FM13: The Swansea City Thread - The only footballing team in Wales..

[f0rmat]

Ekdal is my best middlefield player, as DM or Box-to-box. In this new season I will try to put him as Deep PM.

In this team I don't know who to buy... any help? Have 7M.

A new striker with pace to compete with Graham/Leonard? Neal Maupay would be my recommendation.

On another topic - this game sometimes pisses me off so much

[jlawlor91]

A new striker with pace to compete with Graham/Leonard? Neal Maupay would be my recommendation.

On another topic - this game sometimes pisses me off so much

I signed Christian Benitez on a free at the end of the 2nd season. I play him as a lone striker with Michu/Gaston Ramirez behind as an IF and he is quality.

[muhammadrizka]

Well, this is to much for Britton

After good result with,

[danm2501]

Started a game as Swansea last night. Really like the idea of the challenge. I've stuck with the majority of the First XI, making just 3 signings. I brought Humberto Suazo in to replace Danny Graham up front, and then got Ryan Donk in to cover the centre backs, and Manuel Pamic to cover Taylor at left back. They were the only areas that I thought needed strengthening. Then, I'm going with the following XI:

-----------------------Vorm--------------------------

----Rangel-----Williams------Chico-----Taylor-----

---------------Britton----De Guzman-----------------

--Dyer--------------Michu--------------Hernandez-----

---------------------Suazo-----------------------------

Pretty happy with that XI. Got some good back-ups to cover the majority of the first XI, with guys like Donk, Pamic, Sung-Yeung, Routledge and Graham on the bench. I'll keep you guys updated on how I get on!

[Natedog17]

I have been playing with Swansea when I have a break with my Chelsea save.

Transfers:

Fixtures:

As you can see I havent been doing to well but thats because I am trying some different things with the tactics but I am pretty sure the team will get a win soon.

Update to come soon

Fixtures up until November:

As you can see a mixed bag of results with 3 wins 2 draws and 2 losses and put this down to not knowing the squad as well I should, singing new and young players, injuries and getting the tactic to work. Defs will be playing Sung-Yeung more often in the midfield alongside mitchu and Shechter has surprised me on the left. I just need to get Ademilson to score more goals or get another striker in who can take the pressure off him.

[Phenomenon]

A new striker with pace to compete with Graham/Leonard? Neal Maupay would be my recommendation.

On another topic - this game sometimes pisses me off so much

Are you some sort of tactical genius? How have you managed to dominate a game like that? Teach me!!

I have been playing with Swansea when I have a break with my Chelsea save.

Transfers:

Just wondering why you paid so much for Ademilson? Doesn't he have a buy out of about 5.5 million?

[Proto Tarkula]

Just got the game... And I decided to start with Swansea! Here are my transfers: http://i820.photobucket.com/albums/zz121/Rocknmather2/Swansea_TransfersHistory_zps4f25bcf7.png First three matches are against Chelsea, Man Utd and Liverpool, so wish me luck...

[f0rmat]

Are you some sort of tactical genius? How have you managed to dominate a game like that? Teach me!!

Can't you see that I failed to win the game? Dominating a game but failing to win is not something I'd be happy to pass on tbh!

[f0rmat]

Anyone had much luck with homegrown regens?

I think I'm doing alright so far:

[Welshace]

It's funny.. I see Swansea are targetting Iago Aspas irl .... someone in here bought him in first season a while ago I seem to remember....

I love it when FM predicts real life events

[Natedog17]

Phenomenon I bought Ademilson for 5.25 million which was his release clause? Format unlucky with that annoying loss seems to happen a few times in this game and some really nice regens! Welshace I saw that and thought wow thats pretty cool!

