Hey guys and welcome back to the North East. Before I start today’s update, let me mention a leave of absence that is fast approaching. I am due to go on holiday for one week starting Monday afternoon, my wife and I will be taking a well deserved break from England’s depressing summer weather and swapping it for the sunshine of Rhodes in Greece. During this week I won’t be around to post, comment on other writers posts in the forum or main site and won’t receive any emails. This is of course unless I can’t help myself and find an Internet cafe lol :) However, I will be back to post and answer any comments/emails on Thursday the 7th.
OK, with that out of the way let me introduce Newcastle’s form from December to February. During the last post we looked unstoppable and maintained our unbeaten run which had extended past 90 games. I was still in all competitions and held a 7 point lead at the top of the EPL. All sounds good, but I did break the news of some rather important transfer action which included losing my captain Danny Wilson and two talented strikers. These players were all replaced, but I was left to ponder the results of my actions. Today we will see the effect of Wilson’s departure and follow the toon army till the end of February. Lets start the post in a more Worldly competition.
Club World Championship results
The CWC has become a permanent fixture and this is my third consecutive entry. With Europe still streaks ahead of the rest of the world, this competition has failed to offer a real challenge. Therefore I selected a very young 23 man squad and played all my fringe members. This didn’t matter during the semi-final as Newcastle beat Suwon 4-1, left winger Gilson was incredible despite struggling to play in the EPL. I truly believe this is Goetz year to shine, my second best left winger is ahead of Gilson but still not up to Kakuta’s standard. He made a real effort to prove me wrong in the final though, scoring as we beat Boca Jnrs with ease 3-0. Another easy trophy and plenty more to follow I hope.
Before I reveal the EPL results, let me recap the January transfers. We were to lose Danny Wilson after accepting £42 million from Barcelona. My captain and best CB is replaced by £20 million man Varriale of Ascoli. I also sold two wonderkid strikers in Fernando and Sanchez as both hadn’t developed in the areas I anticipated. I used that cash to buy two English players (and no I’m not going crazy just wanted more home grown talent.) They are, 19 year old Tierney for £13.5 mill, he plays upfront and another 19 year old in Andrews for £5.5 mill, he plays midfield. Both were purchased from West Ham. All in all great for my finances as we have spent £42 mill this season but received double that with £82 mill.
Premier League results
Going into December with an unbeaten run, 7 point advantage and game in hand is always great and my form continued with three further wins in December. However, a mini injury crisis and fixture congestion led to Newcastle drawing against Blackpool 1-1. This draw was made worse as we lost the next game 1-0 to Birmingham and guess what…my unbeaten run had stretched to 99 games meaning we needed just one more win/draw to reach 100 but the Midlands side had ruined that perfectly round number. :(
I decided to play Danny Wilson the day before his departure as a farewell match, couldn’t have picked it better been away to Man Utd. We enjoyed a corker as the game finished 3-3, the following match was after all the transfers had been completed and saw Arsenal visit Saint James Park. My new centre back was injured for 6 weeks, so Varriale couldn’t play. But the squad didn’t seem to miss Wilson too much as we won 1-0. My thoughts were confirmed as the squad went on a 9 game winning streak until the end of February.
Premier League table
After a slight blip and losing our unbeaten run Newcastle marched on to 10 straight victories, but how has this effected the league? We are 12 points clear of second and look set for a 7th straight EPL title. Although I’m still a little gutted to see that number 1 under ‘lst’ :(
FA Cup results
This is a competition I take seriously every season and only field fringe players against the weakest of sides. That is why the first two rounds featured Newcastle’s weakest squad. My youngsters dispatched of League Two side Scunthorpe then League One’s Norwich to reach the fifth round. We then drew Everton and the rest goes down in history as Newcastle waltzed to an 8-0 victory. Marcelo Santos gave the best display with 5 goals and I wasn’t even using my best possible starting XI. The sixth round tie is expected to offer more of a challenge against Blackburn Rovers.
Champions League results
With just one game remaining in the group stages, Newcastle were guaranteed top spot and used a weak XI against Austria Wien. Diop, Melo and Santos proved their worth with a 3-1 victory and booked the toon armies place in the First Knockout round.
