The Future is Bright in Red and White - An SAFC story


Sunderland AFC
March 2015

View attachment 413562

Fixtures:

View attachment 413558

7 points from 3 games keeps us pushing along nicely. The 3-0 victory over QPR was very comfortable however the win over Stoke came via a late winner from substitute Rescaldani.

Player of the Month - Vincente Guiata

View attachment 413560

2 clean sheets from 3 and just 1 conceded on the other means a goalkeeper wins player of the month for the first time in the story!

Player Stats:

View attachment 413556

Scocco did well on his return from injury and Jores Okore continues to impress in his first season for the club, we'll be shifting on nearly ?150,000 a week in wages when the contracts of O'Shea, Wickham and Brown expire at the end of the season, none of whom have made a major contribution to the side this season.

League Table:

View attachment 413555

Still sitting in 3rd place and have an 8 point advantage over Chelsea who sit in 6th with 7 games to go so our European ambitions are looking realistic, however we need to finish strong and win a few more games to be sure!


Next update will be an April review, where the league table will really start to take shape in terms of finishing positions. Was going to include the youth intake but there was nobody really special. One player has leading premier league potential according to the coaches but his base stats really aren't that impressive and I doubt he'll make it in all honesty! There'll probably be no more updates till Monday as I'm heading to London for the weekend for a certain cup final, just wanted to get the story back on track and hopefully I'll keep enjoying the save. Meanwhile it'll be FM handheld on the coach down to London all day tomorrow XD

​
 

Sunderland AFC
April 2015

View attachment 412356

Fixtures:

View attachment 412355

Ouch! Our form really flipped on it's head this month as we only took 1 point from 4 games. Yes, it was a difficult set if fixtures but 1 point was disappointing. We did get a decent draw away from home to Newcastle, and were unlucky to not get at least a point against Chelsea as both sides had very good chances and on another day we could have been the team to nick it.

Player of the Month - Nobody

Player Stats:

View attachment 412352

League Table:

View attachment 412351

Despite our awful form, we only need 2 points from our last 3 league games in order to finish 6th, which will be enough for us to qualify for the Europa League and bring European football to the Stadium of Light.


Next update will be a May review. Can we stumble over the line and qualify for Europe or will the poor form of April carry into May and shatter our European ambitions?..

​
 

Sunderland AFC
May 2015

View attachment 412292

Fixtures:

View attachment 412289

4 points from the last 3 games was more than enough to secure our place in Europe for next season. The 4-1 victory over Hull was a great way to end the season and hopefully we can continue that form into the Europa League qualifying rounds at the start of next season.

Player of the Month - Ignacio Scocco

View attachment 412290

A goal in each of the 3 games this month from our star man.

Player Stats:

View attachment 412282

Scocco finishes with 21 goals and Fletcher with 15 despite being out of favour during the earlier parts of the season. Only been given ?5,000,000 to spend next season so there wont be wholesale changes, although we have managed to slash Wickham's wages by ?20,000 a week and will save an extra ?100,000 a week when Brown and O'Shea's contracts expire over the summer. I'll try to bring Holtby back to the club but it all depends on price and wage demands.

League Table:

View attachment 412279

A great season, building on our 12th place finish last year and gaining an extra 12 points. It will be a hard job to repeat it next year as we'll be pulling double duty with the Europa League and we don't have the strongest squad.

Other News:

1) Scocco wins the football writers player of the year and is named in the PFA team of the Year, whilst I finished third in the Manager of the Year award.

View attachment 412268View attachment 412267View attachment 412266

Next update will be an end of season review. Any suggestions of cheap signings would be greatly appreciated.


​
 

Sunderland AFC
Season 3 (2015-2016) Preview

View attachment 412158

Transfers:

View attachment 412157

With such a small transfer budget I'm very happy with the deals we've got done. After watching Will Hughes pick up the under 20' World Cup Golden Ball, I decided to put a bid in for him and was surprised to get him so cheap at just ?3,000,000 as he has plenty of potential and English players usually seem to cost more. Brayford came in as a backup right back and will help with the home grown quota for the Europa League, and Digne comes in for a second successive season on loan. Finally we brought in Seb Bassong from relegated Norwich to compete with Okore and Vergini to be first choice center back. No real major outgoings, with Colback and Roberge's combined sales bringing in a paltry ?3,000,000.