Fixtures up until January:

As you can see we have had a very slow start and I put that down to tactic tinkering and player roles. 2 BIG wins against Man City and Liverpool(who sacked poor Rodgers after the loss even though they were 6th). None of the strikers have been prolific and I think this is an area in which I will need to try and get a loanee in or look to sign a player in the summer. Ademilson I feel will take another season to get into the grove and Danny scores but nowhere near enough as I would like. The two players that stand out in this team are Britton and Williams who have been super efficient and solid, just doing everything right. I terminated Shechters loan because he wasnt being used and Deguzman got sent packing after he moaned about how i went about doing things. Augustien looks like he will be leaving the Swans at the end of the season. Vorm is driving me insane he pulls of some crazy good saves and then makes ridiculous mistakes that lead to the other team scoring goals... not impressed with him at the moment.

Transfers in :

Loan-MC-Rory Delap-Back up and has all the qualities of a fighter that i like (teamwork, workrate, determination and bravery)

Loan-DC-Puygrenier-Good solid Central defender who I hope can add some extra depth to the our defence

Loan-Paulo Feirrera from Chelsea(who I support) and I feel he is a good player to have as he covers both flanks

Barros-ST-Free-Joining us at the end of the season and picked up by my director of football

Players I will be keeping my eye on for next season:

Charlie Austin

Jordan Rhodes

Victor Fisher-think they may be a younger and cheaper version of Christian Eriksen

Jem Karacan looks like a really good player that would fit into Brittons role

I wont be getting to next Season the team just couldnt buy a win and this lead to me getting the sack. Only the 2nd time in last 3 FMs I have been sacked ah well I deserved it.

[Phenomenon]

Finally got to January on my new save. Haven't had much time to play FM over the festive season.

Was going well and sitting in 4th for a while until 5 games ago, where I've only picked up 1 point from 15. Nightmare. Currently sitting in 8th after 20 games. Expecting to fall a couple of places soon though as my next three games are City, Spurs and Chelsea. Here's the league table.

[/url]

So need to start picking up points soon, I'm quietly targetting a Europa League spot.

Went out of the League cup in the 2nd round to Millwall(I play all the kids in these games). Drawn Sheffield United at home in the FA Cup, will play the kids in this too until the later rounds(if they get us there).

My dealings in the transfer market were based on buying a few players for the future, and a couple of back up players.

As you can see, I had one hell of a clearout at the start of the season. Tried to get rid of anyone I couldn't see a future for, and couldnt turn down the offer for Rangel(Seamus Coleman has been a very good replacement though). Tiendalli will be leaving in the next few days for 1.5m and so will McFadden(didn't fit in) for 1m.

I'm currently playing a 4-1-3(wide)-1-1. I wanted to play the 4-2-3-1 in the OP but I can't seem to get it to be defensively sound. Here's what I consider to be my strongest side/back ups.

GK: Vorm/Gordon

RB: Coleman/Vanden Borre/McLaughlin

LB: Taylor/Shaw

CB: Bochetti/Bartley

CB: Williams/Chico

CDM: Britton/ReoCoker/Cirigliano

RM: Pablo Hernandez/Routledge

LM: Dyer/Wellington Nem

CM: De Guzman/Ki

CAM: Michu/Adryan

ST: Graham/Fierro

Bochetti has only just joined so I will probably ease him into the team, and may now look for 6 month loan deals for Shaw, McLaughlin, Cirigliano, Adryan and Fierro if I get a few more back up players in those positions.

Might have another pop and Leonard Kweuke who is now transfer listed after just a few months at Spurs. If not then I may give Adam Le Fondre a go(also transfer listed). I've also approached to sign Vladimir Weiss(ex man city winger) on a free for next year.

Next update, end of season. Wish me luck!

[Phenomenon]

Season one is officially over.

I can honestly say that was the most boring second half to a season I have ever had. Ended up staying in exactly the same position from January, right through til the end of the season, didn't move up or down once. 8th is around what I was expecting, but slightly less than what I wanted. Heres the league table.

Both League and FA cups were played by the youngsters I have, lost to Millwall in 2nd round and City in the 4th respectively.

