Football Manager, Part I

[DutchFootballRulez]

Just got the dreaded board vote of condfidence. I'm on thin ice at Barca. I don't think I am going to see next season.

That Pirlo purchase has haunted you I see. As a Barca fan; I realize that the one thing they need is a high-workrate, strong tackling defensive midfielder like Mascherano or Davids. Pirlo is fantastic but..not really in the same vein as what Barca need. How many league matches are left?

[Bonji]

That Pirlo purchase has haunted you I see. As a Barca fan; I realize that the one thing they need is a high-workrate, strong tackling defensive midfielder like Mascherano or Davids. Pirlo is fantastic but..not really in the same vein as what Barca need. How many league matches are left?
Ahhhh, you've got that right. I am haunted by splashing so much cash on Pirlo and Leo Franco. After my freeze up it is 2-27-05...Wow, only a few days from now. :) I'm in the middle of my 25th match, against Real Sociedad. It is 0-0, why can't I get these guys to score?!?!

[Bonji]

I just finished that match against R. Sociadad. Tied 0-0 to them at home. Hans-Jorg Butt got a 9 and stopped 6 shots on goal. I can't do anything here!!! I think I need to put these guys into propper training groups.

[Bonji]

Ok, I just checked my options and it turns out no one was really in charge of training. Well, I was. But I just didn't do anything on there. So now I have the assnt. mgr in charge of training. That should help...I hope.

[Greddy]

I know Barca well(in the game and in life).

You don't really need that D-mid Dutch described. Motta is well over rated in the game, so you won't need a replacement for a long time.

You only have two strikers on your squad, so I'd suggest purchasing a third. Preferably a young player with a hot future, that way you're building for the future while getting a player that won't mind sitting on the bench for now. With the amount of games Barca plays, and the threat of injury, two strikers just won't cut it.

Next, and this may surprise you, you should think about picking up another attacking midfielder. Preferably a young, rightsided one. Giuly is going to get tired more often than your other A-mids, and you're going to need someone reliable to back him up on a regular basis. Iniesta probably won't be enough.

Lastly, I'd suggest picking up a good defender. Marquez splits his time between CB and D-mid for me, and he takes the d-mid spot if one of them are injured, so it never hurts to strengthen your defense.

In the case of a defender, I only have two words for you. Vincent Kompany.

It's be the best money you'll ever spend, plus Barca look to be making a move for him in real life as well. :)

[JohnR]

24 games into the season. I am in second, Arsenal first.

Average rating, goalkeepers vs. me 7.61
Average rating, #1 goalkeeper in EPL 7.43
Average rating, goalkeepers vs. Arsenal 7.15
Average rating, my goalkeeper 7.11
Average rating, #20 goalkeeper in EPL 6.76

Every game, the guy opposing me looks better than Peter Cech. :rolleyes:

[DutchFootballRulez]

Well, I can't remember how well Motta's tackling is in the game. I also would considering transfer listing Giuly should you make it through the season.

[ERIMUS]

My current game with Boston United...

2004/2005 season - Finished just outside the playoffs in League Two and had a good F.A Cup run.

2005/2006 season - Promoted to League One and winners of the LDV Vans Trophy

2006/2007 season - Promoted to the Championship and a good run in the F.A Cup.

2007/2008 season - Half way through the season and im mid-table in the Championship.

[Bonji]

24 games into the season. I am in second, Arsenal first.

Average rating, goalkeepers vs. me 7.61
Average rating, #1 goalkeeper in EPL 7.43
Average rating, goalkeepers vs. Arsenal 7.15
Average rating, my goalkeeper 7.11
Average rating, #20 goalkeeper in EPL 6.76

Every game, the guy opposing me looks better than Peter Cech. :rolleyes:
I feel like I've been up against some super goal keepers too. I had a 1-0 lead against Villareal. They had a counter attack where they had 4 guys going into the box against my 3 defenders. I couldn't do a thing against them scoring. drew 1-1. Since my crash I had gotten 4 more points than I got before the crash. So maybe my job is safer. This morning I bombed out of the Champions League, going down 3-1 to Inter on aggregate. I think it is for the better so I can focus on the league and gaining some ground there.

