The Patriot Challlenge

I am gonna try this challenge on the Demo, and when it ends, I'll start the save again and on Full Game.

P.S. I am a slow gamer, and it takes me lot of time to do a season, so is there any save game restrictions ? :/
 
@emirati2 those transfers are almost identicall to the type of transfers i usually do, looking for bargains(what im trying to say is nice transfers)
 
Thanks, though I think I should have signed more.
 
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Interesting challenge, I like it!

Like you I am English and live abroad. I had not seen your 2011 challenge, but had attempted a similar task on FM11 with Hereford in League 2. It was really tough and I couldn't get out of League 2 after 2 seasons of buy British.

I did however allow myself to keep my handful of foreign players (there were only a few and as a Reading fan I wanted to use Mathieu Manset who was still there on v 11.0).

Will give this a go when I get FM2012 couriered across to East Africa. I was thinking maybe Tottenham, with a possible defence including Dawson, King and Kyle Walker, midfield of Huddlestone, Parker, Jake Livermore, Lennon, Danny Rose, with Defoe in attack you have almost a full team to start with.

Plus you should be able to force some megabucks sales for the likes of Modric, Bale, Van der Vaart to bring a bit of cash in. However, thinking about it, I guess King and Huddlestone can be written off as 'injured' so that drops you down a touch.
 
Definitely going to give this a go when the game is released this will probably be my first save, getting use to the game and finding the new things out.
 
Decided to take up the challenge as Norwich and with a tiny 3m budget + the unwillingness of the foreign players to be sold has been tough in the 1st season. My recap.

BOUGHT - 2011 / 2012
(AUGUST WINDOW) Jay Spearing (Liverpool) - 725k / Andrew Davies (Stoke) - 1.1m / Hogan Ephraim (QPR) - 1.6m / Craig Noone (Brighton) - 1.2m / Wes Morgan (Forest) - 2.2m / Tamika Mkandawire (Millwall) - 750k / James Wallace (Everton) - 550k
(JANUARY WINDOW) Tom Lees (Leeds) - 2.5m

SOLD - 2012 / 2013
(AUGUST WINDOW) Wes Hoolahan (Birmingham) - 2.8m / Simon Lappin (Portsmouth) 825k / Zak Whitbread (Birmingham) - 1.5m / Andrew Crofts (Southampton) - 2.6m / Martin Russell (Burnley) - 2.1m / Andrew Surman (West Ham) - 2.1m / Simeon Jackson (Brescia) - 850k / Marc Tierney (Burnley) - 75k
(JANUARY WINDOW) n/a

OUT - 12.75m
IN - 10.75m

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Managed to finish 17th in the league above Swansea, QPR and Fulham. So survived the 1st season in the Prem by the skin of my teeth. Just started my second season and managed to get in some very good talent, but you will have to wait for the Season 2 report for that :D
 
Have just started this with Villa, whilst they are one of the easier teams to do it with I'm only a week in and have already found a few troubles!!

- you can't sack your Assistant Manager, the board say the compensation will be too much.
- you are left with only Stephen Warnock who is of any quality behind your midfield, there are no English centre backs, right backs or goalkeepers in Senior Squad, and only 1 English CB in Reserves.
- there is also the usual players not wanting to leave, but I'm sure it will become easier as the transfer window wears on.
 
BReeceY89 said:
Have just started this with Villa, whilst they are one of the easier teams to do it with I'm only a week in and have already found a few troubles!!

- you can't sack your Assistant Manager, the board say the compensation will be too much.
- you are left with only Stephen Warnock who is of any quality behind your midfield, there are no English centre backs, right backs or goalkeepers in Senior Squad, and only 1 English CB in Reserves.
- there is also the usual players not wanting to leave, but I'm sure it will become easier as the transfer window wears on.
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For those that try this challenge, you quickly find out that it is nowhere near as easy as you first expect it to be.

Villa though, providing you have the right tactics, are one of the easier teams to start this with. Delph will turn into a world beater and providing you can find a tactic to take advantage of two really fast strikers (whoever between Agbonlahor, Bent and Delfouneso) then the goals will come in no problem.

Too bad for the rubbish assistant manager, already heard that a few times on this. If you can never sell the foreigners then at least try to get them out on loan to get them off the wage bill.

