FM12: Ipswich Town FC Thread – Sir Alf Ramsey, Sir Bobby Robson... and you?

[goosey3131]

FM12: Ipswich Town FC Thread – Sir Alf Ramsey, Sir Bobby Robson... and you?

Welcome to this year’s Ipswich Town Football Club Thread. Known as The Tractor Boys, Ipswich are currently playing in the Npower Championship. With the administration days well and truly behind them and the unsuccessful Roy Keane stint over, Town are now heading for (hopefully) brighter days with Paul Jewell, or YOU, at the helm.

Club Overview & Facilities

Portman Road: 30,311 Capacity

[goosey3131]

History

So why Ipswich Town?

• Ipswich produced the two greatest England Managers of all-time in world cup winning Sir Alf Ramsey and the great Sir Bobby Robson.
  
• Relatively large transfer kitty for a Championship team (Top half finish - £4M/ Winner - £6M)
  
• A large starting squad with a good solid core of players that need improvements around them.
  
• A club known for being both a traditional family club and for producing good passing teams
  
• A history of producing a number of internationals through the academy in recent years (Connor Wickham, Darren Bent, Titus Bramble, Kieron Dyer etc).
  
• Winners of the First Division Title (1962), the Texaco Cup (1973), the FA Cup (1978) and the UEFA Cup (1981)
  
• A moderate challenge in taking them to where they belong; the Premier League (and further).
  

The Squad

Goalkeepers

Arran Lee-Barrett provides adequate cover for the number one position. With cheap wages and a good mentality, the goalkeeper never complains that he is back up. Beware of transfer offers from him in the first transfer window. One for the future is the young American, Cody Cropper, who turns out a solid League One goalkeeper at best. The best goalkeeper at the club is loanee David Stockdale.

David Stockdale – Currently on loan from Fulham this season and is by far and away the best goalkeeper Ipswich currently possess. Also England’s current 2nd choice goalkeeper.

Best youth prospect: Cody Cropper

Defence

With Jamie Peters and Carlos Edwards capable of playing at Right Back, you have two pacey but defensively limited players, and this may be an area of improvement. At Centre Half, you have the solid yet unspectacular duo of Damien Delaney and Ibrahima Sonko, with the experienced Ivar Ingimarsson and young Kiwi Tommy Smith as alternatives. At Left Back you have two youngsters in Shane O’Connor and Aaron Creswell and the experienced, yet aging, Mark Kennedy. Also in the youth squad you have the promising Joe Whight who could go on to challenge that position in future years.

Aaron Creswell – The best player of Ipswich’s current 2011/2012 campaign so far IRL. If you give young Aaron the chance at the left-back berth, his stats will improve to a lower- prem level.

Aaron Creswell

Best youth prospect: Joe Whight

Midfield

By far your most solid area on the pitch, the midfield offers various central options whilst lacking in width. This area you may not feel you need to improve on, with the likes of Leadbitter, Bowyer, Andrews, Bullard, and the young prospect Luke Hyam.

Jay Emmanuel-Thomas – A bit of a maverick at the club, one minute he will amaze you with class, flair and skill, the next he will annoy you with his poor work rate, teamwork and positioning. Bought for £1.5m by Paul Jewell in the summer, if you can get the best out of JET, the former Arsenal man will turn in to a key player for your campaign. It is also of note that JET is ‘competent’ and ‘accomplished’ in ELEVEN positions, and so proves a very useful player.

Jay Emmanuel-Thomas

[goosey3131]

Jimmy Bullard – The much loved Jimmy Bullard has great technical and mental ability and indeed could play at a higher level. With stats such as Passing 15, Long Shots 15, Technique 16, First Touch 16, and Flair 15 - You should base your team around the playmaker.

Jimmy Bullard

Best youth prospect: Josh Carson

Attack

With the once dubbed ‘Didier Drogba’ of the Championship, you have the experienced Jason Scotland, whilst useful for a season, he and quite possibly none of the other strikers, are for the long-term. With Tamas Priskin, you have a player who can produce on his day. This can be seen in real-life with his superb display against Arsenal in the Carling Cup in the 2010/2011 campaign. These days do not come often enough for Town fans and he has not been seen as the first choice striker since Paul Jewell entered the club. Also in this position you have the young Ronan Murray, Loanee Daryl Murphy and the once £3million signing of Nathan Ellington. The best striker Ipswich possesses is Michael Chopra.

