First Touch is Crucial

Season summary + pre season

2010-02-23T11:23:00.000-08:00

After so and so season we finished in 7th place once again. We struggled to find our own style of play and rhytm. Starting out with a plain 4-3-3 and ending the season with a refined 4-1-2-1-2. I feel confindent going into the next season, we've found out what I believe is the best system, where we can challenge the big teams every time we face them. I'll show you some of the better results against the big ones.

Probably my most satisfying win. We really dominated this game right from the start, even though we didn't get to any real goal scoring oppurtunities. But my both strikers are young and inexperienced, but they're growing by every game.

A fine and comfortable win where we had an amazing first half. Tottenham did come back in the second half but couldn't produce that lethal touch in front of goal.

A good display against the best team in the league, they scored on every opportunity and we didn't.. that's really the big difference.

Here are the rest of the results, we stepped it up in the later part of the season but still managed to get some unlucky results in, like the one against burnley and middlesbrough.

I snapped up Akinefeev! on a free transfer deal in the winter and he replaced Ochoa, who by no means did a bad job, but we did let too many goals past us. Akinfeev became that wall i needed, and he should be, as he might be one of the best goalies in the game.

Goncharenko did a great job in midfield but unfortunatly i had to let him go. I tried to renew his contract but he couldn't get a new work permit, his stay here has been hampered with injuries, so I had to cash in on him. I got 7,5 M £ from PAOK, but I had to pay some of Gonchas wages.

Candreva was another player I had to let go. Whined most of the season about the competition for places and never really produced any good displays when I gave him the chance. Got a big transfer out of him from Marseille - 8,5 M £.

Other players that left was Addison (9,5) Robinson (free), Burton (2,5) and Hill (free)

So, on to the transfers for next season:

Young prospect for the fullback positions.

Mats Hummels from Dortmund was a good centre back. Not better than what I have but it was tough finding any good defenders this season. He'll rotate a lot with Cathcart. Kryvtsov still feels like the best defender.

Petrucci, United bred italian. Bought him off of Celtic and I was impressed with his development. Will be Canales back-up in that creative AMC role.

Mateo Mustacchio was a great find. 12 M £ isn't that bad either and he'll be my starting Right fullback and be a great cover for the central positions aswell.

Marquinhos was this seasons transfer bomb. Tried to get him last season aswell but couldn't finance the deal back then. Now I splashed the rest of my budget on one player, Hummels was actually bought after Marquie so i had some wiggle room. Will form a great striking force with Rossvold, Winter and MacDonald.

Good first games, qualified comfortably against Caen. I didn't manage my team in the friendly games but the team produced some good displays without me.

Dec 2014 - Europe and PL

2010-02-21T10:04:00.000-08:00

I had taken a break from FM for about a week, didn't feel the inspiration as the team juggled with results and letting far to many easy goals past them. I found out yesterday what might have been the problem.. I had for some reason focues playing out the wings..but I'm not feilding any wingers.. I play a very tight powerful central midfield that spreads out when attacking and gets back behind the ball in defence. After I changed this I gained much more control of the games, I also did some minor adjustment on the defenders and the "pushing up" of the backline.

Still not feeling the team spirit yet and i might focus on playing with the same starting 11 for a few mathes in a row now.

Aug 2014 Transfers

2010-02-13T11:22:00.000-08:00

Here's the final standings from the season that went. European qualification was a satisfying achievement, I had hopes of getting 6th place but Meh.. who cares as long as we achieve the same thing either way.

Restructing the squad was the next step, even though not as radical as I was afraid of halfway through last season. I'll be keeping my tight midfield and sell off Camacho and bring in some more creativity in midfield. Some attackers will be looking for new clubs as i need to shrink squad in that department and instead add 1 or 2 new fullbacks. Rossvold is safe in attack but the rest is pretty much up for grabs. Obolo is old, Vaughan is always injured, Naki isn't settling into the way I'd like to play, MacDonald is pretty much safe aswell seeing as he's an own-product by now.

Some time went and here's how it played out.

I'll summerize the players quickly. Gosling was a filler-player, as he can play both in DR and the midfield positions. Jack Cork was an alternative but he was a bit too expensive in the latter stages of the transfer window. Tiendalli was also a filler, but I really wanted a bench player that could cover both fullback positions.

I was closing to sign him last window but he got snapped up by another team (Spartak Moscow i think.. I don't wanna double check) and I had to buy him now instead. He and Rossvold will form a very exciting striker duo.

Bertrand was the perfect option for my vacant left back position, quick, strong and technical... and english! :)

Canales, somewhat my new favourite real-life player. Couldn't let Real get there dirty hands on him in FM aswell. He's looking really good in the game thankfully.

I needed a good second keeper and I didn't have many to choose from. There was an even better regen from Italy but he was first choice in Palermo and had no interest in joining Millwall anyway. This was the smart choice, loaning him with a buy-out option (6M £).

Candreva will add some much needed creativity in midfield, is also a perfect option if i want to play with wingers at some point.

This was a filler player. Won't get that much playing time. Probably...

Gosling is more versatile and english, and with his paycheck I'll be sure to make use of him when I see fit.

The tactics I've been trying out so far. Playing out the european qualifying opponent Valur (11-0) in 2 games. Lost narrowly to Man City(0-1) and then beat Portsmouth 5-2 away from home.

Feel free to comment on my choices so far... or just Ask questions!

