Football Manager 2018

[accies1874]

I downloaded it today and started an Accies save. I've had an absolute shitemare so far, losing away to Aberdeen, Hibs and Killie and drawing with Dundee at home. I also got papped out of a pretty easy Betfred Cup group. 

I've had plenty of chances in every game but not taken them. Imrie missed a penalty against Aberdeen and Lewis made a few other really good saves; hit the post twice against Hibs and Crawford skied a sitter; Bingham alone missed 2 or 3 chances against Killie too. That's not to mention the mental defending in pretty much every game: Gogic taking the ball away from Woods, kicking it off him and then it falling to a Dundee player; Woods punching an easy cross right to an open Hibs player to score; Woods making a save, it falling to Tomas who volleys the clearance right into the top corner from 5 yards. 

I can't sign anyone either. I agreed terms with a couple of players, but it seems that the money was taken off before the signing was actually made, leaving me with the wages in the red, I didn't get the players and I can't sign anyone else. 

[dysartrovers]

Kieran agard from mk dons is a decent signing. Currently scoring for fun in the championship with Sheffield Wednesday and signed for only 1.2m

[ginge123]

Used the create-a-club mode and edited a team into the East of Scotland league. Fucking hell it's good fun. Blindly signed 30 Scottish 16-17 year olds and ended up with some tremendous players.

All of them are regens, all of them are of varying quality, one of them had 40 goals by January before he got signed by Dundee United.

[accies1874]

5 hours ago, Patrick Bateman said:

Sounds pretty realistic TBH.

After further embarrassments, I turned it around with a couple of wins against Motherwell and County and a draw against Partick. Viva la revolution. 

3 hours ago, Scotty Tunbridge said:

Accies1874 is your game updated with the latest patch. A lot of those errors I haven’t really seen as much since updating.

Got it sorted somehow. I've signed two unknowns from French football who have done alright. 

[Forest of Dean]

Finished 6th in the first season with Stoke. I sneaked it on the last day and got Europa League Qualification.

Now just finished the 2nd summer transfer window. Got some ridiculous £50m+ offers for Berahino and Shaqiri so sold them and other players for a total of £211m out.

Team looks quite different now. First game of the season was a 2-0 win over Arsenal.

 

Mostly looking forward to seeing how Pellegri develops as he is meant to turn out amazing.

[Kyle]

My wee Saintees have kicked on again. Just through the January window in my third season and I'm currently top of the league, 6 points clear. The games I was drawing last season I now seem to be winning, albeit I seem to be scoring a disproportionate number of late winners in 2-1 or 3-2 games. I've also managed to not just make the group stages of the Europa League, I've actually progressed through them. I was in a group with Manchester City, Standard and Salzburg - ended up winning home and away against Salzburg, winning at home and drawing away (last minute equaliser) at Standard and 2 heavy defeats against Manchester City. 

The board very kindly increased the wage budget which has made competing easier. I've signed Benjamin Rollheiser and Miguel Luis (who are massive upgrades on the right and central midfield respectively) on loan as well as Rui Pedro on a permanent deal. I've also managed to hold onto my main guys like Isma (who is now taking to his super sub role like a duck to water - 11 goals from the bench  so far this season) and Sterling (who has already scored 22 goals this season). Peter Grant and Zander Clark have both picked up serious injuries however, so heavy reliance on back up players for at least a few months.

In terms of outs, David Wotherspoon has joined Aberdeen on loan. He's not getting many chances any more so he's better off scoring goals against everyone else than sitting on my bench. Managed to get £2.2 million for Harry Tofollo. He came in as a long term successor for Brian Easton, but he never really got a look in. Tomane and Luis Gustavo have also departed for a combined £450k. 

I feel I'm better equipped to sustain a challenge at the top this season. I've certainly got more depth in the squad, as well as a better starting 11. Celtic are dropping more points too, so any slip ups aren't being punished as emphatically as before. Suspect I'll end up finishing 2nd, but with only a few points in it this time.

