One Final Story: Saving The Eagles

[seanhrfc]

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October 2012 Update

Crystal Palace 1-1 Norwich (Premier League)
Jedinak
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Well I was hoping for a win here but a disgusting tackle by Baird (accepted 2 week fine) made it difficult. A wonder goal by Jedinak put us ahead but we were unable to hold on

Stoke 1-0 Crystal Palace (Premier League)
None
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Injuries struck the side and having to play Phillips and Parr up top gave us a real lack of fire power. A typical Stoke corner won them the points

Crystal Palace 0-1 Liverpool (Premier League)
None
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Bitterly disappointed not to have come away with something here. Chamakh missed a couple of sitters and calamitous defending allowed Aspas to score a late winner

Crystal Palace 3-0 Chelsea (Capital One Cup)
Jedinak, Puncheon, Phillips
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After a terrible month in the Premier League I was expecting the worst in this fixture. However a complacent, heavily rotated Chelsea side allowed us to walk over them to gain a place in the Quarter Final

Player of the Month

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Damien Delaney

Although Damien's not normally a starter, he had to fill in for the suspended Baird. A couple of top notch defensive performances clinches the award for him in what has been a bleak Premier League month

 

[seanhrfc]

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November 2012 Update


Aston Villa 1-0 Crystal Palace (Premier League)
None
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This was my worst attacking performance on FM13 with any team. Although we controlled possession we were pathetic in the final third only getting one shot off from long the whole game. Villa looked lethal on the counter and would have got several more if it weren't for Speroni. Fines and performance warnings to be dished out this is not acceptable

Crystal Palace 1-1 Fulham (Premier League)
Puncheon
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A small improvement and at least we gained a point. I'm getting increasingly worried with Chamakh's form

Man Utd 0-1 Crystal Palace (Premier League)
Jerome
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Wow I did not expect that result! We defended like beavers and Jerome couldn't have picked a better game to finally get his first goal as we utilised his pace in a counter attack.

Newcastle 1-1 Crystal Palace (Premier League)
Campana
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Very happy to grab a late goal in a game where a draw was a fair result. Decent away point here

Crystal Palace 1-0 Tottenham (Premier League)
Delaney
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The stats above don't tell the whole truth, we created 5 CCC's! Unfortunately Chamakh still doesn't know where the goal is but Delaney managed to bag the goal we needed. Another top notch defensive performance

Player of the Month

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Joel Ward

Very impressed with Joel this month. He's taken a while to adapt to the Premier League, but consistent performances alongside 8s versus Spurs and Man Utd are showing he is capable of playing at this level

League Table

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Well we're bang in mid-table which is a decent position to be in. So far we've had a real up and down season (see past positions below) firing lots of goals in the first couple of months whilst conceding many. Now in October/November we have struggled to find the back of the net, but have been very good defensively. December is a crucial month for us as it will decide whether we can push for that top half or in the worst case scenario put us back into a relegation scrap. Also, players are effectively playing for their Palace careers, particularly the higher earners, as I will be looking to strengthen in January.

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​

 

[Dokara]

Doing great so far, keep it up mate...

 

[kitchin75]

doing well i told you that you would do well keep it up

 

[seanhrfc]

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December 2012 Update


Palace 3-0 Hull (Premier League)
Chamakh (2), Gayle
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A comfortable victory over struggling Hull and great to see Chamakh scoring again

Everton 1-3 Palace (Capital One Cup)
Orsic, O'Keefe, Grandin
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Both teams fielded rotated sides with the Premier League in mind but we were able to come out on top. First goal for Orsic who has been coming on nicely in the Development Squad. We will now face Southampton in the semi-final

Cardiff 2-0 Palace (Premier League)
None
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Although a disappointing result, Cardiff are flying high and have a decent squad so it was to be expected. Having managed Cardiff in a network game I know how good they can be

West Ham 1-2 Palace (Premier League)
Chamakh, Gayle
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A very good away win here despite West Ham being a struggling side its never easy to go to Upton Park. Gayle is starting to show his Premier League quality and justify the large transfer fee Holloway paid

Palace 5-0 Southampton (Premier League)
Kebe, Chamakh, Gayle (2), Jerome
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What an emphatic win and fully deserved as we put some breathtaking moves together. Performance of the season so far

Everton 1-2 Palace (Premier League)
Kebe (2)
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Another great result here against tough opposition. We showed grit and determination throughout and two top finishes from Kebe brought the points home with us

West Brom 2-0 Palace (Premier League)
None
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A very poor result which helped West Brom off the foot of the table.West Brom utilised their free kick takers with two beautiful long rangers while we failed to get our shots on target. To sum it up, we hit the bar from 2 CCCs

