Football Manager 2010

[METALMAN]

He's probably an improvement over Tom Huddlestone.

[Hobo]

I signed a pretty neat little Belorussian who has played really well since he signed for 55k. Cillian Sheridan wants to leave, and I've sold Steve Finnan because I don't want to have to pay both him and Daryl Murphy loads plus Finnan is old and I find him slow and annoying.

Also in a hilarious turn I keep getting linked with EVERY JOB EVER. Even Real Madrid.

[Szumi]

I don't know who all has played with Pompey in FM, but it's certainly been a lot of fun. I took over the club in Feb/March 2010; my Newcastle game wasn't fun, so I took over when Avram Grant got fired. I wanted to see if I could, a) get the club out of relegation with 8-10 games left, and 6-10 points away from safety, and b) how the club would fair in the summer with the club's poor finances. Thanks to some good stuff from Belhadj, Boateng, Utaka, Dindane, Piquionne, and Yebda, I was able to secure safety in the second to last game of the season, thanks in part to a huge slump from Wigan as well. The summer led to losing quite a few players: the loaners like Dindane and Piquionne (I was able to bring Yebda back permanently), as well as Nadir Belhadj. Trying to transfers with player exchanges and paying it in parts has been a refreshing challenge, as I was able to get Jozy Altidore for just 1 million (plus Beladj), Dodo, a 19-year Brazilian left back for 4 million pounds, Steve Cherundolo on a free, and Freddy Adu on a bargain. However, it sucks because guys like Nigel De Jong and Soloman Kalou are transfer listed and I can buy for 4 million pounds or so, but the owners won't let me offer more than 30k p/w for wages, so I can't bring in a lot of established players on cheap fees. Still, I've been able to get great deals for guys like Marc Wilson (sold for 5.25 million) and Younes Kaboul (9 million) to fund winter moves for Jamie O'Hara (2.3mil) and Johan Djourou (3.3mil) and balance the books. I just finished the month of January 2011, and have the club in 14th place in the table. It's not satisfactory for me, really, but we are at least 8 points away from safety, and have gotten to the finals of the Carling Cup. Sadly, we play Chelsea, so it's not like we'll be winning or anything.

[Sick N Twisted]

I don't know who all has played with Pompey in FM

I have, and there's one buy you should have made, Vagner Love. He's my top scorer, and in second season we're top of the league mainly down to him, the guy's a goal machine.

I should really go back and play that game and finish the season, not played it in ages.

[stokeriño]

One of these days, after winning everything there is to win as Chelsea or whichever Premier League club I happen to be managing (and am therefore rated World Class), I'm going to suddenly quit that job and join a struggling Conference team or something.

I will.

When I grow some balls.

[Gazz]

One of these days, after winning everything there is to win as Chelsea or whichever Premier League club I happen to be managing (and am therefore rated World Class), I'm going to suddenly quit that job and join a struggling Conference team or something.

I will.

When I grow some balls.

Did it with Wycombe after managing Newcastle, Madrid and Juve. It was odd to see my squad wage budget of £4k a week while I picked up £40k a week as manager

[METALMAN]

tempted to do that in my Tottenham game. It was a great five years when I was trying to win the league but now that I've done it I just don't really care anymore.

[Bigal]

I'm bored, so it's time for EPIC FM UPDATE!

I started a game as Notts County, currently in November 2017. My league positions have been as follows:

2009/10: 4th in League Two, won the play-offs

2010/11: 3rd in League One, won the play-offs

2011/12: 5th in Championship, won the play-offs (I am indeed the play-off master >_>)

2012/13: 8th in Premier League

2013/14: 9th in Premier League

2014/15: 10th in Premier League

2015/16: 9th in Premier League

2016/17: 10th in Premier League

In addition, I've won two FA Cups, two Carling Cups, and the Europa League

And now, the big one: transfers. Obviously I've had plenty of money every season, so I've been willing to pay over the odds for some people.

2009/10 (4th in League Two):

In

Liam Cooper (Loan from Hull) - Don't remember him playing much, he was just sent because Hull were a parent club.

Michael Duff (650k from Burnley) - Ever-present for my first two seasons

Rachid Bouaouzan (675k from Wigan) - Mainly used as a squad player for a few seasons

Brendan Moloney (Loan from Nottingham Forest) - Was great that season.

Ben Parker (95k from Leeds) - Didn't really play all that much.

Anton Peterlin (250k from Everton) - A squad player who somehow stuck around for years.

David Edwards (650k from Wolves) - Star man for the first three seasons

Shelton Martis (100k from West Brom) - Always in the team, and later became captain.

Jemal Johnson (95k from MK Dons) - Barely played.

Nathan Tyson (150k from Nottingham Forest) - Scored a bucketload in his first two seasons.

2010/11 (3rd in League One):

In

Brendan Moloney (250k from Nottingham Forest) - He was good enough to warrant the buy.