The only signing I made in January was Adam Le Fondre for 2.8m as competition for Danny Graham. Tiendalli left for 1.5m and McFadden for 600k.

Player of the season: Leon Britton

Game of the Season: 5-0 vs Everton at home

So a new season awaits..

Managed to approach to sign Vladimir Weiss, Mattia Destro and Emiliano Viviano all on the free. The arrival of Viviano will mean the end of Vorms Swansea career(way too error prone for me), and Destro will add more competetion upfront and mean I can loan Fierro out for the season. Weiss is likely to be rotated with Pablo Hernandez and will spell the end of Routledges stay at the club.

Looking at a few more signings(just noticed Joe Hart is transfer listed!) Want to bring in a good Central Midfielder to replace the loss of Jonathan De Guzman. Gonna take a look at James McCarthy and Joe Allen.

[Phenomenon]

Looks like it's just me posting in here Nowadays.. Oh well, I'm loving this save at the moment. Just got to start of September 2013 so I thought I would update you on my transfer activity in the last window. Here's the ins and outs..

So I managed to pick up my number one target of James McCarthy. Also signed Zaha(who will be used at RM) and Hughes as part of the future/current back up. Dave Oates and Garry Graham were newgens recommended by my scouts. Garry Graham looks particularly tasty. Eric Lichaj came in as cover for RB/LB after I let all my youngsters go out on loan to get first team experience(regret letting the fullbacks go now).

Vorm left for Fulham now that I have Viviano. Had no use for ReoCoker once McCarthy came in. The youngster Liverpool bought actually looks tidy, but I didn't realise they'd approached him(what a clown). Vanden Borre decided to force his way out by giving me attitude in a meeting. Expecting the likes of Ki, Routledge, Bartley and maybe even Chico, Pablo Hernandez and Michu to leave in January.

Decided to have a formation change. Gone for a wide diamond 4-1-2-1-2.

My squad now looks like this(first player is one I feel is strongest).

GK: Viviano/Gordon

RB: Coleman/Lichaj

LB: Taylor/Lichaj

CB: Bocchetti/Chico

CB: Williams/Bartley

DM: McCarthy/Britton(tough call between the 1st two)/Ki

RM: Weiss/Pablo Hernandez/Zaha

LM: Dyer, Routledge

AM: Michu/Adryan/Hughes

ST: Destro/Wellington Nem(who starts and covers in a lot of positions)

ST: Graham/Le Fondre

Happy with the squad at the moment but may look to strengthen once sales in January boost transfer budget. Won the first 3 league games and my youngsters won in the League Cup.

Swansea 3-0 Bolton(newly promoted)

Southampton 0-3 Swansea

Swansea 3-2 Millwall (Cup)

Swansea 3-1 Watford(newly promoted)

Granted, it's an easy start, but you've still gotta win 'em. Sorry for clogging this thread with my updates but I'm gonna keep doing it in a hope it draws others to give the swans a go!

[tigervision]

Destro is an amazing bargain. I also picked him up on a free for my swans save and.. wow. Top scorer in the league 2 seasons in a row, and World Golden Ball nominations in consecutive years as well. 41 goals in 41 games last season.

[Phenomenon]

Destro is an amazing bargain. I also picked him up on a free for my swans save and.. wow. Top scorer in the league 2 seasons in a row, and World Golden Ball nominations in consecutive years as well. 41 goals in 41 games last season.

Yeah he's looking to be a bargain already. Played 11 league games and scored 9. Quite a way to go before he gits 41 for the season but I'm well happy so far! What season you in with the swans now?

[Phenomenon]

Okay, just got to the end of January and I am under pressure! Need to start picking up results or I will find myself getting the sack. Started the season really well, but the last two months have been disastrous and I've seen us fall from 4th to 11th. I'm only 3 points away from being in 6th place, but the pressure is building. Playing a basic 4-4-2 now, still can't make up my mind on one formation.

Notable ins and outs for January window were..