Michael Chopra – The golden gamble upfront. Chopra is currently the best striker Ipswich has on their books. Signed from Cardiff for 1.5m by Paul Jewell in the summer, Ipswich relies on Chopra for goals this season.

Michael Chopra

Youth prospect: Caolan Lavery

Possible Formations – 4 3 1 2 or 4 2 3 1

With limited wingers at the club, you may choose to go for a narrow formation. My personal favourite is the 4-3-1-2. In addition to not having many wingers at the club, Ipswich Town has a heavy dose of quality in the central midfield positions this year. The 3 in central midfield are Leadbitter, Bowyer and loanee Keith Andrews, with fan favourite Jimmy Bullard dominating the game as a playmaker behind the two strikers.

If you insist on playing a wider formation, I go with for another personal favourite of mine, the attacking 4-2-3-1. This tactics works as the three in the AML, AMR and AMC positions are taken up by 2 inside forwards and a playmaker, with a central midfield support and a ball winning midfielder behind.

Possible Transfers

This really depends on your managerial style in Football Manager; However I personally prefer a wholesale change when it comes to transfers. With a minimum £4million to spend on transfers, you have a lot of options and can afford to cull the squad.

In

The positions that require improvements firstly are: The RB; a permanent GK; another CB; and another striker (and two wingers if playing a wide formation). Possible signings include: Parnaby, Bandalovski, Toloi, Smithies, Luis Guilherme, Kvekveskiri, Verkhovtsov, Helguson, Samaras, Tshabalala, Noone, Nicky Law, Shwan Jalal, Kingson, Luis Bolanos, Loovens, Ahmed Khalil, Skavysh, Mateja Kezman, Pavlyuchek, Romario and LuaLua.

Don’t be afraid to also utilise the loan market for players such as Paul Pogba, Florent Cuvelier, Alberto Bueno, Jese etc. A parent club is always useful.

Out

Though useful players, loanees Keith Andrews and Daryl Murphy are sitting on sizeable wages (25k and 15k per week respectively) and you may consider terminating their loans. For the same reason, you may wish to sell Scotland, Martin, Edwards, Priskin and Ingimarsson.

In addition to these, Ipswich still has a lot of squad trimming left to do. Fringe players Peters, Drury, Kennedy, Smith, Ellington, Healy and O’Connor can all go for me, as they offer little in bringing the club forward. In terms of staff, none are at an acceptable level, and their contracts can all be ‘mutually terminated’ except for the two scouts, David Hamilton and Stuart McCall.

Summary

Despite the media predicting a 12th place finish, with the right investment and managerial guile, Ipswich can get promoted into the Premier League with relative ease. It is a club that has a sound financial backer in owner Marcus Evans, who is patiently waiting for the right man to take the club them to the Premier League.

[iainmillar18]

How often do Fulham recall Stockdale? Does that ever happen? And are there any other players apart from Cresswell you think can handle the step up to the Prem?

[SRL88]

Good OP mate

[goosey3131]

All the times I have been Ipswich on FM12, which is now 3 already, Stockdale has not been recalled. I think JET is useful due to all the positions he plays. Bullard and Bowyer may be too old/slow for the prem but that's personal preference. But all in all, not really. Part of the fun with being Ipswich is having the money to rebuild and rejuvenate the team.

[goosey3131]

Thanks SRL88!

Not many people seem to be Ipswich, it's a great club to play as.

[Purefun]

Good OP.

[goosey3131]

Thanks Purefun

[goosey3131]

To try and encourage people to play as ITFC, I am currently sitting top of the league an the end of the transfer window, 5 wins out of 5.

Here is my transfers from the first window:

My key signings are Paredes, Bressan, Drahun and Sanogo, the latter someone with huge potential. Paredes, Drahun and Bressan are exceptional so far and stats wise I think could play in the Premiership. Loovens and Bueno I would recommend and in addition to these Materazzi , Jordan, Ross and Yakubu are good additions that will improve the squad depth. Jalal has the potential to be Ipswich No: 1 when Stockdale’s loan finishes.

