Blanco Posted April 5, 2012 Share Posted April 5, 2012 OK, so it's the Easter holidays in my final year at uni, and I'm starting a thread detailing a new FM game here. You might think that's stupid. And you'd probably be right. That being said, I don't have any exams this year, (coursework ftw!) I stayed up north to get ahead with the 17,000 words that still need to be written, trained for and ran a half marathon last Sunday, and I reckon I'm due a break. Heading back a week on Monday, but I've given myself a week and a bit without thinking about work (or physical exercise!), so time for plenty of FM! Now, my attention span is pretty pathetic, so I need a game that has plenty of variety. I also have the irritating habit of getting too close to the club I'm managing too quickly, and refusing to move on, so I want stability too. So, the plan is to have two managers: one to attempt something along the lines of Gundo's Challenge (winning the ECL with a team promoted into the bottom division of one of the weaker leagues in Europe) but with a few more leagues loaded, and another to dip in and out into situations which look fun. Game details: Top 2 divisions in Spain, Italy, France, Holland, Scotland and Germany England loaded down to League 2 Stupidly big database (as I just bought a new computer!) Manager #1: Name: Leroy van Pieters Age: 25 Nationality: Dutch Past Reputation: Sunday League This is the long term stable guy - plan to give the challenge a go in Holland (hence the Dutch manager) Manager #2: Name: Holiday Girl Age: 27 Nationality: Brazilian / Barbadian Past Reputation: International Footballer This one is for the fun little challenges.. She's likely to be constantly retiring and starting again so I'll try and keep a record of her stats as she goes along Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Blanco Posted April 5, 2012 Author Share Posted April 5, 2012 So our little adventure starts in the summer of 2012, in a world where Spurs are English Champions, Rangers still have money, and Barca spanked Man City 3-0 at Wembley in the final of the Champions League. Surprises included Newcastle managing a pathetic 17 points, exactly half of 19th placed West Brom, Sir Alex Ferguson being sacked from Man Utd and being rep[laced with Guus Hiddink after finishing fifth, and Man City beating Liverpool in the final of both domestic cups. Oh, and my beloved Barnet only missing out on the playoffs on goal difference down in League 2... No one has heard of Leroy van Pieters - which is reasonable as he doesn't even exist yet! But Holiday Girl is the name on the lips of everyone involved in football after being named as the replacement for Bert van Marwijk after the Dutch international manager quit following a series of revelations about his sex life (we shall say no more!). This is on the eve of the Euro 2012 finals, at the beginning of June. With no pre-tournament friendlies to help prepare, no knowledge of Dutch, and van Marwijk's squad already confirmed (so unchangeable), can Holiday Girl deliver the goods? Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Blanco Posted April 5, 2012 Author Share Posted April 5, 2012 We faced a tough looking group - Croatia and Bosnia-Herzegovina are tough Eastern European opponents not lacking in class; Modric of Spurs and Dzeko of Man City the most obvious threats. But, first, we had to face the favourites of the group: Italy. They came into the game with a rather funky looking narrow 4-2-3-1 formation. Gianluigi Buffon was the shock absence from the squad - PSG goalkeeper Sirigu starting in goal for the Azzurri, and the team as a whole didn't inspire as much fear as it did a few years back. Maybe this is just because I don't watch much Italian football any more, but Rannochia is no Nesta or Cannavaro, and Mauri also looked like a weak link. I had problems of my own, however - van Marwijk had chosen Mark van Bommel as his captain. Not that odd, you might think, but strange considering that he hadn't even selected him for the tournament squad. Also notable by their absence were Clarence Seedorf, whose experience would have been useful, and Wesley Sneijder, who had a torn calf muscle. I probably would have taken Affelay over Kevin Strootman or Leroy Fer. We ended up going for a flat back four, with Nigel de Jong sitting in front of them, van der Vaart and Demy de Zeeuw feeding Robben and Kuyt on the flanks, and van Persie through the middle. I wasn't expecting much with the new formation, and the media putting us as comfortable second favourites against Italy, but it all went rather well... Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Blanco Posted April 5, 2012 Author Share Posted April 5, 2012 It was the sort of game that would have you screaming at the match engine if you'd been the Italy manager, but I just sat back with a wry grin. They had twice as many shots as us and twice as many on target. Van de Vaart scored an absolute screamer massively against the run of play in the last minute of the first half, and I particularly enjoyed the begrudging remark from the text commentary about how 'somehow Italy find themselves behind despite being by far the better team.' Cue the switch to a counter-attacking formation, and it worked wonders. Robben had Cassani crying to his mummy on the counter-attack, and his cross found Dirk Kuyt to tap in to double our lead not long later. Pazzini pulled one back for Italy on the hour, but Boulahrouz headed in from van der Vaart's free kick to seal the deal following Cassani's clumsy attempt to stop Robben going past him for the seven millionth time. FT: Italy 1-3 Holland Only negatives were van Persie, who did precisely naff all, and the fact that Robben didn't get MOTM - that honour went to our keeper, who did well. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Blanco Posted April 5, 2012 Author Share Posted April 5, 2012 Also - when I'm trying to upload pictures the website gets grumpy and says that they 'aren't valid image files'. I've tried using the FM screenshot function and print screening and pasting into Paint. Any ideas? Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Blanco Posted April 5, 2012 Author Share Posted April 5, 2012 So, now for what should be the easy part; getting a win against either Croatia or Bosnia to get into the quarters. Bosnia up first, and I saw Dzeko (despite him having a pretty poor season for City) and Roma's new signing Miralem Pjanic as their main threats. They'd gone for a dead simple 4-4-2, and I stuck with the same team that had done the business against Italy. We started brightly, carving out plenty of chances with Robben (as always) terrifying his full back. Van Persie was a bit brighter this time, with one shot clipping the post before going wide and two were saved. We dominated possession, and had more than twenty shots at goal, but couldn't force it into the back of the net. I brought Elia on for Kuyt to try and get a bit more penetration, and Huntelaar for the misfiring van Persie. The game changing moment came with eight minutes to go - Robben made some room, and his through ball put Elia clear on goal, before Vranjes tugged him back. He was given his marching orders, and van der Vaart stepped up to slot the free kick into the top corner. That was how it stayed, and we were safely through to the next round. FT: Holland 1 - 0 Bosnia-Herzegovina Only minor issue is that first choice left back Edson Braafheid is out of the tournament with a pulled hamstring picked up in injury time Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Blanco Posted April 5, 2012 Author Share Posted April 5, 2012 This left us at the top of the group, with six points, Bosnia behind on three, and Italy and Croatia with one apiece after a 1-1 draw. So, I was through, as were Bosnia if they could get a point against Italy and we weren't thrashed by Croatia. I changed my team a little, resting van der Vaart, Robben and de Zeuw, with Strootman, Fer, and Babel coming in to show what they could do. I played Drenthe at left back, although in tougher matches I might resort to the more defensively reliable Erik Pieters. They were playing the same formation that Italy tried in our first game, with Modric clearly the fulcrum of the formation, so I set de Jong to mark him closely. There was a lot of quality in their midfield, and it would be a stern test for the two youngsters coming into the centre of the park. And so it proved. Fer managed to hold his own, but Strootman looked hopelessly out of his depth. It was a surprisingly dull game - the first goal came shortly after half time when Huntelaar (on for the injured van Persie) tapped in from close range after Pletikosa spilt Babel's (who looked surprisingly good compared to what I saw of him in his final few months at Liverpool!) shot. After that, we were cruising, but Eduardo came off of the bench to score a last minute equaliser, ending Holiday Girl's unblemished record in management. That put a downer on celebrations, but not as much as van Persie's injury ruling him out probably until the final (should we make it!). That being said, I was rather amused to hear the news that Italy had exited without a win following a draw with Bosnia. Next up, in a shocking turn of events, we faced Scotland. They had made it through the Group of Death unbeaten, beating Germany in their final match to send them home having drawn with both Spain and Portugal. No other shock exits, but I wouldn't bet on Andy Carroll being joint second in the goal rankings following the group stages in the real Euros... Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
