Home
Blog
Careers
Forums
Downloads
FM24 Real Name Fix
FM23 Real Name Fix
FM24 New Leagues
FM23 New Leagues
FM24 Tactics
FM24 Data Update
FM Database
FM Guides
FM Shortlists
FM24/25 Update Wonderkids
FM24/25 Update Free Players
FM24/25 Update Bargains
FM24/25 Update Players to avoid
FM24/25 Update Club Budgets
FM24/25 Update Club Facilities
Graphics
Installation Guides
Records
Prediction League
Fantasy Football
Search
#291728 QPR - Relegated & Ruined
alexlloyd
This is where we found ourselves after 30 games, we had a very realistic chance of finishing in the top six, but could also still finished below mid table so it was all dependant on the final fixtures. I also brought in more reinforcements during the January window, just the one signing however and it was Yannick N’dJeng from Liverpool on loan until the end of the season, he scored 19 goals for them last season but found himself unneeded this season, he eventually got 3 goals in 8 games for me and I sold Youann Gouffran, probably my most uninspired signing as he never really got going, however I didn’t lose any money, actually making £200k in the sale fee to Watford.
The last eight games we only suffered two losses, which were to be expected against Chelsea and Manchester United, however we did manage a dramatic victory over Arsenal in between which proved to be the deciding factor in our end of season success. Nassim Ben Khalifa scored eight goals in those final games and we finished in 6th position, qualifying for the Europa League!
Player Stats
As you can see we had some very impressive individual efforts, we only had a 41 game season and Ramires started 40 of those matches which should explain his worth, he also achieved an average rating of 7.50 which is incredible.
Nassim Ben Khalifa again had an incredible run in front of goal, finishing just one behind top goalscorer Lewandowski, which was a relief as only Andy Carroll also reached double figures.
It would appear that our presence in Europe will improve our financial situation dramatically, with our sponsorship deals almost doubling.
My fears have finally been realised, big clubs are starting to come in for my stars and Will Hughes and Nassim Ben Khalifa are attracting the likes of Liverpool and Chelsea, I have rejected their first advances and hopefully that will be all, the only way these two will be going is if the board automatically accept an offer, they are that valuable to us.
One other pleasing factor is Mason Bennett is showing his potential, winning young player of the year award in the Championship, it may be time to give him a run in the first team or possibly give him one more year out on loan, but I do believe he will prove to be a star.
#291727 QPR - Relegated & Ruined
alexlloyd
11th position isn’t that great, but looking at the points we are actually only 4 points off 6th position and 13 clear of relegation so I am pretty impressed in that perspective. There are a lot of winnable games coming up before now and the end of the season and I think we’ve got a real chance of performing well above expectations both in points tally and league position, our current record is 44 points and I need just 16 points from 18 games to break that, so I’m targeting at least the 50 point mark now, and if we get on a decent run we could even do better.
#291726 QPR - Relegated & Ruined
alexlloyd
I suppose the major disappointment is losing to Colchester in the Carling Cup, I really don’t understand how that happened, I had most of the key players involved, but with the league positon the board don’t seem too unhappy.
#291725 QPR - Relegated & Ruined
alexlloyd
As soon as the window opened I made a couple of moves, Tom Cleverley became available at Tottenham and cost me just £2.8m, he is one of the high earners at the club however I think he’ll prove to be worth it, certainly a good replacement for the outgoing Kallstrom.
Tom Cleverley
I think I need another striker to avoid being left short of numbers at any point during the season so I also signed Youan Gouffran from Lyon for £2m, a small fee to pay to provide me with a good rotation option.
Youan Gouffran
I did release two first team players, Kim Kallstrom and Kemy Agustien who I felt were no longer needed, Kallstrom has been impressive for us but I think it’s time to go in another direction. I brought in three free agents, Scott Sinclair being the main one with Curtis Davies and Peter Gulacsi coming in as back-ups. I think Scott will be a good signing, particularly for free and with Isaac Cuenca and GroBkreutz in good form in certainly does give me some depth and isn’t really on too much either.
Scott Sinclair
Peter Gulacsi
Curtis Davies
I only made three sales this Summer, Matt Phillips was unhappy with his first team opportunities and decided to let him leave to Everton for £3.5m, he had three full seasons with us and I almost tripled the £1.2m I spent on him so I’m pretty happy with how he worked out. Remi Pillot also left for first team opportunities as well as Simon Cox, who I reluctantly sold to West Ham for £3.7m, unfortunately the club has just progressed beyond his abilities otherwise I’d have liked to have kept him.