Outwards, as you can see, I have done a lot. As stated in the OP, I like to trim and improve the squad immediately. After playing a few times with Ipswich I now know who of the youngsters aren’t going to make the level, so they were the first to go. Ingimarsson and Peters I felt I would not use this season so terminated (you can afford to make a short term loss with Evans as owner). As you can see, not a lot of the players who are in and around the first team squad at the start have a lot of value (Edwards, Priskin etc). The biggest sale was Leadbitter for 1.3m. With Leadbitter on 15k a week going into the last year of his contract, it was a sale I just had to do. This money allowed me to buy a better midfielder in Bressan and Drahun.

Anyone fancy being Ipswich?

[reesoid]

Darwin Quintero will be the best £2.3 million you will ever spend on a player at the start. Got 48 goals in 46 league games for me.

[goosey3131]

Did try sign Quintero but went elsewhere. Got Sanogo in instead who will hopefully become good. How is your current town save going?

[Prongsie92]

Just finished my second season and I'm now in my third.

First season I got promoted from the Championship playing a 4-4-2. Got 89 points, W25 D14 L7. Dropped out of the League Cup in the third round and FA in the fifth round. Somehow nabbed second on the final day of the season (thankfully). Signed Jordan Rhodes (1m), Francis Coquelin (loan), Alex Chamberlain (loan), Jonjo Shelvey (loan), Stuart Parnaby (free), Stephan Loboue (free), David Carney (free), Mihael Kovacevic (free), Michael Lumb (free), Jamal Campbell-Ryce (750k), Arjan Swinkles (400k) and Jake Livermore (loan). Sold Aaron Cresswell (180k), Lee Bowyer (75k). Also released Tommy Smith, Nathan Ellington, Damien Delaney, Tamas Priskin and Mark Kennedy.

Squad looked like this for the majority of the season:

Stockdale/Loboue

Kovacevic/Parnaby - Ingimarsson/Sonko - Swinkles - Lumb

Bullard/Campbell-Ryce -Leadbitter/Shelvey - Livermore/Coquelin - Carney/Martin

Scotland/Rhodes - JET/Chopra

JET got Player of the Season. 11 league goals, 3 cup goals and 12 assists. Chamberlain managed to get 14 assists in his half-season loan.

Second season I came 15th in the Prem. W10 D11 L17. Got to the finals of the League Cup but lost against Birmingham (who took out most of the "top" clubs and I got all the Champ/League 1 sides). Only got to the fourth round of the FA cup. I signed David Stockdale (2.5m and Player of the Season), Enver Akkaya (regen youth), Tom Cairney (975k), Charlie Mulgrew (1.7m), John Fleck (1.8m), Jack Hobbs (1.8m), Billy Jones (875k), Fabien Robert (1.3m), Alex Chamberlain (loan), Kieran Trippier (free), Koen van de Lakk (free), John Carew (free), Michael Owen (free), Darron Gibson (free) and Adam Johnson (loan). Sold Mihael Kovacevic (1.5m) and Michael Chopra (1.3m). Released Colin Healy, Carlos Edwards, and Shane O'Connor.

Started the season playing 4-3-1-2 but suffered to many back-to-back losses, ended up going to a 4-4-1-1 which helped bump my league position.

Stockdale/Loboue

Parnaby/Jones - Hobbs/Sonko - Mulgrew/Swinkles - Lumb

Chamberlain/Trippier - Cairney/Gibson - Carney

Fleck/Robert

Rhodes/Carew - JET/Owen

When I went to 4-4-1-1, Town looked like this:

Stockdale/Loboue

Parnaby/Jones - Hobbs/Sonko - Mulgrew/Swinkles - Lumb

Chamberlain/Trippier - Cairney/Robert -Gibson - Carney

Fleck/Owen

JET/Carew

Stockdale got Player of the Season although JET was fantastic again. 22 goals overall - 14 in the Prem and 7 in the League Cup.

Third season. Currently 11th at 21/Oct with 10 points, W3 D1 L3. Brought in Joe Mattock (2.5m), James Tomkins (2.5m), Robert Snodgrass (3.3m), Johannes Flum (2m), Michael Johnson (free), Dario Cvitanich (free), Casto (free), Danni Avdic (1m), Bebe (free) and Tim Hoogland (850k). Sold Fabien Robert (1m) and Grant Leadbitter (1.5m to Norwich >). Released Koen van de Laak, Michael Owen, Stuart Parnaby, Arran Lee-Barrett, Jamal Campbell-Ryce, Lee Martin and Josh Carson.

Definitely enjoying this save, even though it's pretty tough. Really wish I could get more stadium sell-outs but attendance always seems to get stuck around the 26k mark, hopefully that'll change if I can get a good mid-table finish this season.

