Please delete

Since my last topic was spammed so much I've had to re-post my progress so far.

I've taken up Rick87's The Sir Alex Ferguson Challenge and I will be doing it 'The Fergie Way', well sort of. I will be updating it every few months or if anything drastic happens.

I will follow two of the rules to the letter:

1. Fergie's rule #1, No player is bigger than the club! If any player, no matter how good, wants to leave. Then he can go.
2. A strong focus on youth development, bringing quality players in young and gradually placing them in the squad.

I've started as Patrick Thistle, who are predicted to finish 5th, they have a small but good, young squad. With a few additions they could become a very good squad for this level.

Here's a view of what the squad looks like on the first day of the job.


Strengths
We have a large midfield filled with quality players, hopefully this group can dominate the physical side to Scottish football. We also have some good options up front to compliment this. The clubs finances are all in order and are working on a tight wage budget.

Weaknesses
We have no transfer budget and could do with strengthening at the back. I will have to look into the loan and free transfer market for a solution to this.

First to be shown the Fergie treatment was young right back Steven O'Donnell who thinks it's time to move on. He has requested a transfer and been placed on the transfer list, however nobody's interested in him.



We played a few pre-season matches and preformed pretty well, this also gave me chance to mess about with tactics.


The highlight of pre-season was the draw SPL side Ross County, we fought back after going behind twice to seal a good result. The Cumnock result was disappointing as it would have been good going into the first competitive fixture.



Two players have joined the club to give the defence a boost.


First in was Scott Morrison to give us an extremely good choice at left back, between him and Aaron Sinclair. He joined on a free transfer and has the option of an extra year, if he reaches 20 games.


I brought in another right back to offer me an option if I lose O'Donnell. The club are paying half of Mark Bradley who has joined from Rotherham until the end of the season.

My plan of playing good old fashioned ball up the park football is working well. We've started the season winning 10 of the 13 opening fixtures, leaving us sitting top of the table. Everything has gone well in the cups so far, we progressed in both the Challenge and League Cup including a win over SPL side Hearts.

I also added two more defenders to the squad before the end of the transfer window.


Bradley Donaldson joined to booster our defence and offer us an extra option at both centre and right back. He looks like a no nonsense defender who can win a ball an clear it.


Scott Rumsby also joins on loan until the end of the season, another central defender to thicken up our back line.


I tried to flog Stephen O'Donnell despite his potential, however I received no offers and he has been placed in the reserves until he apologises or his contract runs out.






We have another youngster getting too big for his boots and has been placed on the transfer list. Aaron Sinclair will remain in the first team unless he acts up like O'Donnell.

We had two tough cup ties against either side of the Old Firm, along with defeat to Queen of the South in the Scottish cup, taking Rangers to penalties in the Challenge Cup was a good result. The matches boosted the clubs coffers with over £150k, with two sell outs. Our league form hasn't been great causing us to slip to 2nd place.

I made two signings and found a nice little loop-hole that allows us to play trialists for up to 3 matches which could come in handy when our squad is knackered. We missed Kris Doolan this month who was ruled out for 2 months injured.


Derek Riordan joined until the end of the season with an extra year if he plays 15 matches. He has a bad reputation in the world of Scottish football, but hopefully I can get him in line for his final few year. He made an instant impact scoring a brace on his debut.


Another former Celt, Jean-Joel Perrier-Doumbe, joins the cub until the end of the season also with the view to an extra year. He will replace the departing Stephen O'Donnell, who sits in our reserves for misconduct, and is joining Plymouth for £12k. It's not much but it will free up £200 wages and we have a 20% sell on fee for a player who would leave for nothing in the summer.


Maceo Rigters gives us a new dynamic to our attack. The Dutchman put us over our wage budget, hopefully we can shift some deadwood in January.

Again our league form is unpredictable meaning we've dropped another place to 3rd and will need to win a few matches in row to climb back to the top of the table. Kris Doolan came back from injury with a bang scoring 5 goals.

I noticed that our balance had been dropping dramatically so I had to ship out a few players. I also brought in two new players as replacements at no cost for the club.


A product of Celtic youth academy, Mark Fotheringham joins until the end of the season with Ross County footing his wage bill.


Aberdeen youngster Clark Robertson fills the void left by the wantaway Aaron Sinclair. Again like Fotheringham his wages are paid by his parent club.

Good luck with this. Shame your other thread was ruined by an idiotic spammer.

Good job in signing Fothringham, he's a quality midfielder for my Ross County team.
Still in with a good chance of promotion too mate, good luck.

Thanks buddy. I think my post got the worst of it haha!


I've put together a decent squad it's just getting the tactics right that takes a bit of time.

The league is so tight at the top, a terrible run going into March sending us down the table. We really need to hit top form going into the final fixtures and hope the teams above us drop points. Kris Doolan has continued his top form hitting back-to-back hat-tricks. The board handed me a 3 year contract that I plan to honour before moving on.

Well Done on the contract mand, would like to see you take them up! Tempted to start a SAF challenge myself due to this and a few other good careers on here! KIU!

Cheers mate! You should give it a go, a really fun challenge.

