Elliott Kinsella-calverley - Comments

Can never win the Play offs! aiming least I have a very good squad a tactic for the new season!

Season 1 - End of Season Review

AH it's not been too bad of a season I mean this hasn't been the most successful first season I have had at a club, the previous 2 Football Manager games I have gained promotion in my first season with Blackburn Rovers BUT we have had a much better squad available with the likes of Super Jordan Rhodes, Tom Cairney, Rudy Gestede and Marcus Olsson Etc... AND it took me a little longer to get used to this Football manager and getting a tactic going. The current squad and financial state makes it very tough to play in FM17 but that's what I enjoy and it gives me a challenge!



Championship

So we finished in a play off position as expected finishing 6th we hit our target But getting knocked out straight away was difficult to take but tbh I'm glad we have another season in the Championship, This will allow me to rebuild the squad, get rid of unwanted players and hopefully get a better financial state as we wouldn't last long in the Premier league.









Elliott Bennett scoring the first Hat Trick for me!!






FA Cup

This competition I enjoyed and how we played so well against the big boys, BEATING Leicester City current Holders of the Premier League was one of the highlights of my season and drawing to Chelsea was a magnificent effort, even the second leg we should of won... Chelsea did go on to win the competition so says a lot on how we did and if we hadn't of got them in the early draw maybe we could of gone on a better run?










EFL Cup

Glad the season is over so I can forget about this result, at a time I didn't know my squad or tactic it was a horrendous result one of the worst I have experienced in my Football Manager career.










Squad Review


Goalkeeper




Like in all FM games I always have two goalkeepers battling it out for No.1 Raya and Steele decent in goal keeping a number of clean sheets 4th team team with the lowest conceded in the league was impressive. New signing Mikel Saizar didn't feature much and when did was not impressive, his first game in goal he conceded 4 goals. As I only signed Mikel on a one year contract he'll be a free agent this summer.

Defence




I was satisfied with the defending this season, again the fact mentioned above, the 4th team with the lowest conceded in the league says a lot. Stand out players were of course Charlie Mulgrew he was magnificent all season, all round great player. Artur Jedrzejczyk at right back was a consistent player, I was delighted about signing and also has featured for his national squad which is a huge achievement. On the other end of the stick I'm gutted to see Hoban return to Watford bags of potential and another solid player, his value is £3M which makes him impossible to sign but he had a good time at the club. Holgate was poor at the beginning of the season but ended up been a completely different player later on, he ended up with a average rating of 7.42 in his last 5 games another player I will miss as he returns to Everton. Casado and Schmidtgal weren't the greatest of signings and this is area I need to strengthen at Left back.

Midfield





Really enjoyed the central park of this tactic, using two ball winning midfielders was very effective in FM17, only problem I had too many players to choose from and some getting unsettled with low game time. We managed to equally fit everyone in, Hope Akpan, new signing Diego Poyet and Mulgrew were all fantastic this season. The up coming of two youngsters Darragh Lenihan and new signing Zubeldia (just broke to first team) give the team some potential for the new season. On the wing Elliott Bennett had a magnificent season probably the best player of the season (9 goals!) and I'm sure some premier league clubs will come bidding this season. Craig Conway on the left was a fantastic player and hopefully despite his age and replicate his form into the new season. On the downside the biggest star of the club Ben Marshall was very poor. Despite getting 13 assists he was too inconsistent and with a value of £6.5M any bid around the £10M Mark will have my attention this summer.

Forward




An area we struggling in despite Graham scoring 15 goals this season he was very poor he could of had double that with the amount of chances he had. Anthony Stokes didn't feature much towards the end of the season and tbh didn't do anything all season with a average rating of 6.79 says it all. I was delighted with late loan signing Ashley Fletcher from West Ham as Sam Gallagher was poor, Fletcher has just broke into the first team in real life for West ham and with 4 goals and 5 assists in 10 games he helped out a lot in little time. The strike force is a area I'm looking to strengthen the most in the summer as each position looks decent at the club, BUT we need a consistent goalscorer, we need a Jordan Rhodes in the squad.


The Good and The Ugly

The good:

- Elliott Bennett - 7.13
- Charlie Mulgrew - 7.12
- Hope Akpan - 7.08
- Tommie Hoban - 7.07

The Ugly:

- Mikel Saizar - 6.62
- Anthony Stokes - 6.65
- Sam Gallagher - 6.76





Favorite Result







Worst result




Transfers

With a low spending of £1.4M we did well this season but the free player of Diego Poyet has to be my favorite signing very solid midfielder for any club in the Championship, Ashley Fletcher was my favorite loan signing and Artur Jedrzejczyk the most impressive money signing.





Finances

The club has deteriorated to a value of £22M and a loan debt of £79M will make it very hard to have money to spend this summer but that's the challenge of the game. We was in profit though last season by £5.2M mainly from the Scott Dann buy out clause of a whopping £12M and we gained £5.2M from the league position lets hope this continues as I look to decrease player wages this summer.




A very low budget for the season ahead!








End of Season

We hit our targets and above in the league and FA Cup but fell way short in the EFL Cup getting knocked out in the 3rd Round.





Charlie Mulgrew made it into team of the year!











NEW CONTRACT!



I've already made two early signings for next season which you will see in the next update, with contracts running out I will be able to get rid of unwanted players and hopefully generate some decent profits off others. I'm going to remain patient and only make a move for the right players. This summer will give me more flexibility in shaping the squad as I wont have already made loans and contacts in place like you do on a new save!






RTID

Season One - It wasn't to be






I told you I hated Play offs!!! We couldn't progress through the semi-finals, very poor and gutted but it was very close encounter we put up a good fight but the first leg at Ewood Park we should of won, the draw at home killed us.






So that's 4 games against Sheffield Wednesday this season and 4 games we haven't won against them, I hope they don't make it to the Premier League so I can revenge them next season!

On the plus side we can get rid of dead wood this summer, bring player wages downs and make some great signings one I have already made for the new season!

Season One - WE DID IT

After all the stress of a dreadful start to the season and almost losing my job at Christmas we turned things around and climbed the Championship table!

We started the first game out of the 10 with a triumph at Carrow road beating Norwich 4-0! We were holding a strong play off position until towards the end we dipped slightly winning 1/4 games remaining which took it down till the last day. All results went the right way for the other sides around me in the table and even at 2-0 up I was worrying, if we slip that's it! THEN Brentford scored to make it 2-1 literally thought Football Manager was going to do me over on the last day. After dominating the play offs towards the end of the season one more Brentford goal would of knocked us down from 6th to 9th.

LUCKILY WE HELD OUT AND WON FINISHING IN 6th POSITION!







SO the Play offs begin, I will do a full end of season review after the Play offs have been completed, last time I was in the play offs in the league was with Accrington Stanley which we lost. I'm not a fan of them and always aim for automatic promotion BUT we have much improved since the start of the season especially tactically wise! We unfortunately lost our best player Charlie Mulgrew but we have good depth in midfield and I have called youngster Zubeldia (signed at beginning of the season) into the first team.









PLAYOFFS SEMI FINAL DRAW - SHEFFIELD WEDNESDAY - 13/05/2016

Sheffield did the double over us in the league but I can see this game been such a different occasion players are going to perform different and I'm sure we will put the previous two results behind us and be more encouraged. Should be a very exciting draw, QPR and Leeds Untied are the other sides competing.

Thankyou about to do a update on the season! And the skin I'm currently using is Vitrex17 1.0 beautiful looking skin .

