“I wouldn't say I was the best manager in the business. But I was in the top one.”

[WITW]

Intro

I posted a Hoffenheim save here, on FM14, which I really, really enjoyed. Sadly, the save file got corrupted after one season but I've been wanting to start a new one ever since. I've tried to get into a multitude of lower league games with little joy, so have decided to start a save at a similar level to the Hoffenheim one. I'm not setting any rules or limits for myself, it will simply (hopefully) be a fun save which takes me to a few different clubs and leagues.

Nations/Leagues

I have gone for a medium database, with all leagues loaded from the following nations:

England

France

Germany

Holland

Italy

Portugal

Russia

Scotland

Spain

United States

So pretty much just the larger nations really. I prefer managing in Europe, but the MLS might be a decent challenge at some point as I've never managed there in any FM save. That's also not to say that I am adverse to adding/removing leagues as we go.

As I mentioned above, this won't be a save where I rise heroically from from local pub team youth coach to World Cup winning manager. I'm just looking for a game I can enjoy playing, and enjoy writing a bit about. And really, given the thread title, there's only one place I can start...

[WITW]

Nottingham Forest FC

Nickname: The Reds

Year Founded: 1865

Stadium: The City Ground (30,576 all seater stadium)

Local Rivals: Derby County

I guess the obvious challenge to set yourself when playing as Forest, is to get them back to the dizzy heights of Champions League football. I'm not thinking that far ahead just yet but, looking at the squad below, I think we have enough to put up a decent promotion fight this year. We're in a good position financially, well within the wage budget which should allow me to bring in the odd loanee. The only potential issue I can see, is that I like to play a narrow 4-2-3-1, and we have a fair few wide players. Some can be easily converted, others may have to move on, but I don't think I will deviate from my preferred system to begin with.

Next up - Season Preview

[WITW]

Nottingham Forest - Season Preview - 2014/15

Board Expectations

Sky Bet Championship - Make the playoffs

FA Cup - Fourth Round

Capital One Cup - Third Round

I considered promising the board promotion in order to secure a larger wage budget, but I decided to play it safe - largely due to the unpredictable nature of The Championship, but also my lack of success on this year's iteration of the game.

As it happens, our wage budget isn't too bad anyway...

Budgets

Transfer: £200,000

Wage: £352,010 (currently spending £316,113)

Balance: £10,943,428

I would say my personal aim is automatic promotion, but I will be more than happy to simply meet the board expectations and reach the playoffs. Cup runs would be nice, but ultimately the league is all I will be judging my success (or failure!) on. All in all, I'm quietly confident of having a good season - of course, I've been wrong before...

Next up: Pre-Season

[HotChocolate]

Looking forward to this, probably not as much as my good friend Nottingham Forest though

[WITW]

Nottingham Forest - Pre-Season - 2014/15

We breezed nicely through pre-season, banging in the goals and avoiding any lengthy injuries to key players. The formation seems to be working well, although it might be a little disjointed until the likes of Antonio, Burke and Patterson have been successfully converted to AMCs. In terms of the matches themselves, there's not too much of note to report. The Coventry game was probably the most interesting. In true FM fashion, Coventry managed to be 3-0 up after 50 minutes, scoring with every shot on target, despite our utter dominance. Once we finally got a goal though, the floodgates opened. 4 goals in the last 35 minutes ensured we maintained our 100% record in pre-season, with the final game against our under 21s serving only to give our fringe players some much needed game time.

Transfers

Very quiet on the transfer front, as expected. James Collins leaves on a free to join League One Sheffield United and we bring in Nathan Ake and Andreas Perreira, on loan from Chelsea and Man Utd respectively, to give us some depth in some key areas.

In terms of players not currently with the club, here are those who we currently have out on loan - no doubt next summer will be more interesting than this one.

Next Up: The season gets underway!

[john1]

Good luck with Forest!

[WITW]

Nottingham Forest - August 2014

If there was ever a month that summed up the Championship, this was it!

