[FM17] The Roker Roar

With Sunderland sitting at the bottom of the Championship in real life, I thought this might be an interesting challenge to pick up on Football Manager.

With the club in financial peril, and currently owing £119m at the start of my game, I am going to try and focus my game around relieving the financial burden dragging the club down, and trying to reignite the Roker Roar!

Sunderland have a huge squad, and their wage budget is massively out of hand. Thankfully, the main big earners are out on loan with their loaning clubs covering their wages. However, they will return (except for Borini who has agreed a transfer to Milan pre-start) eventually, so they are part of the finances we need to concentrate on sorting.

My main goals of the save are:

1) To introduce young players into the first team, minimum 2 per season from the club's youth setup
2) Implement a wage cap to stabilise the out of control wage bill
3) Return to the Premier League

Wage Cap / Structure
So the first place to start is with the wage budget, and looking at our current spend, we have some room to manouever:

Wage Budget:    £647,680
Current Spend:  £599,870

One thing that is stifling this club is the fact that the expenses are very high for a Championship side. With this in mind, the first target is to reduce the wage spend below £500k per week.

By splitting the squad into four groups, we can figure out where the money should be spent, and how much of it:

Key Players - 4 players - 30% of total wage = £37,500 p/w
First Team - 7 players - 30% of total wage = £21,428 p/w
Squad Players - 12 players - 30% of total wage = £12,500 p/w
Youth Players - 20 players - 10% of total wage = £ 2,500 p/w

Next step, address the current playing staff against the wage structure, and see where we can release some funds!

With the squad in need of an overhaul, there are very few players who I consider a Key Player at this moment in time. Lamine Kone is probably the closest to being a key member of the side, but due to his current wages and the intended wage cap, he will have to take a pay cut to stay.

With the wage cap in mind, the following players will be offered reduced terms or sold at the earliest opportunity.:

Lee Cattermole   | £50,000
Lamine Kone      | £45,000
Darron Gibson    | £35,000
Billy Jones      | £30,000
John O'Shea      | £30,000
Callum McManaman | £28,000
Bryan Oviedo     | £25,000
Adam Matthews    | £25,000
Aiden McGeady    | £25,000
Brendan Galloway | £22,500

Galloway is currently on loan from Everton, and as he isn't any better than what we currently have at the squad, his loan deal will be terminated immediately. A quick win, and we've shaved nearly £23k from the wage bill.

Two in, three out

First to leave the club is Lee Cattermole, who moves to AC Milan for £8.25m. Cattermole was on a three year contract at the Stadium of Light, and at £50k per week, was our highest earner. Following him out the door was Billy Jones who moves to rivals Middlesbrough for £2.7m. Jones was in the last year of his contract, but wasn't interested in reduced terms, so he was available to leave.

John O'Shea was the next high earner to leave, moving north of the border to Celtic for £250k. I wasn't expecting much in way of transfer fee for him, but it was more important to move another £30k per week off the wage spend.

The good news is, along with Galloway's departure, we have released over £150k per week from the wage budget, and added £11m to the clubs coffers.


Incoming are two loanees from Bournemouth, with Emerson Hyndman and Tyrone Mings arriving at the club on season long loans. I don't want to rely too much on loans, but with the current squad lacking depth at full back, Mings will be first choice.

Hyndman fills a space in midfield left by Cattermole, but may not be a definite starter for us immediately.

As we gear up for our first game of the season, our finances look a lot healthier, but the squad looks a lot thinner:

Wage Budget: £647,680
Current Spend: £441,161

A great start to this @willz121, interesting to delve into the finances and how you've broken it down. I must say, that Cattermole transfer is one of my favourites I've seen in FM

Mings a great signing!

Agree with Kez brilliant start @willz121 its great when people go the extra mile with the finance details.

@KEZ_7 - I couldn't believe that Cattermole will be playing at the San Siro! It made me laugh when I saw the caliber of sides who were coming in for him. Milan offered the most, and I am very happy to take their money. Mings should be solid for us, and if possible, I'm hoping to add him permanently if I can. Had a look at a couple of other left backs, but he is the stand out.

@Dan Thanks for commenting! Really appreciate the support early on in the career. I'm really trying to focus on being strict with the finances, which is making every contract negotiation more interesting as I have stricter budgets than usual. To be honest, in most games, I just go whole hog and blow all my transfer and wage budgets without much thought and run huge squads - but this time round I'm even working hard to loan out players on high wages, just to save that cash.

August update should be ready fairly soon, lots of transfer dealings and a few matches to report on, so hopefully it'll be an interesting read. Appreciate the comments & support!

Theres a couple issues with some of the screenshots above not showing @willz121

Thanks @Dan - seems I copied some of the links incorrectly. Should be resolved now, but appreciate the heads up [pun intended]

October
October started with a slender 1-0 victory over Barnsley, with Kazenga Lua Lua scoring the only goal. It was a disappointing performance, and one that set the tone for October. We followed it up with a 2-0 defeat against Derby and a 3-2 defeat against Brentford. Imoh Ezekiel got both the goals against Brentford, and followed that up with another against Middlesbrough in a 1-1 draw. We concluded the month with another 1-1 draw against Norwich, with Jacques Maghoma giving us an early lead.

November
Only three games in November, but our poor form continued. We began with a scoreless draw against Reading before defeat against Sheffield Wednesday. Emerson Hyndman scored a consolation for us in a 2-1 defeat, before we scrambled a win against Bolton. Ezekiel getting our only goal in which was a very poor performance all round.

