Macclesfield Story: Great Results by Midseason

Wednesday, December 30, 2009

The first several games in my Macclesfield story were mediocre: the Silkmen were at number 10, which was still a great place for a team tipped for relegation, but not enough for me and the few good players I had managed to pick up.

The biggest problem of the team was the lack of solid wingers: I only had two players for the right side and one for the left side, all three of them of a very low quality and that was reflected on the pitch: the tactics I was using (4-1-2-2-1) seemed to be a pretty solid one, but the lack of quality forward led to very few chances to score and even fewer goals.

So, having this in mind as well as the fact that the pitch at The Moss Rose is quite narrow, I have decided to change the tactics completely and play without wingers (it is the first time in my managing career - of all time! - when I play without wingers). Still, after a few misses that took the team all the way down to the 18th position, the team started to play football and the result was incredible: five wins in a row:



The turnaround was certainly caused by the return of Willy Topp (who got injured for a month during his first game for Macclesfield) and also the return of Mamadou Seck, my best central defender.

As you can see below, we've had a really decent series of results: lost on penalties in the Johnstone's Paint Trophy 2nd round against a better Crewe, won the 1st FA Cup round against Shrewsbury (but lost heavily at Huddersfield), and managed to get some really valuable points in the league from Bournemouth, Bury and Notts Co:


And after this great series of results, Macclesfield are now standing in the top half of the division, at six, with real chances to go up to number 2 in the league! Of course, there are chances to go back down to the middle of the season if things don't work well anymore, but I hope that won't be the chance. Now I'm even starting to dream about promotion!


Players-wise, there were, as it usually happens in Football Manager 2010, quite a few surprises: some of the players I considered at first some really important assets for the club didn't play too well, while other players with lower stats managed to do wonders in the team and became regular first team players.

I am talking here about the pleasant surprises of Algerian defender Hamza Bencheriff, the best player in the squad ratings-wise (with a 7.11 average in 26 games) and Ben Starosta, a Polish fullback that really has some poor stats, but plays incredibly well:

 

On the other hand, I was quite disappointed with Cosmin Marginean who is quite inconsistent, but also full back Joe Edwards played quite bad. Well, that's life!




But overall I can say that I am pretty pleased with how things are going in this first half of the season: The Silkmen are at number 6, after being considered relegation candidates, I am managing to tweak the tactics and create a solid formation and I already have a few players I'll try to keep for the future when I hope of greater things. The final goal is, afterwards, to get Macclesfield in the Champions League! Let's hope that will happen soon!

One More Transfer from the Bargain Hunter

Monday, December 28, 2009

I announced that the last transfer for my first season with Macclesfield was that of Mamadou Seck, but it seems that I was a bit wrong since I managed to find another really hot prospect: Chilean striker Willy Topp, a real top player in my opinion, one that could certainly play at a higher level:




The striker has asked for a pretty high salary, though and that will be a bit of a pain in the arse now since I'm over the budget, but if he manages to do his job as I hope he will, maybe we'll turn things around - as well as the way the team is performing, which is just mediocre.

Funnily enough, after the signing of Topp for Macclesfield, there was the press update about the transfers and it was said that I went bargain hunting - which is completely true since all the signings were free transfers. You can't do much with a transfer budget of 0 now, can you?

What about you? Are you a bargain hunter as well when managing low profile teams?

Football Manager 2010 Patch 10.2.0 Released!

Thursday, December 17, 2009


So soon after the release of patch 10.1.1 for Football Manager 2010, Sports Interactive have released a major new patch for the game: patch 10.2.0. It's worth noting that those who are playing the Steam version of the game will get auto-patched as soon as the game starts, but if you wish you can download the patch (especially for boxed copies) following the links I have provided below.

As I was saying, Football Manager 2010 patch 10.2.0 is a major patch, and you can read all the details about it here. Or you can check out the most important changes (in my opinion) brought to FM 2010 after this patch:

General changes and fixes:
- Adjusted the chances of better newgens being created at smaller clubs in big footballing nations.
- Added Composure and Concentration to be included in Goalkeeper training.
- Players now get a reputation boost when they win their first cap.
- Stopped the user been able to make lots of money as a small team by arranging lots of friendlies against high reputation opposition.
- Reduced game memory usage.
- Made it more difficult for managers to get onto the legend list.

Transfers:
- Adjusted code to allow more clubs to make offers for offered out players.
- Fixed an issue whereby coach/scout would state player would be interested in loan move, but in fact he wasn't.
- Made it more likely for a staff member to accept a contract offer from his current club over a deal offered by a different club.

Match Experience:
- Added "Runs Past Opponent" to the match graphical analysis tool.
- Fixed some various small issues with tracking of certain type of passes and crosses.
- Added team talk option to the quick sub dialog.

