Football Manager 2013

Quackers said:

Any further progress? Did you take the Ajax job? I've practically never changed jobs I always struggle to deal with the mess the AI made
To confirm this is your Eastleigh game?

Click to expand...

Yeah, I took it. Always had a fondness for Ajax in FM, they were the first club I won the Champions League with, back in '10, so I couldn't really say no. So far it's looking pretty good. Knocked out of the Dutch Cup in my first game, but after that, it's been close to as perfect as it could've been. We're top of the league having not lost a game since I took over, and I've gotten through to the 2nd knockout stage of the Europa League after thrashing Stoke 5-0 on aggregate in the 1st.

Not really quite sure why the previous manager was sacked, the club wasn't doing awfully when I took over, sitting in third place, 1 point off second and 6 off 1st. Probably long term issues, Ajax haven't won the Eredivisie for 5 or 6 years, constantly finishing second or third. Player wise they were in a pretty good shape, with the exception of strikers. While there was a really good player for this level (Erick Torres) and a decent backup on loan from Dinamo, they were both pacey "advance forward" types, with no-one capable of holding the ball up and linking the play. Forced me to try something a bit different tactic wise, as either I have a front two, or a lone support striker. Eventually settled on a 4321 Christmas tree, with an AF up top, and a AP(s) and SS(a) in the AMC slots. Not that keen on it overall, as I still feel the striker is a bit isolated, even if it is working. I'll probably try to get the players to build a 451 or 4231 over the summer. I'd like to get something with wingers working in 14, as me previous formations in this save have been either 532 or 41212 diamond (with the exception of half a dozen games with Sunderland in the PL where I used something best described as Catenaccio...).

And yeah, it was the game I started at Eastleigh. Spent 4 years there, 3 and a bit at Sunderland, and now Ajax. I tend to prefer doing things that way, moving on to further my career instead of taking a single club from obscurity to the top. Feels at least somewhat plausible, and it gives me more variety without needing to restart. My goal at Ajax is the Champions League. If I can win that, I'll probably move on again, hopefully to a top club in England or Spain.

As I shared with you fellas the glories of last season...here is my latest end of season review:

Spoiler :

I'm very disappointed. I thought I could break out from midtable and move into the final play off place but it never happened, i went completely backwards. At one point I was sinking like a stone and managed two points from 11 matches. Thankfully, the boys realised we might get relegated (think of those relegation wage cuts!) and started winning again.

Pre season plan: shift out the deadwood and start afresh.

Click to expand...

Unlucky, thats not ideal, but at least you kept your place in the league. The difference in ability between most of the clubs at that level is pretty small, so with a good summer of recruitment and a dash of luck next year, promotion should be a possibility.

Dell19 said:

Must have been a nervous end to the season! I guess after two promotions in a row, the second promotion was a bit too much for some of the squad. Will be interesting to see if you can promoted next season or if its a season of consolidation in the right half of the table.

Click to expand...

Aye I had a lad who managed 30 goals in 40 appearances in the Skyril Premier. He got less than five in about 20 starts the following season. The same goes for other members of the squad. It was a large step-up, I really should have made larger changes in the summer peroid. It was an error of judgement.

How do you find managing Eastleigh compared to Dynamo Kiev?

Click to expand...

Completely different in terms of resources, of course, but it does impact everything else at the club. I could have 10 coaches in Ukraine but I was only permitted 3 in the beginning of my Eastleigh reign. I could play however I wanted at Kiev and I would win the majority of the time because the difference in class to the rest of the league was large. In Hampshire I've had to be far more flexible when it comes to tactics, I have to acknowledge the superiority of a side and opt for a defensive structure.

Dynamo Kiev never seemed too go up in global statue despite myself reaching multiple knock out rounds of the CL (2 x SFs) and always winning the league. That was a barrier to signing the best players and making the step-up.

From my point of view it seems harder to move up the premier league than to get promoted in lower leagues as its taken 4 seasons to be close to getting into Europe via the league. The player rating system seems to have a big impact as initially I could only sign players with leading potential, then star and now finally world class.

