Football Manager 2014

[ees complicated no?]

Just finished the 2016 / 2017 season, finished 6th with 62 points, Danny batth and Dunk were joint best players with 7.26, demba ba was the highest scorer with 17, Man united offered me 12MIL for Will Hughes but ws cheeky and asked for 30MIL they came back with a solid 29MIL!!!! safe to say I'm taking it!

 

[Worthingite]

Just downloaded the demo. I've done rather poorly - my signings are fecking useless - David Bentley on a free, Chris Dagnall on loan (Barn door Billy on fecking tramadol) and a couple of total unknowns with fair to middle stats. Bought FDM back on a player coach deal which was nice. Oh, and Vicente's back - 2 pre season games and now he's out for 4 months with a flexor injury.......hmmmmm

On the staffing front, however, I've been merciless. Steve Coppell is my DoF replacing David Burke, and Nathan Jones binned right off, with Glenn Roeder my assistant manager. I think I signed Peter Schmeichel as my GK coach as well.

Forgotton how addictive this ******* can be.....guess what I'm buying on payday on Friday (thank god I have the whole of next week off!!! )

 

[WhingForPresident]

Hanging on in there in the promotion race in my first season with Brighton, on 63 points along with Burnley and Ipswich, behind Wigan on 64. Two disastrous transfer windows have left us in deep trouble as we reach the business end of the season though. Selling Barnesy has turned out to be a huge mistake, as there are simply no strikers available. None I can afford to loan, none I can afford to buy, and all the free agents need work permits that I can't get. Ulloa is my only recognised striker now, as CMS has been ruled out for another 2 months. Tried selling Bridcutt to raise funds in January but couldn't even get £4 million for him after turning down £6 million in the summer Orlandi has also been in sensational form for Forest, which is annoying as I thought £1.6 million was a good deal.
Andrews is now on 11 goals for the season, which will earn him a permanent deal in summer most likely, whilst Buckley is on 14 and is tied down to a 5-year deal, and Ulloa is on 16 (2 months out injured, 2 months out of form).
Not feeling optimistic on our chances if we do go up, could be a good idea to spend another season in this league and build for the Prem as my team is massively overachieving, but Bridcutt will then be in the last year of his contract and won't sign for another year in the Championship..

How is everyone doing?!

 

[seagully]

Hanging on in there in the promotion race in my first season with Brighton, on 63 points along with Burnley and Ipswich, behind Wigan on 64. Two disastrous transfer windows have left us in deep trouble as we reach the business end of the season though. Selling Barnesy has turned out to be a huge mistake, as there are simply no strikers available. None I can afford to loan, none I can afford to buy, and all the free agents need work permits that I can't get. Ulloa is my only recognised striker now, as CMS has been ruled out for another 2 months. Tried selling Bridcutt to raise funds in January but couldn't even get £4 million for him after turning down £6 million in the summer Orlandi has also been in sensational form for Forest, which is annoying as I thought £1.6 million was a good deal.
Andrews is now on 11 goals for the season, which will earn him a permanent deal in summer most likely, whilst Buckley is on 14 and is tied down to a 5-year deal, and Ulloa is on 16 (2 months out injured, 2 months out of form).
Not feeling optimistic on our chances if we do go up, could be a good idea to spend another season in this league and build for the Prem as my team is massively overachieving, but Bridcutt will then be in the last year of his contract and won't sign for another year in the Championship..

How is everyone doing?!

Got promoted as champions in 1st season. Kept hold of Bridcutt and managed to get him to sign a new 1 year deal. Now after 10 games in Prem am sitting pretty in mid table. Signed Benteke and Lowton from Villa (they were relegated) and got Darren Fletcher on the cheap as well as Benoit Cheyrou and a couple of Spanish CMS to replace Andrews, Lopez and Orlandi who I sent back/sold. Buckley is still in my first team but have replaced most others. Scott Dann and Danny Wilson at CB, Alessio Cerci on loan to play left wing as well as another Spaniard signed on a free whose name escapes me. Jesse Lingaard on a free to be Buckley's backup. Bridcutt is now saying he will leave on a free so will probably cash in on him in Jan unless I can convince him to stay.

Loving the new game. Some subtle tweaks from the last outing which are great.

 

[HawkTheSeagull]

Sacked from Brighton halfway through my 1st season in the prem - despite a massive injury crisis.

Now managing Norwich who finished 17th the season before i took over, took them to 2 8th place finishes in a row, missing out on 6th place in the final game in both seasons. Currently in my 3rd season and sitting in 5th place.

Modified my formation and now play 3-DM-3-1-2. Signed Yann M'Villa for just £2 Million and signed a couple of French defenders on free transfers, 1 of which i sold to Arsenal for £20 Million.

Gus Poyet hasnt had a good time. Was sacked from Sunderland, ended up at Doncaster and has just been sacked from there too.

