Football Manager 2015

[Summers]

Well - my first match back in the Prem was a solid 3 - 1 win over QPR. Then we lost 2 - 5 to Wolves and 1 - 4 to Watford. I knew my 433 tactic wasn't going to succeed this year at that point.

Switching it up to a counter, high pressure, 442. Beat Leeds 4 - 0 with it. Decent.

Wilshere, 31 years old, was on loan with us for half of last season. He joined on a free, dropping his wages from 150k (ish) a week, down to 40k. 34 year old Sturridge joined on a free too. He, Berahinho, Morata and a regen called Shaun Egan are my strikers this year.

Edited May 14, 2015 by Johnny Summers

[stokeriño]

I'm so glad that in my game, Zouma was kept on and became captain and so forth.

He'll be gone before I get to Europe, probably. Eden Hazard's just had a testimonial match.

[Gazz]

I can only imagine by the time he is 31 that Wilshere's metatarsals are just grafted straight onto his tibia.

[stokeriño]

I can only imagine by the time he is 31 that Wilshere's metatarsals are just grafted straight onto his tibia.

[TCO]

Balotelli is so good in this, I swear he gets a hattrick every time he scores against me.

Now Blackburn are promoted I have to deal with Jordan Rhodes again too. He scored 7 times against me in my first season!

[Summers]

Bradley Orr is the new Newcastle manager, leaving Leicester to join 'em after I turned them down.

Orr seems like a good manager. Got Mansfield promoted from League 2 to the Championship in successive seasons before moving to Leicester.

[Gazz]

He's back to wreak havoc on the club that would never play him.

[JasonM]

It's 2023, and Nottingham Forest is back in the Premiership! After a storming first season with the club I reached the semi's of the FA Cup (elimmed by Man Utd), and I won the league with a big 15 point difference between Forest and Charlton.

Of course, now the big work of staying up begins and I need to shape up my offense for next season. Whilst I was easily the best scoring force in the championship, most of my actual skill is flagging. Walcott had a career season with 20 league goals, but in the latter part of the season he fell of the cliff hard and it's clear his best is now behind him permanently. He's still part of the team for the Premiership season, but it's not going to look like he's going to start a whole lot.

Aside of that there's Giorgio Rasulo who had the most goals for the team with 24, and he's slowly edging into his prime at 26, he's a good talented kid but i'm unsure if he has the class to be a main striker in the best league in the world.

Lastly there's 28 year old Luke James who is in his prime, and has been decent for the team in the four season's he's been with The Reds. Had 14 goals past season and he's solid yet unspectacular in his abilities, again not someone who can carry an offense.

Sadly, my youth intake is the drizzling shits so there's no future Alan Shearer in there that I might bring up.

So i've been searching around and around, looking for two kinds of strikers. One that's close to his prime or is just in his prime, and secondly a young striker that can become the future club legend the team needs. Sadly enough, England and the UK are way too expensive with talent so I had to look abroad...

Firstly, the ''present''.

Dave Hoyt turns 28 early next season and I couldn't imagine my luck when I stumbled across him. I couldn't scout him fully due to scouting restrictions, but what he shows is that he's a top class striker stuck in an average league. Sure his vision, jumping, and bravery are suspect. But it's clear that his other abilities show him as probably the best striker the Americans have ever produced (sorry Clint). 5,75M brings him across the pond and into the big leagues, and I have signed him for his prime seasons. Hopefully he'll make me a very happy man by living up to his abilities.

Secondly, the ''future''.

Eduardo is 19 years old, likes to go on long walks on the beach, and his favorite colour is hopefully red. A transfer fee of 4,5 million brings him to the UK, shockingly enough his work permit was accepted after the second attempt. But that makes me happy because his bottom line finishing is 17, at that age that's just amazing. Again like many strikers he lacks bravery, but he looks like a total package on the field and might become a star both in Uruguay and in Nottingham. He might be a future star, but if his skills pan out decently he can pitch in immediately from the get go rather than having to be nurtured for a while. And his young age means there's still a lot of growth left in this player, which can only bode well. He's already been showing up the Uruguayan league since he was 17 with a wild 20 in 26 record for his club. And he's been capped too, so that might be a show of confidence and talent.

Also, during the winter break I engaged in a bit of a raid in Ireland and Scotland, to strengthen my midfield. These two players are the huuuuge steals I have gotten in that raid.

I'm afraid I got some good news, because Adam Barrett came in from Cork on a free. And what a freebie he is. An All-around midfielder who can play defense and offense at the same level. He's only 19 years old at that too, and he's already a gifted passer with some insane hoss-y physicals that makes him terrifying on the pitch. He reminds me of another Irish legend and former Forest player, Roy Keane. He looks to have the talent to become a world beater if he continues to grow like this, and I for one have also already started to train him to become competent as a center back, and afterwards I also want to make him able to play striker too, this kid's an all-round stud so he needs to be able to play every single instrument. Oh, did I say I got the lad on a free yet, because that's ridiculous!