The takeover at the end of the season has meant that wages are no longer an issue so I'm hopeful that this season I can be competitive in Europe and in the League (I've qualified for the group stage of the UEFA cup). The first team is slightly better and the squad is much better.

An irritation at the start of this season has been the Olympics as Argentina and Brazil called up 6 of my players between them so for the first game of the season I couldn't play them and some need a rest. Pre season was a bit bizarre as for several games I was without a first choice right back (international call up plus injury to backup). Also I'm yet to have an outstanding player come through youth recruitment so I've had to sign them instead.

Click to expand...

Your takeover sounds like the boost you needed to break into the elite tier.
Do you fill your stadium? How has the fan situation changed as you've moved up the leagues?

PhroX said:

Yeah, I took it. Always had a fondness for Ajax in FM, they were the first club I won the Champions League with, back in '10, so I couldn't really say no. So far it's looking pretty good. Knocked out of the Dutch Cup in my first game, but after that, it's been close to as perfect as it could've been. We're top of the league having not lost a game since I took over, and I've gotten through to the 2nd knockout stage of the Europa League after thrashing Stoke 5-0 on aggregate in the 1st.

Click to expand...

FM is one of those games where you feel genuine sentiment for a certain player or club. I remember watching a player play in real life for the first time and I was encouraging him sub consciously because I had bought the player for my club in game and he was spectacular

Not really quite sure why the previous manager was sacked, the club wasn't doing awfully when I took over, sitting in third place, 1 point off second and 6 off 1st. Probably long term issues, Ajax haven't won the Eredivisie for 5 or 6 years, constantly finishing second or third. Player wise they were in a pretty good shape, with the exception of strikers. While there was a really good player for this level (Erick Torres) and a decent backup on loan from Dinamo, they were both pacey "advance forward" types, with no-one capable of holding the ball up and linking the play. Forced me to try something a bit different tactic wise, as either I have a front two, or a lone support striker. Eventually settled on a 4321 Christmas tree, with an AF up top, and a AP(s) and SS(a) in the AMC slots. Not that keen on it overall, as I still feel the striker is a bit isolated, even if it is working. I'll probably try to get the players to build a 451 or 4231 over the summer. I'd like to get something with wingers working in 14, as me previous formations in this save have been either 532 or 41212 diamond (with the exception of half a dozen games with Sunderland in the PL where I used something best described as Catenaccio...).

Click to expand...

You've got one of the worlds leading youth set-ups too. Any gems?
Ajax play a 4-3-3 in real life, is that an option?

Quackers said:

FM is one of those games where you feel genuine sentiment for a certain player or club. I remember watching a player play in real life for the first time and I was encouraging him sub consciously because I had bought the player for my club in game and he was spectacular

Click to expand...

Sadly my best players have mostly been regens but I think I'll be following Lincoln's progress this season.

Aye I had a lad who managed 30 goals in 40 appearances in the Skyril Premier.

Click to expand...

That is frustrating. I had a similar situation with Pozo. Scored 30 goals on loan in League 1, a barely believable 40+ goals in the championship. He did score 20 goals in the Premiership but by that point he had hit the limit of his progression (the initial replacement didn't work out though).

Your takeover sounds like the boost you needed to break into the elite tier.
Do you fill your stadium? How has the fan situation changed as you've moved up the leagues?

Click to expand...

Each time I got promoted it steadily improved. I think in the Championship I was averaging 8k and then since then I've been maxing out the stadium each season except for the one in Sheffield. Currently the stadium is at 30.2k which is basically my average attendance. I don't know if each club has an attendance growth rate set somewhere as Lincoln is a decent sized city with no local competition so 30k seems reasonable. In my game Yeovil's attendances don't seem to have increased even though they were in the Championship for 11 seasons (finally got relegated this season )


Was thinking about creating a separate thread for us to post seasonal updates for our careers. Not sure if you all think it would be a good idea? Then this thread would be more for general chat about FM although maybe one thread is fine.