View attachment 412154View attachment 412153View attachment 412152View attachment 412151

Squad:

View attachment 412156View attachment 412155

I'm pretty happy with the way the squad is shaping up for the current season, as there is a nice core of younger players who should all improve with plenty of game time and opportunities this season. I'm hoping that we'll finally see some improvement from the likes of Wickham, Mavrias and Rescaldani who've spent time out on loan over the past couple of seasons and I'm planing on using Bardi as my cup goalkeeper to see if he can fulfil his 4 and a half star potential. I'll once again be pinning the majority of my hopes for goals on Fletcher and Scocco, who at 28 and 30 respectively, should be in the prime of their careers!

Other News:

1) Best 11 for last season:

View attachment 412150

2) Overall Best 11:

View attachment 412149

3) Junior Coaching Improved.

View attachment 412148

4) Youth recruitment improved.

View attachment 412147

Next update will be an August review, including our Europa League Qualifying campaign. Can we make it into the group stages or will we fall at the first hurdle?
​
 

Sunderland AFC
August 2015

View attachment 412146

Fixtures:

View attachment 412145

Fantastic start to the season. 6 points from 3 games sandwiched between Europa League qualifying ties is a pretty good start, especially the 4-0 victory at West Brom on the opening day of the season. Speaking of the Europa League, we qualified for the group stages pretty easily with 11-2 and 4-0 aggregate victories over Litex Lovech and IFK Goteburg respectively. In the 7 games played we scored 23 goals and conceded 6, which hopefully is a sign we can have a pretty successful season.

Player of the Month - Steven Fletcher

View attachment 412144

8 goals in 4 starts so far this season, don't know what it was that changed his from but ever since around January time he has been fantastic!

Player Stats:

View attachment 412143

Mavrias and Rescaldani are certainly enjoying getting opportunities in the Europa League and are trying their best to push Fletcher and Scocco for their first team slots. Pretty much impressive performances all round from the lads so far, long may it continue!

League Table:

View attachment 412142

Europa League Group:

View attachment 412141

A pretty difficult group awaits in the Europa League as I feel all sides are capable of taking points off of each other here. Will continue to use the competition to help blood some of the younger players but we do want to do well and progress from the group.


Next update will be a September review, can we continue our great early season form or was the Fulham result the start of our downfall?..

​
 

Sunderland AFC
September 2015

View attachment 411622

Fixtures:

View attachment 411610

A pretty good month considering our 3 league games were against City, Chelsea and current champions Tottenham. We only managed 3 points, however it was an impressive win over the champions Tottenham and the league games were sandwiched between a couple of cup games. We progressed from the 3rd round of the Capital One Cup with a 3-1 victory and opened the group stages of the Europa League with a 3-1 victory away in France.

Player of the Month - Charis Mavrias

View attachment 411615

The young Greek has been very impressive in the cups since returning from his loan at Forest last year, and managed to bag 3 assists in the victory over Leeds. Still hoping there's plenty of development left in this lad and he should continue to get plenty of playing time this season.

Player Stats:

View attachment 411605

Fletcher and Rescaldani are both providing plenty of goals, whilst they're getting plenty of supply from the likes of Mavrias, Scocco and Johnson.

League Table:

View attachment 411604

A pretty average start in the league, with 9 points from 6 games. However, we've had a really difficult month and we're still adapting to having to play 3 fixtures most weeks.


Next update will be an October review, where we'll play 4 league games, 2 Europa League games and a Capital One Cup 4th round tie against QPR!..​
 

Sunderland AFC
October 2015

View attachment 411077

Fixtures:

View attachment 411075

A poor month for us in the league as we can only take 4 points from 4 games including winnable ties against Leicester, Cardiff and Wigan. However, it was a different story in the cup competitions as we progressed to the 1/4 finals of the Capital One Cup where we will face Manchester City and picked up 4 points from 2 Europa League games.

Player of the Month - Ezequiel Rescaldani

View attachment 411076

4 goals from the Argentinian this month as he pushes Steven Fletcher to become first choice striker.

Player Stats:

View attachment 411074

Fletcher and Rescaldani are still both banging the goals in, whilst the most disappointing performer so far this season would have to be Italian international Emmanuel Giaccherini who isn't performing to the levels expected of him.

League Table:

View attachment 411073

A poor start in terms of league position but not an awful one as we're still adapting to having a far busier schedule than the past 2 seasons.

