How's Your FIFA Career Mode Going?

**_ChicoBass** · 02-04-2015, 09:42 PM

July/August 2015 - Season 2
Preseason
FIFA 15 (PS4)

Season Objectives
Finish Mid-table
Reach the Round of 32 - Copa Del Rey
Reach the Group Stage - Europa League

Finances
Transfer Budget: $4,500,000
Wage Budget: $20,000

Transfer Window

Transfers In

LM - Julian Luque (Spain) (66 OVR 23 yrs)
Activated $700,000 Option To Buy from RCD Espanyol
Signed at the end of last season
Julian Luque played the entire 2014-2015 season at Osasuna on loan from Espanyol. The young Spanish midfielder impressed Chavez, becoming a key player in the B team and a regular sub with the first team, and has earned himself a permanent place at Osasuna. The young 23 year old developed really well last season and his value increased to $875,000 so the $700,000 option to buy was a great deal that Espanyol had to honor. The club and player made the negotiations very easy and fluid, with Luque's only demand being a pay increase to $10,000 (+$2,000 difference from last year). Luque will wear the number 18 jersey this season.

RM - David Ferreiro (Spain) (67 OVR 27yrs)
Pre-contract Agreement from CD Lugo
Ferreiro was mostly a sub at CD Lugo as the then manager Poulka expressed that the Spaniard was not in conditions to play 90 minutes. Chavez has a good relationship with the former Lugo manager, who allowed him to sign Ferreiro before his contract expired. Ferreiro can play out wide and in the center, with a good combination of pace and ball control. He was teammates with Julian Luque at Racing Santander back in 2013, and both are similar players. Ferreiro will have to show himself during the preseason if he wishes to get into the first team. Chavez prefers to promote from within so Ferreiro will really have to step it up to earn his place. David will wear the number 7 jersey.

CDM - Sergi Darder (Spain) (72 OVR 21yrs)
Purchased from Malaga CF for $2,400,000
Arrived before 1st Friendly
The first actual purchase by Osasuna in this new season is a record breaking one for the Chavez-era, surpassing the $2m fee paid for Guillermo last season. After several failed attempts to get Darder in exchange for one of Osasuna's midfielders Chavez had to dish the out the cash to finally persuade Malaga. Darder is a youth graduate from Espanyol who was then transferred to Malaga's third division team, and eventually promoted to Malaga's first team in the first division. Darder plays as a defensive midfielder, but can also dribble and pass quite well making him a playmaker from the back. Once the season kicks off, Darder will wear the jersey number 30 as he did at Malaga.

GK - Jose Antonio Rodriguez (Mexico) (67 OVR 23yrs)
Purchased from Guadalajara for $2,000,000
Arrived after Friendlies
The final preseason signing, is the promising goalkeeper from Mexico Jose Antonio Rodriguez. Rodriguez is known for his aggressiveness and leadership in the box being very vocal with his defenders. The goalkeeper was an Olympic Gold Medallist with Mexico in the 2012 Summer Olympics hosted in London, and is one of the more promising goalkeepers in Mexico. Remember last season when Chavez signed Ramirez for an incredibly low fee? Well it looks like Guadalajara kept that in mind in while negotiating Rodriguez as they bumped the price up to two million, which Chavez shockingly agreed to. At first Guadalajara refused to negotiate the player, but money talks and they sure played their cards right when they saw the size of Chavez's wallet. With Santamaria's unhappiness at Osasuna, Rodriguez looks set to play with the B team while Santamaria will most likely have his wish come true and be transferred. Unfortunately Rodriguez's transfer wasn't cleared until after the preseason matches, so he did not have a chance to show himself in the friendlies. Rodriguez will wear the jersey number 26, the same he debuted with at Guadalajara before being given the number 1 jersey.

Transfers Out

CDM - Francisco Silva (Chile) (72 OVR 29yrs)
Sold to Malaga CF for $2,400,000
This was quite an interesting transfer. Chavez had tried to swap Silva for Darder but Malaga refused, even after Chavez offered to include cash plus the player. Eventually Chavez signed Darder with cash only, and then a couple weeks later Malaga made an offer for Silva for the exact same fee Osasuna paid for Darder. Malaga had an opportunity to have made a profit from this player, but the negotiator completely missed it and was left with pretty much a direct swap after all.

GK - Roberto Santamaria (Spain) (67 OVR 30yrs)
Sold to CD Numancia for $725,000
After frequently expressing his disagreement with management, Santamaria finally gets what he wanted and is transferred to a team where he will have more playing time. This move also sees him return to Liga Adelante, but he didn't mind as long as he'll be seeing more time on the field.

CB - Iñigo De Frutos (Spain) (64 OVR 20yrs)
Loaned to Ipswich Town

CM - Miguel Olavide (Spain) (62 OVR 19yrs)
Loaned to RCD Mallorca

CB - Unai Garcia (Spain) (62 OVR 22yrs) (+1)
Loaned to Doncaster
This defender had a tough time last season. He was named in the B Team lineup, but a torn muscle kept him out of touch for months. When he finally returned, his teammate De Frutos prevented him from seeing much game time through complaints. Garcia always kept himself in good cheer though. This loan will definitely help him develop.

Preseason Friendlies

CA Osasuna 2 - 1 FC Metz
OSA: Camarasa 41' Ferreiro 58'
FCM: Martino 83'

*Official jersey numbers weren't used during preseason, which is why Ferreiro is shown with the #30.*
The fans were given a great showing in the first friendly as the team prepares for La Liga. The lineup had a few changes from last season, with Sisi playing at LB instead of RW. The RW position was taken by David Ferreiro who was given a chance to show himself right away by Chavez. Miguel De Las Cuevas and Roberto Torres swapped positions with Torres at LW and Cuevas at LCM now. Also, Oier was taken out of the lineup in order to allow Sergi Darder to show what he can do in midfield. Darder took the CDM position while Camarasa moved to RCM. The move was a productive one, as Camarasa showed the damage he can do by scoring from outside the box with a first time shot in the 41st minute. Osasuna's midfield was rather interesting to watch with Camarasa and Darder both alternating positions every other play. David Ferreiro also made a good impression by scoring in his unofficial debut. Ferreiro was played through by Guillermo and dribbled into the box, forcing the goalkeeper to come out and then shooting the ball past him. Overall, a great match by Osasuna with Guillermo assisting both goals and Asier Riesgo playing an outstanding match, showing that he has the goalkeeper position locked down.

Stade Reims 2 - 2 CA Osasuna (B-Team)
OSA: Onwu 3' Garcia 48'
STA: Diego PEN 67' Conte 85'
The Osasuna B team hit the ground running but in the end they let a 2-0 lead go and finished with a draw. Manuel Onwu scored an early goal assisted by Ramirez, and then Jose Garcia scored an early goal in the second half, bringing the ball down with his chest in the box and then volleying it into the net. With Santamaria's departure and the negotiations for Rodriguez on hold the 18 year old goalkeeper Ezkieta, who had actually been transfer listed earlier this month, had to make his first start under Chavez and play with the B team. Ezkieta actually surprised everyone by making spectacular saves despite his lack of experience. The 6'4" goalkeeper was at the top of his game and motivated to show himself. The match was controlled by Osasuna until Miquel caused a penalty in the 67th minute that was shot down the middle while Ezkieta dove right. Regardless of the goal Ezkieta continued his great match trying to keep his team in the lead but unfortunately the French were able to score five minutes before the final whistle from a rebound. The team looked disheartened by the draw, but Chavez didn't look too bothered by it. The talk amongst the fans was more about Ezkieta than the draw. The B team's lineup only had a few changes compared to last season, with Oier starting at CM and Ezkieta starting in goal due to a lack of goalkeeper depth. Also, Marcos Alonso returned the B team as Sisi played LB with the first team in the last friendly.