 

 

 

 

 

Edited January 8, 2018 by Kyle

[senorsoupe]

I picked up my Dundee United save again this morning before work after having been playing Cities Skylines yesterday and I'm not doing so hot at the moment.  Winless in 5 games after having bossed it at the start of the season and my last game was a 3-1 home loss to league leaders Dunfermline.  I've changed the rules a bit to allow me to sign non-Scottish players that were developed in Scotland, meaning I picked up Luca Gasparotto as a backup defender to replace the disgruntled and departing Paul Quinn.  Also my "wildcard" signing is Kris Commons.  After 15 games I sit 3rd, 7 points behind leaders Dunfermline and 4 back of second place Livingston.  

[Forest of Dean]

6 hours ago, Kyle said:

My wee Saintees have kicked on again. Just through the January window in my third season and I'm currently top of the league, 6 points clear. The games I was drawing last season I now seem to be winning, albeit I seem to be scoring a disproportionate number of late winners in 2-1 or 3-2 games. I've also managed to not just make the group stages of the Europa League, I've actually progressed through them. I was in a group with Manchester City, Standard and Salzburg - ended up winning home and away against Salzburg, winning at home and drawing away (last minute equaliser) at Standard and 2 heavy defeats against Manchester City. 

The board very kindly increased the wage budget which has made competing easier. I've signed Benjamin Rollheiser and Miguel Luis (who are massive upgrades on the right and central midfield respectively) on loan as well as Rui Pedro on a permanent deal. I've also managed to hold onto my main guys like Isma (who is now taking to his super sub role like a duck to water - 11 goals from the bench  so far this season) and Sterling (who has already scored 22 goals this season). Peter Grant and Zander Clark have both picked up serious injuries however, so heavy reliance on back up players for at least a few months.

In terms of outs, David Wotherspoon has joined Aberdeen on loan. He's not getting many chances any more so he's better off scoring goals against everyone else than sitting on my bench. Managed to get £2.2 million for Harry Tofollo. He came in as a long term successor for Brian Easton, but he never really got a look in. Tomane and Luis Gustavo have also departed for a combined £450k. 

I feel I'm better equipped to sustain a challenge at the top this season. I've certainly got more depth in the squad, as well as a better starting 11. Celtic are dropping more points too, so any slip ups aren't being punished as emphatically as before. Suspect I'll end up finishing 2nd, but with only a few points in it this time.

Have you won a trophy so far?

Rui Pedro is a quality signing.

[RandomGuy.]

Started an Inter save. 2-1 loss to SPAL the low point, 2-0 pumping of AC the highlight. Squad must have well over 100 players in it, absolutely mental, I'll be releasing about 90 in the Summer.

[RandomGuy.]

Icardi is absolutely shite, btw. He's averaging two clear chances a match, and I'm nine matches in, and he's not scored yet. So many narrow draws or defeats with him missing absolute sitters.

Spent all Summer rejecting £60m for him, think I'll be accepting some in January.

[forameus]

Speaking of Inter they were one win from the title when I visited Milan managing Como, and we realistically needed three points to survive relegation.  They pumped us 7-0 in an absolutely shameful performance, after which we had to refund the fans that travelled.

Fast forward a few weeks and we've been relegated (we had to go to Roma the game after, absolutely needed a win, and lost 4-3 after leading twice) and Inter are Champions, but what's this?  Inter have spent too much?  Failed FFP?  Won't make it into the Champions League as a result?  GIRFUY you Milanese c***s.

[Kyle]

16 hours ago, Forest of Dean said:

Have you won a trophy so far?

Rui Pedro is a quality signing.

Two trophies last season - the league cup and the Scottish cup. My run to the final was pretty easy though with both old firm teams knocked out in the early rounds by other teams.

I've maintained the 6 point gap at the top. A last minute Isma penalty away at Thistle secured what looks like a crucial win, but the highlight has been the matches in Europe. I drew Bremen in the round of 32. Lost the home tie 2-1 and thought that was probably it. The second leg comes around and Isma absolutely Isma'd them with a hattrick in a 4-1 win. Next up was Tottenham with the first leg away. Once again, I think this is probably the end - Shaughnessy, Sterling and Rollheiser were all injured and Tottenham have a squad worth hundreds of millions of pounds. Once again, nope. Ryan Christie (on for the injured Isma and just back from a long term injury himself) put us ahead and we held on until the 87th minute, when Dele Alli popped up with an equaliser. That marvelous result came at a cost though - Morgan, Isma are injured for a month each, Baars is out for a couple of weeks and McTominay has picked up a 1 game ban. The only one of the aforementioned 7- who would all be in with a chance of starting if fit - who has a chance of making the return leg is Rollheiser.