Possibly the two most high profile signings were the last, I was very surprised when Ramires agreed to a loan move from P.S.G. I’m only paying £21,000 of his wages which makes it a real bargain, will definitely be a big feature this season. Next to follow was his team mate Matias Ezequiel Schelotto, I’ve never heard of him but he’s a leading Premier right mid, however I’ll be playing him at right back where he’s accomplished and hope I can train him to natural, however will be far better than Chris Gunter either way.
Ramires
Matias Ezequiel Schelotto
So, a reasonably quiet window with seven players joining the first team squad, but with some only joining as back up I’m confident it won’t disrupt the squad too much and will be playing with roughly 8 of the same starting 11 from last season.
#291724 QPR - Relegated & Ruined
alexlloyd
Despite this we did improve on last season, finishing in 12th place which is two above last season however we did finish with one point less, finishing on 43. With a media prediction of 15th I don’t think we can complain too much, I am again left disappointed by our cup runs however we our slowly moving up the league and with a few changes in the Summer I’m sure we can push for a top half finish next season. The main struggle will be keeping players like Will Hughes and Jan Vertonghen, who have the likes of Chelsea and A.C. Milan sniffing around them.
One other pleasing factor from this season is my strike force, I finally seem to have two strikers that can play off each other and almost guarantee me a goal a game, Nassim Ben Khalifa and Andy Carroll finished joint 3rd and 9th respectively in the league scoring chart and got 34 goals between them.
#291723 QPR - Relegated & Ruined
alexlloyd
So here we are in 14th position, with 33 points from 31 games and I believe relegation isn’t much of a threat now, the gap above us isn’t as bad as I anticipated however I think we’ll struggle to get any higher than 12th now, though anywhere around mid-table will keep the board happy.
We’re currently 11 points off last seasons total which would be disappointing not to hit, however if we can get a higher league position I’d say that would be more pleasing. We have a reasonably easy run in, with Liverpool and Newcastle being the only big threats in there however Newcastle are having a terrible season, while Norwich could also pose a threat after having a great season.
#291722 QPR - Relegated & Ruined
alexlloyd
Good wins against Newcastle and Everton were the highlights of the fixtures, as you’ll see both winners were scored in injury time which left both with no chance to respond, however a crushing loss to Southampton was particularly disappointing, with them thrashing us 4-1. The block of fixtures containing all the big teams is here again, and despite losing to Tottenham and Man City I am pleased we managed to get a draw against Arsenal in a thrilling 3-3 encounter.
This leaves us in 14th averaging just over a point a game, I’m reasonably happy because we aren’t really under major threat of relegation however there is starting to be a large gap opening up above us which could make moving much higher quite difficult. I would like to improve on last season’s league position and anything else would be a bonus, I haven’t made any January additions as of yet because I don’t believe we need any, making it a much quieter window than in previous seasons.
#291721 QPR - Relegated & Ruined
alexlloyd
The squad had a lot of new faces in it and needed time to gel, unfortunately whoever was in charge of the fixtures decided to give us the worst opening fixtures I have ever seen, playing Everton, Tottenham, Arsenal, Man City, Man Utd and Chelsea back to back. The game against West Brom was particularly depressing, while the other heavy losses weren’t that surprising.
I knew it would be a difficult start and we found ourselves in the relegation zone after these fixtures but we did manage to win a few of the easier games and have 17 points from 17 games, which is slightly less than I expected, but a relief consider our rocky start.
We’ve always done poor in the cups and wanted to try and change that this season, I only rested 2-3 of my key players in these games and managed to make it to the quarter final of the Carling Cup, unfortunately being beaten by a Stoke side who have greatly improved over the seasons.
As you probably noticed from my first update there were a lot of free agents this summer, I scouted the best one but some still refused to join, however when it got to October I noticed two players were still available and managed to get both on one year deals!
Franck Ribery
At 32 I think he still has a lot to offer, whether or not he will prove to be better than GrobKreutz and be my starter remains to be seen, but I’m certainly happy to have him here for the season, and on a reasonably low wage considering what he was on at Bayern last season.
Samuel Eto’o
This one is a tricky one, he is 34 and whether or not he is still quality I do not know, but I am certain he is still good enough to make an impact in the Premiership even if that’s just coming off the bench, I also received a message saying my shirt sales have increased dramatically since this purchase.
So a reasonably start with two superstars now in the squad until the end of the season, I’ve made more moves than I’d have liked to but they’re ones I think were necessary. If I’m being honest I didn’t do an update until 17 games in purely because of the poor start, but now I will do updates after 24, 31 and finally 38 games of the season.