[Bonji]

Well, I can't remember how well Motta's tackling is in the game. I also would considering transfer listing Giuly should you make it through the season.
Why transfer list Giuly? He's been great for me. Now that Ronaldinho is out for the season, he's been a good force.

[Bonji]

I know Barca well(in the game and in life).

You don't really need that D-mid Dutch described. Motta is well over rated in the game, so you won't need a replacement for a long time.

You only have two strikers on your squad, so I'd suggest purchasing a third. Preferably a young player with a hot future, that way you're building for the future while getting a player that won't mind sitting on the bench for now. With the amount of games Barca plays, and the threat of injury, two strikers just won't cut it.

Next, and this may surprise you, you should think about picking up another attacking midfielder. Preferably a young, rightsided one. Giuly is going to get tired more often than your other A-mids, and you're going to need someone reliable to back him up on a regular basis. Iniesta probably won't be enough.

Lastly, I'd suggest picking up a good defender. Marquez splits his time between CB and D-mid for me, and he takes the d-mid spot if one of them are injured, so it never hurts to strengthen your defense.

In the case of a defender, I only have two words for you. Vincent Kompany.

It's be the best money you'll ever spend, plus Barca look to be making a move for him in real life as well. :)
Thanks for the advice. I've spent a lot on transfers this season so I might have to put Kompany on the shortlist. I actually use GVB and Pirlo in a two DM setup playing a 4-2-3-1. I know I need another striker, but with the current setup I do ok alternating between Larsen and Eto. I might recall Savolia from his loan if either of them go down.

[DutchFootballRulez]

I say transfer list GIuly because he will be 29. And you'd get Top Dollar for him. I agree losing Ronnie has probably hurt you the most. Because putting the ball on his foot makes him undeniable going forward.

[Bonji]

I say transfer list GIuly because he will be 29. And you'd get Top Dollar for him. I agree losing Ronnie has probably hurt you the most. Because putting the ball on his foot makes him undeniable going forward.
Good point about Giuly's age, but I hesitate because a transfer listing can upset the team morale and I might not even be able to sell him.

[gaijin]

You know what's weird?

I have FM2005, no patch. I've trotted it out a couple of times, played half a dozen pre-season games as Man U and Arsenal. Just to see what it looks like. And the game has been perfect! I didn't do squat with tactics, just let the assistant manager picked the squad and hit Go. But the games were great. My guys mostly won, by reasonable scores like 2-1, the action was terrific. Not a hint of all these weird things that everybody else has encountered.

OK they're easy teams to play, but go figure. I'd play the game more, but the pace is too slow. I want my seasons to pass faster.

Really?, I get raped unless I have good tactics. Normally if you take charge of a very poor side, its best to keep it simple and not over complicate your plays, so if you have good passing and passing direction this should work okay.

But, I have games where my players can't hit the target, and blaze it over always......training and match practice sorts it out though.

[TheImposter]

I need to kvetch a bit. My LLM game with CF Badalona is getting stranger and more frustrating all the time. After being promoted to the second division following my first season, I was stumbling along in the relegation zone, as expected. Picked up a point here and there, a couple of wins. Then in Feb. '06 I went on a run, 6 games unbeaten, all against much higher placed teams, culminating in a brilliant 10-man win against the second place team at their ground. putting us 2 spots and 6 points above the drop zone. All this is without signing anyone at all to strengthen the squad, as I couldn't get anybody who was at all better than the crap players I have to sign for the 1250 pw the board allowed as the max I could offer anybody (this is with a wage budget of 17K pw, and a current wage bill of 9K pw). So I'm thinking maybe we have a chance to stay up. Then we start playing the other relegation battlers and lose 7 in a row, without scoring a single goal in any of those matches. End up fulfilling expectations by being relegated back to Second division B. Nonetheless the board is delighted by my performance, happy with financial status (the year in 2nd division has given us a $4.5mil bank account), and delighted by the spirited performance put up by the players and my ability to keep them motivated throughout a difficult season (I'd never seen such detailed feedback from a board before).

