Football Manager 2012..

[BritishGAS]

Just finished my 4th season as Rovers boss, ended up 12th in The Championship.

When I started the game, Rovers were given a great budget for League 2, I managed to sign James Beatie on a free(Although he was on 6k a week wages), I also signed Marco Matterazi who is 37 but absolutely awesome at that level as you would expect.

Both of those as to be expected were immense, Beatie finished the season way ahead as League 2's top scorer with 44 goals and an average rating of 8.96, and Matterazi had an average rating of 9.07.

I played Beatie as a lone frontman(Targetman, Ball to feet) and Zebroski and Anyinsah as inside forwards(Swap Position), Zebroski got 17 goals and Anyinsah got 21.

The midfield with Wayne Brown(Advanced playmaker), Matt Gill(Centre Midfield,Support) and Craig Stanley(Anchorman) were decent but not that great, My forwards were just amazing, and they did the damage.

My defence was superb though, Matterazi(Ball Playing Defender, cover) and Adam Virgo(Limited Defender, Stopper) were absolute quality, I kept 26 clean sheets in the first season, and the full backs, Lee Brown and Danny Woodards(Wing Backs, attack) were fantastic too.

I use the formation I have used since FM10 which is the Barcelona possesion tactic of 2-3-2-2-1 with attacking, short passing, use flanks, absolutely amazing tactics, but they only really work if you use it with pacy wingers and have 2 decent full backs. I finished top of League 2 with 112 points, 19 points clear of Shrewsbury.

The following season, I recommended that Materazi had the attributes to be a good assistant manager, and he said that he could start right away if I wanted, So I got rid of Sean North and gave Materazi the job of player/Ass Man, his attributes were amazing so I offered him a 4 year contract, knowing that he will retire from the playing side probably within a season. I decided to keep the side that had won the league so easily the season before, because they had done so well, I only made 1 signing bringing in Leigh Bromby from Leeds for £35k, but some of the players didn't play that well at a higher level, Zebroski couldn't hack League One, and the midfield were awful, Beatie continued to be top class and bagged another 36 goals, and Materazi was again superb. I finished the season in 8th place.

The following season I got rid of Bevan,Lee Brown, Virgo, Stanley, Gill and Zebroski and brought in Jadal from Bournemouth, Cedric Avina from Oldham, Connor Clifford from Chelsea and Hogan Ephrain from Charlton, and they all turned out to be quality, I won the League with 97 points, and Beatie was again superb and scored 41 goals.

In The Championship I again decided to be loyal to the guys that got me promoted and only signed Ryan Shotton from Stoke for 1.5M, it was an ok season, a bit up and down, I didn't win for the first 8 games, drawing 5 and losing 3, then I went to Barnsley and won 4-1 and then went on a 9 match unbeaten run, beating the Sh*t 3-0 at home in the process, but again it went pear shaped after that again and I lost 5 on the bounce, before going on another little run and eventually finishing 12th. Beatie again was my top scorer with 24 goals.

I havn't found out what my budget will be for the following season yet, the chairman has been pretty generous with what he has given me previously and I have decided to not splash the cash up until now, So I have got a decent kitty for me to splash, hopefully the chairman will pump it up even more, so that I can bring in some proven talent to get me to the promised land.

This is definatly the best FM yet

[stevegull]

Where is Buckle going wrong then BritishGAS?! It's easy!

That's a quality success story tbf, even if it is with Rovers! I also had a look at Beattie at the start of my game, but he was way out of my wage range, and i have generally failed to score goals since the start!

Will post another update soon!

[Plymouth Gull]

Haven't got much further, but a few things have changed for me, so i thought i'd post on this again.

First things first, saah managed to agree a move away, but got injured for 8 months as he was about to go, so after failing his medical i released him on a free. Mcphee then left to go to Kidderminster, and although the wages were eased i had to get in more players, due to surreal injury problems. My new French striker (Abdou Dieye) lasted 2 games, scored in both, and is now out for 6 months. So with Stern John out, and with Rene Howe not impressing, i signed Alan Connell from Swindon, and he is starting to come into the game now. Hutchinson and Connell start up top for me, with Howe and Spear on the bench. Matteo Alberti is the QPR winger i mentioned i signed, and he is fairly inconsistent, but he does have awesome stats for League Two.

