Ice Man - Comments

2nd Season

Transfer History



This transfer window was all about selling who I didn't need (most of them back from their loans) and then trying to replace them with better players for as little as possible. I was mainly able to do this by bringing in quite a few loans. I didn't realize straight away what an impact that the players who had gone back to their clubs had on this team. I suddenly had to find 3 full backs which wasn't easy. Zouma was a brilliant signing and a player as was making Fernando's transfer permanent from Porto. Freddy Adu played for the B team all year and was joined by Urruti in the second half of the season after getting injured and then losing his place.

Player Stats



The players were quality this year all working together in partnerships. In defense it was the partnership of Artur, Doria & Zouma which kept many attackers at bay through out the season. In the midfield it was all down to the main 4. Fernando, Sissoko, Anita & Dembele. (who was unreal, trying to get him back next season) Between the 4 of them they combined for 30 goals and 46 assists. The final partnership was between Djuricic, Correa & Cardozo. Without the 3 of them we wouldn't have done as well as we did. Cardozo scored most of the goals but Correa was quality including 20 assists.

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League Table



Won it pretty easily this year. The most pleasing thing was the way that we started. We came out of the blocks strong an by game 8,9 or 10 we already had a 10 point lead over Porto and they never ever had a look in. It was nice in the end to go undefeated. We did come close a couple of times to losing our run but somehow we would find a way to get a result.

League Fixtures



Looks really good that although the draws are dissapointing. Against Sporting and Braga is barely acceptable but the other 2 games were just shocking on our part. We were lucky/unlucky against Nacional as we were losing 2-0 at the break and then by the 65th minute we were level again but we just couldn't find that winning goal. Overall good.

Taca da Liga Fixtures



This went really well. We managed to come across Belenenses in the group which allowed us to get another point. (They got promoted back into our league thankfully) Nobody caused us a problem and then we came across our friends Porto and we beat them well. Porto scoring made it a little harder than it had to be be but not to worry.

Taca da Portugal Fixtures



Another cup run that went swimmingly. The first 3 rounds were very easy and in fact the under 19's probably would have beaten them all. Sporting proved a little tougher but we had enough to see us home. The semi final was made easy by a thumping 5-1 away win and then we beat Porto for the first time all season in the last game of the season and this was enough to give us the domestic treble that we desperately wanted.

Champions League Fixtures



I was really impressed with how we played throughout this tournament. We won our group well. Wasn't too impressed with drawing 2 group games 0-0 but thats why it's important to win the earlier games and qualify nice and early. I wasn't too happy to be drawn against Barca in the 1st knockout round but after beating them last season over 2 legs I was confident enough that lightening could strike twice. Thankfully we were away 1st game and managed to come away with a vital away goal. At home we were SOOO dominant. Yes they scored 2 goals but they were in the last few minutes after the game was already won. Juventus was the tale of 2 depressing games. We outplayed them both games but we let them score at our place and ultimately it cost us and they knocked us out on away rules.

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Total Points

Liga ZON Sagres: 1st = 25 Points
Taca de Portugal: Losing Quarter Finalist = 2 Points
Taca de Liga: Winner = 15 Points
Champions League: Losing Quarter Finalist = 10 Points

Rivalries;
FC Porto: 3 Competitive win, 2 in the League (2-0, 1-0), 1 in the Taca da Liga Final (2-1) = 15 Points
Sporting: 1 Competitive wins, 1 in the League (6-2) = 5 Points
Belenenses: 1 Competitive wins, 1 in the Taca da Liga (3-0) = 3 Points

Total for Season 2 = 25+2+15+10+15+5+3 = 75 Points

Combined Total Points: 96 + 75 = 171

I will try and get through as much of Season 3 as I can before the deadline.

How come the change of finishing time?

Looks like I am in for a marathon session. Anybody know whats best for all nighters?

Right then here is my 1st Season. Hoping to power through the rest of the seasons in time for the Sunday night deadline.