[goosey3131]

Nice going Prongsie! a long way ahead of me at seems! would be years on if I kept my first demo save but didn't like the small database.

Did you manage to sign Stockdale then? how is Fleck doing for you? in some saves he is superb for me and others he doesn't perform. I see that you couldn't resist to sign Rhodes back!

I'm now in January in the 1st season, still top and gap is growing. The only negative is that Drahun who I bought for 525k left for 1.8m as it met a clause in his contract.

Reesoid you will be pleased to know that Quintero didn't sign for the other club and I've ended up getting him in the January window for 3 million!

If anywhere, my defence is still the weak area, so will look to improve on that. Any suggestions welcome.

Delaney is surprisingly doing OK for me at LCB!

[goosey3131]

End of the window - I have had a 5m bid from Malaga for Bressan rejected and a 6m +25% and a friendly for Sanogo by Man Utd also rejected, not sure if this is me showing bravery or stupidity. The Drahun sale is very disappointing.

Inwards, I have signed broadfoot and Carl Jenkinson on loan. A quiet window for me.

[Prongsie92]

Goosey: I managed to sign Stockdale in my second season. Fulham had transfer listed him in Jan 2012 and he was pretty keen to join Town. Been outstanding for me, easily one of the best (if not the best) signings I've made. Many a game in the Prem has been kept to a win or draw because of him

Fleck has been fairly good even though he's often playing out of position. His first season at Town (my second season) he averaged 6.85 in a ML/MC position with 5 goals and 6 assists. His second (my third) I had him playing AMC (until he got injured and I switched formation) and ML/ST and he averaged 7.07 with 3 goals and 2 assists. He's one of the most consistent players at the club and thankfully one of the most versatile. I don't think I could play this save if I didn't have Fleck and JET in the side whilst still playing

Had to sign Rhodes back! Sadly he wasn't a messiah. 35 league appearances, 6 goals. He's currently transfer-listed and highly unlikely to play for me again. Shame, as he's got some nice stats...

Just finished the 2013/2014 season and Town are still on the rise. Finished 10th in the league, with 53 points from W15 D8 L15. Also won the League Cup (against Birmingham of all teams). Sadly dropped out of the FA Cup in the third round against Villa but who cares about that... we're in the UEFA Cup! JET got 23 goals/5 assists. Trippier got 9 goals/6 assists. Lumb got 2 goals/12 assists. Jet walked away with Town's Player of the Season (again) and finally I call-up to the England Side

Also we've got some ground expansion to 36000 going on, so an amazing season for Town.

So obviously I had to flog half of my side again and bring in some new talent

I signed Alfonso Javier (DC regen for 1.8m), Nana Asare (2.3m), Jelle Vossen (3.5m), Carlos Tevez (free, but on 70k/week after not playing at City for 3 seasons), Deniz Naki (free), Paulo (DL regen for 2.1m) and Emmanuel Abedayor (free on 37.5k/week after not playing at City for 2 seasons). Quite impressed with some of my signings, although I think the UEFA cup was the selling point.

Sold Luis Aguiar (2.1m, bought in Jan for 1.2m), Casto (free), Stephan Loboue (free), Dario Cvitanich (free) and Bebe (1m).

Currently playing a 4-4-2 but have got 4-4-1-1 and 4-4-2 diamond prepared (for when the AI catches on to my tricks). Side looks like this:

---------------------------Stockdale/Etheridge----------------------------------------------

Billy Jones/Trippier --------- Hobbs/Swinkles - Tomkins/regen ------- Lumb/Mattock/Paulo

Trippier/Naki/Snodgrass - Gibson/Cairney/JET - Johnson/Fleck/Flum - Asare/Fleck/JET/Snodgrass

--------------------Adebayor/Avdic/Fleck ---- Tevez/JET/Vossen-----------------------------

[goosey3131]

So I got comfortably promoted into the EPL with 98 points, wiith no one ease really competing.

As the premier league beckoned, the team had to be improved in order to step up.

In: I also bought Stockdale (1.5m) and Fleck (1.7m), a GK regen, Sharp (750k) , Bueno for 450k I had on loan last season and did well so felt he should be rewarded, Jonathan (loan), Ropotan (275k), Garics (loan), Raitala (1.4m), my big signing was Martin Olsson (10m), Arzo (2.4m), Romario (1.4m), Burdisso (3.9m) and Sidnei (1m)

A subsequent clear-out was needed to balance the books and team.