 

[willyfantastic]

my norwegian save playing as tromso went down to the wire. i sat top on goal difference with 1 game to go, with 1 point separating 1st from 5th. I'd been around 6-7th all season as Europa League qualification got in the way (got to the final qualifying round before bowing out to rapid wien) but had an immense final month where i won all my games and got manager of the month award

Sadly got smashed by Rosenborg in the final game, as my keeper and best defender/captain hero got suspended for the final game. I ended up 4th, with Solksjaer sneaking in to win the title again with Molde out of nowhere after being mid table all season and a favourite for the sack. sadly he rode my wave to the top and pipped me at the final hurdle

currently building my squad for next year's title push

great fun in the norwegian league, loads of clubs who are in with a shout, players are decent (better players are championship standard) and there isnt a lot of money to throw about (especially in my case) so you have to be smart with wages and budget

 

[Gullflyinghigh]

Whilst enjoying this years game as much as always (Luis Boa Morte playing for me at Wrexham, wonderful!), the ratings for full backs seem to be utterly borked.

 

[sten_super]

This year's edition is, IMHO, a massive step up from last year. I felt that last year's match engine was a massive backwards step, but not only have they improved that, they've improved the press conferences (although some of the manager criticism stuff gets old fast - probably quite realistic!) and the overall feel. I'm getting a steady stream of agents approaching me with realistic signings for the club, and am able to bring most of them in for a trial before signing them, which feels much more realistic than the previous system.

I'm currently (with Brighton) in March and sitting pretty at the top of the league. Got 9 games to go and 15 points clear, just confirmed our play-off spot and it will take a massive collapse to fail to win the league from here. Playing 4-1-2-2-1 (one def midfielder, two playmakers in central midfield, two wingers and a lone striker), Ulloa (22 goals) and Buckley (14 goals, 21 assists) have been the star performers. Major signings were Jordi Gomez (£1.1m from Wigan), playing attacking playmaker, Frimpong (on loan), who's been first/second reserve in central midfield, Stephen Hunt (free) playing left wing, Frederico Macheda (£225k from Man Utd on transfer deadline day in August) who has scored 14 goals as first reserve striker and Charlie Mulgrew (loan in January from Celtic) who has usurped Upson/Dunk as first choice partner for Greer. Bridcutt went to West Ham for £4.4m before the start of the season (he asked to leave), Orlandi was unsettled after I rejected Forest's bid for him so went to Derby before the start of the season for £1.6m, and El-Abd kicked up a fuss about wanting more first team football so went on loan to QPR in January.

On the full back issue - mine get the odd low mark (c5) but generally have been OK. I'll check their season-average rating over the weekend and see whether they are particularly lower than anyone else, can't say I've noticed it.

edit to add: Just realised that I don't really touch on what, for me, are two of the biggest improvements in this years edition. The whole game runs a lot faster now, which makes progress a lot less daunting. I can sit down for an hour and motor through 4-6 weeks, which never used to be possible in FM13. The other is the simplification of the tactics interface. As far as I can see, the tactics system itself hasn't changed, but the way you interact with it has, and it's now a lot more straight-forward to do things like issue specific tactical instructions to your team (both before and during a game). I feel in much more control of how my team plays now than I did in the previous version.

 

[WhingForPresident]

Cruised to promotion and the league title surprisingly with a squad I wasn't too happy with. Andrews bagged 15 with Buckley on 18 and Ulloa on 22 goals in the end. Promised Bridcutt promotion at the beginning of the season and he has duly signed a new four year deal which is nice.

I like doing the core of my transfer business straight away so I've made seven additions before pre-season begins:

Ins:

Backup GK- Loris Karius- Free from Mainz

RB- Timothy Chandler- £3 million from Nurnberg
CB- David Lomban (new Spanish Dave)- £2 million from Elche
LB- Some Argentine, name escapes me. Gonzalez, Fernandez, something like that.

CM- Mikel Rico- £500k from Athletic Bilbao
CM- Keith Andrews- £1 million from Bolton

ST- Mike Havenaar- £5 million from Vitesse Arnhem

Out:

Peter Brezovan- Released
Rohan Ince- Released
Inigo Calderon- Free to Ponferradina
Will Hoskins- Released
Matt Upson- Free to Sheff Utd
Stephen Ward- Loan expired
Albert Riera- Loan expired
Jobi McAnuff- Loan expired
Kemy Agustien- £250k to Blackpool

FB ratings are definitely still dodgy. Carles Planas tends to get a 5.2 even when we are 4-0 up, and Stephen Ward got an 8.3 after we lost 3-0 last season..

I like the idea of playing in a more obscure league a la willyfantastic, currently have Korean, Ukrainian, Spanish, German, French and MLS leagues running so will chip off to one of those once I've won the Champions League with Brighton a few times.