Well if Barrett is Keano, then Jordan Campbell here is the next Graeme Souness. If you think getting an Irish lad on a free was a dirty steal, then you'll shake your head in disgust at this kid's price... In January he was signed from Scottish Premiership side Dundee United for a whopping 3500 Pound Sterling. Yup, for a price of a banger I signed a kid that might become the best Scottish midfielder of this generation. He's also a year younger than Barrett, yet he looks at the same level if not beyond at some areas of his game. A kid that can lock down the defense, yet has speed to burn and can also mess with people in the air. This kid has got it all in every sense of the word, yeah he might not be the bravest or he might not (yet) be able to finish like Ronaldo... But when you're 18 year's old, you get signed for a pittance from Dundee and you immediately start playing at a high level for Nottingham Forest, then you can get hype about someone. And whereas Barrett is getting trained as a center back, Jordan is getting trained to be able to work as a striker... Don't worry though, he's such a talented defender that he'll probably be trained as a center back too.

Anyways, I digress. I have signed a few more players that are worthy of being called steals. Like a top class Scottish defender for 1,5M from Hearts. Or that one Irish goalie I showed the other day. It's been a busy half season from January to now, having planned ahead for the promotion I have been able to find amazingly class players for ridiculously low prices... Here's to hoping all those kids keep improving and give me a chance to challenge for the league one day. Like the good old days of the 80's

[TCO]

So I managed to nab Jack Wilshere on loan with Brentford. He's been amazing so far in midfield as a B2B midfielder and fits my system well. I have a £3.5mil agreed fee in place. Are his injury problems that bad or his he worth the punt? He's only 24 too!

[fourstarfizzle]

So my Liverpool started the season on fire and now we're just burning alive. Cruely knocked out of the CL Group stage after a last minute penalty to Dortmund. Currently 5th in the league after losing 3-1 to United and 3-2 to Everton, not the bets results for a Liverpool manager.

Balotelli is now on 30 goals in January, top scorer in the PL with 18. Reinforcement of the defence is definitely on the cards for next season as Toure is awful, Sakho is great but picks up a lot of cards, and Lovren just isn't hitting his stride. If I can steal Zouma I'd be happy.

[DavidMarrio]

So I managed to nab Jack Wilshere on loan with Brentford. He's been amazing so far in midfield as a B2B midfielder and fits my system well. I have a £3.5mil agreed fee in place. Are his injury problems that bad or his he worth the punt? He's only 24 too!

For 3.5mil definitely. Depends on how much his wage demands are though.

[Benji]

3.5m for him? Jesus, go for it and never look back.

[Summers]

He's had a couple of knocks for me, but he's played enough games to be worth it. He played 13 games from Jan to the end of last season, and has played 11 of the first 14 this season.

Edited May 15, 2015 by Johnny Summers

[TCO]

I'll probably go for him at that price alright, even if he wants me to match his £88k a week I'll do it. I'll have to wait until I get next season's budget to trigger the deal though. His situation at Arsenal was weird, they weren't playing him at all and had him listed by request for £3.75mil despite being worth £11mil. Strange one.

Also, dunny random thing I noticed

38 year old Didier Drogba in his second season at Celtic, banging in goals in the SPL and Europa League!

[Summers]

I love the 3D engine, but sometimes it feels so good to switch to 2D Classic.

[Adam]

I only ever use the 3D engine for goal replays. It just doesn't feel like Football Manager to me, don't know why. Probably because I was still playing CM 01/02 as frequently as the modern games until about 18 months ago.

[Summers]

I'm doing the same now. I prefer 2D Classic to the normal 2D though.

[stokeriño]

It's impossible to use the 2D replays for diary writeups. I don't have the imagination capacity to invent whether everything is a header or a volley or a whatever when I'm working from just a moving dot.

[TCO]

The club is so stupidly rich now they've given me another £32mil to spend. Completed the deal for Wilshere. £3.5mil, 4 year deal at £75k per week and I made sure it wasn't to go through until the end of the season so I keep him on loan paying him only £26k until the end of the season! Signed Luciano Vietto and Ivan from Real Madrid too for a combined £11.75mil. They're always good for a bargain, they just vacuum up young talent, never fit them in and have to flog them when they're unhappy!

[Whisper]

The club is so stupidly rich now they've given me another £32mil to spend. Completed the deal for Wilshere. £3.5mil, 4 year deal at £75k per week and I made sure it wasn't to go through until the end of the season so I keep him on loan paying him only £26k until the end of the season! Signed Luciano Vietto and Ivan from Real Madrid too for a combined £11.75mil. They're always good for a bargain, they just vacuum up young talent, never fit them in and have to flog them when they're unhappy!

Is that Ivan the right back/right wing back? If so he is amazing for my Forest team. My assistant forever rates him as 2/3 stars, but he's had about 5 consecutive seasons of averaging around 7.50.