Board Expectations:

League - Top half finish
League Cup - Not important
FA Cup - 6th round
Euro Cup - Quarter Finals

Media expectation: 8th place

League

A great start saw us take 13 points from the first 5 matches but we never really reached the same level over the rest of the season. For most of the season the team were in the top 6 but in the last 4 weeks we dropped to 8th before moving back up to finish 7th. Frustratingly Chelsea won the league again after Arsenal and Man City had shared the lead for the majority of the season. David Moyes got sacked after nearly getting Norwich relegated.

Wins at home against Liverpool, Newcastle, Man United and a double over Chelsea were the highlights but there were some equally poor results. We lost 3-0 away to Wolves, 3-0 at home to Middlesborough, 5-2 away to Cardiff and 4-0 at West Brom and against those 4 teams we picked up just 1 point over the season. A couple of wins in those games and we could have finished fifth so clearly next season we need to do better in these type of matches.

Final League Table:


League Cup

Very disappointing 1-0 defeat at home to Championship side Watford in the third round, our first match in the competition.

Euro Cup

Our first outing in this competition saw us go out in the 1st knockout round, this time we went one round better. We topped our relatively weak group and beat Besiktas in the first round but Bologna were too good in the 2nd round. We lost the first leg 4-2 at home and then drew 2-2 away so the home performance was disappointing. They did finish 2nd in Italy so it wasn't too embarrassing.

FA Cup

Last season we got to the final but got humiliated by Chelsea. This time round we went one better beating Man City 2-0 in the final. George Sutton was the hero scoring both goals whilst captaining the club. It did help that City had a player sent off just after the first goal. In the semi final we beat Liverpool 2-1 and beat Forest by the same scoreline in a replay (drew the first game at home 2-2).

My season goals:
Qualify for the EURO cup again - Success! Qualified via FA cup and league finish would have been good enough as well
Do better against the best sides - Success! Highlight was beating Chelsea home and away.
Finish higher in the league - Failure as we only matched last season's finish

Off season transfers



Its been a busy transfer window. My best defender had his head turned by Real Madrid in January and ended up being sold for 30 million at the end of the season. Several backup players were also sold with Skorput being the highlight. The only frustration is that lots of the transfers out are going to be paid in installments so I'm nearly 20 million in debt at the moment.

The big signings in were Akbulut (a 17 year old goalkeeper) and Eveleens (21 year old central defender to replace Ibanez). Moreau is just 14 but already has 1 gold star so he'll hopefully be amazing once he reaches 20.

Board Expectations for next season:

League: Euro Cup Qualification - Slightly scary that this was the minimum requirement
FA cup: Semi Finals - I think I will fail this
Euro Cup: 2nd round - Seems reasonable
League Cup: Not important - would like to do better than last season
Community Shield: Not important - yep

Media prediction: 5th

My goals:

Try and qualify for the Champions League or at least finish 5th.
Be more consistent in the league
Reach a quarter final in one of the cups

I love a good right-up. A thorougably enjoyable read.

You made a profit on the transfers too, excellent.
I imagine you've won your first FA-Cup, which puts you into the same level as the likes of Southampton.
Really odd results against those weaker sides. A question of motivation? Clearly you're superior.

I'm not sure what causes it really. Its probably down to motivation and tactics and maybe this season we weren't quite good enough to win consistantly.

Doing better in your second season of league football?

Also the SI games forum has some quite interesting career update threads. Have enjoyed this one as success has been a gradual process:
http://community.sigames.com/showthread.php/369214-FM13-An-Island-A-Country-A-Continent-The-World!

This one is very impressive although its a shame he is only running one league so I feel the European results are questionable:
http://community.sigames.com/showthread.php/364828-Clwb-Pêl-Droed-Caersws

Quackers said:

FM is one of those games where you feel genuine sentiment for a certain player or club. I remember watching a player play in real life for the first time and I was encouraging him sub consciously because I had bought the player for my club in game and he was spectacular

Click to expand...

