All Aboard! - The Managerial Rollercoaster

[the beast in carnate]

Brilliant story so far , hard Champions league group good luck. Quick question what skin are you using ?

 

[Werrett]

Brilliant story so far , hard Champions league group good luck. Quick question what skin are you using ?

Thanks for the feedback

I'm currently using the Scorpio 1.8 skin, here's a link: Scorpio v1.8 skin for FM15

 

[Werrett]

I'd say the Milan - Utd etc group could be the hardest there!

Yours is not easy either!

Definitely, Groups C and H look almost impossible for the smaller teams!

Mines not easy but it's not the hardest, really unpredictable as to who will go through.

 

[Werrett]

August - 2016

August would see us play 5 games, but two of those were against Metalist which I've already covered, so I'll just go through the Premier League matches we played throughout this month.

Here are the League fixtures for August:

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I went through this game in the season opener but for those who missed it we were held to a 3-3 draw, a poor defensive performance and we didn't do a good job of containing possession. I'm pleased with the goals we scored but a couple of defensive mistakes ultimately cost us, we'll move on though.

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This was a bland game, neither team created any clear cut chances although Spurs did have the majority of the shots on goal. I'm pleased with this result as it shows a massive improvement in our defence from the opening game. Hopefully we can continue to build a strong defensive bond as something to build on.

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We picked our first win of the season with an emphatic victory over newly promoted Fulham, 4 different goalscorers on the board as goals came from all over the pitch which pleases me, I'm glad to see we're not just reliant on our strikers to put the ball in the net.

Fulham had a lot of shots on goal but in reality they were all from outside the box, about 75% of them anyway. Krul made some fantastic saves to keep his clean sheet which makes it 3 games since the Dutchman last conceded.

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Still early days in the Premier League but we find ourselves in 6th following our victory over Fulham, I'm pleased that we haven't lost a game yet and hopefully we can build on how things have gone so far.

Terrible starts for Manchester City and Southampton, but there's no doubt that they'll turn it around.

If I had to pick a player of the month it'd be Hatem Ben Arfa, not only did he fire us into the Group Stage of the Champions League but he also scored against Fulham while setting up two of the others, a great start to the season by the Frenchman.

French midfielder Hatem Ben Arfa has started in a rich vein of form this season, carrying over from his impressive season last year.

​

 

[Werrett]

Rounding off the Transfer Window

European Transfer Round-Up

Here's a look at the major transfers from the other leagues in Europe.

Ligue 1 Round-Up:

Bundesliga Round-Up:

Liga BBVA Round-Up:

Serie A Round-Up:

Premier League Round-Up:

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Here's a look at the first-page of the most expensive transfers in the BPL

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Newcastle Re-Cap

In regards to Newcastle transfers I tried to sign Mexican defender Diego Reyes from Fiorentina but the deal fell through to due to Work Permit issues, so with that being said we didn't make any more transfers in the market.

Here's a re-cap of our Summer activity.

​

 

[Werrett]

September - 2016

September would see the start of our Champions League campaign as well as the League Cup and League matches, after a stuttering start we're looking to build a bit of momentum.

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Disappointing start to the month as we lost to Everton at Goodison Park, we didn't create many chances and ended up crashing to a defeat, our first of the season.​

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Our first UEFA Champions League group game ended in a great 2-1 victory, Doumbia scored for the Italians early on as they dominated early possession but Spaniard Alvaro Morata bagged a brace to get us the 3 points, a wonderful start!​

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We bounced back from our previous league defeat to beat Hull City 1-0 at St. James' Park, not the best performance but I'm glad to see us pick up the 3 points.​

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We took on Liverpool in the 3rd round of the Capital One Cup in what was a thrilling contest, Sturridge put the away side up 1-0 but a fantastic performance from Rolando Aarons as he picked up two goals saw us progress to the 4th round, what a result!

Rolando Aarons first two profressional goals for the club sealed a 3-1 win over Liverpool.​

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Another victory as we battled from 1-0 down to beat QPR 3-1, a quickfire double from Wilfried Bony saw us take a 3-1 lead and from there we never looked like losing, a delightful comeback!​

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This was a surprise victory, I went into the game expecting a heavy loss but we actually had the better of the early possession, and when Hoewedes was dismissed we took control, a great 1-0 victory to leave us with 2 wins out of 2!​

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At the end of September we're currently sitting in 6th place, but after a rocky start to the season we've started to build a head of steam and can hopefully go on to climb the table.