/Majk

January Updates 2014

2010-02-12T16:00:00.000-08:00

Millwall is going steady in the top-half of the Premier League and is currently in 8th place. ( I've actually played up until game 30, but I'm gonna go through the important stuff up until january )

Top 3 players so far:

Sergiy Kryvtsov (23) - avg rating: 7.34 - 32 apps 4 goals 2 assists

Guillermo Ochoa (28) - avg rating: 7.20 - 29 apps 33 conc 11 cln

McDonald Mariga (26) - avg rating: 7.13 - 32 apps 8 goals 2 assists

I'm extremly happy with my central defenders (Kryvtsov+Cathcart) along with Ochoa, they really tighten things up at the back. We used to let goals get past us way too easy but things have certainly changed.

They problem we're having is not having a working attacking-style of play. It's more power football and when we get chances we usually have no idea who passed, or we have those break-away moments the strikers gets themselves out of the defenders way but can't seem to get it past the keeper.

I'm planning on changing my play to a more ordinary 4-4-2 and have some natural attacking wingers produce chances from the flanks. This means having to sell off some of my central midfielders and striker and spending the money on some really good creative wingers. Camacho, Tshabalala will probably leave seeing they ain't getting enough playing time as it is. Petrov and Goncharenko could prove to be a perfect pairing in a new midfield central set-up. Mariga will be staying as he can play on the right and as a striker. I love his versatility.

I'm not posting pictures right now because it messes up everything I've written so far. But i'll put them up at the end of my season, it's a promise.

As for my Ghana career it's been terminated. I qualified for the World cup, was very happy with that but didn't enjoy the squad options. All the great players where in central midfield, adn then there was Opare as a great wing-back but no real options in Goal, Left defence, Wings or Attack. (A.Gyan was OK though).

Instead Ivory Coast approached me, seeing as they were also going to play in the WC and had a pretty easy group with France, Paraguay and Montenegro, I decided to go with them instead. They're not much better than Ghana but they're more balanced.

Back to Millwall - As I mentioned I'm currently in 8th position and I've been hanging around in that region for quite some time. 5th place is in reach with just 4 points up. The Teams ahead of me are, in order:

Chelsea
Man City
Man Utd
Arsenal
Everton
Tottenham
Aston Villa

I have a nice schedule ahead of me with only Manchester United as the real threat. Liverpool is in the last game but they're not going too good, even got Benitez sacked a few weeks back, lying in 10th position. I'm hoping for 6th place and it's achievable looking at my contenders fixture-lists.

Wish me luck!

/Majk

End to a season, and the start of a new one

2010-02-07T07:58:00.000-08:00

We ended the season with a very good run getting two especially tough wins against Liverpool (1-0) and Wolves (2-1) and in the very last game we sealed our position with a 1-0 win against Sunderland.

Goncharenko, Addison, Cathcart, Ochoa did really well overall this season. The strikers helped out but never at the same time. There was always a new striker to score the winner every new game. I'm missing that consistent goalscorer but maybe it's my fault for shifting the tactics a lot in the beginning and midle of the campaign. This season will be different now that I've found a set up that works against big teams aswell as smaller opposition.

Zigoni could've been a Millwall player by now but we had the same issue as Johnny Karp and his Notts Co. Zigoni felt he was too good for The Lions, maybe he would've been, but he certainly wasn't at the moment. We'll have to look for other options now. Strengthening the defensive line is a bigger concern though where Garics will be sold to open up for a really good full-back.

As you can see we managed to strengthen most areas. I couldn't lure a top striker to the club. The players left to choose from where all getting to expensive. Defederico, Marquinhos, Neymar, Tardelli, where all a few millions too steep and the players I could afford didn't want to join (O.Cardozo). I decided on pushing for young turkish player Deniz Naki who played for Lazio but was valued really low compared to his stats. He was a more creative forward and could add to the mix of strikers i already possess.

Sergiy Kryvtsov is the catch of the window for me. An extremly solid defender who has his best years ahead of him. He's outstanding in every department except for his decision-taking which is a mere 9. But I don't really think that'll matter too much.

Tim Cahill, former Millwall star returns home at the tender age of 33. I had a dream about taking Cahill back to The Lions before his career ended and thankfully i got the opportunity when he still had something to give to the team. Statwise he's still one heck of a player and he'll be vice captain to Miles Addison, I'll certainly look for Tim to learn some the younger players one or two tricks.

Thiaguinho is the right back I was looking for. Pretty cheap aswell, possessing the stats of a centre back(except jumping) and add the speed of a wing-back and you'll have this brazilian regen.

Deniz Naki was the striker I was talking about earlier. I'm hoping he'll develop into that superstriker i needed this year.

Migliaccio is already 32 but has great stats for a central defender. His main place is in midfield though but he'll act as a very good cover for both positions.

Jason Brown wanted to leave the club to get more playing time so I had to add a back-up keeper who could step up if Ochoa got injured. Westwood is no where near Ochoas quality but for the price paid I got a fairly good keeper.

Millwall has started out impressivly with a fine 1-0 win against Arsenal in the opening game and then just continued winning. Let's hope this streak will last a while longer.

Mid-season 2013 Feb

2010-02-06T14:28:00.001-08:00

Millwall is holding their own this year. In a respectable 9th position in the Premier League it's looking like I will achieve the goals i've set infront of me and my team.

High points this year is the formation we found after some time into he season where it totally stabilized the play, from going up and down, from playing well to getting totally dominated. Now it's less goals in both directions and we seem to have the upper hand in most of the games, except against the big teams. But we never seem to get outplayed like we did before.

The new formation is a pretty straight-forward 4-3-3 with to ball-winners in midfield togheter with a deep-laying playmaker. With Vaughan back we now have a nice attacking set-up. Mariga is learning to play in attack aswell and Ivan Obolo has joined from Zenit on a free transfer.