Europa League Group:

View attachment 411072

A win at home to Sporting on match day 4 would see us progress to the knockout rounds with 2 games to spare, however a defeat would blow the group right back open!


Next update will be a November review, can we pick up where we ended the month and improve our league form and will we make it into the Europa League knockout rounds?..

​
 
Going well in Europe, unlucky with some of the recent league results, how has one of my favourite FM players Will Hughes been getting on for you so far?
 
coolmcool said:
Going well in Europe, unlucky with some of the recent league results, how has one of my favourite FM players Will Hughes been getting on for you so far?
Click to expand...

Yeah he's done ok so far, trying to give him plenty of game time to help his development. First time I've managed him so it will be interesting to see how good he becomes.
 

Sunderland AFC
November 2015

View attachment 410853

Fixtures:

View attachment 410850

The month started poorly with a defeat at the hands of Sporting blowing our Europa League group wide open. However, we then won 4 games on the trot, including a great 3-2 victory at home to Arsenal. We also came from behind to record a good victory away at Swansea, whilst the only bad news coming out of this month is that Charis Mavrias got injured in the the Europa League and will miss the next 2-3 months which is disappointing considering he was playing so well and developing as well.

Player of the Month - Steven Fletcher

View attachment 410852

4 goals in 3 appearances this month before he picked up a small knock, including a deadly hatrick in the 3-2 victory over Arsenal.

Player Stats:

View attachment 410847

Very happy with the overall performance of the squad, with the majority averaging around a 7 rating or above!

League Table:

View attachment 410844

A 100% record in the league this month means that we are up to 6th in the league!

Europa League Group:

View attachment 410843

We have the exact same record as Dnipro after 5 games, but they sit above us on the basis that they have a higher European coefficient. This means that we'll probably have to win our final group game away in Dnipro to qualify as Sporting play the group whipping boys Stade Brestois and will more than likely win so we'll have to win to get ahead of Dnipro.

Next update will be a review of an extremely busy December, where we play 6 league games, 1 Europa League game and a Capital One Cup 1/4 final!


​
 

Sunderland AFC
December 2015
View attachment 410742

Fixtures:

View attachment 410740

December was a long, hard slog for the boys and ultimately it was a decent month. We picked up 8 points from 6 league games which isn't bad, but we did bow out of the Capital One Cup with a 12-11 defeat on penalties against Manchester City. The good news though, is that we managed to progress to the knockout rounds of the Europa League with a last minute winner in the Ukraine against Dnipro sending us through.

Player of the Month - Emmanuele Giaccherini

View attachment 410741

He scored the winner in the Ukraine and his form improved massively in general with 3 goals and 2 assists over the month.

Player Stats:

View attachment 410732

Fletcher and Rescaldani have over 40 goals between them in all competitions this season, whilst Scocco's return of just 4 goals so far is disappointing.

League Table:

View attachment 410731
Sitting pretty in 9th place ahead of the second half of the season, we don't have any money currently for reinforcements so we'll have to hope we don't get too many injuries of we may start sliding down the table.

Europa League Group:

View attachment 410726

Europa League Draw:

View attachment 410725

I feel like we should be able to progress past Portuguese side Guimaraes in the 1st knockout round and if we do a far more difficult tie against Roma or Spartak Moscow will await in the 2nd knockout round...


Next up will be a January review, where we'll play another 6 league games and a FA Cup 3rd round tie against Championship high flyers Watford...​
 

Sunderland AFC
January 2016

View attachment 410321

Fixtures:

View attachment 410319

Another mixed month for the lads, with just 6 points from 5 league games but we did manage to progress to the 5th round of the FA Cup.

Player of the Month - Lucas Digne

View attachment 410320

Good form this month from the loanee from PSG, doubt we'll be able to get him back for another season after this one though as he's developed well the 2 seasons he's been here and is now a French international.

Player Stats:

View attachment 410318

League Table:

View attachment 410317

We're not having an awful season but it certainly could be better, hopefully we can push up into the top 7 in the second half of the season and secure a place in Europa for a second season running.