My first knockout round opponents were French side Marseille, a very good draw and tie I’d expect to win. The first leg couldn’t have gone better, despite an early scare Sanogo bossed his compatriots scoring 4 times to help the toon win 5-1 away from home. I could almost smell the quarter-finals and was equally as impressed with right back Pepe’s performance.
League Cup results
Despite the board righting this competition off as unimportant, my competitive edge drove me forward. After progressing through the first two rounds we then beat Bolton 5-0 to reach the semi-final. Yet another tie against Manchester City and history was about to repeat itself. The first leg finished 3-0 and the second leg was 2-1 equalling an impressive 5-1 aggregate win. The final pitted Newcastle against Chelsea and that was a match I eagerly anticipated.
League Cup final vs Chelsea
Newcastle’s first major cup final of the season has arrived. I decided to record this match from start to finish including my own commentary to explain each move and my thoughts throughout the match. We’ll jump straight in, so click the link below to watch my League Cup final video, its just 10 minutes long.
Video diary — League Cup final vs Chelsea (click here to watch video)
Like I said in the video, this match became a real struggle. Probably the first time I’ve been disappointed despite winning. It just felt like the team didn’t click and this one match has left me concerned for the rest of the season. Lets just hope I’m been a drama queen, but I feel like this match was a turning point for the worse.
Squad stats and finances
Despite Danny Wilson enjoying the sunshine of Barcelona, my squads average ratings didn’t seem to indicate any negative effects. Sanogo has hit 40 goals from 22 starts while Marcelo Santos has bagged 24 goals from 14 starts. I am over the moon with Anconetani, the right winger has managed 31 assists and 9 goals from 26 starts. However, the surprise of my season has been Harry Goetz proving his worth to replace Kakuta on the left wing with 11 goals and 5 assists from 14 starts.
At the end of November my bank balance read £145 million, so after some transfer action which included a profit of £34 million, what did my bank balance read come the end of February…£155 million! It would seem that the signing on and agent fees have cost me yet again, those pesky additions really catch up on you. This led to me worrying about future income, the more I raised the more money my damn shareholders would take and I’d be risking the quality of my squad for no reason. Therefore I’ve taken Johnny’s advice and will try to make as many connections to Asia and America as possible…all with the aim of getting more from merchandise etc.
Well that is all for today guys, I hope you enjoyed the post. It will be a long time before I post again (considering I usually post every three days.) But I will be back on Thursday the 7th. As always I look forward to your comments and hope everyone is OK while I’m away. See you soon guys, and I can genuinely say I’ll miss you all. Thanks!
George Dobson
26 июня, 2011 at 11:01
have a good holiday darren and well done on winning the cup your players are brilliant and also I am wanting to manage a new team and I was wondering if you could recomend one because I was getting a bit bored on my last save.thanks :D
Darren Smith
26 июня, 2011 at 11:33
Thanks George, I’ll certainly try and enjoy the holiday…hopefully the recent problems in Greece have only effected mainland cities.
It’s tough to say who you should manage. If your looking for a challenge maybe search through League One and Two clubs for someone who suits your style and has potential for growth. What sort of game are you looking for?
George Dobson
26 июня, 2011 at 12:16
a challenge but not something really hard so I will havev a look through leagues 1 and 2 and see if any of those teams are for me thanks for your help :D
George Dobson
26 июня, 2011 at 12:21
ive decided to become manager of charlton Athletic
George Dobson
26 июня, 2011 at 12:25
is there any players that I could sign or get on loan which would be good for charlton
Darren Smith
26 июня, 2011 at 12:33
I would recommend looking through this post, it offers some excellent bargains https://www.footballmanagerstory.com/2010/11/football-manager-2011-shortlist-best-free-players/
vaibhavc
26 июня, 2011 at 11:09
Hey Darren
Very boring game there, there was only one big chance the whole game and that was the goal. This time you were more careful and you did not show whether you had won the league cup in the table! Have fun in Greece!
Darren Smith
26 июня, 2011 at 11:35
Couldn’t agree more Vaibhavc, it’s like we turned back the clock and started playing like when I first took over. Very disappointing final and it has left me pondering tactics and whether to change my winning formula for a more exciting style of football.