PaulHartman71 Posted April 5, 2012 Share Posted April 5, 2012 An interesting looking thread, should be good to see you try and take a Dutch side to Champions League victory in the long term. Hopefully you can win the World Cup for them with Holiday Girl. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Blanco Posted April 5, 2012 Author Share Posted April 5, 2012 I kept Drenthe on at left back - Pieters hadn't suffered an injury, but his condition was down in the sixties, so it made the decision easy. Huntelaar started instead of van Persie, with the experienced van Nistelrooy ready to take over up top if necessary, and Fer kept his place ahead of de Zeeuw, who was still a bit tired. Scotland played a narrow diamond, but chose to left out Steven Naismith, who had been the star against the Spanish. With Charlie Adam, Darren Fletcher and Lee McCulloch in the centre of midfield, they certainly had experience, but I felt that we should be able to take them apart. That wasn't exactly what happened though... The game started well - we were creating a lot in the first quarter of an hour, but slowly Scotland got themselves back into the game. And Holiday Girl went behind for the first time in her managerial career when Leigh Griffiths rifled one home from just inside the area. I didn't panic straight away - there was still over an hour to go, and we'd looked the better team. I was getting decidedly itchy at half time, and by the hour mark I sent on de Zeeuw and Elia for Fer and Kuyt. Ten minutes later, our luck changed, Robben crossed from the right and Caldwell was harshly judged to have fouled Huntelaar. It was soft, but we were denied a stonewaller about five minutes later, so I felt that justice had been done. Or, at least, I got what I wanted, which is essentially the same thing Van der Vaart tucked it away, and we were back level. Time kept ticking, and there were just three minutes to go when I was forced by injury to replace Robben with Ryan Babel, and we left it even later to win the game - a lovely passing move in the third minute of stoppage time fed who else but van der Vaart twenty yards out, and McGregor in the Scotland goal had no chance at all. FT: Scotland 1-2 Holland Great news from the physio room post-match - Robben's injury wasn't serious, and he'd be fine to play in the semi which I learnt would be against Belgium (another easy draw for me!) Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Blanco Posted April 5, 2012 Author Share Posted April 5, 2012 Cheers, Paul.. I think Holiday Girl might leave Holland after the Euros though... I kinda fancy a crack at the Olympics We learnt the night before our clash with our neighbours that the prize for victory was a date with France in the final - they had seen defending champions Spain off in a penalty shootout, and would be a tough ask. For the semi, de Zeeuw regained his place at the expense of Fer, and van Persie made the bench, although I wanted to save him for the final if at all possible. Belgium played a 4-5-1, with Moussa Dembele the lone striker and a surprising number of familiar names - Kompany and Vermaelen at the back, with Fellaini supporting the hot prospects of Mirallas and Hazard on the wings. The game was, to be honest, a really dull affair. Few chances at either end, I would say we had the better of the game but not by much. The turning point was in the first minute of extra time - Drenthe picked up his second yellow card with a silly foul just thirty seconds after the restart, and Kompany scrambled the ball home following a corner five minutes later. Belgium went defensive, we went down to nine men after van der Wiel went off injured, and that was that. Until the very last minute. Van Persie flicked on a goal kick, Robben raced through, and shot from the corner of the penalty area. Sadly, his shot hit the crossbar, and that was that. Pathetic result. FT: Belgium 1-0 Holland (AET) It was a very small consolation that Belgium managed to beat France - again with the help of a red card for their opponents, this time for Franck Ribery as early as the 22nd minute. Jammy buggers! Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
PaulHartman71 Posted April 5, 2012 Share Posted April 5, 2012 Oh, I meant the Euros, I only play FM10 so when I think of tournament at end of first season I assume is World Cup. Unlucky on losing out to Belgium though. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Blanco Posted April 6, 2012 Author Share Posted April 6, 2012 So, now it's time to hear about our young Dutchman. Having written literally millions (well, ok, maybe seven!) of application letters detailing his brilliance as a manager and his exploits leading both the Almere Buiten Girls U12 team and the All-Udenhout Mixed Volleyball squad to title-winning glory, he finally received a reply from newly promoted side WKE (Woonwagenkamp Emmen, literally meaning Emmen Trailer Park!), inviting him to lead their campaign in the Jupiler League. (the second tier in the Netherlands) The team had just turned pro, so there were plenty of players still there on amateur contracts. (and, thus, very easy to get rid of. Splendid!) Honestly, the squad looked pretty pathetic - in need of serious renovation before the season started. It's not even worth giving you any sort of squad profile at this point; best waiting till the end of the window - eleven new players have signed already, eight have left and I'm sure there's plenty more action to come. I had plenty of money to work with - decided to go for free transfers, so pushed all of it into giving me an £18,000 weekly wage budget, and given that we were initially only spending about £5,000 of that, I was fairly happy. Our aims for the season were simply to avoid relegation, but I was hoping to do a bit more than that once the team started to gel, hoping to get a top half finish to use as a platform for a promotion push next season. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Blanco Posted April 10, 2012 Author Share Posted April 10, 2012 Sorry for the delay - combination of relatives visiting over Easter and me not being able to embed the pictures meant that I didn't wanna post a short, only text update... Leroy van Pieters - WKE - December 2012 Update Yes, the kit is the same wonderful shade of orange as the logo - headaches galore for our fans! As I said before, the squad was, frankly, pathetic, having just been forcibly turned from an amateur outfit to a professional team due to the rules imposed by promotion. No less than sixteen new players arrived in our little trailer park before the deadline at the end of August. Not that the deadline meant anything to us anyway - we could sign freebies at any point during the season, and three more did arrive in the coming three months. Ten players left (and some of them amateurs!), meaning that our wages were now a little over budget - not helped by the board cutting it mid-season without even giving me a news item The squad now had a much younger and more cosmopolitan outlook - only half were Dutch, with the remainder mostly coming from Eastern Europe. There were a couple of Dutch-Moroccans, Jean Black from the Democratic Republic of Congo and Angelo Zimmerman from Curacao (which I have never heard of...), two Germans, and two Portuguese. I tried a few different formations, starting off with a narrow 4-4-2 diamond, before switching to a wider version and finally settling on a 4-5-1 with attacking wingers and an attacking midfielder, which was the most successful. Star Players: The only 'famous' names were Nourdin Boukhari, once of Ajax and a former Moroccan international, now 32 and definitely on the decline, and Melvin Fleur who was there when I joined. (I recognised because I'd managed him on a previous FM...) My scouts and assistant managers were drooling over several of my signings, giving no less than nine of my squad a 5 star recommendation. My personal favourite was Tomas Juozaitis (answers on how to pronounce that on a postcard please!), a Lithuanian international who could play on both wings or up front. Cup Progress: First game (in the Second Round) was against non-league Harkemase Boys. I played a reserve team, and they won more comfortably than the 2-1 scoreline suggested, with goals from Danny Post and Jean Black putting us through despite a last minute consolation for the amateurs. We then drew Roda JC, a lower mid-table side in the Eredivisie, which would be tough. We had more possession, more shots on target and more clear-cut chances, but an 87th minute sucker punch knocked us out. Still, one round further than the board expected, so not too shabby... Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Blanco Posted April 10, 2012 Author Share Posted April 10, 2012 League Progress: A slightly shaky start - our opening day win was followed by a 6-2 drubbing by FC Zwolle, but since then we've gone from strength to strength. It was two months before our next defeat (although there were far too many draws in that sequence for my liking), and we kept going until a slight wobble in December, with two losses from our last three matches. In case you're wondering what the little 'Pl' by our name in the table is, then it means that we've somehow already qualified for the promotion playoffs at the end of the season. I had no idea how it worked until I got a news item telling me that Cambuur had qualified, but in the Jupiler League, the season is divided into four stages. The overall winner is promoted automatically, and the winners of each stage go into the promotion playoffs with a couple of teams from the Eredivisie at the end of the season. What if the champions win one of the stages? What if someone wins more than one stage? Why are 2nd-9th highlighted in the table