Match engine:
- Couple of fixes to make player reactions to certain deflections more realistic
- Further fix to prevent rash decisions to leave ball to keeper
- Small fix to make extra sure players look to intercept balls coming towards them
- Tweak to make sure defending team players continue to mark ball player until it is clearly pointless
- Introduced concept of players chasing own header as a means to get ball under control
- Tried to make players quicker to close down pass receiver
- Further tweak to positioning of player marking opponent with ball, including accounting for opponent's pace advantage if applicable
- Slight increase on keepers effectiveness against power shots

And these are just the highlights of the Football Manager patch! You can download the FM2010 patch from WorthDownloading.

Macclesfield Challenge: Mediocre Start of Season

Wednesday, December 16, 2009

Hello folks! I'm proud to give you the first "real" update on my Football Manager 2010 challenge: the Macclesfield Challenge!

As you can see in the table screenshot below, the start of the season for the Silkmen was mediocre and completely unspectacular: 4 wins and 4 loses in the league, out of eight matches, with 10 goals scored for and 10 goals scored against my team. But it could've been worse and overall I must admit that I am pleased with how the team is doing.



Most notable win was, as you can see below, my 2-1 victory over Notts Co, probably the best team in the league. Of course, our latest win against Barnet 4-0 at home was also a joy to be watched, even though Barnet are the last placed team so they definitely lack quality.


I also got kicked out of the League Cup, losing against the better Blackpool 2-0 in a match in which we had no chances on goal and defended for the whole 90 minutes, but the boys managed to turn around the odds and defeat a superior Carlisle team in the Johnstone's Paint Trophy first round, which is really great, even though I also had to defend for almost the entire match.

The worst and most annoying defeat was at the hands of Morecambe, after leading the first half 1-0. I have made the mistake of saying to my squad that I was pleased with the result at half time and they lost all their motivation. As you can see, Morecambe scored against Macclesfield four goals in 14 minutes... something that's not really pleasant to watch. But at least I've learned my lesson and won't celebrate until the final whistle is blown.


The Silkmen's Senegalese striker Ibrahima Thiam also managed to enter the records book, scoring the fastest ever goal against Barnet, just 20 seconds after the kick off. Hopefully Thiam will continue playing as good as he does now, for the moment he is one of my best players!

Macclesfield Challenge: Last Transfer in the Window

Tuesday, December 15, 2009

After taking a better look at my Macclesfield squad after the first batch of players brought in, I have decided to bring in another Central Defender, this season hoping to battle against relegation with a good defense. Otherwise I would've brought in a winger since the ones I have now are of really poor quality.

Either way, I managed to bring in a really great player, 29 years old Senegalese central defender Mamadou Seck, a tall player that is great in the air and also has some really good defending stats, as you can see in the image below. Actually, Seck just became my best central defender and I truly hope he will manage to remain injury-free for most of the season.

On the minus side, Seck is a really slow player, but hopefully his other stats will make up for that.



Now I can say for sure that Mamadou Seck is the last transfer for Macclesfield this season since we have no more money (nor for wages, nor for buying players). I don't really like the fact that some of my best players are really slow (Seck, Thiam, Balasko) but since my main goal is to stay clear of relegation this season and build up the squad for the future, I hope that I won't lose the bet for better but slower players...

We'll see for sure in my future Macclesfield Challenge updates...

Football Manager 2010 Patch 10.1.1 Released!

Tuesday, December 8, 2009

Sports Interactive have released a new patch for Football Manager 2010 fixing a few rare issues the game was experiencing and now changing mechanics, fixing bugs or so on. However, it will certainly be of no harm for your game to install it (even though if you decide against installing it from Steam it might crash your Football Manager 2010 game and reinstall will be needed!)

Here are the changes brought in by the Football Manager patch 10.1.1:

- Fixed the game running out of memory when entering a match for some users
- Fixed the game sometimes losing activated status on Uniloc-protected versions
- Fixed a Mac-only crash relating the incorrect loading of a sound file
- Fixed a rare crash in the tactics panel
- Fixed rare issue with score divergence
- Fixed occasional crash when responding to red card

You can apply the patch automatically via Steam or you can download it from WorthPlaying for: PC boxed copies and Mac boxed copies.

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Football Manager 2010 System Requirements


I have decided to add a few updates on various technical issues related to Football Manager 2010 since that's part of the game too, and I will begin with something you might already know, but it doesn't hurt to check out again: the Football Manager 2010 system requirements.

As posted officially by Sega and Sports Interactive, these are:

PC system requirements:
OS - Windows XP/Vista/Windows7
Processor - XP - 1.4ghz or faster Vista/W7 - 2.0hgz or faster
Memory - XP-512MB Ram, Vista/W7 - 1GB Ram
Video Card - 128MB minimum. Nvidia FX 5900 Ultra or greater; ATI Radeon 9800 or greater; Intel 82915G/82910GL or greater.
Earlier cards may only display 2D Match Viewer Mode and are not supported.
Laptop versions of these chipsets may work but are not supported.


