TH3LB Posted February 24, 2012 Share Posted February 24, 2012 Following in the Footsteps of Legends - Ipswich Town Football Club Sir Bobby Robson: Robson led Ipswich to two major trophies and several seasons in top flight European football. The successful period began in 1973 when the club won the Texaco Cup and finished fourth in the league, qualifying for the UEFA Cup for the first time. By the late 1970s, Robson had built a strong side with talent in every department, introducing the Dutch pair Arnold Mühren and Frans Thijssen to add flair to a team that featured British internationals including John Wark, Terry Butcher and Paul Mariner. Ipswich regularly featured in the top five of the league and in the UEFA Cup. At their peak in 1980, they beat Manchester United 6–0 at Portman Road, a game where United goalkeeper Gary Bailey also saved three penalties.Major success came in 1978 when Ipswich beat Arsenal at Wembley Stadium to win their only FA Cup trophy, the triumph was followed by a UEFA Cup victory in 1981. The club also finished as league runners-up in 1981 and 1982. Robson's success with Ipswich prompted The Football Association to seek his services as manager of the England national team, and in August 1982 he was replaced at the club by his assistant Bobby Ferguson, having taken up the F.A.'s offer. Under Ferguson, Town finished mid-table twice, but worsening performances meant that they began to struggle in the top division. Ipswich were finally relegated to the second tier in 1985–86. Sir Alf Ramsey: in August 1955. The club won the Division Three (South) title again in 1956–57, and returned to the higher division. This time, Ipswich established themselves in Division Two, and as the division champions, won promotion to the top level of English football, Division One, in 1960–61. In the top flight for the first time, Ipswich became Champions of the Football League at the first attempt in 1961–62. As English league champions, they qualified for the 1962–63 European Cup, defeating Maltese side Floriana 14–1 on aggregate before losing to Milan. Ramsey quit the club in April 1963 to take charge of the England national team; after the team won the 1966 World Cup, he received a knighthood for "services to football" in 1967. Ramsey was replaced by Jackie Milburn, under whose leadership fortunes on the pitch plummeted. Two years after winning the league title, Ipswich slipped down to the Second Division in 1964, conceding 121 league goals in 42 games. My Goals for this Career: My aim is to bring success back to Ipswich Town. It is the club I support and a club that has everything in place to become a consistent Premier League outfit for years to come. My number one aim is just that, win promotion to the Premier League and try to build a squad that is capable of staying there. In the long run I'd like to try and qualify for Europe and replicate the achievements of Sir Bobby Robson and Sir Alf Ramsey. Also it would be fantastic if I could manage England alongside Ipswich Town and attempt to win the World Cup like Sir Alf did in 1966. I do think that is enough targets to keep me motivated with this career. I have been deliberating for a little while as to who I should choose to manage and it became apparent talking to a couple of the lads on here that in order to have a long-term save you need to enjoy it and stay motivated. Hopefully using my home team will keep me motivated and playing for a good few seasons. Save Information: I am using the 12.1.1 patch with no edits. I am running the English leagues down the the lowest level but due to the fact my laptop is pretty poor all the other nations only have their top divisions loaded. The other nations I have loaded: France, Germany, Spain, Italy, Holland, Scotland, Belgium, Croatia, Russia, Turkey, Portugal, Ukraine. (Large player database) estimated player count is around 55,000. Manager Information: Career Screenshots: Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Deisler26 Posted February 24, 2012 Share Posted February 24, 2012 Good luck! Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
TH3LB Posted February 24, 2012 Author Share Posted February 24, 2012 Good luck! Thanks Deisler. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
deltablue Posted February 24, 2012 Share Posted February 24, 2012 Great Choice! I've had so many happy memories with them on so many different versions. Ipswich and proud. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
TH3LB Posted February 24, 2012 Author Share Posted February 24, 2012 Great Choice! I've had so many happy memories with them on so many different versions. Ipswich and proud. Thanks buddy. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