Amazing how we out played Chelsea! We dominated from start to finish without my first team, finally got my tactics right after a dreadful start to FM 17! Started reading your career too very interesting!

Great too see something different! Interesting read, congratulations with your career at Albirex Niigata was very successful, I'd struggle to manage teams were there are so many rules in place with transfers! All best at Persib and I hope the Warriors job comes available for you!

Season 1 - High Flying

Finally, the club is heading in the right direction! Sitting in 9th position, 1 point off the play offs with 10 games to go things are getting exciting!

After a very tough start to the season floating above relegation, a horrendous 4-0 loss off Fleetwood town in the Cup and the board giving me a ultimatum we have turned the club round in form and financially too!

Championship


With a tweak of tactical changes we managed to get the club heading in the right direction only 5 losses in the past 25 games and getting vital points against teams around us in the table has shot us up the table! Making adjustments such as counter style football against better opposition and controlling football against weaker sides as made us get points in different circumstances but most importantly my philosophy of a controlling passing style of football has been a success we have more possession than the opposition every game and have become one of the best passing teams in the league! We even had more possession than Chelsea in the cup which you will see below!

Only 4 other teams have won more games and conceded less than ourselves in the league impressive










EFL Cup

Huge congratulations to Watford who won the EFL Cup over Manchester City on penalties, much better than my 4-0 loss to Fleetwood







FA Cup

Only a short spell in this competition but a very exciting one, we got further in the competition than expected! After thrashing Mill Wall we got our first Premier League side as manager against title Holders Leicester which we won.




We then got Chelsea in the next round of the Cup at home a very exciting fixture especially for the fans, Ewood Park was a sell out and we got a unbelievable draw! But... It felt like a defeat we was the better team and missed many opportunities but I was still proud.




We then went to Stamford bridge in the replay which we put in a excellent effort and only lost 3-2 Marshall was outstanding. All three matches against the Premier leagues side were on TV so that generated some decent income.









Finances

The club finances were deteriorating like we are in real life, but I couldn't believe my eyes when I saw Scott Dann who signed for Palace for £2.75M couple of years ago, had a £12M RELEASE CLAUSE HOW?? I checked at the beginning of the game all release clauses and I never noticed this pleasant surprise! I thought it might be a bug so I cashed in right away! We was at a £10M loss this season... now we are £3 million in PROFIT! Delighted especially when summer is arriving the club is in a better financial state.

We are still in a huge £80 million debt but we are heading in the right direction both Financially and on the pitch!





Conclusion

10 games to go 1 point off play offs we have decreased the gap and with the current form I am hopeful we can claim the play offs, Newcastle as expected are high flying in the league at the top and seem impossible to catch atm!

Going to be a exciting remaining season!

just about avoiding atm we are swimming on the surface, the finances are in debt status now, I have a few players worth value and contacts going this summer if we can get to July we'll be safe, Marshall for instance who Swansea are after could go for around the £6m mark

Cheers managed to keep the job what a disaster this road to glory would of been aha! 1 loss in 16 so far with this new tactic! Should be a good second half to the season!

Good News

QUICK UPDATE





Quick update I managed to keep the job as Blackburn Rovers manager with a unexpected 2-1 win against Newcastle and a draw against Ipswich meant we well surpassed the target of 9 points!

Season 1 - Hard life

Sorry it's been awhile since I've posted, I've decided to do an update at the beginning of the new year on FM as there has been some controversial circumstances and also it midway into the first season!

WELL I'm not going to lie this years football manager has been a lot more tough than previous versions of the game and tactically its not been easy. As each year I play similar formation and instructions but they have had to be adjusted as we had a woeful start to the season. As mentioned also in the first sentence I explained there has been some controversial circumstances, a position I've never been in, in my mangerial caeerer that been...

The board have given me 5 more games and a target of 9 points to keep my job

NOW I was expecting this as I couldn't get going, nothing was going right but the ultimatum came at a time I've managed to turn things around and go on a good streak but I suppose drawing and been a factor!

BUT I am 3 games into the 5 so I'd thought it would be a great time to do a update on the career as this could be make or break but so far we have collected 7 points from 3 games but we have Newcastle at home (2nd) and Ipswich away (12th) to play to determine the outcome, two sides which are above me in the league things could be interesting.

SO the season so far

Championship

I've been very disappointing with some of the performances by the players and I definitely know who to keep and who to get rid of during the January/Summer transfer window. As in real life this is a problem but also the growing debt the club has, are destroying the clubs finances. As previously mentioned I was the highest in the league for the most injuries and this really did affect me as top players like Conway, Bennett, ward etc... didn't come back till late. This meant my new signings had to make an instant impact and not really blending into the squad this hindered performances early on in the season as you can see from the schedule below. But the squad is almost clean bill of health we have been lucky with injuries only afterwards Sam Gallagher (Cold) and Charlie Mulgrew are currently injured.

To note Mikel Saizar, Wes Brown and Liam Feeney have all been dropped to the U23s squad.

To note H. Schmidtgal and D.Van de Beek were late signings

To note Steven Hendrie returned to West Ham as I felt he wasn't good enough




The good and the Ugly

The Good:

Charlie Mulgrew - 7.20
Hope Akpan - 7.18
Tommie Hoban - 7.05
David Raya - 7.05
Elliott Bennett - 7.05
H. Schmidtgal - 7.02
Adam Henley - 7.00
Diego Poyet - 6.97

Due to my new tactical change Raya was a sweeper keeper and I tried him in goal and game after game he puts in a shift and has taken over Steele for the No. 1 Keeper position. Schmidtgal last minute a signing I made for Left back position as Casado has been terrible has been very effective. Henley came up from the U23s as either Right backs in my first team was performing and he has but in some good performances. Diego Poyet and been a exceptional signing this season can play both CDM or MC hes only 21 and his stats are growing rapidly.

But talking point is Hope Akpan and Charlie Mulgrew. Akpan has been incredible he's like another version of Kante he is everywhere always controlling the centre of the field putting in a shift. Charlie Mulgrew leads the best average rating with a 7.20 hes a all round good players always seems to be the standout each game, he can play midfield and defence and is my main set piece taker, although currently injured he is back very soon.

The Ugly

- Mason Holgate - 6.44
- Anthony Stokes - 6.50
- J. Casado - 6.60
- Martin Samuelsen - 6.63
- Jack Byrne - 6.67
- Derrick Williams - 6.68

Very disappointed with the likes of Holgate who I thought was a magnificent capture for the cup he makes mistake after mistake and I don't dare play him while my job is under threat. Casado as mentioned has been a abyssal signing too, already on loan Samuelsen a player I like in real life cant get going and Jack Byrne no longer has a position in my new tactical change.










14th after 24 games is decent for the quality of the club but the fact I promised the board play offs this season has affected my job security BUT we are only 4 points of the play offs.

We are currently on a 7 match unbeaten run and only losing 1 in 13 games (after making tactical changes) things are looking up, but draws keep on happening and we are just losing out on the 3 points, the biggest factor is crossing with a can't seem to deal with.


Best Score so Far



Worst score so far





EFL CUP

Well this was the most humiliating start to the campaign and the biggest defeat I have suffered as a manager to a club in a lower league ever. Knocked out in the 1st round of the competition we fell very sort of expectations of reaching the third round.





FA Cup

We have been draw Millwall at home on the 7/1/17 a game I expect to win!