Kevin Phillips (Free transfer) - Scored 16 and had 6 assists in 34 appearances.

Stephen Ward (950k from Wolves) - Played him at left back, and he was a rock for a couple of seasons.

Gavin Williams (250k from Bristol City) - Mostly made substitute appearances

Adriano Basso (Free transfer) - Awesome keeper, who kept Schmeichel out of the team.

Amdy Faye (Free transfer) - Only really played that one season, mostly as a sub.

Tommy Smith (Loan from Ipswich) - Good defender who I decided against buying.

Ishmael Miller (1.1m from West Brom) - My new favourite guy. Scored 24 with 11 assists in his first season, and 16 with 15 assists in his second. Stuck around as a squad player in the Premiership.

Steven Mouyokolo (Loan from Hull) - sent by the parent team. Didn't play much.

Freddie Ljungberg (275k from Sunderland) - Didn't play all that much. Now manages Everton.

Danny Pugh (1.3m from Stoke) - Didn't play much in his first season, but became the star man in the Championship. Got plenty of Premiership game time as a sub.

Out

All these guys were frees, mostly clearing out the squad I inherited:

Jamie Clapham

Matt Hamshaw

Mike Edwards

Lee Hughes

Russell Hoult

Craig Westcarr

Delroy Facey

Kevin Pilkington

Sean Canham

Stephen Hunt

Ben Fairclough

Neal Bishop

Luke Rodgers

Ricky Ravenhill

John Thompson

2011/12 (5th in Championship):

In

Jeffrey Bruma (Loan from Chelsea) - Played every game, but was just okay.

Michael Owen (Free transfer) - Overpaid flop. Now manages Sheffield United.

Mikael Silvestre (Free transfer) - Solid squad player.

Dady (1.1m from Osasuna) - Never really got going.

Darnel Situ (Loan from RC Lens) - Didn't play a huge amount of games, but did well.

Chris Solly (1.7m from Charlton) - Great right-back.

Youssuf Mulumbu (800k from West Brom) - Always just a squad player, but managed to stick around for years.

Mark Bunn (2.5m from Blackburn) - Quality keeper, who took Basso's place in the squad.

Dimitris Salpingdis (130k from Panathinaikos) - Just a squad player, but scored some important goals. Bargain.

Zoltan Gera (375k from Fulham) - Big flop.

Out

Graeme Lee (Free transfer) - Never got a game.

Johnnie Jackson (Free) - Same

Kasper Schmeichel (240k to Bristol City) - Had dropped to third in the pecking order, wanted to leave.

Ben Davies (Free to Scunthrope) - Had a great season in League Two, but barely played after that.

Karl Hawley (Free to Hartlepool)

Ben Parker (Free to Sheffield United)

Jemal Johnson (Free)

Shelton Martis (Free to Aberdeen) - Dropped down the pecking order

Rachid Bouaouzan (Loan to Derby)

2012/13 (8th in Premiership):

Roberto Lara (2m from Barcelona) - Regen. Pretty damn good.

Nikolay Mihaylov (Free) - Signed as a backup keeper, never played a game.

Radoslav Kovac (2.8m from West Ham) - Did alright for a few years, but nothing special.

Mattia Destro (Loan from Inter) - Played really well, but didn't want to sign permanently.

Julio Baptista (Free) - His wages were probably too high for his role as a supersub.

Stiliyan Petrov (1m from Sevilla) - Played a lot of good games in his first season.

Tom De Mul (8.25m from Bordeaux) - Wasn't worth the money; only played 24 games in 3 years.

Matthew Upson (1.7m from West Ham) - Ageing, but very good.

Adrian (3.4m from Lyon) - Always a back-up striker, but he did okay.

Guillermo Ochoa (Free) - Best buy I ever made. Has hardly put a foot wrong, and has never wanted to leave.

Robert Huth (5.5m from Stoke) - Too injury-prone to be effective

Jakub Blaszczykowski (4m from A.C. Milan) - Played far more than De Mul ever did. First-choice for a season or two, and then stuck around as a squad player.

Deco (230k from Liverpool) - Didn't play much. Now manages West Ham.

Sergio Busquets (1.8m from Barcelona) - He was good, but a whiny bitch.

Nedum Onouha (Loan from Inter) - He wasn't that great, so I didn't sign him. Newcastle and then Arsenal did though, and now he's probably the best defender in the Premiership >_<

Marco Borriello (2.4m from A.C. Milan) - Always scored a decent amount of goals.

Out

Zoltan Gera (Free)

David Edwards (Free to Celtic) - Signed a pre-contract with them just as we got promoted to the Premiership

Michael Duff (Free)

Adriano Basso (Free) - Had hardly played, and wanted to go.

