How's Your FIFA Career Mode Going?

**vrabbit** · 07-01-2016, 02:47 PM

Re: How's Your FIFA Career Mode Going?

Originally posted by vrabbit

alright so here's the dilemma. I'm giving you a bit of spoiler for upcoming updates but I feel I need some advise here. I sold Thuram. I'm near the end of the transfer window and I've decided to focus on Bosman signings. I reached out to a few different players but the only ones to accept (so far) are these two:

Farfan comes at a cheaper price at just €50K wages. He won't sniff the CAM role but he'd be a perfect fit at RM in the diamond midfield and would be serviceable there for the 3 years of the contract assuming he stays in good form and doesn't suffer too much regression. He'd be a sizable upgrade on Jack Giles who's at 71 OVR right now and doesn't have top potential (Ben Potter shows great potential but even he is a couple of season away from being at Farfan's level).

Martial of course needs very little explanation. As you'd imagine he's in high demand so I offered to match the €100K he's being paid at Man U. right now plus 10% bonus per goal and he's on board with that but I probably need to respond ASAP since other clubs are sniffing around (he JUST turned down an offer from Swansea City). Of course the idea of a Martial-Ambrose pairing up front is DREAMY but going through with this signing all but empties the transfer/wage budget so that's a bit risky.

I don't have €150K in wages so I can only sign one guy. Of course if I choose Farfan I may be able to get 1 or even 2 more Bosman signings.

WHAT DO I DO??? Feedback on this is appreciated ASAP because I may get to leave the office early today in which case it'll be pretty difficult not to get in front of the xbox ....

bumped since we're on a new page, this is the topic of discussion at the moment

just for giggles, how do we feel about a Bosman signing for a cost similar to what Martial's would be for say ... an Italian goalkeeper? (you know, since the coach is Italian and all)

**Simppu12** · 07-01-2016, 02:49 PM

Re: How's Your FIFA Career Mode Going?

Back to the Top

2016 - 2017 Squad Review

Starting XI

GK: Mitchell Langerak, 27 Years Old, 75 Ovr (+1), 8/10
17 clean sheets in 33 appearances

+ Improved a lot towards the end of the season
+ Made some amazing saves
+ Good reflexes
- Sloppy handling at times
- Was poor in the beginning of the season

RB: Kevin Großkreutz, 27 Years Old, 75 Ovr, 6.5/10
26 appearances

+ Good stamina
+ Solid tackling
- Often out of position
- Sluggish
- Didn't contribute in attack

CB: Timo Baumgartl, 20 Years Old, 70 Ovr (+4), 7/10
2 assists in 21 appearances

+ Good in the air
+ Good tackling
+ Grew a lot
- Prone to errors

CB: Koray Günter, 21 Years Old, 73 Ovr (+5), 7.5/10
1 goal and 1 assist in 32 appearances

+ Most reliable defender of the team
+ Good tackling
+ Overall a good season
- Made some mistakes

LB: Maximilian Mittelstädt, 19 Years Old, 71 Ovr (+7), 7/10
1 goal and 1 assist in 25 appearances

+ Good in offence
+ Agile
- Poor defensively
- Left his man unmarked very often
- Usually out of position in defence

CDM: Serey Dié, 31 Years Old, 75 Ovr, 7/10
2 goals and 1 assist in 35 appearances

+ Good tackling
+ Powerful shot
- Often caught out of position
- Gets too much forwards

CM: Christian Gentner, 30 Years Old, 75 Ovr, 6.5/10
3 goals and 1 assist in 30 appearances

+ Very consistent
- Average at best
- Barely did anything

LM: Filip Kostic, 23 Years Old, 81 Ovr (+2), 7.5/10
7 goals and 8 assists in 26 appearances

+ Good dribbling
+ Created a good amount of goals
+ Pacy
- Could have been more effective in attack

CAM: Alexandru Maxim, 25 Years Old, 76 Ovr, 8/10
10 goals and 11 assists in 36 appearances

+ Amazing dribbling
+ Good passing and shooting
+ Most assists in the league
- Very ineffective in some games

ST: Bobby Wood, 23 Years Old, 75 Ovr (+4), 9.5/10
10 goals and 3 assists in 16 appearances

