JellyBelly84
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Hello all
New user to this forum but after recently purchasing the new FM10 (much to the annoyance of the other half...!) I felt compelled to share my Luton journey with you all.
When choosing my side, I wanted a "big club" with potential, I was torn between Luton, Wrexham and Oxford but plumped for Luton in the end. First season, smoked the league by 8 points, although we drew a few too many games. I went for a relatively attacking 4-4-2 at home, with a ball winning midfielder in Keith Keane who is absolute quality, and an all round midfield player.....this was where I won the league, signed Keith Lasley on a free from Motherwell. If you want a bargain, hunt the Scottish leagues, good players to be found there. My other major signing my a lad called Bauza from Swansea, also on a free who scored 20+ with Tom Craddock also getting 20+. Made a few shrewd loan signings, Matt Ritchie from Pompey who i'd recommend to anyone in the lower leagues and Arnaud Mendy from Derby who is decent enough. I played 4-5-1 away from home with attacking wingers, but quite conservative in midfield......Lasley saved me, but rather than my tactical genius i'd rather say it's because he is a Championship player making semi pro's look very average!
Just started my second season, couldn't believe that the minimum expectation from the board was the playoffs. I offloaded quite a few players including some first teamers from the year before who I considered not good enough for the football league. The bookies have actually made me favourites for the league which I couldn't quite believe! In order to keep up with these lofty expectations, rather than consolidate and develop a couple of my decent young players I raided the transfer market in a major way, although I still haven't spent a penny at the club. Three games in, three draws thus far. A bit frustrating, but with the quality i've got i'm confident that when the players gel we'll get at least the playoffs, and i'll avoid getting my P45!! I've found myself thinking about Luton all the time at work, quite worrying, but when I propel this famous ol' club up the leagues it'll all be worth it! My squad i've assembled now looks like this -
GK
Lenny Pidgeley - free from Millwall
Mark Tyler - good for BSP, decent backup in L2
Full backs
Asafa-Adjaye - young lad already at the club, decent potential but no more than a backup
David Van Zanten - free from Hamilton, absolute quality ratings
Fred Murray - original player, decent at best, ran out of money to replace him!
Jake Howells - youngster, not too bad but again probably not good enough for the division
Centre Backs
Julian Bennett - free from Notts Forest, highest paid player in the league with good ratings
George Pilkington - fairly consistent, first choice at the moment
Carl Magnay - free from Chelsea, good for this league, potential to play much higher
Shane Blackett - backup
Kevin Long - loan from Burnley, really good player who also fills in at right back
Centre Mid
Keith Keane - pure quality, rock in front of my back 4
Keith Lasley - if you're in the lower leagues, sign him....he's worth the high wages!
Kevin Nicholls - good player, but backup now
Jody Morris - free transfer, quality player although not a popular signing with the squad...!
Mark Wilson - free transfer, ex Man U from Donny, backup although very good player
Adam Watkins - 18 year old kid, potential to be good, decent backup
Got another 17 year old on a free whose name eludes me, but he is going to be brilliant in a few years
Wingers
Mark Gower - free transfer, we've all signed him in one FM or another surely...!?
Adam Newton - regular last year, decent backup now
Arron Davies - free transfer from Notts Forest, very good dribbler and good pace
Ryan Charles - youngster who has improved alot under good coaches and training methods
Strikers
Guillem Bauza - quality signing, way too good for this league
Tom Craddock - hard to get the best out of, but boy when you do....
Alex Revell - also plays wing, free transfer who is a good all round attacking player
Rhys Murphy - on loan from Arsenal, really good potential
And that's it, as you can see i've made some decent signings and i'm hoping that after a few games together this lot will click and we'll start turning the draws into wins. Done all this on a budget and haven't gone over the weekly salary budget, i've also taken the club balance from £200 at the start to £1.5m without a major cup run. I'm happy to keep you updated if you're interested, if not i'll continue to lock myself away and keep scouring the planet for new talent at Kenilworth Rd! Happy gaming all.