We kicked off our league campaign at The City Ground against Blackpool. I was confident and it seemed I was right to be. We had them under siege in the first half but couldn't turn our dominance into goals, going in at half time with only an Assombalonga penalty to show for our efforts. The second half continued in the same vein, until the 58th minute - Blackpool go down to ten men. Game over, surely? We continue to batter them, their keeper producing one heroic save after another. We just couldn't find the goal to seal it and then, 10 minutes from time, our old friend the "rebound goal" pops up to deny me a victory in my first game in charge. Gutted.

It appeared things were heading a similar way in the League Cup at Tranmere. All over them, their keeper doing his best brick wall impression, they break and score with their first shot on target after 55 minutes. Thankfully, set pieces proved fruitful for us - an Andy Reid free kick, and Gary Gardner from a corner got us over the line in this one.

Then a trip to Bolton - 1-0 up and cruising. But suddenly we're the ones down to 10 men as Gary Gardner gets his marching orders for two bookable offences. Not to worry though, Paterson gets his second shortly after to put us 2 up at half time. Bolton hit back after an hour, but we look pretty comfortable all things considered. That is until the 80th minute. We've made all of our subs... you know what's coming... Dexter Blackstock injured. Down to 9, Bolton equalise with 5 to play before Matt Mills rubs it in with a 91st minute header to deny us even a point! We're in rage quit territory now folks!

My mood wasn't helped any as we travelled to early leaders Bournemouth. Three minutes in, Chris Cohen lunges into a tackle - red card! Bournemouth go on to trounce us 4-0. My younger self would have been throwing a tantrum at this point. I restrict myself to a sigh of resignation as I see us rock bottom, 24th after 4 games.

Reading at home next - too early for a "must win"? Never. Andy Reid puts us one up early on, but it's tight. This is actually the worst we played all month. One goal never felt like enough and that proved to be the case on 84 minutes when, in another "FM" moment, substitute Aaron Kuhl pounces for his "first ever senior goal" to level it at 1-1. "Of course", I thought - "When it's not going for you it's n..... OH GET IN CHRIS BURKE YOU BEAUTY". Ahem... Basically, I was having a mini rant, planning a harsh post game team talk, only for Chris Burke to change my mood (and hopefully the direction of my season) with a 92nd minute scorcher from 25 yards, out of absolutely nothing. A league win after what feels like an age.

Thankfully, it appears that goal has kicked us into life. Britt Assombalonga even decided to show up for the final game of the month, scoring all 3 in a routine win at 10-man Sheffield Wednesday. In cup news, we're comfortably through to the third round of the League Cup where we will travel to Wigan.

We're not bottom anymore...

And that's August. Phew... my monthly updates probably won't all be this lengthy, but that was one of the more bewildering months I've had on FM. Here's hoping we've turned a corner after an inauspicious start! We've got an (always boring) international break coming up, followed by a huge derby against...well, Derby.

[WITW]

Looking forward to this, probably not as much as my good friend Nottingham Forest though

Good luck with Forest!

Thanks for the replies folks - hope you enjoy reading!

Will need a good old slice of luck at this rate

[WITW]

Nottingham Forest - September 2014

Now that's more like it! An excellent month, and what better way to return from an international break than to hammer your fiercest rivals. Derby, like Fulham in the following game, hardly had a kick. Two really pleasing wins, with Assombalonga bagging a brace in both.

The Millwall match was the only slight negative for this month, as we threw away a two goal lead. A draw away at Millwall is a decent result, considering they are currently above us, but their equaliser came from a 93rd minute break away. My error really. I kept the team pushing forward to try and seal it, when I really should've gone more defensive and tried to see the game out.

Injuries threatened to get in the way of our resurgence (Henri Lansbury, David Vaughan and Andy Reid all missed the Millwall game), but the League Cup provided the perfect opportunity to rest a few first teamers. We made seven changes, including the entire back four, and our fringe players were hugely impressive in a 5-0 win at Wigan. My stronger 11 repeated the feat just seven days later, also scoring five at the DW.

We're now up to 3rd, and unbeaten in nine in all competitions. A tough trip to Tottenham could see the end of our League Cup run but with Reid and Lansbury back fit, and Assombalonga (11) and Paterson (8) banging in the goals, our league campaign is in decent shape after ten games.

