Football Manager 2013

[stokeriño]

Jason Puncheon on loan for nothing. Ta muchly, Mr. Transfer Window. He will tear League 1 apart.

Meanwhile, 7th-choice central midfielder Scott Robertson waits until February 2nd to hand in a transfer request. Muppet.

[Gazz]

I appear to be having Chelsea syndrome in January.

2 wins, 4 draws and 2 losses in 8 games after 25 wins in 26. :/

[Hobo]

If you can't just throw the Chelsea team onto the pitch and win most games, then you might as well walk away from FM forever (in its world, remember, Torres is a goal machine).

In my game he suffered an injury at the start of the season and now he's rated worse than Darren Bent and is only worth 11mil. I'm not even half way through the season, but he's failed to score and has lost his starting place.

I'm still playing FM12 as the Vancouver Whitecaps. Torres is a free agent now. Tempted to cut a DP just to try and bring him in.

[TCO]

Only paying 10% of his wages too!

[Troy Maskell]

I'm in my 4th season at Tottenham (Game Code Name: If Gareth Bale doesn't shut the f*** up I'll hang him from the f***ing crossbar). Managed to jag the FA in my first year, Europa League in the second. Currently locked in a battle with Man U for the title. Steklenburg (Picked him up on a free after the first season) is a wall, which is just as well cause most of my defence thinks that it's something that goes around de-paddock to keep de-sheep and de-cows in.

[Herr Matzat]

Aaaahh, one more game. Blue Square Bet Premier, Rank 2-6 all got 78 points! I am in 6ed place with 7 goals behind... :X I want dem playofs, run lads! RUN!

Ok, came in fifth. Had i not been drawed in minute 93 i even would have been third place. During the matchday i even was second place for a few minutes. Now bring it on PortVale.

Edited January 27, 2013 by Michael Matzat on a Plane

[stokeriño]

BRITISH STEEL CHALLENGE

Trophy #3...

...And Trophy #4.

[Herr Matzat]

So i thought i lost to port vale on away goals, but looks like english lower leagues don´t count them... what a nailbiter... in the end i won 3-0 on penaltys. What happens next? It was stated to be a Semi Finaly. Oh the suspense.

Oh, nice, final at wembley stadium again? I made it to the FA Trophy final once, good amounts of money... amazing that real world people actualy go see this final. Hope the same goes for whatever this final is about. my club needs the money.

Wait, only one team gets promoted? :-O I call bullshit. >_>

Bring it on YorkCity.

An amazing 90 minutes with exactly NO key scenes the game felt the need to share with me.

And lost 1-0 after being down to 10 men thanks to injury 110 minutes in... 111 Minute they score after the ball was lost in midfield. -.-

I need a hug.

Edited January 27, 2013 by Michael Matzat on a Plane

[Mongrel]

It's a special pack I downloaded, it's got all sorts in there, mohawks, headbands, 15 year olds with viking beards...

Where did you get this from?!

[Lineker]

It might be this one.

[Summers]

I think it's http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dQw4w9WgXcQ, actually.

[jack95]

Is Colchester manager Joe Dunne unfathomably good in anyone else's game? So far he's strolled to League 1 with Colchester, then took them to the brink of the play-offs before leaving for Aston Villa in the Premier League, where he took them from the relegation zone to a final position of 7th. I suppose it's relatively early in his career at the moment but I was surprised to see him achieve so much success so quickly.

[stokeriño]

Is Colchester manager Joe Dunne unfathomably good in anyone else's game? So far he's strolled to League 1 with Colchester, then took them to the brink of the play-offs before leaving for Aston Villa in the Premier League, where he took them from the relegation zone to a final position of 7th. I suppose it's relatively early in his career at the moment but I was surprised to see him achieve so much success so quickly.

In my current game: he left Colchester in 2014 to become Nottingham Forest manager and in this 14/15 season has guided them to 11th in the Championship, plus a 5th round FA Cup appearance. Decent, but nothing particularly special.

He's even less remarkable in my prior FMC Chelsea game: still at Colchester, he got them promoted in the playoffs but then straight back down into League 1 the following season, whereafter they finished 17th.

[stokeriño]

Trying to build a squad for the Championship... Some good work so far: got Jason Puncheon back for another year's loan (although this time they're forcing me to pay £5kpw of his wages, swines), and picked up Connor Wickham on a free transfer. He's my top earner at £6.25kpw but considering what he was earning at Sunderland I can't complain.

Could have signed 35 yr old SWP on a free as well, but he insisted on being a Player/DoF. I already have a stupid DoF in Carragher, I don't need two.

To beef up my defence I so far have brought in Alex Bruce (formerly of Ipswich/Leeds/Hull/etc.), but an extra hulking CB is probably my next priority if I can find a good one. I think my goalkeeping pair of Rob Elliot and Stuart Taylor should suffice...I mean, probably. I have a bunch of Quite Good central midfielders but no superstars atm, so I'm not 100% convinced they will do well enough. Larnell Cole has come in from Man Utd on a free, as has Dean Hammond (of Brighton/Soton/etc.) to push up the squad numbers.

Current First XI:

GK Rob Elliot

DR John Stones

DC Aaron Martin

DC Alex Bruce

DL Alan Sheehan

MC Jeff Hughes

MC Gary Fisher

MC Larnell Cole

AMR Aaron Doran

ST Connor Wickham

AML Jason Puncheon

Alternatively, Stephen Elliott up front and Wickham out on the right.

[Mongrel]

After being drawn a Champions League group including Barcelona, Liverpool and AC Milan, I dare to dream...

If we somehow manage to pull this off, it'll be my first time outside of the CL group stages with this squad. We have just one non-Scandinavian player on our books - Claudemir who started the game with the club.

[Jimmy]

Wickham on a free is cracking. He was superb on the game last year and the year before, don't know how he's in this though.

[Herr Matzat]

My results got a lot better once i set the training on very hard with one day after a match of for the entire season.

[stokeriño]

Early games in the Championship...

Won 2-0 away to Wycombe Wanderers (League 2) in the COC First Round. Nice way to ease in when the match prep is still being worked on.

Lost 3-2 away to Millwall in my opening Championship game. I was 1-0 up, 2-1 down and 2-2 until the last few minutes when they got their third. Can't begrudge my team the effort though.

Won 1-0 at home to Everton (yes, relegated, lol). Connor Wickham's first Notts Co goal is a vital one! With that said, Everton were utter dross...

Lost 1-0 away to Bristol City. Tight game. Barely any chances for anyone in it. What mainly pissed me off were the four (four!) injuries I suffered during the match, including both my good left-backs. Sigh.

Won on penalties after a 3-3 draw (4-4 AET) at home to Cardiff City (Premier League) in the COC Second Round. Epic match. Loved it. Players are shattered though.

Optimistic I can finish safely mid-table this season. Bookies gave me 20-1 odds of the title which I think is about 7th or 8th best (e.g. Bolton have 16-1), so that gives me confidence that I'm not going to linger around the bottom even if my board objective is simply to avoid relegation. However, given that my BSC objective is the trophy and not simple promotion/playoffs I don't want to push for the title and miss...so in fact I won't try too hard to win games. Maybe I'll continue winning at home and losing away - that'll do fine.

[brenchill]

Just for fun, I'm going to start a game as Leeds and give them Sheikh money. I won't change their rep, though, so I imagine it will still be tough to bring big names in.

[stokeriño]

Will the owner still be Ken Bates?