CA Osasuna (B-Team) 1 - 3 Aston Villa
AST: Weimann 7' Sanchez 65' Bent 79'
OSA: Onwu 49'
Looks like the B team were still carrying that draw from the last friendly, because they had a terrible showing today. The English side dominated the first half and Weimann was continuously finding space between the centre backs Echaide and Miquel. For the second half Chavez changed from the 4-1-3-2 to a 4-3-3 Attack which had much better results and Osasuna deservedly equalized the match when they were on top. Osasuna tried to push for the lead but Aston Villa took advantage of Ezkieta's inexperience and won the match with two more goals in the second half. Chavez was seen shouting from the sideline almost the entire match trying to get his players to push forward but the players wouldn't respond at times, only adding on to Chavez's frustration. The Osasuna bench was not a happy one tonight, and I can only imagine the dressing room.
"Performances like the one we saw today are absolutely unacceptable. You cannot have this kind of attitude on the field when you are about to play in La Liga. There were times when we had a player dribbling the ball with the entire team behind him, including the striker! I will not release any names, but some players have received a warning. I promise the fans that this is certainly not the football we will be delivering this season and we will work hard to change it." - Chavez, post match conference.

Youth Academy

Joyce Barber - RM (54-58, 71-75): By reading his name one might assume the player is from the United Kingdom, but in fact he is a Spaniard. At least, he was born in Spain. Barber is only 5'4" but he has proven to be a playmaker from the wing even at 15 years of age.

Paré Bulhões Romeu - RW (65-73, 80-90): The second addition to the youth academy is this 16 year old from Spain, who carries the same first and middle name as the first player that joined the academy. He hasn't chosen his position yet, but so far we've seen him play as a striker, winger, and wide midfielder with the U-17s.

Paré Bulhões Vinuesa Ramos - CDM (64-68, 81-87): The 16 year old from Spain immediately caught Chavez's eye when the youth academy resumed operations last month, and he is now in line for a potential call up to the senior team in the future. Ramos stands at 6'3" and has chosen CDM as his primary position. The player covered several others in the youth team, so he looks to be a very versatile player on the field. The youngster also hasn't chosen which, whether his last name or maiden name, will be printed on his jersey when he does receive the call up...

Roussillon Murnane - ST (55-59, 71-75): The 5'9" 16-year old from Spain has shown the characteristics of a winger as he tends to drift wide from the center.

Press Conference

Mr. Chavez, so far this transfer window has been much more productive than those in the past. Last year you received some criticism for signing players for your alternative lineup, did you make it a priority to sign players for the first team this year?

"Ah yes I remember reading the headlines about that last year. In fact I remember you were the one that stirred up most of the criticism about that. But anyway, just because we spend money on a player that does not mean they will automatically be given a spot with our first team. The price tag doesn't mean anything to me when you're on the pitch and they'll have to train hard just like all the players that were already here."

Alright. Then do you feel that the B team is a bit weaker judging by the preseason showings now that you have not brought in players to reinforce it?

"I'm not worried about the B team's preseason. The transfer window is still active and we're still working on bringing in players. The B team wasn't at its full force then. I think the addition of Rodriguez in goal will certainly improve our organization at the back and the players we're working on bringing in will improve our game overall. We're putting together a team that will be more than capable to achieve our objectives this season."

Preseason Headline

Ezkieta's Performance Demands Second Chance
Jokin Ezkieta was considered an Osasuna promise by many, but once Chavez arrived to the club the 18 year old saw his chances diminish. After Ezkieta's less than productive loan spell last season the goalkeeper was transfer listed along with fellow youth graduate Yoel Sola. Once the friendlies kicked off Chavez found himself in need of an emergency goalkeeper for the B team, and Ezkieta was it. The 6'4" 18 year old truly impressed in his two matches played, despite receiving 5 goals, and was immediately taken off the transfer list but only to be put back on the loan list. If Ezkieta is able to go out on loan he will have another chance to impress Chavez.
"We made a mistake, I'll be the first to admit that. Fortunately we were able to realize it as the offers began coming in and we fixed it. We reviewed our options with Jokin and he informed us that he doesn't want to leave the club, but after discussing that opportunities would be limited we came to the conclusion that another loan spell would be the most beneficial for us both and he agreed. We look forward to seeing his development and if he stays on the right path there will always be a place for him here at Osasuna." - Chavez, Osasuna manager.

Conclusion
So far so good I would say. I really needed Ferreiro to step up during the preseason because he wouldn't fit with the B team, and even though he only played one match I think he proved he has the characteristics to play with the first team. Sergi Darder caught my eye while scouting, but I must admit he was not my first choice at CDM. My first choice was Rayo Vallecano's Jose Baena but Rayo demanded a fee upwards of $7m, way over my budget. I had also tried signing him on pre-contract last season but he refused since we were in Liga Adelante at the time. My second choice was David Lopez from Napoli but again, they demanded a fee far superior than what I have available. The B team still needs some work after that tough loss against Villa but with Rodriguez and others I'm working on bringing, I'm positive the B team will also be able to compete in the top division.

That's it for our preseason! Our first league match will be against Elche, and then we will host Rayo Vallecano. I haven't had a chance to catch up on the recent career updates but as soon as I can I'll make sure to comment on them! Any feedback is appreciated,
Thanks For Reading!

**_ChicoBass** · 02-04-2015, 09:47 PM

Re: How's Your FIFA Career Mode Going?

**vrabbit** · 02-04-2015, 09:59 PM

Re: How's Your FIFA 14 Career Mode Going?

Dagenham '18-19 Season
September Update

League Match 3
Dagenham - Sunderland (0-2)
Romarinho 62'
Romarinho 90'

Recap: Not a good showing by the Daggers on their first game this season without Reyna, often looking out of sync on offense. The defense eventually cracked on Romarinho's first goal and the Brazilian then finished the hosts outrunning Ilesanmi on a long ball and putting it past Leali before anyone could get in front of him.

League Match 4
Norwich City - Dagenham (2-1)
Hugo Viera 23'
Caseres 43' (Nimely)
Tettey 81'

Recap: With a showdown against Bayern Munich just two days later Dagenham was forced to play their B team for this one and the youngsters failed to deliver. In fairness to them they probably outplayed Norwich but they struggled to get good shots on goal and lost a heart-breaker near the end. Nevertheless it was an excellent debut by one of the Daggers' youngsters as Davor Alanovic played a terrific game and earned MOTM.

Champions League - Group State, Match 1
FC Bayern - Dagenham (3-1)
Wilkinson 2'
Cavani 36'
Elito 40'
Gotze 44'
Javi Martinez 90'

Recap: The drama started early on in this game as the referee made a very controversial decision to take Dagenham's best defender out of the game in the 2nd minute on what he perceived to be a "last man" foul. Richard Paez moved Monzon down to CB and ran a 4-3-2 for the remainder of the game. It was working, but Bayern's superior talent in attack gave them the 2-1 edge by the half and their suffocating defense held the Daggers to just 2 shots. Dagenham can only hope Javi Martinez's goal at the end won't come back to bite them in goal differential when group play is over, although not having Wilkinson for their next Champions match at Marseille surely is of concern as well.

League Match 5
Dagenham - Arsenal (4-3)
Wellington Silva 10'
Locadia 25' (Victor Andrade)
Traore 28'
Jones 50' (Locadia)
Jones 58' (Elito)
Diego Costa 76'
Caseres 87' (Elito)

Recap: THRILLING victory by Paez's squad, sorely needed after 3 consecutive defeats. Arsenal tried their best to make it 4 in a row but the lads weren't having it, too much pride for this squad. Paez's move to move Jon Toral to the bench and John Jones to the starting lineup (in the void left by Reyna) paid off big time and the squad performed a lot better. The fans showed a lot of love on the late winner and after the whistle and players and coaches were appreciative of that.