In: Ciaran Clark 4m and two 4.5 star newgens for a combined 12m

Out: Pablo Hernandez 7.5m, Ki Sung Yeung 5m, Kyle Bartley 850k, Leon Britton 2.2m. A few young reserves who weren't good enough also left, and some players went out on loan.

Current squad looks like..

GK:Viviano/Gordon

RB: Coleman/Lichaj

LB: Taylor/Lichaj

CB: Bocchetti/Chico

CB: Williams/Clark(tough call for who starts)

RM: Weiss/Zaha

LM: Wellington Nem/Dyer/Dorrego(newgen, 4m from River Plate)

CM: McCarthy/Cirigliani/Dogan(newgen, 8m from Ajax)

CM: Michu/Hughes

ST: Destro/Fierro

ST: Graham/Le Fondre

Along with this squad I have the following players out on loan getting experience.

Ryan McLaughlin, Luke Shaw, Adryan, Ryan Donnelly, Garry Graham(newgen ST) and Dave Oates(newgen LW). Wayne Routledge is also out on loan as I failed to sell him.

Obviously this is a squad for the future, but times are getting tough so I need these youngsters to step up now, or face losing my job.

[Barnsley]

i have just started as the swans so will give some updates throughout! im trying to go with a young approach though and trying to get my youth academy up and signing very youngens! mon the swans

[Phenomenon]

i have just started as the swans so will give some updates throughout! im trying to go with a young approach though and trying to get my youth academy up and signing very youngens! mon the swans

Will be nice to see someone elses updates for a change! I'm trying to convince the board to sort out better youth facilities now. Don't seem to be getting much joy with the newgens.

[Phenomenon]

2nd Season Update

League - Finished 8th. Not happy with that, thought we could claim a Euro Cup spot.

Cups - Lost to Man City in the 4th round of the Carling cup, and to Wolves in the 5th round of the FA Cup. Again, not happy with these performances.

Transfers - There were no notable tranfers since last update. Just agreed to two newgens from River, both are 20 and look amazing. 13m splashed to get them.

Start of Season 3..

So I have 4 exciting newgens to incorperate into the team this season. Along with them, I have youngsters coming back from loan that may get a look in. Players likely to be sold are Lichaj, Rouledge, Michu, Le Fondre, Donnelly and maybe Danny Graham and Craig Gordon(Going to looks for a young British back up with potential).

Without any other players coming in, my squad will look this like..

GK:Viviano/Gordon

RB: Coleman/McLaughlin

LB: Taylor/Shaw

CB: Bocchetti/Chico

CB: Williams/Clark(tough call for who starts)

RM: Weiss/Zaha/Oates(Welsh newgen from Bangor, free)

LM: Wellington Nem/Dyer/Dorrego(newgen, 4m from River Plate)

CM: Sosa(newgen, 10m from River Plate)/Cirigliani/Dogan(newgen, 8m from Ajax)

CM: McCarthy/Hughes/Adryan

ST: Destro/Fierro

ST: Lazzari(newgen, 3m from River Plate)/Graham

[f0rmat]

End of season 4

After finishing 3rd last season and doing fairly well in the Champions League, I was sad to have just missed out this year.

Europe League it is.

Brought in Ter Stegen and a few promising regens. Onwards and upwards.

[Phenomenon]

Ooh, goal difference, harsh! Any chance of a look at your squad? I just tried for Ter Stegen at the start of the third season, he went to Porto though.

[f0rmat]

Ooh, goal difference, harsh! Any chance of a look at your squad? I just tried for Ter Stegen at the start of the third season, he went to Porto though.

The highlighted names are all regens, some of which are very promising.

The above doesn't represent my preferred XI either, I'm in pre-season at the moment.

Here's a few of my favourite regens

[f0rmat]

Here's one I've just bought but haven't been able to play yet (international duty)

No idea about CA/PA for any of these but they are all very highly rated by my coaches/scouts.

