Please close - game corrupt

My previous game was a bit too easy so I decided to start a new game and just update it every few months, as thats what I play each time. I also didn't have a wide enough scope of players available to me.



I have set myself a few guidelines (most from Soccernomics) to help me keep this game as realistic as possible:

1. Transfer budgets are disabled in the first window.
2. Don’t needlessly splash out on new players or sell old ones when you take over a club – the New Manager Syndrome.
3. Look to improve the weakest area of the team rather than anywhere.
4. Try to avoid overrated nations - like England - as players are usually overpriced.
5. Have a preference for players who will settle quicker (fans, played before or fit the tactics)
6. Don’t offer to clubs excessively and try to sell them when the time is right. (excluding unhappy players or those in their final year and won't sign a new deal.)
7. Use scouts more. Not just scout players once but send a scout to watch them play.
8. Sell players who I get offered more than their value to me for if I have a replacement lined up.
9. I will look at my youth squad first before sanctioning any transfers.

Can I take Celtic from 61st in the European rankings and have them rubbing shoulders with Europe's top clubs?

My Celtic team guide from the SI Games forum.

Hope this one is the one you stick with and last longer with, not that I can say a lot lately! Haa! But I like your managerial ideas! Lets hope it works again!

I think I may be back on the careers section soon with the Dafuge challenge!

good luck mate !

Dan - Me too mate. I knew I shouldn't have stared one with my first shot at the game.

George - Cheers mate!

I've played up until the end of the first transfer window and managed to stick to my guidelines so far.



Because of the transfer budgets were disabled in the first window, meant it was near impossible to sign players. I managed to convince Zuculini to sack his agent and weave his loyalty bonus and sign as a free transfer. At only £13k p/w he looks like a bargain and gives me an extra option in the defensive midfielder slot. I'm still looking to bring in David Bentley in the next month depending on how Paul George does as back up for James Forrest.

I got a lot of offers for a lot of my youngsters but I only let the players too old to play in the u19’s. The back room staff also had a makeover. Each category now has 4 or 4.5 stars except attacking which will be improved next season.

Johan Mjallby - Tactical (4*)
Marcel Lucassen - Ball Control (4.5*)
Danny McGrain - Defending (4.5*)
Tommy McIntyre & Garry Parker - Attacking (3.5*)
Rene Meulensteen - Shooting (4.5*)
Martyn Pert & Kenny McMillan - Strength (4*)
Steve Black - Aerobic (4.5)
Joe Corrigan - Shot Stopping (4.5*)
Stevie Woods - Handling (4*)

Starting XI..


I went for variations of the 3-5-2 and a 4-5-1 as my main tactics. I’ve went with a control mentality and balanced fluidity as default and adjust the squad mentality each game.

Fraser Forster, La Gran Muralla, is my number one between the sticks. He is one of the best shot stoppers in the game and can only get better.

At full back Adam Matthews and Emilio Izaguirre provide excellent attacking support and pretty good defensively. At centre back my first choice partnership is Charlie Mulgrew (my free kick specialist) and new boy Virgil van Dijk. I also have the option of Efe Ambrose who adds a bit of pace to the back line.

My new defensive midfielder Franco Zuculini slots in nicely here. His excellent mental stats and ability to go all game makes him an ideal candidate to succeed Scott Brown as captain. In centre midfield my ideal partnership is Brown and Joe Ledley who should provide a very tough midfield to break through.

On the wings I have James Forrest (although I'm worried about his injury proneness) and Derk Boerrigter to proved the crosses that will end up in the net. I also have Kris Commons, who will be mostly played as an AM as I think he's better suited there.

Up front I will go with Anthony Stokes, if he gets 15 goals I'll be happy. I also have Georgios Samaras who I will utilise as a (wide) target man.



A great start to the season. We won all but two games, one being a friendly. We picked up maximum points in the SPL and breezed through the UCL qualifiers beating Estonians Kalju, Israeli outfit Maccabi-Tel Aviv and Slovenian champions Maribor.



This is how the table looks after a few games. We aren't top but have a game to play. Newly promoted Partick Thistle sit at the summit after a great start, while the bottom half of the table is wide open. The new relegation play-off should make it very interesting.



Spooky eh? Like in real life I'd jump at a Europa League spot. But anything can happen at Celtic Park. The Ajax ties will be vital in any progression.

