DavidBeckham Posted November 10, 2014 Author Share Posted November 10, 2014 Preseason 2015/2016 - Fulham F.C. Board Expectations English Premier League: Mid-table position FA Cup: Fifth Round Capital One Cup: Fourth Round I finally found out why I was offered such a huge transfer war chest right after we secured promotion last season. The board expects us to finish mid-table in our first season back in the premier league and in addition, the expectations for both cup competitions rose. It will certainly not be easy at all this season. Budgets Transfer: 31.36 million pounds Wages: 600,000 pounds As mentioned in the earlier post, very generous budgets from the board here but it came at a price. Let's pray that I do manage to meet their expectations or Becks may get the sack Transfers There were two ways to spend the considerable budgets, either on a few quality players to prevent disruption of harmony in the squad or on many young players with potential. With the squad low on players with premiership quality, I couldn't stop myself from revamping the whole squad and as a result, a total of 12 players were brought in. Players In Joel Ward I needed another right-back of proper quality as Hoogaland is injury prone and despite being a little overpriced, I decided to bring Joel in to hopefully shore up our defense. Danny Batth With the sale of Amorebieta to West Ham, we needed numbers in central defense and Danny offers exactly that. He is a brave and determined lad with a good spring and the Englishman will start as our third choice center-back this season. Serge Gnabry Eventually, I decided to sell Adam Hammill after deeming him not good enough for the premiership. Gnabry has speed, flair and good technique and he will certainly add another dimension to our attack. Ben Amos The Man United academy graduate was available on a free transfer and he will come in as back-up for our number one Bettinelli. John Guidetti I needed another striker to compete with Woodrow and Dembele upfront and John is the perfect free transfer. The Swede certainly knows where the goal is and I hope he can fire us to the mid-table positions this season. Cheick Tiote Cheick was featured in the earlier post and I finally decided to splash the cash on him after some much needed approvals from you guys. Will he be our very own Makelele or Djemba-Djemba? Bruno Uvini The Brazilian center-back was available on a loan with low wages and he is the perfect fit for our fourth choice center-back slot Will Hughes Another big money transfer! I have high hopes for this kid both in the game and in real life and hopefully he can go on to be a club legend at Craven Cottage \o/ Francesco Bolzoni Francesco has good aggression, work rate and fits into our philosophy well. The Italian hard worker will compete for the ball-winning role in the starting 11. Brendan Galloway It is so hard to find an English hard man nowadays and Brendan looks like the next Paul Ince. Like Will Hughes, Galloway can go on to be an England international if he manage to steer clear of injuries. Vasco Regini Vasco is a solid little defender from Italy and he will go straight into the starting 11 in the left-back slot. Nathan Redmond Last but not least, this could be our most important signing of the summer. I have high hopes for the lad and with some luck on the injury front, he could be our player of the season. Preseason Friendlies After a miserably long pre-season, we are finally ready for the start but not so ready for an opposition of Manchester United's quality in our opening fixture Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jason the Yank Posted November 10, 2014 Share Posted November 10, 2014 No pressure then! Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
BoxToBox Posted November 10, 2014 Share Posted November 10, 2014 Mmmmm, massive shake up! Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
DavidBeckham Posted November 10, 2014 Author Share Posted November 10, 2014 No pressure then! Mmmmm, massive shake up! Yes, but a forced decision as well! Don't wanna try too hard to stick to the players who got us up and end up finding out that they are not of premier league quality Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
BoxToBox Posted November 10, 2014 Share Posted November 10, 2014 Yes, but a forced decision as well! Don't wanna try too hard to stick to the players who got us up and end up finding out that they are not of premier league quality I was going through a similar situation, last time I was at my save. It's a case of hard decisions, some players I really like, but you either need the money, or better players. Had one CB who was brilliant for me, but he wasn't going much further, his contract was up in a season and he wanted more money than I was willing to give a backup until a few Premier League years improved my finances. So I cashed in, coincidentally, Fulham bought him. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
B.W.G Posted November 10, 2014 Share Posted November 10, 2014 Some good signings made and at least you provided your fans with a lot of goals during pre-season Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
DavidBeckham Posted November 10, 2014 Author Share Posted November 10, 2014 I was going through a similar situation, last time I was at my save. It's a case of hard decisions, some players I really like, but you either need the money, or better players. Had one CB who was brilliant for me, but he wasn't going much further, his contract was up in a season and he wanted more money than I was willing to give a backup until a few Premier League years improved my finances. So I cashed in, coincidentally, Fulham bought him. This always happens in FM! May I know who's that lucky CB? Some good signings made and at least you provided your fans with a lot of goals during pre-season Cheers mate! Yes, that has always been the case to boost the squad's morale Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