Capital One Cup - Round of 32
Dagenham - Watford (2-1)
McGyan 44'
Landa 79' (Nimely)
Nimely 113' (Akpom)

Recap: Alex Nimely is walking the walk. After approaching Paez earlier in the week pleading to not lose out on playing time Nimely got his chance to shine with the B team and led them to a comeback win over a feisty Watford squad. Nimely, who has earned the captain band with the B team, is actually the Daggers' best player statistically with 3 goals and 5 assists so far in all competitions.

League Match 6
Aston Villa - Dagenham (2-2)
Burke 17'
Monzon 59' (P)
Wijnaldum 89'
Monzon 90+'

Recap: Fernando Monzon WILLED the Daggers to a draw in this game after Villa Park roared following Wijnaldum's would-be game-winner in the 89th minutes. Dagenham seem destined to return to the losing column after a lot of good effort and a final desperate attempt to get something going resulted in a miracle when a lob from Victor Andrade was initially deflected by a defender who made the ball go farther up in the air, where Monzon outjumped his defender to arc the ball over the Villa goalkeeper who could do nothing but watch. Dagenham continues to lack a killer instinct without last season's MVP but they're leaving everything out on the pitch each time out.

English Premier League - Standings
1. Chelsea - 16pts
2. Manchester City - 14pts
3. Arsenal - 11pts
4. Manchester Utd - 11pts
5. Sunderland - 11pts
...
12. Dagenham - 6pts
...
18. Stoke City - 4pts
19. Crystal Palace - 4pts
20. QPR - 2pts

Champions League - Group E
1. FC Bayern - 3pts
2. Marseille - 1pt
3. Galatasaray SK - 1pt
4. Dagenham - 0pts

Very rough month, definitely more of what we would have expected during the Daggers' first months in the EPL last season. Closer to the relegation zone than European competition, Dagenham is going to have to find a way to turn it around without Reyna who isn't likely to return to the squad until the end of November. Very unfortunate luck playing 10 vs 11 for practically the entirety of the match against last season's European champion but luckily the other two group opponents only managed a draw in their matchup so Dagenham could get right back in the mix on their next game when they visit France. Although none of them are actually having a bad season, the club would benefit from the trio of Vilna/Locadia/Andrade stepping their games up right now.

In academy news, as a result of Richard Paez renewing his contract with the FVF (Venezuelan national team), the club agreed to send their best scout, Englishman Danny Harriott (4* EXP/5* JUD) to Venezuela for 6 months. Fellow Englishman Kelvin Purkiss (2*/3*) has been sent to Croatia while Irishman Gavin Byrne (3*/3*) is traveling to Netherlands. Their first reports should be coming in midway through October, meanwhile here's the youth squad:

Fernando Romero (LW, 63-67 OVR, 88-94 POT): 16-year old from Uruguay who is undoubtedly our top prospect at the moment. There's a chance he will be played at striker in which case he could contribute as early as this season, but he'd probably benefit more from a full season in the academy.
Dean Murphy (LM, 64-68, 81-87): 17-year old from Ireland who projects as a complete midfielder with excellent ball control. Technically gifted.
Nathan Kenny (RM, 63-67, 83-89): 17-year old from Ireland also described as technically gifted and also projecting as a complete midfielder.
Sean Foran (LM, 62-66, 83-89): 15-year old from Ireland who is the fastest out of all the Irishmen in the academy. Our midfield could be 75% Irish in the near future.
Fabrice Mengual (RM, 56-60 78-84): 16-year old playmaker from France who actually projects as more of a CAM.
Pablo Escobar (CAM, 60-64, 74-80): 17-year old from Venezuela who likely won't improve much more this season unless he stays in the academy until May.
Matthieu Maupay (CAM, 57-61, 74-80)*: 16-year old from France finally settled in at a position. Described as an attacker.
Ciaran Kavanagh (CM, 58-62, 72-78): 16-year old from Ireland who also projects as a CAM.
Magnus Gerndt (RW, 53-57, 72-78): 17-year old from Sweden who may not progress much more in the academy unless he remains there for another full season.
Cesar Miguel (CDM, 52-56, 72-78): 16-year old from Venezuela who is defensive minded. He needs another season in the academy.

* Denotes recent addition to the academy.

Current roster (* Denotes player graduated from the youth academy):

Spoiler

International Friendlies

Venezuela - Colombia (2-1)
Ibarbo 5'
Perdomo 60' (A. Vallejo)
Perdomo 76' (Zambrano)

Egypt - Venezuela (1-5)
Garrego 15' (J. Añor)
A. Vallejo 21'
Perdomo 36' (Fedor Flores)
Gaber 70'
A. Vallejo 76' (Peña)
J. Añor 90+' (P)

Comments: GREAT results considering the B and C squads were called for these friendlies, with the B team grabbing the victory against Colombia and the C team DOMINATING in Egypt. Perdomo continues to score whenever given the chance and hopefully he'll continue to develop into a future star up front.

Opponents in October:

10/3 - Marseille
10/7 - Crystal Palace
10/10 - Tottenham
10/13 - Cameroon (Venezuela)
10/17 - Cameroon (Venezuela)
10/ 20 - Chelsea
10/ 24 - Galatasaray SK
10/27 - Everton
10/30 - Arsenal (C.O. Cup)

Wish me luck!

**Cruzerr** · 02-05-2015, 06:51 AM

Re: How's Your FIFA Career Mode Going?

Hey guys, sorry for not been posting. I've been rather busy with life lately but I have been reading and enjoying career modes, just haven't had time to comment on them all.

My controller also broke so I kinda lost motivation to play fifa, however, I have played a month upfront so I can still do 2 posts. I think I will play with the keyboard, yet I am quite sure my results will drop just a tad bit.

**10cabee** · 02-05-2015, 12:07 PM

Re: How's Your FIFA Career Mode Going?

Exeter City F.C

FIFA 15 – Season 2

The Grecians

The Team List:

GK: Glen Mabil : 65 : Age 16 (Youth Squad Player)
RB: Christian Ribeiro : 65 : Age 25
RB: Danny Butterfield : 56 : Age 35
CB: Jordan Moore-Taylor : 62 : Age 21
CB:Ryan Inniss : 65 : Age 20
LB: Craig Woodman : 58 : Age 32
LWB:Amari’i Bell : 61 : Age 21
RM:Paris Cowan-Hall : 60 : Age 24
CM: Tim Payne : 61 : Age 22 (Recalled)
CM: Liam Sercombe : 65 : Age 25
CM: Matthew Grimes : 60 : Age 19
CM: Matt Oakley : 56 : Age 37
CM: Jason Pope : 49 : Age 19
CM: Reece Brown : 61 : Age 19
CM:Craig Eastmond : 65 : Age 24
CM: Jake Flannigan : 59 : Age 19
RW:Kwabena Appiah : 63 : Age 23
ST: Albian Ajeti : 61 : Age 18
ST: Jake Sinclair : 62 : Age 20
ST: Matthew Jay : 49 : Age 19
ST: Devante Cole : 65 : Age 20 (On Loan with £230,000 Future Fee)

Bee’s Starting 11:

GK: Pym
RB: Ribeiro (C)
RCB: Moore-Taylor
LCB: Inniss
LB: Bell
CDM: Sercombe
RM: Cowan-Hall
CM: Brown
LM: Appiah
RS: Cole
LS: Ajeti

4-1-3-2

Transfers In:

Reece Brown

Position: CM

Age: 19

Overall: 61

For: £210,000

From: Birmingham City

Devante Cole

Position: ST

Age: 20

Overall: 65

On Loan (Future Fee of £230,000)

From: Manchester City

Transfers Out:

Jamie Reid

To: Shrewsbury
For: £260,000

Aaron Dawson

To: Cambridge Utd
For: £75,000

Ollie Watkins

To: Mansfield Town
For: £60,000

Pat Baldwin

To: Dagenham
For: £35,000

James Hamon

To: Drogheda Utd
For: £10,000

January

SkyBet League 1 Match:

Preston 0 – Exeter City 1

EXE – Reid (33’)

Watkins collects the ball on the right and whips the ball to the back post where Jamie Reid slides in front of a defender to poke the ball under the keeper’s body and across the line.