Financially

We are projected to pass the FFP but the club has declined massively in value over the 4 months, we are only worth £19.25M (81M debt) our overall balance so far this season is -£7.8 million we are struggling to make any profit of any kind with players wages still a huge problem like its been for years we may need to offload some key players.







Overall

We have hit a good form with a change of tactics and players finally gelling thing are looking up and we need only 2 points in our next 2 games to keep the job as Blackburn Rovers manager.

I'm now playing a more structured style of play and moving the CDM position into a shadow striker and brought better performances and more out of Ben Marshall. The complete wing backs have been massively succesful compared to Full backs. Also, when we play away I do move the Shadow striker role to CDM to tighen the defence.



I am hopeful of keeping my job and if we do I still set my eyes on the play offs but positions need improving and deadwood needs getting rid off. we will keep on fighting RTID

Season 1 - Pre Season

The Club

I honestly didn't think i'd make many changes to the club staff wise, as Blackburn have one of the best in league in all departments and believe it or not they have a decent squad, with good depth (beg to differ in real life). But like I do in most clubs I start at I clear out deadwood and get the best I can so most changes came within the backroom staff but, transfer wise we made some good signings. I evaluated the squad and looked and areas that needed to be improved:

- Goalkeeper
- Right back
- Left back

Key players


Ben Marshall - Been at the club for 3 years now always been a excellent player each season for Rovers he possess great technical abilities especially in set pieces which will give me a advantage in scoring from dead play.



Charlie Mulgrew - New signing for Rovers this season made by Owen Coyle, not really a promising signing in real life but seems to be a player of real quality in FM almost all attributes are 12+ hes a quality all round good player and will be the key in the heart of my midfield.



Tommie Hoban - Again another summer signing made by Owen Coyle, on loan from Watford Hoban is a promising player at only age 22 he'll be the main man in defence, highly rated by my assistant in his report Hoban looks a gem and hopefully if he has a good season we could snatch him up on a permanent.




Tactics

I do have a favorite tactic that has been kind to me in most football manager games 4-3-2-1 (wide). I've always liked having attacking wingers and one player up front and is one of the best formations in the Championship in my opinion. The tactic also favors the club, who usually play this tactic with Conway and Marshall switching wings which create a deadly duo, just missing the one and only Jordan Rhodes who was a god on last years FM.

I'm going to introduce my own philosophy into the club, a possession and passing style (unlike Rovers) but in all football games I enjoy a stylish pass and move play. During pre season I played a structure style but as you do in pre season you test various instructions and playing a more flexible team shape and been highly beneficial allowing my players do be more creative and do things on the pitch I personally wouldn't instruct them too but its worked! I've also kept "Work ball into box" instruction like I do each year as I find long shots on Football manager always miss the target and causes me to lose possession. One of the reasons for this maybe because I've always played with lower league sides and not had the quality players to pull off long shots maybe?






Transfers In/out

There was more activity in the transfer market than I had planned, I'm not one for spending big but with a transfer budget of £400k we couldn't do much. But, we had a whopping wage budget of around £60k p/w which I was shocked about, didn't think we'd have so much to spend so my target in the market was players without contracts or players loan listed. The club already had 6 loans signings made and with Championship rules of only 5 loan players allowed in the squad we couldn't go crazy in the loan market. Transfers out there wasn't much activity, there wasn't any players I looked to offload and everyone was on reasonable wages, each player had a role to play in my squad too and with no offers been made apart from the one I was just looking to mainly improve on the squad. We off loaded some of the youngsters with great potential on loan so they could get some game time elsewhere. The main talking point was my youngster Joe Rankin-Costello captain of the youth squad in real life, Joe has bags of potential but when Leicester made a offer I upped it massively which they then accepted, at £575K and add ons to come I had to accept.

Transfers In

Jose Manuel Casado - Free

Casado was my fist signing as Blackburn Rovers manager, Left back was my priority formerly of Bolton Wanderers and well known to the Spanish league Casado was free and would bring in some experience to the squad.



Diego Poyet - Free

A familiar name to most of you son of Gus Poyet, I was surprised we managed to capture him, he had lots of interest and is one of the better players available to sign on a free in FM 17. Not a postion I needed to strengthen as such but doing some research online he is a great player for many average clubs to get. At age 21 and almost potential ability he could become a leading man for the club.



Mason Holgate - Loan

Another English Gem Holgate we signed from Everton on a long season loan, he was the only other loan signing I made in this transfer window due to the amount of loan players in the squad With the new social media section (a great addition to the game) the fans voted 22% YES and 78% NO to signing him I ignored this and already after pre season he has grown on them with 64% confidence now. A position I needed to strengthen at right back, but Holgate can also play at centre back.



Artur Jedrzejczyk - £500k

Current Polish international was a magnificent capture for the club and my favorite one. Right back position was my main priority and I missed out on various signings in the window but Artur I was keen on getting he has great Work rate and fits into my full back (support role) perfectly.



Mikel Saizar - Free

Mikel was abit of a rushed last minute signing and I only signed him on a one year deal as he was just going to be a back up player for this season. Goalkeeping position really needed strengthening in the club and I spent most of the window trying to sign a player suitable for the role, but we kept failing in transfers mainly Vladimir Gabulov a quality free player available on FM17 who I had my eyes on he had a report "sign for whatever price" but we couldn't get a work permit huge huge loss. Jason Steele is a good player though and hopefully can do the job in goal but if he has some bad game Mikel Saizar can hopefully fill the role.



Igor Zubeldia - £800k

Biggest signing of the transfer window Igor I found doing research online, he's suppose to be a "wonderkid" in the game and this lad is for the future. I am limited to signing wonderkids for many factors such as club reputation and budget and Igor is one of the cheaper ones and getting wonderkids early on can be such financial benefit later in the game. As you may know from my FM 16 Road to glory I signed Maximiliano Romero who i bought at 18 for about £4.2M and I ended with offers from Barcelona of excess of £30M he wasn't even that great!



Transfers Overall




Staff In/Out

Like mentioned before I didn't plan to make changes to the backroom as it was already one of the best in the league, assistant manager is the most important role for me and Sandy Stewart (Coyle's puppet) didn't do it for me so I pulled this amazing signing off Rovers legend Derek Fazackerley most capped player for the club he was a great addition all round and hopefully can assist me to glory with the club. Another influence on staff transfers in was a lot of clubs were signing a number members of my staff and with failed attempts to keep them at the club we had to make replacements.








Pre season results/Expectations

So pre season overall went well, I feel I've built a good foundation at the club to start the season, each position seems to have lots of back up but one huge drawback is injuries 6 players were already injured when I took over including Conway one of the star players, and two more got injured pre season making the tally to 9 most in the league and I also missed out on many players I wanted. but overall I am happy with the staff and players at the club and hopefully got a good season ahead of us.

Pre season results didn't go to well at first but after testing different instructions out etc we had some great performances including a 4-1 win over our league competitors Brentford. Expectation wise we are predicted 19th but I believe we can go for minimum of play offs each time I've managed rovers in FM first season I've always gained promotion but never won the league can this be a target to aim for?






Pre Season Star Players

Artur Jedrzejczyk - AV RAT 7.77
Mason Holgate - AV RAT 7.68
Ben Marshall - AV RAT 7.40

FA don't do enough these days for the smaller clubs but will intervene with the larger ones, the sport is massively going downhill in my opinion a sport I've have loved all my life. I've seen supporters of Charlton, Blackpool and Blackburn all rally together in support of one another that brings another side to the game though! Least in Football manager we can create our own fantasy world haha! #Venkysout #Oystonout

Cheers Shedender, much prefer the user friendly website for creating FM stories, enjoyed last years campaign with Rovers on FM16 hopefully increase my skills in both Career stories and Football manager!

