***The Official Football Manager Thread***

[jesmith29]

Re: ***The Official Football Manager Thread***

Well the COC match against Man U is in the books.

3-0.

I think their goalie was even faster than my fastest player. LOL.

We played a 4-3-3 with 2 DM's, hoping we possibly could catch them on the counter. We held them until the 41' when Wellbeck scored and that was followed up in the 43' from a corner. 2-0 at half.

In the 2nd, we switched back to 4-5-1 attacking but just couldn't get anything decent. To make matters worse, Luke Rodgers picks up a yellow at 62' for excessive fouling. Before I could make a switch he picks up his 2nd yellow 30 seconds after the 1st yellow. Apparently he wanted an early shower.

In the 73' we gave up another header from a corner for the 3-0 final.

I just laughed went I looked at the pre-match line-up and the attributes for their players compared to mine.

[jesmith29]

Re: ***The Official Football Manager Thread***

Season 1 at Millwall is in the books. After getting blasted 5-0 by Spurs on the road in the FA Cup, we only had the league to worry about. The drubbing was worth it, though. Spurs sold out the match and it was chosen for TV, so we netted almost a million in proceeds.

After that, we went on a big run in the league, and even topped out at 6th. Then we just ran out of gas and limped to the finish line with a 1-3-7 record in the final 11 matches. We finished at 18-5-23, good for 14th. Scored and gave up 68 goals, good for 3rd most scored and 6th most against. Andrew Keogh scored 29 goals to win the golden boot and a place on team of the year. It was the most goals scored in the NPC since Lee Hughes netted 31 for West Brom in 98-99. 23 losses was also the most in the league. We have to work on holding at the back late in games.

In the transfer windows, I have managed to trim all the fat from the club. The 2nd league season has had a better start than the first. We've started 1-4-0, while holding 4 clean sheets. Unfortunately, we also didn't score in 3 of those. After getting through Northampton in the first round of the COC, we took a disappointing 2-1 loss at League 1 Oldham in the second round. They scored on the last kick of the match, a shot off the underside of the bar from 20 yards out.

How did Tamika Mkandawire do for you?

In my 2012 save with Millwall, he was a beast for me. The first 3 seasons, before we got promoted, he led the team in rating and scored 10 goals in 2 of them. He played CB.

[ImTellinTim]

Re: ***The Official Football Manager Thread***

How did Tamika Mkandawire do for you?

In my 2012 save with Millwall, he was a beast for me. The first 3 seasons, before we got promoted, he led the team in rating and scored 10 goals in 2 of them. He played CB.

Rode the bench and let him go, lol. I went with Robinson (captain) and the Australian Lowry for the most part with Danny S.hittu as the backup. I didn't re-sign S.hittu and brought in Andy Webster from Hearts.

[Bezzey]

Re: ***The Official Football Manager Thread***

Now I remember why I love and hate this damn game

[GOBLUE_08]

Finally made the jump to FM 13 and started a save with Almeria. Wanted to try one of the spanish leagues since i usually play in England. Wasnt bad but the owners expectations were pretty lofty with a limited transfer budget.

Team played ok but just seemed like they never really responded. Guys constantly complaining about everything, never could get anything out of them during meetings or pep talks. I made it through maybe half the season and saw that the Crystal Palace job opened up and went for it. Got hired and took the same style of play there and they took to it right away. Won 12 out of 15 games to finish the season and qualified for a playoff spot in Npower league 1. Beat Bournemouth the playoff final and got promoted to the championship div.

Next season played really well and finished 6th to again earn a playoff spot. Beat Hull in the playoff final and got promoted to the EPL. I was so proud lol. Won the N Power Championship Coach of the Year and all was well. Ive never run through any league like that and really thought we had somethin. Money started pouring in and i did what i could to add what i thought would be enough quality to be competative in the league.

Boooooy was i sadly mistaken. We got absolutely SLAUGHTERED, the whole season. No matter what i tried, just couldnt get anything to work and the team just quit on me. Ended up with easily the worst record ive ever had in any FM game, 2W- 6D- 30L. i wanted to resign so bad but, i stuck it out to see if the board would show any love for what i had done for the team. Of course they didnt and i was promptly fired at seasons end. I thought for sure i would have to start back at the bottom somewhere.

Two weeks or so go by and there are no jobs im interested in taking. I applied at Southend but i was late on that, and they hired someone the next day. Applied at Swansea, again i was too late and they hired someone else. Then out of nowhere West Ham's coach leaves for another job and i took a chance thinking i would never get the job. I applied and they hired me!


First season, the goal was to avoid relegation. Plenty of money to spend so i pretty much blew the team up. i only kept David Wheater and Matt Jarvis. Wheater has been rock solid at the back and Jarvis just creates so many chances i had to keep him. Being the homer that i am i went out and got Jozy Altidore and Mikkel Diskerud. Jozy was playing terribly for the first ten games and i was really regretting spending just over $20 mil to get him. I talked to him and told him to get his **** together and he instantly kicked on and the team followed suit. We stuggled a bit early on but once Jozy started scoring we went on a tear. We were lucky to get a pretty easy road in the FA Cup and went on to beat Swansea in the Final and finished 7th in the league. I also won coach of the year for EPL.