Out: Sonko (60k), Delaney (100k), Lee-Barrett (100k), Hyam (100k), Jordan (500k) and Sanogo I sold to Man Utd as I didn’t think he was progressing as much as I’d like and so sold for 5.5m +25% and a friendly.

I am still using the 4312 as mentioned in the OP with the team looking something like this:

Stockdale

Olsson, Burdisso, Sidnei, Jonathan,

Ropotan, Arzo, Bressan,

Bueno,

Quintero, Paredes

I am currently sitting in 5th with 10 games played (W6 D2 L2) in a promising start in the first season in the EPL

Tevez and Adebayor are great signing Prongsie!

Vossen is also an old favourite of mine.

[goosey3131]

This season, the first in the EPL and second altogether, has finished and I managed to finish in 4th place! was 5th place from the very start until the last game of the season with Chelsea losing and me winning, over the moon with that! Champions League awaits!

I now have my youth facilities upgraded and a stadium expansion of a further 9,689 seats to a 40,000 capacity.

Must give credit to Reesoid for the Quintero suggestion, he has scored 43 goals in 43 games in all competitions .

In addition to the signings mentioned above, I loaned Labyad and Coquelin who added quality in depth.

So far my only post-season signing has been Dortmund's Ilkay Gundogan for 4mil.

This very much reminds me of when Ipswich finished 5th in 2000/2001 in their first season in the EPL after promotion to the top tier the season before. Subsequently qualifying them for Euro Cup and facing the likes of Italian giants Inter Milan.

The following season, ITFC got relegated and have been on a downhill struggle since, with them now being the current 2nd longest-serving Championship side (Ipswich 10 years, Coventry 11 years)

Lets hope I don't do that!

[Mingus]

Just hit Jan in my 3rd season. Managed 8th last season and got into the europa league for having the best disciplinary record. I've been stupidly lucky with transfers, so many good players ended up the transfer list and a few good teams got relegated, letting me nick a few good players.

current team is :

Adler ( beast )

walker burdisso Toloi Vargas

Firmina rodwell veratti piatti

quintero/abel hernandez walcott/wellbeck

Quintero has been great, nice to see him doing well for everyone else. just got the board to buy the stadium back from the owner, no idea if it will help finances though.

[goosey3131]

Nice going Mingus, glad someone else is enjoying playing as Ipswich

That's an excellent squad - Adler especially . I think that will be my next major buy, a decent GK.

I will ask to do buy the stadium also, with the rent being 110k a year. I am also keen to do so because of the current argument over the rent increase and back payments dispute the club is currently facing with the local council in real life.

I am now not far from others, starting my third season at the end of the summer transfer window.

Seems no one is struggling which is a good thing, keep it up guys

[Mingus]

Season 3

Having played the first 2 seasons on holiday mode i figured it was time to play properly. Having scraped into europe through the fair play league my season started in early August. You hear a lot of real life complaints about the europa league due to the extra games, despite my thin squad i thought it really helped my team, the constant batterings we handed out to weak opposition were great for moral. We were unlucky to go out to spurs in the semis, but on the way there we won 18 games on the bounce and stuck in 88 goals, if nothing else it was great fun to watch.

I also got my hands on some silverware by winning the league cup, along with a 3rd place finish in the EPL it was a good season.

Adler was immense all season, I play a very attacking 442 so he had plenty to do. Hernandez did well also, quintero was stupidly good, he ended up with 60 goals from 46 games.

Made a few nice signings for an assault on the EPL and champions league next season.

[Mingus]

Best result on this save so far.

Uploaded with ImageShack.us

[Mingus]

Just finished season 4, lost out on the Epl to man city by 3 points. i needed them to lose at home to lose at home to bottom of the league leicester and i needed to beat fulham at home by 7 goals or more. I actually ended up beating fulham 9-0, but they won 2-0 so it wasnt to be. I won the league cup again, beating swansea 7-0 in the final.

Highlight of the season and of my save so far was my winning the champions league, I was handed a fairly tough group, featuring R.madrid, marseille and zurich, with the highlight being the win i posted above.