Nasir is an odd one though, given him lots of game time against a variety of opponents but he never seems to play well. Hopefully he'll mature.

[Phenomenon]

Some nice newgens there.. and looks like Gareth Bale may have competition in the Wales squad from Nasir. Guessing you've upgraded your youth facilities?

I was interested to see how many Swans players you still had left in your squad. I'm 2 seasons behind you and still have Williams, Chico, Taylor and Dyer. Everyone else has moved on.

[Phenomenon]

May as well post this in here as well.. Would you pay 17.5 million for this guy?

When my scout recommended him I was amazed at first glance, however..

-His determination is poor

-He lacks pace

-Poor off the ball, anticipation and positioning stats

-He's only a 4 star potential(Currently 2 star ability)

[f0rmat]

Some nice newgens there.. and looks like Gareth Bale may have competition in the Wales squad from Nasir. Guessing you've upgraded your youth facilities?

I was interested to see how many Swans players you still had left in your squad. I'm 2 seasons behind you and still have Williams, Chico, Taylor and Dyer. Everyone else has moved on.

I just sold Dyer there after I brought in the Mexican newgen. He'd done well and developed fairly nicely for me.

As for my facilities - they are still at average, surprisingly! I opted to upgrade my training facilities, which are now 'top'. I think I just got very lucky - that, and I'm very willing to give game time to youngsters wherever possible.

How are you doing financially? I'm turning a profit just about every month, at least I was last season. Wage budget is decent too, currently spending £818k p/w - at an all time high, and I hope to decrease that soon.

It's nice being financially comfortable though - I just turned down £18m for Dembele (at 28) and didn't even feel bad about it.

[f0rmat]

May as well post this in here as well.. Would you pay 17.5 million for this guy?

When my scout recommended him I was amazed at first glance, however..

-His determination is poor

-He lacks pace

-Poor off the ball, anticipation and positioning stats

-He's only a 4 star potential(Currently 2 star ability)

Hm, not for £17.5m. Speed counts for a lot in FM13, or so it appears to me. His lack thereof, plus poor OTB is dangerous for me. However, with 2 stars worth of room to develop, he might turn out pretty well. But can you afford to spend £20m (with agent/signing on fee) on someone who won't play in the first XI straight away?

[Phenomenon]

I just sold Dyer there after I brought in the Mexican newgen. He'd done well and developed fairly nicely for me.

As for my facilities - they are still at average, surprisingly! I opted to upgrade my training facilities, which are now 'top'. I think I just got very lucky - that, and I'm very willing to give game time to youngsters wherever possible.

How are you doing financially? I'm turning a profit just about every month, at least I was last season. Wage budget is decent too, currently spending £818k p/w - at an all time high, and I hope to decrease that soon.

It's nice being financially comfortable though - I just turned down £18m for Dembele (at 28) and didn't even feel bad about it.

Haven't really paid much attention to my monthly profit and loss but last season I made 23m profit. Currently spending 556k on wages per week, which I'm happy with.

That's good money fpr Dembele, I would have taken it. Guessing he's important to your team!

Hm, not for £17.5m. Speed counts for a lot in FM13, or so it appears to me. His lack thereof, plus poor OTB is dangerous for me. However, with 2 stars worth of room to develop, he might turn out pretty well. But can you afford to spend £20m (with agent/signing on fee) on someone who won't play in the first XI straight away?

This is exactly the conundrum I am in. I would have to hope that he would develop in those areas. I do play a DLF with support duty, which he would be more likely to play in. How important is pace in that role in particular? I know it's nice to have all forwards with a bit of pace, but could he get away with it?

As for the money. I'm happy that the squad I have got can get me the top 6 finish I am looking for, so the money is sitting, waiting to be spent.

[f0rmat]

Haven't really paid much attention to my monthly profit and loss but last season I made 23m profit. Currently spending 556k on wages per week, which I'm happy with.

That's good money fpr Dembele, I would have taken it. Guessing he's important to your team!