Hah, yeah. Had that a few times, when I've seen a player being bought by a RL club and wanting him to do well after his heroics in FM

You've got one of the worlds leading youth set-ups too. Any gems?
Ajax play a 4-3-3 in real life, is that an option?

Click to expand...

4-3-3/4-5-1 is what I'm building now that my first season is complete and I've got a full summer transfer window to work with. Prior to that though, the lack of a proper link-up man up top really made it impossible (IMO 4-2-3-1 can work with a "attacking" striker if you have a creator in the AMC position, but 4-5-1 really needs someone to hold up the ball and bring others into play).

The youth at Ajax has been mixed through this save. They had some real gems early on, one of which (a creating midfielder who was my club captain) I've just sold for £21.5m and a couple more which are still at the club. Since that it seems that, while they're still generating some high potential players, they've not been developing them. When I find 4-4.5* potential 21yr olds sitting in the reserves with only 1* CA, it's a waste. Still, the latest intake has been good to me, three 4* or better PA 15yr olds that I should be able to develop properly, and my signings tend to be below 24yrs old to keep the focus on younger players.

Anyway, as I said earlier, my first season with Ajax is complete. Took over in early October, got knocked out of the dutch cup in my first game, but then went on an unbeaten streak in the Eredivisie that lasted until March. By that point, I was 8 points clear at the top and after the one defeat at NAC Breda, got back on track, sealing the title with two games to spare by beating PSV (which is always satisfying). Lost the very last game to an AZ team with much more to play for (they were going for second), but overall, not much to complain about in the league.

In Europe, when I took over, Ajax were 3rd in their group in the Euopa League. Won my first couple of games to guarantee qualification, then lost the dead-rubber against Besiktas. In the knockout stages, 1st off I faced Stoke and after a close 1st leg which we scraped 1-0, we took them apart in the 2nd leg with a 4-0 win. Next up was CSKA Moscow who we utterly outplayed over the two legs and took a comprehesive aggregate victory (I forget the exact score). In the quarter finals I faced Arsenal, and heartbreak. In the first leg, we played probably the best football I've seen from the team, creating plenty of chances and dominating possession (~65%). But, despite all that, we just couldn't score, and they scraped a late goal from a corner. Couldn't get the team to recreate that form in the second leg and we fell to a 3-1 defeat (4-1 agg). If we'd managed to get the goals out 1st leg play deserved, I think we could have won it, as the eventual winners were PSV of all people. But it wasn't to be.

The summer so far has been...profitable. As well as the aforementionned £21.5m sale of my captain to Lyon, I also offloaded a defender signed a year earlier on a free to Arsenal for £16.5m plus £3m of clauses and a decent but unspectacular midfielder to Derby for £6m. And of course, I cleared out some unwated players who's contracts were expiring. I've had a couple of offers for other players, might be willing to part with one more, but only if I get a very good offer.

In return, I've spent about £3.5m bringing in 6 players (4 on frees), all of whom, barring a backup GK, are good enough for the first team, plus a very promising right winger has returned from loan (in addition to spending about £3m in January on two good players), so despite the loss of arguably my best two players, I feel the team is stronger. I'm planning on using an asymmetric 433/451 formation (one wideman in the AM strata, on in the M strata) as I think I've now got the people to do this properly and, well, I'm Ajax.

I'm currently on a pre-season tour of England, visiting such luminaries as Wolves and Northampton (the game suggested it to me and I thought "why not?" Makes a bit of a change from my usual pre-season of thrashing nearby very small teams)

Board Expectations:

League - Euro Cup qualification
FA Cup - Semi Finals
Euro Cup - Semi Finals
League Cup - Not important
Community Shield - Not important

Media expectation: 5th place

Community Shield

Lost convincingly to Chelsea which wasn't a great start to the season. Happily no one cares (2-0)

League

The first couple of months of the season were not great but performances gradually improved and for 5 weeks in the middle of the season we were fourth. It probably wasn't a coincidence that we reached our highest point in the table when there were no European matches to play and few cup matches. Once those competitions resumed we couldn't keep up, slipping to 6th, briefly back up to 5th and then finishing the season in 6th. The final game of the season was a disappointing home defeat to Spurs.

