Hey guys, today I welcome you to my Newcastle story. This was started on my old site, but put on hold so I could focus on my Ultimate European Challenge. Now that is over, I will resume with Newcastle but in a rather different manner. Before I start, you can check all previous posts from my Newcastle story by clicking the link. If you’d rather not, I’ll provide a run down of what’s happened so far year by year.
2010/11
- Finished 5th in Premier League and lost in final of FA Cup.
- Made a profit of £1.2 million on transfers.
2011/12
- Finished 1st in Premier League, won League Cup, lost in final of FA Cup.
- Made a loss of £10.25 million on transfers.
2012/13
- Finished 1st in Premier League, won Champions League, won FA Cup and won League Cup.
- Made a loss of £46 million on transfers.
2013/14
- Finished 1st in Premier League, lost in final of Champions League and won League Cup.
- Made a loss of £37 million on transfers.
The future of Newcastle United
As you can see, Newcastle enjoyed a great four years. Winning lots of trophies and signing some wonderful footballers. Only problem is we lost a grand total of £92 million on transfers. Not to mention the incredulous amount of wages I’m paying. This left the club with mountains of debt to repay and a bank balance more than £10 million in the red. However, I have a plan! Rather than explain it all again, you can read about it within my financial guide. Below are the steps I want to put in place and where I want to take the club.
- Offload players over the age of 27 within two seasons. (bar Afellay maybe as his departure would create uproar.)
- Create a player wage cap of £75K per week.
- Lower wage bill by at least 20% within two seasons.
- Introduce youth to gold system straight away.
- Improve training and youth facilities. Also have established youth recruitment.
- Get the best possible coaches and scouts.
- See the Y2G system work. meaning we sell players at a profit and therefore make money from transfers every year. (Could take around 4-5 years.)
- Clear all debt and have minimum of £15 million in the bank at any given time. (we’re a way off this.)
All of these goals are achievable and should be kept in mind from the off. So lets see how my plan is doing during pre-season.
Facilities improvements
OK so the first thing I did is make some kind requests to the board. I had to get my finances in order first, but we’ll glance over that later. The clubs facilities are a mile short of my expectations, so this needed addressing. Good training facilities aren’t a major problem, but should be improved to better my players growth. However, average youth facilities and youth recruitment is a problem. The quality of youth coming is shocking and my youngsters aren’t improving from a young age. This is the source.
Unfortunately my board wouldn’t budge on the youth recruitment. Therefore I settled on improving the youth facilities and training facilities. If all goes to plan, these will be complete within a year.
Transfers out — there effect on finances
I have written in great length about the importance of selling players for a profit. I’ve also mentioned trying to balance the books by making more than you spend on transfers. This year I was at a disadvantage, just before leaving my Newcastle save I signed a few players. This was before I came up with the Y2G system and it has hindered my progress a little. Before you see my purchases, lets examine the sales. Below you can see my clubs wage summary before all transfers.
Wages before transfers went through
A lot of money spent on wages. All down to bad management and the transfer adrenaline rush! I had to sort this out, so after considering who was overpaid or too old, I offloaded them. Below are my transfers out, a fair few players left Saint James Park, but not too many will be missed.
Players highlighted in red where on big wages. Most were overpaid and needed offloading to balance the books. We earned £44 million from these sales and picked up some great deals. Inler was originally bought for £4.7 million, meaning I made £2.3 million profit from him at the age of 30. Dudu was originally bought for £5 million meaning I made £6 million profit from the Brazilian. Steven Taylor was on £110K a week so I was happy to offload him, although we are forced to pay £30K of his wages until 2016. Enrique was my best sale, the left back is great but £12.5 million is a lot for a 28 year old. Plus his wages totalled £75K per week without the add on appearance bonus. Now lets see the impact this had on my salary summary.