 

[Gullflyinghigh]

FB ratings are definitely still dodgy. Carles Planas tends to get a 5.2 even when we are 4-0 up, and Stephen Ward got an 8.3 after we lost 3-0 last season..

I like the idea of playing in a more obscure league a la willyfantastic, currently have Korean, Ukrainian, Spanish, German, French and MLS leagues running so will chip off to one of those once I've won the Champions League with Brighton a few times.

FB ratings are doing my head in. Near the top of the conference and all I get asked about in-game is my rightbacks apparently horrific form.

No Scandanavian leagues? That's just wrong...also, MLS, baffling yet fun.

 

[willyfantastic]

I like the idea of playing in a more obscure league a la willyfantastic, currently have Korean, Ukrainian, Spanish, German, French and MLS leagues running so will chip off to one of those once I've won the Champions League with Brighton a few times.

i play an MLS game every year through the summer before the new game comes out - nice change of pace and rules (helps if you then go on to watch/follow the mls IRL, and the league is one of the few ones active then.
Beware the ukranian league as from what i remember when playing it, essentially Shakhtar are unstoppable. massive finances and easily the best squad. Guess you could get close if you managed Dynamo Kiev or Dnipro, but it would be a long hard slog i would imagine

 

[WhingForPresident]

i play an MLS game every year through the summer before the new game comes out - nice change of pace and rules (helps if you then go on to watch/follow the mls IRL, and the league is one of the few ones active then.
Beware the ukranian league as from what i remember when playing it, essentially Shakhtar are unstoppable. massive finances and easily the best squad. Guess you could get close if you managed Dynamo Kiev or Dnipro, but it would be a long hard slog i would imagine

I've lined up the Dynamo Kiev job for when I eventually leave Brighton for sentimental reasons, with every intention of winning the Champions League with both clubs. Just how realistic that is I'm not sure! I've already had the call for the Ukrainian national team job but think I'll bring through some talent at Brighton before getting involved (work permit permitting..).

Playing as Brighton isn't really a challenge any more which is saddening! Ever since 2012 it's been pretty simple to get Brighton from Championship to European Champions within 5 seasons, whereas in the good old Withdean/League One days it took a lot of commitment and tweaking to do it at all.

Last time I tried managing an MLS club (on FM12 I seem to remember) there were so many odd rules and conditions for transfers that I couldn't really be dealing with it, think it'll be worth a go again with a bit of help from Google once this career has been fulfilled.

 

[BBassic]

I started a new game as Whitehawk last night. Going to see how far I can get them before swanning off for some glamorous club overseas.

 

[Silkster365]

Spent 3 hours downloading and installing all the proper kits, logos, faces, and stadium backgrounds today. About to start a new game - it really adds an extra dimension with all the add ons

 

[Gullflyinghigh]

My career so far (Sunday league experience);

Season 1

Macclesfield - 6 games then resignation given to the board.
Took a few months holiday and was offered the Wrexham job in January, managed to keep them up.

Season 2

Took Wrexham to a respectable 4th placed finish and a playoff final loss with a less than stellar squad. Resigned due to the unrealistic expectations of the board for the upcoming season. Left with a 43% win ratio. Stupid board.

Season 3

Applied for everything going, turned down Chelmsford as...well, come on, Chelmsford. Finally got.offered the Grimsby job on the eve of the playoff final, which we then won. Record as Grimsby manager is 1 day in charge, 1 win, 1 promotion. Good times!

 

[ees complicated no?]

Just finished 2017/2018 season finished 8th... Danny Batth best player 7.44 37(3) games... Teemu pukki most goals 21 in 47 games... Palace also finnished 20th and got relegated.

 

[SamPeters18]

http://thefmformation.com/topic/7156-brighton-and-hove-albion/

If people want to know how my game is going then look on this link as i will be updating it on there!

 

[Yorkshire-Seagull]

Interesting development from my squad - Watford started sniffing around a couple of my players, and I knocked them back. They then came in with an offer of £1.5m for Greer, which I 'negotiated' as a straight swap for Troy Deeney - they accepted it straight away.

Deeney is now banging them in for me - 10 goals in 9 games, also setting a few up for Barnes (Ulloa's injured again....). So, am in mid-October, 2 points clear at the top of the Championship, and still in the League Cup. Not a bad start.

 

[WhingForPresident]

Full-back ratings are so ****ed it's doing my head in. How could they possibly be in the team of the week with a 8.3 rating when we've lost 2-0?! Or get a rating of 5.4 when we win without conceding?!

 

[Gullflyinghigh]

Full-back ratings are so ****ed it's doing my head in. How could they possibly be in the team of the week with a 8.3 rating when we've lost 2-0?! Or get a rating of 5.4 when we win without conceding?!

I hear you my friend, I don't mind them being low when they've actually been bad!