Football Manager

[calgaryballer]

Struggling for goals so far. Kiessling has hit 5 posts through 3 games, and Helmes can't hit the target. Two 1-1 draws and a 0-1 loss (with 24 shots for vs 2 against) against a tough schedule.

Played Hoffenheim, Schalke, HSV, Stuttgart and Bayern as my first 5 Bundesliga games. Really need to take some points from Bayern and Stuttgart

Crushed Wisla in the Euro Cup qualifying stages

[1ke]

I actually decided to start in the MLS with the Red Bulls. First singing was Fortune, and second was some Van der something guy. Got both on frees, then traded for Brek Shae, tried to get Danny fomr Philly, but they werent having none of it.

[Lanteri]

Eliminated by Arsenal in the Europa League.

Had a really poor run out in England, finishing with 16 wins, 12 draws, and 10 losses for 7th, 2 points behind City for Europe qualification.

There are going to be some wholesale changes this summer, starting with getting rid of van der Vaart. He contributed absolutely nothing at any point after January. Dzeko was largely disappointing until the final two games of the season, where he chipped in with 3 goals in the last two. He had only 2 goals in his first 11 appearances.

Interestingly enough, Liverpool won the league.

Modric wound up being my player of the year, with a 7.18 rating in 33 apps. 6 goals and 10 assists. Cahill had 9 goals and 5 assists.

I'll be looking for sure this summer for some upgrades in the defense, a trequartista to replace VdV, and maybe a future replacement as the ball winning midfielder for Cahill, as he's getting up there in years.

[BigHouseUSA]

Just picked up my first point with Woking after this goal.
[ame]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dW3yHJlO-zU[/ame]
Signed a few guys and my team has drastically improved. If I can get a winger and striker I should be able to survive comfortably.

[Lanteri]

Orrrrr not.

Board only gave me £7m as a transfer budget. Fortunately I don't need to do much, but I was hoping for more.

Summer Transfers

Out:

van der Vaart to Napoli for £6.5m
Cahill to Genoa for £5m
Baptista to Newcastle for £4.5m
Defoe to Newcastle for £3.8m
Jenas to Cagliari for £2.3m
Ji-Sung to AC Milan for £4.4m
Gallas, Cudicini, Woodgate, on frees.
Assistant Manager - Bond gone.
Danny Rose on loan to Crystal Palace

In:

Kranjcar, dos Santos back from loan.
Valdivia in from Palmeiras for £4m up front, £8m over 48 months.
Gary Cahill in from Bolton for £4m up front, £8m over 48 months.
Santa Cruz in on loan from Man City - no fee.
Richard Kingson in on a free.
Terry McDermott in as ass man.


Starting XI

------------Dzeko-----------
------Modric----Valdivia------
Bale----Huddlestone----Lennon
Ekotto--King--Dawson--Hutton

Subs: GK - Kingson, Kranjcar, Sandro, G. Cahill, Bassong, Naughton, Crouch
dos Santos and Santa Cruz also registered.

[Lanteri]

There may also wind up being a switch at striker, as a couple big clubs are pressuring for Dzeko, and to be honest I was not at all impressed with him, so if I get a big enough offer, he may be out the door.

[Lanteri]

Dzeko is indeed gone, to Barcelona for £23m.

Scrambling to find a replacement right now, but for the time being Crouch will start.

[Lanteri]

Good news.

Balotelli requested a transfer from Man City, and was granted it, maybe helped along by my declaring interest. I landed him for £15m out of my remaining £17.5m that I had for selling Dzeko. Really happy about this, as Balotelli is a much better fit for our attack than Dzeko anyway. Dzeko's more of a poacher than anything else, and in the formation I'm running, the striker needs to be a bit more well-rounded.

[Lanteri]

aaaand I've officially been sacked, lol. Started off the season with 2 wins, 2 draws, and 6 losses. Guess they had enough between not making Europe last season, and the uggggly start.

Not too concerned though cause I didn't like Spurs much anyway. I'm not sure whether I'll start over, or if I'll try and latch on elsewhere.

[calgaryballer]

i made some changes to the DB (primarily unfaking) so Leverkusen came to an end. Started up as Villareal, as I almost never play in the Spanish league.

[Lanteri]

Elected to take over Napoli, in the closing weeks of November. They were 4-4-5, and are 1-1-2 in Champions League group play, in a group featuring Manchester United, PSV, and Rubin, with the remaining two games being against Rubin and PSV, with a shot to qualify for the knockout stages if we can take both.

Things got off to a flier with a 5-0 drubbing of Siena, using a 4-3-3 formation.

This is the lineup I went with, though it's not what I'll be going with when everyone's healthy (Cavani is hurt right now)



Once Cavani gets back, he'll be the striker, and I'll likely be playing Quagliarella in the hole behind him at AMC.

I'm pretty happy with the quality of this side, just need to make sure they play to potential. I do have a £21m transfer budget, which I'll definitely be putting to use to upgrade at our VERY weak CB position.

[1ke]

^^^ You should see how much the young Greek kid CB will cost you from Milan. (AC).

[1ke]

Alright so I won the MLS title with New York. Squad was sick....Henry, Angel, Marquez, DeMerit, Fortune, Lindpier, Van Der some shit, Shea, Muanga. But now im off....too many god damn tags, and registrations, and waivers, and trades and shit in the MLS for me.

Sheffield Wed have an opening and hoping to grab it if I can. If not...I might have to venture to league 2 to start out in England......YIIKES

[BigHouseUSA]

That's pretty much the way to play the MLS. I got fired from Newcastle a few years ago and got the job at LA who were last in the league. Traded some draft picks for good players and signed a punch of Central American/Caribbean players on frees. By the All-Star break I was first in the league and got a job in England again. I couldn't have done another season with all those restrictions.

[Fappin Raptor]

That's one of my favorite things to do is start in the MLS and try and earn a job in England. Might start that one up. My Everton save got fucked up and the unemployed one was lame, so hopefully I can stick with this one before I try and start my Everton one over again.