Wages after transfers including players bought
Wow, what a difference. We still have a way to go, but this is an excellent start. £268K per week will now be saved on player wages. That is a total of around £12.85 million per year. If we can keep this up I’ll be out of debt in no time :)
Transfers in — youth to gold system in place
I really wanted to get my Y2G system under way, this meant analysing my preferred departure date for each player and then preparing for it by signing youth. As mentioned previously, I had a minor setback this year. Before creating my financial guide and Y2G system I went a little crazy on signings. Danny Wilson was purchased for £26 million, a great CB but I wouldn’t have bought him for this amount. I also signed Theo Walcott for £7 million, the fee wasn’t a disaster but his wages were steep at £60K per week. I’m hoping to sell the English winger if any interest is shown. All the other signings are part of my Y2G plan. So lets take a look through them and I’ll explain my thought process and their career path through the club. Before we do, let me say that the £56 million spent was far too much. This would have been more like £30 million if not for over spending on Walcott and Wilson.
Marcelo Santos (striker) aged 18
Santos has great potential, my coaches reckon he’ll far exceed Paloschi’s level and that’s saying something. I signed the Argentine for his for his ability and potential sell on value. If I failed to sign Santos now, he would have been more than £10 million after moving to another club.
Fernando (striker) aged 16
I know I don’t need another striker, but this kids potential is huge. Current ability is 2 star, but his potential is 4.5 stars. Fernando is a risk because he has a lot of improving to do and may not make it. But I feel the risk is worth while for just £2.7 million. The striker is too young to loan out, but I’ll be taking that approach next season.
Andreas Gohlert (goalkeeper) aged 18
Gohlert doesn’t have the best attributes, but he does have potential. Rated 4 star and potentially better than Enyeama who is now 32 years old and probably leaving the club within two seasons. This should be enough time to get the German up to speed. I’ll use him during easy matches and try my best to improve the 18 year old quickly. If all else fails, I can make a at least double on this players transfer fee.
Matias Anconetani (right winger) aged 19
I didn’t really need another right winger with Walcott and Wilshere filling this position. But Matias is the only great player around at a young age to fill the right wing. I decided to plan ahead and sign him for a reasonable price. Rather than wait and be forced to pay more money in 3-4 years time. I am training the Argentine to become a natural right winger as his main position is striker. Wilshere may be sold next season, as his wages are too much. If not Walcott could leave.
Hary Goetz (left winger/left defender) aged 18
Goetz was brought in for two reasons. One he has the potential to be far better than Afellay, and two he could be used as a winger or moulded into a left back. Another youngster with a lot of improving to do, but I believe he’ll get there. To try and rush things along I’ve loaned him to Doncaster. Goetz will either replace Gaitan on the left wing or Kieran Gibbs at left back. I haven’t decided yet, but have at least two seasons to make a decision.
Henri Coezy (central midfielder) aged 19
OK I know, he’s not my finest signing. After selling Inler, I got an offer for Guthrie on transfer deadline day. Knowing Guthrie’s contract was up very soon I had to take the money. However, this left me short in central midfield. I had to buy the best young midfielder to fill a more defensive role at the right price. Coezy was my only option and if he doesn’t improve I can still sell him for a profit. His current ability is 2 star and potential ability is 3.5 stars.
How has all this effected finances and my squad?
My efforts during pre-season seem to be paying off. We’re improving facilities, have an excellent set of coaches and scouts. I’ve even spent £12 million more than I’ve sold. However, the difference is in the wages. I haven’t weakened my side in any way, in fact I would say I’ve secured the future in certain areas of the squad. All this and we are £5.6 million in the green, a big improvement from being in debt. This may not seem like much, but remember all the improvements to back room staff and overspending on Wilson and Walcott. These won’t happen next season and should help our bank balance grow.
I have highlighted four areas in red. These are the end of each season when all competition money etc is paid, until just after the end of pre-season. You’ll notice most seasons have gone well until my transfer action and the end of pre-season. The last red box is this year. You’ll notice the graph making a wave upwards near the end. This could be my decreased wage budget working. If that line can keep moving up, or at least stay level I’m on the right track. If not we must offload some more highly paid players. Now let’s glance over the squad.
