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willz121
It's mad to think that the now infamous quote from Alan Hansen was uttered 18 years ago, but with that statement ringing in their ears, Manchester United went on to record the double in the 1995-96 season, despite losing their first game of the season to Aston Villa 3-1.
That day, the "kids" in question were Gary Neville (20), Lee Sharpe (23), Nicky Butt (20), Roy Keane (23), Paul Scholes (20), Phil Neville (18), David Beckham (19) and John O'Kane (20). Their average age in that game was just 24 years old, and they lost to Villa goals from Ian Taylor, Mark Draper and Dwight Yorke. I imagine most of the readers here will be too young to remember the first two! David Beckham scored the goal for United, but by then the game was over.
So what does all this mean for my FM game. Well I thought I'd give this a go with Manchester United's current crop of youngsters and see how I get on. I've simulated the first season, meaning that my career will officially start in the 2013-14 season.
In the 2012-13 season, Manchester United secured the Premiership title, but didn't get further than the quarter finals in any other tournament. Before going on holiday, I sent as many of the kids out on loan as possible, hoping that first team football would spur them on. Unfortunately, I neglected three players whose contracts were set to run out in Reece Brown, Ryan Tunnicliffe and Tom Thorpe. I am particularly annoyed to lose the latter two players as they have high prospects in reality.
So how am I going to do this... well I am going to limit myself to not making any major transfers. This means I will have to rely on my current squad of players, and the players coming through the ranks to the first team. This isn't really a challenge at all in the early days, but hopefully this move will force me to focus on the players in the squad already.
The only transfers I will look at are players who are eligible for under 19 games, particularly focusing on English players.
At the end of the first season Rio Ferdinand, Paul Scholes and Ryan Giggs are all set to leave the club, so there are places in the matchday squad becoming available already.
So that's my intended career path. It will be seen as an easy game for some, but it's one I hope to get into and see the players developing in my squad.
Thanks for reading, updates likely to come after the Bank Holiday weekend.
SR67
KEZ_7
willz121
Might be an odd one to start with, but I thought I'd start with the transfers out. The first player to leave the club was Wilfried Zaha who has moved to Tottenham on a season long loan. They are paying his wages and £350k per month, so it's ideal for all parties.
Next up, sixteen players left the club at the end of their contract. This included Rio Ferdinand, Paul Scholes and Ryan Giggs. I offered all three a one year extension with an automatic one year deal if they played twenty games, but their wage demands were far too high. All three are still on the Free Transfer List.
Continuing the form from last season, I loaned out every player I could see that wouldn't fit in the first team squad this season. Nick Powell has moved to West Ham United on loan, whilst Scott Wootton and Tom Cleverley have been loaned to Watford and Everton respectively.
Finally, we have loaned Andreas Pereira, Michael Keane, Federico Macheda and Angelo Henriquez to FC Twente under the recommendation of Director of Football Damien Comolli.
Transfers In:
Only one player has been signed at the moment, with 16 year old goalkeeper Dan Foley joining us for £675k from Middlesbrough. He will be an asset in the future, and if he continues to improve, he could push David De Gea for a first team spot.
I have also set up deals for eight players, all of which will sign at the end of the season. I decided this would benefit us as they would remain at their current clubs for the season, and get plenty of first team football. Max Clayton will arrive for £5m from Crewe Alexandra, whilst Tommy Holban for £6.75m. Clayton is purely a personal signing as he has looked good in real life, whilst I hope Holban to eventually replace Nemanja Vidic.
Next up, Will Hughes will arrive from Derby County, and I see him as a long term replacement for Michael Carrick. Leandro Paredes has been signed for a bargain £3.5m for Boca Juniors, and will provide the link between midfield and attack. Nathan Redmond will arrive from Birmingham City for £6m and will replace Antonio Valencia or Luis Nani.
Nicolas Tagliafico will arrive from Banfield for £4.5m, and will replace Patrice Evra. I am undecided whether to keep Evra past the end of this season when his contract is up. It would be a big gamble, but if I can get the wages right, Evra would be good to keep. We also have Alex Buttner available, should Evra leave.
