JTB

Lads, get yourselves off to bed early after Villa/United. I watch the whole 90 minutes of our game and I couldn't tell you anything about it other than Berahino had a good chance to make it 1-0.

Stoke have done some blinding business this window. I think if they can replace N'Zonzi now they'll have a team capable of seriously challenging for the Europa League spots this season. I suppose another winger wouldn't hurt them either but I'm kind of under the impression that Marco van Ginkel can play out wide?

Sterling is a massive prospect but £49m is a lot of money right now. Liverpool need to invest wisely now, that's for sure, because it's a shit load of money to throw away in the manner they did last season. On the WBA front, we've turned our attention from Matt Phillips to Michail Antonio and we still want George Friend. Would be nice to make another signing about now to be honest but I'm not holding my breath.

Mid-way through my third season, and sitting pretty at the top of the league with Gladbach with only one league loss to my name, and I also qualified in first in my Champions League group which featured PSG, PSV and Hull City (who had somehow finished 3rd in the 2015/2016 season under Steve Bruce so as to qualify, and they now have a 32 year old Fernando Torres leading the line and doing a damn good job of it too). I've agreed to sell Andre Hahn for £21m to Spartak, a full £3m more than his actual release clause. I probably could have gotten more for him, but he's frequently moaned when clubs have sniffed at him, so he can have his way and move elsewhere but to a team who won't pose much of a threat to me.

I've agreed a pre-contract deal with both Lacazette and Rekik. Lacazette is the Ligue 1 top goalscorer in February 2016, and despite only appearing 3 times in a City shirt this season, Rekik is average a rating of 6.99 which considering he'll be fourth choice centre back with me at Gladbach is good enough for me. Still ahs good potential too. Fierro and Lacazette are going to tear it up next season. I wanted to get Schweinsteiger as well but his wages are ridiculous, as I expected them to be.

I've had a decent run in the Champions League, and I'm now only one point off qualifying through to the knockout stages with my only game remaining being Benfica at home. I've done the double over Red Bull Salzburg, I drew 2-2 away at Benfica after leading twice, lost 3-2 quite convincingly away at Juventus but managed to deservedly beat them 2-1 at home. I'm optimistic. My league form has suffered a little bit though. I'm still unbeaten in the league but I drew 4 league games on the bounce, including pissing away a 3 goal lead away at Paderborn for them to come back an equalise late on with one of the most bullshit goals I've seen on the game in a while. One of my players played a stupid back pass to Dominguez despite being in the opponent's final third with options open, Dominguez just watches it roll past him to Tony Sanabria (he's on loan at Paderborn) who belts it off the bar from distance. Sommer dives but is well beaten and the ball pings back to an on-rushing Sanabria on the edge of the box and he smashes it in. As frustrating as they are, I understand that backpass goals happen where there a nothing pass evades your centre half or keeper and the striker wins the ball to round the keeper and score, but this one was scored in such a bizarre, irritating fashion that I wanted to bang my head off a wall.