The high point was probably beating Man City 5-2 in Manchester whilst 4-2 and 5-2 defeats at QPR and Hull were not pretty. Our only other win against the teams above us was against Liverpool but at least the losses weren't horrifically one sided.

Was nice to see someone stop Chelsea from winning a fifth straight title whilst West Brom, Norwich and Cardiff (tycoon) had disappointing seasons.

League table:


League Cup

Much better than last season. Got to the semi finals after beating Ipswich (L1), Everton (Prem), West Brom (Prem) and then lost convincingly to Chelsea in both legs... I don't want to know how many goals one of their strikers has scored against my club (Neychev).

FA Cup

First two rounds were easy wins against Oxford and Blackburn, the fifth round was not so easy as we were drawn against Man City. The match was quite soon after we had beaten them in the league and maybe that was a factor as we ened up winning 3-0 which was probably one of our best results of the season. It didn't get any easier in 6th round when we were drawn against Arsenal and unfortunately we lost 2-3 to end our defence of the cup which was a little disappointing as we were at home.

Uefa Cup

For the first time we entered into the competition at the group stage and we comfortably qualified from a group with Vitesse, CSKA (Sofia) and Stromgodset. We finished level with Vitesse after losing 1-0 at home but topped the group on goal difference. After last year the knockout stage draw was kinder and the team made the most of it beating St Etienne 8-3 (agg) and Maritimo 5-2 (agg).

Next up was Gladbach in the Quarter Final. The first leg was a crazy 4-4 daw where we had led for basically the entire game only to be pegged back in the last 10 minutes. The home game had nearly as many goals but this time we won 3-2. The Semi Final against Benfica was a nervy affair. The first leg at home finished 0-0, then in the second leg we appeared to be cruising at 2-0, only to concede twice in the second half and set up an extremely tense last 15 minutes.

That meant a first ever cup final appearance in Europe and it wouldn't easy as we faced Manchester United who had beaten us twice in the league. Star winger Magallan scored in the first 15 minutes and then from them on both sides continued to create chances. Unfortunately in a repeat of the earlier rounds we conceded late on and the game eventually went to penalties. In extra time a central defender got injured which meant that we played the last 12 minutes with 10 men. Fortune was on our side in the penalty shoot out with Sutton once again proving his worth in a cup final by scoring the winning penalty to clinch the trophy.



Other

- The end of the season came just at the right time as Cathalina's injury left us with just 1 fit central defender.
- I sold a second defender to Real Madrid for 22.5m after the first week of the season. (he played 15 times for them whilst Ibanez played 39 times)
- The 5 signings for the first team all played well with the youth keeper making a lot of progress. Not sure if I'll be able to get Eveleens to sign a new contract.
- The U21 team won the group 1 league stage but lost to Spurs in the final.
- The club has 45 million in the bank after a successful season and lots of player sales however I've only been given 35 million to spend and the wage budget isn't as big as it has been.
- (edit) Liverpool lost their European Cup place after failing to meet the financial requirements which means that United are in the Champions League instead

Board Expectations:

League - Euro Cup qualification - Achieved just
FA Cup - Semi Finals - Nope
Euro Cup - Semi Finals - Yep
League Cup - Not important
Community Shield - Not important

Media expectation: 5th place

Goals for this season:

Try and qualify for the Champions League or at least finish 5th. - Slight failure
Be more consistent in the league - Probably although this goal was a bit too vague
Reach a quarter final in one of the cups - Success!

Will add the transfer business into next season's review.

Board Expectations:

League - Euro Cup qualification
FA Cup - Semi Finals
Euro Cup - Semi Finals
League Cup - Not important
Super Cup - Be competitive

Media expectation: 5th place

League

The league campaign started well with a couple of wins that briefly took us top of the league. Up until December things continued to go well with a Champions League place looking possible although our results against the top sides were not great. Unfortunately at that point the wheels came off and I'm not really sure why as the tactics didn't change. It may just be that the initial bad run was compounded by then having to play Chelsa, United and Arsenal and a resurgent Everton.