Johnny Karp
26 июня, 2011 at 11:10
Oh, such a shame that the unbeaten run ended after 99 games… But don’t let that ruin your vacation :)
Darren Smith
26 июня, 2011 at 11:36
I’m sure I’ll get over it while relaxing on the beech and reading ‘inverting the pyramid’ lol :)
George Dobson
26 июня, 2011 at 11:20
please could someone help me and tell me which team I should be thanks it would be very much appreciated
Sears
26 июня, 2011 at 14:15
Your fav team?
footballfan2991
26 июня, 2011 at 12:25
Hi Darren,
it’s a pity you lost against Birmingham, but other than that, a great string of performances. I think that you are going to win everything once again, it must be pretty annoying for you to lift all these titles every year :p
P.S I am from Greece and I would like to tell you that you have made one excellent choice, Rhodes is a beautiful island and is the fourth biggest island of my country, you are definetely going to enjoy the beaches of this place. Also, do not forget to visit the well known «valley of Butterflies» it is just amazing. Have fun!
Darren Smith
26 июня, 2011 at 12:36
Thanks mate, I never get bored of winning but we’ll see what the bog comps offer up :)
I have been to Rhodes before while working on a ship and also on holiday a few years ago. Its my favourite holiday destination and I can’t wait. Gotta love the Faliraki water park!! Do you know if there are any problems with travel at the moment or any planned strikes and protests?
footballfan2991
26 июня, 2011 at 13:12
The Faliraki water park is just awesome I completely agree with you. I believe that you will not face any kind of problems if you leave on Monday. On Tuesday and Wednesday there is going to be some strike action, although it is bad it is the only way to show that we cannot handle the whole situation. Yet, I believe that you are not going to have troyble, since the planned strikes and protests take place in the capital city of Greece Athens and as far as I know, naval and aerial trasportation is not going to be affected by strikes and such things.
Darren Smith
26 июня, 2011 at 13:30
Well I am actually leaving home Tuesday morning and will be staying over night in Manchester before flying in the early hours of Wednesday, just have to keep my fingers crossed. :) But thanks for the information its appreciated.
footballfan2991
26 июня, 2011 at 13:39
No problem Darren, have a nice holiday!
Nick
26 июня, 2011 at 13:58
Have fun on your holiday — you’ve earned it! ;-)
I would have been so damn frustrated if I had lost my winning streak in the 99th game! You still seem to be on course for your 7th consecutive Prem title!
Darren Smith
26 июня, 2011 at 15:41
Thanks Nick, I’ll have a great time and be back in little over a week with the seasons conclusion.
Anonymous
26 июня, 2011 at 14:46
Good, your leaving for a bit, now you can stop polluting this great site with your awful content.
Darren Smith
26 июня, 2011 at 15:39
Just so the whole football manager community knows, this cowardly idiot is Alex the great cheat!!! I searched his ip address. Stop been such a baby and immature before I tell everyone the full story about your cheating!! I know a lot more lies you’ve told and believe me you don’t want to reopen that door!!
Sears
26 июня, 2011 at 15:58
Don’t forget Alex, I found more evidence of you cheating, and I still have that email which I sent to a few people, so if I was you Alex, I would stop being an immature idiot before I fully expose you for the cheat you REALLY are because you are really getting on my nerves now….
Anybody who wants to know the full extent of Alex’s cheating and wants to know what my findings were, email me at searstucker(at)gmail(dot)com.
Thank you :-)
Darren Smith
26 июня, 2011 at 16:06
Don’t worry Sears, I’m at the end of my tether with this kid. Just can’t decide whether to chat with Johnny about banning Alex from the site all together or publicly exposing him for the extra lies he said within the comments from the first time we revealed his cheating and lying. You know where he told everyone he’s never cheated before at all and the Academica game was the first…but he actually cheated on his UEC save on FMCrowd. Whoops, did I speak out of turn?
Johnny Karp
26 июня, 2011 at 18:04
You really closed the door tight this time mate, a lot of people were incredibly nice to you but it’s quite obvious now that you didn’t deserve that. Bye.
Daniel
26 июня, 2011 at 21:30
i think banning him from the site completley would be extreme but maybe you should expose the immature idiot for what he is a bigger cheat then what we originaly thought
Sears
26 июня, 2011 at 16:02
Well done Darren on yet another successful few months, bar the Birmingham (damn u!!!) defeat of course… Sooooo close to 100 games unbeaten!