Mac system requirements:
Intel Processor, OS X 10.5, NVidia Geforce 7300 GT / ATI X1600 Radeon

You can notice that the system requirements to run Football Manager 2010 are the same as those for Football Manager 2009. Pretty cool, right?

Macclesfield Challenge: First Transfers

Sunday, December 6, 2009

After checking out the Macclesfield Town squad I decided to sell most of them due to poor quality and sign as many better players as possible - probably something any manager would do. I thought I stroke lucky when Notts Co, a team in the same division as The Silkmen, offered me an amazing deal of 100,000 Euros plus almost 250,000 more in two years for Paul Morgan, one player I wasn't even sure I was going to keep! An amazing deal and it was simple luck or a bug in the system because after selling this player, I didn't manage to sell any other.

So with a transfer budget of ZERO and just a couple thousand Euros to spare per week for new signings, I can say that I find myself in a bit of trouble. However, I did manage to sign a few good players (at least good for the level I'm playing at and the level of my team) and I'm listing them below:



As you can see, all of them were Free Signings and a few are real gems. Here are the player profile pictures of the best new Macclesfield Town players in my Football Manager 2010 challenge:

1. Fabio Ferreira - Attacking midfielder Right/Left



For some reason, Ferreira became the most valued player in my squad, even though I can't say I'm completely blown away by his skills. The scout highly recommended him to me and I signed him especially because he can play on two different positions, a must for low league clubs. Except for that, he's fast and... that's about it!

2. Ivan Balasko - Midfielder/Attacking midfielder Centre


I really liked this Hungarian attacking midfielder who became the best midfielder in my squad. His physical stats are not great, but I hope that while he plays, he does a great job for the team.

3. Ibrahima Thiam - Striker, Centre


Now this is a real gem, I am really happy he accepted to sign with Macclesfield. This Senegalese striker (with 12 caps at the national team) is really tall, making him a great Target Man and a real danger from corners. He is also a decent shooter and I certainly hope he'll become a legend for my little club.


4. Cosmin Marginean - Defensive Midfielder, Centre


A ripe Romanian midfielder, Marginean will hopefully become the ball winning midfielder I need and he will stop most of the attacks from the opposition. He won't count too much on the offensive end, but if he does a great job in defense, I sure hope for a great season!

So, with 10 new players in and six out (with several more on the transfer list), it's clearly going to be "revolurion" at Macclesfield during my Football Manager 2010 challenge. I am expecting a really difficult season - after checking out a few other squads in the divisions I noticed that my players are amongst the poorest, but I do hope that I will manage to add some extra reputation to my club and hopefully some money, too so that next year I'll make a few really big signings... but until then, we have a really difficult season ahead. Wish me luck!

Football Manager 2010 Challenge: Macclesfield Town

Saturday, December 5, 2009


As I was telling you yesterday, I have started my first Football Manager 2010 challenge with Macclesfield Town, a Coca Cola League 2 team heavily dubbed for relegation: pre-season reports from the media say that the team will finish at 23, while according to the promotion odds, we have 40-1 chances, which mean that "relegation is a real possibility". Well, that's why it's called a challenge, right?

What does this Football Manager 2010 challenge consist in, then? Well, it's pretty simple: I am starting to manage Macclesfield Town and my goal is to promote to the Barclays Premier League as soon as possible (hopefully around six seasons), stay there and become a main football force in Europe with the goal of winning the Champions League. Pretty cool plans, right? I'm sure it's going to be a bumpy road and a very difficult team for myself and the Macclesfield players, but I'm surely going to do my best to succeed in style:


I knew very little of Macclesfield before starting to manage it, but after reading a few information about the Silkmen on Wikipedia and checking out the team's official website, I managed to become quite attached to it and I will surely do my best to succeed. And who knows, maybe I will bring them good luck, as it happened with Burton Albion - the team I managed to get them promoted in my quick FM2008 challenge, and they also gained promotion in real life! Now here's a few background information about the team which exists from all the way back in 1874!


And here are the promotion odd from Macclesfield aka The Silkmen, proving you that it will indeed be a fun Football Manager 2010 challenge - both for me, as well as you. Hopefully we'll have a lot of fun and lots to learn!

Talking about Football Manager 2010

Friday, December 4, 2009


Tough economic times meant that it took me a while to get the spare cash to purchase Football Manager 2010, but I eventually managed and played one full season of testing, as I always do before starting the "real" game. I felt sad that I only managed to purchase the game about one month after it got released, but it made me value the importance of enjoying a product to its complete value: I kept playing FM2009 even though I did not update this blog anymore and I managed to end my Andria challenge pretty well, in the Italian First Division, battling for a spot in the European Cups.

I first started Football Manager 2010 with Newcastle United, one of my all time favorite teams - the same I started to manage back in 1996 when I played the first game in the series (named Championship Manager back then) and I realized that it's always better to manage a lower-league, low profile club - I never liked to grab a top club like Manchester United, like Real Madrid or AC Milan, but instead I love to grab a low division club, strive to find the best players for that level and slowly make my way to the top spot, with the plan of challenging European glory...