I've been letting Craig Cathcart play as a right back up until now because he was the only one capable. Addison took his place in central defence togheter with Paul Robinson. I signed Garics as a new RB and this lets Cathcart get back to his old position as CD and Robinson will probably start from the bench.

I had to sell a few players to raise funds and clear some space on the wage budget.

Anichebe - 4M £ (Young Boys)
Hofland - 1,6M £ (Empoli)
Swanson - 4,5 £ (Cagliari)
O'Toole - 5,75M £ (Caen)

I can't understand where this money is going because I had hopes of getting enough funds to buy out Zigoni who has been my best striker so far with 10 goals in 18 games.

2012 September 1st - transfer news

2010-02-05T08:08:00.000-08:00

A quick transfer summary would be: Fairly well!

I got a much needed improvement in goal ( Ochoa - 5 full stars, Very versatile keeper )
My Midfield also got some very strong players in Mariga, Petrov and Camacho. I'll think about retraining Mariga to either MR or ST.. since his attributes would be fantastic for a Tower striker. He has a fairly good aptitude (yellow/light green dot) for playing as any of those two new positions.

Parma had been down in Serie B and didn't qualify this year either. Mariga was the only big star left in their team. Got him for 5,5M £ and I see that as a bargain.

Craig is an old loanee player at Millwall and grew fond of my team when he was here. Wasn't needed at Man Utd but I had to fend of Werder Bremen to get him.

Petrov, another great ukrainian talent to go hand in hand with Goncharenko. I believe Petrov is even better and is probably the strongest central piece at Millwall.

I tried for Joe Hart once again but his demands were too high. Guillherme Ochoa was in my opinion an even better option. I've always loved this player, even in real life. Is seen as my best player overall by my scouts. Can't really disagree...

Van de Laak is a cheap rotation player. I had to add width to the squad and his ability to play both as MR, AMR and ST made him a valuable player. James Vaughan had gotten injured in training at this point so the search for Strikers were priority 1. Having sold Garner earlier I only had MacDonald and Anichebe to rely on. None of them are starting material.. MacDonald is however a coming big striker.

Gianmarco Zigoni, as a big Milan-supporter i know about this young striker in real life. I'm sure he'll develop like this IRL aswell, good job FM. Had done a good job with Johnny Karp at Notts Co so I was pretty sure he could handle it in the Premier League. A loan with a buy-out clause at 2,9M £.

Erik Rossvold is a young regen I've been watching for the last season. Has much better aerial abilities than MacDonald, and his overall a more ready striker. Will fill in for Vaughan togheter with Zigoni in Attack.

I've been going at it for this guy for the last 4 transfer windows.. He hasn't bloomed yet and I find it strange. He always develops to be a fantasti DMC, maybe it's the new patch or maybe it's just a random occurance. I'm sure that he'll be a wonder in my midfield if he just gets regular playing time. Welcome Ignacio!

I've changed my tactics a bit since last season. Depending more on my midfield to be a better cover for my defence. Playing more counter attacking football against better teams (Arsenal, City,Chelsea etc) and a more controlling or attackin style when we face teams of lower or equal quality. (Hull, Sunderland, West Ham etc.)

Here's the first games.

Had a fine game against the Villains and is pleased with the draw. It could've gone either way.

Arsenal dominated me but didn't really get any dangerous chances. A mistake in the marking on a free-kick gave them their goal and i countered some great attacks but couldn't put it past Almunia.

Leicester was easy to dominate, too bad it wasn't a PL game.

I've set my sights on a mid-table finish, and I said that to the board aswell. I feel confindent in my squad compared to last season.

May 2012 - The plague has ended

2010-02-04T15:07:00.000-08:00

I really can't find much positive words for my first season with the big boys. I'm just thankful i guess that they allowed me to cling to the little dignity I had left by allowing me to be last team to avoid relegation. As for my players contribution I just a few bright notes to share.

Goncharenko - Young player of the Year. Had a splendid season though a bit injury prone, but when he played he duly delivered.

Miles Addison - Another signing that really did well in my sinking ship.

Adam Bolder - Won't stay in the team for next season.. or at least I don't think so. His stats are way below what they should and his age is against him. Still he performs really well for Millwall. You might even call him an enigma.. a mystery player.

Goals conceded is a horrible sight.. but then again at the end I didn't really bother with playing it safe. I had my share of bad luck, losing a few 3-pointers in the last few minutes.. for instance I was 2-1 up against United in one of the latter games and managed to lose 2 points to a agonizingly late equaliser.

A semi-final in the FA cup is the high-point of my career so far i guess. Hooray for me.

Now awaits a very important transfer period.

Be well!

The Signings and the Struggle...

2010-02-02T16:13:00.000-08:00

The season started out pretty decent with 11 points in 8 games. Losing to teams like Man City(1-4) and Tottenham(0-2), and a stinging and unfair defeat to Newcastle(2-3). Wins were taken against Stoke, Bolton and Everton. Then came the Black period.. it wasn't a month of bad results..it was like autumn and winter all togheter crashed down on my puny Millwall squad. Injuries, bad luck and poor performances led to the most disastrous period I've been in.

In 11 league games we lost 8 and drew 3. Horrible! In this streak we did meet the big four. Arsenal(1-2), United (0-2), Chelsea (1-3) and Liverpool (1-4). We also had no luck against Teams like Burnley (2-5) and Hull (1-3 they got a red card in first half).

In the last games we've picked ourselves up a bit and have drawn to straight games and won in the FA cup 3rd round against West Brom.

well.. our aim is still to finish in 11-12th place. The FA cup is also an option to shine.

On to the Signings I did. Now in picture form.

Peter Larsson.

Started out impressivly but has dropped in form quite a bit. Isn't producing along with the rest of the squad. Can't really blame him though.