#83199 QPR - Relegated & Ruined
alexlloyd
#291720 QPR - Relegated & Ruined
alexlloyd
Despite having a transfer budget of around £17m I did get rid of a couple of players before making moves, first to leave was Danny Guthrie, who I wasn’t particularly looking to sell, but Swansea came in with a £1.5m offer, I asked for £2.5m and West Brom met it which I gladly accepted, Tal Ben-Haim was the next to leave on a free transfer after I decided not to offer him a new deal.
My first signing was Isaac Cuenca, who has joined on a free transfer from Barcelona and I’m hoping will prove to be a quality right winger. Following this I made what I believe has been my best signing for a long time on the game, Will Hughes refused a new deal at Derby and I snapped him up on a free, a quality central midfielder and at just 20 is a leading Prem CM and making his way into the England squad. The next major transfer was Kevin Constant, again on a free transfer and gives me another option at left back, which I was looking for this summer making it a very pleasing start to the window, with three key players arriving not costing a penny.
Isaac Cuenca
Will Hughes
Kevin Constant
Following these arrivals I got rid of a couple more players, I don’t believe Hoilett is that good and was very surprised when Wigan stumped up £7m for him, this was followed by Angelo Balanta making a £500k move to Ipswich, Schmeichel joining Watford for £2m, Anthony Pilkington leaving for Aston Villa in a £1.5m deal and youngster Max Ehmer signing for Coventry for £120k. At this point in the window I had spent nothing and made £13m in sales.
I want two good players for each position and needed a left winger, once again Cristian Tello found himself on the loan list at P.S.G. and I managed to grab him on another loan deal, this time for the entire season. Nassim Ben Khalifa became my big buy in the summer, I brought him in from Wolfsburg for £11m and I’m hoping he will prove to be a major part of an already strong strike force. I decided I wanted three goalkeepers as well, and brought in Tom Heaton from Swansea for £500k, though I don’t expect him to see much first team action, the same goes for Carl Jenkinson who joins on loan from Arsenal as cover for centre and right back.
Cristian Tello
Nassim Ben Khalifa
Tom Heaton
Carl Jenkinson
The squad seemed rather bulky at this point, and with Khalifa joining I loaned out Weimann and Bennett again for the season, while I also sold Nathan Delfouneso to Stoke for £4m, making a profit on my initial investment after he just wasn’t good enough. Alejandro Faurlin started to get unsettled and was demanding improved contract as well as claiming we will not be matching his expectations, with Will Hughes, Stuart Holden and Kim Kallstrom I let him leave with Everton paying £3.8m. My final signing of the Summer window was Kemy Agustien, who cost £400k and will be good cover for the fellow central midfielders.
Kemy Agustien
As I said, there were a few youngsters who joined also, and while they aren’t noteworthy at the moment I have loaned them out for the season and hope they will make an impact next season.
#291719 QPR - Relegated & Ruined
alexlloyd
There were no real surprises in the final run of games, we were beaten heavily by Arsenal, Man City and Chelsea but a win against 5th placed Newcastle was a key victory and we finished on 44 points, slightly above my initial target and finished in 13th place, 9 points above the drop zone after an initial media prediction of 18th.
It’s going to be an interesting transfer window, I’d imagine I’ll be given a similar budget to last season which means I could afford to bring in a couple of key players, with the only player out of contract in the summer being Tal Ben-Haim I certainly have a full squad at my disposal already. I have recently changed my gameplay to view highlights rather than just goal replays and have noticed how many mistakes Patrick Van Aanholt has been making, I think he will be the first to be replaced meaning I need a new LB, other than that I think potentially a RAM and another strong striker to partner Carroll and Cox and that should be about it, I will also obviously look at the upcoming free agents and see if there are any bargains to be had.
#83031 QPR - Relegated & Ruined
alexlloyd
#291718 QPR - Relegated & Ruined
alexlloyd
32 points from 30 games is about the minimum I wanted us to be at, I think 2 wins from the last 8 would be enough to see us to stay up as we’re currently 8 points clear of the bottom three but I’m hoping for more than that, Simon Cox has just come back so it’ll be interesting to see how he performs after such an impressive start to the season.
#291717 QPR - Relegated & Ruined
alexlloyd
Jan Vertonghen
I did want to keep my trust in Kasper Schmeichel, I have always rated him but he just isn’t good enough for the Premiership, he let in 46 goals in just 19 league games which is just suicidal for a team battling against relegation. I bought in Oscar Ustari, who cost just £1.2M from Boca Juniors, again I don’t know why he was transfer listed because he has played 18 games for them this term, conceding 22. Kasper was eventually loaned out to Aston Villa until the end of the season.