Now up to the New Year and it’s going well. Really enjoying it, more than the last one anyway. I’ve still not broken any of the rules yet.



I brought in two more players after the window closed. Bentley joined as I felt we lacked experience on the right wing. Paul George would have done for back up and cup games but Bentley could be a decent tutor for the youngster and give James Forrest some real competitions.

Onyewu joined later in the month after a few injuries at the back. I don’t really have any good young centre backs (Marcus Fraser is injured for the first half of the season) so I was desperate. Again like Bentley he add a bit of experience to the back line.

I did miss out on Keisuke Honda who’s going to Manchester United however the board were very nice people and gave me £4.7m to spend in January if I wish.



The season continued to go well. We’ve won all but 3 league matches so far and stetted the lead at the top to an incredible 18 points already. We haven’t conceded too many either which is great, I would like to have scored a few more but I don’t really have a natural goal scorer. This is something I’ll need to look into.

We’re still in both the Scottish Cup and League Cup meaning the treble is on the cards but only managed a 3rd place and Europa League spot from our Champions League group after a great start.



The league looks wrapped up already but other than us its a free-for-all. The top and bottom half is very tight, anyone could be in Europe next year and anyone could face relegation. Exciting.



After two wins in the first two fixtures, including one away, we were very poor in the final four. Ah well it means time for a Europa League run.

All seems to be going well this far in buddy!

Alright dude, enjoy reading your stories. I don't have FM 14 yet but in the previous one I retrained Ledley to left back and Adam Mathews to AMR as their attributes matched these positions. I haven't seen much screenies of players for FM14 but would this be an option instead of giving guys like Bentley large (by SPL standards) wages? Just a thought!

Dan - Cheers buddy, it's went well so far!

Mark - Thanks. In this Ledley is already capable of left back but Izaguirre is pretty good and Chalmers does ok as a back up. As for Matthews I like playing attacking full backs with inside forwards/advanced play makers and he doesn't suit that really. I brought players like him and Onyewu to add some experience to a young squad.

First off all. I signed a new £20k p/w contract lasting until 2016.

Going into the new year I made some minor tactical tweaks the 3-5-2 became a 3-6-1 and I pushed one of the centre midfielders forward in the 4-5-1 and changed Adam Matthews to try and underlap the winger like Leighton Baines. I also developed my wing back formation into a 5-4-1 similar to Borussia Dortmund



My first piece of business in the transfer window was to get rid of Mo Bangura who after being back from loan for a week was already complaining about not playing. This freed up £20k p/w for wages and brought in a decent fee. The only other player to leave was Bahrudin Atajic who joined Partick Thistle on loan until the end of the season as he’d only made two appearances so far.

So out of my £6.2m kitty how much did I spend? £70k. Big ballin’. Both Paul McGowan and Stuart Kettlewell’s contracts were up in the summer so I snapped them up to help with the fixture congestion that being in all competitions after the mid-season break brings.

McGowan is a former Celt and childhood fan. He should settle in nicely. He likes to get forward and place his shots, exactly what I was looking for. I also received half the fee back because of a sell-on clause. Kettlewell on the other hand is a brilliant box-to-box midfielder who likes to get forward and has the highest pass rate in the SPL (excluding Celtic players).


We lost a lot of stupid games (including a cup final) due to the fixture congestion. We did manage some good results in the Europa League however beating Ukrainian sides Shakhtar Donetsk and Dnipro to secure a quarter final spot.

We somehow lost the League Cup final to Championship side Livingston. Not good enough. However it does mean I have something to improve upon.



We still sit comfortable at the top by 24 points. I would have liked it to be more but it was enough to claim the title at the end of march at Firhill. I want Hearts to go down despite their good season just to make it feel a little more realistic.



There's a few good teams remaining in the competition but I feel we got the luck of the draw for once. If we were to go up against Tottenham I don't see us reaching the final. But, it's a funny old game.

You're once again doing a tremendous job (unfortunately) at Celtic. KIU.

Shame about the league cup final but your league and europa league form is astonishing!

Shedender - Cheers mate (I think haha).

Dan - Yeah it came as quite a shock, the team I put out wasn't even that bad. Just means I have some things to improve upon next season.