Joe Garner

Probably my best striker this season... Doesn't say much though as they've all been under-achieving.

Sergiy Goncharenko

The Brigth spot in the Squad. Despite his tender age he performs wonders as Millwalls playmaker.

Adam MacDonald

Is a very promising attacker. Has scored 3 times in the cups and once in the league. Is used sparingly but is looking to be a big player in he future.

Dylan Burton

Another fine youngster. Had to replace Addison a few times due to injuries and has managed quite well. The youngest player in my team.

Wayne Tshabalala

What a wonderful name! An own product who looks very interesting. I have high hopes for him.

FM is funny sometimes...

2010-02-01T19:34:00.001-08:00

...or is it just my sense of humour that's a tad distasteful.

I'll have to talk to the lads about their recent off the pitch activities. Dylan Burton might be the envy of the other boys in the squad though... geez.

Transfer trouble and pre-season

2010-02-01T14:10:00.000-08:00

I had 12 players in my squad when the loaned players returned home. Of these twelve only 8 players fit the squad in terms of quality and earlier playing time for the club.

Jason Brown - Gk

Paul Robinson - DC

Martin Taylor - DC

Tony Craig - WBL

Nadjim Abdou - DMC

Adam Bolder - MC

Razak Boukari - AMR (hasn't settled in - crybaby)

Victor Anichebe - FC

Gary Alexander - FC (Old and not good enough... a real Millwall hero though)

#1 - So Ill be needing a new DC, a new Craig Cathcart, a new heart in defence.

#2 - A solid Midfielder/Playmaker.

#3 - 1 top class striker. (I'm hoping for James Vaughan)

#4 - A Defensive midfielder

#5 - Stable Right Winger

#6 - Broaden the squad with bargains and youngsters.

So here's who it went...

I'll post some pics of the new signings later on.

Joe Garner was just behind Vaughan in the championships top goalscorer. Peter Larsson was a great buy, with limited funds left. I had hopes of loaning Cathcart back but he had no intenion of returning... even though Millwall is his favourite club now. John Fleck was extremely happy to get a call back. I have a signing clause on his loan deal to make it permanent later on. ( i think it's in the 4M £ region).

I wanted to bring in a few other players but my low wage budget stopped a few deals, aswell as the club stature. Joe Hart would have been a great find for only 2M £ but had no intenion of joining. The same with Lorik Cana.. Addison works out there instead. Stings a bit that I didn't have the funds to finalise a 2,6M £ deal for co-owned Marco Verratti. Paulo Sammarco could've joined but I chose to save the money for Peter Larsson. Overall I'm happy with my signings and it's mainly up to the fact that I managed to sign many HomeGrown players.

O'Toole

Hill

Addison

Vaughan

Garner

MacDonald (regen)

Fox

Burton (regen)

The End to the season...

2010-01-31T18:36:00.000-08:00

We managed to claim a Play-off spot. To my disbelief we dropped a lot of easy points in the last 10-12 games. Otherwise we would've hanged on to our secure promotion spot. Too bad, too bad. The chasing pack containing amongst other a deadly Birmingham side, but also a competent Sheff Utd and Bristol.

I was to face off with Bristol while Birmingham got the Sheffield Utd challenge. I beat Bristol in the last game of the season, 2-0. My thoughts on going through to the playoff final was set.. maybe prematurely.

To my obvious dissapointment Bristol instantly got the upper hand of the game by scoring to quick goals. We never got back into the game. In all fairness they were much better on their home turf. We'd have to come out with real force in the second leg...

and we did! An extremely eventful game where we controlled the match in normal time. 2-0 was achieved an extra time had to follow. I felt brimming with confidence, making no changes to the squad. Some fo my important players were on the bench with minor injuries, I had more need for them in a possible final, and we had been controlling the match so far.

..but disaster struck in the 96th minute. Peter Styvar got the better of my defence in a break away situation and placed a cool finish past Jason Brown. We got back into are style of play immediatly but could muster anything more that a few lame shots against Bristols keeper.

I had to keep my cool. I had faith in my men and I kept the squad intact for the second half of the extra-time. We played really well, pushing their defence back, with lethal passing and good runs forward. Vaughan managed to create a corner from a deflected attempt. Bolder went out to take the corner while the rest of the team moved up, leaving only Ekdal and Craig left. The corner was whipped in hard, and it took a deflection off Vaughan in the air, stung the palms of the keeper. But the ball dropped out infront of goal where Cathcart was anticipating it perfectly and volleyd a smashing shot into the top corner. We where level!!!

Both teams were on their knees for the remainder of the game and it had to be settled on penalties.

I picked Ekdal to go first, Bolder second, Anichebe, Alexander and lastly Vaughan. I picked Anita as the 6th man in case there were extra penalties. The rest of the squad had no penalty taking skills at all so it wouldn't really matter after the 6th spotkick.

Ekdal scored - So did Bristol 1-1

Bolder put it wide! - Bristol went ahead 1-2

Anichebe scored - Bristol aswell 2-3

Alexander scored! - and Bristol did a Bolder copy and missed wide off the post. 3-3

Vaughan scored - Bristol scored 4-4

Anita scored - Bristol scored 5-5

Hill scored - Bristol scored 6-6

Craig scored - Bristol scored 7-7

Cathcart stepped up.. and missed!! oh god - Bristols penalty was saved, bless you Brown! 7-7

Robinson... Scored! - Bristol has the pressure. Misses!! 8-7

In a movie-like shoot-out thriller we came out victors!

The final was yet to come and I had a bad feeling. If Bristol posed such a threat then Birmingham would be even tougher. I had to prepare everything, Put the absolute best in-form eleven on the pitch. I put Adu in a more more normal winger position(MR), instead of an inside forward(AMR). Vaughan and Anichebe started up front.