December
In comparison to the previous two months, December was much better for us! We began with a 0-0 draw against Bristol City, before beating play off rivals Birmingham City 3-2 with goals from Zinchenko, Ezekiel and Gooch giving us a massive three points. A 2-2 draw with Leeds followed, with Maghoma grabbing a brace, before we comfortably beat Burton 3-0. Jonny Williams scored twice, with Lua Lua scoring the final goal. A Boxing Day win over Nottingham Forest (3-1 with goals from Hyndman, Gooch adn Ezekiel) was followed on New Years Eve with a 2-1 win over QPR. Ezekiel put us ahead just after half time, and Williams scored in injury time to give us a win.

January
We were very active in the January window, bringing in Carlos Castro from Gijon for £2.5m, Charlie Mulgrew from Blackburn for £2m, Conor Hourihane from Aston Villa for £3m and Arthur Masuaku on loan from West Ham. We also added a number of youngsters to the squad, including Trevor Chalobah and Tyrell Warren.

We began the month with a 3-1 win over Sheffield United, with Ezekiel, Mulgrew and Oztumer scoring, before we drew 1-1 with QPR in the FA Cup 3rd Round. Before the replay, we took maximum points at Ipswich, winning 3-2 with goals from Ezekiel x2 and Gooch. The game at Loftus Road was a straight forward affair, with us progressing to the next round with a 4-1 win. Carlos Castro scored twice on his debut, with Curtis Hamilton and Ezekiel scoring the other goals.

A 2-0 victory over Fulham followed, with a double from Zinchenko, before we managed to knock Burnley out of the FA Cup in the Fourth Round by the same score. Zinchenko scored again, with Ezekiel adding the second.

February
With automatic promotion in sight, we suffered back to back defeats against Hull City and Wolves to really dent our promotion push. Fortunately we got back to winning ways with a 3-0 win over Cardiff, before drawing with Millwall. Our FA Cup journey ended with a 2-0 defeat at Anfield, before two successive draws ended the month; 3-3 with Aston Villa and 2-2 with Preston North End.

March
An early strike from Gooch gave us a 1-0 win over Barnsley, before two draws with Derby (0-0) and Brentford (2-2). Norwich then gave us a lesson in defending, as we lost 1-0 and barely managed to break down their defence. Norwich are well on course to secure promotion and probably the title, but we did very little to show that we have anything to compete with them.

April
With the play offs still in our hands, we entered the final full month of the season with a lot to play for. Starting with a game against local rivals Middlesbrough, we played out an entertaining 1-1 draw. However, defeats against Sheffield Wednesday and Reading put a huge dent in our chances of a top six finish, and we only clung to the play off places due to the equally inept performances of the sides below us. We faced Bolton and Bristol City, sides with nothing to play for, and only came away with two points, games finishing 1-1 and 0-0 respectively. A timely 1-0 victory over Birmingham City saw us end April with one game to go, and knowing that avoiding defeat would see us into the play offs.

May
That final game came at Elland Road, with Leeds safe from relegation, and us fighting for our play off hopes, the game finished 1-1. Due to other results, we finished fifth, and went on to face Brentford in the play offs. Birmingham finished 3rd, and Ipswich 6th.

In the first leg, we were excellent in front of goal, but dreadful at defending, playing out a 3-2 victory. Knowing that we had the upper hand due to no away goals, we went to Griffin Park with high hopes, but lost 4-2 meaning we were out with a 6-5 aggregate defeat.

Ipswich went on to beat Brentford in the final, and they joined Norwich City (champions) and Wolves in the Premier League next season. Nottingham Forest, Barnsley and Burton were relegated to League One, and Forest could be an interesting challenge should they not get promoted straight back.

I signed a new two year deal at the club, but due to missing out on promotion, the finances are looking tight. The wage budget for next season is £450k and transfer budget is £4m. With some high earners returning from loans, this summer will more than likely see a high turnover of players!

Apologies for the long write up, but I got distracted by the game and forgot to do more detailed posts as they happened.

Interesting read mate.

Thanks @bigmattb28 - I don't like bulky text updates, so I will be aiming to spread them out a bit more during season 2. I just got stuck into the games as they were thick and fast, and next thing I know I'm already in pre-season!

Any comments or advice on layout gratefully received!

@willz121 I've just started my own story too so not really in a position to advise on layouts, I intend to have something similar to yours with a few screens and comments here and there.

Best of luck (from a Geordie btw!) I'll definitely be following.

This was a very good read, thanks for posting. It makes me think I should be trying to make more of a 'challenge' with my game rather then just playing.

I'd be keen to do a similar save with Newcastle, as I can imagine their wage budget is probably all over the place with some on Championship wages, and some on top whack. Good luck with your save, I will follow it!!

Thanks for reading it so far! I always intend to do a save where I focus on the financial side of things, but then I get distracted and throw my wage structure in the bin and just max it out instead! It does make it tougher, but worse it makes you more critical of the high earning players who play badly as you've literally staked so much on them! Appreciate the comment, thanks!

I never do a save with Newcastle, I support them and don't get the kind of connection I do with teams I've got no affiliation with as weird as that sounds, give me a worldwide journeyman save any day!

I'll get a proper post up over the weekend for my Soviet Story mate, first time doing it on this forum. Thanks for following

That is a quality intake for a Championship team, interested to see how you splash it!

Done very well in the transfer window, how do the finances compare now to when you took over? Judging by your work the wages must of dropped off significantly.

Some surprising results so far this season, hopefully you pick it straight up now.

Very rarely i read through a whole story but this one made me so have subscribed.

Some solid results there, quality beating Spurs too!