In signing and injury news, transfer deadline deadline day saw Everton's Luke Garbutt join on a season-long long. He was a huge contributor to our grat month of September, edging ahead of Danny Fox as first choice left back. Injury-wise, David Vaughan will be out for seven weeks, spraining an ankle against Fulham.

[HotChocolate]

10 goals away at Wigan in a week, not a bad tally

[Nobby_McDonald]

Cloughie. What a legend.

That reminds me... I still haven't watched The Damned United yet.

[DavidBeckham]

Great September! Couple of convincing wins against the bigger teams in the championship as well! KUTGW mate

[WITW]

10 goals away at Wigan in a week, not a bad tally

That was a pleasant surprise. I hate playing teams twice in a short space of time. Invariably I end up winning the game I care least about, and losing the more important (usually the league) game!

Cloughie. What a legend.

That reminds me... I still haven't watched The Damned United yet.

Get on that. It's a great film in it's own right, even before you consider who and what it's based on.

Great September! Couple of convincing wins against the bigger teams in the championship as well! KUTGW mate

Thanks DB! Enjoying it so far, hopefully it can continue!

[WITW]

Nottingham Forest - October 2014

Robbery! Absolute daylight robbery! That's what the AI will be screaming after that Spurs game!

Every time FM seemingly works against me, I must remember this game. We had no right to win - we managed just 2 shots on goal to their 25. I contemplated going defensive but we're not really set up for that, so I opted for the same attacking style we've employed in the Championship. Spurs lined up stronger than I expected though, with a front four of Lamela, Eriksen, Chadli and Adebayor. I feared the worst and, indeed, it was Lamela who put them ahead on 12 minutes. Adebayor missed a sitter a few minutes later and it looked like we might be in for a hiding. Gradually though, we grew into the game and our first attack yielded results as Bongani Khumalo turned a Jamie Paterson cross into his own net. We were level - and we made it to half time that way. We even had the luxury of seeing Assombalonga rattle the crossbar when it looked easier to score (our first shot at goal!).

Then, it began. Missed chances, Karl Darlow wonder saves, goalmouth scrambles. We survived the lot! Spurs just couldn't score. 5 missed clear-cut chances later and we break; a terrific cross from Luke Garbutt is volleyed home from 6 yards by Michail Antonio, sending the away fans into raptures with only our 2nd attempt at goal. But could we hold on? Just, and I mean JUST. Karl Darlow produced two more fine stops from long range efforts, and we survived another goal mouth scramble, before Ryan Mason blazed over with the last kick of the game, sending us into the Quarter Finals! Absolutely delighted with the result, as undeserved as it perhaps was. Can't complain about our draw either...

As for the league; our unbeaten run continues, but the away draws are a little frustrating. The month started with a 7-0 thrashing of Ipswich at the City Ground. A game which saw a first Nottingham Forest goal for Andreas Perreira. Consecutive 2-2 away draws followed. We dominated against Cardiff but had to come from behind twice to earn a draw. A similar story in the Watford game, although we led twice; a Matej Vydra double denying us the 3 points. All that was left for October was a routine win at home to Blackburn. Unbeaten in our last 11 in the league and, whilst the draws were a little frustrating, if you're winning your home games, and not losing your away games, you're in for a decent season.

I forgot to screenshot the league table, but we're now up to 2nd after leapfrogging Millwall. For those interested in just how much of a "smash 'n' grab" the Spurs games was, the stats are below;

[Bilbo Baggins]

Call 999, it's daylight robbery! Or Spurs just Spursing things up. Either way, solid result.

Should have a good chance of getting through against QPR as well, possible cup run? How committed would you be to the competition given that the Championship is pretty hectic schedule-wise?

[WITW]

Call 999, it's daylight robbery! Or Spurs just Spursing things up. Either way, solid result.

Should have a good chance of getting through against QPR as well, possible cup run? How committed would you be to the competition given that the Championship is pretty hectic schedule-wise?

Fortunately, the December schedule isn't too bad. League games are mostly once a week, aside from the boxing day/festive period, so we should be able to have a good crack at QPR. Then I guess if you make a semi-final, you kinda have to take it seriously. The league is definitely the priority, but I'll play as strong a team as I can without taking any risks.