Next update will be a February review, with an FA Cup 5th round tie against Stoke and a Europa League 1st Knockout Round tie against Guimaraes.​
 

Sunderland AFC
February 2016

View attachment 409996

Fixtures:

View attachment 409994

The month started fantastically with a 1-0 away victory at Stamford Bridge followed up by a 2-0 home victory against Liverpool. The middle of the month proved to be a little disappointing as went exited the FA Cup in the 5th round despite having a very winnable tie at home to Stoke City. However, we recovered from this to progress in the Europa League and finished the month with a 4-1 away victory at Burnley.

Player of the Month - Ezequiel Rescaldani

View attachment 409995

5 goals this month from the big Argentine, and he is starting to form a great partnership with Steven Fletcher now that we are generally playing 2 up front.

Player Stats:

View attachment 409993

League Table:

View attachment 409992

The league is looking very tight as you'd expect, and we are only sitting 3 points behind Southampton who are in 5th place so securing European football for a second year running is a realistic aim!

Next update will be a March review, with 4 league games, a Europa League 2nd Knockout round tie against Italian giants Roma and hopefully a good youth intake to report!​
 

Sunderland AFC
March 2016

View attachment 408798

Fixtures:

View attachment 408796

Just 2 points from 3 league games this month, with 1 point from the two home games against Swansea and Everton being a disastrous return. However, in Europe we demolished Italian giant 7-1 on aggregate to advance to the Europa League quarter final, including an amazing 5-1 win away in Rome! Unfortunately, we look to be heading out of the competition after losing 4-1 away at Anfield in the first leg of the quarter final!

Player of the Month - Steven Fletcher

View attachment 408797

He certainly plays better on FM than in real life, as he put Roma to the sword with a devastating hattrick at the Olimpico.

Player Stats:

View attachment 408791

League Table:

View attachment 408789

European football is looking unlikely next season as 7th place will be unlikely to get European football as that will go to FA Cup runners up, but I suppose that might help us have a better league campaign next year.

Youth Intake:

View attachment 408787View attachment 408786

Only one decent player but he does have the potential to be a star Premier League striker. His base stats aren't great though, and we're already getting him some tutoring to build up that key determination stat.


Next update will be an April review, can we turn around our league form slump from March, and will we perform a very unlikely comeback against Liverpool in the Europa League?​
 

Sunderland AFC
April and May 2016

View attachment 408690

Fixtures:

View attachment 408680

Unfortunately, we could not reverse the 4-1 deficit from the first leg against Liverpool, although we certainly had the chances to. However, our league form did improve and if we had won our last game of the season against Stoke we would have finished 5th but we got well and truly beaten 3-0 allowing local rivals Newcastle to overtake us and get the final Europa League spot.

Player of the Month - Charis Mavrias

View attachment 408683

The young Greek broke his way into the team on the right wing for the last few games of the season and always looked like a threat when he got on the ball.

Player Stats:

View attachment 408679

An amazing season from the like of Mavrias, Fletcher and Rescaldani. Possible players I may look to move on next season are Giaccherini and Liam Bridcutt and I'll also consider big offers of any of my players if I get enough of the transfer fee to reinvest in the squad.

League Table:

View attachment 408678

One position down from last season, finishing in 7th with 60 points (4 less than last season). I'm pretty happy with this, despite the drop out of European places, as we have had to deal with the extra strain of European games and we also did better in the cups this season.

Other News:

1) Steven Fletcher wins the league's Top Goalscorer award and is named in PFA team of the year.

View attachment 408677View attachment 408676

2) Facilities have been downgraded.

View attachment 408675

3) 5 players called up for the 2016 European Championships.

View attachment 408674


Next update will be a season preview for my 4th season in charge. If anyone wants me to do a post where I sum up how the other major competitions have gone so far in the save then I'll do so.

​
 
Sunderland AFC
Season 4 - Preview

View attachment 407213

Transfers:

View attachment 407211

A very busy pre-season period but ultimately one I'm happy with. Firstly, we received a massive ?23,000,000 bid for French right back Sebastien Corchia and so decided to sell him to Tottenham. He was a good right back but I couldn't turn that sort of money down for him! The only other major departure was Liam Bridcutt to Fulham for ?3,800,000.

View attachment 407210View attachment 407209

Onto the incomings and we managed to secure 2 very good bosman transfers. Firstly Brazilian winger Vitinho came in from CSKA Moscow. Quick, tricky and he can play anywhere along the attacking midfield line, he will go straight into the team on the left wing. Secondly, Yassine Benzia joined from Lyon and will serve as a backup poacher this season but will hopefully see plenty of game time as he has the potential to be a leading Premier League striker!

