This CL final business is becoming a common theme...

Into the Skrill Premier. After some a few signing we're predicted to win it.

 

Might try my lower league tactic with Chelsea some time.

Got to say fair play to Charles Ryder for the posts, obviously put a fair bit of time into them.

 

I'm enjoying reading about your season more than doing my own. I'm still crash dumping!

I don't think I've seen a more injury prone player.

 

 

 

Too bad, cause he was a young regen with 5 star potential.

Got to say fair play to Charles Ryder for the posts, obviously put a fair bit of time into them.

 

I'm enjoying reading about your season more than doing my own. I'm still crash dumping!

 

That's too bad, perhaps try a fresh install?

 

My FM2013 used to crash all the time, haven't had that many so far with 14.

A good start to my Skill Premier campaign.

 

Squad:

 

Table:

 

Key Man:

Edited November 26, 201312 yr by JoeyN

Tempted to buy it, but i'd just waste weeks of my life on it

The difficulty shift between Skill South and Skrill Premier is really noticeable this year.

 

Dreading the Championship.

If this guy keeps developing like he has been..

 

 

 

 

 

I DID IT! I F'ING DID IT!

 

Won the Champion's League in the third attempt in finals. I had flashbacks to last season when after leading most of the game, concede right at the end of stoppage time.

 

Here I was...the better team, largely untroubled by Real Madrid, before in the 92nd minute (Again!) sees Ronaldo pop up with an equaliser. 

Now, this Real Madrid team was no ordinary team...they are record breakers. This season in the league, they won in an absolute landslide. 104 points, 33 wins, 5 draws. Their team was sensational (and sadly included Hazard who kicked up a stink and forced me to sell him in his final year of contract).

 

Anyway, after ET, it was still 1-1, and went to penalties. We missed the second penalty, and Real just kept hitting theirs...if they had scored their 5th penalty it was all over, but they chose a Terry'esque moment to miss. Won 7-6 on penalties.

 

Good times.

Edited November 28, 201312 yr by Cam

So I just got offered this guy 225k.

 

Thought he was going to be some sh*tty regen.

 

 

 

 

Dafuq? 

So I just got offered this guy 225k.

 

Thought he was going to be some sh*tty regen.

 

 

 

 

Dafuq? 

 

Snap him up on a long term contract and put a decent buy out in his contract too.

 

If nothing else you're bound to make a mint on him by selling which could boost your transfer kitty. 

My world is whole again:

 

 

 

 

Finally...

We had a tricky run to the final with Real and United, Klopp has been a thorn in my side for ages but I managed to narrowly best him on this occasion. It was our first match against Ancelotti's all-conquering Real in this save aside from a Super Cup loss back in 2014 after our Europa League win in the previous season. We got a bit lucky with the easy semi final draw, Shakhtar weren't at the races but we still deserve credit for embarrassing them in the manner we did.

I was a bit uneasy about the prospect of facing Barca, my record against them in this save stood at 2 wins, 2 draws and 2 losses. Messi and Neymar can always turn it on in the big games of course, the former is still having plus-8.00 average seasons despite being in his thirties.

The lineups show two teams full of talent although we had an edge thanks to a few Barca personnel issues: their first-choice right back was suspended for the final so we had to contend with a younger replacement. Not a bad player as such - indeed I've actually gone on to sign him myself as a backup RB this season - but still someone lacking in big-game experience. Their biggest problem was at centre half, however: they were missing their usual starter and third-choice through injury and were forced to start with a 16-year-old starlet with only a single La Liga appearance to his name.

Our defence was comparatively perfect, anchored by the impeccable South American pairing of Marquinhos and Pellerano with the explosive Rubino on the left and the veteran Azpilicueta on the right; if anyone could handle Messi and co it was this lot.

The goalkeepers were more or less on par, with Courtois injured in training I called upon Petr Cech, this was to be his final appearance in professional football before retirement at the end of the season. They had French shot stopper Hugo Lloris, himself a consistent performer since his move to Catalonia in 2014.

In central midfield we had the dynamic duo of Romero and Goretzka whilst Barca started with the veteran Busquets and the young Ukranian set piece wizard Gryschenko. We had the clear advantage in terms of ability here, indeed Goretzka would go on to claim the man of the match award after a superb display.

Their attacking band was a force to reckon with, featuring a Brazilian duo and the genius of Messi. Our front three wasn't too shabby either, with Hazard, captain De Bruyne and the powerful Ocampos.