Player of the Month

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Dwight Gayle

Both Gayle and Chamakh grabbed 4 goals each this month, but Gayle clinches the award due to laying on two goals for his team-mates as well. He's showing real glimpses of quality, but is still struggling in terms of consistency just like Chamakh

Premier League Table

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We're sat very healthily in 8th place at the half season point. Extremely happy with this start considering the strength of the squad and will look to build on this. January is a crucial month with lots of fixtures in the league, an FA Cup tie against bitter rivals Brighton and a chance to get to Wembley in the Capital One Cup. Even more so important is the opening of the transfer window so I can finally make my own mark on the team. I've had the last few months to decide who deserves to stay in my plans and I will need to find a good balance between strengthening the team and not making too many signings disrupting the team chemistry. I'm looking forward to it.

​

 

[seanhrfc]

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With a ?12 million offered for achieving a safe mid table position, it was time to dip into the transfer market and go about turning this squad into something worthwhile

Transfers In

Siebe Schrijvers, Genk, ?650k Compensation
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My first signing was a hot prospect for the future. I had Schrijvers on my Genkk save and he developed into a top-class goalscorer so I hope he can do the same here

Obafemi Martins, Seattle, ?4.3m (Installments)
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I wanted to bring in an experienced striker and Martins was perfect given his experience in the Premier League. He brings pace and quality to the side and was a real coup considering he only cost ?1m up front

Jordan Rhodes, Blackburn, ?7.5m
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I wanted to bring in a young british talent and I found both Rhodes and Ince transfer listed by request. I needed a complete forward and Jordan fits the bill perfectly. Never signed him before so it will be interesting to see how he fares

Stefan Strandberg, Rosenberg, ?500k
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The bargain of the transfer window, Strandberg needs no introduction in the Football Manager world. I was delighted he picked Palace over a long list of other clubs who bidded for him

Alexander Buttner, Man Utd, ?3.4m
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Jonathan Parr had picked up a 3 month injury so I needed a new left back. Not needed by United, Buttner was a good cheap option who will slot straight into the first team.

Wilfried Zaha, Man Utd, Loan
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*Deadline Day Deal* Wilfried had not even featured for United so far and was desperate for first team football. I was delighted to bring the Palace Prodigy back, he showed where his loyalties lie as he picked us over Newcastle and Tottenham.

Lukasz Fabianski, Arsenal, Loan
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*Deadline day deal* Transfer listed at Arsenal and with Speroni our only keeper of any quality, it made sense to get him in

Mario Suarez, At. Madrid, Loan
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*Deadline day deal* Mario comes in to add another good option in defensive midfield alongside Jedinak and Campana, with Dikgacoi being sent out on loan

Transfers Out

Jason Puncheon, Loan Terminated
Cameron Jerome, Loan Terminated
Jerome Thomas, Charlton, ?800k
Paddy McCarthy, Leeds, ?625k
Elliott Grandin, Blackpool, ?875k
Maroune Chamakh, Cardiff, ?3m
Neil Alexander, Port Vale, Free

The most controversial transfer out was Chamakh on deadline day. Although he was my league top scorer, I feel with the additions of Rhodes, Martins and Zaha he will not be missed and he was not going to be offered a new contract anyway so ?3m and ?35k off the wage bill is a good bit of business. All the others were surplus to requirements. Interestingly, Kebe turned down a ?5.5m move to Swansea, which annoyed me because I was going to use that money to buy Will Hughes.

Leading Transfers

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​

 

[seanhrfc]

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January 2013 Update

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Decided to go for an all in one approach to January due to the amount of games I had to play. I've taken screenshots of all the games, so if you want to have a look let me know Expected losses against City and Arsenal, but a victory over Chelsea left me very happy as did the crushing of rivals Brighton. Other than that the month was pretty hit and miss. We scraped through to the Capital One Cup final on away goals to face Nottingham Forest in the final, so there's silverware to be won. Martins started his Palace career with a bang scoring in his first three games, though his form petered out after that.

Player of the month

Jon Williams
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After a successful loan spell at Reading making 18 appearances, scoring 5 goals and making 4 assists, I re-called Williams to the first team to give him an opportunity. He took this with both hands, scoring our first and last goals of the month with a string of good performances in between.

League Table

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After 25 games we are sitting in 10th place, with an increasing points gap between us and the bottom half. Had we have won against Norwich, we would have been up to 6th. Now its time for my new signings to show what they can do.