+ Clinical finishing
+ Good dribbling
+ Good pace
+ Very good statistics

ST: Daniel Ginczek, 25 Years Old, 78 Ovr (+3), 9.5/10
22 goals and 5 assists in 27 appearances

+ Great shooting
+ Strong in the air
+ Amazing stats
+ Top scorer of the league
- Took some time to get going in the beginning of the season

Notable Substitutes

CB: Duje Caleta-Car, 19 Years Old, 71 Ovr (+4), 7/10
1 goal and 1 assist in 24 appearances

+ Strong in the air
+ Solid tackling
- Prone to errors

LB: Emiliano Insua, 27 Years Old, 76 Ovr (+3), 6.5/10
2 assists in 15 appearances

+ Good in defence
- Never did anything noticeable

CDM: Johannes Flum, 28 Years Old, 73 Ovr, 6.5/10
1 goal and 3 assists in 25 appearances

+ Strong on the ball
+ Good in the air
+ Solid defensively
- Sluggish on the ball

CAM: Hany Mukhtar, 21 Years Old, 72 Ovr (+2), 6/10
4 goals and 6 assists in 33 appearances

+ Good dribbling
- Didn't get involved in attack too much
- Very weak on the ball

LM: Christian Pulisic, 17 Years Old, 72 Ovr (+7), 9/10
7 goals and 12 assists in 30 appearances

+ Pacy
+ Very good dribbling
+ Grew a lot
- Got pushed off the ball easily

ST: Lukasz Zwolinski, 23 Years Old, 73 Ovr (+4), 8.5/10
13 goals and 10 assists in 31 appearances

+ Good finishing
+ Strong on the ball
+ Good statistics
- Could've scored more

ST: Shawn Parker, 23 Years Old, 70 Ovr, 5.5/10
4 goals and 1 assist in 18 appearances

+ Scored important goals
- Poor statistics
- Often disappeared in games
- Poor finishing
- Didn't grow at all

That's all from this season! Soon the new season will begin with the transfer window, and it was a busy one as far as July went.

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

**vrabbit** · 07-01-2016, 03:16 PM

Re: How's Your FIFA Career Mode Going?

Nainggolan!

**Keano16** · 07-01-2016, 03:25 PM

Re: How's Your FIFA Career Mode Going?

Originally posted by vrabbit

Nainggolan!

Such a sweet strike!

**Keano16** · 07-01-2016, 07:20 PM

Re: How's Your FIFA Career Mode Going?

Was planning on getting Bremen and Accrington going over the past few days but that was put on hold due to an operation I had to fix a complicated dislocated finger. Can't hold the remote properly so that's a slight problem haha. We'll see how things go in the next week and if there's any progress.

**vrabbit** · 07-01-2016, 08:07 PM

Re: How's Your FIFA Career Mode Going?

hope your finger gets better soon Keano.

Turns out I didn't get off early and now Imma go see Free State of Jones so anyone who wants to chime on Farfan vs Martial I'm still looking for more opinions. I left the house feeling like Martial was gonna be my choice but Keano/Simp have made good arguments for Farfan.

**TerpHamm** · 07-02-2016, 07:23 AM

Re: How's Your FIFA Career Mode Going?

Originally posted by vrabbit

hope your finger gets better soon Keano.

Turns out I didn't get off early and now Imma go see Free State of Jones so anyone who wants to chime on Farfan vs Martial I'm still looking for more opinions. I left the house feeling like Martial was gonna be my choice but Keano/Simp have made good arguments for Farfan.

If you're going for realism, go for Farfan. If you want to add the better, more dynamic player to your team, go Martial. You really can't go wrong, but I'd personally go Martial.

**indiblue** · 07-02-2016, 08:04 AM

Re: How's Your FIFA Career Mode Going?

Originally posted by vrabbit

alright so here's the dilemma. I'm giving you a bit of spoiler for upcoming updates but I feel I need some advise here. I sold Thuram. I'm near the end of the transfer window and I've decided to focus on Bosman signings. I reached out to a few different players but the only ones to accept (so far) are these two:

Farfan comes at a cheaper price at just €50K wages. He won't sniff the CAM role but he'd be a perfect fit at RM in the diamond midfield and would be serviceable there for the 3 years of the contract assuming he stays in good form and doesn't suffer too much regression. He'd be a sizable upgrade on Jack Giles who's at 71 OVR right now and doesn't have top potential (Ben Potter shows great potential but even he is a couple of season away from being at Farfan's level).