Up front they had Luis Suarez, not the scariest prospect at this stage in his career but still a striker that had done us damage in previous encounters. My big decision was who to start at #9, in two of our three previous losing finals I had started with Lukaku and he had failed to score on either occasion, so I opted for the young academy product in the form of Knight. He wouldn't disappoint...

I felt that their weak right side would be a pivotal area and I was proved correct during the match, Hazard going on to score after getting the better of his man on one occasion and De Bruyne setting up Knight with a killer ball on another. Our third goal came from an Azpilicueta throw in.

Dave's sending off late on allowed Barca back into the match, I was forced to take off Hazard and replace him with Sergio Ramos. I could have brought on my backup centre half, Jedvaj, and moved Marquinhos to RB but I didn't want to mess around with my strongest pairing. And besides, Ramos had bags of experience facing this particular opponent!

Alba scored but we held on for the win. After three Champions League final failures I was relieved, I don't think I could have handled a fourth successive loss!

The league was dramatic, we were destined for second place but a West Ham draw at Old Trafford on the final day of the season allowed us to clinch the title by a nose.

We've finally managed to defend the league, hopefully we can go on to make it three-in-a-row.

We were knocked out of the FA Cup by eventual winners Southampton so weren't able to claim a fabled treble. We did, however, win the League Cup.

Aside from bringing back Alex McCarthy for 90k to replace Cech as backup GK I have only made two additions to the squad.

With Ramos on 100k per week I decided to move him on to Monaco, replacing him with the aforementioned young Barca fullback for an initial 27 million rising to 31. He will be my long term replacement for Azpilicueta.

I did consider buying Barca's other right back who was slightly better and more versatile but my scouts reported a big-match weakness. He would have cost 50 million plus as well, a sum I wasn't keen to part with for a second-choice.

My other purchase for a modest 9.5 million rising to 11.25 was this fabulous prospect, he's got bags of potential and will hopefully blossom into a Bobby Moore-like figure in years to come.

My 23-man squad for the season ahead:

Onwards and upwards!
 

 

Snap him up on a long term contract and put a decent buy out in his contract too.

 

If nothing else you're bound to make a mint on him by selling which could boost your transfer kitty. 

 

No, play him...

 

 

My wage budget is looking nice and lean.

 

 

I'm a real penny pincher when it comes to contracts, I always utilise relegation release clauses and goals per season bonuses to get wage demands down when negotiating.

Edited November 28, 201312 yr by Charles Ryder

Fun game, almost finished first season with leverkuson, guaranteed CL spot for the next season, reached quarter final in the CL, knocked out United in the 4th round. The first 10 games were ridiculously difficult, think I lost 5-6, including a cup knock out match to a lower league team. I guess it reflects the 'settle in' period for real life football. It maybe just me, but I found Gk are extremely good in this version, and strikers very poor. I lost count the team Gk making one on one save on strikers. 

My team has changed so much since the start. I'm a very impulsive manager I think. Selling players I like because they're under-performing. But it's been successful. In the league, we are the dominant team. Won the league in 6 out of 7 seasons, including 5 in a row. We seem to fall behind early, and just power home in the last half year.

 

Tonight when I play the game again, I'm going to have a good look at my transfer history, and where my squad stands now. I have made enormous profit in the transfer market. I'll be very interested to see how it looks when I factor in only players that I have bought in and then sold.

 

My team has become regen central. I don't think there are many more than 5 original Chelsea players in my squad...and only a couple more real players I have bought in. I'm actually about to get rid of Courtois, because I got a 21 year old GK on a free from Inter, who is already better than him. I will have two 21 year old goalkeepers with 5 star potential. At the very least I will end up making money from one of them.

I try to avoid hoarding regens too early in a save, makes things more interesting and challenging.

I try to avoid hoarding regens too early in a save, makes things more interesting and challenging.

 

Not for me...I love regens. I love finding them, I love helping them reach their potential. I spend ages looking around for youth players to sign.

 

I'm about to do a big picture update...so fair warning for that.

Ok, so big update time. At the start of season 8 right now, pre-season.

 

First things first, where my first team squad stands right now. It's worth noting, several of the players will be moved on before the season starts. General info, and star ratings.

 

 

And my under 18's

 

 

Next a few players I find interesting. Not necessarily great, but they interested me.

 

Firstly, Chalobah...

 

 

Secondly, this player from the Solomon Islands I picked up on a free (as a backup player)

 

 

And finally, the best Australian regen I have found so far...good enough to be a backup for me (though in his only season with me so far, I sent him on loan.

 

 

Okay, now to the good part, my favourite regens. All of these players are in my first team squad

 

Just picked up this guy, will be my second RB

 

The free transfer keeper who will replace Courtois. Already 4 1/2 stars

 

Taken over Lukaku up front

 

Amazing player...probably the best of the lot....JERONIMO!