Transfer History



I was very happy with my signings. I decided straight away that I wasn't going to be using wingers so off went Gaitan & Salvio. I then went and stocked up of center mids for very reasonable prices I think. I did try to buy Mohamed Diami but he decided to go to Monaco instead. I was always going to bring in another center back but once I got a decent price for Garay it meant that I had to step up my quest in getting Doria (so worth it!) My most pleasing signing was getting Fernando in on loan from rivals Porto with an agreed price of £4.5m. Papadopolous came in on loan during January to add some much needed quality backup. Hopefully I can bring him back next season.

Player Stats



Not really a great deal to be said here. Everybody was quality all year. A couple of standouts were obviously Cardozo with just over 30 goals in the season. Doria and Luisao were phenomenal together and only missed games when rested. Artur was very reliable in goal and although he is getting on a bit single handidly kept us in about 5 important games last season.

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League Table



It went down to the last game of the season but I was never really nervous. We were always in control and it should be the same next season. If we can make some of the draws into wins especially against Porto then it should be another title to Benfica. Disappointingly Belenenses have been relegated this season and with it goes some extra points.

League Fixtures



We had a very good season apart from the 2 losses to just random teams. The second was disappointing although understandable as I was resting players in between the Man Utd matches. Just need to learn to beat Porto in the league and it will be even better.

Taca da Liga Fixtures



This was the perfect competition for us, only playing Belenenses would have been better for points! We were able to rotate players all the way through this competition and finished with a comfortable victory over sporting. The run was made a little easier by Porto & Sporting being drawn in the same group.

Taca da Portugal Fixtures



Another cup run that went swimmingly. The first 3 rounds were very easy and in fact the under 19's probably would have beaten them all. Sporting proved a little tougher but we had enough to see us home. The semi final was made easy by a thumping 5-1 away win and then we beat Porto for the first time all season in the last game of the season and this was enough to give us the domestic treble that we desperately wanted.

Champions League Fixtures



We had great success in this competition. We had a very favourable group and although it was quite tricky we came through undefeated although Bayer pushed us hard both times. We got lucky again by drawing Celtic in the first knockout round. I didn't ever feel under threat from them despite what the scorelines were we just never got going in either legs. The next game was my best yet. We outplayed Barcelona at home. We managed to keep Messi out to the game for the whole 90 mins and thankfully we manged to take a 2-0 lead to Barcelona. We lost 1-0 but played ok. The games against Man Utd just came at the wrong time as we were in the middle of the final league games and Porto weren't losing. We gave it our best shot at home but we really needed a goal. At Old Trafford we were torn apart by Nani. (YES NANI!!) We made it 3-1 at half time and we went all out in the second half but couldn't score again.

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Total Points

Liga ZON Sagres: 1st = 25 Points
Taca de Portugal: Winner = 15 Points
Taca de Liga: Winner = 15 Points
Champions League: Losing Semi Finalist = 15 Points

Rivalries;
FC Porto: 1 Competitive win, 1 in the Taca de Portugal Final (3-1) = 5 Points
Sporting: 3 Competitive wins, 1 in the League (3-2), 1 in the Taca de Portugal 6th Round (2-1), 1 in the Taca da Liga Final (3-0) = 15 Points
Belenenses: 2 Competitive wins, 2 in the League (2-0, 2-0) = 6 Points

Total for Season 1 = 25+15+15+15+5+15+6 = 96 Points

Now onto Season 2!

What is the required league set up? Is it Portugal only or can we add others?

Has anybody managed to make of find one?

What I meant was to keep:

<record from="602" to="graphics/pictures/team/602/background"/>

And add this under all of the teams in config:

<record from="602" to="graphics/pictures/club/602/background"/>

It should look a little like this:

<record from="..." to="graphics/pictures/team/.../background"/>
<record from="..." to="graphics/pictures/team.../background"/>
<record from="..." to="graphics/pictures/team/.../background"/>
<record from="..." to="graphics/pictures/team/.../background"/>

<record from="..." to="graphics/pictures/club/.../background"/>
<record from="..." to="graphics/pictures/club/.../background"/>
<record from="..." to="graphics/pictures/club/.../background"/>
<record from="..." to="graphics/pictures/club/.../background"/>

It is quite easy that you could probably do it yourself.