Our Best Performer: Glen Mabil

SkyBet League 1 Match:

Exeter City 3 – Crawley Town 1

EXE –Bell (13’)

Criag Eastmond collects the ball on the right and whips a ball in to the back post where Bell muscles in front of the remaining defender to nod the ball home.

EXE – Ajeti (41’)

Appiah obtains the ball on the left and delivers a low ball into the box for Jake Sinclair but it is deflected and it luckily falls to Ajeti who controls it before calmly placing the ball into the corner.

CRA –Essam (47’)

Isaacs lifts the ball over the head of Inniss and Essam sprints onto it and hits the ball into the roof of the net.

CRA – PEN (66’)

Isaacs has the ball on the left and sprints into the area. Moore-Taylor blocks the run of the attacker and the referee deems it a penalty. It’s rather harsh and Moore-Taylor gets no card. Hassam steps up for the penalty and goes down the middle. Glen Mabil sees it and catches the ball before throwing the ball toe Jake Sinclair for a quick attack.

EXE –Eastmond (79’)

Sinclair gets the ball on the right and he manages to dribble past two defenders before knocking the ball into the box which allows Eastmond, who’s in acres of space to just tap the ball home.

Our Best Performer: Albian Ajeti

F.A Cup Match:

Exeter City 3 – Nottingham Forest 2

EXE –Reid (9’)

Albian Ajeti is bundled over by David Vaughan and Exeter City get a free-kick around thirty-five yards out. Jamie Reid steps up and wraps his foot around the ball. It has enough pace and curve to go past the goalkeeper and into the top left corner. That has to be one of the best free-kicks that Bee has ever managed under! It’s a massive shame that Jamie Reid is sure to go at the end of the season...

NOT – Veldwijk (PEN) (40’)

A cross is delivered into the back post where Veldwijk tries to take a touch. Amari’i Bell muscles in front of him and clears the ball away but the whistle blows and the referee points to the spot. That was quite harsh, there wasn’t really much in it...

NOT – Assombalonga (47’)

Lars Veldwijk receives the ball on the left and delivers a low ball into the middle where Britt Assombalonga slides in and manages to slip it past the off-balance Mabil and into the corner.

EXE – Ajeti (54’)

A great through ball by Jake Flannigan allows Jake Sinclair to leave the defence behind him and collect the ball on the right. He drifts into the middle and cuts the ball back to Albian Ajeti who rolls the ball into the net.

EXE –Watkins (84’)

Appiah makes a blistering run to the right where he cuts the ball back to Ollie Watkins who’s outside of the box. He flicks the ball past a defender before smashing the ball with his weaker foot into the top left corner of the goal. He might have got the most important goal of the match and he’s only been on the pitch for two minutes!

Our Best Performer: Albian Ajeti

SkyBet League 1 Match:

Oldham Athletic 0 – Exeter City 2

EXE –Cowan-Hall (21’)

Ribeiro passes to Ollie Watkins on the right who then crosses the ball low to the far post where Cowan-Hall slots the ball into the net. The loss of Jamie Reid has not affected Exeter City at the moment...

EXE – Watkins (PEN) (49’)

David Noble tries to prevent Ollie Watkins from shooting but ends up bringing him down and getting nothing on the ball. Watkins steps up for the penalty and smashes the ball into the top left corner. The technique was sublime! No goalkeeper could have saved that!

Our Best Performer: Ollie Watkins (Credit to Matt Oakley who started for the first time this season (so I could rest Liam Sercombe for the Doncaster game only a day away) and he was absolutely amazing! He might get more time on the pitch due to that performance!)

J. Paint Trophy Match:

Exeter City 2 – Doncaster 1

DON – Muñoz (55’)

Doncaster are in the lead after woeful defending from Exeter. Moore-Taylor just allows Angel Muñoz to skip through into the penalty area where he simply slots the ball into the bottom corner.

EXE –Jay (56’)

Jay starts the match and Sinclair sprints at the defenders. He drifts to the left before cutting in and rifling a shot at the keeper. The rebound falls straight to Matthew Jay who just guides the ball over the line.

EXE –Jay (57’)

What an amazing three minutes! Doncaster starts the game off and pass the ball back to one of their defenders. Jay follows the ball and slides in beautifully to steal the ball off of defender, Will Cofie. Jay finds himself one-on-one with the keeper. All Jay has to do is nudge the ball to the right a little, allowing him to curl the ball around the keeper and into the corner of the net.

Our Best Performer: Matthew Jay

SkyBet League 1 Match:

Brentford 1 – Exeter City 2

EXE – Sinclair (45’)

Appiah delivers a low ball into the middle from the left. The ball is deflected but only to Jake Sinclair who takes a great touch to control the ball and then slot it into the bottom corner.

EXE –Ajeti (48’)

Tim Payne collects the ball on the right for his first start of the season. He crosses into the corridor of uncertainly and Jake Sinclair manages to poke the ball at the keeper. Nevertheless, the keeper makes a great save but can’t stop the rebound from Ajeti going in.

BRE – Grigg (61’)

Alan Judge picks the ball up on the left and delivers a low cross to the back post where Will Grigg dives across Bell to poke the ball home.

BRE – Tarkowski (RED) (80’)

Ajeti wins the ball on the edge of the penalty area and is crunched by James Tarkowski. James sees red and is off. There is plenty of protesting by the Brentford side and they do have a point. It is extremely difficult to judge whether the defender is the last man or not but this might have ruined the comeback that the fans were looking for...

BRE – PEN (82’)

Will Grigg is tackled in the penalty area by Moore-Taylor and it’s a penalty. Will Grigg steps up for the penalty and smashes the ball onto the right post and out of harm’s way. What do Brentford have to do to get an equaliser!

Our Best Performer: Glen Mabil

SkyBet League 1 Match:

Exeter City 2 – Colchester 1

COL – Holman (5’)

Tom Nichols returns to St James Park and manages to poke the ball into space for Holman who curls the ball around the keeper and just inside the post.

EXE –Ajeti (35’)

Tim Payne sprints down the middle. He does a couple of step-overs before feeding the ball to Albian Ajeti in the box who takes it first time to beat the keeper at the near post.

EXE –Bell (69’)

Cowan-Hall takes a corner from the right and Amari’i Bell rises above the rest to head the ball sweetly into the far corner.

Our Best Performer: Amari’i Bell

F.A Cup Match:

Southampton 2 – Exeter City 1

SOU –Osvaldo (30’)

Victor Wanyama collects the ball on the edge of the area and feeds the ball to Osvaldo who shoots on the half turn with his weaker foot and the ball zips past Glen Mabil who really should have saved it.

SOU –Osvaldo (51’)

This Southampton team is just too much for Exeter City as Gaston Ramirez pokes the ball through the legs of Ryan Inniss and to the sliding Osvaldo in the box who manages to poke the ball past the goalkeeper and into the back of the net. Mabil should have saved that one too in all honesty...

EXE –Sinclair (PEN) (63’)

Jake Sinclair turns Florin Gardoş in the box but he leaves a foot trailing to make the attacker go down. Gardoş gets a yellow as Sinclair composes himself to take the penalty. He smashes the ball into the top right corner and it leaves the goalkeeper to simply watch as he dives to the wrong side. Exeter City might be back in this now that Southampton’s two main threats; Dušan Tadic and Danny Olsvaldo have been taken off.

Exeter City’s Player of the Month:

Albian Ajeti

SkyBet League 1 Table

1. Exeter City - 87 points
2. Sheffield Utd - 68 points
3. Barnsley - 65 points
----------
4. Blackpool - 59 points
5. Brentford - 57 points
----------
8. MK Dons - 47 points
9. Preston - 44 points
10. Chesterfield - 44 points
----------
21. Bradford City – 22 points
22. Port Vale – 21 points
23. Oldham Athletic – 20 points
24. Oxford United – 19 points

Youth Academy:

Aaron Dean (United States) 16 years old 51-59 OVR 81-94 POT
- Aaron Dean looks to have great potential if he can knuckle down and get a lot of first team action. He favours to play on the left but this left-footed playmaker looks like he would also be comfortable in the middle.

