FM experiments!

[ThePablo]

Introduction:

Thanks for viewing this thread. Basically I'm going to run a number of experiments using FM 2014 and various edited databases. I will update with screenshots as the experiment progresses.

Experiment one: Glasgow Derby

I'm sure most of you who watch British football are aware, their are two main clubs in Glasgow. Celtic and Rangers have been rivals since the beginning of Scottish football. Both have won numerous trophies and are known and support worldwide. Recently things have changed. Rangers entered administration just over 2 years ago and are now playing their trade in the Third tier of Scottish football. The idea for this experiment is to have Rangers and Celtic playing again in the same league although their is one twist. They will be joined by some of the other clubs based in Glasgow, Patrick Thistle and Queens Park. The four will compete against each other 12 times making up 36 league matches. There will also be a league cup. The league winner will qualify for the champions league first qualifying round.
Another feature will be the prize money. The club who finishes bottom of the league will actually receive the most money to help build for the season/s ahead. The team at the top will receive the least money and will have to relay on good performances in Europe to provide income and attract new players.


Prize money will be split as follows
1st: 2000000
2nd: 4000000
3rd: 6000000
4th: 9000000


And with that our experiment begins...

Any suggestions or feedback is more than welcome, any predictions on how things may work out are welcome too.

 

[ThePablo]

First season completed : I will post an update early tomorrow morning

 

[ThePablo]

SEASON 1 : THE RESULTS

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No surprise that Celtic win the league title and also lift the Rock Cup. The Rock Cup is being played over two legs to make things more interesting and add more games to the season calendar. On Celtic's last European campaign representing Scotland , they are knocked out in the group stage finishing with only one point. I have placed the Glasgow league in Gibraltar so each they will have to start from the bottom of the coefficients and work their way up. Partick Thistle claim the other European place (as Rangers cannot play in Europe until 2015) and will enter the Europa League at the first qualifying stage. It will be interesting to see how things progress over the next season with Partick and Queen's Park taking in the most prize money and Partick possibly having a European adventure. Last season has proved Celtic will need to invest more money in the playing squad as they struggled in the Champions League. It will be interesting to see how next season turns out.

I will post any big transfers in the next update along with any requested information from yourselves.

 

[ThePablo]

Season 2 - The Results

Having won the league last season Celtic were odds on favorites to retain the title, and they did so comfortably. The also retained the Rock Cup again beating Partick in the final. Rangers again had a season to forget losing the league title to their arch rivals but also taking a hammering in the Rock Cup semi final match. Partick were on a European adventure to begin this season, it didn't last for long though as they were dumped out in the first qualifying round by Brann. A tough draw for the side who used the prize money and also the huge profit from selling some of their players to improve their squad. Queen's Park are always going to struggle early on in this experiment but it will be interesting going forward to see how the early prize money they get can be re-invested into the club. Queen's Park finished the season without a win which could be expected.

On the European front for Celtic , The easy cruised through the early qualifying rounds before dumping out Red Star to qualify for the group stages. The draw was again unkind for Celtic and they crashed out of Europe before the Festive period.

Unless things improve on the European front it seems like Celtic could lose some of their key players. Fraser Forster is attracting interest from elsewhere and may no longer want to play in a league with this small reputation.

European Football
You may notice that starting next year all four teams will be competing in Europe. It seems because of Celtic's good run in the competition, it allows the other sides to benefit. It will be interesting to see how Rangers fair on their return to European football and also how Queen's Park preform being the only Amateur team playing in a Continental competition

Transfers
As you can see from the images below, there are not many payers leaving or coming into the league just yet. The old firm sides seem to be selling all their back up and youth player to Partick who are happily paying the cheap transfer fees for players who can fit straight into their side. Celtic spending the most money , Rangers strangely releasing a player and re-signing him pretty quickly. With Queen's Park being an amateur team they will fail to attract the majority of players. 2 good free signings for them and no wages to pay means the clubs bank account will be bulging.





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[ThePablo]

Season Three :

Again we have no real surprises this season. Celtic have again won the league comfortably and have also lifted the Rock Cup for the third times in three seasons.

Celtic :
Celtic failed to qualify for the Champions League group stage after being knocked out in the playoff with Salzburg. They dropped into the Europa League and qualified out of the group stage before being dumped out by Malaga in the First Knockout Round. Celtic sold a number of key players from over the last few seasons and made a tidy profit. As you will see as mentioned in the last post Fraser Forster was the big transfer out of Celtic Park joining Swansea. Van Dijk has joined Rubin in the other big transfer out of Celtic

Rangers:
It was another poor domestic season for Rangers. Finishing 28 points behind fierce rivals Celtic and losing to them again in the Rock Cup final. On the European front , Rangers had a bit of success. They made it through a couple of easy qualifiers to make it into the Europa League Playoffs, this time though the draw was not as kind to them. They were drawn against a strong Liverpool side who dumped them out on away goals after a good performance from Rangers. Rangers signed a number of players this season, mainly from Partick and including a couple of players who seem to jump between the two Glasgow sides. They are also planning for the future it seems by signing a young midfielder from Northern Irish side Portadown. Goalkeeper Cammy Bell signed for Spurs in the English Premiership and Stephen O'Donnell joined Queen's Park Rangers.

Partick
Partick again finished 3rd in the league and will probably continue to do so until the begin spending more money on transfers. They were knocked out of the Rock Cup by eventual winners Celtic. In Europe, their season never really started. They were dumped out in the first qualifier against Metalurgs. Partick again continue to raid the old frim sides. The signed striker John Daly and goalkeepers Liam Kelly and Scott Gallacher from Rangers for just over 50k, and signed Ryan Scully on a free transfer from Celtic.

Queen's Park
Queen's Park were again the whipping boys in the league. Managing on 5 draws over the 36 games and finishingwith a -77 goal difference. It is always going to be difficult for them competing against three professional teams. In the long term it will be interesting to see how their European progress goes and if they can attract players with a decent reputation. The Hampden park side made it to the second qualifying round of the Europa League this time before being dumped out by Vojvodina. Queen's Park didn't have any transfer in or out this season and will continue with the same squad for next season.


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[wkdsoul]

You might be better moving this to the story forum..