Despite our best efforts winning 4 of the 5 remaining fixtures, Falkirk went on the lift the First Division Title and promotion to the SPL. In a way I'm happy we didn't go up, I want to go up with a squad that is ready to play in that standard of league. The youngsters I have could do with another season before being exposed to Premier League football. I set up pre-contract deals for Kilmarnock youngster Mark O'Hara and Queen of the South striker Nicky Clarke

Overall we had a not bad season. It was tough loosing the out on promotion on goal difference on the final day of the season. Going into next season we have a strong squad to build on, with Kris Doolan, Paul Paton, Scott Fox, Jean-Joel Pierre-Doumbe, Ross Forbes and Christie Elliot all signing new deals.


Up front we had an abundance of goal scorers in Derek Roridan, Kris Doolan and Christie Elliot, they were complemented by excellent delivery by Chris Erskine on the left wing. We had a stable back line but look to lose Clark Robertson when he returns to Aberdeen.


We made a few good sales this year in Derek Roridan and Clark Robertson but it was a bit hit and miss with the others. Next season I'll have to take a more strict approach. A good profit came from wantaway and reserve players but I seen none of it to spend.


Our finances have taken a turn for the worst this season. I may have to cash in on a few key players to balance the books this season. Hopefully one of the players I sold with a sell-on clause moves club.

unlucky dude but sometimes another year at this level helps you long term!

Yeah I was thinking that but our finances are awful! Hopefully I can set up a few big money friendlies.

Really like your careers and the layout- keep it up.

Cheers mate! I tend to follow yours too, I like the subtle humour you put in them.

We are losing a few players form our team of the year. Most notably Chris Erskine who is joining Shrewsbury on a bosman and Maceo Rigters who's contract is expiring and not worth renewing at the wage he wants. Funny to see Lee Trundle and Amine Linganzi in the team of the year as they only played as trialists.


Kris Doolan had an excellent season scoring 29 goals in all competitions and setting up another 9. I tied him down on a two year deal with an extra year if he reaches 20 fixtures in his final season.


We didn't get much of a budget this year because of the clubs debts. We are over £800k in the red so a few sales may be in order.


Positions To Strengthen

• A young back-up goalkeeper
• Both right back and left back
• Two centre backs
• Two centre midfielders
• Two versatile wingers
• An experienced striker

We got a decent centre midfielder coming through the ranks. I've put George Green into the first team and will give him a bit of game time this season to see how he develops.

I set up a friendly with First Division Champions Falkirk in desperate attempts to raise some cash. I have also made some early signings, two loans and two free transfers


First in was former Australian international Harry Kewell. I couldn't believe my luck signing a player with such a a big reputation and on very low wages. He still looks like a quality player and could stay at the club until 2016.


Next in was Nicky Clarke who signed a pre-contract from Queen of the South, the striker could become a very good player and has the goal record to back it.


I tried to sing Phil Twardzik last year but he went Falkirk. He could be a very good substitute due to his versatility, Celtic are also covering his full wage.


Lewis Toshney followed Twardzik from Celtic, again with them footing the bill. He got a good bit of first team football with Dundee last season and should walk into our first team.

Looking good so far sean, good to see you still posting on here! Kewell was a steal!

Cheers mate! Yeah I was surprised he was interested never mind only asking for £300 a week.

We had a good pre-season raising money for the club, we had near enough a sell out against Newcastle and half filled the stadium against Everton. I was very happy to get the draw in both matches and beat Inverness and Linfield

I brought in four more player to replace a few departing first team faces that raised £230k.


Mark O'Hara was my second pre-contract deal to be completed. The young defender replaces Aaron Muirhead who wouldn't sign a new contract and was leaving at the end of the season.


I needed cover for both full backs so I brought in Alex Nicholson who can play either side. We don't pay Newcastle anything towards his wages which is another bonus.


Paul Heffernan failed to get back into the Kilmarnock first team after a string of injuries. Again his parent club are paying his wage saving us a massive £1k per week.


Another Celt joins the club, Leo Fasan will spend the next 48 months on loan at the club and offer back up for Scott Fox.

Wes Fletcher has some real potential for lower league sides in FM13. I had him on a Lincoln Save and he done th business.

Some fine wheeling & dealing done here mate!

I has Fletcher on trial but he went to Bury! Cheers I've yet to raise anything worth paying for a player.

A good start do the season with the exception of losing to Cowdenbeath in the League Cup. Big wins over Livingston and Morton should be a sign that we shouldn't lose out on goal difference again.

I went on to add another four players to the squad while two reserve players left.


I thought the club could do with a bit of experience in the squad. Jari Litmanen still looks a decent impact player for his age and could change games after 70 mins.


Jordan Fitzpatrick was released by Crewe and I snapped the versatile youngster up at a fairly decent wage.


Another old boy, Lee Trundle joined on a small wage and is another player who can come on towards the end of the match to make an impact.


Manchester United kindly gave us Luke McCullough on loan for the year for free.

We had an excellent two months, winning all of our games leading to me getting both manager of the month awards. The highlight of the month was the 4-0 win over Ross County as well as reaching the Challenge Cup Final where we face them again. I was also able to make a link with Celtic which should help us financially and sign another midfielder.


I think Mads Laudrup is an another amazing signing for us, he should be more than capable of playing in the SPL after a season in the First DIvision.

Great run your on at the moment bud, keep that up and you'll be promoted easy.

Cheers mate !

We have finally broken away from the pack, winning our last 16 league games. I also won my first piece of silverware beating Ross County on penalties in the Challenge Cup Final. My star signing Harry Kewell has been ruled out for up to 3 months with a hip injury. I also added a young talented player to the squad.


The club has been making a loss every month leaving out balance over £1m in the red. The board injected some funds to help us, we need to win promotion to maintain our finances.