TH3LB Posted February 24, 2012 Author Share Posted February 24, 2012 Transfer Update Overall I'm happy with the players I got into the club. Only £1.6m spent which I'm pleased with considering the quality of players I was able to get my hands on. As you can see on the right-hand-side of the screenshot I decided to get rid of the deadwood in the squad which was definitely needed if we're aiming to push for promotion. One thing that I should of saw coming was Jason Scotland leaving for Middlesbrough then scoring the equalizer against me in the league a couple of weeks ago. Darcy Blake has been a bit hit and miss but the other signings have all hit the ground running. I had more money to spend buy didn't want to disrupt the squad too much by signing/selling too many players. Results & Fixtures It's been a bit of a mixed start to the league season. Although we went 7 games undefeated we were not able to get the points we should have done. A prime example is the Southampton match. A game we dominated for 75 minutes, we had a 3-0 lead and still managed to drop points. That however wasn't the most disappointing match thus far as you can see we were knocked out of the League Cup at the first hurdle as Bristol Rovers provided us with a massive shock. I did have a slightly weakened team but I was still hoping to progress. The expectations of the board are to finish in the top half of the table. As everybody knows you are usually able to select what you'd like to have as your seasons targets and I stuck with top half finish although I do feel quietly confident that we can reach the playoffs at the first time of asking. This is something I'm sure a lot of people do on Football Manager, I perhaps could of made the game slightly more interesting and upped the expectations but I took the safe option. I do feel part of the issue with the side at the moment is the fact that a number of players have come and gone. It's going to disrupt the chemistry of the squad to a certain degree and my hope if that later in the season the squad is fully blended in and we can perform to our potential. I believe we have one of the strongest teams in the league but the real test is actually going ahead and proving that. I won't provide a picture of the league table yet as it's too early on in the season and there's no real need to show it. (The fact we are hovering around mid-table has absolutely nothing to do with it... Honestly. Other News One slight issue we have at the moment. Well one of many or perhaps one of money I should say... That was an awful attempt at a pun and I apologize for anyone who was offended by that. Now, back to topic. The club has injected £3m which was desperately needed apparently. This is certainly something I'll keep you updated with as it is pretty important, that being said it is reassuring to know that the board can inject such vast sums into the club at the drop of a hat. I'll keep my eye on the finances and try and spend money wisely in the near future until these financial difficulties are resolved. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
AcidBurn Posted February 24, 2012 Share Posted February 24, 2012 Look forward to this always kind of liked Ipswich especially since we bought Wickham. Hope you can do better than Roy Keane, good luck dude. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Flamers Posted February 24, 2012 Share Posted February 24, 2012 The closest big club to me, I live (part of the year) 30 minutes away and have been to see them before (FA Cup I think, I was about 5). So good luck Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
TH3LB Posted February 24, 2012 Author Share Posted February 24, 2012 Look forward to this always kind of liked Ipswich especially since we bought Wickham. Hope you can do better than Roy Keane, good luck dude. Fair to say we like Sunderland too after paying £8m+ for him. He is a really talented player and I always keep an eye out for him at Sunderland, had a quick chat with him once (friend of a friend) and he seemed like a top lad. The closest big club to me, I live (part of the year) 30 minutes away and have been to see them before (FA Cup I think, I was about 5).So good luck Thanks Flamers. 1, for following and 2, for calling us a big club. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Flamers Posted February 24, 2012 Share Posted February 24, 2012 Name any other club in Suffolk that is in the football league Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
TH3LB Posted February 24, 2012 Author Share Posted February 24, 2012 Name any other club in Suffolk that is in the football league Haha, fair point mate. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
TH3LB Posted February 25, 2012 Author Share Posted February 25, 2012 League Table So, I've just got passed January 2012 and as the transfer window has just slammed shut I thought it would be a good time to update you with how my game is currently going. I'm not too sure how I should feel about the league position at the moment. Obviously I would like to be higher up in the table but I don't think we are in a bad position as we are within touching distance of where we want to be. The playoffs. As always with the Championship, it is very tight and congested which certainly keeps you on your toes, there are definitely no easy games and despite it being a 46 season every match matters. I am starting to put my own stamp on the squad now but I do think this is going to be a 2 year project to get to the Premier League. The FA Cup This years FA Cup stint was short and sweet. We drew one of the best teams in the country away from home and we lost the game 2-0. I was hoping Manchester City would field a weakened team but no such luck. We played reasonably well but it was a matter of when not if they were going to score and they did so twice just after the interval. Just before this match I had been testing a new tactic of mine and it had been going rather well (we won the 2 previous games) but it wasn't special enough to overcome the might of Manchester City. Two very quick cup exits this year which the board are not too pleased about! Heidar Helguson I just wanted to give you a little overview of how one of the new guys at the club is getting along. Helguson has been an absolutely integral part of our squad so far this season and as you can see at the bottom of that screenshot he is racking up the goal bonus'. 