Hi there!
Welcome back to Tyneside where I hope to steal your attention for 10 minutes or so. This post includes November, December, and January so let’s begin and see if Newcastle United managed to continue their good form throughout the winter and keep hold of our best players in the January transfer market.
So last time you recall we were top of the league despite me changing my tactics after 3 games and moving to a temporary tactic that I had hoped would see us through until the end of the season. Anyway, let’s see how things went!
Month of November
We began the month against Fulham which surprisingly found themselves in the same half of the table as us. Despite them playing some good stuff and doing better in the possession stats than us (like most teams do) we grabbed 2 goals, both screamers, and no that’s not a typo! Danny Simpson moved into my AMR position when Ben Arfa needed treatment and scored a belter!
Moving on we then had a Wolves team to play that were also overachieving significantly. Finding themselves on a League Cup run and also in the top half of the table. This was a difficult game which was decided by a Papiss Cisse goal :o late on after Demba Ba had a stinker. The last game of the month was a painful one. We hosted Arsenal at St. James’ Park (not the Sports Direct Arena) and this happened:
It was one of those nightmare games when you manage to cling on until the 90th minute and then the opposition bring on some crappy player (Park Chu-Young) and he scores the winner. Plus Tiote got crocked for 3 months in this game which left me without my usual Anchor Man in midfield. Another thing about this month is that you may have noticed a certain name does not appear on the scoresheet, that’s right, Demba Ba went a month without a goal in the Premier League.
The fans wanted him dropped but I decided to try a different approach. It went well although I’m not quite sure how you Assertively say ‘What else can I do for you’ but Demba Ba managed it!
Month of December
Sigh…December…I hate December on Football Manager, it turns me into a total Grinch! I never have a good December and this time was no different. We started the month with a bad defeat to West Brom and followed that up with a better result against Liverpool although we failed to score for the second game running. This was a consequence of Demba Ba’s dip in form and I officially decided we were in crisis mode and called a team meeting telling the squad not to blow all their hard work so far and it seemed to work.
A draw against Sunderland which they did not deserve but who cares, someone other than Ba scored and it was at the Stadium of Shi…er, Light :D so I don’t mind coming away with a point, it’s St. James’ where the real thrashing hits them! Next up we played Wigan and Ben Arfa scored again (queue giddy screaming) and then Ba bagged 2 goals, his first for almost 2 months! We followed the Wigan result with a route of QPR with Coloccini and Cisse grabbing the goals there.
We ended the month against a terrifying Manchester City side who were only just starting to hit form and race up the table. We played pretty well actually, continuously pressing, hence the own goal by Richards but were unlucky enough to concede 2 goals on the counter as are the risks of my playing style.
Month of January
So January had finally arrived! That time when I could freshen my squad up and hopefully keep it together at the same time! The start of the month offered up a change of season expectations from Mr. Ashley:
This in itself was not a surprise since I was overachieving by quite a distance in the league. What was a surprise was how generous the board decided to be with their cash:
£6million! I almost expected them to hand me a cheque and then pull it away just as I went to take it before blending it into a milkshake and drinking it…or something… ;) Anyway. The lack of distance between my options made me take the lowest since there was no point choosing anything higher. You must also remember how shaky our teams form had been and a horrible collapse of results was a large concern in the back of my mind. So after receiving a shiny new budget I didn’t even have time to take a look in the transfer market since the day after they were handed to me I had a game. January would be a key month, we slipped up quite considerably in December and this would be a chance to fix things.
As you can see our rocky form continues. We started the month against Norwich whom we destroyed on the first day of the season 6-1. This was a much tighter affair but we still ran out 3-1 winners and the highlight being a first Premier League goal for Haris Vuckic, I have high hopes for him!
Next up we travelled away to Swansea, always difficult and I’m sure we could have made something of the game if we had gained control of the ball at some point! We were completely out passed with ease despite our constant high pressure. Basically we were beaten by the better side.
After that disappointment we welcomed Blackburn to town and I fully expected a win. I wasn’t disappointed as we dominated and came out 3-1 winners. My 2nd highlight of the month was Jordan Mutch returning to the pitch (albeit from the bench) after a 3 month injury. He ran onto the pitch, took up position, Santon threw the ball to him on the edge of the area, and Mutch left footed volleyed the ball home in off the post! Not a bad comeback!
