Betaburn Rovers

[MillerJA9]

Whilst I'm getting to grips with the beta, I thought I'd start a hopefully long-term story at my favourite club, Blackburn Rovers, and try to restore them to the respectable Premier League side they once were.

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Background

Rovers, a founding member of the football league, enjoyed their greatest spell of success in the early nineties, winning the Premiership title in 1995, becoming the only small-town club to do so (and likely to ever do so) since the introduction of the new Premier League. The club were financed by famous fan and benefactor Jack Walker, who employed Kenny Dalglish and helped finance Rovers's route to success (though we did not buy the title... that's a whole other story).

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Rovers have suffered a few ups and downs since the title winning season, including relegation in 1999 and promotion in 2001. Blackburn's last taste of silverware was a Worthington Cup win in 2002. Since Walker's sad death in 2000 the Rovers was owned by the Walker Trust, but is now in the hands of the Venky's of India who, after a turbulent start to life at Rovers incl a period of mismanagement on the back of ill-advice, now seem to be steadying the ship.

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The goals of this save are to steady Rovers financially, gain promotion to the Premier League, qualify for Europe and see what happens from there!​

 

[MillerJA9]

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Grant Hanley keeps his position as captain with Jason Lowe as vice. The squad are ambitious and hopefully this will assist in pushing for promotion.

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For a Championship club the facilities are excellent. In line with my on-field management, I want to see the facilities grow further, with junior coaching and youth recruitment to be improved over the years (should finances allow).

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This year, the Rovers went back to a more traditional light blue colour, which I personally love.

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In line with my aims as manager, I hope to trim the loan debt down and bring finances to a secure level (ideally by the Venky's relinquishing control to someone else... I doubt this will happen any time soon but we can always wish!)

Key Players


Grant Hanley - CB
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Craig Conway - AM (R/L)
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Jordan Rhodes - ST
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Essentially the spine of the team. Hanley is a very promising CB who will likely partner Duffy throughout the season. Whilst Jason Lowe adds grit to the CM position, Conway will be our main outlet in midfield, likely employed as an inside forward or raumdeuter. Jordan Rhodes is just super JR and will either play as a lone striker or partnered with Gestede.

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I will likely play counter mentality, high tempo, work the ball into box, closing down opposition. May also experiment with a more direct play to utilise Gestede's aerial prowess. Tom Cairney was to be my main creative presence in the midfield, however he isn't as good on FM15 compared to his ability and performances in the Championship (IRL he's Rovers's best and most consistent player, as well as leading the Championship player stats in key areas) so although he will be a key player, the team won't be built around him as a roaming playmaker as I would like (sad face).​

 

[MillerJA9]

Pre-season

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Well, as you can see, pre-season fixtures went poorly but I left these to my assistant and didn't worry too much. I was too busy trying to negotiate some transfers in and out of the club.

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The main priority was to shift a bit of the deadwood at Rovers. Whilst IRL I like Olsson, he wasn't quite good enough to challenge Spurr and was thus transfer listed and sold. Robinson, although again a popular figure amongst fans, was earning £35k a week, which is just way too much for a second choice keeper behind Jason Steele. I sold him to Leeds yet still have to pay approx £16k a week of his wages until the end of the 2015 season. Still frees up a lot of room so no complaints. Taylor was sold for £800k which I am happy about as he wasn't good enough for the first team and Kilgallon was always going to be my third choice so no harm cashing in on him.

SIGNINGS!

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After stumbling upon this youngster whilst watching some international friendlies over the summer (not on an FM forum, honest), Miller (I) chose to purchase this youngster for a minimal fee of £90k. Although he didn't get a work permit and the loan market isn't there for him at the moment, I have no doubt he will prove to be a quality signing.

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After selling the clumsy Kilgallon to Ipswich, reinforcements were needed at the back to provide competition for Duffy and Hanley, who both have a tendency of being unfit/injured. As well as requiring lower wages than Kilgallon and being available on a free, his stats were on the whole better and his experience in La Liga will hopefully prove rewarding. Slightly disappointed I got him on a two year deal and not just the one but it's not a biggy.