With Newcastle United was a bit different - being new with Football Manager 2010 I didn't do all the things right, especially tactics-wise I was a complete failure (and only after a few months into the season I fount the "Advanced" button on the team instructions, to set up the Corners...) I failed miserably to go up to the Barclay's Premier League and I almost got myslef fired after a poor finish at number 9.

What I didn't like about the game was the fact that each time I managed to score, just seconds afterwards most of the teams would score back and tie the game - that drove me mad and I couldn't find any solution to this problem, even though I tried changing tactics immediately after a goal, substituting players and whatnot. I don't really like the new tactics menu because I was used with the previous one, but I do understand that a change was needed and, even though in theory the game got a lot easier with the highlighting of the most important stats for the players on specific positions, I do realize that it gets even harder to create the perfect tactic for Football Manager 2010.

And that will be the quest with my new challenge, alongside many others, like promoting to the first division (this time I will start in England with a low profile English club, most likely in the Blue Square) and becoming a glorious manager. I consider myself a newcomer to Football Manager 2010 since I have only played it for several hours, I have no shortlists of players, no tactics - nothing. I will be a real manager this time and I hope you'll enjoy the ride.

Also, I will focus more on "story telling" aka my challenge rather than tons of posts with tactics, lists of players and so on. I doubt that I could provide much value with my sub par scouts, anyways :)

I will set up the game right away and start playing my new Football Manager challenge - remember to check back soon to find out everything about it and I hope you'll find the stay as enjoyable as you did in the past with Andria.

Everything Football Manager Is Back!

Hello, friends! After a pretty long period of time in which I've left this blog rot and get piles of dust over its shoulders, I am back to update it as regularly as possible - if such a word is possible.

I have made the leap from Football Manager 2009 to Football Manager 2010 and I have already started a new challenge there - but more about it in the future posts.

The most important thing is that now, as you can see, Everything Football Manager has become Football Manager Fanatic and I am planning to turn this site into one of the best Football Manager 2010 fansites out there. See you soon and stay tuned as I will be tweaking this theme and give you something really unique and useful!

Change of name

Thursday, April 30, 2009

Starting today, the blog will be named "Everything Football Manager" and not only "Everything Football Manager 2009" since I am planning to turn it into a little bit more than just a website for the challenges, especially since creating a post about the challenges is a quite time consuming task :P

Therefore, this website will not die when Football Manager 2010 gets launched and I will make a strong comeback then with tons of tactics, players and advice, while I will also continue offering tips and advice on Football Manager 2009. However, it was a quite slow start with that and now I'm seeing the results: my Andria challenge is way down the line and bigger clubs are waiting. So let's play Football Manager!

Andria Challenge: Incredible Series of Results

Tuesday, March 31, 2009

My Andria team certainly finished their first season in the Italian Serie B in style, with 5 HUGE victories in the last 6 matches (and no, I won't tell you just yet if we're still in the Serie B or not :P)

But please enjoy, together with me, the success of our last games: an incredible and anthologized win against Chievo (5-1), the same score recorded in my win against Cagliari and one goal more than the victory against Rimini. Simply awesome results, let me tell you that. I am pleased like I never was until now. Well done, Andria!

Andria Challenge: Season 5, Middle Season Update

Sunday, March 29, 2009

As I have promised, I'm updating you again on my ultimate Football Manager 2009 challenge with Andria Bat, the team I managed to bring from the Serie C2/B to the Serie B in the Italian football competition in four seasons (which, to be honest, I consider quite a performance).

Unfortunately, following a great form shown by my players during the previous season, due to new signings (probably) and less overal value, we were not too competitive in our first season in the Serie B. However, we still did much better than anybody anticipated (like the memorable victory against Frosinone, the biggest thus far) and we are now in a somewhat safe position at 17th, but just 5 points away from relegation.As you can see in the table above, we have only managed to win 6 games and lost 9 (out of 20), and only scored 16 goals - which is less than 1 goal per match - and if we think that 6 of the goals were scored in just one game... well... things are not looking THAT great. However, even though I had hoped for a pleasant surprise for the entire world, not relegating can also be considered a good result :)
My best player during this first half, just as suggested by a previous post, was Jacinto Navarro, the Spanish midfielder playing absolutely great football. So did Bostjan Rozman, who took on the helm as the best Andria striker and finally proved his value: scored 10, which is impressive. Except for that, everything works as planned. Hopefully the end of the season will see us still in the Serie B. Wish me luck! Heh.

Football Manager 2010 Features I'd Love

Saturday, March 28, 2009

Even though it's still early and I still didn't get enough Football Manager 2009, I think it's time I let you know (and maybe you let me know, too) which features you'd like to see implemented in Football Manager 2010 - a game which we know is in the works at Sports Interactive.