We were still 8th but miles away from the title contenders.

Fixtures up till the middle of January:


If December was bad then the remainder of the season made up for it. Our run in form was W10 D4 L2 which took us back up the table and for the last three weeks of the season we were in fourth place. A disappointing home defeat to United on the final day of the season saw us drop down to 6th as United overtook us and so did Arsenal.

I did change the tactics that I played after the Man City game but not significantly. I'm happy that we at least matched the league position from last season and were closer to a champions league place but fell at the final hurdle.

Remaing fixtures:


Local rivals* Nottingham Forest qualified for the Champions League which adds to the feeling of a missed opportunity. Cardiff were in the Champions League places but collapsed towards the end of the season to miss out on Europe completely and I'm not sure what has happened to Spurs. They won the league in 2018.

* Hull are the only team listed as a rival from the premiership but I think Forest would be a rival as well.

League table:


League Cup

Played Chelsea in our first match and lost 4-1 at home. I did play a lot of reserves as the Euro cup fixtures force a league match to be two days before the League Cup third round.

FA Cup

Was expecting to go out in the fourth round when we were drawn against Chelsea but it turned out to be one of our best games of the season. Managed to reach the Semi Finals but Arsenal knocked us out once again. I think we are yet to beat Arsenal in any competition. Also got a needless red card in the last 5 minutes for a reckless challenge.



Euro Cup

The group stage was very similar to last season with a Dutch team as the main competition. As expected we qualified from the group but it wasn't quite as easy as it should have been and we failed to win the group on goal difference. I was expecting to go out in the first round when we were drawn against Sevilla but a strong first leg performance took us through easily.

The tie against PSV turned out to be the closest we got to going out as it took a late goal to rescue a draw at home. In the second leg they scored first but by half time we were leading 4-2. A late collapse saw the game finish 4-4 with PSV having a goal disallowed. Bizarrely the final was something of a non event as by half time we were 3-0 up.



Other

- Magallan (the star left winger) handed in a transfer request just before the United match and didn't play in the Uefa Cup. Frustrating as I had promised to sell him at the end of the season which I assumed would be after all the fixtures had been played.
- The U21 team won the group 1 league stage again but lost in the semi final this time.
- I had an interview with Real Madrid at the start of the season, and a second interview near the end. The second time I was successful but after a day of thinking it over I decided that I wanted to see if I could get Lincoln into the Champions League. Real Madrid were 6th at the time and ended up finishing 3rd. I would have been paid considerably more as Lincoln refuse to pay me more than 10.5k a week.
- Man City beat Hull 10-1 in a league match and retained the league title
- The top 5 in Italy were: Bologna, Roma, Sampdoria, Genoa and Chievo Verona. AC Milan came 6th
- Stuttgart overtook Bayern on the final day of the season to win the Bundesliga
- Atletico won La Liga to win their 10th title in 12 seasons.
- Wycombe were relegated from the Championship after surviving last season, Aston Villa are back in the Championship after winning the playoffs, S****horpe were relegated to the Conference whilst Preston and Shrewsbury (111 points!) and back in the football league.

Board Expectations:

League - Euro Cup qualification - Achieved but I would like to have done better
FA Cup - Semi Finals - Yep although the performance was disappointing
Euro Cup - Semi Finals - Retained the trophy
League Cup - Not important -Went out in the first round which I'm fine with
Super Cup - Be competitive - Surprisingly beat Man City 2-1 after going a goal down

Media expectation: 5th place - Failed again

Transfer Review

I sold two right backs (Parodi and Popo) one in each transfer window as Ibanez progressed well last season and I have two promising youth players.

The big transfer in was Silva who is our best central midfielder. The other big money signing was Mackie as a back up left back. I wouldn't have normally signed him however I needed a better backup and had to be a home grown player.