8 goals and 8 assists last season, avg rating of 7.37. Not hugely impressive, but he's well liked in my squad and does score some important goals. He has a great mix of technical, mental and physical stats.

Very versatile too, can play just about anywhere in the attacking half of the pitch. That said, I'll probably only keep him for one more season, depending on how my regens develop, I'd like to buy Garmash to replace him, or maybe Bezus, but they're both a bit pricey for me.

[Phenomenon]

He looks good but at 29, surely you'd have been better off taking the money? Bezus must have moved on in your game then I'm guessing? He's still at Vorksla on mine and valued at 4.6m. so he's gettable with 18m from the sale of Dembele.

I ended up taking the risk on Diallo. Going to use him as a little side project and try to boost his poorer stats with some specific attribute training. Searching the free transfer list now for someone to bring in to tutor him.

Also looking at bringing in Alex Smithies from Huddersfield to provide back up for Viviano. Once he improves a bit he'll eventually become my number one.

[f0rmat]

He looks good but at 29, surely you'd have been better off taking the money? Bezus must have moved on in your game then I'm guessing? He's still at Vorksla on mine and valued at 4.6m. so he's gettable with 18m from the sale of Dembele.

Aye, at Shaktar, sadly. Shaktar and Porto have such good players and never have any interest in selling for anything resembling a reasonable price. Sadface.

I ended up taking the risk on Diallo. Going to use him as a little side project and try to boost his poorer stats with some specific attribute training. Searching the free transfer list now for someone to bring in to tutor him.

Also looking at bringing in Alex Smithies from Huddersfield to provide back up for Viviano. Once he improves a bit he'll eventually become my number one.

Keep us updated on Diallo!

[DBurns]

Just started a save with Swansea and ticked the 'Add Players to Playable Teams' option and got this gem of a regen:

Currently having him tutored by Ashley Williams to increase his mentals and in particular, determination before deciding whether to loan him out or give him game time and further tutored by Alan Tate who I plan on keeping as a tutor for my young defenders.

----

Have made bids for Luke Shaw, Wellington Nem, Jack Butland, Adryan and Carlos Fierro as I plan on building a team for the future.

[Phenomenon]

He looks good mate, definitely get him tutored straight away. If I were you I'd keep him at the club until he's got homegrown status(3 years) and then loan him. Just give him the odd game in cups and a sub appearance every now and then for 3 years. See how he develops.

[DBurns]

He looks good mate, definitely get him tutored straight away. If I were you I'd keep him at the club until he's got homegrown status(3 years) and then loan him. Just give him the odd game in cups and a sub appearance every now and then for 3 years. See how he develops.

If I loan hm out to a lower league club, will he still not be home grown? I thought it still counted, no?

[Phenomenon]

If I loan hm out to a lower league club, will he still not be home grown? I thought it still counted, no?

I thought exactly the same the other day. Apparantly, he'll be home grown in UK, but not homegrown at club. As far as I remember, you need atleast four from the club, and atleast another four from UK based clubs for the Champions League. Admittedly, that's a long way away yet, but if you're thinking long term then its worth keeping him at the club.

=

[DBurns]

I thought exactly the same the other day. Apparantly, he'll be home grown in UK, but not homegrown at club. As far as I remember, you need atleast four from the club, and atleast another four from UK based clubs for the Champions League. Admittedly, that's a long way away yet, but if you're thinking long term then its worth keeping him at the club.

Oh well thats news to me. Thanks for that. Yea, Europe is a long way away but you never know what might happen.

[Phenomenon]

Oh well thats news to me. Thanks for that. Yea, Europe is a long way away but you never know what might happen.

It was news to me too, but it came from Cleon(moderator) so I have no reason not to believe it.

[Phenomenon]

Why always me? I go on a nice little run in season 3. Played 7, won 5, drawn 1 and lost 1. Then on the same day, Viviano gets injured for 6-7 weeks and Smithies gets injured for 7-9 months. Have I got a keeper in my reserves? No. So it's a potential 1 star keeper for the next 6 weeks. Fuming!