Martial of course needs very little explanation. As you'd imagine he's in high demand so I offered to match the €100K he's being paid at Man U. right now plus 10% bonus per goal and he's on board with that but I probably need to respond ASAP since other clubs are sniffing around (he JUST turned down an offer from Swansea City). Of course the idea of a Martial-Ambrose pairing up front is DREAMY but going through with this signing all but empties the transfer/wage budget so that's a bit risky.

I don't have €150K in wages so I can only sign one guy. Of course if I choose Farfan I may be able to get 1 or even 2 more Bosman signings.

WHAT DO I DO??? Feedback on this is appreciated ASAP because I may get to leave the office early today in which case it'll be pretty difficult not to get in front of the xbox ....

If you go for Farfan, I hope you keep some of your budget aside in case he decides to retire over the summer while he's with you. Or if he gets injured and decides he's better off calling it quits instead of working back to fitness. Not a big fan of signing players that old on long-term contracts... and expecting them to see them out. I would pick up Martial and see what you can do at RM over the summer.

**vrabbit** · 07-02-2016, 02:03 PM

Re: How's Your FIFA Career Mode Going?

Thanks guys. It's done.

**moose141** · 07-02-2016, 10:45 PM

Re: How's Your FIFA Career Mode Going?

Vrabbit - I see you may have made your decision already but I'm thinking along the lines of everyone else, if you wanna stick to realism then Farfan still has plenty of quality but would be much more likely to jump to a lower tier, lower prestige team.

Obviously, if you want quality and potential though, Martial is the obvious choice.

**Simppu12** · 07-03-2016, 10:02 AM

Re: How's Your FIFA Career Mode Going?

Back to the Top

Transfers Out

Jan Kliment, Striker, 70 Ovr, 1-year-loan to SV Sandhausen

The young Czech striker wasn't going to get much playing time for us but we still want to keep him in the club. A season in the second tier of German football should do him good.

Shawn Parker, Striker, 70 Ovr, 1-year-loan to Greuther Fürth

Parker was probably the biggest disappointment of the team last season and we were reluctant to keep him at the club. However, we still believe that Parker has potential to be a good striker and we decided that loaning him out would be the best option for everyone.

Marco Rojas, Left Winger, 73 Ovr, 1-year-loan to Greuther Fürth

Our winger department is in very good condition, especially with the addition of Tobias Kempe, and the young Rojas wouldn't have gotten a lot of playing time for us.

Toni Sunjic, Centre Back, 71 Ovr, €1,800,000 to Hannover 96

Sunjic was our fourth-choice centre back and he was never going to play too much for us. He doesn't have good potential, either, so selling him was the best option.

Lukas Rupp, Right Midfielder, 73 Ovr, €4,200,000 to Mainz 05

Rupp made only two appearances for us last season and it was clear that he didn't have a future at the club. Mainz were willing to match our price demand for the transfer listed man.

Mitchell Langerak, Goalkeeper, 75 Ovr, €8,500,000 to Celta Vigo

It wasn't an easy decision to sell our starting goalkeeper but Langerak was valued at only 3,5M. When Celta Vigo were ready to pay over twice his value, it didn't take us long to accept the offer.

Alexandru Maxim, Attacking Midfielder, 76 Ovr, €14,000,000 to Villarreal CF

This case was identical to Langerak's one: a club was willing to pay two times the value of an important player of ours and we simply couldn't reject the offer. Maxim performed well for us but the offer was simply too good to be refused.

Daniel Ginczek, Striker, 78 Ovr, €35,000,000 to Sevilla FC

A huge transfer bomb was dropped during the first week of the window as Sevilla matched our 35M price demand for Daniel Ginczek. Our star striker had an amazing last season and it got rewarded with a move to a top Spanish team.

Transfers In

Timon Wellenreuther

67 Ovr, Goalkeeper, 20 Years Old, Germany

€1,500,000

VfB Stuttgart were active this transfer window and they strengthened nearly every position on the pitch, including the goalkeeper position. One of the two keepers Stuttgart signed was Germany's top goalkeeping talent Timon Wellenreuther who arrived from Schalke 04 for only a million and a half. The 20-year-old put himself on the footballing radar in 2015, playing against the likes of Bayern München and Real Madrid, before going on loan to Mallorca for a season during the summer of that year. Now the Germany U21 international will be the second-choice keeper at Stuttgart where he is expected to get some game time.