So season one is complete. Hopefully next year we can improve in the cup competitions. Overall a good season we moved up 23 placed to 38th in the Club Coefficients and 53rd to 39th (£71m to £89) in the Rich List. The Scottish Premiership moved up five places to 19th in the Nation Coefficients

As you can see I stuck to all of my transfer rules. Franco Zuculini was young, free and the potential to turn me a huge profit. David Bentley was the slight exception however he played ok. Will probably look to move him on for a small profit. Oguchi Onyewu was a necessity signing during an injury crisis. Both Stuart Kettlewell and Paul McGowan (former Celtic player and fan) had done their time in the SPL and settled pretty quickly.



The season had a terrible ending. Including going 6 games without a win and crashing out of the Scottish Cup in the semi-final. We did managed to pull things together in the final fixtures.

The Europa League run came to an end against Tottenham (who lost the final against Fiorentina) after a hard fought home leg. It gives me high expectations for next season.



We never looked anything close to losing the league despite a few hiccups along the way. 22 points was a good gap to win it by but I'd like to extend that next season and at least hit the 90 points mark and improve the goal difference.

Was surprised to see Hearts finish so high (would have been 3rd without the deduction) and even claim a spot in the Europa League. The SPL claimed an extra Europa League second round qualifying spot after moving up in the coefficients.



Overall the squad was excellent. I'd say upfront was the main problem, the only two players who scored regularity was Amido Balde and Georgios Sameras (from the left wing). Its something I'll need to look at during the transfer window.

The board gave me £13m going in to the new season to improve the squad to build on last season.



There wasn't much activity in the transfer market (if you don't include loans/players released. My first signing May is one for the future, he looks like he could develop to become a regular for the Scotland squad. The only player to leave on a free that featured for the first team was Mouyokolo who wanted close to £20k p/w to stay. I sent out a few players on loan for first team experience, most notably Rogic.

The first sales I made was my misfiring strikers Pukki (who failed to score in 13 league matches) and Stokes who only managed to net 8 times. We did manage to get a £4m for both of them to buy a new striker. But before I brought in a striker Alexander Milosevic signed for a bargain £100k as his contract was up in 6 months time and I needed someone to replace Mouyokolo.

This is when I done what Celtic should have done during the summer and brought in Finbogason who likes to come deep and get the ball, suiting my lone striker formations. I brought in Fox (both following and breaking a rule) but there was nothing I could do Zaluska wanted to leave. Fox returns to the club after four and a half seasons. I was desperate to get rid of Bentley to free up his £15k p/w wage and Burnley took him off my hands. He wasn't poor but just didn't justify the wage that he was being payed.




The league got off to a great start but we were plagued with injuries. Georgios Samaras was ruled out for 3 months in pre-season and both Scott Brown and Virgil van Dijk both for 3-4 months at the end of August.

The Champions League qualifiers was a disaster. Both Jablonec and Videoton has superhuman 'greyed' strikers who scored resulting to elimination and Europa League football this year.



A great start for us domestically, our goal difference is improved from last year hopefully we can keep it up until the end of the season.

We also have our first Old Firm coming up meeting with Rangers in the League Cup.



The group looks easily enough to qualify from, hopefully we can go on to win it this year.

Shame about the cup finishes last season, good to see you tie the league up! A good league start this season btu shame to see your in the Europa League again!

Dan - Aye can't believe we didn't make the group stage, hopefully we can win the Europa League this year.

Half way though the second season and still going strong despite a few bad injuries. Lets start with the worst. Nir Biton was ruled out for 9 months just weeks after I rejected a £5m bid for him. Scott Fox was ruled out for 3 months but is now back for the first game of the new year.

The clubs training facilities were also upgraded.



There was a bit of movement between the transfer windows, I brought in Barry who got 10 assists for Everton last season to add some creativity to the side and replace the injured Biton. I also brought in Smith to replace Lustig who was transferred to Nottingham Forrest after his wage demands forced me to cancel contract talks.




Our league for has been fantastic as we are still undefeated. We've had some big 3/4/5 - nil wins and a lot of clean sheets. Summer signings Alfred Finbogason and Stevie May have proven more than capable replacements for their predecessors.

We still remain in all domestic competitions (beating Rangers in the League Cup) to be in with a strong shout for the domestic treble.

The Europa League group was a breeze winning 5 of the matches to top the group.



We sit 13 points clear of Kilmarnock who sit comfortably in second place. It looks like the teams who came up last season will go back down unless a dramatic turn in form happens.

The quest for 100 points is on..