Had a good start to my second season with Monchengladbach, and I'd say I also did the best business in the Bundesliga during the summer transfer window. Despite his great season for me, I could see Branimir Hrgota wasn't going to improve much and when played in any role other than a poacher in my usual tactic, he did not imapct games in the slightest. With a year left on his contract, wages of just £1.7k a week and a value of £5.5m, I offered him to clubs and Monaco paid £18m upfront for him. He's yet to score in his two games for them so far. Having unsettled Carlos Fierro at Chivas, I got him after activating his £9.5m release clause with the Hrgota money, and he's got 6 in 4 for me so far in the league, with two assists and the highest average rating in the Bundesliga so far with 8.57. Next to be sold was Max Kruse. He was upset I declined a Bayern offer of like £15m for him (his value at the time was £22.5m) so I promised to sell him if a club matched our valuation of him. He came good in the second half of the season and played a massive part in us winning the Europa League, scoring 9 goals in 13 games with an average rating of 7.57. Real Madrid came in for him not long after Bayern, but they didn't match my valuation of him (wanted about £25m for him) so I told them to get stuffed as well, and he moaned some more. I promise to sell him to anyone this time and offered him to clubs for £40m. Many clubs came back with offers: Bayern, Madrid, Dortmund and somebody else (may have been an English club) though none of them came close to the minimum £20m I wanted up front in a deal worth £25m. Zenit had different ideas though, and offered the full £40m up front for him. Daylight robbery. I accepted and took the money. So, two first team players out the door for a combined £58m with about £0m of that going towards my transfer budget that was already at £13m. I bought Fierro who has been good for me so far, and because we leaked goals so often last season I brought in Balanta for £6.5m up front to replace Jantschke in the team (short and poor heading which caused a lot of goalscoring opportunities for the opposition - a decent player but I can't have him starting every week so he'll be a back-up option now). I also went out and got Gaya on loan because I never replaced Wendt when he left and needed cover for Johnson at LB. With only one piece of the puzzle left - somebody to fill that AMC spot with the 'advanced playmaker - support' role, because Odegaard is good but not actually eligible to play in every competition I''m in due to his age - I went back into the market for a Kruse replacement. Enter Kevin De Bruyne. Unhappy at Wolfsburg after their poor season, I swooped in and £23m he was mine. 2 assists in 4 games in the league suggests he will be decent for me considering he hasn't really got going yet. I spent a grand total of £39.5m in the transfer market (I've also signed a regen striker with the model professional personality from Inter Milan - as far as I know, he's their youngest ever player too having played one game for them last season. He's only 15 so he joins in January) but made £59m back from selling players. That's great business by my reckoning considering my team is definitely stronger now. Won the DFL-Supercup with a 1-0 win over Bayern, but lost the UEFA Super Cup in a 2-1 loss against Barca. Beat Volklingen 8-0 in the DFB Pokal, Hoffenheim 4-2 in the Bundesliga, Werder Bremen 4-1 in the Bundesliga, Stuttgart 2-0 in the Bundesliga and Kaiserslauten 1-0 in the Bundesliga too. Next game is after the international break against Bayern who I am determined to beat in the league this season.

I've qualified for both the Europa League and DFB Pokal finals with Gladbach, where I'll play Atletico and Bayern respectively. Ideally I'll win both but if I can pick up even just one of the trophies I'll be pleased considering 2nd place is guaranteed for me if I beat Hamburg in my next match. Then I've just got a final day clash with Hannover to get through, in which I could end up relegating them. Bayern ran away with the league in the end, they stormed it second half of the season with January signing Franco di Santo scoring some massive goals by the looks of things - meanwhile, my defence regularly fell to shit which means I've turned a lot of winning positions into draws. Pretty sure I have the second highest amount of draws in the league, with the team with the most being one of the sides fighting a relegation battle. That'll be addressed in the summer with a good centre half coming in as well as a tweak of my tactics. Got a few transfer targets lined up for the summer already. I've managed to seriously unsettle Carlos Fierro at Chivas, so I should be able to get him cheaper than I would've done previously, and he'll replace Hrgota who despite having a 40-plus goal season, I don't feel he can lead the team's attack for years to come. Stoke are interested in him, and I'm tempted to cash in should they come in with the right offer because I don't feel right giving Hrgota the contract he wants. I'm also going after Balanta, Drogba on a free (mostly for tutoring reasons, but his stats are still decent enough for him to become a back-up striker seeing as I don't really have an out-and-out striker for back-up), Fuchs on a free (again, not a first team regular but will be decent cover at LB with Daems leaving) and a couple of decent regens. I might dip into the loan market too if I'm unhappy with the squad depth by the end of the transfer window, because I'll need more quality throughout to challenge for the Bundesliga (I'll admit though, I'd happily take qualifying for CL football next season to stabilise finances even more so I can eventually go out and get that big game-changing signing that leads me to un-seating Bayern and winning the Bundesliga). EDIT: Beat HSV 2-0 so 2nd place is now guaranteed. Hrogta got 2 more goals taking him to 42 for the season in all competitions, and 23 in the league. Juan Bernat might become available from Bayern which would negate the need to sign Fuchs but I can't see him coming cheap and LB isn't my priority.