Anyway, enjoy your holiday, although you’ll miss my b-day (lucky u :-D) on July 4th.. (Sniff, sniff)….
Darren Smith
26 июня, 2011 at 16:08
Thanks Sears, I was gutted to lose that unbeaten record but ow well!
Looking forward to my holiday, but shame to miss your B-day, accept my best wishes now in case I can’t find an internet cafe. Happy B-day mate.
Laxeyman
26 июня, 2011 at 18:11
Great run of form as usual Darren, you will surely win the league again, and I reckon you’ll go all the way in the Champions League too.
Have a good holiday mate :)
Darren Smith
26 июня, 2011 at 18:34
Thanks Laxeyman, we certainly have the form to go far, but I wasn’t too convinced by our efforts in the League Cup final so we’ll see. :)
Daniel
26 июня, 2011 at 20:46
Well done darren not just at how ell you have newcastle playing but for continuing the great tradition of stealing WEST HAMS WORLD CLASS YOUTH PLAYERS!!!! lol you should be proud of yourself lol
p.s im former writer daniel not the other person who claims to be me sometimes
Darren Smith
27 июня, 2011 at 09:53
Thanks Daniel, West Ham produced some very nice regens and they have another striker of which I’m watching too. :)
Daniel
27 июня, 2011 at 11:53
Can you poach a different team please :) poach wolves everybody likes to poach them lol
Kevin
26 июня, 2011 at 21:54
Hi Darren
Hope you have a fantastic vacation in the Greek Islands. Never went there myself — always hung out in Benidorm as that was the place to go years ago.
Anyway congrats on winning the League Cup once more and quite the stunning performances against Everton and OM. despite the changes in your team most of them are Super Sevens ratings!
Darren Smith
27 июня, 2011 at 09:51
Thanks Kevin, I can’t wait to go. Its amazing there and was perfect two years ago. If you ever want a change I can recommend a great hotel that’s reasonably priced and its so close to the water park, beech, old town (amazing architecture and history there) also some brilliant excursions too.
Hopefully I can continue this form, we’ve done OK this year but fallen off the pace of last year I fear…hopefully we’re just resting for a final push. :)
Lye
27 июня, 2011 at 01:34
Hi Darren,
Just too bad that the defeat came right at the nick of the century mark. I really don’t expect you to lose to Birmingham. But any good team has their off days. Seriously i don’t think you are too much affected, winning the League cup final against Chelsea. The league should be secured soon and the CL title too.
Meanwhile forget about football manager and enjoy your holiday in Greece. Don’t think your wife will let you off if you do that. If you can, take some nice pictures and share with us.
Darren Smith
27 июня, 2011 at 09:48
Yeh it was very disappointing to lose my unbeaten run 1 short of 100 games. Ow well that’s football for you, just hope we’re not effected as you say and keep winning.
My wife has already laid the ground rules for our holiday. No internet, no Football Manager (won’t stop me while she’s in the shower lol) So guess it’ll be some real down time for me. :) I’ll make sure to get some nice pics mate, there’s an awesome water park so I’ll see if I can get video from one of the slides or something.
CsAtlantis
27 июня, 2011 at 02:06
Have a good holiday Darren I am sure your contribution to the Greece economy is sorely needed :D
Of all the teams, Birmingham? ;)
You’re still well on course to win the league and Champions League, can anything stop Sanogo on his way to world domination? :P
Darren Smith
27 июня, 2011 at 09:05
lol Thanks CsAtlantis, yeh I’m due to meet some people in Athens and present my Newcastle success :)
Tell me about, losing that unbeaten run to Birmingham did sting but they have Wickham, Shelvey and the likes so not a bad team. Hopefully we’ll keep going and gain more silverware, theirs only one person that can stop Sanogo and that’s himself. I just need to keep him happy and in form.
Daniel
27 июня, 2011 at 09:06
Hey Darren, great story once again, really unfortunate about the loss to Birmingham! I’m sure you could build that up again! I hope you have a great holiday and looking forward to seeing more stories when you’re back!
