Hey guys and welcome back the North East for another FM 2011 Newcastle update. During the last post you read on as the toon army waltzed through all competitions. We were top of the league, had already qualified from our Champions League group and also progressed to the League Cup semi-final. My only concern could be injuries, fatigue and over confidence, so lets hope none of them come into play today. We’ll kick this post off with…
Club World Championship
After retaining the Champions League, Newcastle took a mini break away from the EPL and strutted their stuff in Baba Yara, ehh where’s that?? Well the where is irrelevant, what matters is we had a chance to beat the best teams in world football. Sounds far more impressive than it actually is, I know. The truth is I only used backup and youth players for this tournament. The best known name was Marcelo Santos, but the rest of my squad where there mainly to develop and gain experience.
The semi-final draw pitted my boys against Japanese opposition. Saitama played an awful game and endured 90 minutes of hell as the Newcastle Y2G system paraded their talent. We won the match 5-0 and drew slightly tougher opponents for the final. D.C. United are well known in America and a pretty good team, they must be to beat Boca Juniors in the semi-final, right? Wrong, they played badly and the Americans walked home after a 3-0 drumming. Newcastle had 31 shots to the Americans 4 and 10 hit the target compared to D.C. United’s big fat zero. We lifted the Club World Championship trophy and this sat proudly next to my Charity Shield and Euro Super Cup.
Premier League results — December
My first game in December was against Arsenal, we won with ease 3-1 and carried this confidence into an away match against Nottm Forest. That game finished 5-0 thanks to a team performance, but it was pure grit and determination for the next match. We travelled to Ewood Park and almost dropped points until Anconetani scored late on for a 2-1 victory. Then the matches came thick, fast and with tough opponents to boot. First off, Liverpool travelled to Saint James Park only to walk away 2-0 losers. Then Aston Villa had the misfortune of a 5-0 thrashing before we travelled to the Eastlands for a big game against title rivals Manchester City. The blues were shocked as Kakuta turned up the heat helping us thrash moneybags City 4-1.
Premier League results — January
With the confidence flowing, my first loss would be devastating. Though I wasn’t made to feel this just yet as Newcastle beat Chelsea 2-0 with ease. We then beat rivals Middlesbrough 2-0 and I was delighted to see Coezy improving on the pitch, he will be an important midfielder next season. Other competitions took priority on the fixture list leaving us with just two more EPL matches. Both saw a Sanogo master class as the Frenchmen scored 5 goals in two games. Helping the toon beat Wolves 3-0 and West Ham 5-0. Sanogo was so impressive during January, he actually achieved two goals per game.
Premier League results — February
The last stretch came in February as I tried to maintain our unbeaten record. This wasn’t a tall task though with just two EPL fixtures. The first came with a 3-1 victory over Portsmouth, but that scoreline was very flattering as we struggled to dominate possession. Spurs had climbed up the pecking order to second and faced my side in good form. A very even match finished 2-0 to the toon at White Hart Lane. Sanogo made the difference and helped me move one step closer to an unbeaten season.
Premier League table
Three months had passed, 12 games played and we managed maximum points despite some tough opponents during late December. My lead at the top has stretched to 16 points and we’ve still only conceded 8 goals in 27 matches. The league is all but over now in the usual fashion…I’m still waiting for one of the so called big teams to offer a challenge.
FA Cup results
This cup competition offered more than the EPL, we started in the third round against Manchester Utd. Home advantage seemed to count during a close encounter as we won 3-2. My fourth round draw seemed more relaxed as I fielded some youth prospect against Nottm Forest. That almost cost us bar a wonderful performance from 18 year Fernando, who scored twice for the 3-2 victory. Lady luck betrayed me during the fifth round draw as Chelsea came out of the hat. However, I could be thankful for a third home tie and this really made the difference. Repeating our league result and performance saw Chelsea brushed aside 2-0. Next up will be the sixth round against Middlesbrough, I expect to win and reach the semi-final.
Champions League results & group
With one game to go, I need a draw against Panathinaikos and top spot will be secure. Despite playing away my boys bossed the match and won 2-0. Fernando carrying forward his first team football challenge seemed to have turned a few heads. I ignored the speculation and just enjoyed my top spot and qualification to the First Knockout round.
Scottish side, Rangers were drawn from the hat for my next round. Despite vast improvements to the Rangers squad, I expected victory both home and away. We are already half way there after the first leg, Fernando and Dardouri were incredible as we thrashed Rangers 4-0 at the Ibrox. The home leg is a formality and I eagerly anticipate the next challengers to my crown.
League Cup results
After progressing through the early stages, I found myself against a familiar opponent during the semi-finals. Newcastle had faced Middlesbrough twice in the league, just drawn them in the FA Cup and now faced them in the League Cup. All that experience wasn’t required though. A weak team destroyed our rivals at Saint James Park 4-0 where 18 year Padin scored his first goal. In fact, I think my left back, Constantino scored his first goal too. We then saw out the second leg with a boring 1-0 victory and started planning for Wembley and Manchester Utd.