as getting a place? Scholars maintain that the exact answer was lost hundreds of years ago.... Star Players: None, really. Honestly. We had fourteen different goalscorers, with Steven de Blok being the highest, with six. My two centre backs topped the average ratings, and Boukhari had more assists than anyone else, but no one really stood out. I enjoyed Dave Huymans' performances - his three goals were all screamers, and he was almost ever-present as my ball-winning midfielder and vice-captain. News from around Europe: Man Utd, Arsenal and Man City are already moving clear in what looks like a three horse race for the Premiership, PSV are six points clear at the top of the Eredivisie, Inter have almost won the Scudetto already, and Barcelona are a disgraceful fourth place in La Liga. There was a disappointing lack of upsets in the Champions League, but Inter vs. Man City looks like the best of the First Knockout Round ties. World Cup qualifiers also progressing as per usual, my particular highlight being Germany spanking ten past the poor Faroe Islands... Plans for the winter break: Try and get rid of some of the deadwood in the reserves HIRE A PHYSIO! I've been trying all season, but there is apparently no one in Holland who is willing and able to practise medicine at our club Try and arrange some deals for the end of the season - I'll want a new right back, a left winger and maybe a central midfielder Aims for the rest of the season: Finish in the top five Have a good run of form going into the promotion playoffs Give the playoffs a good go - won't be too disappointed if we don't get promoted though, the young team could do with another year of development before having to do battle with the likes of Ajax and PSV... Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Blanco Posted April 11, 2012 Author Share Posted April 11, 2012 Leroy van Pieters - WKE - May 2013 update Looking back at the goals for the winter break, I have to say that I failed dismally. There is still no physio at WKE, but hopefully when contracts expire there will be at least one willing to join us... There were no willing suitors for any of my reserve players, even on freebies - bizarrely, two of them were picked up for next season by clubs who had rejected them for an instant free transfer. I didn't find anyone particularly inspiring to come in either (well, those who were willing to join little WKE, anyway!) Now on to the rest of the season, which went much better than the winter break. Our team stayed on holiday for a little longer than they should, starting the second half of the campaign slowly to say the least. Nevertheless, we improved rapidly - the youngsters are beginning to look really good now - and went into the last day with a shot at the title. A very narrow one, admittedly. We had to win, and Cambuur had to lose (or draw, if we could win by five goals or more). They ended up drawing 1-1 at home to Eindhoven to take the title, and we suffered our worst defeat of the season - 4-0 to mid-table AGOVV. We did win five out of the last seven, so are still on a decent run of form looking at the playoffs, but I'm not massively confident. Next up is a two-legged tie against FC Eindhoven, and after that, if we win... God knows! Star Players: Again, none really stood out. Huymans looked good, but hardly played the second half of the season due to injuries. The two centre backs top the average ratings, although Stamatiou would miss the playoffs through injury. Juozatis and Manuel Silva started hitting form towards the end of the season, so hopefully will carry that through to the playoffs, but after that abject display against AGOVV, who knows? Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Blanco Posted April 11, 2012 Author Share Posted April 11, 2012 Post-Playoff update - sponsored by never doing things the easy way... So, a two legged tie with FC Eindhoven, who had finished the regular season in fifth, and had taken 4 points off us that season, courtesy of a 1-0 win in Eindhoven, and a comeback from 2 down to draw 2-2 at our place. The first leg was dead even in terms of shots, possession, and corners. My young Lithuanian star Juozaitis scored twice in the first half, as did his opposite number for Eindhoven. They scored again just after the break, and then nothing happened. Literally. There was not one highlight for the next forty two minutes. FT: FC Eindhoven 3-2 WKE The return leg started nicely, too, with backup striker Edinho Pattinama putting us back level in the first minute. Eindhoven restored their advantage through Jelle van Kruijssen, but we equalised again through Wesley Schors on the stroke of half time. I set up defensively for the second half, knowing that this scoreline would take us through on away goals, and a dour, lifeless second half followed... FT: WKE 2-1 FC Eindhoven (WKE