Half way through September, and i'm sat 4th in League Two, and once again it's goals that i seem to be struggling for, and my threadbare squad is starting to crack with even more injuries. I perhaps unwisely decided to pay big on wages for first team players, with some less than impressive backups. my striker Ben hutchinson hasn't been particularly impressive, but with only Howe and Spear waiting in the wings, he has kept his place.

Desperately need to trip the wage bill (STILL) and i have a few players in mind, with Danny stevens possibly the next one for the chop!

Feeling pretty positive for the rest of the season, and it can only get better once my big signings return from injury!

How far on is everyone else? My progress stalled due to a mystery illness unfortunately!

Surely being ill gave you more time to play?

As for my game, I've barely touched my computer recently, and haven't played this for a while. Nearly finished a season though so I'll write up then.

[Plymouth Gull]

Finished the season now, my first full one with Carlisle. A quick review of my game so far:

Darlington [October 2011 - November 2012] - BSP

Nothing major of note, took the side to a top half finish after taking over in 20th place.

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Southport [November 2012 - December 2012] - BSN

As you can see, a short stint. 43 days in total. They were dreadful, sitting in the bottom 4 of the BSN, which I didn't enjoy, so I left.

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Carlisle [January 2013 - May 2014] - League One

My longest stint at a club yet, at 15 months. I was hoping to stay at the club for longer, and having successfully kept them in League One in my first year, I looked to build on it. However, we struggled in the League, eventually finishing 15th. It looks better than it was, as we won 3 out of the final 15 games as we slid down the table. We also reached the Johnstones Paint Trophy final, where we lead 1-0 against Wycombe, until the 80th minute. A late equaliser, then we lost on penalties, which was gutting. I've just been sacked, two days after the final day of the season, which was a shock, if I'm honest.

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So I'm back looking again. There's a few jobs available, in a big range. Norwich and Leeds both sacked their managers, Leeds relegated back to L1, but they laughed off my interest. Doncaster sacked their manager too, I've applied and I think I'm in with a chance of that. If that doesn't work though, I'm favourite to replace John Still at Dagenham, he's just lead them back to the League, winning the BSP. Also, Notts County, just relegated from L1, are looking for a manager, too. I'll let you know how I do.

EDIT: Walked into the Coventry job. They finished 3rd in League One, so once again I've gone from one club to a much bigger club.

£275k transfer budget, 72k wage budget - plenty of room to manoeuvre. Lovely.

Promotion to the Championship is a must though, but I'm confident! Infact, I see no reason why I can't really take Coventry back to the top flight, but I'll take it one step at a time!

[PlainmoorRoar]

after not playing for a while and 2 successive promotions with torquay i now have a great escape to do!

in the championship im 4 points adrift at the bottom of the table with 5 games left

mainly caused by not winning a game in 16 matches!!!!

but i beat southampton 4-1 in the last game, so theres a chance!!

[TUFC92]

Finally look like I'm getting into a TUFC game on FM12! Have only made one signing so far, Jamil Adam up front.

Have started really well, beating Cheltenham and Morecombe and drawing with Hereford in the league, and beating Exeter 5-4 on penalties in the League Cup 1st Round.

Have asked the board to get me a parent club so hopefully I'll be able to sign some youngsters on loan to boost us a bit more. Sat top of the league so far though and I like how it looks!

[Plymouth Gull]

Played my first two games of the season with Coventry. Lost 2-1 in the League at Tranmere after dominating for long periods, which was annoying. But I won 2-0 at MK Dons in the LEague Cup, which was good.

