FM2011 as Rovers

[billdoor]

How about another challenge?
Start the season with only the players SOD has in his squad(at this moment) and see how you do. Can it be any worse than your previous attempts?
I'll do it if you do!

[RedJ]

I tried that in my first go, finished 24th. Head to head record was 0-3-43 see how well you do with them

[billdoor]

will do.   Get back to you soon.

[RedJ]

Look forward to hearing. If you do well, I may have to ask for a few tips

[Guernsey Exile]

Bit of a delay for me getting it - HMV sold out - anyone know of anywhere cheap on the net?  Got another month before i start my new job so plenty of time!!!

[RedJ]

eBay or Amazon would be the best place to look. I wish I could remember the name of an online shop that sold games for something like 25% off!

[keyser_soze]

I'm playing the demo of this and doing quite well. Only signed DeMerit, and a few Prem youngsters (Scezney, Darby, JET and Wood),  I've always been suspicious of these demos as I think they give you an easy half season to lure you in!

[RedJ]

that or you're actually good! I'm not! :-(

[Filo]

Guernsey Exile wrote:

Bit of a delay for me getting it - HMV sold out - anyone know of anywhere cheap on the net?  Got another month before i start my new job so plenty of time!!!

Download it from the steam website, no need for the disc then

[Akinfenwa]

Yesterday I powered through the rest of the season and ended up winning the Quadruple (Premier League, Champions League, FA Cup, Carling Cup). I surprised myself a bit with that one! As a reward the board decided to upgrade the stadium by a mighty 250 seats. I really need a bigger ground to establish Rovers as a footballing superpower as 20,000 won't do. I've decided to not sign anyone for a while and save up the money.

[RedJ]

250 seats? that's pathetic !

[MrFrost]

Just got hold of a copy and started a game today.
Signed a few players mentioned on here. Smalling wont sign on loan though.

Got through pre season unbeaten, although only played lower league teams and just drawn my first league game 1-1 away at Leeds.

[RedJ]

What I've just done us put the team in the Conference North - all original players - and put Boston in the Championship in place of us. I know it's a bit of a Copp (;-)) out but it'll at least give me a running start

Let us know how you get on Mr Frost :-)

[DonnyNoel]

Well I just finished my 4th season in the Prem and came 2nd. I was top a few times but just couldn't beat the big boys and Man City ended up about 7pts ahead of me. Still, 11th to 2nd and the champions league is a big jump and my squad will certainly need strengthening.

Despite my apprehensions about his wage, Vela banged them in for fun and due to the increase in the clubs stature I managed to get most of my hot prospects onto contracts without minimum fee release clauses.

Sadly I had to let Billy go. He'd dropped to 5th choice striker and I got £2.3m from Burnley and Billy said he'd emjoyed working with me. JOC is still hanging around as 4th choice full back and due to a short defensive crisis Sam Hird got a couple of starts but remains listed at his own request. Dean Shiels came in for a handful of games up front and did well in what was to be his final season so I gave him another year based on the fact he's homegrown and versatile. JOC, Shiels and Hird are the only ones that remain.

Now its just a case of keeping the big boys away from my wonderkids!

[RedJ]

what formation do you use? and which did you use in your first season? I'm determined to do well with Donny some way or another

[DonnyNoel]

RedJ wrote:

what formation do you use? and which did you use in your first season? I'm determined to do well with Donny some way or another

I've got 3 tactics that I switch between and have done since the start. For years I've been a 451 man but haven't got one to click this year. I have two identical formations with different instructions, one attacking and one counter attacking. They consist of a back 4, a DM in front of the left CB, an MC further forward but in line with the right CB (so its a non-symmetrical formation), advanced wingers an the AMR/AML positions and two strikers. In the championship I would start most games with the attacking formation and go counter attacking when in front. In the premiership its pretty much counter attack all the way with most players instructions set to \"defend\" or \"support\".

My only other formation is a true SOD style shut-up-shop formation. 4-1-4-1, two banks of four with a DM for extra protection and a lone striker. I only use it when 2 goals up against a top team with less than 15 to go or if I've gone 2 up very early in the game I may use it the last few minutes before half time before switching back to the normal formation for the second half. Thats why I love having versatile players like Shiels (and in the past Copps and Oster) becuase you can shuffle your pack without making subs.