Career Record (W: D :L): 71-15-8

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**Simppu12** · 02-05-2015, 03:13 PM

Re: How's Your FIFA Career Mode Going?

Glory Glory Man United

May 2018 - The Finale
excluding the World Cup

May 4th

I was playing with my son when my phone rang. It was Joel f*cking Glazer. That American prick, together with hir brother, really knows how to ruin an enjoyable evening.

"Hello, mister Glazer."

"I have important news for you and for the club."

I swallowed and my hands were getting sweaty. Surely it couldn't be what I was fearing.

"Please, go ahead."

"Well", he paused for a second, "I'm not sure if you realise that we are the bosses here, and we've heard that you abuse your players."

"Excuse me but what did you just say? Abuse my players?! Since when does punishing count as abusing? I am not the first f*cking manager in the world to make his players run around the pitch when they've played badly!"

"Our sources claim that it wasn't just running around the pitch."

"Your sources? What are you talk- it's Fabio and Manuel, right? They complained and lyed about me. Maybe if you weren't so far up your own a*s you would check my real methods but no, you're Joel fu*king Glazer and you think you're better than everyone else. You and your brother are nothing more than just a few arrogan-"

"We have decided that you won't be part of Manchester United next season. Your contract will be terminated after the final game. Now, excuse me but I have to go."

"You won't be able to terminate my contract because I'll resign before that!"

Then the call ended. I was furious. How could those two fat, burger-eating, fastfood-loving, God-complexed and gun-holding Americans terminate my contract?! The contract of the only manager who has been able to win the quadruple. The contract of the manager, who took the team from sixth to second in five months. The contract of the manager, who created the best team in the world.

"Honey, who was it?"

"Joel Glazer. He said that I'll be fired after our last game."

"Are you serious?"

"Don't worry baby, it's going to be alright. We'll move away from England to Spain, Bulgaria or Italy depending on what team offers me a job."

***
May 5th

Tottenham Hotspur 0 - 2 Manchester United
Vidal 61', Bale 90'

"A good performance from the boys. It wasn't the best game ever but they played well. Vidal's half volley was a nice goal and Gareth's (Bale) scissor kick in the last minutes was beautifully performed."

***

May 6th

"What the fu*k is wrong with you? How can you lose a job like this one?!"

"Mino, if I wanted to hear complains I would've called my mother-in-law. Just shut up."

"You're a lunatic."

"And you're a prick. Are there any teams from the south that are interested in signing me?"

"Yes, there are a few. Monaco, Fiorentina, Sevilla, Levski and Ludogorets. Nothing too serious yet, though."

"Try to get me a contract at Levski or at Ludogorets."

"The worst and lowest-paying teams of the list? I think you really are fu*king crazy."

"Just start negoatiations with them."

***

May 9th

Southampton 0 - 1 Manchester United
Bale 54'

Simulated.

***

May 12th

Final
Newcastle United

Spoiler

1 - 4

Manchester United

Spoiler

"You play for the best team in the world. You are the best players in the world. Who are Newcastle? They are nobody. You will go out there in a minute and show them why you're the best. If you don't want to win the game for yourselves, do it for me. This will be my last domestic final at the club. Now go and fight 'till the end! Oh, and Fabio, you don't need to come to training anymore. I know what you did. Manuel, you're the best keeper in the world but as a person you are worse than a murderer."

***
"What a dribble! Go on Isco, yes! This is what I'm talking about! Great finish, son!"

***
"Play it across goal to Wazza! Yes, that's it! Wonderful first time shot! Suck it, Pardew."

"Calm down, there's still time left."

"For a few more goals, maybe."

***
"Counter them! Stay on the left, Gareth! Go Arjen, go! Yeees! Game over, Magpies!"

***

"Stay close to him! Don't let him jump higher than you like that! Don't let the goal affect you, guys."

***
"This is a good position for a free kick. Just get it over the wall. Will he get do it? Oh yes, what a beauty! The cup is ours!"

***

Manchester United Win the FA Cup!
Sorry for missing images, I forgot them.

***

May 20th

Manchester United 3 - 0 Arsenal FC
Bale 59', 88' Sterling 65'

"This will be our last league game together. Our last game on Old Trafford together. I love almost every one of you and you're like a family to me. I will always remember you and you hold a place in my heart. Go, and beat Arsenal. Go, and make me proud. I know this is a pointless game but prove once again why you are the best in England."

***

"We played a very good game of football today. Gareth (Bale) played well and got an important brace. Sadly Karim (Benzema) failed to score again but he still has time to prepare for the Champions League final."

***

May 26th

Final
Bayern München

Spoiler

1 - 2

Manchester United

Spoiler

"We have done it! We have done our second treble in a row! What a game of football this Champions League final was. I wasn't sure about us winning when RvP scored in the first fifteen minutes but Arjen (Robben) played on his best level tonight and ironically enough it was him who won us the Champions League. I'm upset because my spell at ManU has come to an end but I enjoyed my time a lot."

***

This is the part where you decide what will happen next. There are three options for the ending and you can choose the one you want.

The Good

Spoiler

The Bad

Spoiler

The Ugly

Spoiler

Premier League Table

1. Manchester United, 102 pts
2. Chelsea FC, 80 pts
3. Tottenham Hotspur, 75 pts
4. Liverpool FC, 70 pts
-------------------------------------------
5. Arsenal FC, 68 pts
-------------------------------------------
6. Everton FC, 59 pts
7. Manchester City, 58 pts
8. West Bromwich Albion, 54 pts
9. Swansea City, 49 pts
10. Stoke City, 49 pts
11. Southampton, 48 pts
12. Newcastle United, 48 pts
13. Aston Villa, 45 pts
14. West Ham United, 40 pts
15. Norwich City, 37 pts
16. Hull City, 36 pts
17. QPR, 34 pts
-------------------------------------------
18. Fulham FC, 33 pts
19. Crystal Palace, 28 pts
20. Derby County, 28 pts

Golden Boot

Gareth Bale, Manchester United, 22 goals
Karim Benzema, Manchester United, 14 goals
Diego Costa, Chelsea FC, 14 goals

Most Assists

Christian Eriksen, Tottenham Hotspur, 10 assists
Wayne Rooney, Manchester United, 8 assists
Raheem Sterling, Manchester United, 8 assists

Golden Glove

Petr Cech, Chelsea FC, 19 clean sheets
Roberto, Tottenham Hotspur, 16 clean sheets
Simon Mignolet, 12 clean sheets

Capital One Cup: Chelsea FC
FA Cup: Manchester United
Champions League: Manchester United
Europa League: Manchester City

That was it. There will be two more posts before the return to Verona and those two will be the squad review and the world cup (I'm preparing for it by listening to old songs world cup songs and by watching videos from the -94 world cup haha). After that I'll continue from where I left off with Verona which is December 2015. I won't change teams in that career unless I get bored of it.

Thank you for reading this post! I hope you have enjoyed it! Any feedback or suggestions will be appreciated!

**redsox4evur** · 02-05-2015, 03:24 PM

Re: How's Your FIFA Career Mode Going?

Originally posted by Simppu12

I'm preparing for it by listening to old songs world cup songs and by watching videos from the -94 world cup haha.

Suggestion:

This song on repeat

http://youtu.be/pRpeEdMmmQ0

**_ChicoBass** · 02-05-2015, 06:53 PM

Re: How's Your FIFA Career Mode Going?

Simppu: Congratulations on winning the treble! Your titles and league points really show how dominant the squad you put together really is. There was no way anyone else would be able to challenge you. For the ending it depends, will you actually manage the team from Bulgaria or will you just end it there? I liked that ending. I see it as the move that will return Corleone to his roots, and back to sanity. I know he isn't from Bulgaria but since you are, I feel that would be the change of air that would help him reflect on his life. Whatever ending you end up going with, I'll still be looking forward to your return to Verona and also the World Cup with Bulgaria!