[Phenomenon]

Mattia Destro you absolute hero!

[Phenomenon]

Update - February 2015

Thought I'd wait until after the window to update, which ended up being a good thing after a crazy last couple of days. Been going well in the league thanks to a change in tactics and formation. Now playing a 4-3-3 with a lone target man and wingers. Been working really well and everyone is chipping in with goals.

The League

Currently on a 9 game unbeaten run in the league(6 wins, 3 draws) which includes a win against Man City and draws against Man United and Arsenal. Really happy with my current position, and I'm looking good for my target of top 6 with only 12 games to go. Would probably be closer to the top if I hadn't had the goalkeeping nightmare where I was forced to play a one star under 18 keeper(lost 3, draw one, won one while he was in).

Cups

Knocked out of the Capitol One cup by Brighton away, played my reserves and had a man sent off after 3 minutes. They deservedly beat me 3-1.

Still in the FA cup so far after these results..

Swansea vs Peterborough 0-0

Peterborough vs Swansea 0-3

Swansea vs West Ham 2-0

Next fixture - Swansea vs Stoke

Squad

When deciding to change formation, I decided to let some players go(sales and loans). Starting to regret certain loans now that my squad has been hit heavily with injuries. Smithies and Wellington Nem were both Cruciate ligaments and won't see any football this season. None of the loan players have a recall option so I'll have to struggle on.

CLICK HERE[/url] to see my ins and outs for the season.

I know you can't see the total for players sold but I think it's just short of £25m. Nothing really compared to how much I have spent. I need to justify spending so much money now by hopefully getting into the Champions League. Wanted to bring Allen back for his home grown status, and spent out on the Ox in an attempt to keep things British. Couldn't turn down M'Vila for that price. Smithies, once back from injury, will be working towards becoming my number one. Oh and Zigic only came in to tutor Diallo.

Newgens

Thought I'd finish this by introducing all my newgens I've bought. Some are out on loan, and some are getting a few games in the first team.

JB Diallo

Gus Lazzari

Fran Dorrego

Robin Dogan

Max Sosa

Garry Graham

Dave Oates

End of season aims

-Finish in top 6, but ideally top 4

-Get to FA Cup final

-Get Diallo's pace and determination up a bit(if he stops getting injured).

[f0rmat]

Dembele out for 6 months with a broken leg. ****. At 29, that's pretty serious

[Phenomenon]

Dembele out for 6 months with a broken leg. ****. At 29, that's pretty serious

That 18m seems like a dream offer now I bet..

[f0rmat]

That 18m seems like a dream offer now I bet..

Aye, true enough. That's the game though!

[Robert the Spud]

has anyone tried getting Sinclair back on loan in january season 1? He's just sitting in City's reserves

What a silly move.

[Phenomenon]

has anyone tried getting Sinclair back on loan in january season 1? He's just sitting in City's reserves

What a silly move.

I thought about it.. and then though 'No, it's his own fault, let him rot!'

I hope his money makes him happy.(Can anyone tell it's still a bit of a raw subject for me??)

[f0rmat]

What.

[Phenomenon]

Wants a new contract for scoring an own goal?

[f0rmat]

Wants a new contract for scoring an own goal?

Almost tempted just to give him one for sheer balls! I'll probably cave though, I'd like to keep my welsh players if possible.

edit : got away with only a small raise - he's on £25k p/w now. Not too bad.

[PartWelsh]

Hi all, I've been doing some fairly heavy lurking over the past two weeks or so across the thread and the rest of the boards, and wanted to share my Swansea stories.

Background.

I haven't played a FM game seriously since the 2nd iteration after the studio broke from Eidos and the CM licence (picked up FM2011 but never really played it), but having got back into Football titles through FIFA over the last two years, coming back to the king was always on the horizon.