A fantastic start to the Champions League group stage as we have 2 wins out of 2 to gives us a 3 point gap at the top of the table, we might have a chance of qualifying after all!

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Capital One Cup 4th Round Draw

After beating Liverpool 3-1 we progressed into the 4th round of the Capital One Cup which is surprisingly the furthest I've gotten so far in this competition, hopefully we can get far into the tournament but we received yet another tough draw vs...

Tottenham Hotspur away from home..A tough draw but we'll do our best, overall I won't be too concerned if we're knocked out now.

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Sunderland Splash The Cash

Quite a surprise here as Sunderland splash almost £30 million on transfer in League One! Some good signings in Iancu and Hughes, I'm sure it won't be long until they return to the Premier League.

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Clement Signs New Contract

Newcastle Manager Paul Clement has today signed an extension on his contract which will keep him at the club until 2020, after the announcement we caught up with Paul.

Reporter:"Mr. Clement, what does it mean to sign a new deal here at Newcastle United?"

P.Clement:"I'm absolutely delighted. We've began building something very special here at the club and I'm pleased that the Chairman approves of what I've been doing here."

Reporter: "You've started the season well in both Europe and the League, will the excessive amount of matches affect the team performances??"

P.Clement: "I don't think so, we've got a very good squad here with strength in depth and I fully believe these players are capable of performing to a high standard, I'm very pleased with the squad as a whole. Wonderful bunch of lads."

Clement has enjoyed a good start to life at Newcastle United, despite not winning any silverware in his first two years Clement has managed to strengthen his Newcastle squad and since guided the team back to Champions League Football.
​

 

[Klippybo]

Can you post a screenie of Aarons and Armstrong to see how they have progressed?

 

[Werrett]

Can you post a screenie of Aarons and Armstrong to see how they have progressed?

Aarons has done alright, few seasons out on loan but he's played a couple of games for me now.

Armstrong hasn't developed well at all, but then he didn't have very good potential to start with.

 

[Werrett]

October 2016

October was another good month for us, we continued our dominating stance in the Champions League while securing big wins in the Premier League, we're managing our fixtures very well.​

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The match against Nottingham Forest was a close affair. We dominated much of the ball but failed to finish our chances, van Dijk's header was the only goal to separate the two sides but I'm delighted to have come away with the win.​

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We maintained our winning start to the month with a 2-0 home victory over Manchester City, with City's struggling start to the season we came out firing in a bid to capitalise on their weaknesses, to my delight this worked in our favor and we bagged a 2-0 victory.​

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The Champions League encounter against S.L Benfica was to be my 100th in charge of Newcastle United, a great landmark but hopefully only a fraction of what I'll go on to achieve at the club.

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Bony was impressive in this game and his brace helped to win us the match, a great team performance and another home win in the Champions League, I can't believe how well we've started so far.
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We returned to League action to a slumping defeat to Southampton away from home, this loss brings us down to Earth as we end a great streak of victories. It's disappointing but now we need to show our character and return to winning ways.​

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We ended up getting knocked out of the Capital One Cup by Tottenham Hotspur, the 4th round tie proved to be too much for our younger players as Harry Kane's early goal proved to be the decider in the cup fixture.

Our exit from the cup isn't a huge concern as we are now able to focus on the more important competitions such as the league and the Champions League.

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We rounded off the month with a 2-0 victory over Aston Villa, own goals from each of Villa's central defenders ensured the win as we failed to find the back of the net through our own players, but the 3 points are more important than the performance.

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After 10 games we now sit 6th in the table, still on the brink of the top 4 but having overachieved last year I don't know if I'm expecting another top 4 finish. A top 6 would be nice.

Manchester City are still really struggling, Ancelotti is having a torrid time having been hired in August.