Nico Elvedi

70 Ovr, Centre Back, 19 Years Old, Switzerland

€2,000,000

According to several reports, Stuttgart wanted to sign Nico Elvedi last season, as well, but the transfer became reality only now. Stuttgart were looking to sign a central defender after selling Toni Sunjic and they have gotten themselves a real gem in the young Elvedi. The teenager has made many appearances for Borussia Mönchengladbach and he is a member of the Swiss national team.

Ádám Nagy

71 Ovr, Defensive Midfielder, 21 Years Old, Hungary

€3,500,000

One of the more exciting signings Stuttgart made, and also the first member of the little Hungarian revolution they had, was the Hungarian midfield talent Ádám Nagy. Nagy made a name for himself in Euro 2016, after which several European clubs went after him, but the 21-year-old decided to stay at Ferencváros in his home country for one more season. Now the good passer and strong tackler decided to join Stuttgart where he is expected to make the starting spot his in a season's time.

Maximilian Philipp

73 Ovr, Centre Forward, 22 Years Old, Germany

€4,500,000

Stuttgart off-loaded three strikers and, as a consequence, had to sign some attackers to replace those who left. The youngest one of those attackers was Maximilian Philipp who arrived from fellow Bundesliga side SC Freiburg. The 22-year-old attacker is a versatile player and he has been an important member of the Freiburg side for a couple of years know. Furthermore, Philipp has made a handful of appearances for Germany's youth teams.

Ramazan Özcan

76 Ovr, Goalkeeper, 32 Years Old, Austria

€4,500,000 + Przemyslaw Tyton

VfB Stuttgart acted fast to replace their starting keeper Mitchell Langerak with a quality goalkeeper in FC Ingolstadt's Ramazan Özcan. What was surprising about this signing, though, was that Stuttgart's out-of-favour second-choice keeper Przemyslaw Tyton was part of the transfer deal. The Polish Tyton, who has been a huge disappointment for the last year, got included in a player plus cash deal for the Austrian international Özcan. The 32-year-old Özcan has been a very good keeper for Ingolstadt and he is expected to continue his good performances with Stuttgart.

Nemanja Nikolic

74 Ovr, Striker, 28 Years Old, Hungary

€5,000,000

The second Hungarian Stuttgart signed was Serbian-born striker Nemanja Nikolic who arrived for a fee of five million from Polish champions Legia Warszawa. Nikolic had a major impact on Legia's title run in 2016 when he scored 28 goals in 37 appearances in the league. The 28-year-old Hungary international will probably be used as a rotational player at Stuttgart.

Sandro Wagner

75 Ovr, Striker, 28 Years Old, Germany

€6,000,000

VfB Stuttgart replaced their star striker Daniel Ginczek, who they sold for 35M, with relegated Darmstadt's Sandro Wagner. The 28-year-old attacker had a very good season in the 2015-16 campaign, scoring 14 league goals and avoiding relegation that year. Now the towering striker will be hoping to find the net with Stuttgart.

Balázs Dzsudzsák

76 Ovr, Left Midfielder, 29 Years Old, Hungary

€8,000,000

The most expensive and the third Hungarian signing VfB Stuttgart completed was Balázs Dzsudzsák who joined the German club for eight million euros from Turkish side Besiktas. The skillful winger can play nearly everywhere in attack and he is well known for his accurate free kicks and powerful left foot. The 29-year-old Hungary national team captain will most likely replace Alexandru Maxim in the #10 position.

August 2017

VfB Stuttgart 0 - 0 Werder Bremen

VfB Stuttgart 2 - 1 FC Augsburg
Wood 35', Dzsudzsák 80'
Amiri 42'

Borussia Mönchengladbach 0 - 2 VfB Stuttgart
Dzsudzsák 16', Zwolinski 34'

Bundesliga Table

1. Borussia Dortmund, 7 pts
2. VfB Stuttgart, 7 pts
3. SC Freiburg, 6 pts
4. Bayern München, 5 pts
5. FC Ingolstadt, 5 pts
6. VfL Wolfsburg, 5 pts
----------------------------------------
16. Eintracht Frankfurt, 1 pt
17. Mainz 05, 1 pt
18. Hannover 96, 1 pt

Europa League Group

Athletic Bilbao
VfB Stuttgart
Girondins Bordeaux
Heart of Midlothian

The Squad

Spoiler

Starting XI

My Thoughts

Transfers - The biggest shocks were the departures of Langerak, Maxim and Ginczek, but as I said, the amount of money that was offered for them was too much to turn down.