My first save with Swansea was a disaster. I was trying to play the game too much like something you'd control with a joypad and less like Football Manager. Tried to make some big money signings (blowing the budget on just one player up front that never paid off type signings), changed the tactic every other week depending on how I felt and put a lot of undue pressure on the players simply because I think Swansea is better than 'team x'. Decided to write the save off on the basis that I was just learning the game, what to do and what not to do.

Second save was better, but almost as disastrous. Made a fantastic signing in Juanmi from Malaga - fantastic U21s Spanish wonderkid that you have to pay around 6-10 million, for but scored the goals without fail. Managed some good sales (Tremmel for 800k), but was still failing on some very basic FM levels. For one, I never paid any attention to the fact that Swansea have next to no staff on the payroll at the start of the game and so wasn't really getting enough information from my scouts, training was doing me next to no good, and the results were still frustrating me. The biggest factor in that frustration was going into a game against 20th/19th place teams who have been on untold losing streaks, and having the game tell me that we were expected to lose the game, feeling like I was incredibly limited of what I could ask of the players. Downloaded the editor, upped Swansea's reputation (just the reputation, nothing else) and restarted for a 3rd save.

The Third Save.

Here's where the game actually started to click for me. By now, I'd made enough mistakes to know what not to do (though I couldn't profess to be able to state that I knew what to do in counter to that!) and knew that it was important to start making realistic decisions, albeit in a surreal world where the board was asking me for a top half finish, where I then chose the option to put Swansea in Europe for the increased transfer budget. I started to make use of the staff delegation roles, started to pay attention to the backroom meetings (which I'd completely ignored on the basis that I did not want the game telling me what to do), and settled on running out more regular tactics (4-2-3-1):

Bizarrely, I found a lot more success having only edited that one stat. Finished 3rd in the BPL (1 point ahead of Man City), and then took 2 very late goals in the Capital One Cup Final against Man City to win at Wembley (the only difficult tie of the cup run), took 2nd place in the Manager of the Year ahead of Di Matteo and just behind Fergie (despite me never winning Manager of the Month) and generated a turnover for the club of £81 Million for the year.

BPL

Just a quick note: take a look at Arsenal and Tottenham in 6th and 5th place. Amazed at the 3 point gap given that Arsenal had the divisions top scorer in Giroud. United's +51 GD came more from the rest of the team than through Rooney and RVP for those curious.

Season Results

Some great results in there but I'm sure you'll see a common trend in that I was scraping through each of these matches by just a goal, typically having already conceded more than one goal. I couldn't quite put my finger on it though as my defence was consistent in putting in good performances throughout the season (Season Averages: Williams 7.51, Chico 7.21, Monk 7.34, Rangel 7.15, Taylor 7.32), but it was blissful ignorance that was not shining the spotlight on Vorm:

56 conceded in 49 appearances.

I shouldn't be snorting at the ultimate result but it was only on visiting this thread that I realized that the guy just doesn't live up to his IRL performances and that he's the bane of the squad. This has been a key factor in how I'm approaching my new save. (Question: Does Vorm's poor performances come from his Eccentricity rating of 11?)

Capital One Cup

As noted earlier, an incredibly easy run in the cup saw me to the final and some outstanding performances from the defence allowed me to put a pair of goals in late in the game. You'll notice that the goals weren't coming from up front either, but from the midfield which was typical of the entire season:

55 Goals from across the pitch, 21 Graham goals coming from Danny Graham, 76 Total for the season. You'll notice that I still pulled in Juanmi for this save who did not have as great a season as I saw in Save 2 (Deleted the file or I'd love to have shown the stats), but this mostly came simply because I was reliant on Danny's great form to keep us going (typically grabbed the late goal) and didn't field him for quite so regular football. He still holds a

4.5 Potential

rating though so my reccomendation stands if you're in it for the long game.

Transfers.

Beyond the capture of Juanmi, the only action here were sales of Tate to Celtic (£1.3M) and Agustien to Wolves (£2.6M)