The Last Chance Saloon Brigade Arrive

Never in all my days of playing this game have i put more of an effort into a pre-season yet when i look back at the comings and goings i have made i sit back and wonder if it could have been better.

I thought about having a policy of buying young stars on the up but ultimately i ended up going for seasoned old pros. To put it another way i went for players who are either past their best with old age or players that once set the world alight but have faded - hence the title of the post. The 2 main signings i made fall under this bracket - Riquelme and Mista. Riquelme only a couple of seasons ago was one of the best players in the world at Villareal but has recently been back in his homeland at Boca. Mista was a revelation at Valencia a few years ago but has been unheard of recently at Atletico Madrid. Both have a point to prove - hopefully! I brought in Nedved on a free transfer as i needed cover for my other new signing from Ajax Leonardo. To see all the comings and goings click here. I feel if Riquelme and Mista can bring back the old magic my gamble will pay off.

A big decision i hade to make was telling the board what i though my team could achieve in the coming season. I am realistic to know that i am never going to win the league so opted to tell them a mid-table finish was achievable. For this they gave me a transfer budget of 7 million. By telling them i could win the league they were only giving me an extra 4 million anyway. The league will be mine one day hopefully but not that quick!

The pre-season started with me getting offered the Atletico Madrid job out of the blue. I thought my board would be over the moon with my loyalty but never said a bloody word about it! The only friendlies of note were an incredible 4-4 draw with Recreativo were i was 4-1 down at one point and a 3-1 defeat by Inter Milan. I always like to have at least 1 glamour tie even though there is a good chance of getting beat.

At the point of writing this i have played the first 2 games of the season. I started with a fantastic victory over Osasuna followed by a 2-0 defeat away to Espanyol.

I will update again at Christmas where hopefully i will be comfortably holding my own in the league and Riquelme will be the king of Real Sociedad!

Bring On The Big Boys!

Hi folks i have finished my first season now and to my delight it couldn't have went any better for me. The league was effectively won at christmas so my biggest challenge was to keep the players motivated. I managed to finish on 103 points which ended up 28 points clear of my nearest rivals. To my surprise the board summary wasn't as glowing as i had expected it so this has helped keep my feet on the ground and realise the real challenge will begin next season.

The players who stood out for me in season 1 were Morten Skoubo (who i slagged off in my first post for being inconsistent), new boy Marius Niculae and Xabi Prieto. Lazio have been sniffing around the latter trying to unsettle him but there is no way i am letting him go.

I won't milk this post any more than i need to as i realise i face a tough pre-season to get my team ready for the 1st division. Players need to come in and players need to leave. In my next post i will have the pre-season completed and will reveal who i manged to sign and who left. Adios for now amigos.

The Challenge Overview FM2008

Hi folks i have decided to get a little bit of structure to the challenge as i initially put the idea out there to see if there would be an interest in it and i'm glad to say that there is. I have decided i will need to have a points system in place as i never really considered the fact that people might win things!

2nd Division Champs = 20 points
1st Division Champs = 100 points
1st Division Runners Up = 50 points
1st Division 3rd Place = 25 points
Spanish cup = 50 points
Spanish Super Cup = 25 points
European cup = 150 points
UEFA cup = 75 points
European Super Cup = 25 points

If anyone would like this changed please let me know as i literally made it up in seconds. The overall Real Sociedad champion will obviously have the most points at the end of 5 seasons. Good luck.

Sitting Top And Feeling Fine!

Well here I am into January 2008 and all is going to plan much better than I ever expected. I'm top of the league and over the moon with how things are going as I fully expected to be struggling but thankfully I have found a steady tactic that seems to work well home and away - click here to view. Remember to click once on the image to zoom or it looks like you are viewing the image through frosted glass.

The results show how good the run has been with the only defeat being away to Cadiz but what concerned me slightly was the manner in the way I got knocked out the cup. Real Betis tought us a lesson and in the away leg we mustered 1 measly shot on goal and even that was off target! This shows me that sweeping changes will be needed in the summer otherwise we could end up the whipping boys! My priority will be 2 new central defenders but everywhere else I am happy with the quality.

I was worried at the start about my strikers scoring but they have done quite well. The biggest surprise has came in the form of Morten Skoubo. Only the captain Xabi Prieto has a better average rating with 7.55.

At the time of writing I am halfway through the January transfer window and have just made my first significant signings for the club. Romanian International Striker Marius Niculae has signed from Inverness Caley Thistle and judging by his picture the first thing i'll be doing is demanding he get a haircut!!! He may have got away having a barnet like that at Inverness but not here! Again, clicking on the image shows how bad it really is. The second player Grzegorz Szamotulski is a Polish Goalkeeper currently at Preston but became something of a cult hero with Dundee United fans due to the fantastic performances he put in while at the club. "The Monk" doesn't arrive until the summer but i believe he could become a star for my team. Finally i got central defender Havard Nordtveit on loan from Arsenal untill the end of the season but at only 17 he could be a star in the making and will definitely be looking to sign (poach) him in the summer.

Unless I manage to sell one of the deadwood he will be the last until the summer as the 375k I spent on Niculae has left the club skint. I'm hoping he will score the goals to carry the team's form on for the rest of the season.

I'm off back to the game as I have a league to win. Barring any major disasters I'm hoping the rest of the season will be a formality and I can start thinking about next season in the 1st division and back with the big boys. If for any reason it goes tits up i will be sure to update this blog on events but hopefully my next post will be either me gibbering a lot of pointless crap or I will be posting screenshots of my chairman telling me how bloody fantastic I am for winning the league. Adios.