Using Arsenal for example:

This is the current config that sets it on news and the team etc.

<record from="602" to="graphics/pictures/team/602/background"/>

All you need to do is make a copy of this and then change the following:

<record from="602" to="graphics/pictures/club/602/background"/>

That should now show on club overview.

No they work with other skins aswell

Powering through Europe!

Still as brilliant as ever

Thanks a lot for these. Has anybody else got the small versions of these. Mainly the Seattle one.

Yeah the config can be modified. All you need to do is open the config up with any word processor (notepad, wordpad or word) and then what you need to do is the following:

Take Arsenal for example

<record from="602" to="graphics/pictures/team/602/background"/>

This will add the background only to the team background.

<record from="602" to="graphics/pictures/stadium/5114336/background"/>

This will add the background to the stadium on matchday

<record from="602" to="graphics/pictures/club/602/background"/>

This will add the background to all of the club pages (overview, info, facilities etc)

Hope that helps and makes sense.

Anybody?

Yes the way that the config is set up it is only to appear on the team screen. The first pic with the club info is regarded as "club" in configs so if you wanted it to show on that screen then you would have to add it into the config.

It's the same if you want it to on match days as well. Need to edit the config to allow it to show stadiums.

Hope that cleared it up.

The DC United academy is an upgrade. I don't have the Seattle under23 one though. Could you upload it if it has already been done?

FC Delco: 72023810


PA Classics: 72023813


Players Development Academy: 72023819


Oklahoma City FC: (No I.D as they are not in the game yet. Brand new team formed this season)

D.C United Academy: 72006967


Seattle Under 23: 20018914

I was wandering if anybody has made a transparent version of the White base skin. I have seen a few versions of the dark skin but I really want to be able to use the White skin but be able to use backgrounds.

I have no idea about skinning so I have no idea how to go about doing this myself so hopefully somebody can help me.

Thanks

What I meant was could you possibly change the home and third kit to the same as the away kit. Same colors and things but just different type of kit.

See if that makes a difference to how the sponsor looks. If it still looks the same then whatever you think looks best.

Thanks

Thanks for these they look good. I do agree with you about the sponsor. Could you possibly do the home and third kit in the same style as the away kit.

Thanks

Could somebody please make me some alternative Orlando City kits please.

I need a home, away and third kit in the Adidas kit style that Stoke City use.

If you could use the same colour style as the current kits:

Home: Purple & White
Away: White & Purple
Third: Red & White

Sponsor Logo:


Club Logo:


Thanks a lot

Any chance of these. They are the new Orlando City kits. Don't worry about the black one that is the keepers kit.

Here is the new San Jose Earthquakes badge. ID: 1910

Love this story so far. Really interesting to see how well an all English Man Utd can do. I suppose now that you are in charge on England as well you have the perfect testing ground on new players that you might want to buy!

On a separate note how do you get your league tables, Transfers and fixture lists to be so narrow and miss out all of the presumed extra space in between. (hope that makes sense) In my story's thread when I am posting a league table it is so wide compared to yours so I was wandering how you did it!

Season Review 2014 / 2015

| League Table - League Player Stats - Carling Cup Fixtures - F.A Cup Fixtures - Finances - Transfers - Squad Stats |

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So another season is over and once again we have finished in the lower mid table. It ended up being closer than we would have liked but a lot of the teams got stronger and for one reason (mainly losing Benteke's goals) or another we couldn't match teams that we should. There are some teams that you just cant explain. Brighton finishing 11 points ahead of us with no stars in there team is just embarrassing, but finishing 8 points above relegated Everton (we sent them down last game of the season) is impressive considering they finished 7th last year.

Hopefully we can improve next season with some better additions to the team and a change of tactics I firmly believe that we can get into the top half next season.

