites for the job are Massimillano Allegri (though Atletico just hired him after Juventus fired him), Unai Emery at AC Milan, Roberto Mancini (just fired by Dortmund despite improving from 9th to 5th), and Paul Lambert at Swansea.

[gopher_guy]

Well, I was fired by Wimbledon....

That was the most disastrous FM save I've ever had. Started the season 0-3-7 before they fired me.

If I was more ambitious I'd keep going as unemployed and look for a new job, but I'm just going to start with a clean slate with a new League 2 club. And maybe this time I'll actually play the friendlies and use those to set up my tactics instead of just diving into league play. lol

[ubernoob]

Well, despite some points thrown away by me... I don't know if there was any way that season could have gone better.

Picked for relegation battles, as I finally got around to playing again (had to redownload all graphics and put it off forever.) Decided to go with Stuttgarter Kickers again as my save in 2014 with them was fun.

Transfers First. Not much here as I was poor.

Spoiler

Finally, League Table.

Spoiler

My 25 year old striker, Elia Soriano, led the league in Goals (22), Assists (16), MotM (9) and Average Rating (7.75) in 35 league appearances. He was also, naturally, player of the year for the league.

However, seeing as how I was still poor before I could re-negotiate contracts, he's leaving on a free to join Kaiserslautern. Not entirely sure if anyone on my squad can replace his production. The worst part of this is that I'm still not going on a signing spree because I don't know how well we'll be able to avoid relegation and I have to play this one safe.