Mind you, I'm not hugely confident that we'll get past QPR. They were bottom of the Prem, but since being drawn against me they have won 4, drawn 1 and lost 1 to move up to 15th. Charlie Austin is banging them in too.

[KDR]

Ha ha ha! Let's all laugh at Tottenham, let's all laugh at Tottenham...

Great stuff!

In the league, it seems like you're usually pretty solid at the back...until you're not, and very good going forward...until you're not.

Doing well overall, though.

[WITW]

Ha ha ha! Let's all laugh at Tottenham, let's all laugh at Tottenham...

Great stuff!

In the league, it seems like you're usually pretty solid at the back...until you're not, and very good going forward...until you're not.

Doing well overall, though.

Yeah, we're fantastic for 4 or 5 games, then woeful for 1, then back to playing well. Fortunately, we haven't had too many matches so far where we've defended badly and fired blanks. Usually at least one area of the team performs. Still, they say you win titles/promotions by winning when you aren't playing well!

[WITW]

Nottingham Forest - November 2014

Following our League Cup exploits, we began November with a trip to Huddersfield. An Assombalonga penalty put is ahead, but we conceded just before half time to go in 1-1 at the break. In a tight game, our task was made all the more difficult when Robert Tesche saw red for a second bookable offence. With 10 men all we could do was hang on for a point. We bounced back with a demolition of Brentford, Assombalonga netting his second hat-trick of the season. A solid win over Norwich then sent us into the international break.

Internationals weren't the only thing disrupting our preparation for the Wolves game. Andy Reid picked up an injury in training and will be out for 4-5 weeks. We have cover, but losing our captain was certainly not ideal. We also made a new (loan) signing ahead of the game;

Just 3 months initially, but I'm hoping to keep him for the rest of the season as neither Blackstock or Matty Fryatt were proving good enough cover for Assombalonga. As I say this, Blackstock decides to give me a nudge by finishing top scorer in the Carribean Championship, whatever that is.

On to Wolves, and it proved to be an excellent debut for James Wilson, scoring what proved to be the winner as he pounced after a Lichaj shot had struck the crossbar. Wolves pulled a goal back late on, but we were always in control. We were in that same control at Birmingham too, until we conspired to throw a 2 goal lead, conceding twice in the last 5 minutes. A slightly frustrating way to end a good month, but the league table still looks good for us as we move into December.

[WITW]

Nottingham Forest - December 2014

December began with an easy home win against Charlton, who bore the full brunt of our frustrations from the Birmingham match, James Wilson capping a fine display with his 2nd goal in 3 games. Sadly, you'll notice that we have some red on the fixture list for the first time in a while . Rotherham did exactly what we did to Blackburn. An utter smash and grab. We dominated, took the lead, and out of nowhere they scored two quick-fire goals to hand us our first league defeat in 17 games. We then hosted QPR in League Cup, in what was a really close game. We matched them throughout but, unfortunately, they had a striker bang in form - Charlie Austin took both his chances whilst be spurned ours. Assombalonga pulled one back late on but it wasn't to be. Out at the Quarter Final stage - a good effort all told.

After back to back defeats, we needed to bounce back. And we did just that with a hard fought 1-0 win at home to Leeds. This seemed to kick start us, and particularly Britt Assombalonga, once more as the striker inspired us to two fine wins to end the year on a high.

Even better, Bournemouth's draw with Millwall means we end 2014 top of the league. Automatic promotion is still my personal aim, but it's nice to have a 16 point cushion from 7th place. Barring a disaster, I should easily be meeting the board's expectations this season.

Next up: January gives us an opportunity to get some revenge over QPR as we travel to Loftus Road for the third round of the FA Cup.

[WITW]

In other news...

Some interesting tidbits from December;

Interesting to me as a United fan. Van Gaal sacked following a 3-1 defeat at Palace, which left United in 13th place after 15 games. Mancini has had 3 games in charge so far, drawing 2 and winning 1. Will be interesting to see how the former City manager fares!

I'm pleased we've played Birmingham twice now at least. Lying in 21st, a January spending spree could be just what they need. Will keep my eye on this as I don't think I've ever seen a tycoon takeover go through in a game.

