Rise of the Hammers? A West Ham United Story

[Paddyjam]

March 2017

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We started the month with 3 great wins against good sides and then we ruined it by getting outplayed by Arsenal. It was probably my fault that we lost, we had them on the ropes after changing to our more offensive formation and I thought we would've grabbed a winner but they countered us and scored.

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Just 8 games to go! Can we hold on??

Player of the Month

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He's just getting better and better on that right wing. I'd expect him to be pushing for the big awards come the end of the season.

 

[Paddyjam]

April 2017

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I could hardly have asked for much more this month, the Stoke game was a shocker and it's now just blown the title race wide open as United have also had a strong month. We comfortably beat Plzen in the CL and now face Atletico Madrid in the semis. Not only that but we'll be playing Liverpool in the FA Cup final... Can we tie up a treble?? The bad news is that Romero, Mane and Ocampos are all out for the rest of the season which has effected us hugely, we've still got trips to City and Spurs in the league so we'll be lucky to win anything at all at this rate.

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All of a sudden things aren't looking too comfortable.

Player of the Month

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I hope he doesn't leave because he's on another level.

 

[Paddyjam]

May 2017

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I'm devastated about the Champions League, we were blown away in Madrid but cam so close to going through in the second leg! All we needed was one more goal and we ended up hitting the woodwork about 5 times! But in other news...

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WE ARE THE CHAMPIONS!!!! The league was wrapped up with a fantastic win away at City, with us having to defend our lead with just 10 men for a while! I can't believe we've done it.

FA Cup Final

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We were given a boost when Ocampos was cleared to play earlier in the week however later that day we were told that Valencia wasn't going to be fit for the game which was a huge loss. The day before the final Adrian was injured also which meant that I had to risk playing Romero who was still injured himself. Our ex-player Lucas Silva was left on the bench for this one... £33 mill well spent by Liverpool right there!

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I wasn't too confident going into the game and I was right to be, we just weren't the same side that we have been all season and we got brushed aside pretty easily. A sad way to end the season but it doesn't take anything away from what we've achieved. It's not all bad though because we've just tied up our first big transfer for next season...

 

[Tracz]

A fantastic season!!! A sad way to end but it does show you still need extra strength in depth.
Am i gona like this one? HK?

 

[pebsykid]

Fantastic job on taking advantage of excellent young players being placed on the transfer list and getting them cheap! Keita, Ayoze, Lacazette and Ocampos (+ the lads you started off with), you are truly stacked and set for the future in regards of attack.

Great story as well, enjoyed reading it this morning and will keep up with it.

 

[Paddyjam]

A fantastic season!!! A sad way to end but it does show you still need extra strength in depth.
Am i gona like this one? HK?

Yeah it's time to bring in some quality this summer I think, we're too dependent on Valencia and Ocampos... and you'll have to wait and see mate, you might enjoy it!

 

[Paddyjam]

Fantastic job on taking advantage of excellent young players being placed on the transfer list and getting them cheap! Keita, Ayoze, Lacazette and Ocampos (+ the lads you started off with), you are truly stacked and set for the future in regards of attack.

Great story as well, enjoyed reading it this morning and will keep up with it.

Thanks a lot mate! There's some gems on the transfer list every now and again especially after a couple of seasons but I probably got a bit lucky with Keita, it was a bit of a shock that Lazio got relegated which allowed me to eventually swoop in! Apart from Ocampos who's already destroying defences, there's still a lot more to come from the rest of them so the future is very bright!

 

[pebsykid]

Thanks a lot mate! There's some gems on the transfer list every now and again especially after a couple of seasons but I probably got a bit lucky with Keita, it was a bit of a shock that Lazio got relegated which allowed me to eventually swoop in! Apart from Ocampos who's already destroying defences, there's still a lot more to come from the rest of them so the future is very bright!

Keita is a player Ive always been interested to try out, but have never gotten him due to his fee. I agree about the gems in the transfer market, especially for strikers. After a couple years, the likes of Icardi, Vietto, Jovetic and a few other's (ex. the players you were able to get) are always available and for under 5M.

 

[Paddyjam]

Keita is a player Ive always been interested to try out, but have never gotten him due to his fee. I agree about the gems in the transfer market, especially for strikers. After a couple years, the likes of Icardi, Vietto, Jovetic and a few other's (ex. the players you were able to get) are always available and for under 5M.

I've been exactly the same with Keita so I had to get him when he was available on this save, I'm just gutted that he's spent about 7 or 8 months of the season injured, he's showed glimpses of real quality since he's returned though so I don't think he's a total write off thankfully! Icardi was actually available on the transfer list at the start of last season but he was at PSG at the time so I couldn't afford his price tag or his wages sadly.

 

[Paddyjam]

End of Season 2016/17 Review

Awards

Two players were miles better than the rest this year so they take all the plaudits.

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Not only did Ocampos win the players' young player but he's also our player of the season. He's been in tremendous form since moving over to the right wing and I can only see him getting better! The fact that he's only 22 means we could have him for another decade if he wants to stay here.

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For the third season in a row Valencia wins the fans' player. I think he'll probably win it every season he plays here, the fans just love him! I'm also really happy that he's finally got that top goalscorer award, he definitely deserves it.

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PL Team of the Year

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CL Team of the Year

Team of the Season

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I'm a bit surprised that Inui made it in but that's because both Keita and Mane hardly played so I understand why he's in but I don't agree with it.