This season has been a struggle. We are hanging in there somehow in 10th place but, Euro Cup games along with FA Cup and regular season games are killing the team. All my best players are injured or have been injured at some point. I have some really promising young players, but their lack of experience isnt helping. Team as it stands now


UPDATE: Two more first team players injured on international duty smh. Thats now 8 of my 11 starters injured for the remainder of the season. This year is a wash

[ImTellinTim]

Re: ***The Official Football Manager Thread***

Another late-season collapse at Millwall. Although this one was a bit more predictable. My best center midfielder by far (Liam Trotter) got injured in February for 7 months - broken leg. With 10 matches left, we were sitting in 4th, 4 points from 7th. However, without the orchestrator in the midfield and with a brutal run of matches (not to mention two more key injuries sprinkled in), we went 1-1-7 over the next 9 to be officially eliminated from playoff contention. We're looking at around a 10th place finish depending on the results in the last match.

It would have been nice to have a chance at promotion, but we are nowhere near ready for EPL action. We did manage to score 3 against Arsenal in the 4th round of the FA Cup, but that's because they were too busy treating us like puppets with their passing and shooting while scoring 5. I will feel a lot better if I can shore up the defense a bit more with quality younger players. The old, slow guys I employ back there just aren't cutting it against the good teams. Starting that process by bringing in a solid 25-year-old in goal on a free over the summer. I'll also be looking for help at left back and center back. Wings and strikers are set. I will probably loan a holding midfielder again. That has worked in both seasons quite well.

The two automatic promotion spots are up for grabs still. Aston Villa has held the lead all season, but are now only 1 ahead of 2nd place Southampton and 2 points ahead of 3rd place.

[jesmith29]

Re: ***The Official Football Manager Thread***

^I agree about the injuries wrecking a lower league squad.

In my Shrewsbury Town save, my 2nd season started off well. After 15 games, we were in 5th and had played well in the JPT and COC. Than in the span of 3 days I had my 3 main wingers go down with injury. One was out for 2-3 months, another was gone for 3 weeks, and the 3rd for 10 days. I managed to do okay over the next 4 games, but it's been an utter train wreck ever since. We currently sit in 13th and players and the board are b*tching about underachiving. Hello, injuries! Hopefully we can start clicking again because I have no hair left!

LOL.

[ImTellinTim]

Re: ***The Official Football Manager Thread***

^I agree about the injuries wrecking a lower league squad.

Yeah, I had my doubts of keeping a playoff spot anyway. Of that 1-1-7 run, the seven losses were against top half clubs, including Villa and Southampton, except for one, which was against an underachieving but talented Swansea squad on the road. The win and draw were against the only teams I had confidence against. While I probably could have squeaked some draws without the injuries, all getting into the playoff would have accomplished would have been some revenue from the home leg.

Oh well, I'm about to fire up the save and get the last match out of the way and get through the offseason. If we don't get promoted next year, maybe it'll be time to see if another club could use my services.

EDIT: Ooh, West Ham are in danger of being relegated to the Championship.

[Suntan Superman]

Re: ***The Official Football Manager Thread***

Right now I've started a new save about a week's time ago, and decided to finally do my first English save, started at Lincoln in Blue Square Bet Premier, but I'm eyeing jobs above, Right now if Leeds goes down and Ian Holloway gets sacked(he was hired after Neil Warnock was sacked) I may apply for Leeds again, when Warnock got sacked I applied and they "considered" my interest, pretty much just eyeballing relegation battles everywhere to see what kind of job I can get. I like this Lincoln squad I've put together, and we're fighting for promotion to League Two, but I'm not spending 10 years trying to get to the EPL.

[Suntan Superman]

Re: ***The Official Football Manager Thread***

Oh, yeah, we've made an impressive FA Cup run in the Semi-Final vs Man City, and by impressive I mean, let's remember I'm a Conference club, only real impressive victory was 1-0 over Stoke, simply because I out-Stoked, Stoke. Other than that beat Tranmere, Tamworth, Peterborough, Crewe, and Bristol Rovers, on the way. I fully expect to get absolutely blasted against Man City.

[jesmith29]

Re: ***The Official Football Manager Thread***

Question.

When your A** Man says a player is more comfortable playing a more direct passing game, and you already have direct passing set all the way on his individual slider, what in the h*ll is he talking about? If I move the passing all the way it's set to long so is that what he's talking about?

This also happens on closing down.

[Suntan Superman]

Re: ***The Official Football Manager Thread***

Question.

When your A** Man says a player is more comfortable playing a more direct passing game, and you already have direct passing set all the way on his individual slider, what in the h*ll is he talking about? If I move the passing all the way it's set to long so is that what he's talking about?

This also happens on closing down.

It depends on the Assistant Manager, if he's keen on the player, then you're doing just fine, in your case, he might not be a high quality Assistant Manager.

Might. I could be, and most likely am very, and horribly wrong.

[Suntan Superman]

Re: ***The Official Football Manager Thread***

Super Proud of my guys, three of my normal Starting XI are out, most of the guys are tired as we only had three days off between this match and our last match, to come away from Wembley with only a 3-2 loss to Manchester City, when we're four full levels below them is a win in my book. Maybe it's the midwest lad in me, but I always seem to put together squads that are able to fight and claw and scratch their way to wins/draws/close losses against teams we have no business doing that too.

[Kobalt]

Re: ***The Official Football Manager Thread***

**** Bayern Munich, just **** them.

Just lost my 2*/5*(current/potential) 15year old DM to them. I thought they would wait until they take my players, not when they're teenagers.

In another note, got Kaiserslautern promoted in year 1.

[Suntan Superman]

Re: ***The Official Football Manager Thread***

**** Bayern Munich, just **** them.

Just lost my 2*/5*(current/potential) 15year old DM to them. I thought they would wait until they take my players, not when they're teenagers.

In another note, got Kaiserslautern promoted in year 1.

At least you already knew you were going to lose them to Bayern, if it's one thing I've noticed across all of my saves, its that I cannot get my hands on good german youth.