Disaster! I'd forgotten about this competition. Here's hoping for an early DR Congo exit, and some James Wilson performances in the mean time!

[Northernpilgrim]

Looking very good so far, KUTGW!!

[GDH38]

What the hell have they done to Watford

[HotChocolate]

Very strong start, hopefully the loss of Assambalonga wont cost you too much.

[WITW]

Nottingham Forest - January 2015

With the turn of the new year, we faced an FA Cup trip to QPR, our conquerors in the League Cup last month. This game proved a very different story as we dominated the Premier League side from start to finish, Britt Assombalonga signing off for the AFCON with a brace. An excellent performance, probably the best of the season, and one that gives me hope that we can hold our own in the Premier League should we get promoted.

On that note, January was another good month for us in the league as we proved we could cope without our star striker. For an hour against Sheffield Wednesday, it didn't look like we would, but James Wilson pounced twice in the last 25 minutes to see us through. Another goal for Wilson followed in a comprehensive away win at rivals Derby before they, naturally, dumped us out of the FA Cup in our very next game. Although I was disappointed to go out, especially so soon after beating them away from home, the FA Cup was never a priority. Fourth round was the board's expectation, which is good enough for me.

We led 3-1 at Fulham, only to throw it away late on, before finishing the month with a big win against third placed Millwall, stretching our lead over them to 13 points. Promotion was beginning to look a formality, but we still had a few weeks to negotiate without Assombalonga, as DR Congo successfully progressed to the knock-out stages of the African Cup of Nations.

Other news...

There was no transfer window news at Nottingham Forest this time around. We have a decent chunk of our wage budget available, but I'm happy with the squad. With any luck, good management of the budgets this year may lead to some decent money being available if we're lucky enough to be promoted. I did manage to extend the loan of James Wilson until the end of the season, meaning we have solid back up should anything happen to Assombalonga before the end of the season.

Our unbeaten league run in January also brought me my first Manager of the Month award!

Meanwhile in Birmingham...

That's a shame. I've still not seen a tycoon takeover go through.

[WITW]

Looking very good so far, KUTGW!!

Thank you, and thanks for reading!

What the hell have they done to Watford

They sacked Jokanovic in September and new manager Kenny Jackett doesn't appear to be doing much better!

Very strong start, hopefully the loss of Assambalonga wont cost you too much.

So far so good! Could have done without DR Congo making it through the groups! James Wilson went down with a 3 week injury at the end of January too, so the sooner we have big Britt back, the better!!

[WITW]

Nottingham Forest - February 2015

Another manager of the month award followed in February, but not before an awful start away against Brighton. Without Wilson and Assombalonga, we lacked any sort of presence up top. Our star striker promptly returned from the AFCON, but had to be rested for the Wigan game in which Blackstock thankfully found the net for us. When Assombalonga did make his return, it took him just 5 minutes to find the net against Blackpool.

We finished a strong month with 3 good wins - including an absolute goalfest at home to Bolton - a game in which we were 3-0 up inside 10 minutes. Lansbury, Assombalonga and Antonio were all in great goalscoring form, though Reading will absolutely hate us as, for the second time this season, we beat them 2-1 with a stoppage time winner.

12 games to go and we're now 7 clear of second place and 6 clear of third. Almost there...

[WITW]

Nottingham Forest - March 2015

A poor month by our standards. Disappointing defeats away at Charlton and Norwich, whilst Rotherham officially became our bogey team - they've now taken 4 points off us this season. Nice to have Assombalonga back and amongst the goals with another 5 this for him this month. Our rivals didn't really capitalise on our numerous slip ups however, and with just 7 games reaming, we have a 7 point lead over second place - 14 clear of third-placed Fulham. We've also now officially clinched a playoff spot. It looks straightforward really, but we'll have to see most of it out without Andy Reid and Chris Cohen, both of whom are out with injuries.

Millwall, who have been in and around the top 3 all season, have now slipped out of the playoff places since losing Ian Holloway to Everton in January.

Youth Intake

Move along folks, nothing to see here...

In some better news..

Promptly accepted, of course.