Fuck you all. You don't have to watch the bloke run walk around every week and hold his hamstring and/or groin after 5 minutes. To his credit, he does pop up on the rare occasion with some important goals. I'm pretty sure he's only ever scored one or two goals for us that didn't win us a point or all three and they came against City who we would not be expected to get anything off and I think QPR when we lost 4-1 this season. Oh yeah, to put that into context, he's only got 6 league goals for us I do love Big Vic really, though, as shite as he is.

Franco di Santo is fucking tearing shit up at Bayern Munich on my Gladbach save. They signed him half-way through the season after some good form at Bremen and now he's got 2 goals and 2 assists in 2 games there with an 8.70 rating, and he had 8 goals and 7 assists in 16 games at Werder Bremen with an average rating of 7.49. He's become a good player in real life, but damn, he's fucking smashing it in FM.

To be fair, I'd been meaning to give Hahn one because he has a stupid release clause of like £2.1m. He's now got a new one of £23m. That end of the season trick...I'm going to try that in future. Never even realised that existed and I've played these games for close to a decade. Shows how much attention I pay...

Fuck sake. Back from the winter break and Hermann wants a new contract. I convinced him to sack his agent which obviously makes it a bit cheaper to negotiate a contract overall, and he's end up on £65k per week. Not a bank-breaking weekly figure, but he's now the highest earner well out in front of Dominguez on £45k per week, with the rest earning £25k per week tops. I've decdied that for next season at least, nobody is earning more than £65k per week so it doesn't tear the club a new one financially. Anyway, after negotiating Hermann's new deal, Hahn wants one too and won't sack his agent. So he's ended up on £65k per week too. Good job they're both key players and are imperative to the success of my tactic (Hermann as an IF - A on the right, Hahn as a retrained W - A on the left). Just when I think I'm in the clear with contract negotiations, Korb's agent has started piping up about a new deal too... Saying all this, a new contract for each of them is justified as they're all in the top 5 players at the club this season. Hermann has 10 goals and 9 assists in 26 games in all competitions with an average rating of 7.63, Hahn has 12 goals and 9 assists in 26 games in all competitions with an average rating of 7.41 and Korb has 0 goals but 7 assists in 26 games in all competitions with an average rating of 7.47. Shame Hermann has gone and got himself injured for a couple of weeks now.

I'm going after Kranevitter then. Should cost me £4m tops. Hope his agent isn't a cunt with wages, add-ons and fees. Drawn up a big list of targets I want. Fierro and/or Destro top that list, followed by a good centre back - possibly Balanta but I don't want to keep going after the usual suspects with Odegaard already in my team - then I might got Christian Fuchs on a free transfer because Oscar Wendt is so injury prone it's unreal. After that, anybody I pick up just depends on who goes out.

Is Matias Kranevitter any good? I'm sure there is probably better options out there for a BWM (D) but my scout reports show great potential and he'll be a lot cheaper than trying to get Kramer back for the 2015/2016 season. Odegaard has finally joined up with the squad but can't play in the Bundesliga until he's 17. Pretty sure if he's 17 by 1/1/2016, which he will be, he can play, so he'll be free to play starting next season. This suits me alright though because I still have Hazard who is a good player and then Kruse who does the job for me at AMC too, so Odegaard has time to settle in whilst playing with the U19s. I've also signed goalkeeper Andre Hansen on a free as back-up to Sommer because my other back-up keeper wanted out.

I, like many other Albion fans, would like to see us move for Micah Richards. It means we could bring Craig Dawson back inside to centre half where he was getting better and better with Lescott by his side, and still have a strong player at right back who can be coached into doing a certain role in our back four. John Guidetti is available too. He could be decent cover for Berahino and Ideye (who I still don't want to see leave the club), and dare I say it...Victor Anichebe *shudders*.

