Hey guys and welcome back to my FM 2011 Newcastle story. During the last post we won the EPL title with extreme ease and almost completed the perfect season bar a last match hiccup vs Manchester United. The Toon Army had also marched on to win another League Cup crown and qualify for both the Champions League and FA Cup finals. Both matches are three days apart, we face Tottenham at Wembley on the 26th of May and then travel to Sevilla for our clash with Palermo in Europe on the 29th. I would like you all to watch the match videos, so won’t be writing much today and will instead focus most of my information within those recorded matches. Grab a drink whether it be hot, cold or alcoholic and relax as I present Newcastle’s end of season finals.
FA Cup final — Newcastle vs Tottenham
Venue: Wembley
Attendance: 90,000
Click here to watch the FA Cup full match video with commentary
This match was a weird one really and Spurs turned out to be a real pain. Thankfully we won on penalties, but by taking this match into extra time I will probably suffer in the Champions League final. We held a lot of possession and shots on goal, but my players seemed unfocused and struggled to make the most of their chances. I personally feel like Kalu saved us today, the young centre back seemed solid at the back while others struggled.
FA Cup past winners:
Champions League final — Newcastle vs Palermo
Venue: Manuel Ruiz de Lopera, Sevilla
Attendance: 52,500
Click here to watch the full Champions League final video with commentary
We were missing some massive players for this match and I was worried pre-match…but after 30 minutes it was obvious who would boss Europe for another season. I mentioned Palermo’s formation as their main weakness and my flexibility within our midfield three seemed to be key as my boys dominated in the middle. The key player today was probably Ziegler who filled in for suspended Anconetani. The German grabbed one goal and an assist to boot.
Champions League past winners:
So we did the quadruple yet again and have dominated World Football for many years. This is demonstrated by the ‘past winners’ lists shown above and below are some further lists for the Premier League and League Cup.
Premier League past winners:
League Cup past winners:
Well those ‘past winners’ lists show how much Newcastle have dominated and its time to see how far my unbeaten record has stretched. After two fantastic results my unbeaten record has now lasted 205 games, guess we’ll see just how far this can go.
Now to conclude today’s post, we’ll take a look at how the finances look. After winning the Premier League title my bank balance read £337 million. After winning the Champions League, receiving some sponsorship money and then giving it away to the shareholders we have £365 million. A very nice sum and one I intend on building upon come pre-season. :)
Well that is all for today, thanks for dropping by and I hope you enjoyed the match videos. My next post will feature yet more big transfer news and the usual formalities. I hope to see you then, but for now I look forward to your comments and questions.
P.S. Don’t think I forgot you Daniel, below are the screenshots of West Ham’s top two talents. Foley looks very talented, but don’t worry mate I won’t be poaching him away from your club. :)
Laxeyman
15 августа, 2011 at 10:32
Brilliant as usual Darren, your team are just unbeatable, so it’s no surprise to see you win the FA Cup and the CL again, the only shock was that you didn’t beat Tottenham in 90 mins. Congratulations, and looking forward to your pre season :)
Darren Smith
15 августа, 2011 at 13:26
Thanks mate, I was shocked to not beat Spurs inside of 90 mins too, I think they used a fairly defensive tactic as they were tough to break down.
Birdy
15 августа, 2011 at 10:33
Very nice work Darren
I actually thought that you could have lost the penalty shoot out. In other games I play if you are in a dense situation with an open shot or something in Bastketball you normally lose. But anyway very nice work and i can’t wait to see who you signed. I would really like to see your Youth and Reserve squad with the reports stars next post
Thanks
Birdy
Birdy
15 августа, 2011 at 11:05
Also did you rest your players for a day or 2 to get their fitness back up after the FA cup game
Darren Smith
15 августа, 2011 at 13:30
Actually Birdy I didn’t, only reason being that went I have in the past, my players don’t perform so I’d rather use lesser players than ones that haven’t prepared for the match.
Darren Smith
15 августа, 2011 at 13:28
Yeah that does happen Birdy, but thankfully the better team came through :)
As for the reserves and youth, well I am providing all the worth while screenshots from my youth team next post which is two! Believe me the rest are PA star rating of 2 so its not worth showing. There isn’t anyone in my reserves either, they are all in the first team or out on loan. I personally think playing in the reserves is a waste and will stunt a players growth.
Nicholas Phipps
15 августа, 2011 at 11:25
Great results as always and your team is just dominating football! Just out of intrest, who is your assistant manager and would it be possible to put up a screenshot of him somewhere? Thanks! :)
Darren Smith
15 августа, 2011 at 13:31
Thanks Nick, it would seem as though Newcastle are dominant force in Football now. I will provide a screenshot of my assistant, Pablo Machin within the next post.
Johnny Karp
15 августа, 2011 at 14:03
Just one word: splendid! I think that the FA should start thinking about giving some sort of a title to the second placed team in the Premier League :)
Darren Smith
15 августа, 2011 at 14:28
lol, I think someone said the EPL should be named after me too. ;) Yeah the other clubs must be getting annoyed by now and probably the whole country also. We’re like the new United, everyone will hate us because no other club gets a chance.