Oscar Ustari
Before anyone else came in I had to get rid of a couple of players, Kris Commons was never going to get a spot on the left wing with GroBkreutz and Pilkington so he was sold to Aston Villa for £875k, while Matt Kilgallon who was out of contract in the summer and now fourth choice centre back was sold to Wolves for £1M.
I was wary about bringing anyone else in, three big name January signings seemed enough but I received a message that Jermain Defoe had been transfer listed by Newcastle and was interested, I had tried to sign Jermain in the Summer, however he demanded I pay him £90k per week and when I declined he signed for Newcastle from Man Utd, he’s been quite a journeyman since the game started. I brought him in for just £180k and I was surprised Newcastle wanted to sell him after he scored 6 league goals in 9 games for them, this lead to Andi Weimann getting a loan move out until the end of the season.
Jermain Defoe
I did eventually manage to sell Adel Taarabt, he completed a £2M move to Norwich, he could have been a good player for us but I always play with two wingers and he isn’t a natural central midfielder, when I have changed the formation to accommodate him he hasn’t been that great either so it was time for him to move on. Anthony Pilkington was demanding a transfer after just six months at the club, I had hoped he’d be a key player but unfortunately for him GroBkreutz has just been so much better so I loaned him out to Sunderland until the end of the season, getting £30k per month and all of his wages being paid.
With Pilkington leaving I had two hours to find another left winger, I was very surprised to see Christian Tello on the loan list, and bought him in for £20k per month and 60% of his wages, he actually works out cheaper than Pilkington!
Cristian Tello
#81985 QPR - Relegated & Ruined
alexlloyd
#291716 QPR - Relegated & Ruined
alexlloyd
I went on a difficult run after my last update, losing five games in a row, taking into account four of those were Everton, Arsenal, Manchester City and Chelsea it wasn’t as drastic as first thought and managed to lose just one in five after that, but that was a real horror show, 5-0 against West Brom giving away two penalties is terrible.
From these results it’s obvious that I need to take advantage of games against the lower teams as the Arsenal, Man City, Man Utd, Chelsea, Tottenham fixtures are ones that getting anything or avoiding a thumping would be considered a good result. There are a lot of poor teams in the Premiership at the minute as well with Derby, Bolton, Hull, Watford and Wigan all experiencing Premiership football, so there are a lot of games we should be winning.
I‘ve had some awful luck with injuries worst of all Simon Cox being out for three months, so I think a couple of changes need to be made, I decided it’s finally time to get rid of Adel Taarabt, he’s a good player but he just doesn’t fit the system I play and rarely gets a game, so I decided to bring in another central midfielder who can challenge Faurlin, Holden and Guthrie and sell him. Kim Kallstrom became available for just £230,000 and at 32 provides an experienced head, with the only other players over 30 being Commons, Kilgallon, Ben-Haim and Webo, all of whom are scheduled to be released at the end of the season.
Kim Kallstrom
#291715 QPR - Relegated & Ruined
alexlloyd
I expect u to be in a relegation battle, perhaps not right down there but is going to be a worry until we are mathematically safe, I’d like to think 40 points is achievable and would be enough to keep us up, therefore I’d consider anything above 20 points in the first half of the season a success and considering I only need 7 points from 9 games to reach this target, we should be able to steer clear of the drop zone.
Now to the transfers, I did have a large wage budget at my disposal and decided to use it to my advantage bringing in Kevin GroBkreutz who cost me around £6M and I the highest paid player at the club, but I feel he is also the best player at the club and will prove to be a key asset in our challenge this season.
Kevin GroBkreutz
I did say I was looking for a big name striker and while I admittedly did fail at a few other targets first I managed to convince Andy Carroll to join, who had been transfer listed by Tottenham. He will also be on a big wage but having two players who are undoubtedly Premiership quality will be a huge boost this season, I’m not sure what to expect of Andy and will have to keep his assists in mind when considering if he’s been a success or not, as you’d expect him to line up his partner more than find the net himself.
Andy Carroll
It has proved a good move so far, I’m a huge fan of having two upfront with a target man and poacher and he’s formed a good partnership with last seasons top goal scorer Simon Cox who has already bagged 7 Premiership goals in 9 starts.
With these players being bought in I found myself with too many strikers, I was finally able to get rid of Loic Remy on deadline day who just hasn’t done it for us and decided to let Nathan Delfouneso leave on loan hoping a season as a key man elsewhere will speed up his progression. With these two leaving I was only left with Carroll, Cox and Weimann and I always like to have four, so also lined up a loan move for Pierre Webo who is actually a good Premiership player making it a busy deadline day.