 

Great hope for this guy

 

My other young keeper

 

Quality young LB, who I'm considering selling...wanted by Barca

 

Young CB and CM, I bought from Vitesse for far too much money haha. Leads my merchandise sales though

 

Spent a mint to get him from Barca in January...but has the potential to be long term LW

 

Young striker I've had since he was 16. Going to step up soon.

 

Going to be amazing.

 

Along with Jeronimo, an automatic first XI selection at RW

 

Picked him up in the final 6 months of his contract for 1.6mil...developed enormously in just a few months

Now a look at some of the youth players, the next generation so to speak

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

And...an extensive history of my transfers

 

Season 1

 

Season 2

 

Season 3

 

Season 4

 

Season 5

 

Season 6

 

Season 7

 

This season

 

Now, an analysis of my transfers, mostly for my benefit than anyone else's. Very curious.

 

My manager profile says this - 

 

Total Value of Players Sold: 624 million

Total Value of Players Bought: 361 million

 

Biggest Sale: Mata 50 million

Biggest Purchase: Shaw 31.5 million

 

Now, I want to see what has happened with the players I have both bought and sold (so not players that already belonged to Chelsea, and not those that are still with me).

 

Timo Werner: Bought for 6million, sold for 19.5million + 50% next sale (which netted me a further 22million)

Profit: 35million

 

Lewandowski: Bought for 17.5million, sold for 20.5million

Profit: 3million

 

Onzai: Bought for 1.9million, sold for 4.4million (had 50% on him, but he move for free....)

Profit: 2.5million

 

Casteels: Bought for 2.3million, sold for 2.5million + 50% (he hasn't move since)

Profit: 200k

 

Papadopolous: Bought for 9.75million, sold for 20million + 50% (he hasn't moved)

Profit: 10.25million

 

Jose Rodriguez: Bought for 550k, sold for 7.75million +50% (he hasn't moved)

 

Rodwell: Bought for 20million, sold for 21.5million +50% (not moved)

Proft: 1.5million

 

Markovic: Bought for 24million, sold for 31.5million + 8.5million on 50%

Profit: 16million

 

Atalay (regen): Bought for 3.2million, sold for 4million + 50% (active)

Profit: 800k

 

Jedvaj: Bought for 2.2million, sold for 28million + 5.5million on 50%

Profit: 31.3million

 

Fernandes: Bought for 4.4million, sold for 30million + 50% (active)

Profit: 25.6million

 

Stones: Bought for 11.75million, sold for 17.5million + 50% (active)

Proft: 5.75million

 

Vrucina (regen): Bought for 500k, sold for 6.5million + 15million from 50%

Profit: 21million

 

Gabbiadini: Free, sold for 8.5million + 2.5million from 50%

Profit: 11million

 

Icardi: Free, sold for 23.5million (not sure if I have the 50% for him or not)

Profit: 23.5million

 

Lucas Moura: Bought for 27million, sold for 30million (again not sure about the sell on)

Profit: 3million

 

Ellis (regen): Bought for 500k, released for free

Loss: 500k

 

Misso (regen): Bought for 1.3million, released for free

Loss: 1.3million

 

Max Meyer: Free, sold for 17.25million (50%?)

Profit: 17.25mil

 

Zayets (regen): Bought for 1.1million, sold for 1.7million + 50% (active)

Profit: 600k

 

Kondogbia: Free, sold for 25million

Profit: 25million

 

Espindola (regen): Free, sold for 5.5million + 50% (active)

Profit: 5.5million

 

Pretty successful there I think.

Great squad there. The transfer window is probably one of my favorite parts of the game but I do tend to find that the less transfers I make, the better the team plays. Only bought Vidal in for the first team this season, but all the others have picked up ratings and we seem to score more and more from 'great team moves'.
 
League table atm.
 

 
One of the most pleasing things has been Hazard's form. 

 

Edited November 29, 201312 yr by footballoholic

The more changes you make, the more work the team has to do to become cohesive again. Unfortunately, this season was a mammoth one in terms of transfers for me. Since the squad shot above, I have sold a number of key players. Ended up losing the Community Shield because of it I think...but I have won my 3 EPL games, and the Super Cup, so it's not all bad.

Spencer Lamacraft!

So I just got offered this guy 225k.

 

Thought he was going to be some sh*tty regen.

 

 

 

 

Dafuq? 

Contract was expiring no doubt?

Even so, 225k is an absolute steal. No one else bid for him either.