I'd recommend promoting Gary Gardner + Baker (heavy training on marking needed) and try to give them as many run outs as possible for the last 20 minutes of games you aren't going to lose + starting places in any cup games.

Suggestions for defence: take a look at Craig Dawson, Richard Stearman, Zat Knight, Kyle Bartley - all of which could do a job immediately and with the exception of Zat Knight, are all very young and will only get better

edit: Ryan Bennet from Peterborough also worth a look. You'll find lots of rough diamonds in the lower leagues similar to him where you take a look and think wow, he'd be great if it wasn't for his bad marking or jumping (Steven Caulker). Luckily if you have some good training regimes these players can become really good after just a season.
 
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I tried this with Man City. Since I have to get a top 4. I needed to buy THE BEST ! I got in guys like Dawson, Baines, Glen Johnson, Jermain Defoe, Peter Crouch, Darren Bent, Marc Albrighton, Leon Osman and Kieran Richardson. The problem is that although I sold much of the foreigners, Dzeko, Silva, Nasri, AGUERO, Balotelli, Savic and 1-2 other big names ain't leaving (Not exactly that, NO OFFERS are coming) :(
 
Man city must be the esiest for that challenge cause they have got loads of money, they can sell foreigners for loads mare money and they have the allimportand decent gk.
 
mccollio09 said:
For those that try this challenge, you quickly find out that it is nowhere near as easy as you first expect it to be.

Villa though, providing you have the right tactics, are one of the easier teams to start this with. Delph will turn into a world beater and providing you can find a tactic to take advantage of two really fast strikers (whoever between Agbonlahor, Bent and Delfouneso) then the goals will come in no problem.

Too bad for the rubbish assistant manager, already heard that a few times on this. If you can never sell the foreigners then at least try to get them out on loan to get them off the wage bill.

I'd recommend promoting Gary Gardner + Baker (heavy training on marking needed) and try to give them as many run outs as possible for the last 20 minutes of games you aren't going to lose + starting places in any cup games.

Suggestions for defence: take a look at Craig Dawson, Richard Stearman, Zat Knight, Kyle Bartley - all of which could do a job immediately and with the exception of Zat Knight, are all very young and will only get better

edit: Ryan Bennet from Peterborough also worth a look. You'll find lots of rough diamonds in the lower leagues similar to him where you take a look and think wow, he'd be great if it wasn't for his bad marking or jumping (Steven Caulker). Luckily if you have some good training regimes these players can become really good after just a season.
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Yea have finished transfer window now, but had a shocking start to the season so am playing about with tactics to try and get the best out of players. Darren Bent hasn't scored in 7 league games, his only goal of the season came in League Cup 2nd round win over Southampton. As far as Agbonlahor goes, he's been playing well and scoring goals from AML, with Albrighton creating a lot at AMR. Signed Gary Cahill, he has been brilliant, and I also got Jordan Spence cheaply to play at right back, plus cover injuries anywhere else in defence. Goalkeeper wise I had to settle for Ben Alnwick, although he's playing quite well so that could turn out to be a great bargain. Baker sits on the bench at the moment, but I'm sure there'll be an injury crisis round the corner. As for Delph, at the moment he is almost exclusively a sub, as I have Jenas, Sean Davis, Delph, Jay Spearing and Alan Smith all rotating for 2 or 3 CM/DM positions. This also means Gary Gardner doesn't get much game time but he was fantastic in pre-season friendlies, so here's hoping he'll train up nicely and push those other 5 midfielders. I think I'll be fine once Tactic Familiarity is maxed out, and providing I can keep the job till the 2nd season.

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Cai123 said:
Man city must be the esiest for that challenge cause they have got loads of money, they can sell foreigners for loads mare money and they have the allimportand decent gk.
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Yea the only problem is that players who have just joined the club are reluctant to leave so soon after joining, and many City players command high transfer fees and wages, which puts potential buyers off. You also then need to very quickly build a team that will finish in the top 4, as the City board won't be particularly patient or loyal if a run of bad results comes.
 
Probably gonna start this with Aston Villa, maybe someone else. Loading game up then will look at squads and all that, possible transfers. Any recommendations?
 