Pierre Webo
I’m happy with the way the season has started, I’ve signed a player in all the positions I had hoped for while being able to stay loyal to some of the guys that got us promoted, whether or not I’ve been too loyal remains to be seen but I think I’ve signed the right amount of players without jeopardising the harmony in the dressing room. Obviously losing in the cup was a disappointment but I had rested almost the entire squad for that one, I just have to hope the board aren’t too disappointed by this!
Finally a look at the squad going into this season, which I am very happy with.
Goalkeepers
Kasper Schmeichel, Remi Pillot
Defenders
Greg Halford, Chris Gunter, Tal Ben-Haim, Winston Reid, Matt Kilgallon, Patrick Van Aanholt, Yoon Seok-Young
Midfielders
Alejandro Faurlin, Junior Hoilett, Kris Commons, Matt Phillips, Anthony Pilkington, Danny Guthrie, Adel Taarabt, Stuart Holden, Kevin GroBkreutz
Strikers
Andy Carroll, Simon Cox, Andi Weimann, Pierre Webo
#291714 QPR - Relegated & Ruined
alexlloyd
Before anyone else joined I got rid of a few players I’d already decided were leaving, Lee Camp was the first to leave to Sheffield United for £210k before Anton Ferdinand, Shaun Wright-Phillips and Lloyd Doyley were released which freed up about 100k in the wage budget. 1st July saw four players join on bosmans, two were youngsters but the other two were Remi Pillot who will be a very good second choice keeper with potential to challenge Schmeichel and Andi Weimann, who has potential to be a first team striker but for the time being will be very good coming off the bench.
No one else noteworthy has joined since then and I am still looking for that big name striker, I have around £7m but £250k in the wage budget, so I will have to see who is available because it may be worth spending big if I’m bringing someone in who will keep us in the division. There have been a few departures, Gabriel Obertan left after I decided to keep Junior Hoilett, I finally got rid of Onouha who was earning 35k and Brian Murphy has left on a free. I loaned out the majority of my youngsters in the hope they will progress enough to make an impact next season, Lascelles, Ferreira, Forbes, Stafford, Bennett, Balanta and Wilkinson have all left who have high potential.
#291713 QPR - Relegated & Ruined
alexlloyd
The other two teams joining us in the Premier League next season are Derby County who topped the table and Bolton who trailed 7 points behind them in second. Admittedly I had expected us to be around Derbys position come the end of the season, but the end result is essentially still the same and the QPR fans will get Premier League football again next season, which if not achieved would have certainly resulted in my sacking.
As you can see Simon Cox proved a fantastic signing, he bagged 23 goals this season and along with the centre back partnership of Matt Kilgallon and Greg Halford, which got a surprising 13 goals between them were without doubt my most influential signings. The major disappointment has been Loic Remy, I wasn’t sure what to expect because he isn’t reported as well as I’d anticipate, and finished with a mediocre 8 goals, injuries could be blamed as part of the problem as I only had him for just over half the season, but still I expected him to get at least 15 goals and leaves me with a difficult decision to make in the summer with me already deciding Simon Cox has earnt his chance in the Premiership.
There was some worry during the season, at one point the club were in debt and the wage budget was decreased to £600,000 which was £150,000 less than what I was currently spending, however we were able to struggle through and my initial budgets have already been set for next season, with me getting a £12M transfer kitty and £950k to spend on wages, my aim is to bring in just three or four key players early in the transfer market to avoid disrupting the dressing room and give them time to gel in friendlies before the new season, despite the form of Kilgallon and Halford I would say my main targets would be another CB, LAM, RAM and ST, however it looks like Junior Hoilett may be returning, so he could potentially fill the RAM void.
Hopefully I can produce some more updates for next season, I have just been getting very carried away with this season which can only be a good thing for the sustainability of it! However this season was always going to be the quick season, now the rebuilding can begin and I can try not to make the same mistakes of my predecessors!
#291712 QPR - Relegated & Ruined
alexlloyd
There are so many top sides competing for these promotion places this season so I am very happy to be sitting at the top ahead of the likes of Leicester, Palace, Bolton, Villa and Reading, but like I said we’re only half way through the season so I won’t be taking anything for granted just yet.
There have been a few surprises so far, one of which has been the injury crisis I did not anticipate, at one point Holden, Faurlin and Guthrie were all out injured while Loic Remy and Matt Phillips have spent their fair share of time on the side lines. I did mention Greg Halford as a player that I expected to make a big impact and he certainly hasn’t disappointed, netting 7 goals so far and being the clubs second highest goalscorer, behind Simon Cox who has also exceeded expectation, Loic Remy hasn’t been brilliant so far but still has 5 goals from 12 starts. I want to keep the majority of the squad together until the end of the season now, but I have January moves lined up for youngsters Jamaal Lascelles and Mason Bennett, both of which I know can become key players in the future as well as Patrick Van Aanholt, who I’m bringing in on a permanent deal as I’m not too confident with Jack Robinson and has potential to cement a first team place even if we get promotion so three places will need to be vacated. Hopefully those spaces won’t be made up of Alejandro Faurlin or Adel Taarabt, who clubs are sniffing around and I may have to fight them off in January.