The month finished for us at White Heart Lane and to be honest I did not expect to take anything from this match, which we didn’t. We did score twice through Jonas and Cisse but never looked like winning. So at the end of those 3 turbulent months this is how the Barclay’s Premier League looks:
As you can see we’re still second which I can’t say I’m disappointed with. Honestly though we should be 3rd, we’re only second because somehow Liverpool managed to beat Arsenal 6-0 in their last game of January. The bottom 3, QPR, Sunderland, and Norwich are already cut adrift and I wouldn’t bet against those being the teams to face relegation this season. It’s weird how tight the top of the table is, 2 points separate 2nd to 6th but Man Utd look a good bet for the title, they’re amazingly good.
Now with the league out of the way we can move onto the FA Cup. I think that this competition has lost a lot of its sparkle in recent years but is something I still think a club should aim to do well in. It has a reputation of David beating Goliath and that is one of the best things about football!
Unlike the League Cup I’m pleased to announce that we’re still in this one! Mostly down to a favourable draw but we still did pretty well. The Brighton game was supposed to be a close one with us edging it by a goal, but what the Seagulls didn’t expect was that Cabaye was going to have the game of his life! He scored 2 absolute crackers before setting up Cisse and earning a man of the match award.
Beating Brighton meant that we got a slightly easier draw in the next round against Sheff Utd. Another game we took control of and dispatched weaker opposition with relative comfort. Ba grabbing 2 before my defenders got in on the act with Santon and Williamson netting late on after coming on as substitutes.
Now I’m sure you’ve all been looking forward to this part of the post. After all it’s January and everyone knows what that means, transfers! This is the time of year where I aim to bring in a couple of players to reinforce the team until the season end but before I show you who joined let’s take a look at who I let go:
Transfers Out
Everyone in the green box was let go in January. A bunch of young players who have no future at the club alongside Ryan Taylor and Leon Best who I hope will be signed permanently at the end of their loan deals. I wasn’t planning on letting Best go since I thought I would lose Ba and Cisse to the African Cup of Nations, but luckily for me Senegal didn’t qualify so they stayed at home!
As for players joining the club I tried to get Phil Jones and Danny Welbeck on loan but both rejected me. I also moved for a big £5.5million signing only for the work permit people to say they would decide the outcome of my work permit appeal on February 1st which is no good to me and I was forced to pull out. I did make one signing though:
Ignacio Camacho — Anchor Man/ Ball Winning Midfielder
With Tiote crocked and Guthrie being released at the end of the season (he wants a £20k per week wage hike) I decided to bring in a central midfielder now rather than later. For £1.4million I can hardly complain plus he’s only earning £16k a week so he’s at the lower end of my wage structure. Camacho wanted out of Malaga after only making 1 appearance for the first team this season, his other matches have been for the reserves so he’s lacking match fitness. I’m willing to give him time though and judge him next season.
When I said I’d only made one signing that was kind of a lie. You know how I love future transfers? Well I arranged 2 more to join Fierro and Adryan at Newcastle at the end of the season and here they are:
Diego Polenta — Ball Playing Defender
Mart’n Montoya — Right Full Back
Both good young prospects but I’m more excited about Montoya since he looks as though he can slot straight into the team as Danny Simpsons backup next season. Polenta has a bit of work to do but he looks a very similar kind of player to Coloccini so hopefully he’ll work on that in training and fulfil his 3.5 star potential. (Montoya has 4 star potential in case you were wondering).
Now onto the important bit, analysing which players have done well and which ones have done not so well. Since we’re at the halfway point I feel this is the time I can become critical and begin to think about next season.
Those below the red line are the players whose futures I’m considering. Obertan will likely be sold, Guthrie released, Gosling sent on loan along with Sammy Ameobi while Cisse has until the end of the season to impress me.
Krul’s form is a bit misleading since it’s always really hard to get a good goalkeeper average rating. In a way his lower rating shows my defence is doing its job properly. Besides look at his development, he’s clearly going to be a world beater!