We had a great run and topped the group. Next up a trip to Holland to face FC Twente.

Wow absolutely fantastic form in every competition!

Dan - Cheer mate, we look unbeatable at the minute.

The season has kept its good start. We wrapped up the Scottish Premiership and League Cup double and are still in both the Scottish Cup and Europa League. I've changed the tactics up a bit again. I've went with a 4-4-2, 4-4-1-1 and 5-3-2 all of them exploiting the wings. But each with their own unique mark. The 4-4-2 uses Adam Matthews as a Leighton Baines type player cutting inside of James Forrest. The 4-4-1-1 uses a second striker as the main attacking threat and the 5-3-2 is completely different to the previous two.



I only brought in two youngster meaning I stuck by the guidelines. Flannery from Slingo Rovers and Hanaphy hopefully in a few years they can make their mark. Atajic went out to get some first team football and an unhappy Kayal singed for Grasshoppers. Over the past two seasons we have made a profit on transfers of £4.5m.




The unbeaten run was ended after a loss at home to Hearts however it remains the only loss of the season in the league. We almost went out of the cup tree times, leading to me dropping Scott Fox from the cup games.

In the Europa League we coasted through the FC Twente match and managed a comeback to beat Shakhtar to progress.



Close to 30 points clear now and in with the chance of topping 100 points. The runners up spot look tight it could go either way but I'll tip Dundee Utd. The teams who came up look doomed to the drop.



The draw gives us a great chance of reaching the final. I wanted to avoid Galatasaray and it happened.

So that's the 2014/15 season done and dusted. We done a lot better in cup competitions this year and secured the domestic treble. In the league we managed to reach the 100 point mark and maintained our performance in Europe. Hopefully next year we can reach the last 16 of the Champions League.



A good run of results was dampened by a 4-0 loss at Tynecastle. I had rested most of the team for the Ajax fixture and payed for it. Elsewhere in the league it was straight wins followed by a victory in the Scottish Cup Final. I'm really happy with the amount of clean sheets we kept.

It was disappointing to go out in the Semi-Final of the Europa League for the second time running. Ajax then went on to lose the Final to Bordeaux 1-0.



It was great to hit the 100 point mark and only lost two games, next season my goal will be to go undefeated the full season. A 33 point lead at the top is a great position to finish the season and 49 better of on goal difference to the runners up.

It was a no brainer who was going down this year, though I was surprised that Morton beat St Johnstone in the play-off to stay in the top division. Rangers won the automatic promotion spot form the Scottish Championship.



Again the squad was excellent. Starting from the back Fraser Forster kept 26 clean sheets (4 more than last season) and conceded 10 less. Adam Matthews was a revelation this season creating 31 goals compared to 18 last year. Rotating between the five of them the centre backs were so good that I couldn't choose a main pair. In the middle of the park was the same everyone pitched in. The wingers were great getting in on both the goals and assist action. Up front I was spoiled for choice Alfred Finbogasson hit 31 in his debut season, Amido Balde managed to score over 25 in the second consecutive season. Rotating between Stevie May and Tony Watt from the bench seen May hit a goal every 90 mins and Watt just under that mark.

I'm going to mix things up a bit and go a bit more in depth with the close season.


These are the senior players who's contracts expired at the end of the season. I'd like to talk though why I let them go depute good performances last season...
Oguchi Onyewu: The big centre half had two good seasons for us and made over 50 appearances but I already have four capable centre backs and will look to bring a youngster into the squad.
Kris Commons: With 22 goals and 25 assists in two years you may be thinking why? He had got far too slow for the style of football I was playing towards the end of the season. I also have a replacement ready to join the club when the window opens.
Paul McGowan: A year and a half after signing for effectively £25k p/w he didn't want to sign a new deal due to lack of game time. He was always going to be a bit part player.
Leo Fasan: Failed to make a first team appearance.

So as I knew Kris Commons was leaving I put a plan of action together to get a replacement and raided Dundee United for who I consider their best player and hottest prospect.



Makay-Steven is the perfect replacement for Commons, he has the pace, flair and acceleration to fit perfect to my new way of playing (I'll post about this later). I snipped him up for £1.5m, less than I would have paid. So in my eyes, bargain. At £12k p/w he is also on a lower wage than Commons.