As far as signings go, I'm quite happy with most of the players. Elvedi has been great and he has broken into the starting eleven, Nagy has been very good although his stamina is poor, Dzsudzsák has been one of the better players of the team and Özcan is the reason why we managed to beat Mönchengladgach. Wellenreuther, Philipp and Nikolic haven't played yet while Sandro Wagner has been a huge disappointing. He has been horrendous in every aspect: his finishing has been awful, he's often out of position and he is very sluggish. As you can see from above, he is not even in the starting eleven anymore.

Form - We have returned to the top tier of German football in amazing fashion with two wins and a draw. Additionally, we are second in the table thanks to that spectacular win against Mönchengladbach, although it is still too early to draw any conclusions.

Next Month - September has quite a few games in it but the most important ones are our first Europa League match against Hearts and league games against Borussia Dortmund and VfL Wolfsburg. Hopefully we manage to get some points against BVB and Wolfsburg. Man, it feels good to be playing with the big boys!

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

**vrabbit** · 07-03-2016, 11:32 AM

Re: How's Your FIFA Career Mode Going?

Simp, great season with Stuggart. Congrats on not just winning promotion and the league but also the Pokal too, that's really impressive. Your GK had a very good season and so did your strikers and you have some pieces to work with for the new season. It's amazing that you were able to get €35 million for Ginczek, makes me wonder what I could get for Ambrose. You weren't kidding about the Hungarians but my favorite signing is probably Elvedi when considering the long-term payout he represents. Nice August too.

Moose, props on managing to get good results despite some significant injuries, scoring 1 goal in 3 games yet not losing any of those is quite impressive. You created several good opportunities so I know the draught won't stay around for long.

Tex, the acquisitions at Metz didn't wow me but I imagine that wasn't what you were going for anyways, probably just trying to add some complimentary pieces. After all you are just destroying that poor Ligue 2 nearly 20 points ahead of your nearest competitor. What stage of the Coupe are you in?
At Sheffield I see you pulled off an amazing road win at Chelsea, surely one of the highlights of that CM. On the other hand I bet that home loss to Bournemouth was really annoying, especially giving up that goal in the 90th minute. Cameron had a good month.

SMH, not at Tex's level at Metz but you also have a firm grip at the top of the table with Avellino. That game against Roma in the TIM Cup is definitely something to look forward to. Nice to see Hagi bring in some Romanian blood.

Chico, the Newport County manager is Giovanni Marccelino

every time someone beats up on Newport it re-assures me I made a good pick with them for my CM because they really stunk before me. For you I hated seeing Mackail-Smith's injury but it looks like Pigott has really stepped up for you proving you right for picking him over McQuoid. Sounds like you're gonna have a difficult decision to make when your injured striker gets back. 5th place isn't bad considering you're only 3 off the top. Oh, and Marccelino gave up coaching Finland because the international games were making him miss club games

**Simppu12** · 07-03-2016, 11:40 AM

Re: How's Your FIFA Career Mode Going?

Originally posted by vrabbit

Simp, great season with Stuttgart. Congrats on not just winning promotion and the league but also the Pokal too, that's really impressive. Your GK had a very good season and so did your strikers and you have some pieces to work with for the new season. It's amazing that you were able to get €35 million for Ginczek, makes me wonder what I could get for Ambrose. You weren't kidding about the Hungarians but my favorite signing is probably Elvedi when considering the long-term payout he represents. Nice August too.

Thanks! I still can't believe we actually won the DFB Pokal, especially considering that we faced Bayern in the final.

The board suggested to ask for €18M to €24M for Ginczek which is why I was very surprised to see Sevilla match my very first demand of €35M. I still have around €25M in the bank after the transfer window and I have no idea what to invest the money in.

Trust me, the situation with Hungarian players could've been even worse. I had made offers for three more Hungarians but I decided to draw a line after signing the three guys I signed. Also, Elvedi has been really impressive so far and I can see him growing into an amazing defender.