Lebowski: Welcome to the forum! Always good to see some newcomers around here glad you decided to sign up. Your preseason looked good, except the understandable defeat against Arsenal, but man you've had a rough start to the season. The good thing is you were able to get your first league win in the final match of the month. Hopefully you can get yourself a second win in a row so you can start shaking off those bad results from the beginning. The only changes I would make to your post have already been mentioned, but one thing I would like to see is at least a screenshot of the league table. That way we can see how you're holding up in the league compared to the rest of the teams. Looking forward to reading more!

Texasbum: As Indiblue pointed out, Munich is yours! Defeating Bayern was incredible and I really liked the photo you attached for the player of the month. What a goal that was! Looks like 1860 is really struggling to adapt to the top division. Not only with the demolishing you gave them but also 0 points in 8 games is really bad. The top of the table also surprised me. Hamburg, the team fighting for survival IRL, is top of the table?! That's crazy, but at the same time I like it. I don't follow German football much, but Hamburger are pretty much my favorite from the Bundesliga. You've had a bumpy start to the Champions League but I'm sure you'll come back from it. It was good to see the Mexicans getting goals in Europe, Dos Santos (Villarreal) and Corona (Twente), but at the same time I'm sorry that they were against you. Like I said though, St. Pauli are getting the reputation of coming back from tough starts in your career so I'm sure you'll turn it around!

vRabbit: I'm loving these youth academy player profiles. Truly great write ups summarizing the player's career since joining the academy. You're adding so much information from the player's journey it's awesome. Great work! The videos were great, I remember watching the goal with the national team, but I had never seen the second video before. That was an amazing header! It's also amazing how a player with low/low work rates has done so well for you and trying him out at CAM despite it not being listed in his profile was a great choice. Keep these posts coming!

*I apologize for those careers I wasn't able to comment on but I really need to get to work now. Haven't left my office in a while already haha I assure you though that I am reading your posts! Keep up the great work gents!*

**jamiec47** · 02-05-2015, 08:23 PM

Re: How's Your FIFA Career Mode Going?

TOON TO THE TOP
SEASON 3
PS4

Match 15

Reading 2-3 Newcastle
Drenthe 6
Aarons 20
Bony 41
Bony 81
Pogrebnyak 88
A thrilling game against a lowly Reading side, with their star man and former Real Madrid player Royston Drenthe giving them the lead early on. He cut inside and beat M'Biwa on the turn before coolly placing into the bottom corner with little effort. Aarons was able to equalise for us, being played through and taking a touch with the outside of his right boot to cut into the box before smashing beyond the keeper. We took the lead through Bony, heading in from the edge of the 6 yard box, and extremely powerful header which struck the post and went in. The second half was relatively dull, with the game bogged down in midfield, until the last 10 minutes. Bony got the ball, shrugged off his marker and thundered the ball into the top corner to extend our lead. Reading hit back with Russian international Pogrebnyak finding the bottom corner of the half volley but Reading couldn't find an equaliser.

Champions League Group Stage Match 6

Newcastle 4-0 Lokomotiv
Kampl 10
Kampl 34
Perez 56 (PEN)
Ronaldinho 88 (PEN)
A match in which we destroyed our Russian counterparts to cruise into the last 16 top of our group. Former RB Salzburg winger Kampl opened the scoring for us, cutting inside and smashing it in at the near post. The Slovenian talisman then double our lead, flicking past the defender before stroking calmly into the bottom right hand corner. The third came from the penalty spot after Barkley was dragged to the ground and it was 4-0 from the penalty spot again, this time substitute Ronaldinho finding the corner after Aarons was tripped.

Match 16

Newcastle 3-1 Norwich
Perez 29 (PEN)
Yanga-M'Biwa 57
Bassong 59
Barkley 81
A great win against another struggling side. Perez opened the scoring from the penalty spot, something that seems to be a common occurrence, after Bony was rashly took out. M'Biwa made it 2, heading in from a corner after losing his marker and being left for a free header at the near post. Bassong pulled one back just a couple of minutes later from a corner of their own, rising highest to power the header beyond Begovic. Barkley made sure of the win late on, beating his man before smashing the ball hard and low beyond the keeper.

Match 17

Stoke 0-1 Newcastle
Perez 53
In an extremely drab game, Perez got the only goal, curling it in from the edge of the box to finally break the deadlock before the game once again became and boring midfield battle.

Match 18

Arsenal 0-1 Newcastle
Bony 72
The battle between 3rd and 1st. And it didn't seem to be a very interesting battle, with all of the attacks being thwarted by the astounding defensive partnerships of Mertesacker and Kosicelny, and Yanga-M'Biwa and Reid. The most significant point of this match was the début of Andre Schurrle, finally returning from injury to play 25 minutes of this crucial tie, and it was he who got brought down to win a free kick on the wing. The ball was whipped in but headed clear, only for M'Biwa to head it back into the box to Bony. The Ivorian took one touch that allowed him to turn with the ball still having not touched the ground, and on his 180° turn struck it sweetly in off the post. An absolute beauty of a finish.

Match 19

Newcastle 4-1 West Brom
Perez 20
Perez 26 (PEN)
Gardner 55
Aarons 59
Ayoze 68
Simmed.

Match 20

Newcastle 1-0 Arsenal
Schurrle 88
The second time we had met each other in 3 league games, but this time it was 1st vs 2nd. Arsenal dominated the game and we really didn't look like league winners in this game. Ramsey dominated the midfield, Campbell and Walcott on the wings were nightmares to deal with and Jackson Martinez didn't stop causing us trouble. Begovic pulled off the save of the season, getting in the way of a Martinez header before getting up to get one hand to the rebound and then positioning himself excellently to get his body in the way of Campbell's follow up. They had another great chance, the ball in going behind our defence but Campbell smashed the ball off the bar and Begoivic was able to get up to pluck the ball out of the air before Welbeck could turn home the rebound. We won it very late on, the ball through finding Schurrle in only his second game, and his first start, to strike the ball. Szczesny got a hand to it but only palmed it straight back to Schurrle who flicked it under him and ran round to tap into the empty net and win the game.

Sorry about no table, forgot to record them but I hope that makes up for my complete lack of detail

**redsox4evur** · 02-06-2015, 12:08 AM

Re: How's Your FIFA Career Mode Going?

OK I'm going to start a new career in FIFA 15. After my Chelsea one, which I didn't post because it was only my first one and I just wanted to play it, got lost do to the Youth Academy not working. So I am going to start a new one and hope that it doesn't happen again. I created a poll and it will close in about 13 hours because I am heading home from college this weekend and I am leaving Friday at 1:30ish Eastern Standard time and I should be home by 2:30. So on here the time would be around 7:30 PM.

http://strawpoll.me/3573026

Here is the poll. I like using the big money teams and keeping the team great. And if the YA works, I think I am only going to sign YA kids and regens, that's it. And I will post here as much as possible because I am at college and I don't have my X1 at school with me.

**Keano16** · 02-06-2015, 04:38 AM

Re: How's Your FIFA Career Mode Going?

Originally posted by redsox4evur

OK I'm going to start a new career in FIFA 15. After my Chelsea one, which I didn't post because it was only my first one and I just wanted to play it, got lost do to the Youth Academy not working. So I am going to start a new one and hope that it doesn't happen again. I created a poll and it will close in about 13 hours because I am heading home from college this weekend and I am leaving Friday at 1:30ish Eastern Standard time and I should be home by 2:30. So on here the time would be around 7:30 PM.

http://strawpoll.me/3573026

Here is the poll. I like using the big money teams and keeping the team great. And if the YA works, I think I am only going to sign YA kids and regens, that's it. And I will post here as much as possible because I am at college and I don't have my X1 at school with me.