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Competition for Spurr was needed after the sale of Olsson. A young, English LB on loan seemed perfect for cover, as well as challenging for a first team role. The fact he is adept at dribbling and crossing is especially useful if I am to play with my FBs in wing back roles.

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Another young, English player who has the ability to give the likes of Ben Marshall and Craig Conway a run for their money. A more-than-adequate replacement for Taylor and a definite star of the future.

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After hearing about a young Norwegian up for grabs at a low price, whilst chatting to some Nordic fellas in the local boozer, Berntsen was snapped up for just £275k and provides depth in the centre AM position. With good stats and only 21 y/o I have faith he will grow into a quality player.​

 

[MillerJA9]

August 2014

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Championship results went well and saw us gain 3 wins out of 5 in a busy Championship month. The losses to Norwich in the league and Boro in the cup were disheartening but we take positives from fighting back to a draw vs Bournemouth after going two goals down. Three new signings grabbed the goals vs Wolves which was brilliant!

Here is the league table at the end of the month...
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Player of the Month
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4 goals and 2 assists in 6 appearances ain't too shabby! His league performances earned him Young Player of the Month and who am I to disagree? Grealish already proving his worth on loan. I was impressed with all my new signings but there's more to come as we hit DEADLINE DAY.


Deadline Day!


After Adam Henley made an error at RB vs Bournemouth, he questioned himself, feeling he'd "let the team down" and worried me with his mentality and ability. Whilst a good prospect, there is little (no) cover at RB and this needed to be addressed if I am to nurture him correctly. Step forward, Todd Kane!
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After previous loan spells at Rovers, I knew Kane would fill in as either a back-up or starter... With a future fee agreed of £1mill he could prove to be a good piece of business should he perform well and we free up funds later in the season.

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After images were leaked of Rovers's new target from Spain, after a member of the scouting team got drunk and dropped them in Blackburn town centre, the Rovers faithful were (almost) convinced Gareth Bale was on his way to Ewood. However, it turned out to be lookalike left-back Javi Noblejas, signed from Castilla for £225k.

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The talented, athletic player was considered a coup considering his Real Madrid roots, and provided additional competition for Spurr and Garbutt. Rovers fans were delighted with the promising signing and hoped to see him do well in the famous blue and white halves.

The transfer dealings weren't over, after the Rovers scouting team made Miller aware that a Barcelona player was available to sign. After initially turning down a loan contract, with some convincing from Spanish-speaking Miller, right-back Douglas chose to make the switch to Ewood on a season-long loan. For anyone who doesn't know who he is, he is Barcelona's mystical 24 year old £3.2mill summer signing from Sao Paolo, who signed on a five year deal for the Spanish giants, despite no one knowing anything about him! It raised many eyebrows both in Brazil and Spain (look it up!) yet his move to Rovers is perhaps even more of a surprise!
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A quick, attacking full-back with good attributes for the Championship. Rovers fans are hopeful he can be a key piece to the promotion puzzle.

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No more business was to be conducted from BRFC except loaning out a couple of youth players. At the end of the window this is how the squad is looking. With a long term injury to loanee Tunnicliffe and with Savitskiy unable to get a work permit, we don't have too much strength in depth but can always call upon the odd youth player to step up to firsts if necessary. Some of the players are still on the unwanted list and remain in the squad (Varney and Williamson) as they were unable to be sold yet are still needed for cover at the moment.

Now onto September!​

 

[MillerJA9]

September

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Well the month of September started with some good news. I was able to get a loan deal sorted for Savitskiy, which will aid his development whilst I await a work permit.

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However, bad news was soon to follow as I was struck with injuries throughout the month. This shot from the injury table was taken just before my final game at Rotherham. As you can see I am particularly suffering with forwards and in CM with no real defensive mid available until Jason Lowe returns from injury in October.