That move was a much needed one. I granted me more control of their flanks and we played more directly when we won the ball in the middle of the pitch, allowing Vaughan to use his strength and pace to break through their defence. We were 3-0 up in HT and they struggle really bad. Second half was a bit boring, they did manage to claw one back through Cristian Benitez but that was it. We won the final with an impressive display and I couldn't be happier.

Millwall is going to play in the Premier League!

Here is the Player ratings for the season. Vaughan won top goalscorer with 35 goals. He also took place in the team of the year, along with Freddy Adu.

2 new signings, and Sam Vokes returns to Wolves

2010-01-31T09:58:00.000-08:00

It's been bugging me that I can't really achieve anything with out loaning in players of much higher calibre than my own. Even though it's not cheating it just doesn't feel as good as it would have if it were my own boys.

Therefor I'm trying to adjust it when I get the chance.

My first buy was before mentioned: Razak Boukari

He'll do his bidding down the right wing. Jeremy Pied the loanee has occupied this spot until now. Boukari will from now on play most of the remaining matches, while Pied will be his back-up.

The second player to join Millwall in january is: Victor Anichebe

He's a friend of Vaughan, and Vaughan is his friend. I'm hoping this could help lure James back to Millwall on a more permanent move. Vaughan is already viewing Millwall as one of his favourite clubs. Anichebe has some similar stats to Vaughan. Good aerial skils and finishing, though not as quick as James, but still decent. He's only 22 aswell.

I'm having some problems uploading pictures, but I could put them up in my next post.

Millwall is topping the championship at the moment. 1 point ahead of Reading. Blackburn is a contender togheter with Bristol, Nott Forest and Ipswich. Former PL club Birmingham is trailing a bit and hopefully they'll miss out so that i can buy some of their players. Seb Larsson is one of my objectivs if that were to happen.

Still on promotion spot!

2010-01-31T06:03:00.000-08:00

It's looking extremely well for my team. Even though there are a lof of games to be played I think it's safe to say that we'll definetly be playing for one of the spots in the top-4.

Had a short slump of form while Vaughan was out injured for a few weeks. I tought that Vokes and Destro would cope better, but it was like all the confidence in the lads had left the field with Vaughan. The opposition was tough aswell, Ipswich isn't letting any goals past them in the league and Reading is topping the table so I could've been worse.

With Vaughan back we play a lot better. I will certainly be looking to make his move permament for Millwall next season. Though I'm not sure on what budget they will give me if I get promoted.

No amazing player ratings. Nemanja Matic and Ekdal has been rather dissappointing, while Bolder is doing a good job. Adu has taken over the role has creator in midfield, Pied does his running on the right wing, but will get back-up from a new buy. Razak Boukari is arriving from RC Lens. I'm also very pleased with my "wanna be the Rock" Goalie Jason Brown. Just look at that face! WWF just called and wanted their wrestler back.

A promising start!

2010-01-30T09:43:00.001-08:00

Top of the table...

Good displays, even rattled Burnley in the league cup. They did however break me down in the last 20 minutes. James Vaughan is indispensable, scoring in every league game so far.

This was just a short summary on how the start of the season went. Cheers!

Transfers done. Team assembled.

2010-01-29T17:57:00.000-08:00

I'll go over the more important ones. You all know about Adu, Vokes and Destro, I'm sure.
Hill and Vaughan got call-ups again and didn't turn me down. Pied will get the chance to be my new Fleck this season and Vurnon Anita will play as wing-back aswell as defensive midfielder.

Here's the new team that will challenge for the promotion spots in the Championship.

Jason Brown, Gk.
My first signing was a much needed one. Forde wasn't good enough to guard to goal for another year. Hopefully Brown won't let me down. He's a 4,5 star with my scouts and that's always something. He was really cheap aswell - only 10.000 £.

Nemanja Matic, MC
Creative, Big but Slow midfielder. Will do good in this league I'm sure. One of my starting Midfielders.

Craig Cathcart, DC
A Great defender loaned from Man Utd. Will be the anchorman in my defensive line.

Albin Ekdal, MC
The Regista in my midfield. I'll let him pull the strings, linking defense with attack, with sheer intelligence. The best young swede in the game in my opinion.

Happy end to League 1

2010-01-29T14:41:00.001-08:00

Good times. 100 points even impressed me! Had an amazing end to the season, but I do fear the next season in the championship. Just hope the club can amass some funds for me to strengthen the squad. I'll prolly use the loan plan again to save the club some money. James Vaughan, Matt Hill, John Fleck and Darron Gibson are more than welcome back.

Some good unbeaten streaks there.

Some new loans were found on the market that I may have missed during the summer window, but better late than never. James Vaughan was a revelation, scoring a whooping 21 goals in 19 games. Teamed up great with Cristaldo in attack. Duff was cover for the defence while Kakuta stayed on for 3 months as cover for AMR and midfield.

Gibson was out injured for 2-3 months. I feared in the beginning but millwalls own Adam Bolder stepped in to fill his shoes. Having only played in one of the other midfield roles every other game, not really standing out, sure surprised me when he got his chance.

Just look at one of his first games as the teams playmaker. It speaks for itself.

He finished the season as the league's top assister(?) with 25 assists in 36(3) games.

Thanks for reading. Do post comments on good buys for next season. I need a solid Gk, DC, MC and AMR. Hell, i need new players everywhere.