This could all come at a big cost in the league as well. Towards the end of the first two seasons, I suffered from a spate of injuries which eventually cost me points and made catching Celtic impossible. I've got a 6 point cushion and 9 games to go, so there could be a lot of shitfesting over the final few weeks of the season.

[Forest of Dean]

14 hours ago, RandomGuy. said:

Icardi is absolutely shite, btw. He's averaging two clear chances a match, and I'm nine matches in, and he's not scored yet. So many narrow draws or defeats with him missing absolute sitters.

Spent all Summer rejecting £60m for him, think I'll be accepting some in January.

Sell Icardi in the summer - get Pellegri.

[Forest of Dean]

59 minutes ago, Kyle said:

Two trophies last season - the league cup and the Scottish cup. My run to the final was pretty easy though with both old firm teams knocked out in the early rounds by other teams.

I've maintained the 6 point gap at the top. A last minute Isma penalty away at Thistle secured what looks like a crucial win, but the highlight has been the matches in Europe. I drew Bremen in the round of 32. Lost the home tie 2-1 and thought that was probably it. The second leg comes around and Isma absolutely Isma'd them with a hattrick in a 4-1 win. Next up was Tottenham with the first leg away. Once again, I think this is probably the end - Shaughnessy, Sterling and Rollheiser were all injured and Tottenham have a squad worth hundreds of millions of pounds. Once again, nope. Ryan Christie (on for the injured Isma and just back from a long term injury himself) put us ahead and we held on until the 87th minute, when Dele Alli popped up with an equaliser. That marvelous result came at a cost though - Morgan, Isma are injured for a month each, Baars is out for a couple of weeks and McTominay has picked up a 1 game ban. The only one of the aforementioned 7- who would all be in with a chance of starting if fit - who has a chance of making the return leg is Rollheiser.

This could all come at a big cost in the league as well. Towards the end of the first two seasons, I suffered from a spate of injuries which eventually cost me points and made catching Celtic impossible. I've got a 6 point cushion and 9 games to go, so there could be a lot of shitfesting over the final few weeks of the season.

Wow. You are actually doing brilliantly then.  Could be a very exciting end to the season.

Seems like injuries are crazy in this one. What's the size of your squad like? And what's your wage for your first 11 like? Are you having to sacrifice squad depth so you can get a weekly wage to players that allows you to compete with Celtic?

 

[Kyle]

4 minutes ago, Forest of Dean said:

Wow. You are actually doing brilliantly then.  Could be a very exciting end to the season.

Seems like injuries are crazy in this one. What's the size of your squad like? And what's your wage for your first 11 like? Are you having to sacrifice squad depth so you can get a weekly wage to players that allows you to compete with Celtic?

 

My wage budget is £76k a week which is about double what it was in my first season. To be honest, I've brought a lot of loans in that have improved the quality and depth of the squad (McTominay, Millen Baars, Miguel Luis, Benjamin Rollheiser, Callum Connolly, Liam Coyle among them). If they went, I'd probably have a squad of 14 or 15 but it's around 22 or 23 just now. Now I've got more money, I'm going to try and move away from having as many loans though. My board generously gave me £1.2 million to spend in my first season, which was on top of £600k that I got for Graham Cummins, which allowed me to bring in Isma and Lewis Morgan. I've also been quite jammy with Kazaiah Sterling who I picked up on a free on low wages - he's scored 57 goals in his first two seasons. The likes of Clark, Easton, Shaughnessy and Davidson all still have their places in the squad and are reasonably cheap. My bank balance is just over £6 million just now and that's before the prize money from the league (I think I'm guaranteed 2nd now) and the Europa League run so I'm hoping to have a decent wedge to use again in the summer.

[RandomGuy.]

Sell Icardi in the summer - get Pellegri.

He's turned it around now, 5 in 15 for the season. Joao Mario suddenly starting to perform too.

Just had two huge wins over Roma and Napoli which have taken me back into the top four hunt. Juventus are absolutely steamrollering every c**t.