The Club

Since the takeover of the Venkys (Indian firm) in 2010 the club has been in a huge downfall. Lies, poor management and no communication between the fans has caused the club to get relegated in the 2011/12 after 10 consecutive seasons in the top flight.

Despite this, the football club owns excellent training and academy facilities which are going to be great for the progress of my current and young players and has an incredible 31.500 seat stadium, Ewood Park which Jack Walker built. Blackburn Rovers has had some great success since the founding in 1875 most notable the Premiership in 1995 and the FA cup six times most recently in 2002. But 14 years without a trophy will hopefully soon change.










Currently sitting 19th in the Championship its going to be a long season for us supporters and the future is very dark with the owners not selling up there's only one direction the club is heading. Hopefully I can bring back the glory days to the club and make this story a exciting one!

Season 6 - very painful

Well after what seemed to be a smooth running season had hit a block wall with 6 consecutive games without a win in all competitions!

I'm not going to lie I am struggling on this Football manager results go your way then they don't, for no reason what so ever. I've used the same tactics that got me some fantastic results which I've screen shot blow then somehow get beat to simple sides? I've spent so many hours researching tactics trying to get it right! The player's I have are all decent and all seem to get good average rating each season only a few players fell below the 7.00 average rating mark but its tough this year and I'm struggling to achieve higher than Champions league!

The new owners are very difficult everything I request gets rejected.. A £11M budget for champions league position is shocking and I honestly cant stand them! The last owners accepted everything, We are still in a £100M debt but I'm only going to get out of that been successful I'm surprised it wasn't cleared with the new buyers like it was on FM15 for me.

Premier league

We had a great start beating Liverpool and Arsenal, Southampton were top of the league when I went to their ground and was on fire until recently and we won then all of a sudden we couldn't win if the opposition didn't field 11 players, It's been tough, I feel like theirs a few more loses on the horizon too... I think we can achieve champions league again but I'm coming up to season 7 and it's getting boring and average now.













Result of the season so far! How things change so fast




FA Cup/Capital One cup

Well West Brom beat us very first game of the season, they then beat us at home in the Capital One Cup very poor performance not good enough, we fell very below expectations, Guess what We then draw West Brom again! AWAY in the FA Cup it could be very tough for us, I don't know what it is about West Brom,





Champions League

We were very unlucky not to advance in this, again we was dealt the hardest group! Like in everything this game doesn't like me, we got a draw against Munich! huge achievement but lost a home to Inter we played them at their ground and won! It came down to the final fixtures for all the clubs in the group and we didn't show up against Sevilla who we previously beat, inconsistency should be the my middle name, we finished bottom and missed out on Europa League been a dreadful season.












Player Performances

Goalkeeper

It's been dreadful to say the least someone help me because no matter who I sign in the net we just cant get a performance out of them, Larkin was quality at the begning but has been on dreadful form I've had to put Sirigu in goal for the past few games...



Defence

STILL DREADFUL Bueno Prieto has been a embarrassment his stats! recent performances, age, scout report was excellent, hes shocking! Chambers has been the been average and Roco has been the better of the center backs. Conversi seems to be a good signing keeping Robertson a running for his spot. Donati and Montoya can be excellent one game and shocking the next.



Midfield

Just want to mention this lad David Cole is smashing it 7.37 average rating doesn't have a bad game and atm is keeping the team together, Loftus, Guila and Aranguiz have all been average nothing special, Mkhitaryan did well at the beginning but is struggling now, Tore is playing well and bagging assists, Correa has been one of the better players and living up to his expectations!

I signed Kagawa on a free too to help with back up as we need to rotate more with extra fixtures!





Strikers

Finally Romero has risen! He's growing rapidly and a key player of the side 12 goals in 16 Apps in all competitions,just had to reject a £30M offer plus £16M add ons from Real Madrid! Destro is playing well too 8 goals in 10 Apps, I both have to keep rotating them due to fixtures.



Conclusion



David Cole is now my first team midfielder making 5 Appearances already! Love how he came from the Blackburn youth squad and is worth nearly £9M at age 20! On fire this season





I'm going to take a break from this career for abit! Has been going since November with the new winter update and bug fixes I am going to start a lower league career and try and wider my knowledge and experience! Cheers for those keeping up with the story put a lot of time and effort into it!

ANY HINTS AND TIPS ON TACTICS ARE MOST WELCOME

Season 6 - A New Challenge

It's been a very busy summer, a lot has gone on but I'm delighted with some of the signings we have made and one in particular I couldn't believe I achieved! OH yeh and the owners left me to work with £11M this summer 'cunts' but it's a good job I made some good profit on players.

First of all! I got the England job! It's a great opportunity for me to get my players up to the national sides gain experience and grow, but also another challenge and excitement for me as it is my 6th season now! Haven't managed a national side since FM 2012 when I managed Ivory Cost so looking forward to this there isn't any competitions or many games atm so I can concentrate on Blackburn for the time.



Transfers In/Out

We've made some huge profits on players this summer most notably Chamberlain and as expect Lamela have left the club, but they have been replaced with some quality.

Transfers in - £61.65M





Calum Chambers - £3.1M

Had Chambers 2 seasons ago and did well, Arsenal didn't want to sell him last season but it's worked in my benefit as I got him half the price I would have paid, He's also in the current England side now.



Daniele Verde - £15M

Was brilliant last season I used the Future fee option to snap him up for this price can play in a few positions out wide so always useful for when injuries occur.



Henrikh Mkhitaryan - £5.75M

I almost signed him last year but chose Lamela over him the correct decision but now Lamela has left and Chamberlain Mkhitaryan can play in both these positions and I couldn't believe how cheap he was on the market for has had a great pre season and will be a key member of the squad.



Juan Diego Bueno Prieto - £15M

This lad was a must buy 21 years old worth £20M his attributes are insane for a defender and check out his average rating for the past four season and averaged 7.99 last season!



Martin Montoya - £2.8M

Doing a lot of business with Barcelona recently this lad was on sale and I needed another right back along with Donati signed for Man Utd a few seasons back then Barcelona bought him back good addition to the squad for a low price.



Pavel Larkin - £0

The best signing I've ever made on football manager and I don't know how he came about for free and nobody else wanted him? He's a goalkeeper the most important position I needed to strengthen and couldn't have signed a better player, He's a 20 year old wonderkid worth £18M, He's already a key player for the team was previously playing in the Russian league cant believe I signed a wonderkid for free resolute characteristics and his attributes are crazy. WHAT A SIGNING!!!!



Angel Correa - £20M

The most expensive buy of the summer, but worth every penny, well known player across the world for all football fans and a perfect replacement for Lamela. Already in pre season averaged a rating of 7.79 and some of his attributes are world class, another quality signing and key member for the side.



Giampaolo Corvesi - Loan

Back up for Robertson as Olsson his now aged 32 and declining has been excellent every season he's played, but with the champions league it could by way out his depth this season! Thank you for the services lad one of the last remaining original Blackburn players that has stayed.



Moise Vlad-Paul - Loan

Another wonderkid from Arsenal will be used as back up for Romero and Destro as I felt I could do with another striker last year especially with more competitions this year.