/Majk

Mid-season standings

2010-01-28T17:42:00.001-08:00

A respectable 2nd place is pleasing to see. Millwall has been playing much better lately and I've managed to figth my way up the table from 12th place. Had a slump of form after just 3 games in the league. I just couldn't get the points with me, ending up letting goals past me in the dying minutes even though we changed to defensiva approach for the last 10 minutes. I even tried staying attacking and still managing to either lose or draw at the end of the game.

But that's in the past. Now my team is playing a great attacking football and always play to outscore the opponent and not playing to secure a 1-0 lead.

The best players being the obvious gem of the transfer market Gibson. I'm playing him in a attacking midfield-playmaker position. Gary Alexander is the goal-mahcine while Cristaldo is starting to really find his pace on english ground. John Fleck is some way down on the list but is putting on good displays, we have to remember that he's only 17 so he's not the most consistent performer.

In other news I'm knocked out of the League Cup in the first round.

But I'm through to the semi's in the Johnston's Paint Trophy. Where I'll meet Torquay.

I'm also through to the 3rd round in the FA cup. Opponents: Aston Villa (ouch!)

Loans are cheaper, go figure.

2010-01-27T12:01:00.000-08:00

No real money spent this first transfer window. Sold of the big earners that I really saw as dead meat. Went for loaning players, prety much the best I could find, and only Hills club (Wolves) wanted some payment for his wages. The other ones were completely free until the end of the season. A great deal as Gibson, Soares and Fleck is first team material.

Hill is being retrained for the CD role and is really doing good in pre-season. He will probably take one of the 3 CD roles. I play with my Reggina tactic, 3-5*-2

Soares is looking good, not as deadly as Gibson but will play a lot for Millwall this season I'm sure.

Gibson is the cogwheel in midfield, linking the attackars with the midfield and seems to be a real goalscorer aswell. The big coup on the market so far.

Fleck is a real favourite of mine. Very flexible and will play both on the AMR and one of the ST roles.

Cristaldo will se plenty of minutes of the field but will prolly need some time to get used to the english style of play.

New team, fresh start

2010-01-27T07:56:00.000-08:00

I have started a new game, In what you seem to think is the toughest league in the world.

Premier League!

I'll be starting in the Coca-cola league 1, along with teams like Leeds, Norwich and Southampton.

The team i chose was Millwall FC. I have some affection for the team and their culture, especially the air of fear surrounding the away team supporters at Millwalls stadium, The Den.

Summer transfers

2010-01-24T05:42:00.000-08:00

The big signings will be showed here in a short reel.

Starting with the biggest one.

Coutinho

Signed as Javier Pastores replacement. Bigger, better, smarter. I have big hopes for him.

Marquinhos is tutoring him at the moment.

Guiseppe Rossi

Everybody knows about this fella. The italian wonder from United and later Villareal. I actually bougth him from Man Utd for about 19 mil €. A cheap price for such an offensive talent. Will rotate with Marquinhos and the right winger. He's my replacement for Borriello.

Andrea Esposito

When Masiello wanted to further his career with Inter I did the obvious thing and bougth my replacement from the same team. I was after Esposito since his Lecce time but couldn't attract him to Reggina. Having won both serie A and CL this year there was no doubt in his mind as to Reggina being the bigger club.

Luis Fernandez

A youngster from Argentina. Signed him from Frankfurt to replacemtn Vargas really, who left in mid-season last year. Jeremy Mathieu didn't impress and is now loaned out to Padova. Luis Fernandez will rotate with the Norwegian, Hauger.

Saul Santos

A young Versatile defensive starlet. Can play in both midfield aswell as centre back. An important player for the future obviously but will get his fair amount of playing time this season too. Some of my cetre backs are getting old now ( Zapata,29;Esposito,30;Verkhovtset,29)
so I'm hoping Saul can step it up in the next few years to claim a starting place.

Oh My..

2010-01-23T14:40:00.000-08:00

Is this really happening.. I just ..won.

I've just played through the Champions league final against Manchester United...

And I won. On extra time. The overtime on the second half of the extra time. Geez.

Fabio Ceravolo equalised Rooneys 1-0 goal. Then he finished the whole thing off by being a real poacher in front of goal during a hectic corner situation where United just couldn't clear the ball.

Reggina won CL!

but that's not it.. they're also champions of the Serie A.

In front of Roma and Napoli.

I'll have some trouble swallowing this idea of being the best at everything.. well except for the Italian cup.

Now I'm looking forward to relax and play some qulifying games wiht Ghana whom I took control of some way in to the season (february 2016)

Star players there are:

Michael Essien

Kwadwo Asamoah

Sulley Muntari

Asamoah Gyan

Who the F*** is Barcelona?

2010-01-22T19:04:00.000-08:00

Reggina knocked out the spanish giant from the first knockout round in the CL.

Who'd believe that at the start of the season. Well now it's reality.. at least gaming reality. My former serie B club got the better of Barca with a 3-2 aggregate win.

The first game was a tight affair where Lukaku scored a late goal in the dying minutes.

Dani Alves did claw one back in stoppage time though, and a draw was a fair result to say the least.

The second game felt a bit more open, with barca being the controlling team and Reggina playing some devastating counter-attacking football. Marquinhos opened the scoring early on, with Barcas new signing Rebov equalised just 15 minutes later.

After some time in the second half we did the unthinkable. We got the better of Barca on their home turf when Verratti blasted in a long range missile, and the Reds from Italy manage to fend the remaing attacks off surprisingly easy.

January passed. Vargas got the big bucks!

2010-01-21T14:35:00.001-08:00

So Vargas dropped ship. Milan offered me 21 mil € for the 32 year old after just 6 months at Reggina. I doubled up on him moneywise so I'm not to depressed.

Jeremy Mathieu was bougth in as cover up and also as a tutor for my up-and-coming star Hauger.

Nice thing to see!