I always like to have a little tinker with the staff as well, I’ve brought in more scouts to the maximum six including Paul Montgomery who I’m sure most have come across before. The most noteworthy change is in assistant manager, the current one didn’t impress me at all and I can’t even remember his name, but I replaced him with Ricky Sbragia after the Middlesbrough defeat and have only lost three of the eighteen league games since he joined, which speaks for itself.
All in all it’s been a great start, I’m enjoying the game which is always a plus as I know I’ll carry it on and while most of you including myself expected me to be up there come the end of the season I am very happy that we’ve already started to for a gap between ourselves and the chasing pack, which as you can see has 15 teams separated by just 9 points.
Thanks for reading, comments appreciated as always!
#80294 QPR - Relegated & Ruined
alexlloyd
Thanks mate! I'm happy with the players I've bought in too! I haven't signed a player earning over £30k per week and got rid of almost all the high earners so I think I've put a solid structure in place should we get promoted.
#291710 QPR - Relegated & Ruined
alexlloyd
Quality GK, if he stays fit and I don’t have to use back up very often it could be a very good season.
A very solid CB, strong going forward to and could prove to be a rock at the back and get a couple of important goals for us.
Probably the best midfielder in the squad, certainly too good for our current level and I think he could have a very good season, particularly with who he has around him.
Well done if you've read all that, I appreciate it was quite a long update! Comments would be appreciated and I'll keep updating soon!
#291709 QPR - Relegated & Ruined
alexlloyd
It is currently 1st July on the game so a number of transfers have just gone through, I have already sold Christopher Samba, Esteban Granero, Park Ji-Sung, Samba Diakite, Jose Bosingwa and Stephane Mbia for a total of around £40M, I also sent Junior Hoilett out for the season to Stoke as no one would take him permanently and have released Rob Hulse and DJ Campbell. That’s a large chunk of the squad gone but with the likes of Djibril Cisse, Joey Barton, Hogan Ephraim and Anton Ferdinand returning from loans there is still a way to go.
I want to bring in the right players, and ones that are only requesting £20-30k rather than the £60-70k previously being paid, the first signing was Danny Guthrie who I think could become an important player this season and only cost £550k. With me looking to get rid of Julio Cesar and Rob Green who were taking over £100k of the wage budget I bought in Kasper Schmeichel who is a quality keeper at this level and cost me £3.2M, just a fraction of the money I have bought in. Matt Phillips’ contract was expiring and I beat off competition from Celtic to sign him on a bosman deal costing £1.2M compensation.
A decent start to the summer window, I’m hoping this is just a start to my revamp of the squad, I’m sure a few of you will still say I could have kept the high earners and gone straight back up, but to be honest I really do not like the QPR squad at the minute, I’ll be keeping a few of the high earners, I intend to hold onto Bobby Zamora who bagged 18 Premier League goals last season along with a few of the others, but I do have a few quality championship players on my radar at the minute, expect many more moves in the next update and I hope you enjoy reading!
#79008 QPR - Relegated & Ruined
alexlloyd
Thanks guys! That wasn't my plan though... my intention was to take over a club that'd been relegated and build my own side, there was at least 6 players who requested transfers as well. I want to get rid of quite a few of the high earners anyway and rebuild the squad, I'm glad I got the opportunity to manage QPR over some of the other jobs I could have taken because they have the resources for me to build my own side, I will post another update later today.
#291708 QPR - Relegated & Ruined
alexlloyd
I have the January update so Redknapp was in charge who has been sacked, they finished on 41 points but still went down in one of the strangest Premier League tables I’ve ever seen which also saw Liverpool and Fulham get Champions League football and Alex Ferguson be under pressure the entire second half of the season.
I didn’t realise quite how many players were on such huge wages and a lot will have to go, the board have set initial budgets giving me just £1,000,000 to spend on players and set a wage budget which is £200,000 less than what they are currently spending. The only changes to the squad from the start of the season were Stuart Holden joined and Jamie Mackie and Clint Hill left.
Also, a number of the reserves will have to go once they return from loans, there is around £300,000 in wages being spent on players such as Barton, Ciise and Ferdinand.
I’m going to wait until a few of the big money players have left before looking at who to bring in, so expect a lot of changes as I look to send QPR back up at the first time of asking!