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The big highlight of our year was undoubtedly winning the FA Cup. Our fixtures were a tale of two half's. The first 4 rounds we came up against 4 championship clubs and while we needed 2 replays to beat Milwall & Middlesbrough we just about progressed into the semi finals. Our most accomplished performance coming against Ipswich who we beat 3-0 and didn't even give them a look in.

The second half is far more impressive. Coming into the semi final stage we were drawn against Man City. While they were coming of the back of a defeat to United in the Manchester derby they we clear favorites but thankfully they were very wasteful during the game. We managed to hold them off early doors and while we should have been going in at half time 1-0 up thanks to an Agbonlahor goal we conceded on the brink of half time and I thought that we were going to be doomed! Thankfully Nicklas Helenius hadn't read my mind or the Man City script as he took it upon himself to score our second, and then win and convert a penalty to give us a 3-1 lead. Of course that went to a 3-2 lead and then we shut up shop even more than normal and rode the Man City wave and ended up winning 3-2 and booked a final place against their rivals and top team in England Man Utd.

The final was a different matter altogether. 3 days before the final we played Arsenal so coming into this game we weren’t at our fittest but still it was and FA Cup final if the players couldn’t get up for this game then they never will. The first half started out as you would expect with Man Utd coming out all guns blazing but to our credit we battled well and saw them off. As the first half was coming to a close and Man Utd had gone off the boil, I made a tactical decision and attacked them for the last 10 minutes. Amazingly this risk (managerial genius) worked as not only did Antonio Luna score but captain fantastic Gabby Agbonlahor also scored and amazingly we went into half time 2-0 up. The second half was all about discipline and not conceding. We managed the discipline all game but unfortunately we didn’t quite manage the not conceding part. Wayne Rooney scored a nicely worked goal in the 88th minute but thankfully there wasn’t enough time for them to score another and we had won 2-1.

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2015 / 2016 Plans

The first thing that I need to do is look around and bring in some better quality players. At the moment we have too many that are good/ok but not enough that are great/quality players. If I can bring in 2-3 of these players along with some more squad players then we should be ok with the extra amount of games that are going to be coming our way next season.

I still need to try and trim the wage budget although Shay Given is retiring at the end of the season so if I can get rid of Charles N'Zogbia then that will be even better. New summer signing Duvan Zapata came to me demanding a new contract. Frankly he has been average at best this season so I will be looking to find him a new club for next season, and young goalkeeper Jed Steer wants to leave which is a shame but I can understand why so a new club for him and a backup goalkeeper for me is also on a long off season list.

Still look amazing. Keep them coming!!

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January Update 2015

The only transfers going out were players on loan. Aleksandar Tonev was becoming unhappy due to lack of games so I thought that this was a good time to use our new partnership with Zulte and send him there. He was later joined by new Brazilian left mid Lucio who completed his move but couldn't get a work permit. By the time he has done his 3 year stint in Belgium he will be 26 and hopefully in the prime of his career. N'Zogbia finally left the club unfortunately it is only on loan for 3 months and we are STILL paying all his wages. Hopefully he can impress a few people while on loan at Yeovil and somebody will take a chance on him. Finally new summer signing Mathias Jorgensen couldn't break into the team and wanted a loan move. We found him one to local rivals West Brom.

After the first half of the season I realized that our central midfield partnership was just average. Never bad but never amazing. They are constantly getting ratings of 6.8 - 7.2 and while that isn't bad I wasn't more. The first person is Spaniard Javi Espinosa. I am hoping that despite him still being 22 he can improve our midfield and add some of that Barcelona class to this team. Another young midfielder in the shape of Leandro Paredes joined for the rest of the season on loan from Roma. Having altered my tactics I needed another attacking midfielder and this guy fitted the bill perfectly. Ole Kristian Selnaes joined on a free transfer and this guy has a promising future ahead of him. Primarily a defensive midfielder, with a bit of training I am confident that he can become a good premiership right midfielder. I am not expecting a lot from him straight away but next season could be a dark horse. The last signing was Mathias Bossaerts from Man City. With Jorgensen's departure to West Brom I needed another central defender to add some cover. Hopefully this guy can provide this and even progress into a decent center back.