Therefore, on my wish list for Football Manager 2010 are:

- a better, improved 3D match engine with less stupid movement from players and so many misses.
- improved rating system of the players
- More detail in 3D, and more cameras
- Some new improvements to the tactics screen (I don't know what, but I'd like to see something new - but not something to completely change the game)
- less repetitive and boring press conferences and press interaction. Make it as varied as possible!
- Some more "personal life" aspects to our manager lives, but without trying to do too much. A few touches won't hurt, after all.

I can't think of much else right now. What do you say, though? What features would you like to see in Football Manager 2010?

FM 2009 Fun: Stupid Assistant

Thursday, March 26, 2009

The fact that assistant managers in Football Manager 2009 are pretty stupid is no longer a surprise - after all, if they don't have the skills, they can't speak right. The same can be said about my assistant manager, a guy I will probably quite employing when his contract runs out.

Until then, Mr. Bertolani considers that, because of some good performances followed by praise from the fans, my star midfielder Jacinto Navarro will suffer. Hopefully he was wrong! :)

It's been a while...

Hello again everybody! It's been a while since I have last updated this blog - I haven't done it because of major time-related problems and I'm doing my best to get back on track with cool Football Manager 2009 updates, but I can't promise anything :) To be honest, I barely had time to continue my Andria challenge either, but I still have some info I would like to share with you. So stay tuned - I'm not dead yet, I have time problems. You'll hear from me pretty soon!

Football Manager 2009 Editor Gets Patched Again

Wednesday, March 11, 2009

The Football Manager 2009 Editor today gets to version 1.2 since Sports Interactive have released a new update to make it easier and more bug free for you to handle the data in Football Manager 2009.

The The Football Manager 2009 Editor version 1.2 comes with the following changes:

-Corrected Tick Boxes not working correctly
-Corrected Editor automatically setting Agreed Fee to Buy even when not set
-Corrected the bug where changing the 'cause' of an Injury will change the 'cause' of all other Injuries to be given the same 'cause'


In order to download the new patch, check the official Football Manager 2009 site for links!

You can win a Football Manager 2009 Laptop (Personalized!)

Tuesday, March 10, 2009

Sports Interactive is holding an awesome contest in which all Football Manager 2009 fans can take part and win an incredible Football Manager 2009 personalized laptop! This month the prize is simply amazing. Read for yourself:

FM09 on Intel Centrino 2 technology laptops provides you with a better mobile gaming experience. While playing FM09, you can easily see if you are connected to power or running from the battery. And when you are gaming on the go, the Battery indicator in FM09 ensures that you won’t run out of juice during those key exciting matches! In addition, the processor usage graph, lets you easily see how the power of Intel Multi-core technology delivers you a faster gaming experience!


Notebook Design by Invasion Limited Edition FOOTBALL MANAGER 09 specifications:
Barbone clevo 860-TU 9800M GTS 512Mo
Intel Core 2 Duo P8400 processor
INTEL PM45/ICH9M
LCD 15” wSXGA+ (1680x1050)
GFx Nvidia Geforce 512 Mo DDR3 9800M GTS PCI-e
DX10 - 1 x HDMI - 1 x DVI - HDCP
4Go RAM So-Dimm DDR3 1066Mhz
250Go (7200RPM) HDD SATA / DVDRw DLIDE
FingerPRINT / WEBCAM 2M
RJ45 1000MBs - 5300 Wifi INTEL
Bluetooth 2.0 +EDR / Modem RJ11 56k
Battery 8 Cell - 4400 mAh
Dimensions 364x270x29mm / Weight 3.2Kg
OS : Windows Vista ULTIMATE SP1 x86

And these sound like some great numbers for me! If they do for you, then head over to the official website of Football Manger to find out more details on how you can become the owner of this wondefrul Laptop! Good luck!

Andria Challenge: Serie B Is Piece of Cake

Monday, March 9, 2009

Of course I'm kidding, it's not actually too easy for my Andria team in the Serie B (for the first time so high since the game started), but at least we are not being beaten by every team in the division, on the contrary.

I was recently surprised to see my guys simply blow away opposing Frosinone and record the biggest victory since I started managing the club! 6-0 for a team which is for the first time in the Serie B is indeed an award by itself. Hopefully more things like this one will happen in the club's future and hopefully my Andria will keep it going and remain in the Serie B for the next season, too. Now, let's start bragging with the "summary" of the result which proves that in Football Manager 2009 for me Serie B is a piece of cake (of course, I'm just joking :P)

Wow, I'm famous!

Friday, March 6, 2009

I am shocked, amazed and thrilled, this is simply one of my best days ever! Everything Football Manager, a blog I never thought will draw any attention was mentioned and talked about at Unigamesity in an article "Next Level Gaming: Football Manager 2009 Addiction". So go read it :D Heh, I'm famous! Who would've believed that? I certainly wouldn't! Here's a quote from the article:

His concern for his players, his desire to do good, his option to invest emotion, to really care about a video game. He writes about players he buys, players he sells, he posts about results and standings, just as you would expect to see on a real sports website. But this is just about his team. His piece of a world, his challenge. And that, my friends, is something which should be appreciated.