BoxToBox Posted November 10, 2014 Share Posted November 10, 2014 This always happens in FM! May I know who's that lucky CB? Fazli Kocabas, a Belgian/Turk who was a fine signing for the Championship. EDIT: But I was promoted, and Fulham were already in the Premiership. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
DavidBeckham Posted November 10, 2014 Author Share Posted November 10, 2014 Fazli Kocabas, a Belgian/Turk who was a fine signing for the Championship. EDIT: But I was promoted, and Fulham were already in the Premiership. Fazli is not on my database! Which team are you and why don't you start a career thread here? Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
BoxToBox Posted November 10, 2014 Share Posted November 10, 2014 Fazli is not on my database! Which team are you and why don't you start a career thread here? Fazli Kocabas I'm playing as Bradford City, didn't think a career thread would have been interesting to others. Bit late now, knee deep in my fourth season. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Vanikain Posted November 10, 2014 Share Posted November 10, 2014 A good pre season but a bit of a small step up in Manchester United I think mid table is a realistic goal going by your signings. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
AK22 Posted November 10, 2014 Share Posted November 10, 2014 You like a one-sided friendly, don't you?! Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
DavidBeckham Posted November 11, 2014 Author Share Posted November 11, 2014 Fazli KocabasI'm playing as Bradford City, didn't think a career thread would have been interesting to others. Bit late now, knee deep in my fourth season. Fazli looks a solid little CB in the championship! And you play real quick, four times quicker than me in fact! A good pre season but a bit of a small step up in Manchester United I think mid table is a realistic goal going by your signings. Cheers mate, hopefully they can gel quickly enough before the pressure starts to mount! You like a one-sided friendly, don't you?! Cleon had a thread mentioning about the benefits of setting up friendlies against lowly oppositions and it has worked for me since then Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
DavidBeckham Posted November 11, 2014 Author Share Posted November 11, 2014 Brendan clearly doesn't rate Markovic here.. why buy him for 20m then?? Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
BoxToBox Posted November 11, 2014 Share Posted November 11, 2014 Fair play to Benfica, nearly 150% profit in one season. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
DavidBeckham Posted November 12, 2014 Author Share Posted November 12, 2014 Fair play to Benfica, nearly 150% profit in one season. I am gutted to have missed out signing him on loan Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
DavidBeckham Posted November 12, 2014 Author Share Posted November 12, 2014 August to September 2015/2016 - Fulham F.C. League We welcomed the mighty Red Devils to Craven Cottage in our first game back in the premiership and it turned out to be an entertaining affair as we held the rich kids to a creditable 2-2 draw. The lads did brilliantly to take a 2-1 lead but our new left-back Regini gave the ball away unnecessarily and van Persie pounced to power the equalizer past our goalkeeper. Next, we traveled to Wales for our opening away fixture and the boys stayed solid and compact after Hyndman's early goal to bag all three points \o/ The start of September saw us travel to Newcastle for our second consecutive away game and it was a disappointing spectacle as the game finished goal-less. We were back to winning ways in our next fixture and ball-winning wonderkid Brendan Galloway kept up his great start to the season by grabbing the winning goal in a tense 1-0 victory. We ended September on a low as Liverpool secured a 2-1 win at Anfield despite us taking the lead in the opening minute through Nathan Redmond. I was gutted by their winning goal when Balotelli scored from the half-way line after a poor kick from our number one Table Despite the disappointing end to September, I was pleased with the two months' work as we sit in 6th place after 5 tough fixtures. Arsenal are the early leaders with 13 points and Aston Villa gatecrashed the top 4 with four wins from four. The Leicester City fans must be really concerned to see their beloved team stuck at the bottom with no points on the board after five games. Capital One Cup We managed to hang on to a 2-1 victory against Peterborough in our opening fixture after they made it 1-2 late in the game. John Guidetti was the hero after bagging a double in the opening hour of the game. The second stringers were poor in the next round as we crashed out after a disappointing 0-1 loss at the Macron Stadium. It's only September and I have already failed to meet one of our board's expectations Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jason the Yank Posted November 12, 2014 Share Posted November 12, 2014 Just remind the board that nobody actually cares about the Capital One Cup. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
DavidBeckham Posted November 12, 2014 Author Share Posted November 12, 2014 Just remind the board that nobody actually cares about the Capital One Cup. I can't really argue when they gave me so much cash to shop Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
DavidBeckham Posted November 12, 2014 Author Share Posted November 12, 2014 Game of the season so far! Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Rikulec Posted November 12, 2014 Share Posted November 12, 2014 Great results against both Manchester sides. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
BoxToBox Posted November 12, 2014 Share Posted November 12, 2014 I have to know, who got the last goal? B Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