Any players highlighted in red will be next to leave Saint James Park. This is due to age and the guidelines within my Y2G system. If you think Simpson’s departure will leave me short at RB, don’t worry. I have a young defender out on loan who has been developed since the age of 16 with us. Hopefully haan will learn enough to become backup instead of Simpson. While we’re on the subject, I mentioned one of the rules is not spending more than £7 million on one player. Well after reading Alex’s story, I have learned you don’t have to be limited to this. Therefore, as long as I think the player can be sold for almost double the fee I pay, I can sign him.
Well that is it for today guys. Sorry for the long post, I just wanted to get everyone up to speed and make sure you all understand what I’m trying to do. Did you enjoy the post? Or was it a little too much? Please let me know and I can adapt future posts to your tastes. Thanks for reading and please feel free to comment.
vaibhavc
7 мая, 2011 at 10:13
Hey Darren
By offloading those players, you have got a lot of money saved and i think that will keep going down. Your squad is very good, Jack Wilshere is a very good buy. Is Doncaster an affiliate club? Because I have just been through your posts and I saw that you sent a lot of youngsters to Doncaster.
Darren Smith
7 мая, 2011 at 12:00
Thanks Vaibhavc, I do intend on lowering the wages further. We just aren’t saving enough yet. Doncaster aren’t an affiliate club, but do seem to poach most of my talent on loan. :) Hopefully they’ll keep offering a temporary home to raise my talent.
Alex
7 мая, 2011 at 10:20
Hi Darren,
Your post comes 20 minutes before mine :).
You reduced wage by a huge amount, Wilson is amazing and I can understand the big buy in him, he is one of the best defenders in my game, even with my brilliant regen CBs. I would sell Afellay soon if I were you and buy a 21/22 year old replacement, if you wait then his value will decrease and you won’t receive as much money as you could.
Good luck for the new season. Btw, the Y2G system does work so there is no need to worry about it :D.
Darren Smith
7 мая, 2011 at 11:58
:) So it does, just heading over there now actually. I will be looking to offload Afellay but must handle it with care as he’s the captain and most players list him as favoured personal. Hopefully that won’t damage team morale and I can keep building on these foundations.
Johnny Karp
7 мая, 2011 at 10:55
The system seems to be working, you raised a lot of money, freed up wages and still have an tremendously talented bunch of players at the end of it. The board should really pump more money into those investments though, especially the youth recruitment network.
Darren Smith
7 мая, 2011 at 11:57
Thanks Johnny, the system is working to my bare eye, but we have had a minor setback which you’ll see in the next post. Still looking good though and hopefully the board will upgrade my youth recruitment next year. :(
vikingmarius
7 мая, 2011 at 11:16
Santos and Gohlert look brilliant and I think they will be starters in a few years and you have made a very nice start to your y2g system, your finances look much better and hopefully you can make a constant profit due to the much improved wage budget and the amount of old players you sold and tough luck on the youth recruitment it is really annoying when that is low
Darren Smith
7 мая, 2011 at 11:55
Thanks mate, Santos has started badly but I have high hopes. Gohlert has a lot of improving to do but if he does it should become a key player. I also have a lot to do before making a constant profit, the wages are too high still and I need t rely a little more on youth but we’ll get there.
Sibo373
7 мая, 2011 at 12:15
This looks very good!
You have made some really clever signings and I am sure you will reap the rewards of the Y2G system very soon, and continue to dominate domestically and (hopefully) continentally!!!
I am certainly going to keep following this, not that I haven’t been already, because I am sure it will give me some guidelines on how to run a succesful club within it’s means when I return to FM after my exams! :D
Well done and good luck!
Darren Smith
7 мая, 2011 at 12:23
Thanks Sibo, it is easy to get bored with FM after some time but I feel making a successful club that’s well structured adds a whole new dimension to the game. You have loads more challenges to face and the rewards should be great too. I just hope I can keep Newcastle on the right track without damaging the quality of my squad.