[usagullmichigan]

well Torquay won the EPL, lots in the FA cup final and lost in the European cup final and then game retired me. bastards

[PlainmoorRoar]

Over the top stadium name?

but promotion to the premership!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

[Plymouth Gull]

That's an awful stadium name, although at least it's changed from the standard 'Torquay Stadium' as it's been the last few years! Cracking effort getting to the Premiership by 2015 though!

Also, total change of subject, but do you know Jack Beer and Jon Trist and that lot?

[stevegull]

Plainmoor roar, i take off my hat to you, that is quite a feat. (Unless you've cheated )

Still in my second season, was sat 1st in the league for a while and was playing some great stuff, with my french striker, Abdou Dieye, scoring for fun once he returned from injury. I've picked up Monty Gimpel (CB) on a free, who is apparently the best CB at the club, and he's only 19! He's a bit inconsistent though, so he's having to make do with the bench as i stick with the back four Ling is playing currently.

However, despite playing well until around mid-febuary, my team has gone completely off the boil, and i don't know how to stop the rot. My strikers can't find the net for love nor money, and my noramally water tight defence (I had conceded the least amount of goals in the league) is leaking goals like Blackburn's back line! My misery was compounded when i surrendered a home defeat to bottom of the table Morecambe and my team failed to threaten at all. After being battered by one of my promotion rivals i was really concerned, as there is still no end in sight. After being 9 points into the automatic promotion places, only one point now separates me from forth place.

Any advice much appreciated, don't want to lose out on my automatic promotion slot!

[Plymouth Gull]

Not sure if this will help or not Steve, but when I lost loads in a row, I arranged a friendly against some crap team to get morale up. I won about 8-0, morale went back to good and then we went on a small unbeaten run. However as always there are potential injuries in the friendly, so I wouldn't really risk it unless there's still a good chunk of the season left. Hope this helps, and good luck!

[PlainmoorRoar]

Yea thats always a god shout nick

or a risky one is to do a team meeting, just choose your response carefully,

My update i survived my first season in the prem! managed to sign Darren Bent on a free, scored 20 goal, finished 15th!

Signed 6 more frees and i going for the league/fa cup this season, as i got to the 6th round last season!

Got all the game-created players comming through now, some are amazing!

[stevegull]

Whilst having a friendly is a good idea, i simply had too many midweek games and too many of my players with the 'rst' icon next to them due to my threadbare squad with many injuries. So, instead i've held a couple of team meetings trying to get the team up for the promotion push. While is partly boosted morale (about 8 players reacted well), the results didn't really improve. I did manage to pick up a few draws, but with my strikers refusing to score it really does get more difficult.

Unfortunately, i have now slipped from 3rd down to 6th, currently 2 points from the automatic promotion places. Hopefully my team has turned a corner, as i just hammered Wimbledon 3-0 away from home, but with about 10 games left in the season, it is still all to play for.

Cheers for the advice, i would offer to give some of my advice, but i'm clearly no good!

[stevegull]

Sorry for the double post, but oh well!

The short version of this, my second season, was that I won League Two!

But it was far from easy.

Had a team meeting, as one fo you suggested, and it roused some of the lads, although Howe clearly wasn't up for the fight and reacted badly. This didn't really improve performances though, but I did start getting some results. I churned out a couple of tentative 1-0 wins over mid-table sides with nothing to play for. What did help me out, was loan signings. I signed a poacher styled forward from Birmingham on loan for a month and he netted 4 goals in 5 games before going home, when I was a bit annoyed i didn't get him on a longer loan!

Last day of the season, I was sat in 2nd and could finish anywhere from 1st to 6th. It really was tight at the top. I had mid-table Swindon away from home and smashed them 3-0, with my previously misfiring french striker, Abdou Dieye, netting a hattrick despite not responding well to either of my team talks in the game! That got me top spot and I'm awaiting the season ahead.

However, after playing many a game with Torquay on various FM games, my head is being turned by other jobs. I'm not too sure how ambitious (sorry Mr Buckle) i am allowed to be on the game though, but I have seen both the Newcastle and the Middlesborough job have come up in the Championship, and I am mightily tempted.