2010-01-18T16:07:00.000-08:00

Looking extremely pleasing at the moment. Just qualified for the knock-out stages in Champions league and on top of that I'm topping the table in Serie A. Very impressive looking at the teams I've played against so far.

Only one loss so far, a few draws against good oppostion. I had a lucky outcome against Fiorentina where I squeezed in the winner on overtime from an amazing break away run from Russotto.

My tactics

2010-01-17T16:26:00.001-08:00

I will present my tactic more deeply this time. It has been tweaked throughout the season to the point where I feel its at its peak. On the picture you will see that i've written out each positions instructions and they way that they're put out they do an excellent job covering up for the others who hold a more offensive position.

I had som trouble making my CM the playmaker. What happened was that i pushed the opposing team back to far, so much that i had trouble breaking through the defense, and I got a lot of counter attacks against my backline aswell. By making one of the striker a playmaker he drops down a bit and breaks the mold of the defensive opposition, opening up ways for the AMR to pass through between defenders.

The left wingback also tends to play great long passes when we counter attack. The target man being the primary goal for long passes. The wingback also acts as the forth defender and tends to stay back a bit.

The defensive ball-winning midfielder covers up the right side decent enough but i would focus on putting the best and fastest central defender on the right side cause he tends to get the most attacks on his flanks. Your weakest CD should therefor be put on the left CD position.

Other than that its pretty obvious. Box-to-box midfielder should be well rounded and versatile. Preferably with a good long shot. The target man should have good airial abilities, and be pretty strong with good balance.

An impressive string of matches have been produced right of the bat. This is a reward for my tactic, my player purchases and most importantly... The players are familiar with this setup now. Let your tactics sink in before you change it.

The transfer window has closed

2010-01-17T13:41:00.001-08:00

As for the transfers I'm really pleased with the material i brought to Reggina.I cut off the dead meat of the troop and i finally think I have a balanced and competitive team on all fronts. With Vargas i strengthened the left sides a great deal, and wiht both Russotto and Ceravolo I got some flexibility on the right wing, seeing as they can both be on the pitch at the same time because of their ability to cover more than one important position.

Ceravolo would work really well in both of the attacking spots due to his good technique and arial ability, and his pace is a treat on the flank. Seeing as he is an old reggina product he's even more vital to the team by adding to one of the 4 local grown talents needed for CL.

Juan Antonio Salas

One of the younger players i aquired. A fast, technical right winger. Solid back-up option for Russotto and Ceravolo.

Andrea Russotto

My old gem who left me for Schalke 04 a few seasons back. Didn't really want to sell him back then but he was unhappy with not being able to move on. Now he is back though and I love Italian players and i focus a lot on having a big domestic group of players.

Franco Zuculini

My free transfer coup this season. A great, young defensive midfielder. Will compete with Rodwell for the spot as the ball winner on midfield but could just aswell let Rodwell move on to the box-to-box midfield role on the left hand side.

Romelu Lukaku

Hot prospect for Reggina this year. Is only just behind Silvestri on the scale but should nevertheless get a lot of playing time. Looks really intersting and has started of the pre-season really good.

Fabio Ceravolo

I have covered a lot in the sumary text already, but lets just say that he is one of the big catches for me this year, due to his versatility.

Miles Addison

Another Englishman in Italy for me. I Love it! A great solid defender that can fill that spot Subotic left 2 seasons ago. Muniesa did a decent job but i got a good deal of money for him and Addison is a bit better in my opinion. Plus he has 2 other english players to gel with in Wilshire and Rodwell.

Who will be bought?

2010-01-17T08:01:00.000-08:00

An honourable 4th place was the intended target and boy am I glad we managed to get there. We had an amazing run of form in the last matches and didn't lose against any of the top teams except for Inter in the last game. By then I had already secured the 4th spot.

Now it'll be fun to see what kind of players I can attract to the club, now that we are competing in the Champions league. Hopefully I can keep hold of my best players, I know Zapata wants to move to a bigger club, and Man City is on the look-out.

I'll be needing to strengthen the attack and the right wing with something extra-ordinary. Obasi wasn't the right man for the job and migth be sold. Silvestri and Marquinhos are the two attackers i will keep. Borriello will probably work as a back-up and teacher for up-and-coming strikers. Ivan Obolo either retires or leaves on a free transfer and Dobri Laskov will go back to Atalanta. I won't pay the 8,75 mil € to get him.

Mid season updates (feb 2015)

2010-01-16T17:06:00.000-08:00

So there you have the latest news in picture form. I'm happy with the current league position but not with the teams attacking options. I lost my favorite Welliton to Inter, along wiht Abel Hernandez (got good money for him though) and i couldn't really replace him. Marco Borriello was brought in to be my poacher/targetman but hasn't worked out at all. Marquinhos is a great trequartista in attack and scores and assist every other match but I need that 25-goal-á-season striker that Welliton was.

Fabio Silvestri that i bought for 245 milj is still young but already a much more attractive option than Borriello. Unfortunatly he has been injured lately. Ivan Obolo is getting old but is still putting on decent displays in the cup but Laskov the on-loan striker is pretty mediocre. Young and fruitful though and I have a buy-out option but I'm not to sure about him just yet.

Rui Patricio was a pretty funny character. Was happy to sign him on a free and let Lung jr leave for United ( 9 mil €). Then Real wanted to sign him as a back-up for Casillas just 6 months later, having only played 7 matches for my team. So i snapped up Romero from AZ Alkmaar for about (12 mil €) and ended up with in my opinion a stronger Gk. Seculin is still a first option but i tend to switch them around a bit.