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Sitting in the middle of the table is pleasing and would love to end up finishing around here. At the moment we are really struggling to turn draws into wins and stupid loses into draws. We are also having a problem making and creating chances. The amount of times we have conceded within 5 minutes and that was the only chance of the first half has been endless. Hopefully the new signings and tactic can change that.

I heard this phrase recently and it sums up our first half of the season:

"The only thing consistent about us is that we are inconsistent"

Thanks for the comments guys!

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Off Season Update 2014

So all in all I am quite happy with how the transfers went. We managed to clear some of the deadwood and also managed to get rid of some of the highest earners. I really didn't want Darren Bent coming back to the club so was ecstatic when Fulham offered me what I wanted and off he went. Albrighton had been moaning a lot last season and wasn't going to be seeing any playing time so newly promoted Brighton took him off my hands. Weimann & Delfouneso both joined another promoted team in Forest. I really wanted more than I got for Weimann but it was either take that or be left with him at the club. He wasn't going to be playing much this season and it's a shame that we had to let him go but he just doesn't score enough. Didn't care about Delf as he had been out all of last season on loan and another big chunk of the wage bill. Speaking of which Alan Hutton finally left the club although we are still paying a little of his wages.

The last two were the ones that are going to have an impact on the team. Benteke made it clear that he wanted to leave and I did everything in my power to get more money than I did, but it wasn't too be. He had Bayern or Dortmund to choose from after I rejected offers from PSG, At. Madrid & Liverpool! Vlaar I had been thinking about selling all off season (rule 6 (sell while you can)) and again although I would have liked more money at 31 thought that he was only going to decline so I took what I could get and saw him leave England.

I am pretty happy with the players that I bought in. Mackay-Steven comes in as a natural left winger which is something we didn't have last season. At the age of 24 I believe that he can improve a lot and at the price that we got him for we could always sell him on for a profit if things don't work out.
Vossen, Zapata & Vydra all coming in are really fighting for two places. I thought that Vydra on a free transfer was too good to turn down and am confident that he can produce when we need him to although it wont be this season as we have sent him out on loan to Liverpool for the rest of the season, although we can recall him if we need him. Zapata was somebody that I had my eye on since I started and last season was quoted £7 million for him so when I saw him at such a low fee I had to have him. Vossen is somebody that everybody knows and I am hoping that he can take over from the departing Belgian striker although I am not expecting too much straight away.

The final 3 signings are all mainly to add some depth to the team. Dawson & Jorgensen will battle it out to try and get a look in at center back in place of the departed Vlaar, although Clark, Baker & Okore are ahead of them in the race. Schelotto has come in as cover for the season after Lowton damaged his ACL and is out for the season. What I like about Schelotto is that he is super quick and I hope that if we can improve some of his technical skills he will be a crucial player this season.

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Overall the off season has see the finances looking very healthy. Obviously the majority of the balance is from the Benteke transfer and due to me not spending all of the money I have still got £7.86M to spend in January if I need to. The most pleasing thing is the wage budget. We have knocked a lot of that with the outgoing transfers and have even managed to offer new contracts to Gabby & Delph at a lower weekly wage then they were currently on. I am going to have to offer Guzan a new deal which will likely double his current wage but the slight saving grace is that we still have Given, Tonev & N'Zogbia eating up a combined weekly wage of £127k. I am hopeful that I can at least sell 2 of them during January although if I can find somebody to bring in as a 3rd choice keeper then I may consider releasing Given from his contract.

During the off season we did also gain a new feeder club in Japan. Hopefully our presence there during pre-season as well as the link all year round can reward us a healthy monthly income.

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So Argentina add their third World Cup after beating Italy in the Final. They probably were the best team, although they were very lucky to overcome Belgium in the quarter finals. It was the first time that anybody had managed to stop Messi & Aguero and Argentina were indebted to Di Maria who scored an 81st minute goal to take it into extra time.