Just reached the November 2014 international break with Gladbach and I'm really pleased with how the season has gone so far (hopefully it continues in the same berth). I have only lost once in all competitions - a 2-0 loss to Bayern at the Allianz Arena in the league - and I'm yet to drop a point in the Europa League, with the highlight being smashing PAOK 7-2 to progress to the first knockout round with two games remaining in my group, which also contains Lyon and an a team from Cyprus called Apollon L. Branimir Hrgota is the joint top scorer in the league with 11 goals, though his form is starting to dwindle a little bit and Max Kruse is getting more game. Still hoping to sell Raffael in January to raise funds for a great young prospect up front, and it's possible Kruse could be shipped out for the same reason with Dortmund interested. My big problem with Gladbach is that Raffael is on high wages and I want to sell him but nobody wants him, Hrgota is scoring goals but won't get any better than he is and wants a massive wage hike (from £1.7k a week to £40k a week, which isn't on) with 18 months left on his contract. Meanwhile, Kruse has been really hit and miss, scoring in the Europa League but not blowing people away in the league and is the player in my team with the highest value so could be sold for decent money. I would like to get somebody like Fierro in because he's always a quality poacher and that's generally the role I use for my lone striker with a winger, inside forward and advanced playmaker supporting him, but if I can stretch the funds out a bit more, I want to sign Mattia Destro. I had him on FM 13 with West Brom (back when you used to be able to get him on a pre-contract deal) and he broke every goalscoring record out there for me. He looks great on this FM too but he's more expensive these days so I'll need to ship people out before I can bring him in.

Hughes wouldn't be stand-out in that role I'd imagine. You might be able to train his physicals and defensive stats to a level where he's decent back but he's more of a playmaker than a midfielder who gets stuck in with the dirty work. Romero was a great suggestion, whilst I'm yet to try Kranevitter myself. Lars Bender is always quality on FM so if you can get him, you have an elite European CDM in your team who can play a solely defensive role or be a quality box-to-box midfielder.

I'd say you need a decent CDM of the Anchor Man mould. Sure, it's not necessarily a headline-grabbing position, but to go far in the league, domestic cups and European competitions, you'll need a player you can introduce into a game to plug any gaps, try and shut out some world class players and keep hold of the ball by not playing crazy passes all over the pitch. Motta and De Rossi are the best in the game that I myself have used, though looking through certain players' stats I'd imagine Martinez, Matic or either of the Bender twins, particularly Lars, can be massive for your team in that position. Think about it. No team that was ever truly successful in football didn't have a quality defensive midfielder. Busquests for example has been a constant factor in Barca's reign of dominance under Guardiola and he's still an integral figure now as they take the crown of the best club side in the world again.

So, supposedly - and I say supposedly because it sounds so preposterous at the moment, Wang Jianlin has an interest in buying West Bromwich Albion with a takeover to be announced on Monday. Some random fella on Twitter has popped up and loads of Albion fans seem to be buying in to it, not helped by a prominent member of our media team following him (I'd imagine he's just following him to gauge what fans are saying on any potential takeover, real or not). Anyway, turns out Wang Jianlin is the wealthiest man in China. $37.6 billion net worth. The main reason I don't believe this at the moment is because there is almost no logic to the wealthiest man in the world's biggest economy (China's was last time I checked, I may be wrong now, however) buying West Bromwich Albion. Aston Villa are up for sale and whilst I'd argue that they are not as good a team as us right now nor do they look as stable for the future (touch wood Albion remain this way! and Villa do not...ahem...), they're still the biggest team in the West Midlands with a big fan base, a big Premier League ground and being a Birmingham-based club they have that city appeal that Albion don't. Still, if this bloke really does want to take over and bring us Champions League football as is being suggested, I'd love to see Tony Pulis with a massive transfer war chest. Gonna be some great craic down the pub if we spend a combined £100m on Ryan Shawcross, Peter Crouch and Glenn Whelan.