At the other end of the scale we have Demba Ba and Verratti who have been brilliant this season. However issues with Ba have begun to creep up. I’ve traced his dip in form back to when Palermo first declared their interest in him and I think he may have had his head turned slightly which resulted in this happening:
His agent demanded a new contract after Napoli bid £13million for him (even though £10million was in add ons)! I managed to barter him down a little but his agent was a tough negotiator and he wouldn’t budge unless I offered a £550k goal bonus for 15 goals in a season when at this point he was on 14! I was also forced to put in a release clause which I hate! I managed to get it up to £15million but if someone bid £13million this season what’s to stop them adding a couple more million to that and stealing my best player?
Not that I’m surprised by the interest in him, when the awards came out in January let’s just say that Ba did pretty well.
As you can see there is no wonder some of Europe’s big teams were after him. He claimed African Player of the Year ahead of Drogba and Gervinho (the most overrated player on FM) and partnered Drogba in the African XI.
As for my other players Ben Arfa and Cabaye have some considerable upturns in form while Vuckic and Mutch have been brilliant when called upon and that’s despite both having long term injuries at some point in the season. Long may their form continue!
Now I know this has been a bit of a marathon post but stay with me for just a little while longer as we move onto finances.
Our finances are on a downward slide but it’s not steep enough to be worrying me. Besides I’m pretty sure that every club in the league has a finances graph that looks like this.
We still have £14million in the bank and are still in the white when it comes to profit. I’m sure that come the end of the season there will still be around £5million or so in the Newcastle United bank account.
Our finances are being helped with 2 links I have managed to persuade the board to create. You remember that we created a merchandising link with Funabashi Bandits in Japan, well now we have also created another one:
This time with Philadelphia which introduces Newcastle to the enormous USA market. Hopefully these links will also allow me to go on pre-season tours to these countries without the board refusing to sanction it due to it being too far to travel.
Well that’s that for this post. I hope you like the new setup since it’s meant to make the post easier for you guys to read through so any feedback on that would be great!
Thanks for reading!
Johnny Karp
30 апреля, 2012 at 11:29
Still looking good there mate, and the future looks even better with all those signings lined up. Fingers crossed for a top four finish, that would be a huge step forward for Newcastle!
Dan
30 апреля, 2012 at 16:43
Hey Johnny,
A top 4 finish would be amazing but I’m worried about my teams strength in depth. Compared to those around us we have very small resources and my squad is tiny. Fingers crossed though!
Darren Smith
30 апреля, 2012 at 12:09
Well done Dan, although the form slipped from your brilliant start you have done well and kept in the hunt for Champions League football. I think you’ll stay in the top four and those transfers were very good too…Camacho should hopefully help the squads depth until the end of the season.
Dan
30 апреля, 2012 at 16:47
Hey Darren,
I wasn’t expecting my form to continue since my squad isn’t strong enough and the fact I have always had a terrible December. It’s quite alarming though how quickly the teams around us are catching up. As for Camacho he is a solid player and I’d noticed that since Tiote had been out of action we had lacked that presence in midfield so he should do well.
John
30 апреля, 2012 at 12:29
Loved the update but I’m not sure about Gervinho being the most overrated player whilst Ba is winning Footballer of the Year ;-) as you can probably tell I’m a Gooner! Bit of a stumble through the winter but you’ll be back for the end of the season I’m sure.
Dan
30 апреля, 2012 at 16:51
Thanks John,
Hopefully we’ll pull ourselves together and regroup for the end of season run in.
As for my Gervinho comment what I meant by it was that his stats are better than what he is in real life, no offence but his physical stats are about right and maybe his dribbling but everything else is too high, crossing 13? finishing and composure 15?!? But that’s just my opinion ;)
vaibhavc
30 апреля, 2012 at 14:08
You are still towards the top of the table even though your form was a little off in December. I also hate December. Hope you can stay in the top 4.
Dan
30 апреля, 2012 at 16:52
Hey vaibhavc,
I think until I can build quite a large squad then I will struggle in December, even more so if I qualify for Europe since fixture congestion was a major problem. Hopefully we can turn things around and start winning consistently again sooner rather than later!
saltwater
30 апреля, 2012 at 17:41
I really liked that post, and the «new setup» did make it easier and more enjoyable to read.