Well I could do this in countries like Italy or Spain, it's easier, I did it with Cagliari in Italy and I got a few titles, including one champions league, in FM 11 though^^
 
if you tried it with swansea would you have to buy welsh?
 
slbenficacoach said:
Well I could do this in countries like Italy or Spain, it's easier, I did it with Cagliari in Italy and I got a few titles, including one champions league, in FM 11 though^^
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Yea the challenge is to do it in the Premiership because the percentage of foreign players is so high, and the quality of the league is high as well. The point of the challenge isn't that it is easy.

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AussieOchoa said:
Probably gonna start this with Aston Villa, maybe someone else. Loading game up then will look at squads and all that, possible transfers. Any recommendations?
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I'm not sure doing it with Villa is as good as people think, as you just end up short at the back and with an abundance of strikers - it's difficult to find a tactic that suits the strikers as well as they are all (with the exception of Heskey) pretty similar players. Also, the only player who gets you a decent size transfer fee - N'Zogbia - didn't want leave/didn't get any offers in the first transfer window for me. Couple this with the fact that you only get around £7million to begin with and you really have to search for bargains.

As mccollio09 said, the defence can be tightened with cheaper signings who should improve, like Craig Dawson, Richard Stearman, Kyle Bartley and Ryan Bennet. Zat Knight was also a player who he mentioned as a cheap but reliable option. I got Sean Davis and Jay Spearing in to help bolster my CM options with Jenas and Delph
 
Cai123 said:
Man city must be the esiest for that challenge cause they have got loads of money, they can sell foreigners for loads mare money and they have the allimportand decent gk.
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Not exactly mate. I can only aim for top 4. So I did that. And the cash isn't infinite. Only 90 M, considering the fact I ain't good at bargains, I sucked. I sold the defenders but Silva, Kun, Dzeko, Balo, Nasri, Clichy, Savic and 1-2 others don't leave.
 
I'm not trying this challenge yet as I'm busy taking Dartford from the BSS to the Champions League but wouldn't this be easier starting with a team that is trying to avoid relegation? You're going to struggle for the first 1 or 2 seasons trying to build an all English team whilst still going for Europe and with teams like Norwich, QPR and Swansea in the prem you should be able to finish above them with relative ease.

This means that you can you can build a team and get in some future talent without high expectations and then once your team is sorted you can start trying to get a few trophies in only your 3rd/4th season.

That's how I'm going to go about it when I try this, maybe there's a better way but trying to find a good strategy is the whole point of the challenge I guess.:)
 
Like I said in the op, the great thing about this challenge is that it turns the league system on its head. Yup, city have a lot of English players, but goid luck getting 4th as a first season objective.

If i had to pick the easiest teams to be on this years version, I would probably say stoke by a good way (crouch etherington and pennant making a good three prong + several quality English defenders). Newcastle + Sunderland not too bad either and I repeat, I still think Villa are one of the easier ones.

I'll upload my tactic that I used to complete this on fm11 with as it is perfect for them, both poachers got 20 goals a season each and Delph who i signed was my assist machine (he is you best centre mid and defo shouldn't ve on the bench)
 
Here is my 2nd season quick recap at Norwich.

BOUGHT - 2012 / 2013
(AUGUST WINDOW) Chris Eagles (Bolton) 1.9m / Jordan Spence (West Ham) 1.2m / Alan Smith (No Club) Free / Joe Lewis (No Club) Free / John Bostock (Tottenham) 1.3m / Danny Rose (Tottenham) 2.3m / Harry Kane (Tottenham) 4m / Kieran Tripper (Man City) 325k
(JANUARY WINDOW) Danny Guthrie 1.7m / Joe Mattock (West Brom) 2.2m

SOLD - 2012 / 2013
(AUGUST WINDOW) Steve Morrison (Birmingham) 1.7m /

OUT - 15m
IN - 1.7m

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Managed to finish 17th AGAIN in the league above West Ham, West Brom and Hull. So survived in the Prem by the skin of my teeth. Starting to put a nice young side together for the future and also convinced my board to invest more in Youth Facilities and Youth Networking etc. Fingers crossed for season 3.

MUST ADD - This got way harder midway through the season as Bradley Johnson who was my best player decided to play his 1st game for the USA so had to ditch him to the bench. **** rules !! lol
 
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