Brendan Moloney (Free)

Rachid Bouaouzan (Free to Ipswich)

Nathan Tyson (Free to Norwich)

Anton Peterlin (500k to Bolton)

Nikolay Mihaylov (Loan to Atletico Madrid)

2013/14 (9th in Premiership, Carling, FA Cup, Europa League):

In

Abel Hernandez (10m from Palermo) - My second best buy, even if he seems to follow up an epic season with a fairly poor one repeatedly. In 126 league appearances, he's scored 61 goals and had 32 assists.

James Milner (5.5m from Barcelona) - Took him a while to get going, and he wanted to leave for a while, but turned into one of my best players.

Jason Brown (1.2m from Aston Villa) - Backup keeper. Played 5 games in 2 years.

Fabian Delph (13m from Aston Villa) - One of my most dependable players. Has justified the fee.

Rio Ferdinand (250k from Manchester United) - Great player and captain. Played three seasons before retiring.

Andrey Arshavin (575k from Arsenal) - Showed early promise, but it faded out.

Out

Nikolay Mihaylov (1.2m to Atletico Madrid)

Mark Bunn (1.6m to QPR) - Was pissed off at never playing anymore.

Dady (525k to Sheffield Wednesday)

Gavin Williams (140k to Bristol City)

Stephen Ward (1.1m to Stoke)

Chris Solly (10m to Everton) - Didn't want to sell him, but his morale was shit. He ended up being the worst signing of the season ^_^

2014/15 (10th in Premiership):

In

Gonzalo Rodriguez (3.4m from Manchester United) - Never really played all that well, despite me sticking by him.

Steven Defour (15m from Wolfsburg) - Really solid midfielder, and my captain.

Robinho (2.9m from Man City) - Cost a fortune in wages, and played shit.

Kolo Toure (1.6m from Man City) - Very dependable.

Kwadwo Asamoah (20m from CSKA Moscow) - Great player, but always looking to leave.

Jeffrey Bruma (Loan from Real Madrid) - Brought him back, and he was much better this time.

Out

Danny Pugh (Free)

Dimitris Salpingidis (Free)

David Wilkinson (500k to Wolves)

Matthew Upson (250k to Sheffield United)

Robinho (1m from Juventus) - So shit I sold him in January.

Derek Perry (825k to Man City)

2015/16 (9th in Premiership, FA Cup):

In

Jeffrey Bruma (7m from Real Madrid) - Took up the option to buy him, and he turned out great.

Darnel Situ (15m from HSV) - Brought him back and he was awesome.

Robert Acquafresca (15m from Genoa) - Been an effective strike partner with Hernandez. Doesn't score as much, but sets up plenty.

Zoran Tosic (25m from Man Utd) - Definitely overpriced, but he's been great.

Joleon Lescott (1m from Man City) - Brought in as a back-up left back, ended up having to play most games.

Lorik Cana (5m from Sunderland) - Paid over the odds for him in January because of a lot of injuries.

Out

Roberta Lara (12m to Shakhtar) - Sold over my head, hence why Lescott became first-choice. Very pissed off about this at the time.

Tom De Mul (2m to Newcastle)

Radoslav Kovac (Free)

Julio Baptista (Free)

Andrey Arshavin (250k to Wigan)

Ishmael Miller (2.1m to Wigan) -

2016/17 (10th in Premiership, Carling Cup):

In

Mats Rits (20m from Udinese) - He's been good, but doesn't play as often as he probably should.

Simon Kjaer (15m from HSV) - Almost always plays. Great defender.

Emmanuel Adebayor (Free) - Wages were expensive, and he only scored 6 in 21, but there were some important goals there, and he scored the winner in the cup final.

Kasper Schmeichel (3.5m from Newcastle) - Brought him back as a back-up keeper.

Tommy Spurr (5m from Wolves) - He was okay, but not good enough. Ended up going to Man Utd though

Out

Adrian (Free)

Jason Brown (Free)

Robert Huth (Free)

Sergio Busquets (Loan to Leverkusen)

Gary Francis (750k to Chelsea) - Youth player they signed.

Youssuf Mulumbu (1m to Sevilla)

Gonzalo Rodriguez (100k to West Brom)

Lorik Cana (Loan to Reading)

2017/18 (Current season. Struggling in the bottom half ):

In

Juan Manuel Vargas (4m from Villareal) - Can play anywhere on the left, so has been very useful.

Filipe (3.7m from Man City) - First-choice left-back.

Jack Cork (12m from Chelsea) - I get the feeling I've got a flop on my hands.

Rafinha (3.2m from Man Utd) - Good right-back.

Daniel Sturridge (11.25m from Chelsea) - See Jack Cork.