OK, here is the surprise guys. I decided to record my League Cup final from pre-match to the end analysis. Switch your sound on for the full effect and an explanation on how I manage, step by step. Please excuse the video quality, its not bad but I would have loved high definition…then again I’d want 3D if it were available. :)
Video footage — League Cup final vs Man Utd (click here to view)
There you go, my first official video diary so to speak and hopefully a reasonable explanation on what I look for as a manager. There wasn’t much to do in game and if our form is off I usually do more research prior to the match but this is all for another day. There will be plenty more of these further down the line. DON’T SCROLL FURTHER UNTIL WATCHING THE VIDEO ABOVE!! OR YOU’LL SEE THE RESULT!
Spoiler alert!! League Cup final result below
Squad stats and finances
After such an amazing run, you’d expect some big average ratings and my players certainly delivered. Yaya Sanogo hit 8.07 with 28 goals from 20 starts. Then Danny Wilson has become the best CB around with 7.66 average rating and 11 goals. Marcelo Santos has scored 16 goals and is closely followed by Fernando on 13 goals. Again I could go on forever, but will leave you to look through the list. Some of you wonder how I develop my youth so well, the reason is below. Notice how a lot of young and so called fringe players have been given rotational game time? That makes all the difference and its about consistency. If you leave someone without a game for months, they’ll go completely off the ball and probably not perform well when offered the chance. Give everyone decent game time and they will all stay in reasonable form, so when the fixtures get cramped your not playing out of form of unfit players. This is where the challenge lies, keeping everyone happy and in form.
Now for the part that has become all so important to me, finances. By the end of November (my last post) Newcastle had £136 million in the bank. We are at the end of February and the balance is…£129 million! Not bad at all as we’ve lost the usual amount awaiting the huge windfall of prize money and TV revenue. I have also signed a few Brazilians from a while back where their deal was set to go through in January. I’ll not show their attributes just yet, as their staying in the reserves for now.
Well that is all for today’s update, I hope you enjoyed the read and my little surprise. Please let me know what you think to the video and if you’d like more of these. Until next time thanks for reading and I look forward to your comments as always.
P.S. During my last post Sears requested a screenshot of my managerial stats. Take a look below mate, hope this is what you were after.
Sears
11 июня, 2011 at 10:22
Yay, another video :-)
Congrats on winning the League Cup, for like the 6th year in a row. Really enjoyed the video too!
Thanks for posting up your stats, they certainly are amazing.
Darren Smith
11 июня, 2011 at 15:14
Thanks Sears, glad you liked the video. I just feel it adds more to the story and could help some gamers who struggle winning matches. Hopefully anyway.
Johnny Karp
11 июня, 2011 at 10:51
Congrats on the League Cup win, I enjoyed the video! As you know I’m not a fan of negative tactics but I guess all is well if the result goes your way.
Darren Smith
11 июня, 2011 at 15:12
Thanks Johnny, glad you liked the video. We’re both very different tactically, guess I hate to see my side play really well and still lose which used to happen when trying to dominate the game. Although my tactics are negative, its interesting to watch my squad still look the more potent team. I’d love to play more attacking football, but don’t want to risk my winning formula.
Mark
11 июня, 2011 at 11:00
Really enjoed that Darren. Just wondering can you show a screenshot of your Training with your coaches Ability if you dont mind. Keep up the good work. Mark.
Darren Smith
11 июня, 2011 at 15:09
Thanks Mark, sure I’ll provide that screenshot in the next post.
vaibhavc
11 июня, 2011 at 11:13
Hey Darren
How many League Cups is that? That is one cup that you never seem to lose! And as usual, I can see that you won the cup from the Premier League table. Good to see that you are still undefeated.
Darren Smith
11 июня, 2011 at 15:09
Hey Vaibhavc, the League Cup is my lucky charm as we’ve won it 6 times now. I forgot about the league table give away, will have to pay more attention next time :)
ravenie
11 июня, 2011 at 12:23
Wow Darren you’re a multi millionaire :P.