Lye
15 августа, 2011 at 14:14
Hi Darren,
Well done yet again. Certainly give you a scare when the game against Tottenham had to be settled by penalty. Congratulations on winning another two trophies.
Darren Smith
15 августа, 2011 at 14:30
Thanks Lye, tbh those two finals were the most stressful for a long time…the League Cup final was a close shave also :)
Sibo
15 августа, 2011 at 15:38
Well done Darren, a brilliant final against Palermo. I have to admit the Tottenham game wasn’t the best I’ve seen, no offence, but it also shows the strength of your squad to be able to grind out a result like that. I think in real life the media might have said that going all the way to penalties is a sign of Newcastle slipping up…no chance! You are still going to dominate until the end of this save! :D
Well done mate, I just hope next year you don’t make me feel so nervous in your finals videos! :D
Darren Smith
15 августа, 2011 at 16:55
Yeah I agree Sibo, the Spurs game was very uneventful and felt like my team hit a brick wall with every attack…whether Spurs were brilliant in defence or my attack lacked the usual creativity I’m not sure :)
I’ll try my best to not stress you out in future. ;)
Dan
15 августа, 2011 at 15:56
So when do you think Mr. Ashley will stump up the cash for us to make an assault on world football in real life? ;)
Darren Smith
15 августа, 2011 at 16:58
The answer to that is never mate, he’s a business man and nothing more…I think Ashley has the clubs best interests at heart in terms of finances but certainly not on the pitch. We still have around £30 million left of the Andy Carroll cash so where did that go!!! Not to mention the fees received for Nolan, Routledge and Enrique. I don’t care what anyone says, Pardew claiming he hasn’t found the right players to buy as yet is utter crap. You can find numerous players if you really want to.
Dan
15 августа, 2011 at 17:59
I couldn’t agree more, all together we’ve sold Carroll for £35million, Nolan for £4million, and Enrique for £5million (which is bizarre, we made him a better player and made a loss of £1million on him), yet we’ve spent £7million, seems to me that we’re missing £37million somewhere along the line!
Dan
15 августа, 2011 at 18:01
My mistake, we’re missing £40million including Routeledge, forgot about him…
Darren Smith
15 августа, 2011 at 18:27
It’s a disgrace mate, we’ve been linked with a £7 mill move for Pieters for left back and another player from France for around £7 mill…that would still leave £23 million and where’s our number nine striker…we need one badly.
vikingmarius
15 августа, 2011 at 16:16
Well done as always Darren even though the Tottenham game may have been a bit uncomfortable
Darren Smith
15 августа, 2011 at 16:59
Thanks Viking, the Spurs match was a little nervy but we got there in the end.
Dunk
15 августа, 2011 at 18:46
Well done Darren, great season yet again . Completely dominating on every stage.
205 games unbeaten is amazing !!! Good luck on extending that run ( not that you will need it lol).
Darren Smith
15 августа, 2011 at 19:19
Thanks Dunk, it was my best season yet bar scraping through those finals. I’ll try my best to keep things going :)
Kevin
15 августа, 2011 at 19:01
Hi Darren
After struggling to gain victory over Spurs in the FA Cup final you went on to end the season in smashing style. Well done mate and those lists you provided are very impressive too!
Darren Smith
15 августа, 2011 at 19:23
Thanks Kevin, I couldn’t have put it better myself. We revived the seasons image after a tough FA Cup final and I am very proud of those lists.
vaibhavc
15 августа, 2011 at 22:37
Hey Darren
At least there is some variety in this years finals. The Champions League was the same, but the FA Cup was something I did not expect at all, to win on penalties. But still, you won it, and well done.
Darren Smith
16 августа, 2011 at 11:46
Thanks Vaibhav, to be honest I didn’t expect such a tough run in for the FA Cup either but we grinded it out.
Sayam Khan
16 августа, 2011 at 00:12
Hi Darren, total domination is a nice word to sum it up. No offence, but aren’t you bored yet? :D haha. Well done, your probably the best manager in FM, with you commitment and achievements.
XXX
16 августа, 2011 at 12:09
I don’t have enough players trained in Germany, but the game doesnt let me deselect players after i deselect 3. i havent reached the minimum squad size, anyone know what’s going on?
im registering a squad for the CL knockout stages btw
Darren Smith
16 августа, 2011 at 18:38
I assume you are mid-way through the season and changing your registration for Europe. If thats the case you can only make a maximum of 3 changes hence you not been able to drop more than three players.
FM Blogger
16 августа, 2011 at 13:40
Wow Darren that was really unexpected…I’m joking! Great results, yet again and it must be a little boring winning again and again every title there is to grab. Your team is just great, I mean, when was the last time you actually lost? Before two seasons? Just great!
P.S West Ham’s striker looks great, why don’t you try get him?
Darren Smith
16 августа, 2011 at 18:36
Thanks mate, we had another wonderful season and I think that makes it 2 full seasons without defeat and something daft like 2 defeats in the last three or four seasons. I already have some young strikers that won’t get game time if I buy anyone else so can’t risk bringing in fresh blood.