Out

Sergio Busquets (12m to Leverkusen)

Jakub Blaszczykowski (Free)

Joleon Lescott (Free)

Tommy Spurr (10m to Man Utd)

Jeffrey Bruma (10m to Chelsea) - Sadly he wanted to leave

My tactics through the years have varied from 4-4-2 to 5-4-1 to 3-1-4-2 (most of my squad was injured that season, and my squad players all did really well). Currently we play 4-4-2, and this is my squad:

Guillermo Ochoa

Kasper Schmeichel

Kolo Toure

Jack Cork

Simon Kjaer

Darnel Situ

Rafinha

Filipe

Juan Manuel Vargas

Kwadwo Asamoah

Lorik Cana

Steven Defour

Fabian Delph

Mats Rits

James Milner

Zoran Tosic

Daniel Sturridge

Abel Hernandez

Robert Acquafresca

Emmanuel Adebayor

Tosic is out with a torn calf for quite a while, so my normal 4-5-1 line-up is:

Ochoa

Rafinha Situ Kjaer Filipe

Defour

Asamoah Delph

Sturridge Milner

Hernandez

So...yeah >_>

[Colossus]

So, still stuck with 08. It's awesome and my PC does not run 10, so, I don't have any other options

So, in my current save, after 10 epic seasons with Benfica (9 titles, 3 Champions League, and the richest team on the world), I left and joined Man Utd. Finished my 1st season on 6th place but thanks to my CL win, managed to grab a spot there. Currently half a season has past, and I'm sitting 2nd, 2 points behind the juggernaut that is West Ham (I do have 1 less game though). I am also managins Spain, being undefeated in my Euro 2020 campaign

[nabeel]

I couldn't get into my TFC game so I opened up the editor and switched all the Premiership teams (and Celtic and Rangers) with Blue Square North teams. I'm planning on starting a game with Arsenal soon enough to see how it goes.

[9 to 5]

Have you ever signed a player that is hated by the club you are trying to sign him for? How did that work out for you?

[Sam]

I signed Darren Bent from Sunderland whilst managing Newcastle and the fans went crazy with rage, he finised the season top goalscorer and the fans player of the year, so he turned them round!

Currently doing a new game with Wigan and I've bumped down to ground from the highs of last years 4th, we scrapped past Standard Liege to book otherselves a group stage where we have lost 4-0 and 3-0 to Ajax and Atletico, mind we have a crap Norwegian team in the group that means finishing 3rd and going into the Europa League is still on. Middling around in 10th place at the moment in the league, I'm okay with that. The success of last season has meant that come November we'll have a bigger stadium (some 36,000) which will improve our revenue further whcih will be good as I have to pay £475k for Thiago Silva for 48 months as I didn't have the money to buy him straight out.

[Hobo]

My mid-season tranfers have been fun:

In:

Jay Tabb (free, Fulham)

Rory Delap (free, Stoke)

John-Joe O'Toole (free, Watford)

Rudimer (2.8 million from Internacional)

Bradley Wright-Phillips (unattached)

Out:

Joeseph Ndo

Steve Finnan

Aiden O'Keefee

Brian Kearney

Craig Sives

Soon to be out:

Rafael Cretaro

Callum Davinport

Somehow I have sold defenders and bought shitloads of midfielders when I went out looking for a new keeper

[stokeriño]

I think for the first time ever I didn't buy anyone in a summer transfer window. This was because I only released a couple of (unimportant) players, and my squad is damn strong as it is.

Of course, the fans don't see it this way, and season ticket sales were down. Screw you, you ungrateful fuckers. Wait until I bugger off to manage somewhere like Shrewsbury Town, then you'll be sorry.

Also, I'm annoyed because the local council blocked our attempts to expand Stamford Bridge. True, this is likely what would happen in real life, but in previous games we've been able to at least squeeze a few more thousand out of the ground. Presumably the only other option is to build a new stadium, but I don't know what parameters (in FM08) are required for the board to consider that, if they even will at all. :/ Whether it's simply cash reserves or something else...

[METALMAN]

Stamford Bridge is a pain to expand no matter the game. Everytime I go Chelsea I usually end up being sacked for a badly placed 'expand the stadium or I go' ultimatum. >_>

[stokeriño]

Yes, an ultimatum would be silly...

That is one other way in which FM11 could prove appealing. You can actually specify the request as "Build new stadium" if you know that expansion is impossible.

[Hobo]

I would also like to build a new stadium, Claremount Stadium where Parkvilla play is only 2000 capacity our attendances are creeping up so maybe eventually we will. Although in the Irish league you're just as likely to attract 2000 for one game and 500 for the next

I've only ever had one stadium move ever in my time playing FM when I was Miami FC manager on FM07 and I left just before that one completed.

[Sam]

Chelsea play at Zola Park in my game, can't remember the exact attendance right now but I'm pretty sure it's in the 50,000s.

[stokeriño]

...Awesome.

I want a Zola Park!

[The Future]

I have seen Portsmouth move to the Linvoy Primus Arena ^_^