[WITW]

Nottingham Forest - April/May 2015

I had planned on doing a game by game "race for the title", but our fine form turned it into a bit of a precession really. Promoted after the Huddersfield game, and crowned Champions thanks to Andy Reid's 25 yard, 91st minute equaliser against Watford, which also served to preserve our unbeaten home record in the league. Predictably, another manager of the month followed for April and Britt Assombalonga broke the club goalscoring record with 39 league goals (42 in all competitions).

(How Birmingham could have used that tycoon eh?)

So unbeaten in our last 7 games to clinch the title by a massive 18 point margin. Delighted with a job well done. The real story here though was Bournemouth. Second throughout the season, they managed to lose their last two games 4-1 and 4-0, to allow Fulham to turn around an 8 goal swing, pipping them into second on goal difference. Bournemouth then lost in the playoffs to Middlesbrough, before somehow recovering to beat Newcastle to win the FA Cup. This, after knocking out Arsenal in the semis!

Next up: 2014/15 Season Review

[WITW]

Nottingham Forest - 2014/15 Season Review

Competitions

Sky Bet Championship - Winners (Promoted as Champions)

FA Cup - Fourth Round - Eliminated by Derby

Capital One Cup - Quarter Finals - Eliminated by Queens Park Rangers

Final League Table/Statistics

Awards

Skybet Championship Manager of the Year

Skybet Championship Player of the Year - Britt Asombalonga

Skybet Championship Golden Boot - Britt Asombalonga (39)

Skybet Championship Team of the Year:

Manager's Player of the Year

1 - Britt Asombalonga - 42(2) appearances, 42 goals, 6 assists, 7.42 average rating

It was a toss up between him and Garbutt, but really, how can you not go with the guy who averages a goal a game over an entire season? Had it not been for his AFCON absence, he would easily have topped 40 league goals for the season. At just 22 years of age, he has more than earned the right to be our first choice striker in the Premier League.

2 - Luke Garbutt - 39(1) appearances, 2 goals, 13 assists, 7.61 average rating

Easily my best (loan) signing. Joint most assists and the highest average rating in the Championship. I would love to sign him on a permanent basis but ultimately, Everton's £22m asking price will prove too much.

3 - Jamie Paterson - 51(2) appearances, 22 goals, 11 assists, 7.27 average rating

Converted from a winger to a central attacking midfielder, 23 year old Paterson was the surprise of the season. An ever-present this season, his 20 goals from Midfield proved invaluable, particularly in Asombalonga's absence throughout January.

Other club news

Our youth category has dropped from 2 to 3, so I've immediately asked the board to increase the category and improve the facilities. Both requests were granted and should be completed by the end of the year. Hopefully it will help lead to a better youth intake than this year!

With the huge windfall that comes from promotion to the Premier League, I have been given substantial transfer and wage budgets to play with. After relying on loanees last, and our poor youth intake, I have already begun to spend for our season in the top flight.

Finally, it would appear that our successful season has had quite the impact on our reputation...

Around Europe

England

Barclays Premier League

Winners: Manchester City

Runners-Up: Liverpool

Relegated: QPR, Burnley, Sunderland

A predictable look about the Premier League, as Man Utd and Chelsea filled out the rest of the top four, with Spurs and Arsenal missing out on Champions League football, finishing 5th and 6th respectively. Man Utd's season finished especially impressively as Roberto Mancini took them from 13th in December to a third placed finish.

FA Cup

Winners: Bournemouth

Runners-Up: Newcastle

Capital One Cup

Winners: Chelsea

Runners-Up: Liverpool

France

Ligue 1

Winners: PSG

Runners-Up: Monaco

Relegated: Montpellier, Lorient, Lens

Again, no real surprise to see the big money sides at the top. It was a close run thing however, as they finish level on 83 points, PSG edging it by a goal difference of 2 more than Monaco.