Transfers out - £73.17M







Made some great profit as mentioned this summer the likes of Chamberlain and Lamela for £33M each it allowed me to make many signings to strengthen the squad, Andre wisdom and Henriksen both didn't feature much last season and I made a some healthy sales from them.

Blackburn Rovers - Staff

There has been some huge changes in the backroom of the club Arsenal legend Dennis Bergkamp has joined the club as a coach along with Liverpool & Bayern legend Xabi Alonso as U21's manager, last year my previous managers for the U18 & U21's did a very poo job they are now both replacement and Alonso is smashing it up already with 3/3 wins. I also have a new assistant manager that has great attribute stats to help me with opposition tactics, players potential and current ability and to help motivate team talks!



Most notably we have the best coaches in the league now! almost 5 star in every department and best physio team! Players should be able to reach their potential much better now and with the Youth department been improved it's looking good for the club.



David Cole

Just a update on him, A few seasons ago I posted about his potential as he came in through the Youth ranks he's now 20 and has a wonderkid status, he grown so much very quickly his most recent loan spell was at West Brom he's only on 4.4K a week! He's now in the first team and has the potential to be a key member more he plays this season the better he'll get! Great to see a player grow so fast into a quality from the youth side. He's also in the England first team now!







Conclusion

We are predicted 7th I'm sure I can qualify for Champions league again, with the budget I was given I will struggles for the league title and I'm still struggling to find a away tactic so I'm going to keep the same tactics go again and hopefully we don't miss as many chances as we did last year We had a good pre season undefeated and the play offs for the champions league group stages coming up! We drew Porto a very tough tie but we'll do our best to qualify.

Season 5 - CHAMPIONS LEAGUE



Finally after 5 season's we have finally made it and this road to glory has lift off as we hit the greatest European competition!

It's been a excellent season to say the least some fantastic goals, results and performances. Certain players have been standouts and really caught my eye but unfortunately the eye of some top European clubs too.

Despite this good season, there's been a few problems mainly away games we had a great start to the campaign but towards the end we won 2 away games second end of the season so I really do need to do some research in finding a good tactic, also we missed so many opportunities each game easy chances, but I think that's just Football manager 2016 game engine.



But it's been fantastic overall just disappointed with the board they've only given me £11M transfer budget when previously I've received £50M and not even qualified for champions league... I hope this gets increased at the beginning of the season or its going to be a tough competition with the likes of Barcelona, Madrid and Juventus etc....

Premier League

SO overall we finished 4th finishing on a huge 73 points! Only one point behind Liverpool in 3rd, most importantly we only lost 1 home game very poor too Newcastle worst performance I've seen but still lots of positives just our away form needs to drastically improve next season.













If we can get a decent tactic sorted I dont see why not we cant challenge for the title next season depending how the new 'wankers' owners give me to spend...

Dispite this DESTRO Won THE EPL GOLDEN BOOT AWARD WITH 23 GOALS he was outstanding this season! He bagged 2 hat tricks this season I haven't even had a player score a hat trick in the previous 3 seasons.




Never had this many players in team of the week before!




FA Cup/Capital One Cup

I'm putting this section together as I didn't really concentrate on these competitions and focused on the league. The board weren't bothered about the Capital One cup, we finished average in both competitions, the paths of Liverpool and Tottenham stopped us in our tracks but some good results along the way we beat Arsenal in the FA Cup to reach the 5th round then drew away to Liverpool but then got beat at home... Oh and our Rivals Burnley hehe who are now in league 1!







Players End of Season Review

Goalkeeper

Improved slightly in this area, but again not the best area don't know if I'm going to be able to afford to strengthen this area Ospina managed to put in some decent performances in the 2nd half of the season to keep Sirigu out the side, both average.



Defenders

This area has definitely improved this season! Robertson as I said will be a excellent signing and boy he was, my favorite defender this season and probably ever for Rovers, always a threat on the ball, he made 34 Apps with a average rating of 7.37. Palencia was excellent on loan great back up player to have and played in a few positions wish I could keep him! Again Central area of the defence was inconsistent but improved Roco had a great season! Glad the new signings had a impact. I'll definitely be improving this area again in summer.



Midfield

As you can notice the one standout Lamela but I wont go into too much detail as I mention him a lot throughout haha. Tore had a fantastic season 10 assists and 4 goals, Chamberlain another standout he was excellent then Man Utd wanted to sign him I reject £30M and his form declined as he wanted to leave but he wants to stay now and has been unbelievable 8 goals and 7 assists in all competitions. Shout out to Ntcham on loan from Man City had the highest rating but due to Lamela struggled to start him as much! Verde another man who was on loan and another player that was excellent got some worldie loan players this year just wish I could afford to keep them all! Loftus-Cheek but into another sublime season 7.29 average rating worth every penny. As you can notice Henkrisen has one of the highest average rating but this was due to playing cup games against poor sides he was shocking in the league and will be looking to sell him summer I got this lad on a free and will br 100% profit for me around the £5M mark!



Strikers

Nothing else to say apart from Destro 27 goals in 32 Apps I'll leave that there. Romero had a poor season with 12 goals he really struggled each game his best impact was as a sub when Destro didn't perform which was convenient haha, Barcelona want to sign Romero and with the right money I will sell hasn't done much was supposed to be a world beater on FM16!




End of Season Review









First of all This guy Erik Lamela probably the best season I've ever had with a player that I can remember 34 Apps 10 goals, 10 assists and 8 Man of the matches average rating 7.74.... he was voted player/signing of the season! And yes he was my player of the season too. Finally for the first time Loftus cheeked missed out in 2nd hahaa. Here's him scoring Blackburn's goal of the season just a simple overhead kick after 10 Min.







Lamela and Destro were added the the PFA team of the year & Tore and Destro made it into the Rovers best ever 11!










Tottenham won the Champions league this season and are about to recieve a £700m Takeover



Just a shoutout to my youth player Woodward who won league 2 player of the year at 17! 7.39 average rating in 40 Apps.



Conclusion

As mentioned I hope the board give me more money I cant work with £11M in the champions league hahahaha, Its been a good season I will go and put all effort in every competition, looking forward but nervous for the champions league, impressed with my players this season transfer activity going out will be minimal again apart from contracts that expire and free up wages.

Juventus are after Lamela I'd love to keep him but decline Man Utd offer for Chamberlain really affected him and I don't want the same for Lamela, Barcelona are also after Romero and I'm sure everyone will be back in for Chamberlain!

Let's try get some bargains and hope new signings this summer have the same impact as the one's this year had.

Season 5 - Flying High

It's been a unbelievable start to the season can I say the 4-2-3-1 is fantastic for the premier league I switch between two different forms depending home and away fixtures! ATM we are aiming for Champions league who would have thought it? At this rate I wouldn't exclude myself from actually winning the Premier league we have been fantastic so far but we have just hit a bad form in December!

Capital One Cup

We were very unfortunate not to progress to the Quarter Finals, we missed too many chances 19 shots and 1 goal against Tottenham says it all, but on the bright side we beat our rivals Burnley along the way! Out of 48 teams cant believe we got drawn together The board weren't bothered about the Capital one and it's just extra fixtures out the way!





FA Cup

This competition hasn't begun yet! We have been drawn Fletwood Town in the third round! I do want to go far in this competition and it would be great if we could finally win a trophy this season!