After 3 matches we look to have all but qualified for the knock-out stages of the Champions League, we've managed to win each of our first 3 games in which all have been brilliant performances, I said at the start I'd settle for 3rd, but now I don't see why we can't win the group!
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[the beast in carnate]

Did the mackems get took over by a tycoon ?

 

[Werrett]

Did the mackems get took over by a tycoon ?

They sure did! At the end of the first-season, yet they still managed to get relegated again.

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[the beast in carnate]

They sure did! At the end of the first-season, yet they still managed to get relegated again.

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Should probably expect them up in no time , spending that amount , then football in the north east shall be interesting.

 

[Werrett]

Should probably expect them up in no time , spending that amount , then football in the north east shall be interesting.

Haha I'd be surprised if they didn't come back up within 2-3 years, I miss the Tyne-Wear derbies!​

 

[Werrett]

November 2016

November was by far the toughtest month so far, we pretty much played 6 big teams and there was no game that was seen as a definite win, overall I think we did alright. We lost to Chelsea but that was expected but elsewhere we did well!​

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We began the month with a brilliant win at the Stadium of Light, no not that one!

Ayoze Perez grabbed the only goal of the game as we picked up an away win at Benfica, and following this victory our place in the next stage was secure, what a brilliant piece of news!

With the expectations set by the board to reach the group stages I'm delighted to have gone one further.

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We returned to league action and picked up a draw against Arsenal at home, now I'll take this result in a positive way. While we were dominating early on, Haidara had an absolute nightmare and picked up 2 yellow cards in 2 minutes to put us down to 10 men, which of course led to an Arsenal goal. But Pablo Sarabia who was brought on as a substitute scored a 92nd minute equaliser to grab us a point. A great fight-back!

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We suffered defeat at Stamford Bridge, but this was an expected result. Chelsea are an extremely dominant team in the league and I'm pleased at our defensive efforts, a 2-0 loss is nothing to be ashamed off at the end of the day.

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Ancelotti Gets the Sack

Manchester City representatives have today confirmed the dismissal of manager Carlo Ancelotti, it's believed that the reason behind the sacking is down to Manchester City's very poor performance in both the league and cup competitions.

A statement read by the City owners was released earlier today:

K.Al Mubarak: "I'm here today to confirm the rumours that Ancelotti has been dismissed from the manager position, we have invested a lot of money into this Club and following last year's poor performance we simply cannot afford another year with poor results. We are now in November and are currently lying in 16th position, which is terrible. We wish Carlo all the best but simply need to find results from somewhere."

Ancelotti refused to comment on his dismissal from the Etihad.

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We took on Inter Milan at the San Siro in our 2nd away Champions League fixture in a row, avoiding defeat here would mean we'd claim the top spot ahead of Inter Milan and to my delight we managed to do that. A brilliant defensive performance and some fantastic saves from Tim Krul as we kept Inter Milan at bay (Just..), we've won the group!

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We battled from 1-0 down to pick up a home point against Liverpool and considering the amount of tough games we've played this is a good result. Avoiding defeat is all I can ask for in these tough games so I'm delighted at our rallying spirit.

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Lennon Sacked by Leicester

A statement released today by Vichai Srivaddhanaprabha announced the sacking of Neil Lennon as manager of Leicester City. Having just got promoted, Leicester are currently located in the drop zone and a change in management will look to be a solution for the Foxes.

Performances have been less than impressive to say the least for Leicester this year.

The statement read:

V.Srivaddhanaprabha: "As you've all heard today, Neil Lennon has been relieved of his duties as manager of Leicester City Football Club, despite helping us gain promotion to the Premier League we are now in danger of going down again. In a bid to prevent the relegation to the Championship we will looking for a new manager to change the direction of the club, we wish to thank Neil for all that he has done during his brief spell at the club."

Managerial life has been difficult for Neil Lennon since leaving Glasgow.

Neil Lennon later commented on the matter:

N.Lennon: "Obviously I'm disappointed, I had a lot of success in Scotland and I thought coming into the job that I'd be capable of keeping us up. Sadly things haven't gone that way, it's a very tough league and without proper investment into the squad. But I'll pick myself up, hopefully I can return to this great league one day."

Leicester City will now be looking for a new Manager.