I went with Juventus as I feel that they are the biggest challenge out of the 4 while still having some nice pieces to work with. I don't watch Italian football very much so I could be wrong but that's my vote.

I should be able to comment on others careers later on today.

**indiblue** · 02-06-2015, 04:39 AM

Re: How's Your FIFA Career Mode Going?

The Wednesday: December 2014

December 6, Riverside Stadium
FL Championship: Matchday 19

MID 1-3 SHW
64' Kike
41' Nuhiu, 44' McCabe, 69' Maghoma
MotM: K. Westwood (SHW)

Sheffield Wednesday faced one of their toughest matches of the season at Boro, who are banking on Jelle Vossen to keep up his form of scoring. With 18 games played and 12 points between the two teams, it was never going to be anything but one-sided, but the hosts gave the league leaders a good fight. It took 40 minutes for Wednesday to find the lead through Adthe Nuhiu, but once they did, Rhys McCabe chipped in with a second before halftime. Kike found the net midway through the second half to put Wednesday on the back foot, but Jacques Maghoma sealed the win soon thereafter.

"We showed a tremendous fighting spirit today. Boro were very hard to break down, and the credit has to go to Aitor Karanka for putting together such a good team. My own players weren't in the best form, but we took the chances that came our way with clinical precision. Wins like these are how you achieve great things like promotion."

December 13, Hillsborough Stadium
FL Championship: Matchday 20

SHW 3-2 BHA
4' Maghoma, 38' John, 72' Palmer
7' Holla, 43' Toko
MotM: K. Westwood (SHW)

It was the match everyone at Sheffield Wednesday had been waiting for: a chance for their current boss to get a shot at his former club. Jacques Maghoma netted with his first touch of the ball, but Danny Holla's free kick levelled the score. Declan John got his first goal, but Nzuzi Toko pulled one back to make it 2-2 at halftime. Wednesday dominated the second half, taking the lead through Liam Palmer before shutting up shop and denying the visitors any shot at a valuable point. Brighton remain on a paltry 17 points, just three clear of the relegation zone.

"It was good to see some of the players I used to work with, but my mind was focused on only one thing, which was getting the three points. Brighton are the first team to score more than once against us this season, so we need to give them credit for their attack. We made a few mistakes today, but the important thing is that we won."

December 20, The Den
FL Championship: Matchday 21

MIL 1-2 SHW
68' Easter
18' 83' Nuhiu
MotM: A. Nuhiu (SHW)

Adthe Nuhiu scored a brace for Sheffield Wednesday to help them get past a resurgent Millwall, who have won their last five to break into the top half of the table. Indi Blue was conspicuous by his absence, the Wednesday head coach having travelled home to Hampshire to attend to personal matters. Assistant coach Lee Bullen took over for the game and was quite enthusiastic during the post-match press conference.

"It felt great to be temporarily in charge. Obviously, we stuck to the tactics and ideas that have served us well during the season. I'm proud to be associated with this club, and to be entrusted with leading this team in the absence of our head coach was a special opportunity. We did almost everything right today, and I'm pleased for Adthe to pick up two more goals. It shows that we can deal with the injuries we will face."

December 23, Hillsborough Stadium
FL Championship: Matchday 22

SHW 2-1 BIR
14' Helan, 85' Maguire
55' Niederlechner
MotM: A. Nuhiu (SHW)

Lee Bullen once again took charge of the first team, this time at home, as head coach Indi Blue remains tied up with personal matters. Jeremy Helan scored the opener, but Florian Niederlechner levelled the score. Chris Maguire was then brought on for his first appearance since October, and turned out to be the difference with a late goal.

December 27, Ewood Park
FL Championship: Matchday 23

BLB 0-1 SHW
36' Helan
MotM: J. Helan

Lee Bullen took charge of a third consecutive game at Ewood Park, helping Sheffield Wednesday to a 1-0 win over Blackburn courtesy Jeremy Helan's spectacular goal from 20 yards. The win pairs with Norwich's loss at Cardiff to open up a healthy, six-point gap between Wednesday and the Norfolk side.

Automatic Promotion

58

52

Play-off Spots

46

43

39

39

Relegation Zone

14

12

12

Sheffield Wednesday end 2014 six points clear at the summit of their division. Having been on the verge of administration less than ten years ago, the South Yorkshire side have been extremely astute under Serbian-American owner Milan Mandaric, who has ensured the presence of a comprehensive footballing infrastructure encompassing all aspects of the game: research, analysis, training, recovery, development, scouting, recruitment, and commercial opportunities. Since taking over as head coach in the summer, Indi Blue has taken those resources and converted them into progress via results. It will be exciting to see if Wednesday can hang on to this lead and secure promotion to the Premier League. And if they do, it will be even more interesting to see how they grow with greater finances and visibility at their disposal.

In other news, several Wednesday players have been tied down to new, long-term contracts. Rhys McCabe, Giles Coke, Tom Lees, Kieran Lee, and a few others have been tied down to new deals ranging from three to four years in length. Irish midfield player Paul Corry, meanwhile, has had his contract terminated by mutual consent, while Seko Fofana and Godfred Donsah's loan deals have been cut short as they return to Manchester City and Cagliari, respectively. Keiren Westwood is also expected to sign an extension to his current contract, but not before the end of the season.

**indiblue** · 02-06-2015, 05:05 AM

Re: How's Your FIFA Career Mode Going?

The Wednesday: January 2015

Unfortunately, I somehow deleted the file on my phone with January's results and info, so I'll instead tell you what happened. We began the month by listing a couple of boys for transfer, and hoping that none of the big teams would come in for Stevie May, who had just returned to training. Our first game on January 3 was at home against Derby County, where we managed a tight 0-0. We then faced off at Rotherham in round 3 of the FA Cup, drawing 1-1 to earn a replay at home. We enjoyed the narrowest 1-0 win in that replay thanks to Jacques Maghoma, and then drew our next two games against Birmingham and Leeds. There was another league game against a team I can't recall, and we scraped a 1-0 win. The month ended with a trip to Crystal Palace in round 4 of the FA Cup, setting up a bit of drama because of what happened in the summer. But of course, we were soundly thrashed 4-0 as Wilfried Zaha scored a hat-trick to send us packing. It was a poor month for results, but we were successful in the market.

I signed Josh Meekings, a young CB from Inverness CT in Scotland. He came up on my GTN report with the promising tag, and further scouting threw up good ratings for his key attributes such as pace, athleticism, physicality and defending. Meekings seems like he'll play above his 67 OVR rating, so I agreed to pay the £1.3 million Inverness wanted. I gave them £1 million in cash and Kamil Zayatte (valued at £350k), and they quickly agreed to sell. Meekings was signed after the Rotherham replay, but did not feature in any of my January games, not even as a substitute. But the real pieces of work, which were made possibly by oursummer frugality and shrewdness in the loan market, were when we managed to sign two fantastic players on pre-contract deals.

Dundee United attacking midfielder Gary Mackay-Steven was signed to a five-year deal worth £20k per week. He can play in midfield and on either wing, and I think his pace and athleticism are going to prove crucial in adjusting to the Premier League. I also got Fabian Delph to agree to a similar contract worth £30k per week, and he will undoubtedly be the key to our survival. My usual policy is to avoid buying players I've already signed elsewhere, but I simply had to break the rule when this opportunity presented itself. The offer went as a cheeky attempt, but a positive response meant I had to pass on signing Jamie Vardy, for whom a fee had already been agreed with Leicester. I may look to bring Vardy in during the summer, but that depends on so many other factors. I also want to try Mackay-Steven out in my two-man midfield in this 5-2-3. If he can create chances from the middle of the park, I'll go after a winger. If his athleticism and control prove better from out wide, I'll bring in a box-to-box midfielder.