The other finalists Italy had played well on the their way to the final. They had topped their group, and with a last minute goal beat and knocked out the Germans who had drew to Cameroon which proved to be costly for them. They were comfortable against Costa Rica and the Ivory Coast game looks a bit closer than it really was. In the semi final they broke the hearts of the hosts (who were lucky to overcome Jamaica in the quarters) as Manolo Gabbiadini scored twice to send them into the final.

England had promised so much after their group stage. Having been drawn against Netherlands, Ecuador & South Korea, England came through with flying colors having beaten Netherlands 3-0, Ecuador 2-1 & South Korea 2-0. In the 2nd round against a strong Ivory Coast team it was all going well enough until Drogba scored an 80th minute equalizer to take the game into extra time. England just couldn't get going with a lack of attacking substitutions and fitness levels fading the Ivory Coast scored two goals and booked their place in the quarter finals.









Messi deservedly took home the honor of best player. The wizard not only scored 6 goals, which was equal top with Bafetimbi Gomis from France but also set up 6 goals. He really shone in the opening game against Ghana were he only scored 1 but set up 2 of Aguero's goals. In the very next game against Mexico he was faultless as he scored both of Argentina's goals and also set up the other one. His only bad game of the World Cup came against Belgium where Kompany kept him quiet the whole game. Messi didn't let that bother him though as he scored the winner against France in the Semi Final and although he didn't score in the Final he did set up 1 of the 2 goals.

These are amazing. Great work as ever.

Luton is showing up fine on mine. These are the lines that I have got in the config:

<record from="677" to="graphics/pictures/team/677/background"/>
<record from="677" to="graphics/pictures/stadium/677/background"/>

Don't know if they will help

Season Review 2013 / 2014

| League Table - League Player Stats - Cup Fixtures - Finances - Transfers - Squad Stats |

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So that's what happened! We finished a very respectable 14th but we could have finished a lot higher. My main aim for the season when taking over Villa is just to stay in the league and that is what we did. Judging by the start that we made in the league I feared the worst and by October - November time I was starting to look at the job security page more frequently, but I didn't have to worry. Late November we clicked into gear and managed to put some results together and consequently we never looked back down at the relegation zone. We never threatened the top 10 but I am happy where we are at the moment as this gives us a good solid platform to build on.

We had great success in the cups by getting to the Quarter Final stage in both cups. In the Carling Cup we had good draws in the first two rounds and then in the 3rd we outplayed Fulham. We never looked like giving them a sniff. In the Quarters we never really had a chance. They had 3 shots in the first half and they all went in. This was too much for us, despite getting one we were never going to get two more.
In the FA Cup we had another couple of good draws and saw us progress to the fifth round without breaking sweat. We played an indifferent Liverpool team now managed by AVB! They got lucky in the first half and scored via a Clark own goal. Thankfully Weimann equalized on the brink of half time and allowed me to say some words of wisdom in the changing rooms and the team came out and played one of the best games I've seen in a long time.

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My player of the year will be no suprise in going to Christian Benteke. What makes this guy even better that what his record says is that after fourteen games he had only scored three goals and two of them were in the same game! I finally worked some things out and how I could get the most out of him and since January he went from strength to strength.



There was some interest in him around January time and sure enough Bayern Munich came in with a pathetic £6m offer. It was never going to be enough to sell him but it had the required effect and straight after he requested to be put on the transfer list. Noting happened for him which I was so pleased abut but now I will have to wait until the Summer transfer window opens and the barrage will begin again.

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2014 / 2015 Plans

I will be looking to rebuild this team while sticking to the guide lines in the challenge. I still have a few players that are worth some money but are not willing to budge while a couple of of others are taking up some much needed wage budget. People like Alan Hutton & Charles N'Zogbia are the most important players to get off my books while I am also hoping that Darren Bent will not be too hard to move on.

I am in the midst of upgrading some staff members who will hopefully increase my scouting knowledge (2nd rule) and find me some good cheap players that can come in and make a difference. My current coaches are doing a good job although I will be on the look out to see if I can improve on the current crop.