Premier League

We are flying high in the league sitting 2nd after half the season! We've only lost 3 games all season... what a turn around from last year, we had some fantastic wins against Liverpool away, Man Utd and Chelsea not only did we win but we've dominated the top teams some pictures below showing shots and possession. We've had 12 wins after 19 games more than last season already Hahah. Really proud of some of the performances, Robertson, Lamela and players like Chamberlain and Destro have finally woken up and playing the season of their life!

Not to mention we did 10 games undefeated the league!























NEED TO METION WE FINALLY HAD THE FIRST PREMIER LEAGUE HAT TRICK DESTRO!!!!



Player performances

Goalkeeper

Sirigu has been the regular number one had a excellent start to the season but has seem to have a downfall! Ospina is used for rotation and cup games.



Defence

Much, much better this season! We are keeping clean sheets and getting some excellent performances Enzo Roco has been worth his £14m price tag 16 Apps 2 goals and a 7.35 average rating he is quality but has been sent of twice already... Robertson has been my favorite defender I knew this lad would put a shift in and has been consistent all season, Donati and Cardoso have also been playing very well much impressed this season!



Midfield

Well it's the wingers that have been getting all the headlines this time! Moving the the role from inside forwards to wingers has worked a gem, look at Chamberlain 7.59 average rating completely different player this season 5 goals and 5 assists, been excellent Verde has been a quality signing puts a shift it but gets injured very easily glad I have Tore he has 5 assists already too! Lamela has been the standout what a signing! 3 goals and 6 assists in 17 Appearances average rating of 7.68 works wonders in the shadow striker position. Again Loftus-cheek keeping a consistent form going has scored some beauties already this season on 2 goals same amount as last year already!



Forward

A season to remember for Destro so far 16 Apps and 13 goals.... I don't need to say no more this formation has got the best out of him. Although he is going through a rough patch atm hasn't scored since his hat trick in November. Romero has had a poor season and I think I'm losing patience with the lad 2 goals so far this season! He was on 16 hours without a goal including that running from last season and a number of clubs are interested in him such as Bayern and Barcelona so I will sell him in January with the right price!



Conclusion

Its' been simply a brilliant season so far everyone is pulling their weight around and putting in performances we look solid home and away and haven't lost at home this season yet! Looking to bring in maybe 1/2 players in January and offload some but I'm so impressed already picked up manager of the month in November but my favorite player so far this season is Lamela.

I don't see why I cant challenge for a champions league spot we are 3 points clear! With this form too we could go for the Title and I will go for it but let's see what the second part of the season has to offer!

Season 5 - The A new life

Finally the season is here and with 3 days till we start the campaign at Ewood Park to Everton Pre season has been a successful, but tactically there has been alterations after last seasons nightmare and under new owners I need to impress.



Injuries again have already played a crucial part in the season before it even starts, Wisdom out for 8 months with 6-7 left to go he'll miss most of the season I'm gutted is my best right back but Donati was great last season I have all my confidence in him. Olsson too is out for 2 months and Smalling just getting injured a few days before Everton is a huge blow too.

Romero was a target for Bayern Munich! But £14M for a wonderkid no chance obviously he wasn't happy with me turning down his move to one of the best clubs but hes happy now, Chamberlain was a target for Liverpool but I really want to keep him, wasn't keen on him at first but his form picked up and he'll be leading the role on the left wing.

Tactics

I've reverted to the famous 4-2-3-1 well known in the premiership, last season I struggled to score goals and with one up front it was tough in the Prem so I've moved the defensive midfield to a shadow striker to play behind the front man, The Inside forwards are now wingers which suit my players more and the forward position has a role of a complete forward he'll be leading that line playing very attacking, trying to get the most out of these two superb striker Destro and Romero who just cant find their feet.



Transfers In

I tried to keep transfers to a minimum this time as I felt I disrupted the squad too much last season, but some are solid signings with good characteristics which is important to fit in.



Andrew Robertson - £10.5M

I wanted this lad right away heard good things about him online and I looked at his past 4 season performances he's racked up over 7.10 average rating each season and last season had 50 Appearances for Hull with a average rating of 7.37!! Going to be quality in the left back position.



Erik Lamela - £8.5M

A Bargain for of the the Premier Leagues most gifted players! Tottenham didn't want him and I didn't hang back his attributes are insane glad he wanted to join the club! With my new Shadow Striker role he'll be first choice lets home he creates some goals!



Serge Gnabry - Loan

On loan from Arsenal he's a back up for Lamela, his best role is Shadow Striker and wasn't much choice in the market he's a gifted player and hopefully does well when called up for



Salvatore Sirigu - £6M

PSG Keeper pricey for him at 32 but hes got great attributes and experience, needed to strengthen this position so I went all out on him, him and Ospina likely to be rotated.



Enzo Roco - £14M

Didn't think I'd spend so much on a defender not a position I like spending money on haha, I did my research on this fella highly recommended solid defender! His central position stats are out this world should be perfect with Smalling in that defensive line.



Markus Henriksen - Free

Bought him simply because he was free, cheap wages and check his attibutes very good for a midfielder former man of Stoke will be a decent back up for the area.



Jonjoe Kenny - £525K

From Everton another defender just for back up glad I got him now smalling is injuried! He's got good potential not the greatest player in the squad, but did my research online for him.



Sergi Palencia - Loan

Due to Wisdom been out most of the season, I had to get back up but on loan from Barcelona I only found him because I took the filter off the assistant manager filtering unrealistic targets. Surprised he wanted to join, he was signed as backup but can see this lad becoming one of the clubs leading players.



Daniele Verde - Loan

Unwanted at Roma he's been the best player pre season and he will start against Everton. He's rapid and skillful manged 2 goals one assist in 3 appearances for me pre season. Verde was on loan at west ham last season and had a 7.05 average rating looking forward to what he can produce for the squad.



Fabio Cardoso - Loan

Another loan signing we were sort at the back and the transfer market was sacre, has decent attributes been at stoke for 2 years
so has Premier league expierence will be a back up for Smalling and Roco.



Transfers Out

Not many people sold this season just the few who were very poor last season got some good profits made though! Rose didn't feature much and made a £800k profit, Areola was poor in goal and made a great £2.7M Profit! Gago last seasons captain had a good season but for me doesn't have the quality. Oikonomidis going for £7.25M rising to £9.5!! A good £3.5M profit after his dreadful season last year. Final recent sale was Rekik who went for a good £4.8M rising to £6M, not a profit on him but hasn't featured much and was one of the worst players last season.



Competitions

We are projected top half and our target is to get back into Continental football with the Europa league, the owners aren't bothered about the Capital one cup but was us to achieve at least the fifth round.



I believe the quality in this side is far much better than last season, Romero it could be his season for the wonderkid, likes of new signings Lamela, Robertson, Sirigu, Roco and Palencia are going to make it a exciting one! I've spent alot of time on the internet looking for the right tactic and players let's hope it doesn't disappoint. The market for finding defenders was poor I almost signed Rojo for free but didn't get a work permit which I'm devastated would have just been the icing on the cake.

the squad looks strong and his growing in ability SHOULD BE A GOOD SEASON!

Cheers Dan spent hours last night looking at tactics and ideas found a decent one going to play a shadow striker as scoring is a problem in the 4-2-3-1 tactic I know it's popular choice in the premiership, I brought in Lamela as a SS was on the transfer list! Good at set pieces too good edition to the club

Season 4 - A season to forget

General

It's been a horrible season and I'm glad it's over. Nothing has gone our way injuries, results, tactics. The squad harmony has been poor and has led to bad results, I've had so many team meetings throughout the year to keep the spirit levels up, But it's time to rebuild squad and get the club up and going for next season.