Overall Best Team

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Other News

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There's plenty of wage so it's probably closer to £60 mill than 40 mill... Either way that's a relatively competitive budget - especially if I can sniff out a couple of bargains!

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I'm glad that this is finally back to where it should be, we've got a handful of promising players coming through so I want to give them the best opportunity to develop.

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We're becoming a bit of a superpower now, I'd say everything's in place to win the Champions League now so bring it on!!!

 

[Paddyjam]

Preseason 2017/18

Transfers

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Just the 3 players in so far and if I'm honest it'll probably stay that way unless someone special becomes available. I very nearly signed Barkley in January as well as Stones but Everton wanted just short of £100 mill!! So I spent the next few months unsettling him and we managed to tie up the deal during the final week of last season. He will come in as Medran's replacement now, this wasn't the plan initially as I wanted to keep Medran as competition but Barca came in for him, he asked to leave and I ended up making a big profit on a player who didn't exactly set the world on fire last season. The next signing is probably one of the best I've managed to pull off on this years FM, I wanted a new keeper as Romero lets in some really soft goals which lost us a few points last season, so in come Marc-Andre Ter Stegen!!!! I was looking at signing Rulli for a bargain as he was in the last year of his contract but as soon as Real Madrid came in I started looking elsewhere as I knew I had no chance of winning that one and Ter Stegen was available for a bargain! He's a huge signing for the club. Finally we've brought in Jordy Clasie so hopefully solve our DLP issue. I've a feeling that Clasie and Rode will be a brilliant partnership!

Matches

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After a slow start, we made things look pretty straightforward and scoring plenty of goals along the way. We've got our bogey team Liverpool next in the Community Shield which will be a true test of the side.

Academy Graduates

As I said earlier last season, the plan is to bring one or two of our prospects into the first team squad each year, here are this years hopefuls...

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Although my assistant's report is misleading, Asamoah has bags of potential and has been a regular in the England youth teams. He's already the youngest ever player to play in the PL and will add depth to the midfield this year. Should get some opportunities once injuries kick in.

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I signed Mathis on a pre contract at the end of my first season and I'm really excited about what the future holds for him. He was the top goalscorer, assist maker and average rating of the whole u21s league last season!

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I'm desperate to get Foley involved in the first team due to his huge potential but there simply isn't any room for him at the moment... I will get the odd game though so I've decided to include him.

First Team

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This will be the first team going into the start of the season, there's plenty of competition though so nobody's place in the side is certain!

 

[Tracz]

What a summer!!!! Great signings, hopefully they will be enough to push in all comps.
Glad to see another big english signing. Sterling n kane next then yea?? ;-)

 

[KingCantona]

Such a quality squad you've built! Got a great blend of midfielders and attackers.... Stones and Barkley great signings for your homegrown quota but to get TER STEGEN so cheaply has to go down as one of the bargains of FM transfer window history! lol

 

[Paddyjam]

Such a quality squad you've built! Got a great blend of midfielders and attackers.... Stones and Barkley great signings for your homegrown quota but to get TER STEGEN so cheaply has to go down as one of the bargains of FM transfer window history! lol

Thanks mate! It's ridiculous the kind of squad you can build from using the transfer list and by raiding the big clubs for their backups/rotation players. Stones and Barkley are the only 2 I've had to negotiate for ages to sign but they're well worth the money and hassle! Ter Stegen's a dream signing, I've managed him once on fm15 and he was by far the best keeper I've ever had on any FM so I've got very high hopes for the next few seasons!

What a summer!!!! Great signings, hopefully they will be enough to push in all comps.
Glad to see another big english signing. Sterling n kane next then yea?? ;-)

Hahaha we'll see, I did have a look at Sterling actually but I'm quite happy with the squad at the minute, that may change if we start the season slowly though so you never know there could be some action on deadline day yet!

 

[Paddyjam]

August 2017

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A solid start to our defence of the league, I'm pleased to get a win at the Emirates but it was against 10 men for most of the game so we were lucky to get the win really. The community shield was embarrassing but Liverpool are on another level this season... Sterling, Depay, Coutinho, Eriksen and Balotelli are all unbelievable together!

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At least Liverpool have torn everyone to pieces so far and not just us.

Player of the Month

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Ocampos just keeps getting better and better! Sadly he's injured for the next month or so now though.

Other News

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We've been given a few tricky away games in the CL but I'd expect us to make it out of the group.

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No massive moves this summer but some interesting signings... I can't believe Harry Kane has moved to Liverpool for so cheap! I was being asked to pay some huge figures for him and Spurs only got Nico Boilsen in exchange.

 

[Tracz]

You missed out on hk?? O no :-(

 

[Paddyjam]

You missed out on hk?? O no :-(

I know, sadly Spurs were happy to let him go for the right price to anyone outside of London... Maybe I'll pick him up on the cheap in a year or so haha

 

[PatrickLFC]

Yeah Liverpool! Great to see

Hopefully you can pip them to the title, though I confess I won't be too disappointed if you finish second to them

 

[kolas79]

Since this is a West Ham story I think that this screenshot fits perfectly here! My biggest success in all my Football manager years !! (being playing since 1998). Just happen in my West Ham save !
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[Paddyjam]

Yeah Liverpool! Great to see

Hopefully you can pip them to the title, though I confess I won't be too disappointed if you finish second to them

I suppose you Liverpool fans need something to cheer about at the minute then mate haha but I'd expect them to win everything this season with the side they have, they were unstoppable when we played them so it should be a very interesting title race come the end of the season... Especially with Klopp at Chelsea as well!