Everyone knows about this young lad know. Broke on to the scene last season and has shown glimpses of greatness. I just hope he develops into the great player he can be. He's on a pretty penny for a 19 year old but I snapped him up for just £600k in the last year of his contract so I was happy to give him a bit more.

This is the list of first team players who's contracts are up at the end of the season. I'm now left with the task of deciding who to offer an extension, who to try and sell and who to let run down.

So far I've tied dow Joe Ledley to 2018 at no extra cost, he's still on £25k p/w. Georgios Samaras signed a new £20k p/w deal until 2017 along with Charlie Mulgrew who's is now on £15k p/w. They all have the option of an extra season.



Great new for Scottish football, an extra Champions League spot and better Europa League berths. Hopefully now some of them can make the group stages. The Scottish Premiership has also moved up to 17th in the European Competition Rankings with Celtic moving up 13 places to 25th in the Club Rankings.

I made a could of sales and a bunch of youth players left. I'll go into detail a bit on the players I sold.


Amido Balde: In the last year of his contract and wanted me to double his wages, not going to happen. I offered him out to a few clubs a Zenit offered the most. Sporting Lisbon had a 30% sell on clause meaning the got £2.2m of the transfer meaning we made £3.4 million profit.
Stuart Kettlewell: Done his bit when I needed some back up but when Hearts offered £100k, five time what I payed I couldn't turn it down. Also means that a space has opened up for a younger players.



I brought in one more youngster. Johnstone was touted as the next Jinky thats something I couldn't turn down for £100k.

You should try and tie down Forster, Forrest and Watt to new deals too. Two good signings made this summer.

Gauld and Mackay-Steven are great signings mate. Should tear it up in Scotland and they will only get better, especially Gauld.

Enjoyed reading this mate, KIU!

Shedender - Just tied them down, was doing a few players at a time. I'd have been mad to let Forster go.

Charlie - Cheers mate, they should definitely give SPL full backs a tough time.

Sam - Cheers mate hope you keep following.

[color=black]I tied down James Forrest (£20k p/w), Fraser Forster (£30k p/w) and Tony Watt (£7k p/w) on new contracts until 2018. I decided to let a few players go and take the total money in to £26.77m for the season.


Lewis Kidd: Decided to go to Aberdeen after I failed to send him out on loan and wouldn't sign a new deal. I would have liked to keep him but it wasn't to be.
Efe Ambrose: I rejected a £3m bid and he asked to leave, so I managed to negotiate a bid up to £5.25m. A profit of nearly £4.5m for a player in the last year of his deal.
Nir Biton: After spending 9 months of last season out injured I couldn't turn down a £10m bid for a player who joined two years ago for £700k and 20% of the sale fee.
Derk Boerrigter: Didn't live up to early expectations and was one of the highest paid players at the club on £24k p/w before bonuses. And with Gary Mackay-Steven and Ryan Gauld coming in he fell down the pecking order.



Underused used at Ajax striker and left to leave on a bowman Sigborsson he looks like a decent replacement for Amido Balde who's off to Russia.

Really enjoying this man. Like your style of updates, keep it up!

Fola - Cheers man!



The first of my two latest signings was Hahn, a great free transfer and better competition for Fraser Forster as Scott Fox had a nightmare last season.



Soutar - dubbed the next Colin Hendry - was the third Dundee United to join this season. Another one with great potential, going to try and blend him into the squad and give him at least 10 games this season.

Although I brought in a fair few players only two are first team players, sticking to my rules. This means I can look for one more first team player if I wish.

I'm usually against loaning out players, but this one done Rogic the world of good. I only wish I had a screenshot of him before I sent him out. And with my new formations using an attacking midfielder he will get a lot of game time this season.

A pretty poor pre-season if I'm honest. Should have won every game but it was all about getting the players fitness up and blending in the new blood anyway. The finals sales of the window were also made.


Scott Fox: Was a disaster the cup games he played in last year, I already brought in a replacement on a free and doubled my money for Fox.
Emilio Izaguirre: This was a tough one after he'd been at the club so long but Joe Chalmers was slowly becoming my first choice and I didn't feel Izaguirre justified his wage anymore.



I think this might me my last singing of the window. Houghton was released by Chelsea and I managed to snap him up for just £2k p/w, should provide decent cover if I can develop him well.

My total spending is £2.61m for the season compared to bringing in just under £30m. I have the money for a big signing, but I'm not sure I need one.