**southernmetalhead** · 07-03-2016, 06:27 PM

Re: How's Your FIFA Career Mode Going?

U.S. Avellino 1912
Lupi (Wolves)

January 2016

TIM Cup: Round of 16

<meta http-equiv="Content-Type" content="text/html; charset=UTF-8"><link href="http://dynasties.operationsports.com/css/osdyn.css" rel="stylesheet" type="text/css"><table class="osdyn" cellpadding="3" cellspacing="1" width="575"><tbody><tr class="masthead"><td colspan="4">Jan 12, 2016 - Roma vs Avellino</td></tr><tr class="stathead"><td width="61%">TEAM</td><td align="right" width="12%">1</td><td align="right" width="12%">2</td><td align="right" width="15%">SCORE</td></tr><tr class="oddrow"><td>Roma (-)</td><td align="right">0</td><td align="right">0</td><td class="active" align="right">0</td></tr><tr class="oddrow"><td>Avellino (-)</td><td align="right">2</td><td align="right">1</td><td class="active" align="right">3</td></tr></tbody></table>

Trotta 9'
Trotta 45'
Tavano (PEN) 90'

MOTM - Trotta

TIM Cup: Quarterfinals

<meta http-equiv="Content-Type" content="text/html; charset=UTF-8"><link href="http://dynasties.operationsports.com/css/osdyn.css" rel="stylesheet" type="text/css"><table class="osdyn" cellpadding="3" cellspacing="1" width="575"><tbody><tr class="masthead"><td colspan="4">Jan 27, 2016 - Avellino vs Hellas Verona</td></tr><tr class="stathead"><td width="61%">TEAM</td><td align="right" width="12%">1</td><td align="right" width="12%">2</td><td align="right" width="15%">SCORE</td></tr><tr class="oddrow"><td>Avellino (-)</td><td align="right">2</td><td align="right">2</td><td class="active" align="right">4</td></tr><tr class="oddrow"><td>Hellas Verona (-)</td><td align="right">0</td><td align="right">0</td><td class="active" align="right">0</td></tr></tbody></table>

Zito 12'
Tutino 44'
Jidayi 71'
Ioniță 90'
Insigne (PEN) 90'

MOTM - Zito

*Assane Gnoukouri - sprained ankle (out 3 weeks)

ST Francesco Tavano, 71 Ovr, 36 years old, Italy

Veteran striker Francesco Tavano started 2016 where he left off 2015 - scoring goals. The 36-year-old had a brace in Avellino's first match of January, a 2-0 win at Vicenza. Tavano added another goal from the penalty spot late in the Wolves' stunning 3-0 triumph over Roma in the TIM Cup Round of 16, and finally he bagged a goal to earn Gheorghe Hagi's side a 1-1 draw with Novara. In total, Tavano has found the back of the net 14 times in Serie B action and 2 times in the TIM Cup.

Serie B Table
1. Avellino - 64 pts
2. Cagliari - 58 pts
3. Pescara - 55 pts
4. Perugia - 53 pts
5. Spezia - 47 pts
6. Livorno - 42 pts
7. Como - 42 pts
8. Cesena - 40 pts
9. Novara - 38 pts
10. Virtus Entella - 38 pts
11. Ternana - 36 pts
12. Bari - 35 pts
13. Vicenza - 31 pts
14. Latina - 28 pts
15. Ascoli - 27 pts
16. Virtus Lanciano - 27 pts
17. Salernitana - 26 pts
18. Brescia - 25 pts
19. Modena - 24 pts
20. Pro Vercelli - 22 pts
21. Crotone - 19 pts
22. Trapani - 16 pts

Serie B Top Scorers
1. Ardemagni (Perugia) - 18 Goals
2. Tavano (Avellino) - 14 Goals
3. Sau (Cagliari) - 13 Goals
4. Calaiò (Spezia) - 12 Goals
5. Melchiorri (Cagliari) - 11 Goals

Serie B Clean Sheets
1. Offredi (Avellino) - 14 Clean Sheets
2. Rosati (Perugia) - 12 Clean Sheets
3(t). Storari (Cagliari) - 11 Clean Sheets
3(t). Pinsoglio (Livorno) - 11 Clean Sheets
4. Aridità (Virtus Lanciano) - 8 Clean Sheets

Manager's Thoughts
I cannot believe how well we did in the TIM Cup as we dismantled two Serie A sides with a 3-0 stunner over Roma at the Stadio Olimpico and a 4-0 drubbing of relegation battlers Hellas Verona. Now we move into the Semifinals where we have a very winnable opponent in Genoa. As for the league, we only conceded 1 goal in January, during a 1-1 draw versus Novara, but I was real disappointed in the 0-0 result against Latina. I think our players are just mentally drained at this point in the season, but we have to stay strong and fight through it.