I did nearly lost my job but the board have given me a target which I'm confident I'll achieve for next season, you cant succeed every season! we are going to have tough times but we have pulled through and hopefully we can forget about this season and start a fresh.

Premier League

We finished mid table on 43 points almost 20 points less than last season, we were very up and down we had a poor start to the season then went on a good run, then back too poor then good and towards the end of the season as you can see we lost 8 games in a row scoring 2 goals in all competitions.







Capital One Cup

Mentioned in the earlier post we was knocked out this third round by Southampton.

FA Cup

The light begins to shine in this season as there was some small success reaching the Semi finals of the FA Cup! We were lucky to face the teams to reach this far but was unfortunate to draw Man City in the semi's, we played superb, Wembley was a sell out it was a special moment for the fans and club!









Europa League

Another successful competition to the poor season, gutted we wont be competing in the Europa league next year but tbh its one less worry and less fixtures, but it could affect big players moving to the club this summer. To reach the Quarter finals was magnificent and only we were so unlucky to get beat 1-0 on aggregate Areola dropped the ball in his own goal. Overall, we lost 3/12 games and beat the likes of Kyiv and Moscow along the way!









Player Performances

Goalkeeper

Areola was main goalkeeper throughout the season and with12 clean sheets in 27 games was decent but conceded far to many and cost us in the Europa League dropping the ball in his own net. Ospina was okay nothing special, been quite dodgy seem to rack up a decent average rating but this position I'm looking to strengthen most importantly in the summer.



Defence

A season to remember for Donati becoming a Rovers legend! Always puts in a good shift his competitive side is frustrating and does seem to get sent off a fair bit. Olsson and Wisdom again excellent. But again the same for the best 2 season's in the premier league centre backs has been a issue and inconsistent Smalling and Chambers have been decent but far too many errors for the premiership, I wont be making a full move for chambers thank you for your services though!



Midfield

As in every year the central midfield has been outstanding Aranguiz, Frei, Loftus-cheek, Guilavogui and Gago were excellent always had to keep rotating them to keep them satisfied. Theo Bongonda was my favourite player of the season! Chamberlain I was very disappointed with thought he'd smash the premier league up! Tore did well but very inconsistent, not going to lie we have missed Niang this year.



Forwards

Unal didn't feature much was just a back up luckily we didn't have any injuries this season in this position, but my god Romero and Destro most inconsistent players in the world next minute they would bang them in then they'll go 8 games without scoring. Romero is special and a wonderkid and has his moments but I need a consistent goalscorer.



End of season Review





OF COURSE Loftus-Cheek was fans favourite player of the season for the 4th consecutive season haha! Donati, Guilavogui and Romero made it into Blackburn Rovers overall best 11 but only on the bench.





LET'S HOPE FOR A GOOD SUMMER! I am going to do a lot of research into tactics and players more this summer it just isn't working atm and we do need start hitting target and getting that Champions league spot and winning the English Premier league!



We are now a PLC Company (public) still in over £100M Debt which we are working on but the club is now worth over £360M!!! The board have given me a lovely budget for summer £44M and £300k in wages and have upgraded some of the facilities too which is great to hear!

I know I think I made so many big signings I've distrupted the squad harmony and chemistry, which is understandable with foreign players! They seem to be playing quality now halfway through the season! Very strange beginning was very hard to keep the squad together.

Season 4 - January Transfers

Just a quick update we made a few In/Outs in the transfer market which have been successful so far! BTW I have a new Skin!



AND WE FINALLY GOT A TAKEOVER £220M and I kept my job! Been a poor season so I am very surprised but I've worked hard to get this far and it wouldn't be a successful road to Glory if I lost my job!

But things are looking up we are about to make the Semi's of the FA Cup and the Quarter's of the Europa League (HOPEFULLY) and we are finally getting going in the league still bottom half but getting the results at Home and the points away. I'll post again after the end of the season!

Transfers In



Theo Bongonda - £3.6M

Mentioned in the last post due to injuries I needed a back up left winger and Oikonomidis is having a poor season not the player he was last year with a average rating of 6.71 he's always injured too. But Theo Bongonda what a player, 15 Appearances 5 goals and 5 assists and currently has the highest average rating of 7.43 magnificent made a huge contribution to current form of the club.



Chris Smalling - £3.9M

The defence has been the worst area in the club and needed improving, not wanted by Man utd I jumped straight onto Chris, current England national and huge experience in the league he has been a good capture him and Chambers are excellent at the back 7 Appearances and a average rating of 7.34 so far.



David Ospina - £1.2M

A bargain from Arsenal worth almost £10M now, Areola and Raya have been up and down Ospina has had a few dodgy first games but has seemed to settled in and is current No1 keeper.



Gervinho - Loan

On loan from Roma was having a huge injury crisis with Tore, Chamberlain and Oikonomidis I needed a backup he's been decent has great attributes has a future fee took your advice Brabbn! But probably wont make a full move for him.



Transfers out

Marshall has had a poor season and he wasn't happy with first team football so sold him for a good amount! But sale of the season brabec he's been shocking! 9 Appearances and a average rating of 6.64, Everton came in and paid £9M I made a £5.5M profit Fantastic!!

Season 4 - Nightmare

General

Well this season has been a complete disaster, I'm disgraced by some the efforts by the players it's as if the last 2 seasons in the premier league has happened! We couldn't even score if the opposition didn't even field any players! I've kept the same successful tactic I've had the past 3 season but brought in better players and its just not working! I'm almost tweaking the tactics, trying new formations/roles each game now but nothing is working, I've never been in such bad form on football manager and I can only say its down to maybe making big transfers to the squad and disrupting team chemistry or players just simply not performing.

I'm currently in the situation Mourinho was at Chelsea... I've changed players roles so my wingers are inside forwards to support the forward and made the forward role more deep and attacking, central midfield hasn't been a problem or the full backs, just my strikers, central defence and goalkeepers are really struggling and now I'm in January a lot of transfers will be made.







Premier league

Sitting 16th says it all... we won 1 game in the first 9 in the premier league and then went on a good run after I made tactical alternations but then we've gone and lost 4 in a row! Villa we was winning then conceded 2 goals in the last 10. It's been a shambles and I feel like transfer listing most of the squad and starting again! The atmosphere at the club isn't good and I've had so many team meetings already to try and boost player performances not a clue what's going on atm and at this rate the champions league looks way out in the distance with now, we have to aim for a respectable position. Scoring 2 goals in 8 games is unacceptable I've had to make so many changes and I've fielded the most players in the league already.





Capital one cup

The cup was short lived as we was knocked out n the 3rd round after going 2-0 up we got beat in extra time by Southampton unacceptable.



FA Cup

We somehow managed to beat non league side Torquay! Quite a achievement Destro worth almost £30M missed a penalty against a keeper not even worth 10k... Tore was excellent and got man of the match.



Europa League

Once again the most successful competition to compete in and could be the last time we enter the Europa league as our hopes of continental qualification are fading. We managed to qualify from our group which was a great achievement it was the toughest only losing one game but only winning one seems mental to be able to qualify! But we have some good draws for the knockouts with Dynamo Kyiv and either Braga or Moscow, we could seriously reach the Quarter finals if we don't play like we do in the premier league.