Next, we've set up a deal with Nottingham Forest for Tamer Walker. I am unsure if he'll ever make the first team, but he has potential to compete in the Premiership, and is worth £350k of anyone's money. Our last signing (for now) will be Ron Waters, another goalkeeper but again an investment at only £100k.
So that's the transfers for now, we are at the end of August, and I've tried to sign a few other players too. Unfortunately, we were massively priced out, proving that British talent is really expensive!
I'll report back on August's fixtures when it's done!
willz121
Manchester United's Will Schoolar has won the English Premier Division Manager of the Month award.
The award panel made their decision after the Red Devils boss guided his team to victory in all three of their league games this month.
(PRM) Man Utd 3-0 Burnley (17th Aug)
(PRM) Man Utd 2-0 Southampton (24th Aug)
(PRM) Man Utd 1-0 Everton (31st Aug)
Tottenham's André Villas-Boas finished in second place, after a closely fought battle with the eventual winner, whilst Roberto Mancini of Man City came in third place.
Well it certainly wasn't the most difficult of starts to the season, and with a Community Shield win over Manchester City to boot, this was a great start to the season. David De Gea picked up an injury against Southampton, giving Dan Foley a chance to play. Foley set the record for the youngest ever Premiership player, playing at 16 years and 38 days old.
Manchester United Player of the Month
A bit of a surprise, but Jonny Evans picked up my Player of the Month award after four strong displays. I hadn't intended to play Evans this much, but with Nemanja Vidic picking up an injury, Evans was a brilliant stand in, and has edged both Chris Smalling and Phil Jones out of the centre back position, although Jones is featuring regularly in midfield.
Transfer Window Update
The English transfer window has closed and teams across the country have been busy in the transfer market, spending in excess of £359M.
Chelsea saw enthusiastic full-back David Alaba leave the Premier Division and join Serie A outfit Juventus for a fee believed to be close to £18.75M. Explosive striker Theo Walcott moved from Arsenal to Chelsea for a reported fee of £21.5M.
Full-back José Enrique moved from Liverpool to Tottenham for a reported fee of £14.25M. Winger André Ayew joined Liverpool from Ligue 1 team OM in a £15.75M deal.
Man City saw one of their players head abroad as full-back Pablo Zabaleta departed for Serie A team A.C. Milan for around £8.75M.
Chelsea were the biggest spenders in the country, running up a total transfer bill of around £92M.
Meanwhile, Blue Square Bet North side Solihull Moors were the most active team during the window, strengthening their squad with no fewer than fourteen players.
willz121
Young central defender Reginald Lucas will sign in the summer after we managed to complete another deal. He is one for the future, and will more than likely spend next season on loan in the Championship. He will remain with Lyon U18s for the rest of this season.
Tamer Walker will not be signing for the club though after his transfer fell through.
willz121
Manchester United's Will Schoolar has won the English Premier Division Manager of the Month award.
The award panel made their decision after the Red Devils boss guided his team to victory in all three of their league games this month.
(PRM) Man Utd 2-1 Aston Villa (14th Sep)
(PRM) Man Utd 4-1 Arsenal (22nd Sep)
(PRM) Man Utd 3-0 Fulham (29th Sep)
Chelsea's Rafa Benítez came extremely close to taking the award but in the end has to settle for second place. Steve Clarke of West Brom took third place.
A brilliant September for us, including a 3-1 win over Norwich City in the League Cup, with Dan Foley set to play in goal in our cup games this season when available.
Manchester United Player of the Month
Shinji Kagawa picks up my Player of the Month award for September, with picking up a rating of 8.5 and 8.4 in the last two games. He's scored a couple of goals too, and is proving to be a key element in this side:
Transfer Update
Two more transfers lined up for the summer with Lukas Micheletti set to join in the summer from St-Etienne, and Maximilian Meyler from Schalke 04. Both players could challenge for a first team berth next season, although Micheletti will more than likely move out on loan.