#291440 West Ham United - Promoted, Broke & Average!
alexlloyd
I already had some changes ready to be made before the budget was given, I let Mark Noble leave for £4.3M to Sheffield Wednesday after he only made 5 league appearances last season, eight players were also released and Marco Motta was sold to Udinese for £1.9M after joining on a free the previous season. I bought in Seamus Moseley and James Ward-Prowse to begin with, they are two players who have potential to be leading premier league players in the future and I will look to loan out this season. I had some bosman moves already lined up as well and these are players that I think will make a real difference this season, first of all Ezequiel Cirigliano joins from River Plate a quality player at just 22, Filip Djuricic who I signed with the intention of him being a leading attacking midfielder however since then I managed to line up a huge move for Shaktar’s Brazilian playmaker Wilian who signed on a free and became the highest paid player at the club, finally I bought in Lacina Traore from Anzhi, who I’m hoping will prove to be a top goal scorer.
A large amount of youngsters were loaned out across the summer but other notable departures were Alou Diarra, who I finally got off the books after he was sitting in reserves on £60k, Miralem Sulejmani who joins Reading on loan, I didn’t see him challenging either Wilian or Djuricic as well as Craig Gordon, who was sold to Arsenal for £750k. One of the biggest summer departures has to be Kevin Nolan, he has been an important player for me but at 32 I am trying to take the squad in a different direction and the fact I could still get £5M for him made it a no brainer, Ji Dong-Won had only been at the club 6 months but after failing to score a single goal I sold him to West Brom making a £1.7M profit in the process. Jack Collison, David Ospina and Matt Jarvis also all departed in deals toalling around £14M which gave me total sales of £30.5M.
As you can probably tell from the amount of players which have left I have bought in a lot of players as well, after the bosman moves the first major arrivals were Scott Sinclair and Fabio, both joining on permanent deals totalling £7.6M, I’m hoping the two of them will form a good partnership on the left of the field. After bringing in a number of English players I decided I wanted to focus more on this and bought in Carl Jenkinson from Arsenal, Ben Amos from Manchester United, Wilfried Zaha from Crystal Palace, Will Hughes from Derby and Jack Butland from Birmingham, as well as John Guidetti on loan from Man City as back up. After all these changes I spent only £2M more than my sales totalled, this has left me with around £10M in the bank in case I need to bring anyone in in the new year.
I now have ten English players in my senior squad, which is quite a lot for any side and six of which would be in my ideal starting 11. I would be interested in seeing how far I can go with a side made up mainly of English players, and with the likes of Zaha, Hughes, Ward-Prowse, Ravel Morrison and Leo Chambers ready to come through this is something I will look to build on. Granted Scott Sinclair is not a left midfielder at the moment but I am currently training him to be one which I am hoping won't take too long, but if things don't go as expected I finally have strength in depth to alter things about.
#291439 West Ham United - Promoted, Broke & Average!
alexlloyd
I did manage to line up a couple of bosman moves earlier in the season, Miralem Sulejmani from Ajax and David Ospina from OGC Nice, with those two lined up it was important we didn’t go down as the two of them took around £55,000 of the wage budget between them. Thankfully we didn’t and the two proved to be key players in this season. I didn’t renew the contract of a number of players but may have done if we’d gone down, this meant that Jaaskelainen, Hleb, McFadden, Del Horno and O’Brien all left on free transfers with a number of youngsters as well as Matty Taylor, who was sold to the newly promoted Sheffield Wednesday.
I had a number of positions to fill in the squad and had to rely on free transfers and loans once again, Djamel Mesbah, Alberto Paloschi, Billy Sharp, Mario Santana and Marcus Olsson all joined on loan deals for the season, three of which in Sharp, Santana and Olsson I had to pay 0% of their wages, which allowed me to have some purely for backup for nothing. Marco Motta also joined to fill the right back void with Raphael Speigel being the only other noteworthy departure.
The season did go better than the first but not dramatically, Carlton Cole was without doubt the stand out player he scored 18 league goals in 35 appearances and without him we would have surely gone down, he earned himself a contract extension due to this. In January we did make a couple of movements, Joe Cole was a free agent so I decided to bring him in for the run in, as well as left back Jose Angel on loan from Roma, I then cancelled Mesbah’s deal as he wasn’t performing well enough. Swansea were after Modibo Maiga and with him only getting 3 goals so far I decided to negotiate a £2,500,000 deal, after he left we only had the rest of the day to bring in replacements, with the wage budget being able to be adjusted I could afford Nathan Redmond and Ji Dong-Won, Redmond was without doubt the stand out signing, at just £2,800,000 he’ll prove to be a real bargain in the coming seasons.