[RedJ]

DonnyNoel wrote:

RedJ wrote:

what formation do you use? and which did you use in your first season? I'm determined to do well with Donny some way or another

I've got 3 tactics that I switch between and have done since the start. For years I've been a 451 man but haven't got one to click this year. I have two identical formations with different instructions, one attacking and one counter attacking. They consist of a back 4, a DM in front of the left CB, an MC further forward but in line with the right CB (so its a non-symmetrical formation), advanced wingers an the AMR/AML positions and two strikers. In the championship I would start most games with the attacking formation and go counter attacking when in front. In the premiership its pretty much counter attack all the way with most players instructions set to \"defend\" or \"support\".

My only other formation is a true SOD style shut-up-shop formation. 4-1-4-1, two banks of four with a DM for extra protection and a lone striker. I only use it when 2 goals up against a top team with less than 15 to go or if I've gone 2 up very early in the game I may use it the last few minutes before half time before switching back to the normal formation for the second half. Thats why I love having versatile players like Shiels (and in the past Copps and Oster) becuase you can shuffle your pack without making subs.

Ooohh, loving this time for yet another restart

[DonnyNoel]

Well just finished my 5th season in the premiership and came 3rd with an impressive 80pts. I was in the hunt for quite a while but just didn't have the depth, the big thing was to get in the champions league again. I also came runner up in the League Cup. Ironically my kids/reserves got me to the final but I put my first team out in the final only to get walloped 5-1 by Man U! My kids/reserves also got me to the 5th round of the FA Cup. I got knocked out in the quarters of the Champions League by Barca although provided the fans with very good memories by beating Bayern and Benfica in the groups and winning an entertaining tie 6-5 on aggregate against Napoli in the second round.

My wage structure has had to be revamped a few times and I've now got a fair few players between £40k p/w and £60k p/w and I'm keeping well on top of contracts now the big boys are sniffing round. Got a couple of promising youngsters waiting in the wings but the backbone of my team is quite young anyway so no point signing people just for the hell of it.

[RedJ]

We got big money offers (around £5million) for players like Woods and Stock, and I just couldn't say no. I had it so Stock left in the summer, though. Then, I set about signing free agents and then selling them the week after - they seem to have good values. Then I revamped the squad, but only actually had in 4 new players. Julio Cruz, Jobi McAnuff, Andy Keogh and Chris Eagles. I'm in the plaoyffs now after my second season. Completely ruined our playoff bid last season by not rotating and letting the lads get unfit.

[billdoor]

Concratulations on recaching the play offs at last. How do you play the season so quickly? It takes me all evening to play 2 matches and deal with all the other issues that come up.

[DonnyNoel]

I forgot to mention I'm getting a new stadium too - 31k capacity. It will take a year to build though.

With regards to the time issue I have to admit I'm old school and play \"commentary only\" so I get through a month in 30-40 minutes during the season.I have faith in my tactics and I can't buy players outside the transfer window so after a while it does become quite quick - click click click up to match day. Pre-season and transfer windows take a while though to sort my hierarchy of players & tactics out.

The first two seasons always take the longest I find - getting to know the game and your squad/tactics.

[RedJ]

Concratulations on recaching the play offs at last. How do you play the season so quickly? It takes me all evening to play 2 matches and deal with all the other issues that come up.

Activate the Brazilian league, and start in December 2010 :-)

With regards to the time issue I have to admit I'm old school and play \"commentary only\" so I get through a month in 30-40 minutes during the season.I have faith in my tactics and I can't buy players outside the transfer window so after a while it does become quite quick - click click click up to match day. Pre-season and transfer windows take a while though to sort my hierarchy of players & tactics out.

this also helps speed things up

[MrFrost]

Only played a few games in my first season so far cos i've been so busy but i'm not doing well.

Leeds (a) 1-1
Lincoln (h - cup) - Won 3-1
Middlesborough (a) Lost 0-3
Swansea (h) Lost 0-1

Tried some of the players and tactics mentioned on here but nothing seems to be working thus far.