Uploaded with ImageShack.us

After winning the group i was hoping for an easy draw, instead i got a struggling bayern munich team (they were 5th in the bundeslega) but after a hard fought 1-1 draw away i smashed them 4-1 at portman road. Next up weere PSG, who despite all that oil money i felt were a much easier draw than bayern. This proved true when i beat them 2-1 away and followed up with a comfortable 2-0 win at home. In the semis i drew Lyon, a team i always dread for one simple reason, LLoris and his ability to play brilliantly in the big games. I went 1-0 in the away leg to a last min pavlyuchenko goal, and suprise suprise lloris played a blinder. I was pretty worried for the home leg, i knew i needed 3 goals really to be safe, but with Lloris in nets i didnt fancy it. It started of well with hernandez beating 3 players to score in the 14th minute. 2 minutes later lyon went up the other and bastos scored with there first shot of the game. Now needing 2 goals to progress and 3 to be safe i was getting worried, my team were making some good chances but that man lloris was in the way. thank god for kiko femenia, only playing because piatti was injured he decided to beat the entire lyon defence and stick one in the bottom corner, 3 minutes later hernandez played him in and he finished again, 3-2 up on aggregate and cruising it was looking good. Lyon went all out attack in the second half but my defence held firm, and that man feminia scored from a break for his hat trick.

I drew a struggling Man u side in the final, rooney and hernandez were both injured so the started with berbatov up front and criscito on the left wing. I had a full strength side with piatti back from injury to replace the hero of the semis. It was pretty tight all the way through, Adler was too good for there strike force to score against, de gea to good for mine. When smalling was sent of in the 57th minute i thought i had it the bag, but they switcheed from 4-5-1 to 4-3-2 and started causing me problems, i went 4-4-2 to try and force the matter but de gea was playing well. 90 mins came and went without a breakthrough and the first half of extra time was the same. In the 107th min evra decided to chop piatti in the box, penalty for me and with my star regen sani, who had been sticking in free kicks and penaltys all over the shop i had one hand on the trophy. unfortenatley de gea got one hand to the ball and it looked like id be watching 10 more penaltys. thank god then for papadopoulos who popped up in the 123rd minute to score from a corner with a "hint `of handball" according to the commentary.

Credit for the success should go to this guys tactic (http://community.sigames.com/showthread.php/287972-Parked-The-Tank-Achievement), i switched in jan and it worked wonders. If i get round to it ill post a few goals up, my front 3 really did score some spectacular solo goals this year.

Really happy to get my hands on the CL trophy, had a pretty lucky run to be fair, but my players took full advantage. I now have 60 million in the bank, about 20-30 mill of young talent coming back from loan that ull probably sell, hopefully the rep boost from the CL win will allow to really improve my team and win the EPL next season.

[goosey3131]

That’s superb going Mingus . I’m now also manager of England on mine so may download that tactics and give it a trial run. Rooney being by far and away the best striker England possesses I will be looking to play one upfront.

I have Richard Naylor as ITFC coach and England Assistant Manager

I have just entered the 2014/15 season after finishing 2nd in the EPL last season, only 6 points away from Man United. I am currently on a 21 game unbeaten run with a strong finish to the 2013/14 season and an equally strong 2014/15 start with played 7 w4 d3 l0 and lie 3rd - 3 points from top with a very long way to go.

In the Champions League I have Sporting, Lyon and PSV in my group, so quite a tough group. Drawn 1-1 with both Lyon and Sporting so far. Truth be told I am only really focused to win the league first and my bonuses indicate this, though I would like to go as far as I can in this competition for the rep increase and additional income.

My squad looks something like this:

Green (18) and Orlando (17) are both regens with huge potential, and as you can see Green is already my number one.

The next window I shall buy another striker with Sigborsson very frustrating, I love his stats but he is on a current goal drought. Berbatov I bought as back up and a good tutor only in mind, same with Alou Diarra. Jack Cork in this save stats-wise is really good and is playing a box to box role and surprisingly excelling.

What I like about this squad is that it is very much a squad who all do their bit, and if anything, are over-achieving.

Here are my transfers from the most recent transfer window:

(hopefully you can see both of the images on the post, let me know if you can't)

I can now start to build for the future with a relatively satisfying first team squad and have focused on youth signings and Goodwin, Collot, Stokes and Russo, also Green and Orlando, are all promising regens.

My biggest signing of the window is Josip Illicic who I like stats wise a lot and made him my AMC, playmaker and focal point in attack (still using the 4312 from the OP).