PS: I promise I will update the blog more often, as the author of that article said! :D

Psst! Football Manger Patch 9.3.0 Is Out

Monday, March 2, 2009

I have no idea how come I have only found it now, but it's my bad, right? The Football Manager 2009 Patch 9.3.0 is out, adding a ton of changes to the game and making our managing experience even more pleasant, up to date and generally sweeter. Here are some official words about the patch from SI themselves:

The 9.3.0 patch includes all the January transfer window moves, and updates managers’ movement too, as well as a bunch of bug fixes.

It is also save game compatible, so you can continue playing your current games, although to make use of the updated database you will need to start a new game.


As always, there are a ton of changes brought by the 9.3.0 FM 2009 patch. For the full list and lots of addresses where to download the patch, check out the Official Football Manager 2009 Forums.

Andria Challenge: Transfers for Serie B

Friday, February 27, 2009

As promised, I am showing you today the players I have signed to help us avoid relegation from the Serie B this season. I wasn't able to spend too much - actually I wasn't able to spend anything, since Andria is completely broke, but I did manage to snap up a few player - great ones, given the circumstances.

Players IN
I am most excited by this Uruguayan central midfielder Manuel Sanchez, who will probably take the place of my best player three seasons ago, the great Yann Schneider. But since his skills are lower, he might have to become a substitute. Hopefully he will do well, he has great passing skills and creativity and even though his mental skills are not good, he's one of the best players in the squad now.Second, I am impressed and have high hopes in Younes Gimenez, another regen, this time French, specially build as a central defender. His only problem is Marking (just 8), and I do employ a man marking system, but I hope that his other incredible skills will compensate for that. Anyway, he's the best defender in the squad!
I needed badly a right defender, since Antonio Carnevali can't rise up to the challenge anymore, so I signed Dutch winger Nigel Van Dijk, who will probably become a first team instead of the older (and skill-less) Algerian DR, Karim Azizou.
Finally, since I was disappointed by my wingers this season - especially the left wingers Sorin Ciobanu, Mario Rebecchi and Ousmane Sy - none of which played well, I had to sign new players there. For the left side I signed Vittorio Triarico with great teamwork and work rate, but still not looking like the player I need. However, I do hope he will do a better job than the others...
And finally, the last transfer in is Andrea Verdenelli, basically planned to take Sorin Ciobanu's place as the back-up right midfielder. He's again a good team player and crosser, but he's slow and has pretty poor mental attributes. He should do well as a backup, though.

Players Out
I plan to let go quite a few of my players, who are not ready for Serie B. The awful strikers Eugen Nita and Sami will be simply thrown away since they were absolutely rubbish, Mario Rebbecchi and probably Stanescu will also leave. Also, I would like to get a new goalkeeper, a better one than the Romanian one Gabriel Ignat, and if I do, then I will have to sell Sebastien Scherer, Luxembourg's national keeper. Lets hope for the best!

Andria Challenge: Season 4 Final Update

Wednesday, February 25, 2009

Wow! That's everything I can say about my fourth season with Andria in Football Manager 2009. I am impressed, amazed and blown away by the progress we have managed to obtain: dubbed for a mediocre season, my Andria Bat challenge went extraordinarily and we've managed to promote to the Serie B! Yes, that's right, we are now part of the real football - impressive, having in mind that four seasons ago, when the computer was randomly placing me at the helm of Andria, the team was dubbed for relegation from the Serie C1/C.

I must admit that I was completely impressed by how the players played. I never expected to obtain promotion and I was only hoping for them to gel and build up for the next season when I was planning to attack the promotion to the Serie B. However, thanks to Rozman and the company, we are up and ready for the real challenge: Serie B, a division in which I'll most certainly have trouble staying in.

As you can see, we've placed six and won incredible battles (incredibly easy also) in the playoffs. There was a point in the final when I thought about losing the game with intention, since there's no way my team is ready (or has the financial power) to go one division up, but then thought that if the players want it so much, maybe we'll be able to do something next year, too. Congrats to the lads, they were impressive!
As you can see from the standings below (and above), Andria's main strength was the defense. We never lost hard, and we battled bravely for every result. We're not yet a scoring, powerful team, but we do have strength back there and, even though the games are not always a joy to watch, we're still doing a great job getting the results. First we'll get the results, next we'll focus on making a real show for the fans.
From the players, I must signal out, once again, Bostjan Rozman, the young striker which might turn into a legend if he keeps playing like that (a legend for the club, and at least until we get to Serie A :P) - he scored 9 goals and was impressive always, creating goals and playing well. Also, I was surprised by the strength proven by Johnny Giansante, a striker Roma (my parent club) sent to me and who managed to score an impressive 8 goals, despite I didn't have any plans to play him. But due to bad performances from Sami (gambling on a striker without pace was not worth it) and Marco Di Matteo (who simply can't gel with the squad), he proved a great loan.
Also, Ivan Vellucci was considered the second best signing of the season, so I must say I am impressed with him as well. Hopefully we'll build on this incredible, unbelievable feat next season and manage to stay in the Serie B. I do hope we'll finally get over the financial crysis we have in the team and I will finally be able to purchase some players and not be forced to keep my eye on expiring contracts. But about transfers and plans for the future, in another post!