February 2016 - Fixtures
2/3 - vs Genoa*
2/6 - at Pro Vercelli
2/13 - vs Livorno
2/20 - at Perugia
2/27 - vs Cesena

*TIM Cup Semifinals - Leg 1

February gets us started with the first of 2 Legs in the TIM Cup Semifinals against Genoa. We will definitely be looking to leave with an advantage from our home ground before making the return trip there in March. In the league, our biggest match is on the 20th at Perugia, who are the only side to hand us a loss this season, when they won 2-0 on our ground. Getting revenge in that game is something our players will be hungry to achieve. The other matches should be wins as well.

**_ChicoBass** · 07-03-2016, 07:52 PM

How's Your FIFA Career Mode Going?

Luton Town FC
November 2016 - Season 1

FA Cup - Round 1
Luton Town 1 - 0 Portsmouth
LUT: Mpanzu 86'
An exciting and extremely close match between two of the top teams in League 2 was finally decided in the closing minutes of the match. It looked like the match would be going to a replay but Mpanzu came in from the bench and gave his teammates the ticket to the next round after cutting in from the left and taking a shot to the keeper's far post.

Overall the match was box to box and very exciting, with Portsmouth successfully neutralizing Luton's star man Pigott. The target striker was marked by the big centre back Burgess who refused to let the striker out of his sight. Burgess was well aware of Pigott's strength and aerial ability so remained close to him; any time you turned to look at Pigott on the field Burgess was always just a couple steps away. Portsmouth played a heck of a game, but in the end Mpanzu's late goal had them knocked out of the FA Cup's early stages.

J. Paint Trophy - Round 3
Bradford City 3 - 2 Luton Town (B-Team)
LUT: McQuoid 14' 54'
BRC: Evans 58' Clarke 81' 90'
LUT: Hall RED CARD 19'
In the beginning it looked like the B-Team would finally be coming back from last month's 3-1 defeat against Notts County, but Bradford staged a bigger comeback themselves and turned a 2-0 scoreline into 3-2 in the final minutes. Northern Ireland international Josh McQuoid opened the scoreline in just the 13th minute with a header but was followed by a stupid slide tackle from Hall in the 19th minute that earned the wide man a red card. Hall has been in struggling form lately, and after he lost the ball near the box he made a stupid slide tackle from behind which was too aggressive in the referee's eyes. Luton Town readjusted, and continued to dominate Bradford City nonetheless. McQuoid completed a brace in the second half to better reflect Luton's dominance, but just four minutes later Bradford's Smith shortened the distance. Luton continued to play well until the Irishman Clarke entered the game late in the second half. Clarke equalized the match with a spectacular long shot into the bottom corner, and in the final minute of the match he scored with a shot to King's near post to give Bradford the now inevitable win. Luton Town's B-Team had played well but playing with a man less certainly affected them stamina-wise in the long run, but much of the blame is being put on the 18 year old King by supporters, who did very little to stop any of the 3 goals just like in the Notts match.

Luton Town 4 - 0 Mansfield Town
LUT: Pigott 8' 85' Marriott 14' Benning OG 61'
After a devastating elimination from the J. Paint Trophy the Luton first team came in and showed that they mean business in the league by dominating Mansfield Town. Joe Pigott opened the scoreline in the 8th minute and just six minutes later Jack Marriott widened the lead. The Irish midfielder McGeehan placed a perfect through ball into the box for Marriott to face the keeper one on one and despite the keeper rushing him the young striker kept his head cool and and he slotted the ball into the bottom corner with an easy and calm shot. The keeper was expecting Marriott to power it to his far post but was outwitted by the young striker turned winger.

Benning scored an own goal in the 61st minute to really take his team's morale down, and in the 85th minute Pigott completed his brace and finished off a Mansfield Town that never seemed up to par with Luton tonight.