DavidBeckham Posted November 13, 2014 Author Share Posted November 13, 2014 Great results against both Manchester sides. Thanks mate Very lucky not to have lost at Man City though!! I have to know, who got the last goal? B We got it! It was straight from the kick-off after Dante scored a screamer from 35 yards out to make it 3-2 in injury time. What a game it was Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
BoxToBox Posted November 13, 2014 Share Posted November 13, 2014 Smashing, a winning draw! Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
DavidBeckham Posted November 13, 2014 Author Share Posted November 13, 2014 October to November 2015/2016 - Fulham F.C. League This has to be the best two months of my tenure so far! There were some tough fixtures against Arsenal, Man City and Chelsea and somehow, we managed to bag 7 points out of 9 from these games. We kicked off October by welcoming the leaders to Craven Cottage and after some great defensive work, Emerson Hyndman struck a 73rd minute winner to give us all three points. I pride myself on keeping clean sheets and the lads managed to do so for the rest of the month in wins against West Ham, Burnley and Southampton. Redmond scored the winners in two of those games, but was ruled out for a month after suffering an ankle injury in the game against Southampton. Things didn't get off to a good start in November as we failed to find the net in a dull goal-less home draw against Leicester. Next, we had to travel to the City of Manchester Stadium and with their firepower upfront, I was prepared for the worst. It turned out to be a 6 goal thriller as we stole a late equalizer straight from the kick-off after they made it 3-2 in the 91st minute. The lads kept up the momentum and in the home clash against the mighty Blues, we were superb all afternoon and despite being one of the smallest guys on the pitch, American prodigy Emerson Hyndman rose to nod home the winner with 15 minutes to go. Craven Cottage erupted. Table ] Arsenal continues to lead the way, six points ahead of the chasing pack despite their defeat at Craven Cottage. Chelsea sits in second place, level on points with us and Tottenham completes the top four. Liverpool and Man City both suffered from bad patches of form as they lingered in 10th and 11th place respectively. Leicester stayed bottom with a mere two points from twelve games despite bagging a point at Craven Cottage. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
JD nawrat Posted November 13, 2014 Share Posted November 13, 2014 You're absolutely smashing it mate, some great results...what's that, one loss in the last 12? That's top 4 form... Keeping plenty of clean sheets too which is obviously brilliant. Enjoying this thread a lot. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
vozzon Posted November 13, 2014 Share Posted November 13, 2014 Very entertaining story keep up the good work. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jason the Yank Posted November 13, 2014 Share Posted November 13, 2014 Fulham for the Champions League! Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
DavidBeckham Posted November 13, 2014 Author Share Posted November 13, 2014 You're absolutely smashing it mate, some great results...what's that, one loss in the last 12? That's top 4 form... Keeping plenty of clean sheets too which is obviously brilliant. Enjoying this thread a lot. Thanks mate! But I assure you there will be a lot more losses in the next update Very entertaining story keep up the good work. Cheers mate! Fulham for the Champions League! It will be an enormous achievement but it's still early days Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
B.W.G Posted November 13, 2014 Share Posted November 13, 2014 Excellent start to the season Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
DavidBeckham Posted November 13, 2014 Author Share Posted November 13, 2014 Excellent start to the season Cheers mate! Dropping a lot of points in December/January though Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
DavidBeckham Posted November 13, 2014 Author Share Posted November 13, 2014 January Signings Murru is a solid little left-back for his age and can still develop a lot in the next few years. The Italian is one of the fittest players you will see in world football and he will challenge his fellow countryman Regini for a starting spot. You simply don't reject a player like Tom when he's available for a mere million pounds. With quick feet and natural ability to beat a man, the Englishman will get lots of game time off the bench for the rest of the season \o/ Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
BoxToBox Posted November 13, 2014 Share Posted November 13, 2014 Murru! Stellar signing! Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
DavidBeckham Posted November 14, 2014 Author Share Posted November 14, 2014 Murru! Stellar signing! Hopefully that's my left-back for the rest of my tenure at Fulham Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
BoxToBox Posted November 14, 2014 Share Posted November 14, 2014 I'd expect so if he settles well in England. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
DavidBeckham Posted November 14, 2014 Author Share Posted November 14, 2014 I'd expect so if he settles well in England. Cheers What a blow Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jason the Yank Posted November 14, 2014 Share Posted November 14, 2014 At least you get compo payments. :shrug: Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
BoxToBox Posted November 14, 2014 Share Posted November 14, 2014 What a kick in the sack. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
DavidBeckham Posted November 14, 2014 Author Share Posted November 14, 2014 At least you get compo payments. :shrug: That's the least I should get really, missing out on the Champions League would cost so much more What a kick in the sack. He had 9 goals and 11 assists in 24 starts so far! What a miss Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