[RedJ]

It is very difficult the first few goes. I have about 12 saves that I started and failed epically on!! but yeah, definitely go down the route of activating Brazil and starting in the December. More often than not, everything will be in place and more often than not you'll be in a playoff race.

[Akinfenwa]

I haven't played as much as I would like recently as my study leave is now over I'm about a third of the way through the 2015/16 season and I'm top of the league and still in all the cup competitions (except the UEFA Super Cup which I lost) as I expected after winning the quadruple last season. For some reason I really want to win the World Club Championship because it's quite rare that you get the chance to win it and it's a bit different. I've also decided to save up money in hope of getting a new stadium or expansion as 20k is a bit rubbish for me now.

As for tactics, I was still getting used to this game for the first two seasons where I never really had faith in any tactics I created and kept changing it around. Pre third season I decided to create a simple tactic set that I would stick to, and I think it's fair to say that it has been successful and I still use it now. The set is about 8 or 9 different tactics that allow me to cover most situations, I prefer this way as I like to be in control and be able to change things if a match is not going well. I don't really like the thought of just ripping a single, supposed \"super\" tactic off the internet, clicking play and not having a clue as to why I'm getting beat.

I don't really have a way of getting through a season quickly, you just need to have a lot of time on your hands I suppose. FM is a football management simulator afterall so it's going to be quite detailed and require some thought. It may just be my personal preference but I play matches in 2D as I am used to it due to starting to play properly at FM05. I also think find that the 2D view allows me to read the game better. I find it easier to tell if I'm playing too narrow/wide, too deep/high, to spot holes in defence so then I can tweak tactics a bit in the match.

I'm just glad that I'm getting success now because I know how frustrating this game can be when you try everything, put effort in yet nothing seems to work.

[RedJ]

I'm just glad that I'm getting success now because I know how frustrating this game can be when you try everything, put effort in yet nothing seems to work.

You got that right

And I like to play them in 2D sometimes, just because I find it interesting to see how my tactics pan out.

[DonnyNoel]

Just finished my 6th season in the premiership. Disappointing in some ways but extremely exciting in others. I loaned out a lot of my best youngsters meaning I couldn't have a meaningful crack at the Leacgue Cup or FA Cup. I got out of my champions league group and destroyed Inter and AC Milan in the 2nd round and QFs and was delighted to draw Lyon in the semis instead of Barca or Arsenal. I drew 1-1 at Lyon in the first leg and 70 minutes into the home leg Lyon were reduced to 10 men. Sadly they still managed to score a winner.

A disasterous run of 6 games without a win meant I was out the title race by December and had to go on a scintilating run of form just to get back into the top 4. On the last day I needed a point to secure champions league qualification at home to runaway (90+ pts) champions Man City. After 90 minutes the game was 2-2 only for City to score in the 92nd minute. Amazingly I equalised in the 93rd minute to secure 4th spot with an unspectacular 75pts. Phew.

In terms of personnel I have a very young team now with few recognised names. I still have Joe Lewis as a back up keeper. Dean Shiels played 4 games last season (I kept him for versatility) but has now retired. JOC is 33 and I've just extended his contract (again based on versatility for cup games). Michael Mancienne is still banging them in from corners. Other than that I don't have many current big names as most of my squad are now regens.

So roll on 2018/19 season and a move to my new stadium!

[RedJ]

Best of luck :-) you'll win it some day

[DonnyNoel]

Best of luck :-) you'll win it some day

Yeh but perhaps not this eason either! Another poor autumn combined with one team (Liverpool this time) seemingly unbeatable means I'm 9 pts off the top already. Bit of a shame as on paper I've got a decent squad now. I signed a 31yr old Aaron Lennon on a free and him and Mancienne are England regulars as well as my keeper and my striker (both regens) being in the England squad. I reckon my team should peak in two years but I'm starting to feel a bit like Arsenal - waiting for the players to develop whilst other teams keep winning everything!

At least I'm filling my new stadium and look likely to get out my champions league group again.

[RedJ]

Keep calm and carry on, that's what I go with. Keep churning out results in the hope that they'll cock up. Pressure the f**k out of Liverpool and they may crack. When it comes to it, go for the mind games with the manager.