win on away goals) Or do we??? Apparently, we didn't. There was no extra time, no penalty shoot out, and away goals didn't count. So, we had to play them again. Away again. Don't see why they should get to play on their patch. Not fair. But still, even I wasn't prepared for the game that followed. It was 3-3 at half time! Van Kruijssen, who had terrorised our defence in both the previous games, netted a hat trick, and we, as you would expect, had three different goalscorers. A nailbitingly tense second half followed, as dour as the last two, with the exception of Juozaitis winning and converting a laughably soft penalty to send us into the next round. FT: FC Eindhoven 3-4 WKE Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Blanco Posted April 11, 2012 Author Share Posted April 11, 2012 This put us into the next round of playoffs, against Veendam, who we had done the double over during the regular season, and were a pretty average team, all things considered. If we lose this, then at least I'll have the consolation of laughing at their inevitable ineptitude in the Eredivisie next year... Obviously, this tie would be nothing like our one with Eindhoven - the first half of the first leg ended goalless. But it sprung into life after that, a header from a corner giving us the lead, although that was swiftly cancelled out. They took the lead with ten minutes to go, but a goal worked straight from the kick-off, followed by a sucker punch just two minutes later, gave us the advantage going into the second leg. FT: WKE 3-2 SC Veendam This next game was even more ridiculous than that decider against Eindhoven... Familiar face Maceo Rigters gave them the lead in the first half, and raving lunatic right back Didi Longuet managed to get himself sent off for a particularly vicious two footed tackle. Then they went two ahead, with just ten minutes to go, so I needed a goal simply to force a decider. I went all out attacking (given we had nothing to lose), and for once it worked. A rapid counter-attack with just two minutes raining saw youth product Arnaud Dobbe beat the keeper and cross for Silva to tap into an empty net, and two minutes into stoppage time star centre back and player of the season Stelios Stamatiou bundled the ball in following a scrappy corner. FT: SC Veendam 2-2 WKE (WKE win 5-4 on aggregate and win promotion) Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Blanco Posted April 11, 2012 Author Share Posted April 11, 2012 Season Review: Wow, what an effort! Promotion at the first ask was much better than I expected, although I'm pretty worried about how this squad will get on in the Eredivisie. We will need plenty of additions - if I get an increased wage bill and manage to get rid of my entire reserve team to free up budget for some quality. Also wouldn't mind finding a new parent team if I can to generate some more income (not sure whether this will be allowed given I'll be in the top division), as I'm pretty sure that Heracles (having been relegated) will terminate the relationship. The European season was relatively humdrum - although no one really expected Hannover and Mainz to be in the top two of the Bundesliga come June! Real Madrid winning 7-0 away from home in the Champions League semi final was pretty special, although I suspect CSKA Moscow were pretty surprised at getting there! Spain really dominated European competition - Real beating Barca in the CL final, and Atletico beating Malaga in the Europa League final. Oh, and Barnet survived (by the skin of their teeth)! Goals for the summer: Hire a new coaching and scouting team (especially a physio - the current lot are useless beyond belief!) Try and convince the board to expand the stadium - we were getting close to filling its puny capacity of 2500 last year, so should have no trouble with the likes of Ajax and PSV visiting Sign some experience to complement our youth Find some more promising youngsters - ideally a new AMC to gradually replace Boukhari Sign a backup left back, a new AMC, a defensive CM to play backup for and replace Huymans, who only played one and a half games in the second half of the season due to injury Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
deltablue Posted April 12, 2012 Share Posted April 12, 2012 Well done on going up! Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Stewy18 Posted July 23, 2012 Share Posted July 23, 2012 hi, i am playing in the irish league at moment, got to the champions league, like you , no physios want to join me, is this a bug?, because all the other clubs has no physios either, and we all have ads in the job centre, funny this just happen this season , my old physio retired, can anyone explain to me or any way around this problem? thanks Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
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