[senorsoupe]

Managed to turn things around with Dundee United after a rough patch in November/December, now 4 points clear at the top after 23 games.  Billy King has been on fire while playing Stewart Murdoch as an attack minded Full-Back (instead as a Defensive Full-Back) has proven to be an inspired decision.  Mark Russell has now bagged 10 goals since joining from Morton playing as a Left Winger while Patrick N'Koyi has firmly claimed the first choice striker role, he now has 16 goals on the year.  Other bits and bobs of info include Jordi Briels having displaced Fraser Fyvie as my more defensive minded Centre Midfield while Sam Stanton has been in excellent form as my attack minded CM.  I also have been able to sign Jamie Lindsay and Craig Sibbald on pre-contracts so should boost my midfield numbers going into (hopefully) a return to the Premiership.  

[Forest of Dean]

1 hour ago, RandomGuy. said:

He's turned it around now, 5 in 15 for the season. Joao Mario suddenly starting to perform too.

Just had two huge wins over Roma and Napoli which have taken me back into the top four hunt. Juventus are absolutely steamrollering every c**t.

My experience on a older Atalanta game (2016) is that it takes about 2-3 seasons to overtake Juventus then after the 3rd season you become the regular top dogs. Depends on what happens to Dybala potentially too.

[RandomGuy.]

My experience on a older Atalanta game (2016) is that it takes about 2-3 seasons to overtake Juventus then after the 3rd season you become the regular top dogs. Depends on what happens to Dybala potentially too.

Seems that way, Mid-december and they're already 12 points clear and just scuffed Sampdoria 6-1. Dybala still there.

Had five season save on this game elsewhere, and they won the league by at least ten points every season, and that was after Dybala ended up at Arsenal. This new AI recruitment system seems like it maybe works.

[Kyle]

Well, I ended up beating Spurs 3-1 on aggregate after a 2-0 home win. It wasn't exactly backs to the wall stuff either - my makeshift attacking line up created and squandered a shed load of chances. I had to play Sterling, Easton and Diego Gonzalez (a loanee defender) who were all injured but in light training because I had so many players missing. 

Drew Roma in the next round and they eventually ended my Europa League run at the quarter final stage. I won the first leg 2-1, and then took the lead away... eventually lost 4-1 on the night. Suspensions and injuries (Grant and Shaughnessy - my first choice cbs have both been out for months with a cruciate ligament and a broken leg respectively) meant that I had to play a 15 year old at centre back away against Roma. He was my best performer defender!

I did however win the league. Celtic's arse completely collapsed at around the time of the split, which meant my run of 3 games without a win went unpunished (I actually extended my league to 7 points). A last minute winner at home to Celtic (a continuation of the crucial late goal trend) eventually saw us over the line with 2 games to spare. I have one league game left as well as the Scottish cup final to play. The semi final was mental - ended up being Rangers (who have only just scrambled into the top 6) 6-4 with all the goals scored within the first 55 minutes.

After winning the league, the board have given me a transfer budget of £6.5 million and a wage budget of £125k. I'll need to be careful as I doubt I'll get the same luck again next year and I'll need to factor in the unlikelyhood of having the champions league money long term, but it's meant I've been able to sign Diego Gonzalez on a permanent deal and it looks like I might get Emil Hansson too.  Callum Connolly was available on a free transfer, so he's joined permanently after being on loan for 2 years. Freddie Woodman has also agreed to sign on a free from Newcastle, so he'll provide a challenge for Clark and I can maybe sell the current second choice Smith, who is attracting interest from Hamilton.

Scott McTominay and Millen Baars have extended their loans from Man United, Liam Coyle from Liverpool and Miguel Luis is staying for another year too. McTominay is out of contract next season and is listed as not needed by Man United, so I'll try and get him on a permanent deal in January. Rollheiser's parent club want him back, so I've brought in a Korean regen to replace him. He's only 18 but has better stats and is a bit cheaper than Rollheiser. The only other signing I've made is a midfielder called Ramos, but I can't actually remember too much about him. 

I'm mega into FM18 this year after giving up on 17 and just going back to a long-term save in 15 (think I'm in year 2049 in that game) last year.

 

Edited January 10, 2018 by Kyle