[goosey3131]

How's everyone going with their Town save?

Anyone need any help?

I came first in the prem of the 2014/15 season shall post in more detail in a few days!

[Mingus]

lost out on the EPL to man city on the last day of the season, heading into 16/17 got rid of some dead wood and brought in some quality.

got offered the R.Madrid job, with a 320 million transfer budget, tough to say no too.

[Bealesy]

Just now starting my first season with Ipswich and got a few good ideas from this thread. Will let you know how I get on

[Back to Earth]

Career game underway! Probably working 2 tactics, attacking 4-3-1-2 and a more defensive 4-1-3-2. Have brought in Sbragia as a scout, immediately changed to coach and Winsper as fitness coach.

Out with Lee Barrett, Edwards, Delaney, Sonko (released), Leadbetter, Ellington (mutual), Peters, Martin, Ainsley, Cropper, Scotland.

Possible starting 11 :- (paying over 48 months) :- Amos (gk, loan); Joel Ward (rb, cheap and retraining); Loovens (cd, loan); Dawson (cd from WBA, 1.5M), Creswell (lb), Bullard (rcm); Bowyer (cm); Hyam (lcm); JET (acm); Dzyuba ; Rhodes (3.5M). Still in preseason with money to spend.

[Bealesy]

Well I won promotion to the premier league. Michael Chopra was leading goal scorer in the league with 35 goals with Daryl Murphy,JET and new signing Soukouna from Portsmouth all chipping in with some important goals. My line up that I mainly used was GK: Sidibe (Free transfer) RB: Parnaby (Free Transfer)/Edwards CB: Sonko CB: Delaney LB:Cresswell DMC: Arismendi Loan from Stoke MC: Bullard/Leadbitter MC:Bowyer STR: Soukouna STC: Chopra STL: Murphy/JET.

Now trying to sign Drogba & Hargreaves on free transfers plus already signed Daniel Sturridge from Chelsea. Also brought in Joe Lewis from Peterboro, Jordan Spence from West Ham and Pablo Piatti from Valencia. Can't really find any central defenders that want to sign for me

Anyway I going with the Keegan philosophy that we can score more than you, so that should be interesting

[Back to Earth]

Brought in a few more - brought in Nehrig (attacking right back) and Prib (ball winning midfielder), both from Furth. Have played 5 league games, won 4 and lost 1. Lost 3-1 away to Peterboro and despite have been the better team - that's football! Dzyuba is on fire - he's started 4 league games and has 5 goals, hat trick on his debut. Lost 1-0 to Bolton in League Cup. On we go - hope to finish season 1 this week.

[Bealesy]

Now in March in my 1st season in the Prem and sitting quite a pretty 6th place. I won the Carling Cup by beating Stoke in the final. But my best result to date is beating Arsenal 4-0 especially after they had beaten me 5-0 earlier in the season. I have changed tactics and am now playing a 4-4-2. My line up is Gk:Lewis RB:Walker (brought from Spurs for £2.2m) CB:Spence CB:Williams (regen youth team player excellent stats) LB:Cresswell/Cooksey (another regen) MR:Buanaotte (I think thats how you spell his name brought him for around £3.7m after board increased my funds) MC:Hargreaves/JET MC:Leadbitter/Harris (regen) ML:Piatti SC: Drogba SC:Sturridge/Chopra.

Looking forward to seeing how I get on in Europe next season but hoping for a good finish to the season with my remaining games.

[Drew the Cookie Eater]

Finally decided to take over as my home team.

First transfer completed was Mark Wilson from Celtic for £450k, he is better than Edwards who I feel is too attacking and not the best defensively.

Also got Ben Amos in on loan from Man Utd, he's better than ALB, and miles better than Wright and Cropper.

[jimmyt86]

how did you get bressan to sign for championship side??

[Jambodinho]

Just started as Ipswich. Playing with an attacking 442 formation allowing the players to express themselves.

Released Jack Ainsley, Tommy Smith and Mark Kennedy

Carlos Edwards and Jaime Peters joined other clubs on free transfers

Andy Drury went to Leicester for 150k

My main priorities were to strengthen the defence so I have brought in

Andre Amougou 900k

Aliou Dia 450k

Paul Quinn 300k

Craig Dawson £1.4m

Magnar Odegaard 24k

Also signed

Agustin Torassa 190k

Nathan Doyle 800k - saw him in action for Barnsley yesterday against Bristol City and thought he looked decent.