Thankfully on FM, I seem immuned to conceding late goals (not even joking) and I would say I concede in 80min + about once every 15 matches, even so I can see that the Park Chu Young goal did hurt. Hopefully that release clause doesn’t come back to shi…er, I mean bite you :) but if it does I worry; Demba ba has got LOADS more goals than anyone, hopefully Papiss and Jordon Mutch will eventually get amongst them.
As a Chelsea fan, I cannot wait for the the toon to come to the bridge on Wednesday. Whoever loses that will struggled to finish fourth. Good Luck.
Dan
30 апреля, 2012 at 17:47
Hey saltwater,
Glad you liked the new setup. I usually don’t concede late goals either but when I do it always really hurts. The Demba Ba release clause strikes fear in me to be honest although my wingers have recently started to get in amongst the goals, Gutierrez and Ben Arfa have been gradually improving throughout the season.
I’m looking forward to the Chelsea game too, it’s gonna be intense! :)
Ana Garcia
30 апреля, 2012 at 19:00
Wow, I really like your Newcastle banners with the headlines on them! :)
Great to see you sign a few Spaniards! Camacho has always been a highly rated young players and Montoya will be another excellent signing for your team.
Finances in England are never really a problem due to the massive TV revenue so am expecting your finances to boom again once that money comes in but all in all everything is falling into place nicely.
So good luck! :)
Dan
30 апреля, 2012 at 19:15
Hey Ana,
Photoshop is a wonderful thing! :)
I always like to keep tabs on Spain and Italy, those are generally the 2 EU countries that produce the best regens in my games. Montoya looks especially good, a young, quick, attacking full back.
Champions League football would also inject a nice amount of cash into our bank balance, however it’s whether Ashley gives me any of that cash to spend in the summer.
TheZiggy
30 апреля, 2012 at 22:29
Hopefully you just pick up the consistency a bit more and compete for a Champions League place, which would be very important for the club.
Tim Krul looks to be developing very well, and at only 23 he should have a lot of room to improve into a really classy keeper. His one-on-one and reflexes attributes are already right up there, which is quite something.
Dan
1 мая, 2012 at 16:39
Hey Ziggy,
Tim Krul is quality, although his mental attributes aren’t really up to it his one-on-ones and reflexes mean he’s a really good sweeper keeper, I think it’s down to him that we’ve conceded so few goals (3rd best defence in the league).
Consistency has not really been my strong point this season since as soon as a first team player gets injured I have to put either a much worse player or a young player in his place. It’s all back to my strength in depth point again I’m afraid.
Kevin
1 мая, 2012 at 00:18
Hi Dan
Still looking good there in second place and I have to agree with Ana those banners look truely amazing. Great work!!!
I like anchor men and Camacho looks to fit the bill nicely along with Montoya who is also a great signing.
As an aside Philadelphia is a great team to hook up with as they produced some great looking youngsters (regens) in my Vancouver save.
Dan
1 мая, 2012 at 16:53
Thanks Kevin,
Glad you like the banners! :) Anchor men do give your team a lot more freedom, especially full backs and that’s why I use them. I’m a supporter of the modern attacking full back and the anchor man helps to fill any gap left by him.
I haven’t got the USA open yet but since getting Philadelphia as a feeder club I’m waiting for it to open up so hopefully they produce a few good regens in my game too!
Tegar Triemanudigdo
1 мая, 2012 at 12:28
Hmm…I must say I’m impress with your team so far. Let’s see if you can keep this form until the end of season.
In any case, the finance stuff should be concerned here, though I believe you can managed it somehow. I’ll look forward the next chapter.
Dan
1 мая, 2012 at 16:58
Thanks Tegar,
My team has been great so far, now all I can do is ask for that final push towards the end of the season. The finances aren’t great but I don’t believe I should be overly worried with TV and hopefully Champions League money heading to the club in the near future.
CsAtlantis
2 мая, 2012 at 02:09
Hello Dan,
Second is an impressive position (even after the bad December!)