Daniel :-)
Darren Smith
27 июня, 2011 at 09:56
I don’t think this is the end of my unbeaten run either, we’ll get back to a similar number and hopefully finish the job next time :) I’m looking forward to a break and to finally switch my brain off. The best part of a holiday is getting bored of doing nothing and wanting to get active again, so its a win win. :)
Alex
27 июня, 2011 at 14:48
Great post Darren and a good video too :). You were absolutely right in selling Wilson, it shows the true overall quality of your team and you conceded less goals without him than with him! Real shame you lost to Birmingham, you have to play another few seasons so you can reach the 100 milestone now, or it will haunt you :P. Keep up the good work :D.
Have a good time on holiday too, I’m jealous ;).
Darren Smith
27 июня, 2011 at 15:10
Thanks Alex, we certainly don’t miss Wilson in general but I’m not so sure the big matches will prove the same. Hopefully I’m just been pessimistic though. Don’t worry this story has more in it yet and maybe even a tactical change to spice things up :)
I leave tomorrow morning so looking forward to it and will see everyone soon. :)
Sayam Khan
27 июня, 2011 at 17:35
Excellent stuff Darren, seems like you on the cards for another quadruple. Have a good holiday :-)
Darren Smith
27 июня, 2011 at 18:46
Thanks Sayam, hopefully the form will continue and I can’t wait to get some sun :)
Sibo
28 июня, 2011 at 16:02
Good work Darren!
Well done, but Birmingham?!?!? Oh well, it happens to the best of us, well done mate and good luck for the end of the season, also I guess you are off so I hope you had a nice time on your holiday as you will probably be reading this when you are back! :D
Darren Smith
28 июня, 2011 at 18:33
I know Sibo, that Birmingham match was a true nightmare. To be honest this season has left me contemplating tactics and this holiday can be used to design a new one. :)
As mentioned I didn’t think there would be internet connection in my overnight hotel, but there is. However as of tomorrow I’ll be away from the site all together. Just couldn’t resist logging in for 10 mins and seeing what you’re all upto. :) Christ this site is an addiction :)
Jay
28 июня, 2011 at 16:08
Great stuff mate, just caught up to date on all ur posts in the alst 2 days so ive reallli got into ur story right now, good luck for the 7thEPL and ill defo be readin this all when your back
Darren Smith
28 июня, 2011 at 18:30
Wow, that is commitment as there’s quite a lot of reading involved. Great to know someone has taken such a keen interest :)
I’ve already played the end of season and just ready to post it a week on Thursday so see you then. :)
Ana Garcia
28 июня, 2011 at 16:20
Am guessing you have already left for your holiday so a little late but I hope you have/had a great time!
A defeat was always on the cards shame it was one game from a 100!!
Sanogo is amazing! Maybe better then my Real Union’s David!
Maybe…
LoL! Anyways hope you have a great holiday you deserve it! :)
Darren Smith
28 июня, 2011 at 18:28
I shouldn’t be commenting as I’ve begun my journey but got internet access in Manchester so a little time to chat. Thanks for the wishes and I’m sure it’ll be a great holiday.
And I don’t think anyone can touch your David, but Sanogo is probably as close as a player can get.
Martin
29 июня, 2011 at 09:50
Great update Darren…shame Birmingham ended your undefeating streak but im sure you’ll be able to extend your current one to somewhere near lol. Its also great to see you pick up another couple of trophies…plus the premier league one looks in the bag lol.
Hope you have a great holiday mate…sooo jealous lol. Hahaha I risky trying to use the internet whilst shes in the shower lol…if you have an iphone just get FM11 handheld lmao!
Darren Smith
30 июня, 2011 at 11:20
Thanks Martin, that loss to Birmingham stun tbh but we all have em’
Well I’m in Rhodes now and the weathers beautiful, loving it already and as you can tell I struggle to stay away from FMS lol Not sure how much I’ll be around over the next week but maybe every now and then to catch up. :) The missus knows I’m here honest ;)
Matt Clark
29 июня, 2011 at 13:03
Great going Darren even without the best CB in the game.
For your next player profile do you think you could do Adam Vass, I have found him to be the best young ball winner especially if you have him tutored by mascherano and rotate between them.
Darren Smith
30 июня, 2011 at 11:16
Thanks Matt, I’m on holiday at the moment so my next PP won’t be for a while but I’ll check him out. :)
Nick
29 июня, 2011 at 15:38
Hey Dan, you should have bought Cavani in 2013-14. For me he scored 75 goals in 50 games as a poacher :D