Best Football Manager 2009 Attack Tactics

Monday, February 23, 2009

Although I have to play a defensive tactic with my Andria Bat team in Football Manager 2009, I am a keen admirer of fun, exciting, attacking football. So I went a did some scouting about the best attacking tactics for Football Manager 2009, which will give you victories and many goals. It's pretty find to find the "best" or to declare which of these FM2009 attack tactics work (since player stats matter), but here are some of those that looked most impressive:

1. The first and most productive attacking tactic seems to be one from the TrueFootballManager website, one used by the author with his Hull challenge (we all have challenges, see?). This tactic is a very offensive 4-1-2-2-1 tactic which seems impressive. Check it out HERE.

2. The second attacking tactic which seemed quite nice and brought great results to Man City is a straightforward 4-3-3 tactic, especially good for those who don't like to play football on the flanks. Check it out with a bag of details over at the FM Diary blog.

3. And finally, the best attacking tactic for Football Manager 2009: the one YOU will create. That's the real challenge, that's the real manager in you. So head on to this website and read evrything one has to know about tactics, players, and creating the right attacking tactic. Good luck!

Rean on Everything Football Manager even more about tactics!

Side-challenge for Andria: Armando Carnevali Youngster

Saturday, February 21, 2009

If you do remember, I have launched a little while ago a small so-called side-challenge for my Football Manager 2009 game, basically taking the youngster which is described as "the best to come" and offering it a contract, first team chances and so on, just too see how well he develops.

My first and only player until now was Armando Carnevali, a rather poor central defender (but good for the Serie C1/C I was in back then). Although he doesn't have the necessary skills, I also trained him to play as a right back, just to get even more playing chances. He does play well, but unfortunately, he won't be a name to add to my wonderkids list. Check him for yourself. With coaches twice as better and with two more years in his back, he still didn't improve much at all!

Andria Challenge: Season 4 Middleseason Update

Tuesday, February 17, 2009

Hello everybody and welcome to a new update on my Ultimate Football Manager 2009 Challenge: Andria Challenge. I'm already in my fourth season during the fantastic spell at Italian club Andria Bat and I must admit I'm really pleased with what I accomplished thus far, even though I did not win any awards: however, I am constantly improving the squad and I am satisfied with the tactic I found, even though it's not a spectacular one at all and we don't score too many goals.

However, we do pretty well on the football field since my players have shown great attitude and an incredible desire to beat the odds once more and maybe gain promotion. To the Italian Serie B in four seasons, with a team dubbed for relegation from the fourth division - that's something I'm really not expecting to happen but with a bit luck it might come true! Incredible!
However, it's still a long way to go as we're only in mid-season right now, but things are looking impressive. As you can see, Andria is at number 4 in the charts, which means we're promotion candidates! However, the battle is very tight and if my team gets complacent or something bad happens, I might be quickly down the table. Which might not be necessary a bad thing, since the Andria squad is not 100% ready for the much better and intense Serie B.

Although I don't have any specific players to not now at mid season - we're doing well as a team and there are no particular highlits - I must admit that I am absolutely unhappy with the lack of lack I had with one of the best signings during the pre-season, young and promising Spanish midfielder Jacinto Navarro: as you can see from the screenshot below, he only managed to play three games (all as a substitute) because he was plagued by injuries. Actually, every time he recovered from an injury, he got a new one - which is driving me mad. Unfortunately this means that he's very prone to injuries and I can't do anything with such a player which can't play. I will be very sad to see him go, since I had high hopes invested in him... but that's football.
Now I don't want to go over excited with Andria's placement in the Serie C1/B, but I do wonder - if my Football Manager 2009 challenge takes me to a point where I will be promoted together with the team in the Serie B - would that be a good thing? I have lots of players which would be sub-standard for the Serie B competition. Time will tell for sure and I will certainly keep you updated!

Ultimate Team Logo Collection for Football Manager 2009

Thursday, February 12, 2009

Football Manager 2009 is a pretty complete game and a very solid simulation, but it still misses some things (which is understandable). Right now I have found a link towards a Logo Collection which promises to be the full team logo collection for Football Manager 2009. Finally, something like that to make our simulation closer to reality!

Have in mind that the download of the team logos for FM09 is quite big, weighting exactly 810MB so for those with poor connection might take a while!

Also have in mind that this file, being so big, is available via a Torrent download. Do not worry, it's not anything illegal, it's just a way of sharing it. You can grab the torrent here.

On the website I have pointed you to there are also other torrents with graphics for Football Manager 2009 and you can download them too.

How to install the Ultimate Team Logo Collection in Football Manager 2009.