Abdi has turned out to be my first choice goalkeeper for the second half of the season and has better potential than the goalkeeper that I signed last season for 18.75m. He is slightly older though.

madviking said:

so maybe they don't intentionally wise up, eh. they still are cognizant of what the human player is doing and, in my case at benfica, play jesus tapdancing christ-ly deep, where they're essentially protecting their own six yard box. that's annoying. so i, like warpus, sorta, have different tactics i use. it's funny how playing attacking football is best against good teams (as they don't defend like hell) and defensive is good against mid/bottom tier teams in the league.

Click to expand...

My strategy against top teams is to play fast youngters. Teams with a lot of money in FM end up usually having a bunch of old farts around. My youngsters run laps around them.

Obviously you can't have a team full of 19 year olds and try to compete for the EPL title, but if you have a couple 19 year olds, some 22 year olds, some 24 year olds, plus a bit of experience here and there.. That worked for me very well. As long as they're actually good promising players - and fast.

sometimes if i play too much crusader kings 2 along with fm, i start wanting to plot assassinations against the key players on rival teams. like, "you've screwed me over for the last time, jackson martinez and juan fernando quintero, how can your precious fc porto team win when you're both dead?!"

madviking said:

sometimes if i play too much crusader kings 2 along with fm, i start wanting to plot assassinations against the key players on rival teams. like, "you've screwed me over for the last time, jackson martinez and juan fernando quintero, how can your precious fc porto team win when you're both dead?!"

Click to expand...

Heh...I seem to remember, way back when (like, the 90s...) a football management game where you could do things like bribe the ref and hire thugs to go beat up the oppositions payers before a game. Needless to say, the actual management side of the game was utter crap. Dunno what it was called though.


Anyway, I'm pottering on with my Ajax game, playing the odd game here and there rather than going on a big FM marathon. Currently a over half way through the season, sitting top of the Eredivisie having only lost twice. I'm 1-0 up after the first leg of the 1st CL knockout round against Olympiacos and I'm still in the dutch cup, so pretty much all I can ask for. Made plenty more money in the January window, selling two players who weren't getting games for about £10m combined, as well as letting my first choice right back go for almost £8m while only spending about half that on a replacement of similar quality and the same again on a couple of promising youngsters as well as picking up another young player on a free.

I'd also love to assasinate the manager of Vitesse. Him and his bloody 3-4-3 formation...

I hate injuries. Just about to play the CL QF against Dortmund and I've lost arguably my two best players (striker and right winger) for the rest of the season

so guess which team i am

sup

So, this happened.
I pulled off a 4-2 comeback win vs. the aforementioned Leicester City (featuring a goal by Chris Wood against his former club), and won 4-3 in one of the first rounds of the Capital One Cup with a 116th minute goal. Against Chelski. Pics below.

Promptly lost 0-1 against City 3 days later

Career highlight...



This was after drawing 1-1 at home to Club Brugge in a Champions League playoff. Not the best start to a season and the half time team talk was fun.

"Lampard Stadium"

Well, another season done, my second at Ajax. Overall, very successful, but I'm left with a hint of disappointment. First up, the Eredivise. No real problems:

Two of those losses came at the end of the season when, due to a combination of having already won the league, injuries and other commitments, I was putting out some very young and inexperienced teams.

Other commitments like:


Always good to win the Cup, particularly after my disappointing performance last year. The final wasn't exactly one for the purist, but after a roughly even game, in which I wasn't playing a completely full strength team, we came out on top, with a good goal from Nedelev.

The reason I didn't have a full strength team in the final was that this was coming up in a couple of days:


And there's the disappointment. We took a deserved lead in the first leg, with Fabian Frances, my star player and best striker returning earlier than expected from injury to pick up a late winner after coming off the bench. Unfortunately we couldn't recreate our form at the Nou Camp. What made it worse was that the first two goals were really poor to concede - the first was from a corner, and for the second we were making a promising attack, gave the ball away sloppily and they hit us on the counter.

Ah well, being 90 minutes from a CL final as Ajax is still pretty good. Now I've just got to keep as much of this team together to give it another shot. I've already lost my keeper for £13m, but I've picked up a replacement who appears to be of similar quality for less than a quarter of that...