Now, back in D2B, we've got newly upgraded training facilities (going from "Awful facilities" to "Good facilities" on the info screen), they've given me a transfer budget of $1.6mil, doubled the wage budget to $33K pw, and nearly tripled the max I can offer any player to $3400 pw -- huge amounts compared to when I started the game. And STILL I can't get anybody to sign for me. I'm throwing money around like crazy, concluding transfer deals with other clubs, but every single time "Player X is not interested in a move to Badalona". I negotiate with them up to the max I'm allowed to offer, including the maximum allowed goal and assist bonuses for attacking players, clean sheet bonus for keepers, and they still turn me down. Even crap players who are more crap than the crap players I have, and who come from crap clubs with far less money than I now have won't play for me. It's only the beginning of August, but I have absolute faith that I will go through this season unable to sign a single player -- it's that reliable. I can't even attract staff -- no scout will sign for the $400 pw I'm authorized to offer, and coaches... well every time I offer a coach the max I'm allowed he rejects it, when I go to negotiate the offer screen has cut back to a lower figure, and it happens no matter how many times I try to change it (this has got to be a bug, but I haven't checked the SI site to see). Meanwhile I'm being peppered with job offers from poor clubs who have wage budgets a tenth the size of mine, and who note that they can't offer any money to buy new players but perhaps I would be attracted by a challenge -- HA!

I assume that this is all because in real life Badalona are a small, unknown, semi-professional club with no money and no ambition, so my and the club's rep are low. But you'd think I would get some cred from having moved them up and improving their finances so much. This is the first game I've played below England League 2 -- is this kind of scenario common in LLM games? I don't see a way out of it, except to keep on playing with the same group of aging guys I've got, but it's not realistic at all to be unable to buy a single player. I don't know if I'm stubborn enough to stick with it much longer -- I'll either start applying to open jobs that would be a step up, or just can the game and go back to the random Llama generator and try again.

[DutchFootballRulez]

Good point about Giuly's age, but I hesitate because a transfer listing can upset the team morale and I might not even be able to sell him.
I'd wait till the end of the season. Definitely. Sell him as soon as the Board provide the new budget. Praise him if you don't already during the season.

[Bonji]

I'd wait till the end of the season. Definitely. Sell him as soon as the Board provide the new budget. Praise him if you don't already during the season.
Ok, I'll look into that.

So I made it back to the point of my crash. I got a total of 8 points more than I got before the crash. So I am sitting safely in 4th place and I don't think my job is in as much of a pinch. Ohh well. :)

[johno]

I just won the trebble w/ United... just bought 2 GK's let Carroll go and added Mascherano and Baptista was playing like a man possesed in league and international matches... Giampaolo Pazzini is a football GOD...all he does is score goals... Ruud netted 31 times in 40 appearances... Giggs was amazing throughout the season and supprisingly was happy about the arrival of Stuart Downing... Ole Gunnar has returned to fitness and I now have Ruud, Pazzini, Smith, Solskjaer, Rooney and Bergkamp... I play Bergie in midfield most times and he will probably retire... I bought him when I had an injury crisis and he helped but now I have too many scorers... also some good younguns like Rossi and Adu.

[gaijin]

Cavenaghi will join me for 8m at the end of the current season. But Gudjohnsen is still out for 3 months with a damaged spine.....:(

At least Carlton Cole is doing well, sadly I decided to accept Mallorca's offer for Forssell at the beginning of the year.

I have just played Deportivo in the CL, and I scored 3 goals from CK's, all headers (2 from Terry, 1 from Gallas.) Terry should have scored two more. Glitch? or simply poor defending by La Coruna?

Also beat Boro 5-1 away in the league cup......

[Bonji]

Winner! Ok, I got Barca to win the Spanish cup. Leo Franco justified his big money transfer fee by getting a clean sheet and a 9 rating. So at least the season wasn't totally lost.

I came in second for the manager of the year award.

Belletti, Giuly & Deco were selected to the team of the season.

I came in 4th in the league with 74 points from 20 wins, 11 draws and 6 losses. I scored 71 goals and had a diff of +38.

Not a bad season but Real Madrid won with 85 points so I wasn't close. If Ronaldinho hadn't gone down for a large part of the season I think things would have been different.