Berbatov Scores 120 In A Season Apparently!

When bored at work i sometimes find myself passing the time by visiting various fm2008 related forums and commenting on various topics but today i came across a post from someone on the Football Manager Portal forum where someone has claimed Berbatov scored 120 in one season for his Chelsea team! Is this possible?!?

Thinking of all the teams i have managed over the years i can remember a game years ago when i was Fiorentina and Gabriel Batistuta scored over 50 goals in one season but 120 seems unbelievable to me especially when the thing that makes me enjoy the game so much is its realism.

If anyone reading this post has had a player score an unbelievable amount of goals in a season please let me know and obviously screenshots would be great to back up your claim.

The Real Sociedad challenge is now into January and will be posting how my season is going tonight but until then adios.

Ray Wilkins Knows Whats Good For Him!

To do this game any justice i paid attention to every detail during the pre-season but have ultimately started the season quite dissapointed. The only signings i managed to make was left back Christian Kalvenes from Dundee United and Ray Wilkins as a coach as he has great attributes for coaching strikers. Hardly earth shattering! The main problem has been i was unable to offload any of the over paid players no matter how hard i tried so had hardly any money to spend. That being said the squad i have should be more than capable of promotion and hopefully a good cup run will bring in some much needed money. I've been drawn at home against a very beatable Cadiz in the Spanish Cup 2nd Round.

The friendlies were unspectacular but did manage a good 2-0 victory over the mighty Barcelona although they did play their 2nd string so i can't get too exited.

The first 2 games of the season started with an away draw and a home victory over minnows Ferrol 3-0.

My next update will be mid-season where i will hopefully be riding high and on my way to the 1st division with relative ease but my gut feeling it may not be as smooth as that!

My Spanish Adventure Begins

I have officially started the challenge today. I decided to download the 8.02 patch as the last time i played the 2008 version i was disgusted at the amount of goals that were disallowed for being offside in the matches. Hopefully this time it will be better. The Board Expectations are for to be stable in the 1st division in 4 years however the seasons expectations make it clear that anything other than winning the league this season will be unacceptable so the pressure is on!

My favourite player from the 2007 version was Darko Kovacevcic. Maybe if i get promotion i can lure him back but he isn't getting any younger so a striker who can bag 20+ goals is gonna be my first priority. Morten Skoubo is good but he isn't consistent enough.

In my next post i will update on how my pre-season went and the signings i managed to make and will reveal my hopes and fears for the upcoming season. Meanwhile if anyone has any signings they can recommend please let me know and i will run the rule over them (a good young striker would be good). Adios for now.

The Real Sociedad Challenge

I have played the Football Manager since the very first version in the nineties and have spent many happy hours over the years putting one over Fergie and co. The 2 teams that are closest to my heart are Dundee United and Real Sociedad. Going Dundee United has never been and never will be an option. I know for a fact the first time i played Rangers or Celtic and got a heavy beating, my p.c. would be in serious trouble. I simply don't have the patience to sit for hours watching them lose more often than not and watch Rangers and Celtic battle out the league on their own. Thats too much like real life! I would love to hear from anyone who has went a team from outside the old firm and broke their dominance. Especially on the 2008 version.

Real Sociedad are different. I have fallen in love with the idea of turning them into world beaters and lifting the European Cup. Football Manager 2007 brought no trophies. My finest season seen a 3rd place finish and Champions League qualification follow with a defeat to Fenerbache in the qualifying round for the group stage the following season. The UEFA cup campaign which followed was ended when i finished second from bottom in the group stage.

Then came Football Manager 2008. I thought about leaving it and persisting with the 2007 version as early reviews revealed many bugs plus the thought of Real Sociedad being in the 2nd division didn't appeal. Especially since it was hard enough when they were in La Liga.

Then it hit me - what an amazing feeling it would be if i could get them back into the big league and win something!!! Chris Coleman tried and failed but i wouldn't! I wouldn't let the fact they had no money whatsoever bother me - i would simply use all my knowledge i've built up over the years to pull them out of the mire.

The result = 4thplace finish - no promotion and sacked at the end of my first season!

After staring at the screen blankly for ten minutes i realised i had 4 choices -

1) Retire gracefully, uninstall the game and fire up FM2007 again and be back in the 1st division!

2) Accept the kind job offer from Tenerife (a team with even less money than Real Sociedad - didn't think that was possible!)

3) Start again and give it another go.

4) Abandon my policy of going RS and pick a good team where i have a chance of some glory.

After some weighing up the pro's and con's i decided to choose option 3 which leads me to the point of this blog.
For anyone who makes a habit of going one of the big guns and fancy's a new challenge i urge you to GO Real Sociedad! For anyone who never strays away from the English League GO Real Sociedad! For anyone who wants who wants to show me you are a better manager than me GO Real Sociedad and win something! I shall be logging my progress on this blog as often as i can. I fear a losing streak in the new game may lead me to give up so if i make myself accountable to someone i may persist rather than be a quitter!

If you do take up the challenge please leave comments and let me know how your doing. My personal opinion right now is its impossible but i'd love to prove myself wrong (unlikely) or have someone else prove me wrong (more likely).

I will keep updates of my progress on a regular basis.

Take care and good luck!

p.s. Anyone who claims to win anything will need screenshots before i believe you!