New user to this forum but after recently purchasing the new FM10 (much to the annoyance of the other half...!) I felt compelled to share my Luton journey with you all.
When choosing my side, I wanted a "big club" with potential, I was torn between Luton, Wrexham and Oxford but plumped for Luton in the end. First season, smoked the league by 8 points, although we drew a few too many games. I went for a relatively attacking 4-4-2 at home, with a ball winning midfielder in Keith Keane who is absolute quality, and an all round midfield player.....this was where I won the league, signed Keith Lasley on a free from Motherwell. If you want a bargain, hunt the Scottish leagues, good players to be found there. My other major signing my a lad called Bauza from Swansea, also on a free who scored 20+ with Tom Craddock also getting 20+. Made a few shrewd loan signings, Matt Ritchie from Pompey who i'd recommend to anyone in the lower leagues and Arnaud Mendy from Derby who is decent enough. I played 4-5-1 away from home with attacking wingers, but quite conservative in midfield......Lasley saved me, but rather than my tactical genius i'd rather say it's because he is a Championship player making semi pro's look very average!
Just started my second season, couldn't believe that the minimum expectation from the board was the playoffs. I offloaded quite a few players including some first teamers from the year before who I considered not good enough for the football league. The bookies have actually made me favourites for the league which I couldn't quite believe! In order to keep up with these lofty expectations, rather than consolidate and develop a couple of my decent young players I raided the transfer market in a major way, although I still haven't spent a penny at the club. Three games in, three draws thus far. A bit frustrating, but with the quality i've got i'm confident that when the players gel we'll get at least the playoffs, and i'll avoid getting my P45!! I've found myself thinking about Luton all the time at work, quite worrying, but when I propel this famous ol' club up the leagues it'll all be worth it! My squad i've assembled now looks like this -
GK
Lenny Pidgeley - free from Millwall
Mark Tyler - good for BSP, decent backup in L2
Full backs
Asafa-Adjaye - young lad already at the club, decent potential but no more than a backup
David Van Zanten - free from Hamilton, absolute quality ratings
Fred Murray - original player, decent at best, ran out of money to replace him!
Jake Howells - youngster, not too bad but again probably not good enough for the division
Centre Backs
Julian Bennett - free from Notts Forest, highest paid player in the league with good ratings
George Pilkington - fairly consistent, first choice at the moment
Carl Magnay - free from Chelsea, good for this league, potential to play much higher
Shane Blackett - backup
Kevin Long - loan from Burnley, really good player who also fills in at right back
Centre Mid
Keith Keane - pure quality, rock in front of my back 4
Keith Lasley - if you're in the lower leagues, sign him....he's worth the high wages!
Kevin Nicholls - good player, but backup now
Jody Morris - free transfer, quality player although not a popular signing with the squad...!
Mark Wilson - free transfer, ex Man U from Donny, backup although very good player
Adam Watkins - 18 year old kid, potential to be good, decent backup
Got another 17 year old on a free whose name eludes me, but he is going to be brilliant in a few years
Wingers
Mark Gower - free transfer, we've all signed him in one FM or another surely...!?
Adam Newton - regular last year, decent backup now
Arron Davies - free transfer from Notts Forest, very good dribbler and good pace
Ryan Charles - youngster who has improved alot under good coaches and training methods
Strikers
Guillem Bauza - quality signing, way too good for this league
Tom Craddock - hard to get the best out of, but boy when you do....
Alex Revell - also plays wing, free transfer who is a good all round attacking player
Rhys Murphy - on loan from Arsenal, really good potential
And that's it, as you can see i've made some decent signings and i'm hoping that after a few games together this lot will click and we'll start turning the draws into wins. Done all this on a budget and haven't gone over the weekly salary budget, i've also taken the club balance from £200 at the start to £1.5m without a major cup run. I'm happy to keep you updated if you're interested, if not i'll continue to lock myself away and keep scouring the planet for new talent at Kenilworth Rd! Happy gaming all.