The team is just frankly, unfair to the other teams. You have transformed them in ways only you could have done. Keep up to Y2G ;)
Darren Smith
11 июня, 2011 at 15:04
Thanks Ravenie, I just wish someone would come and challenge us. Man City are getting closer but still no where near yet. Maintaining my Y2G system could be the biggest challenge next year though as talent seems to be slipping in the market.
cruickshanks
11 июня, 2011 at 12:30
hey Darren.
your just unstoppable arent you. hopefully you can keep it up til the end of the season.your team looks great and you got quite lucky with kakutas injury.
ps. love your accent :D
Darren Smith
11 июня, 2011 at 15:03
Thanks mate, the team feels unstoppable for sure and hopefully we can maintain that. I was more relieved by Kakuta’s let off than I showed tbh. You can’t beat a Yorkshire accent lol :)
Stromson
11 июня, 2011 at 13:03
A video AND a shoutout, woot! :-) You’re unstoppable in league and Europe, and I don’t see anyone challenging you for sometime (it’s a shame the rest of the big-guns aren’t doing their part)! Finances are looking brilliant, and you’re finance theories are really playing out well in practice.
Darren Smith
11 июня, 2011 at 15:02
lol, I thought you’d like it Jon. I agree with you, it would be nice to see the other big teams making more of a challenge but I can’t say I don’t enjoy winning :)
CsAtlantis
11 июня, 2011 at 14:05
You’re dominating the league, you can probably wrap it up before April if this keeps going on, congratulations on winning the Club World Championship and League Cup (DC United must have done very well to beat Boca)
Sanogo’s average rating is just amazing :D
Darren Smith
11 июня, 2011 at 15:01
Thanks CsAtlantis, everything has gone to plan. We’re unbeaten in all competitions but that may be tough to uphold. Sanogo just gets better every year :)
Sayam Khan
11 июня, 2011 at 15:05
Hi Darren, Firstly sorry for not commenting on your last post, I had computer problems.
Anyway, Pure dominance! I like the video! Congrats on winning another trophy!
Darren Smith
11 июня, 2011 at 15:15
No problem Sayam, I don’t expect everyone to comment on all my posts anyway as there’s loads to look at on the site. Hope you computer problems are now sorted. Hopefully my boys can continue the fine form and make it another successful year.
Laxeyman
11 июня, 2011 at 19:53
Brilliant as usual Darren, and the video was good too, added another dimension :) You’ll certainly win the league again, and I wouldn’t be surprised if you bagged the Champions League too. A 79% win percentage is incredible, I think I’m doing alright and mines 60%! Anyway, good luck!
Darren Smith
12 июня, 2011 at 09:35
Thanks Laxeyman, glad the video hit its goal. I think its good to see how I manage, hopefully might silence the cheat police lol :) Must admit my success is more down to an incredible club and squad as opposed to tactics. They always help but the players have made my job easy.
Kevin
11 июня, 2011 at 21:44
Hi Darren
I rellay enjoyed the video with your own commentary…just great. Reminds me of when I used to play Subbuteo all those years ago and would try to sound like David Coleman or Brian Moore. You’ll probably have to Google the names :)
Well done on winning the League Cup again and you certainely appear to have the EPL wrapped up. Strong showing in the CL too!
Darren Smith
12 июня, 2011 at 09:32
Thanks Kevin, glad you liked the video. Must admit I had to google Coleman and Moore, but Subbuteo is something I’m more than familiar with. Its still sitting in my attic!! Hopefully I can maintain the form better in game than with those little men on a cotton pitch. :)
Lye
12 июня, 2011 at 10:33
Hi Darren,
That’s a pretty unique way of showing your league cup final. I believe we will see more in future? :) Another dominance in all competition and that was a good league cup triumph against Man Utd. Two cups won and more will be coming again. Looking forward to that.
Darren Smith
12 июня, 2011 at 10:40
Thanks Lye, I enjoyed making the movie and if everyone enjoys watching them I’ll be sure to keep them as a perminant fixture. A while ago one or two readers questions the validity of my finals saying it is impossible to win some of the earlier ones…as well as been an interesting watch this is the only way I can think of silencing the critics. I win a lot in this game and sometimes worry people may consider me to save the game and reload till I win, which is certainly not the case. Therefore maybe by showing exacly how the team won will help readers believe in the story more. Either way, I think its a nice addition. :)
Lye
12 июня, 2011 at 15:17
Definitely Darren, it’s a great addition even if it is to answer critics. I would like to try in FM12 but my English language is quite poor. lol.
Darren Smith
12 июня, 2011 at 16:16
Thanks Lye, to be honest is mainly to offer the readers an insight into my management. I also enjoy doing the movies. If your not comfortable talking through your progress you could create a watered down match with subtitles. Its very easy to do with windows movie maker.
Sibo
13 июня, 2011 at 12:59
Great work there Darren, top stuff!! As ever I expect a lot of trophies to come at the end of this year, hopefully with a healthy bank balance! :D
Well done and good luck mate! :D
Darren Smith
13 июня, 2011 at 17:49
Thanks Sibo, the trophies seem possible but with no player departures planned I’ll be happy to keep the finances at there current level for the start of next season.
George Dobson
14 июня, 2011 at 10:54
great video darren and well done on another league cup
Darren Smith
14 июня, 2011 at 11:52
Thanks George