Camacho looks very capable and with some development he’ll become better, Montoya looks brilliant too at 20
It’s going to be tough to hang on to Demba Ba, hopefully he sacks his agent
Good luck hanging on to a Champions League spot!
Dan
2 мая, 2012 at 17:26
Thanks CsAtlantis,
December is always a rocky month for me so by now I’m very used too it. In fact, in terms of other Decembers I’ve endured this one wasn’t too bad!
Camacho and Montoya are already looking good and both have the potential to grow quite far beyond where they’re at now.
The Demba Ba situation is completely agent made so I agree, I hope he sacks his agent too.
Sears
2 мая, 2012 at 13:01
Still doing an awesome job buddy, despite a wee dip in form. Looking forward to seeing how well those new youngsters will develop, good luck :)
Dan
2 мая, 2012 at 17:28
Hey Sears,
The wee dip in form wasn’t too bad so hopefully it won’t have too much of an effect on our overall season. I’m looking forward to seeing the youngsters develop too, hopefully they can all fulfil their potential! :)
Laxeyman
2 мая, 2012 at 17:11
Good form Dan, your side are going well in 2nd place, and if Ba keeps banging in the goals then I reckon you can stay there :) Winning the title might be a step too far, but the future looks bright, especially with the pending arrival of even more quality youngsters!
Dan
2 мая, 2012 at 17:30
Hey Laxeyman,
The title was never really my aim, a top 7 finish was my aim but now I think it would be massively disappointing if we didn’t get into at least the Europa League so fingers crossed! As for the future I always like to sign a bunch of young potential stars each season just to make sure the supply never dries up!
celticman
3 мая, 2012 at 07:07
Hmm a dip in form during winter isn’t unusual, but unfortunately it has derailed your title hopes somewhat.
I think you’ll have solved most of the problems with the private chats and new contracts, but just take care to ensure morale stays up. I do note, however that despite being 2nd, you’re not scoring as many goals as your nearest rivals so look into that.
Other than that, the transfers looks good and it’s been a good season so far. Keep it up.
Dan
3 мая, 2012 at 12:46
Hey Celticman,
If I’m honest I never really had title hopes, I knew at some point our squad would struggle due to how small it was.
As for the not scoring many goals that’s simply because only Demba Ba scores a decent amount with my 2nd and 3rd top scorers yet to reach double figures. The lack of goals is also countered by the fact that we have an unusually tight defence for being a Newcastle United squad, the 2nd best defence in the league conceding only 21 goals.
rossmac
3 мая, 2012 at 14:18
hey dan looking good so far. ive just started my 2nd season as newcastle manager won the treble in my first season got the great britain job for olympics also winning that bn linked with chelsea and liverpool jobs but looking forward to defending epl crown and having a bash at champ league. got lucky with injuries and ba not goin to african nations due to them not qualifying and my signings made great impact ba 27 goals cisse 20 goals ben arfa turned amazing something like 16 assists which is outstanding considering he missed first few months due to injury had to tinker with tactis mind u to fit him into my team results just got better great season won on last day by beating man utd (nearest rivals) 2-1 at st james added a few new players to squad and got rid of deadwood. need more english players but struggle to find them at decent price good luck with rest of season. great result last night beating chelski two incredible goals also
Dan
3 мая, 2012 at 15:05
Hey Rossmac,
I wish my players had performed as well as yours! Ben Arfa has been nothing special and Cisse has been awful all season. I am using just a temporary tactic though since I’m going to create 3 new ones at the end of the season. Ba has been brilliant though, for most of the season he basically carried the team but my defence has done well this year too.
Dragan
3 мая, 2012 at 17:36
can you post a screenshot of papiss cise and davide santon attributes pls…
Dan
3 мая, 2012 at 18:38
Hey Dragan,
Sure thing, I’ll stick the profiles on my next post, it should be out either tomorrow or sometime over the weekend but it depends how many people have submitted posts before me.
Mohammad Sadek
3 мая, 2012 at 21:51
Well done Dan , I am confident you ‘ll finish in top four, Camacho also looks great .
Dan
3 мая, 2012 at 21:57
Thanks Mohammad,
My next post will be out over the weekend so make sure you look out for it! :)