​

 

[kitchin75]

doing well mate so is this strandberg any good

 

[seanhrfc]

doing well mate so is this strandberg any good

Yeah he's top class, would recommend him for any team.

 

[seanhrfc]

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February 2013 Update

Palace 1-2 Swansea (Premier)
Rhodes
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A poor result coupled with a poor performance. We will need to improve on this

Palace 3-0 Stoke (Premier)
Strandberg, Martins, Schrijvers
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Now that's more like it. A top quality performance and Siebe Schrijvers beat James Vaughan's record of being the Premier Leagues youngest goalscorer

Palace 2-0 Forest (FA Cup Replay)
Schrijvers, Kebe
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A rotated side did the business here, with youngster Schrijvers starting and scoring. Really enthusiastic for his future!

Palace 3-1 QPR (FA Cup 5th Rd)
Campana, Martins (2)
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We're really starting to hit some form and we're sailing through to the quarter final

Palace 2-0 Forest (Capital One Final)
Bannan, Gayle
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We thoroughly met expectations to win the cup, Palace's first ever major silverware and hopefully the first of many. A great defensive performance gave us a place in next's season's Europa League, get in!

Liverpool 1-1 Palace (Premier)
Martins
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We finished off a great month with a respectable draw away to Liverpool. Would have been nice to ****** a win, but a draw was a fair result

Player of the Month

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Mile Jedinak

Our own Jedi Knight has been consistently performing all season and it was about time I gave him this award. Special mention to Martins too who found the net 4 times in 5 appearances

League Table

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There are now only 10 games left and I am feeling very confident we can finish in the top half. With a good run of form to finish we could even push towards the european places

​

 

[kitchin75]

well well look whos won a cup just the league and fa cup to go euro cup next season well done mate

 

[seanhrfc]

well well look whos won a cup just the league and fa cup to go euro cup next season well done mate

Cheers very happy with that. Got lucky with the draw with not getting any big boys in the latter rounds, but a trophy is a trophy.

 

[kitchin75]

Cheers very happy with that. Got lucky with the draw with not getting any big boys in the latter rounds, but a trophy is a trophy.

plus the money will be nice

 

[seanhrfc]

You don't get much for winning the League Cup, but if we win the Europa League qualifying round the money from that will be welcomed! Plus I may be able to attract better standard players now I'm in Europe.

 

[kitchin75]

You don't get much for winning the League Cup, but if we win the Europa League qualifying round the money from that will be welcomed! Plus I may be able to attract better standard players now I'm in Europe.

well it took you 1 season to get into euroup cup it took me 4 so very well done mate

 

[seanhrfc]

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Youth Intake 2012/13

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I'm very happy with my first youth intake. It looks like we have three very good prospects in Buckle, Shelley and Wilkinson. I feel they could all turn into first teamers given the right care and I am looking forward to nurturing them

 

[seanhrfc]

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March 2013 Update

Palace 2-0 Villa (Premier)
Rhodes (2)
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We started the month with promise, Rhodes nodding in two headers to seal victory

Palace 5-0 Southampton (FA Cup QF)
Martins (2), Gayle (2), Bannan
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Southampton must be sick of the sight of us as we trounced them again. Through to a Wembley Semi-Final versus holders Wigan

Fulham 0-3 Palace (Premier)
Williams, Rhodes (2)
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Yet another clean sheet, we really are on form. A late brace from Rhodes secured the win after a beautiful goal by Williams

Palace 2-1 Man Utd (Premier)
Martins, Delaney
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Wow another unexpected resulted and a terrific way to round off the month with a 100% record. This victory gives us the double over United, an achievement also matched by rock bottom Hull City!

Players of the Month

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Jordan Rhodes & Stefan Strandberg

I couldn't pick between them so they've both got it. Rhodes has scored 4 in 3 games and got a crucial assist in the United game. In addition, Strandberg has been a colossal at the back, performing like a world class player.

Youth Development

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Siebe Schrijvers

I had to fit this into my update. Siebe has been developing exceptionally well under the tutorship of Kevin Phillips - a lot of his stats are on the way to Premier League standard. Hopefully he can keep this development up!

League Table

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We're now accelerating away from the mid-table teams, however it will take a lot to be able to get any further up the table. I will be happy if we finish exactly where we are now.

​

 

[kitchin75]

holy **** mate well done win all your games you have left and the prem is yours

 

[seanhrfc]

holy **** mate well done win all your games you have left and the prem is yours

Loving my form at the moment, long may it continue!

 

[kitchin75]

Loving my form at the moment, long may it continue!

well your 442 is awsome