Copy the downloaded file into My Documents\Sports Interactive\Football Manager 2009
Start FM09. Go to Preferences -> Display & Sound. Uncheck Use Skin Cache and check Always Reload Skin On Confirm.

Please remember to keep seeding the file after downloading, so more people can enjoy this comprehensive FM09 Team Logo pack.

Cheat at Football Manager 2009 with Real Time Editor

Wednesday, February 11, 2009

We all know that cheating, especially in a game like Football Manager 2009 simply ruins the fun and is pointless, but if for any reason you decide to cheat and “boost” the stats of your players, club or whatever, there is a handy tool called Real Time Editor for FM09. With this tool, you can edit the Football Manager 2009 database while you're playing, so if you want to do something like that, download the tool.

NOTE: Make sure to create a backup to your game because unforeseen problems might appear.

Requirements to install the tool: Have FM2009 patch v9.1.0 installed, have Microsoft .NET 3.5SP1 installed.

Download Football Manager Cheat tool Real Time Editor here.

Wonderkids Update: Five New Top Young Players

Monday, February 9, 2009

Today I am adding my latest findings to the wonderkids list for Football Manager 2009, with five new names of great youngsters to be written for all of you to enjoy. As always, I have posted some screenshots of their stats, so you can check them out before purchasing! Here are the latest wonderkids!

Haris Vuckic (AM/FC) - a bit slow for an offensive player, but great stats for his age

Marco Martina Rini (MC) - simply a jewel, a must have player that will boss the midfield for sure!

Nordin Amrabat (AM RLC/FC) - a grea all around player which can be used in any position. Have in mind that he's a right legged football player!

Kyriakos Papadopoulos (DC) - impossible name, great skills for this young defender

Vaclav Kadlec (AM/FC) - quality youngster which can improve his stats a lot with proper training.

Remeber to check back to this personal FM09 blog for more advice of Football Manager 2009 players, challenges and much more! Add us to your bookmarks or subscribe using the button in the upper right corner, to stay always updated!

Andria Challenge: End of Season 3 Update

Thursday, February 5, 2009

The third season with Andria has ended and, unlike what media and board were expecting, Andria Bat managed to stay in the Serie C1/B. I could say that we even managed to grab a great position, ending the season in the Top 10 :) Also, I am happy we only lost 11 matches, which means that my Andria Challenge is going on great and I hope we'll be able to build on this for the next season!
As you can see from the charts, our defense was not a great one, scoring one goal less than those received, but compared to other mid-table teams, we did well. It's worth noting that Gela, the team that won the Serie C2/B last season and who promoted together with me continued its series of incredible results and won the division. From Serie C1 to Serie B in two seasons, that's something I would've loved for my Andria team, too!

My recent signing Vincent Beduer topped the performers chart - actually, in my Top 5 best performers, it's just winger Ciobanu who's an offensive player, which means that our defense was really great and indeed it was, helping Andria a lot. The strikers were good too but you all know that Football Manager 2009 tends to offer very low scores to strikers... I was pleased with Marco Di Matteo, though, who scored 10 goals and even though he's still trying hard to blend in, I hope he'll do OK. My own wonderkid (for the C1 level) Bostjan Rozman didn't score as much, but I am pleased with the players' performance.
Exceptions are Otman Djelliahine, an AMC in which I invested lots of hope, but who was simply unable to cope with the Andria squad, and Eugen Nita, the striker which scored just 3 goals in 26 matches...

TRANSFERS IN

Next season will see a stronger Andria squad (I hope), with a couple of transfers making me really happy. I do hope they perform well and manage to blend in and won't prove to be poor signings like Djelliahine. First of all, I'm most excited by the prospect of Jacinto Navarro, a young defensive midfielder with incredible stats, who can also play as central defender. If everything works fine, I think I'll be seeing a lot of Navarro in the future :)
I have also signed a very skilled Striker, 22 years-old Guinea-Bissau born Sami. His technical attributes are simply impressive and hopefully the very poor physical ones (especially a very low speed) will not hurt his performances too much. I consider him a good prospect, and hopefully a pleasant surprise for next year.
I have also signed in Ivan Vellucci, basically back-up for Sorin Ciobanu (but with potential to become the first choice is he plays well) and Daniel Popescu, a decent left back who will replace the old Luigi Di Simone as Beduer's backup. The two players are below.
PLANS FOR SEASON 4

Hopefully I will manage to sell a few of the dead weight players and hopefully the club will start making a profit. Ever since I started we've been struggling financially, and I don't have anything to do to help - I have a lower wage total than permitted and I rarely spend money. Still, we've recorded losses every season - less than 10k overall, but it's not a progress and it doesn't help. And since I need quality players to obtain promotion, this should be fixed. I'll do my best.

Therefore, the plans for the fourth season of my Andria Challenge in Football Manager 2009 are to keep a steady growth of the team (maybe finish close to the promotion battle) and prepare the team for a hopefully promotion in two seasons. Serie B, here I come!