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For the final game of both the month and the Champions League group stage we took on German side Schalke 04 at St. James' Park, this was a nothing game for us as we were already guaranteed to win the group, but we played for pride and tried to avoid defeat throughout the 6 group games. Toivonen put the away side 1-0 up early into the 2nd half but again, we fought back incredibly to claim a 3-1 win, absolutely delighted!

Bring on the 1st Knock-out stage draw in December!

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Löw to Lead Manchester City

Former Germany manager Joachim Löw has today been named as the new Manager of Manchester City. The World Cup winning manager relished the opportunity to return to club management and spoke to the media earlier today.

J.Löw: "I'm over the moon, having managed Germany for many years I feel now is a good time to return to club management and I am very happy to have been approached by such a big club. We've been underperforming throughout the season but it's still early days, I can turn things around."

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Following the tough month we're sitting in 6th place, obviously we have dropped points throughout the month and haven't won a game but they were against tough opposition, so December will see us return to facing mid-table sides where we can hopefully pick up some more wins to get back into the top 4.

Here's a look at the final standings in our group stage, as you can see we dominated it..Against the odds I must say!

I predicted that any team could win the group but I certainly didn't see it being us, especially as we're a 4th seed team, but we've proved the critics wrong and surpassed expectations while doing so!
​

 

[LordViduka]

Loving the story so far, having some problems with posting my own but keeping up with yours helps me get through the wall of errors and confusion. Hopefully I can get it to work, but I could never imagine I could replicate your layout, fantastic, keep up the great work

 

[Werrett]

Loving the story so far, having some problems with posting my own but keeping up with yours helps me get through the wall of errors and confusion. Hopefully I can get it to work, but I could never imagine I could replicate your layout, fantastic, keep up the great work

Thanks man, appreciate the kind words!

What kind of problems are you having?

 

[LordViduka]

Thanks man, appreciate the kind words!

What kind of problems are you having?

No problem

Not including any URL's or inappropriate language, computer tells me I can't post because I hit the limit on both. I have a suspicion it's just an anti-spam system on the fritz.

 

[Werrett]

FA Cup 3rd Round Draw

Currently at the start of December the draw has been made for the 3rd round of the FA Cup, we have been drawn against Premier League side Aston Villa at St. James' Park.

A tough draw to start out FA Cup campaign for the 2016/17 season but we'll do our best, we're in the 3rd season now and it would be nice to add a trophy to the cabinet soon.

But as always I'll be playing a younger, rotated team when this fixture approaches..Development is more important than cup progression!​

 

[Werrett]

Managerial Movements

Leicester Hire Owen Coyle

Following the sacking of Neil Lennon, Leicester City have now announced that former Bolton and Wigan manager Owen Coyle will be the new manager at the King Power Stadium.

A statement released by the Leicester Chairman stated as follows:

V.Srivaddhanaprabha: "I'm delighted to unveil Owen Coyle as our new manager, he's got an impressive track record and we fully believe that he can keep us in the top flight. But only time will tell, the squad needs investment which we are eager to provide."

Owen Coyle is believed to have be delighted with the opportunity to manage back in the Premier League.

O.Coyle: "I'm honoured that Leicester feel that I am the right candidate to take them forwards, I will try my very best to keep them in the top flight. I can't wait to get started."​

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Aston Villa Sack Lambert

Aston Villa have today announced the dismissal of Paul Lambert as acting manager of the club and has had his contract terminated with immediate effect.

R.Lerner: "First off we wish to thank Paul for everything he has done for the club, however, with the club sitting in 19th place we feel that a change of approach is necessary. We will now be looking for a new candidate to help change the fortunes of this fine club."

Paul Lambert had been the manager of Aston Villa since 2012.

Paul Lambert declined the opportunity to comment on the matter.

Current Fulham Manager Sami Hyypia is believed to be the bookies favourite to take-over as manager of Aston Villa although some feel this would be a strange move for the former Finnish international as his Fulham side currently sit 3 places above Aston Villa.​

 

[LordViduka]

Leicester local here, interesting news about the sacking! Just want to give you a friendly tip and point out that you accidentally stated that Lerner was excited for Coyle to do well at Villa, when actually he went to Leicester