I'm also suspending my earlier transfer scheme in favour of a general British-first policy. It's just too much work sorting out ratios and what not, and should I have the chance to bring in a really good Brazilian or Ivorian, I don't want to have to pass on that because of a transfer policy. No club would do that. But I will look to emphasise the British contingent in my squad, with particular focus on English players.

Unfortunately, our bad form has allowed Norwich to catch up to us on points, and they are now league leaders by virtue of goal difference. All my players have also dropped from 'excellent' and 'good' form to 'okay', which means we must start over and mount a fresh challenge to stay in the top two. We're aided by the fact that Fulham and Cardiff are still five points beneath us, but that's practically nothing. February will prove crucial as we seek to restore a healthy lead between us and third, and get our boys back into firing form. Stevie May has scored three goals since coming back from injury, and his presence will inject some much-needed energy and ferocity into our forward line. Meekings will give us an alternative in both defence and midfield, where I think he can play moderately well in a pinch due to his decent ball control and passing. Exciting times ahead!

My next post will cover February, March, April and May. I'll also be reading back and commenting on the other posts from the last few pages, probably later this weekend.

**Cruzerr** · 02-06-2015, 07:53 AM

Re: How's Your FIFA Career Mode Going?

Arsenal Career Mode
Part 7 - December

Page 894 - Part 1 - The arrival
Page 896 - Part 2 - Pre-season
Page 901 - Part 3 - Me against the world
Page 918 - Part 4 - August, September, October
Page 927 - Part 5 - The Interview
Page 932 - Part 6 - November

Games

Premier League
Matchday 15

Arsenal 0-0 Swansea

Well, new month and a new game - and a difficult one. The way Swansea play under Monk is rather dangerous, they move the ball well and create chances. But to be honest, the game itself was boring. We couldn't crack through them and they couldn't create scoring chances at our side of the pitch.

The game ended as a draw, and I am actually impressed - the first team that we didn't score against. I guess sometimes you gotta give credit where credit is due. Still, we needed to shake things up - I know I played a weaker side against the Swans, but there was a good reason for that.

Champions League
Group Stage
Matchday 6

Arsenal 2-1 PSG

5' Verratti (Lucas)

13' Ramsey (Welbeck)

47' Welbeck

And this was it - our last Champions League game, a one we had to win. If we did, we would go on from the group as winners, if we didn't - there was a slight chance we would lose. A tie would actually still get us through, but getting a tie against the toughest team in France in their home stadium is a farfletched option. And things went exactly the way I did not want them to go - Verratti scores early from a cross, a perfect ball from Lucas and we are down, 5 minutes in.

I told the players to play more offensively, and we came back pretty quickly. Welbeck broke into the box, went past David Luiz and passed it right into Ramsey, who managed to score, even if he was getting pushed by Silva. After that, we were in full gear. That early goal that they got was the only shot they got in the first half. Sadly, we didn't score in the first half again, but second half, Welbeck showed some great skill to get past the defenders and slotted it right in the bottom left corner. I hate to say it but sometimes, Welbeck can actually save us from bad situations, and that is exactly what happened now.

The game ended 2-1, a win for us and we finished the group first. I was wondering who we would actually face next round, so I let one of my assistants to do some work - Marseille, Ajax, SL Benfica, LOSC Lille, Sevilla FC, FC Schalke 04 and VfL Wolfsburg. Certainly not easy matchups.

Premier League
Matchday 16

Arsenal 1-1 Everton

4' Barkley (Naismith)

24' Giroud (Monreal)

Well, after the good win, we went up against Everton - a team we really shouldn't lose to, yet a team we shouldn't underestimate. And sadly, we did exactly the latter - Naismith got through our defense really early and passed it to Barkley, who basically scored in an open goal.

It took us time to actually come back to it, yet a good pass from Monreal, a great pass even - straight through the midfield and the defenders - got Giroud 1-on-1 with the keeper and he finished it well. After that, it felt like deja vu - we were attacking but they were sitting back in defense.

It is getting ridiculous, teams sit back in their own home against us, trying to get a point. What is the point of it, you are still going to lose 2 because of it. Is it because we are first? I don't see teams doing that against Chelsea.

Premier League
Matchday 17

Southampton 0-1 Arsenal

73' Welbeck (Cazorla)

We needed to make changes to actually get some wins, these draws were hindering us and making Chelseas life easier. And while last year, this team was fighting for the top spot, Southampton have been struggling this year. Still, I feel like I say this all the time, but you can't underestimate any team in the league.

The game was rather one sided, we had most of the ball and created the chances. It took us time to break through, but it was Welbz who actually scored yet again and won us the game, with the score 1-0. We needed that win to boost our morale up and give us confidence.

Premier League
Matchday 18

Norwich 1-3 Arsenal

32' Howson (Bennett)

55' Podolski (PEN)

62' Welbeck

90' Welbeck (Ramsey)

Two days after our win against Southampton, I decided to swap the side up completely, give the starters some good rest and let the youngsters play against Norwich. And for some reason, they looked like the better side early on. Hooper almost scored really early from a cross and Ospina was doing his best to keep us in the game. Unfortunately, a cross from Bennett and a well struck header by Howson was enough to beat Ospina. The ball bounced off the crossbar into the net.

Things were not looking good, so at the start of the second half, I decided to put in Ramsey and Welbeck to give us some more offensive power. Straight off the bat, Welbeck got a chance but did not hit it. We looked a lot better, and we got our chances.

As Ramsey got tripped up in the box, we got a penalty - Podolski scored it with ease. A few minutes later we got another one to take the lead, only this time, Ruddy makes a good save to keep Norwich in the game. Still, we did not give up. Welbeck broke into the box with his strength and gave us the lead. We were on fire, completely different team from the first half. Welbec

Premier League
Matchday 19

Arsenal 2-1 Newcastle United

45' de Jong (Tiote)

51' Ramsey (Welbeck)

81' Welbeck (McCarthy)

Last game of the month against Newcastle away, certainly a team that looks different every day - they can be very strong or completely out of focus. And obviously when we face them, they look absolutely great. Right from the start de Jong takes a shot from distance and it hits the crossbar, I knew things were going to be really difficult. They looked very threatening and created a ton of chances, but Szczesny was playing well.

It took quite something to beat him - that something was a shot by de Jong just outside the box right into the top left corner. A screamer like none other, probably the best goal that has been scored against us this season.

Second half, we looked better for some reason, yet I didn't change anything about the team - I guess the pep talk worked. Ramsey showed some great dribbling skill as he broke into the box and tied the game up - he was getting pushed around, so he could have gone down for the penalty, yet he stood up and scored it himself, got to give credit to him.

Newcastle was not out, they still looked like they were going to score. Anita managed to hit the post and Tiote had some good chances aswell. Yet when McCarthy got past Santon and crossed it in to Welbeck, I knew we would take the lead - so we did. The final score was 2-1, a great ending to a great month of action. Now we had to just make the team stronger in January.

Barclays Premier League Table

Final Champions League Table

Next post is a story post and then January. What will happen in January? Will I bring somebody in? Will somebody leave? Find out soon!

**Simppu12** · 02-06-2015, 08:02 AM

Re: How's Your FIFA Career Mode Going?

Originally posted by _ChicoBass

Simppu: Congratulations on winning the treble! Your titles and league points really show how dominant the squad you put together really is. There was no way anyone else would be able to challenge you. For the ending it depends, will you actually manage the team from Bulgaria or will you just end it there? I liked that ending. I see it as the move that will return Corleone to his roots, and back to sanity. I know he isn't from Bulgaria but since you are, I feel that would be the change of air that would help him reflect on his life. Whatever ending you end up going with, I'll still be looking forward to your return to Verona and also the World Cup with Bulgaria!

Thank you! I probably wasn't clear enough about the endings. I meant that you, the person who is reading the update, can read the ending you want depending on if you want Corleone to suffer or if you want him to get his life fixed. And no, I won't manage the Bulgarian team because it's not in the game and I want to get back to Verona. I used it just to get Corleone a job and a good life.

How's Your FIFA Career Mode Going?

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