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The month started poorly with a loss at home to Wigan. It was quite a dull game and we didn't really deserve to lose. We fought back with two good wins, yet lost at home to Watford. Douglas gave away an easy goal and achieved a disastrous rating of 4.4! Thankfully we bounced back away at Rotherham to make our points return pretty decent for the month.

Player of the Month
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Paulao did enough to earn POM with some good performances and a goal and assist in the five games. Close behind were Grealish and Rhodes who got a few goals between them!

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We've played a number of the top teams and find ourselves in 3rd approaching October. Pick up some form vs the lesser teams and we could start looking like a very good team in this league. October and November will be big months! More to come.​

 

[MillerJA9]

Well FM15 is lame and crashed on me, losing the 4-1 win at Rotherham. I'll update the last post after replaying as I'm too annoyed to do it now.

SEPTEMBER EDIT:

Holidayed the Rotherham game after the crash and won 4-2 instead (annoying-ish) so let's hope that goal conceded doesn't cost me over the course of the season!

Updated POM
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Rhodes got five in five so he's the new POM!

Updated league table
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[MillerJA9]

October


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A quiet and rather inconsistent month with the Rovers showing solid form at fortress Ewood, yet slipping away from home. Would have expected to ****** a win from either of Ipswich and Forest with neither performing particularly well in the league but we slipped up and here is the table at the end of the month...

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We still stand in good stead and with a busy month ahead in November, we are looking to capitalise by picking up some points as the games come thick and fast.

Player of the Month
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With some rather inconsistent defensive displays, POM goes to Jordan Rhodes who notched three goals in four games! With Rudy Gestede set to be back in contention later in November, Rhodes is doing well to fight for his spot in my current formation of one up front. I may look to incorporate two strikers at some points and utilise Gestede's aerial presence!


Signings

October also saw the arrival of two youth signings...
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Halilovic and Abou are both ex-Barcelona youths and will bolster the youth set up at Rovers with a number of youngsters leaving in summer and set to leave at the end of the year. Made aware to me by agents, we were quick to snap up the youngsters after a short trial. Halilovic appears to have a max potential of 3.5* which is adequate enough to merit his signing, yet Abou appears to have real potential with a 4* anticipated yet blacked out 5*. Also, with Abou possessing a Model Professional personality, I have faith in him succeeding here at Rovers.​

 

[dazmaz]

some nice signings there. I too brought back Kane. Also finding Conway to be quite the tank.

 

[Milleg9]

look at Nathan Ake fro Chelsea I managed to sign him for 1.2 Mil and he was class for Blackburn , I also signed Kane,Ayoub, Grealish , good luck!

 

[MillerJA9]

November

Well, to put it bluntly, November was a sack of ****. And now I'm really grumpy.

It started well, went slightly worse, and then turned into utter *****. In a month where I expected to pick up at least 10 points from the 5 fixtures, we picked up 7 and turned in some woeful performances to match

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Two solid wins was a nice start but then... vs Brighton we went ahead twice and threw it away twice which was frustrating. vs Leeds we found ourselves a goal down after two minutes. After pulling it back to a draw, Leeds got another goal and then, despite having a man sent off, proceeded to score another two. Prior and after finding ourselves 4-1 down we missed chances galore. Shocking. Middlesborough was even worse as we crumbled to one of the worst teams in the division, finding ourselves 2-0 down after 4 minutes. Not sure what it is with my team conceding in the 2nd minute but it's getting beyond a joke now.

My attacking mids attract good ratings as they are scoring and assisting plenty, yet Rhodes is out of sorts half the time and the defence and goalkeepers are all over the place. Douglas has been a travesty in recent games and may find himself unable to get back into the squad/sent packing. Kane and Henley are inconsistent replacements however. Spurr has been terrible in recent weeks and with an injury to Hanley and suspensions here and there we have been really struggling. Not to mention that Cairney is half the player he is IRL and Lowe, Evans and Williamson are all pants, I am really struggling in the middle of the park. A change of tactics might be in order to tighten up the leaky defence.