We had a decent run in to the season, a 6-1 horror defeat against Wigan left me fearing the worst but after that we only lost one of the final six to finish with 42 points. The cup’s went as bad as they had in the previous season also failing to make any impact on either, the most exciting news at the end of the season was that I received a message saying the clubs debts have now been paid off, leaving me expecting a more generous budget next season and hopefully the ability to improve further! I have a couple of bosman moves already lines up which will hopefully make an impact.
#66056 West Ham United - Promoted, Broke & Average!
alexlloyd
That's certainly the plan! The main aim was to remain in the premiership to retain the revenue that would bring in, hopefully we can continue to build and bring in a couple of players to improve the squad!
#291438 West Ham United - Promoted, Broke & Average!
alexlloyd
I’ve actually now completed two full seasons so the updates will be quick, after that I’ll do monthly ones with more in depth analysis, I had planned on just playing the game and not posting on the forums which is why I’m already two seasons deep but will be continuing this!
SUMMER MOVEMENT
Like I said, I wasn’t particularly given a helping hand from the board with regards to finances, West Ham are a couple of bodies short particularly in defence and I had to look to the free agent market. First to join was Asier Del Horno, most will remember from Chelsea and definitely not a long term solution but he will be the starting LB this season along with Jonathan, who joins on loan from Inter Milan for the season who will be the RB. After the full backs were signed the squad was pretty much at the best I could do with it, I bought in Craig Gordon, John Mensah and James McFadden to add depth before Aliaksandr Hleb joined for 6 months in January with a couple of youngsters.
Decided to free a bit of the wage budget up, Gary O’neil and Ricardo Vaz Te left in deals totalling £5,00,000 but I didn’t see much of that, Guy Demel also left for Cardiff before I gave Frederic Piquionne away to Tours FC due with him being around 5th choice and only a lot of money.
PERFORMANCE
It was a difficult and frustrating season to the point where I did almost quit, I could have done a lot more if I had been given a bit of money to play with but unfortunately the squad simply was not good enough to compete with most of the teams, fortunately we managed to put a streak together towards the end of the season and beat the drop, finishing the season with 38 points, averaging a point a game. Thankfully I was able to keep the club in the Premiership and keep the board happy, we made a profit over the year leaving the club in a better financial state and with players like Kevin Nolan, James Tomkins and Mohamed Diame hopefully I can build on to a positive second season!
Normally when I take over a lower premiership side I can have a bit of a cup run but unfortunately there was no positives to take from this year’s cups, I got through the 2nd and 3rd round of the League Cup against lower opposition but then fell to Everton, I decided to rest a group of players for upcoming premiership games when we played Shrewsbury in the F.A. Cup, which as you can see didn’t go too well! But if losing out in the cups resulted in us staying up, I’m happy.
#290536 FC Halifax - Blue Square to Europe
alexlloyd
I bought in a couple of youngsters, Shane Kavanagh cost £8,000 from Shamrock Rovers and is currently the only player I have spent any money on this summer, making it another successful transfer period. Matthew Johnston is another player with potential joining on a free, he'll be a back-up central defender this season.
Now are the more key acquisitions of the summer, Milos Veljkovic has signed on a free after his Torquay United contract expired, he played the entire season in League Two last campaign but my defensive coach says he's a decent Championship centre back.
I've been after another right winger for the past couple of seasons and Franck Songo'o is hopefully going to step up, he spent last season in League One but I'm hoping he's going to be good enough as he was the best available.
While the strike force is pretty strong I wanted someone who was definitely upto Championship level and opted to sign Brett Pitman on a free after his Bristol City contract expired, he's been in the Championship for the last six seasons so I'm hoping he can form a good partnership with Bamford, as well as Noble and Eccleston contributing.
While Matt Watson was the leading central midfielder last season, I wasn't 100% sure he'd make the step up so have bought in Ian Black who's spent the last four season playing in the Third, Second, First and Premier League of Scottish Football with Rangers.
Sam Minihan wasn't good enough for the Championship so I let him go to Shamrock Rovers and got £90,000 from the deal, over 10 times more than I've spent on transfers this summer, and bought in Jordan Fauque, who's spent the majority of his career in Ligue 2 but is far better than any right back I've had available to me.
I needed some back up players after some of the summer releases and have bought in Richard Lee as the second choice keeper and Jose Fonte as fourth choice striker after deciding Ryan Noble or Nathan Eccleston will be leaving.
Finally here are the summer departures, most were out of contract and knew if we were promoted they wouldn't be good enough, their departures left me a big chunk in the wage bill available for the new arrivals.