15 goals in 18 league games is fantastic. I have been using him as a target man to play alongside the smaller, quicker Michael Chopra and it has worked pretty well. I just need to work on steadying the defensive side of things now and we are going to be in business. Just to note, we have just lost Keith Andrews. The loan deal ended and I was given the option of paying £2m to keep him on a permanent deal but the fact he was getting towards to end of his career did put me off. I don't want to be spending large amounts of money on older players as I'm looking to build a side for the future (and yes I do realise I have a screenshot of a 34-year-old directly above.) I do have a couple of new signings that have just arrived. One a young and talented midfielder and the other a very old, very experienced attacking player who has played at the very highest level, albeit a long time ago! I'll go through both of those transfers in the next update so you can see how they are getting on. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
deltablue Posted February 25, 2012 Share Posted February 25, 2012 Ah yes, dead tough going up with any club. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Flamers Posted February 25, 2012 Share Posted February 25, 2012 Good luck, you will have plenty of pressure! Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
TH3LB Posted February 25, 2012 Author Share Posted February 25, 2012 Yeah, I've realised how tough it is. Still got a chance of reaching the playoffs though, would be happy with that. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
deltablue Posted February 25, 2012 Share Posted February 25, 2012 There's always a chance, last time I went up with Ipswich I was 4 points off the playoffs with 2 games to go, somehow made it, and went up. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
TH3LB Posted February 25, 2012 Author Share Posted February 25, 2012 There's always a chance, last time I went up with Ipswich I was 4 points off the playoffs with 2 games to go, somehow made it, and went up. That's pretty cool. I think I'm going to be playing in the Championship again next season though unfortunately. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
TH3LB Posted February 25, 2012 Author Share Posted February 25, 2012 New Signings I signed Rivaldo on a free transfer during the January window and for £4,400 per week I though he was worth picking up for the experience and the technical attributes he still possesses. He has had a poor start in truth, in only his second game he was send off for violent conduct and picked up a 2 match ban. He has showed signs of quality by they have been few a far between. I also signed Andy King from Leicester City for £3.4m, although that is a lot of money to pay I feel it was a price worth paying for a quality central midfielder like King. We had lost Keith Andrews and I made the decision to buy a long-term replacement instead of a stop gap. He has played fairly well so far and his versatility has been really helpful. Unlike Rivaldo he is only going to get better. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
deltablue Posted February 25, 2012 Share Posted February 25, 2012 King looks good, so well done taking the gamble, as for Rivaldo... wow. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
TH3LB Posted February 25, 2012 Author Share Posted February 25, 2012 Thanks mate. Yeah, the less said about Rivaldo the better, haha. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
TH3LB Posted February 26, 2012 Author Share Posted February 26, 2012 A Nice End to a Poor Season Where this performance came from I will never know. It was an absolutely fantastic way to finish the league season against one of the promoted clubs from the division. It was a deserved victory and scoreline given how well we played but it's fair to say I was wondering why we couldn't play like this for the previous 45 league games. 2011/2012 League Table We met expectations. That is about it frankly, we didn't ever really look like achieving a higher league finish than 11th. We looked like the best team in the league at times and then 3 days later we looked like the worst, inconsistency is the most frustrating thing in my eyes and it's something we will have to sort out for the season ahead. This season is going to be the last season at the club for a lot of players who I will be letting leave when their contracts expire. I am going to gamble financially and bring in a fresh crop of players who I believe are capable of competing for promotion. I am still committed to bringing success to the club, I'm not happy with the league finish but I'm definitely not losing confidence or ambition. Good things come to those who wait, hopefully we can improve considerably in season 2. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
deltablue Posted February 27, 2012 Share Posted February 27, 2012 Go for it, West Ham was great. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
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