View attachment 407208View attachment 407207

After that we brought in right back Hugo Mallo to replace Corchia as our first choice right back. He's not quite as good as Corchia but I don't think there is ?16,000,000 difference between them! We also brought in Eric Dier and young Argentinian defensive midfielder Jose Godoy for a combined ?6,700,000. Dier will act as backup ball playing defender to Vergini, whilst Godoy is a very exciting prospect with the potential to be world class according to my assistant. Overall, I think I've improved the squad and made around a ?12,000,000 profit on transfer fees, so I'm happy with the summers work.

View attachment 407206View attachment 407205

Fixtures:

View attachment 407204

We took advantage of sneaking into the Europa League through fair play by cruising into the group stages with ease, gaining match fitness and morale whilst we were at it. The form then transferred itself into our league performances as we took 7 points from our first 3 games, things are looking up for the lads in red and white!

Player of the Pre-Season - Steven Fletcher

View attachment 407203

Picking up from where he left off last year, he's already banged in 7 goals and 5 assists with 4 MOM performances, even though they are against weak opponents.

Europa League Group:

View attachment 407202

A very nice group to be given, I think the group stage will be easy for a rotated squad and should allow some of the younger players game time to develop.

League Table:

View attachment 407201

Good start to the season, though the table means nothing after just 3 games...

Next update will be a September review, can we continue our promising start to the season?
​
 

Sunderland AFC
September 2016
View attachment 406077

Fixtures:

View attachment 406076

4 points from 3 games was a decent return this month, despite a disappointing 3-3 draw at home to Cardiff. We did manage to progress in the League Cup and we won 2 out of 2 in the Europa League. However, the highlight by far was a massive 4-0 win over moneybags Manchester City at the Stadium of Light!

View attachment 406074

Player of the Month - Steven Fletcher

View attachment 406073

5 goals in 2 home league game this month from the Scot, including a hattrick vs Manchester City!

Player Stats:

View attachment 406070

Vitinho has taken to the Premier League very well with 2 goals and 5 assists in 6 league games!

League Table:

View attachment 406068

Decent start to the season from the lads, things are very tight at the top and it just shows how fine the margins are at the top end of the Premier League...

Europa League Group E:

View attachment 406067


Although it took a last minute winner in Ukraine, we have took 6 points from the first 2 games and the group looks to be easy as expected!


Next update will be a October review, can we keep going strong in all 3 competitions we're currently competing in?

​
 

Sunderland AFC
October 2016
View attachment 405989

Fixtures:

View attachment 405987

A very poor month, minus the performance in the cup competitions. Defiantly our worst month in a long time.

Player of the Month - Ignacio Scocco

View attachment 405988

Scored a brace in our away win in Romania!

League Table:

View attachment 405984

Slipped down to 10th and even at this early stage of the season CL qualification looks unlikely...

Europa League Group E:

View attachment 405983

9 points from 9 so far, very much as we expected with the group we got given.

Next up will be a November review...
​
 

Sunderland AFC
November and December 2016

View attachment 404855

Fixtures:

View attachment 404854

We started to improve our league form through November as we picked up 3 wins from 3 league games but then in December we played 6 league games and despite only losing 1, we drew 5 games which isn't good enough. The home draw against Norwich was poor but we did have some hard fixtures so I can't complain too much. In the cups it was all positive though, easing through our EL group and making it to the Capital One Cup semis against Swansea.

Player of the Month(s) - Ignacio Scocco

View attachment 404853

6 goals and 4 assists for Scocco as he has started to rise to the challenge that Mavrias has laid down for his right wing berth in the team!

Player Stats:

View attachment 404852

Will Hughes' form has seen him break into the England squad and Lucas Digne is going to be a big miss next season if we can't make his loan move from PSG permanent.

League Table:

View attachment 404851

We're not doing quite as well as I'd expect this season in the league, mainly because we are drawing too many games. Still, there is a lot too play for as we're still in 3 other competitions and I'm hoping we can win our first trophy this year!

Europa League Group E:

View attachment 404850

Easy as expected, which makes our disappointing league form feel a little worse if I'm honest...


Next update will be a January review, and we have our eyes on a few decent bosman transfers...

​
 
You must log in or register to reply here.

FMBase

Beta

Resources

Back
Top