End of season 2013-14

2010-01-13T16:31:00.000-08:00

I had my hopes set for the 4th place but injuries on Welliton,Verratti, Destro, Kleber and more gave my a hard time scoring on my opportunities. I even felt that since Henry left his job as assistant manager and Luca Toni took over we didn't have that flair in games anymore. I do tend to let my assistants work for their money, especially with it comes to pre-talks and opposition set-up ( marking and showing weaker foot etc.)

I'll look inte the assistant manager position because I know Toni has low technical knowledge.

At least Welliton won Top goalscorer with 24 goals, even though he missed about 9-10 of the last league games. He is a must for my attacking force.

Here you can see the stats for my team and the ones who stand out are Welliton, Pastore, Subotic, Wilshire and Zapata. My investments paid off prior to this season and I'll be looking to add to my already strong team.

Rui Patricio is arriving on a free from Barcelona. I'm afraid either Seculin och Lung migth want to leave this season and Patricio is a more then adequate replacement for either one of them.

Other areas I'll be looking to strengthen is probably in the offensive department. In particular a very strong attacking partner for Welliton and maybe a good left winger to replace ageing Dossena.

More than halfway...

2010-01-13T09:22:00.001-08:00

Didn't look for any new additions during the january window. Fully satisfied with my men and being without Matteo Brighi and Abel Hernandez for most of the first 4-5 months I think I'll find myself being flooded with alternatives now that they have recovered.

I Hold a respectable 5th position and my goal is to snatch the 4th place. To be able to play i CL would boost my clubs status making it easier to keep hold of my good players and buy even better ones.

Several clubs showed interest in a few of my star players (Zapata, Welliton, Subotic and Verratti) during the window, and two of the better bids i got was 36 mil €(Inter) for Zapata and 15 mil €(Milan) for Verratti, of course i didn't let my diamonds leave.

The big brigth spots of the campaign so far is:

Advancing in the euro cup ( in the first knockout round against Locmotiv moscow, after being unbeaten in the group stages)
Wellitons goalscoring 17 so far in the league. Has dipped in form a bit but was amazing in the first 12 games.
Pastores dictation of the central midfield. He is more dominant now, which is a relief, was starting to lose faith in him.
Zapatas and Subotic excellent defensive and offensive displays.

I'll post some more screenshots and information at the end of the season.

Amazing captures!

2010-01-11T19:23:00.000-08:00

What can 780 milj kr(80 € millions) buy you when you manage an average Italian club who finished 6th prior to this transferwindow?

I'll tell you!

Neven Subotic 180 milj! (20mil €)

Jack Rodwell 300 milj! (30mil €)

Christian Zapata 300 milj! (30mil €)

I'm immensly happy to have captured these players. For a hefty fine though but i got 34,5 mil € from C.Bovo and 20mil € for Geromel.

Besides these big boys I also bought.

Kleber (Corinthians)
Wilshire(Arsenal)
Gunnarson(Arsenal) Free
M.Destro (At.Madrid) Free.

I had big hopes of signing Andrea Esposito and Juan Manuel Vargas both from Fiorentina. But both of them seemed it would be a step in the wrong direction to join Reggina. Their loss I say, but it would be nice to have Vargas on the left wingback position. Instead I splashed the cash on Jack Rodwell who is an immense talent and can cover alot of defensive positions. A future captain when he learns the language.

//Majk

Finished on a high!

2010-01-11T16:46:00.000-08:00

The last two games against Sampdoria and Milan went well. 1 win and 1 draw equals 4 points and enough to stay clear of Fiorentina to latch on to the 6th place.

Genoa was a powerhouse team throughout the season and won the league and the italian cup.

My striker Welliton won the Top goalscorer award with his 22 goals. He was also appointed in the Serie A Team of the Year.

Good form

2010-01-11T16:14:00.000-08:00

Had an amazing run of matches to finish up the campaign of 2012/13. I have 2 matches left though and they are important for me if I want to get one of the euro places I'm hoping for.

But nevertheless i was shocked at the fantastic form I'm enjoying and hopefully it'll continue for the remaing matches aswell.

6 straigth wins in serie A was also a new record for my team.

Made some smaller changes in my tactics that could be the answer to why it's going my way. Had a lot of 1-1 draws before i changed the style of play to a more fluent and attacking one.

I will get back to you about the tactic I'm using, and i'll have to say my thanks to Vitaliy from http://www.truefootballmanager.com/ who I tweaked the tactic from.

Important Players

2010-01-11T09:54:00.001-08:00

My first Gk purchase was young Romanian keeper Silviu Lung Jr. Has always been a good gk for me but this season Seculin has claimed the first spot and has a better save percent than Lung here. He does great saves but tends to let more goals go past him... I can't figure out why, it could be totally random.

My first choice Andrea Seculin is doing a great job for being so young. Average 1 goal per game is pretty decent when playing for a mid-division team. Like him a lot and he's italian, perfect match.

Marco Verratti, my wonderkid. Has evolved inte a fantastic (stat-wise) central midfielder and just needs to find his place now in the starting line-up. I try to play him in but he's just doing average performances, but he's definatly a first choice for next seasons set up.

This was a great buy. I spent about 17 million euros ( 170 milj kr) for his signature and he delivered right away.

32 games 24 goals his first season.

25 games 14 goals this season so far.

Can manage in both striker roles wich is a big plus.

First post!

2010-01-11T09:34:00.001-08:00

I'll be posting primarily about FM 2010 (Football manager) but also about football in general.

I'm a big Milan supporter and have been to san siro twice. Once for the Derby (Milan - Inter) and once for a CL match (Milan - Real Madrid).

The team I'm managing at the moment is Reggina. I'm in my 4th season and I'll be taking you along with that team until I feel like starting over.