Also brought in 2 youngsters who I doubt will see 1st team action this season. They are Sondre Aasbo (gk) and Lewis Milne.

Tor Marius Gromstad is joining on a free in January. I have 1 friendly left but will hopefully post some updates at a later date if anyone else is interested.

[goosey3131]

Hi all, sorry I have neglected this as of late.

Going to pick up my Town squad where I left it and report back

[goosey3131]

Just started as Ipswich. Playing with an attacking 442 formation allowing the players to express themselves.

Released Jack Ainsley, Tommy Smith and Mark Kennedy

Carlos Edwards and Jaime Peters joined other clubs on free transfers

Andy Drury went to Leicester for 150k

My main priorities were to strengthen the defence so I have brought in

Andre Amougou 900k

Aliou Dia 450k

Paul Quinn 300k

Craig Dawson £1.4m

Magnar Odegaard 24k

Also signed

Agustin Torassa 190k

Nathan Doyle 800k - saw him in action for Barnsley yesterday against Bristol City and thought he looked decent.

Also brought in 2 youngsters who I doubt will see 1st team action this season. They are Sondre Aasbo (gk) and Lewis Milne.

Tor Marius Gromstad is joining on a free in January. I have 1 friendly left but will hopefully post some updates at a later date if anyone else is interested.

Very nice signings there, especially Dawson who I failed in getting. There is a lot of deadwood that do not sell very well (Edwards, Ellington etc) and end up releasing a fair few.

Look forward to hearing about your season.

[goosey3131]

how did you get bressan to sign for championship side??

I have no idea, didn't seem that hard - Is it normally? This was pre-update if that matters.

Love those Belarusians (sp?).

[goosey3131]

Finally decided to take over as my home team.

First transfer completed was Mark Wilson from Celtic for £450k, he is better than Edwards who I feel is too attacking and not the best defensively.

Also got Ben Amos in on loan from Man Utd, he's better than ALB, and miles better than Wright and Cropper.

How are you getting on? Nice to see another town fan on the board! Doesn't seem like many of us...

[goosey3131]

Ok so I've played over a season since my last post. The 2015/2016 season went something like this:

Premier League - 3rd with 79pts (2nd Sunderland 81 and 1st Liverpool with 86)

Champions League - Lost in the final against Man City 1-0 (who finished the season 6th)

FA Cup - Won the FA Cup against Blackburn. Luckily on penalties after a 1-1 draw.

League Cup - Won 3-1 against Man Utd.

Overal pretty pleasing, winning the 2 domestic cups and reaching the Champions League final. Now in September of the beginning of the 2016/2017 season....

[jimmyt86]

I have no idea, didn't seem that hard - Is it normally? This was pre-update if that matters.

Love those Belarusians (sp?).

In my game he gets signed up by Ajax or Bayern and has interest from lots of those types of clubs (both pre-update and post).

[goosey3131]

Using the 4-3-1-2 mentioned in the OP, though I think I will gradually change to a wider tactic.

My Town line-up is looking like this:

GK: Gustavo Green (regen & best player)

DL: Gareth Bale (pricey at 27m)

DR: Romario / Kyle Naughton (the weak link)

DC: K. Papadopoulos (the hard-nut cost 24m - bought in the 14/15 season)

DC: Guido Orlando (regen)

MC: Jack Cork or Maxime Gonolans

MC: Taras Stepanenko

MC: Josep Ilicic or Jonjo Shelvey

AMC: Hector Mancini (regen)

FC: Kolbeinn Sigborsson

FC: Alberto Paloschi

On the bench and in the youth setup I have a large pedigree of up and coming Regens. A right back is obviously my weak link in my current line-up, however the 2 current RB's are solid/average performers. As this is the case, I will most likely stick with them for this season in the hope of giving a RB regen I have in my ranks a chance to develop and overtake the current competition next season.

Whilst I am going to be in screenshot mode, does anyone like to see a screenshot of anything?

[goosey3131]

In my game he gets signed up by Ajax or Bayern and has interest from lots of those types of clubs (both pre-update and post).

Interesting, this was a couple of months ago now. I bought him but I can't remember facing competition from those types of clubs. I think I had a few Euro cup clubs interested but offered big wages. Must of struck lucky if you are correct .

[robbiestart2012]

Anyone still playing as Ipswich?