Coupe de France

Winners: Guingamp

Runners-Up: Stade Reims

Coupe de la Ligue

Winners: PSG

Runners-Up: Toulouse

Germany

Bundesliga

Winners: Borussia Monchengladbach

Runners-Up: Wolfsburg

Relegated: Koln, Hannover, Freiburg

A real shock here, and another title won on goal difference - Gladback 2 better off than Wolfsburg. Just 2 points separated the top four here, with Dortmund in third and Schalke in fourth. Bayern finished a lowly fifth; Diego Simeone unable to push the team into the Champions League places following an awful start from the sacked Pep Guardiola.

DFB Pokal

Winners: Bayern Munich

Runners-Up: Borussia Dortmund

Holland

Eredivisie

Winners: PSV

Runners-Up: PEC Zwolle

Relegated: FC Utrecht, Heracles

A comfortable win for PSV, finishing 8 points clear of Zwolle. Ajax could only manage third.

KNVB Beker

Winners: PSV

Runners-Up: AZ

Italy

Serie A

Winners: Juventus

Runners-Up: Sampdoria

Relegated: Chievo, Verona, Empoli

Comfortable for Juve, finishing 6 clear of Sampdoria. Inter miss out on Champions League football, finishing 5th.

TIM Cup

Winners: Juventus

Runners-Up: Fiorentina

Portugal

Primeira Liga

Winners: Benfica

Runners-Up: Porto

Relegated: Arouca, Moreirense

Benfica walked it here - 13 clear of Porto

Taca de Portugal

Winners: Gil Vicente

Runners-Up: Benfica

Spain

La Liga

Winners: Barcelona

Runners-Up: Atletico Madrid

Relegated: Malaga, Deportivo, Cordoba

A seven point gap between Barca and Atletico - Real finishing a further 2 points back in third.

Copa del Rey

Winners: Barcelona

Runners-Up: Atletico Madrid

Europe

UEFA Champions League

Winners: Atletico Madrid

Runners-Up: Chelsea

UEFA Europa League

Winners: Everton

Runners-Up: Borussia Dortmund

Up next: 2015/16 Season Preview

[WITW]

Nottingham Forest - Season Preview - 2015/16

Board Expectations

Barclays Premier League - Top half finish

FA Cup - Sixth Round

Capital One Cup - Quarter Finals

Personally, I would've been happy with survival, but I guess our reputation increase has led to these enhanced expectations. As always, I'm not overly bothered about the cups, but a run in one of them would be nice.

Thankfully, the board at least backed up those expectations with some decent budgets...

Budgets

Transfer: £16,350,000

Wage: £614,586

I'm not really sure where we're at right now. Last year, I was fairly confident we would achieve (and exceed) the board's expectations. This year I'm not so sure. I've already begun to plow through my transfer budget (which I'll cover in my pre season update), and am pretty happy with where the squad is at. Been a while since I've taken a team into the top flight - let's see how this one goes!

Next up: Pre-Season

[HotChocolate]

Smashed it

Best of luck in the Premiership

[john1]

Well done on getting promoted

[deltablue]

Pity about Ipswich

[GDH38]

Your board are lunatics

[Bilbo Baggins]

Expectant board, will be a good effort to finish mid-table.

[WITW]

Thanks for all the comments folks - writing an update as we speak.

It would appear maybe my board aren't quite as crazy as first thought though!

[WITW]

Nottingham Forest - Pre-Season - 2015/16

Transfers

After relying fairly heavily on loans last season, there was work to be done in the transfer market if we wanted to meet the board's expectations of a top half finish. Fortunately the board had stumped up some decent budgets, but I couldn't affort to spend big on one or two players. We really needed to fill out the squad. Impressive loanees from last season, Darlow, Lascelles and Garbutt were unobtainable for this season, so the squad really needed filling out. I did much of my business early, scouring for players whose contracts were close to expiry. Ruiz, Reid and Alonso came in on cut-price deals, whilst we were able to nab Jem Karacan on a free transfer after his Reading contract expired. We spent a little more to secure the services of Goalkeeper Ochoa and Midefielder Capoue and, together with new contracts for Paterson, Lansbury, Assombalonga, Kelvin Wilson, Cohen and Antonio, this pretty much wiped our budgets.

Offloading the likes of Blackstock, Fryatt and Halford did allow us to bring in youngster Patric from Barcelona as well as future youth prospects Oliver Finney and Oscar Vidal. James Wilson has also re-joined the club on a season-long loan from Manchester United.