Player performances

Goalkeeper

I've had to keep alternating Raya and Areola both have been poor... Raya was fantastic last season and its a shame as he's been brought up in the U21's but I'm looking at finding a new keeper and Ospina looks likely to join in the Jan transfers



Defence

As mentioned earlier the full back positions have been quality Donati is back! putting in some splendid performances and his keeping Wisdom out the side. Olsson and Clichy both doing well. Centre backs are very poor I'm highly disappointed in Rekik, Rose and Brabec, Chambers too hasn't been performing up to standards glad I got him on loan. This position I'm looking to strengthen in the window.



Midfield

Again Loftus-Cheek the standout simply magnificent Id pay £50M for this lad if I had too. Aranguiz has started performing well and the central field looks solid also Guilavogui he's been splendid Tottenham wanted him for £8M but I kept him for a reason, Gago and Mikel are decent back ups and this area in the squad looks solid.

My concern is the wingers Chamberlain has been very disappointing I expected him to work wonders on FM16, Oikonomidis has been the worst player of the season he was magnificent last year what's happened! Tore is decent is ranked 2nd in the Premier league with 5 assist, I've just bought Bogonda 2 goals in 2 games for the lad looks a good capture!



Forward

The most underachieving position in the squad highly disappointed with all 3, cant say much about Unal as he's only played a few times and is just a back up but Romero and Destro have been awful, amount of chances missed by these guys you would be pulling your hair out Romero has a wonderkid status I bought him 2nd season meant to be a gem on this game, he is already a quality player and has the ability to be a key player but I cant see how if he cant do his job he couldn't score in a open net in one game and he's managed 8 hours without a goal but I always seem to have faith in him.

Destro is a nightmare he's like a Balotelli doesn't listen to you very stubborn, yes 8 goals is decent but it should be at least 20+ my wingers feed the ball to him on a plate and still misses, he's either very poor or decent doesn't have a average game.




Conclusion

There's going to be a lot of activity in the transfer window highly disappointed in some of the players performances and I have been looking for a new tactic I'll just have to keep trying and hope somehow this form changes. It's very off putting playing Football manager at moments like these but you cant always be successful and this is the challenge of the game and one which I hope I'll overcome!



I'll be doing another update on the January transfer windows as there will probably be a lot of activity!

JUST A QUICK UPDATE

Felt I had to put this quick update into the summer transfers as some major transfers did take part as I began the season!

Transfers Out



Niang

PSG came in throwing money at me with a £20m bid for Niang I really didn't know to sell him so I upped the offer £10M which they accepted couldn't refuse that money! so the offer was £26M and could raise to £31.





Moreno

PSG THEN came in for another bid £15.5M plus £4M add on's for Moreno a offer I couldn't refuse he wasn't in good form last season.



Transfers in

With the money off transfers and needed replacements I made some fast deicions as we was in season but some good and promising one's.

Mattia Destro - ST - £20M

I put a random bid in for him thinking it would be declined but was accepted been in decent form of Bologna last few seasons and already has 2 goals in 3 games for me 16 finishing target man already in for a better season than Moreno!



Gokhan Tore - AMR - £21M

On the transfer list at Roma already has 2 goals, 1 assist in 5 games for me 18 dribbling and speed he will be a great addition has alot to live up too Niang was fantasic, loved his performances a real threat every game but money is more important than one player!



Both these players have become the highest value and brings in pure quality for Europe, the squad has grown so much just hope all players perform and work hard.

Champions League

Again we was given the hardest group stage! It's going to be tough to get through but again we made it last year I have confidence.

I didn't know about these future loan fee's until yesterday! gutted I'll defiantly use them in the future

Season 4 - Start of a successful season

So we've had another busy summer spending £50m but managed to make some decent profit offloading players no longer needed which is positive. Also important to note is the growth of my backroom, we are bringing in high profile staff and even for the U18/21 have been completely re-staffed and hopefully we help with the growth of the youth.



Again pre season went well and I made some friendly European games in again to help with continental experience. Non-league side Mansfield beat us, cant quite believe it but lets hope that performance doesn't happen in competitive games haha! 20 goals and 4 conceded in 7 games is always a good sign. AGAIN we have a tough start to the season with Chelsea away and Arsenal at home but it's a chance to get a advantage over the more competitive teams.



Some reviews... We are ranked 29th richest club in the world now! Again we was the overachievers in the Premier league always a good sign of my managerial ability and this season we are predicted 8th and 41/1 to win the league but hoping we can achieve top 4 this season! We also moved up a massive 42 places in the European rankings now 72nd impressive.













Transfers In

Ruben Loftus-Cheek - £26.5M

SO after 3 season we finally captured Loftus-Cheek at a record club fee of £26.5 million don't think I've spent this much on football manager for 5 years! But Loftus is totally worth it always guaranteed a average rating of over 7.20 and is now in the current England squad at 22!







Alex Oxlade-Chamberlian - £12.5m

Buy of the season! Cant believe Arsenal had him on sale still young and potential to be a key player of the team, I know he's a wonderkid for football manager and he could be in for a successful career at Blackburn rovers!





Fernando Gago - £2.7M

Gago is a all round quality player his mental stats say it all and he will captain my side this season, he was at Swansea and requested a transfer which went in my favour! Again midfield looks the strongest area this season.



John Obi Mikel - £2.4M

Needed some back up for the Defensive midfield and to give Guila a run for his place at 31 yes he's risky but he's experienced and is a short-term project worth £8.5 he's a high profile signing for the club from PSG.





Jakub Brabec - £3.5M

Found this lad myself surfing defenders, he's been in hot form for the past 3 seasons for Sparta and with dead cheap wages is a good buy 25 years old and capped at international level gives more depth to the centre defence





Enes Unal - End of season loan

On loan from Man City I was surprised they let me loan this potential striker, he has a great goal scoring record and at 21 years old he's worth just under £10M will be used as a back up if Maxilimano Romero & Gerard Moreno don't perform.





Calum Chambers - End of season loan

Best Loan signing I have ever captured! I was going to buy him but if you buy them its permanent with loans I can judge his ability first like I did with Loftus-Cheek, again couldn't believe Arsenal let me have him on loan they didn't even beat me last season could regret this! 23 years old and capped at the England national level this transfer completes my defence and is probably the best defender Blackburn Rovers have ever had.




Transfers out

A lot of players left time was up for Conway who has been fantastic for ever season but Chamberlian is a perfect replacement. Adam Henley hasn't featured much due to Wisdoms unbelievable performances, I was gutted not to get more money for him nobody was interesting same with Jason Lowe both sold for around £2M, Lowe was worth 6M and is a consistent performer so unfortunate in that aspect but we cashed in on Bridcutt for a similar amount which is fantastic.

Again Gomez without a work permit I sent on loan to gain some citizenship I cant offload him and paying £60k a week the loan managed to half his wages but huge mistake on my side I thought he gained a work permit before signing he has bags of potential a real loss for me.



Conclusion

I wont be posting as often as I feel I don't need too and it can be time consuming writing these reports it'll be more beneficial to post maybe pre season like now, after January transfer window, then end of season so it can make more in depth report. But as stated I do really want to achieve top 4 this season! Wonderkid Maxilimano Romero will be leading the line he is growing at a rapid rate and is now rated a good striker in the premier league still 19 years old had a great pre season and I'm excited to what he has to offer he has been at my club awhile now and is his time to step up!



I have changed the tactics slighting playing the same formation as my very first season but more Fluid now and changed the marking, closing down and player roles to get the best out of my players.

Thanks Brabbn think I'm cursed with that position hopefully finish in top four this time round made some excellent signings