Luton Town 3 - 0 Plymouth Argyle
LUT: Pigott 16' Lee 77' Marriott 90'
Initially we were expecting a difficult match for Luton as they were up against one of the top League 2 sides and it's a side that plays with a line of 5 in defense. Joe Pigott showed us that it doesn't matter if he is marked by two centre backs or three, he still found a way to beat all three off the ball and score the first goal of the night with a wonderfully placed volley into the bottom corner!

The rest of the match was rather close, until Olly Lee scored the second goal with a strong header in the 77th minute. Lee was making his return from injury tonight as substitute and what a way to make a comeback. Plymouth tried to go all out in attack looking for an equalizer, but they left themselves vulnerable to Marriott's counter attacking speed who netted the 3rd goal in the final minute of the match.

Luton Town (B-Team) 0 - 0 Accrington
No goals between Luton Town and Keano's Accrington Stanley who are currently fighting in the bottom half of the table. Despite the huge gap between these two sides on the league table, Accrington played an amazing match both defending well and creating danger up front with an inspired Terry Gornell who was actively involved in virtually every Accrington attack. Even though there were no goals it was still an exciting game, which will definitely motivate Accrington to make a push up the league table. The positive side of this match was seeing Mackail-Smith enter the field in the second half making a return from his injury. Unfortunately the Scotsman was unable to make an impact on the game, but his return will definitely bring the B-Team's morale up after a difficult month.

Luton Town 0 - 0 Portsmouth
LUT: O'Donnell RED CARD 89'
A rematch of this month's FA Cup round 1 and this match was just as tight as the cup fixture. This time there was no late goal that was able to separate the two sides and both teams ended up sharing points. Mackail-Smith also made an appearance late in the match and played up front with Pigott in an attempt to search for a late winner, but again was unable to make an impact.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Football League 2 League Table
1. Luton Town - 34 points
2. Morecambe - 33 points
3. Plymouth Argyle - 33 points
4. Portsmouth - 32 points
5. Notts County - 32 points
6. Leyton Orient - 31 points
7. Wycombe - 30 points
---------------
12. AFC Wimbledon - 27 points
17. Exeter City - 23 points
18. Accrington - 22 points
---------------
22. Cambridge United - 14 points
23. Newport County - 13 points
24. Crawley Town - 9 points

Football League 2 Top Scorer
1. Collins (Northampton) - 11 Goals
2. Hayes (Wycombe) - 11 Goals
3. Pigott (Luton) - 10 Goals

Luton Town Top Scorer
1. Joe Pigott - 15 Goals
2. Craig Mackail Smith - 8 Goals
3. Jack Marriott - 6 Goals
4. Josh McQuoid - 6 Goals

Luton Town Player of The Month

GK - Elliott Justham (England) (55 OVR 24yrs) (+5)
Without a doubt, the best player of this month has been the English goalkeeper Justham. When the season started, we identified Luton's keepers as the weakest part of the squad but this month Justham has proven that even when his defensive line makes mistakes he is more than capable of guarding the net. Whether it's long shots, like Luton always force the opposition to take, or close range shots due to defensive errors, Justham was able to resolve every play and did not receive a single goal this month. We were anticipating Chavez to search for a replacement goalkeeper in the upcoming transfer window but Justham has effectively locked down the starting position through great performances and a strong work ethic in training.

Conclusion
Getting eliminated from the J. Paint Trophy so early on especially when I had a ****ing 2 goal lead really ticked me off. Took everything I had in me to not rage quit. That's one of the things I love the most about posting updates: It would be impossible for me to rage quit and not feel guilty about it when I come to post. The B-Team started off being really fun to play with and really easy to score with, but ever since Pigott and Marriott were promoted it's been really hard to create any danger up front. McQuoid is fast and he's scoring goals but he'll usually be having a terrible game before he scores. Baxton has actually been impressing me a lot despite his low overall and lack of individual skill. I was planning on placing him on the loan list but I think he'll be staying. Mackail-Smith's return was definitely received well; I just hope he can find his form quickly and be the savior the B-Team needs right now. The upcoming transfer window really has me excited. There's players on my shortlist that I want to make an effort to bring in, and once I finish the transfers I will also be using the money leftover to get youth scouting going. In the meantime we have a Capital One quarter final match against Norwich City coming up. Stay tuned and
Thanks For Reading!

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