JD nawrat Posted November 14, 2014 Share Posted November 14, 2014 Murru's a cracking signing. I had him on one of my FM14 saves, was a great back-up, probably would've been a starter but for having an even more impressive LB ahead of him. Juventus signed Murru on my Torino save - he's the first choice LWB for Juve and LB for Italy, so i think he's even better in this game than he was on 14 Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
DavidBeckham Posted November 14, 2014 Author Share Posted November 14, 2014 Murru's a cracking signing. I had him on one of my FM14 saves, was a great back-up, probably would've been a starter but for having an even more impressive LB ahead of him.Juventus signed Murru on my Torino save - he's the first choice LWB for Juve and LB for Italy, so i think he's even better in this game than he was on 14 Cheers for the heads up mate. Finally some good news today Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
DavidBeckham Posted November 14, 2014 Author Share Posted November 14, 2014 Season Review 2015/2016 - Fulham F.C. League Remaining Fixtures (December to May) Final Table (Qualified for Europa League in 5th) Personally, it was a bitter end to the season after we narrowly missed out on champions league qualification. We suffered a bad run of form after Redmond and Burn got injured towards the end of the season. Nathan's injury was even more frustrating as he hurt his back while playing for the England U21s. As a result, we started leaking goals at the back and lost a bit of cutting edge upfront. Nevertheless, the players must be given credit for overachieving in the end and I would have taken 5th at the start of the season. It was also Fulham's highest ever finish in the premier league and the board was very happy with our final position. Awards Redmond and Woodrow had been superb for me and both deserved their places in the Team of the Year. This was a huge surprise to me as he struggled to adapt to life in the premier league in the first few games Again, this showed how much a blow his injury was to our champions league qualification hopes Capital One Cup (Knocked out in third round) I did not manage to field my strongest 11 in the cup competitions as complete focus was placed on finishing as high up the league as possible. FA Cup (Knocked out in third round) Again, I gave the seconds stringers game time in this year's competition and we paid for it! Squad Analysis Squad Stats The first 11 were superb and more than matched the big boys in our first season back in top flight. However, when the key players got injured, the back-ups who came in did not manage to fill their shoes and the lack of depth in our squad showed. Nevertheless, huge credit must be given to the players for passing the board's expectations with flying colors this season \o/ First 11 The first 11 with the most number of appearances for those who requested Top 3 Players Dan Burn The towering Englishman was our leader at the back all season and our defense looked much more compact and solid when he was playing. As mentioned earlier, we suffered our worst run of form when Dan got injured as his dominating aerial presence in the box was sorely missed. Fantastic season from our ace academy graduate. Cauley Woodrow You simply don't leave out the premier league's top scorer in your top 3 players of the season and Cauley more than deserve his recognition! The Englishman took his time to adapt to the premier league and when he did, he ended the season strongly with 15 goals in his last 15 starts. All in all, Woodrow bagged 23 goals and 8 assists in 37 starts and the 21 year old can only improve next season \o/ Nathan Redmond I bravely tipped Nathan to be my player of the season at the start and he didn't disappoint me in his first year in a Fulham shirt. The Englishman was unfortunately ruled out for a long time after suffering a bad injury on international duty and that cost us a place in next season's champions league. Nevertheless, the explosive right winger ended a productive season with 9 goals and 11 assists in 25 starts and I can't wait for his return to full fitness. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Deisler26 Posted November 14, 2014 Share Posted November 14, 2014 Congrats on the fantastic finish! Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
JD nawrat Posted November 14, 2014 Share Posted November 14, 2014 Remarkable season mate, hopefully you kick on and achieve CL qualification next season Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jason the Yank Posted November 14, 2014 Share Posted November 14, 2014 Great season, considering! Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
DavidBeckham Posted November 14, 2014 Author Share Posted November 14, 2014 Congrats on the fantastic finish! Great season, considering! Cheers lads! Remarkable season mate, hopefully you kick on and achieve CL qualification next season That's certainly the aim after missing out so narrowly this season Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
CamillePunk Posted November 14, 2014 Share Posted November 14, 2014 Just look at it as perhaps your only opportunity to win the Euro Cup. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
BoxToBox Posted November 14, 2014 Share Posted November 14, 2014 Smashing stuff. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
deltablue Posted November 14, 2014 Share Posted November 14, 2014 Need to do better in the cups Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
DavidBeckham Posted November 14, 2014 Author Share Posted November 14, 2014 Just look at it as perhaps your only opportunity to win the Euro Cup. I will most probably play my second choice players throughout the competition so as to go all out to secure champions league football! Smashing stuff. Thanks loads mate Need to do better in the cups Things will improve with better squad depth Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
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