All of this left the squad looking like this:

I'm pretty happy with the summer business. I would have loved to have gotten Luke Garbutt in again, even on loan, but he's looking like he will be a part of Everton's first team this season. I've strengthened in all the areas we needed to and hopefully we should have enough depth for a decent run at this season. Our pre-season friendlies certainly pointed in that direction:

Next up: Our Premier League campaign kicks off with a difficult trip to Tottenham.

[WITW]

Nottingham Forest - August - November 2015

A fantastic first part of the season - way better than I could have hoped for!

We started off at White Hart Lane, where we won in the cup last season. Not quite as one sided in this one, but Spurs were still comfortably better than us and, in truth, it could have been more than 3-1. We came from behind in the Fulham game but the result was disappointing, especially as they played for an hour with 10 men. We also trailed against Sheffield Wednesday in the cup, only seeing them off late in extra time. We got our first league win at the end of August, an Assombalonga-inspired victory at West Brom before another disappointing home slip up against Palace. We really should have beaten them but they scored from two of their five shots, whilst we couldn't find the net with any of our 16. We bounced back with a great win at home to Newcastle, before our fringe players crashed out of the Carling Cup at the Hawthorns. Didn't want to go out so early, but the league form afterwards more than made up for it. 4 straight wins - 2 against established top half Premier League sides - came just when we needed them, with games against City, Arsenal and Chelsea to follow.

I had feared this run of fixtures from the beginning of the season, and even more so with injuries to Andy Reid, Bryan Ruiz and Eric Lichaj, so it was great that we had accumulated the points beforehand. It was even more heartening to see that we weren't out classed here. In fact, we dominated the City game. More possession, more shots, more chances - only a man of the match display from Vincent Kompany (and a pretty inspired Joe Hart) kept us from an amazing victory. Arsenal were much better than us, but we held out until the last 5 minutes before they made the breakthrough. We then led against Chelsea in a very even game. A close-range finish from Cuadrado levelled things up, and it took a 30 yard Cuadrado screamer to beat us. We travelled to Villa Park to end November. After 3 games without a win it was important to get something here, and another accomplished display saw us take all 3 points thanks to two Assombalonga goals in the first 12 minutes.

What a start! 6th place after 13 games. We've adjusted really well to Premier League football. Lansbury, Wilson and Assombalonga have been in great form (Lansbury even picked up his first England cap in November). Our away form has been particularly good, and what's most pleasing is that aside from a couple of games, we are consistently the better team in games.

[Bilbo Baggins]

Very solid start, think you can qualify for Europe?

[WITW]

Very solid start, think you can qualify for Europe?

Our form since that update would suggest not!

[DavidBeckham]

James Wilson \o/ Fantastic signing!

[Northernpilgrim]

Good luck, ridiculous expectation level for a newly promoted club. Hope you can achieve the top 10 finish they ask for

[deltablue]

Tree-mendous!

[Lenzar]

Tree-mendous!

As you took the obvious tree pun, I'm stumped on what to follow with.

[dap1987]

Just read the whole thing, great read and a great year and a bit at Forest

[deltablue]

As you took the obvious tree pun, I'm stumped on what to follow with.

I'm sure you can branch out, touch wood.

[WITW]

Thanks for the great comments and feedback guys, even the terrible, terrible puns!

I always run into this problem - I get home from work and just want to play the game I'm really into. So much so that I'm way ahead of my last update. I'm gonna try and make my updates cover more time, perhaps half a season or so. Hopefully that will help me keep up! I've just had my most disappointing spell of the game so far, hopefully I'll get an update up tonight!

[john1]

Tree-mendous!

Awful pun

[dap1987]

Thanks for the great comments and feedback guys, even the terrible, terrible puns!

I always run into this problem - I get home from work and just want to play the game I'm really into. So much so that I'm way ahead of my last update. I'm gonna try and make my updates cover more time, perhaps half a season or so. Hopefully that will help me keep up! I've just had my most disappointing spell of the game so far, hopefully I'll get an update up tonight!

Hopefully after the disappointing spell, you can turn over a new leaf ..... sorry couldnt help it