So, Wolfsburg accepted my negotiations on the Raffael deal but contract talks broke down - looks like he's staying with me at Gladbach for the time being, so signing a top young striker is out of the question for now, as is getting in a potential Kramer replacement and a good centre half. Raffael might just end up complaining about his lack of playing time though. When Odegaard arrives in January, I'll be slowly bringing him into the first team behind Hazard with a view to taking his spot permanently when Hazard's loan, meanwhile, Kruse and Hrgota are my two preferred options up front. Hrogta has been in scintillating form to start the season and hopefully it stays that way - touch wood! 8 goals in 4 games in all competition, with a hat-trick against Jena in the DFB Pokal, a hat-trick against Hertha Berlin in a 4-1 win on the opening day and then a goal in both legs of my Europa League play-off against Grasshoppers. Got a winnable Europa League group too. Lyon, PAOK and Apollon L. Lyon should be my only real test there and even then they're beatable provided Lacazette isn't in one of his usual FM 'turn up and fuck every single one of the opposition's defenders up' moods.

Relegation Prediction: Watford, Norwich and Aston Villa. Newcastle and Sunderland come close once again, Leicester close too. Top of the League Prediction: Chelsea to win the title but in a closer race this time. Arsenal 2nd, with City and United fighting it out for 3rd. Underachieving Prediction: Liverpool will scrape 7th place at the end of the season after a bad, inconsistent campaign. Overachieving Prediction: Bournemouth finish close to mid-table, playing some good football and upsetting some big teams along the way. Biased Prediction: The Villa go down and West Bromwich Albion reach a cup final. Sack Race Prediction: Brendan Rodgers will be first out the door after a poor start to the season.

He was already at the club and I completely forgot he was ever there to be honest. Change all my staff responsibilities now and needless to say he won't be around much longer.

Just started a new game with Borussia Monchengladbach on the original DB (I don't like starting in July 2014 with January 2015 transfers, and touchwood, haven't had any issues with the game as of yet bar one save (out of about 4 somewhat long-term ones I've gone through this year) I had corrupting) and I'm faced with a transfer dilemma after only 2 pre-season games. Wolfsburg are after Raffael, with Schalke and Fiorentina both interested as well. They've put in a bid of about £6.5m which I can negotiate up to around £10m with £5m over the course of the season and an additional £3m in add-ons. In my eyes, it's quite a good deal for a 29-year old non-EU player who admittedly is quite good, but I want to build for the future to ensure Bundesliga dominance is on the horizon for Gladbach. I don't want to sell without having a replacement though. How much would Fierro (also a non-EU player but he has age on his side unlike Raffael) likely cost? And what about Luka Jovic, who I've heard nothing but good things about on this FM? Ideally, I'd have a bit left over to bank for a Kramer replacement, seeing as I'm not sure I'll be able to get him back from Leverkusen for next season - even if I have a good season winning the Europa League, DFB Pokal, a Bundeliga title challenge etc. EDIT: Raffael also takes up 7% of the club's total wage bill, so whilst Gladbach don't have poor finances (some debt, but not bad finances all around), it would free up a good amount of wages to invest into other areas of the squad. This is pretty good too, seeing as my stupid fucking DoF negotiated a ridiculous contract for Odegaard when I signed him.

How have you coped for so long?! I had kind of hoped we would go after Ben Gladwin. Would be a decent back-up to James Morrison in our three-man midfield of Mozza, Fletcher and Yacob. Pretty much the only area of our squad that doesn't need changing this summer (that and centre half, though Olsson leaving with a young centre back coming in wouldn't be a bad thing). We've been linked with Jedinak which would be a good albeit bizarre signing. I wouldn't want him if he was going to take Yacob's spot in the side.

I was planning to post in here banging on about potential Albion transfers but I've seen we have a few resident Villa fans... Must say, Bournemouth seem like they're doing some good business so far. Having been relegated in the past with Scott Carson in net, WBA fans know how important having a decent keeper is in winning the points needed to keep you up. If they get Atsu in on loan too, they'll have the makings of a team well-equipped to stay in the division.