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Here is how the league looks and hopefully this is a momentary blip. Home to Sheff Wed next so a chance to pick up points. Automatic promotions looking unlikely but we must improve our consistency if we have any hope of going up via the play-offs.

Player of the Month
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One bright side to our month has been Conway's form with two goals and five assists in five games.

Let's hope December doesn't leave me so grumpy!!!

 

[Lippo255]

Still there or there abouts mate, hopefully as you said just a blip. If you find a way to sure up the defence let me know, im conceeding for fun lol

 

[MillerJA9]

Still there or there abouts mate, hopefully as you said just a blip. If you find a way to sure up the defence let me know, im conceeding for fun lol

Thanks for the much needed support mate haha. Just annoying it's the poorer teams who are undoing me! And no clean sheet in November, yikes! I will try a few tactical tweaks and see if it helps. And if you find a plug for a leaky defence, let me know!

 

[dazmaz]

Thanks for the much needed support mate haha. Just annoying it's the poorer teams who are undoing me! And no clean sheet in November, yikes! I will try a few tactical tweaks and see if it helps. And if you find a plug for a leaky defence, let me know!

Tried tweaking your roles slightly? I play Hanley as a limited defender. I also play Evans in the CDM slot, does a pretty good job too.

 

[MillerJA9]

Tried tweaking your roles slightly? I play Hanley as a limited defender. I also play Evans in the CDM slot, does a pretty good job too.

Yeah thinking about changing from wingbacks to fullbacks. Spurr has been dreadful lately (sub 6.3 every game) and finds himself in the reserves at the moment (and transfer listed after a little argument haha). December update coming soon and let's just say I'm not totally pleased! Haha

 

[MillerJA9]

December

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Inconsistency plagued the Rovers once again as a promising start with three straight wins incl two clean sheets early in the month was followed by two poor results vs Bolton and Boro.

Jordan Rhodes continued his fine form, as did most of the attacking players at Rovers, with five goals in the first three games for the Scottish striker. However, we were to embarrass ourselves on TV by getting battered at Bolton. The game was slightly more even than the scoreline suggests but we didn't finish our chances and Bolton certainly did. We went one nil down to Boro but managed to get a draw. Still not good enough really. The problem is especially the first ten minutes. I have conceded in the first ten minutes in my last 3 games and 5 out of the last 7 games. Not sure why but it's really ******* me off!

Tommy Spurr managed to earn himself a transfer listing; after being warned his performances must be improved, he continued to argue his case and soon we will say goodbye to Tommy unless he sorts his attitude out (sub 6 ratings in a few games. 6.2 average rating over 5 games).

Gestede also found his way onto the transfer list after trying to force a move due to lack of game time. After being out injured for three months, Rudy complained a two weeks after starting full training that he wasn't playing enough, despite making a sub appearance (his condition was sub 90% throughout this time).
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As you can see, he didn't take kindly to my defence and threw a hissy fit. Hopefully he will get over it soon enough, or else we might have to cash in on him this January.

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Here is how the table is looking as we approach the New Year. We sit pretty healthily but I can't help but think we could still be doing better!

Player of the Month
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SUPER JORDAN RHODES. Our lord and saviour and the main bright spark this month.


Spotlight
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A new little feature this month. Spotlight on Connor Mahoney! Signed from Accy Stanley in the 2013/2014 season as a 16 year old, he's Rovers's star of the future. Under the tutelage of Ben Marshall his stats have started to improve rapidly. Once his determination is higher, I will seek to have him tutored by someone like David Dunn or Craig Conway, with higher stats (they originally wouldn't want to be tutor and tutee for one or both of them if I remember correctly). A quick and skilful dribbler, he should be featuring in the first team squad over the coming months!


What will January bring? Any transfers? Wait and see!​