Kevin
7 мая, 2011 at 12:44
Hi Darren
It looks like you have gotten your Y2G system off to a great start and saving quite a bit of money already. I kinda like Coezy so I hope he cam perform in the Premiership. It will be interesting to see how the team fairs with all the changes. Good luck!!
Darren Smith
7 мая, 2011 at 14:07
Thanks Kevin, I must admit Coezy is starting to grow on me…maybe he will be apart of my long term plans after all. Should be a good start to the season.
Lye
7 мая, 2011 at 12:50
Hi Darren,
The post length is fine. You did a very detailed explanation and plan for Newcastle. Everything is well in place and i believe you can see a big difference in your wages next season. Danny Wilson transfer cannot be undone and i don’t think you can sell him for double the price. Will keep following as i want to see Newcastle become the richest club in your game.
Darren Smith
7 мая, 2011 at 14:06
Thanks Lye, I hope you’re right about the wage bill. I wish I’d left my game at the end of season all those months ago, rather than signing Wilson and Walcott…but maybe it’ll turn for the best. :)
Sayam Khan
7 мая, 2011 at 12:55
YIKES! Your squad is massive!
You have done a great job already, cashing in on all them players and earning 44m is excellent! Wilson is a great signing, yes he is expensive, but you have to do this type of signings some time. He is one of the best CB on the game and i doubt you would have got anyone as good as him if your Y2G system was in place at the time. Santos and Ancontaeni are good signings too, I like them.
The only worry I have at the moment is, all them players coming and going out, could affect your start to the Premiership. Apart from that, it’s all good!
Good Luck
Sayam Khan
7 мая, 2011 at 12:56
Oh yeah, the post is excellent, I really enjoyed the post! Keep it up! :D
Darren Smith
7 мая, 2011 at 14:01
Hey Sayam, my squad may look massive but a lot of them are set for the reserves or to go on loan while they improve as youngsters. Don’t worry too much about the ins and outs, I have already worked out how to handle that. I’m slowly introducing the new signings and tbh the players I sold were starting to play worse every year. So I feel like we’ve only strengthened and hope the squad can blend quickly.
Sears
7 мая, 2011 at 13:20
Yay, your Newcastle story is back :-)
Great post, great squad and I look forward to another trophy filled season :-)
Darren Smith
7 мая, 2011 at 13:58
Thanks Sears, should be a good year…hopefully the start of some cash rolling through too.
Timmy
7 мая, 2011 at 13:37
Your squad is amazing,but i think you spend too much on the regen,except Santos and Matias.Wilson is one of the best young CB in this game,so don’t worry about the fee.
Finally,your Newcastle story is back,and good luck :)
ps:this sound strange,but how to take the picture on FM?(on your size,the big one)
Darren Smith
7 мая, 2011 at 13:57
Hey Timmy, I need to spend the cash on regens and less on world class over 21’s as that is what the youth to gold system is. Raising these youngsters to be world class rather than paying a premium for them when their already amazing, this is where I can make money. I am not sure what you asked at the end Timmy, please can you clarify. I think you want to know how to take screenshots, I use some software called PicPick.
Timmy
7 мая, 2011 at 14:27
I want to ask,how to take screenshot on the big size,because i take the pic use Alt+F9,and the screenshot is very small?
Darren Smith
7 мая, 2011 at 14:34
I use software called PicPick to take my screenshots then crop them to only show the information required. You can download PicPick from here http://picpick.en.softonic.com/
Timmy
7 мая, 2011 at 15:40
Thanks,still can’t crop :(
Good Luck!
Johnny Karp
7 мая, 2011 at 15:44
But there’s no need to crop, you can capture just parts of the screen with PicPick.
Ana Garcia
7 мая, 2011 at 16:01
Wow, I never thought that you had spent so much on players! £92 million will take a few seasons to get that back.
Interesting to see you introduce a wage cap of £75k, will be good to see if you can still be successful by not offering the top wages.
Good luck Darren!!
Darren Smith
7 мая, 2011 at 18:18
Yeh we really spent a lot in the four years. I can hopefully level the books eventually. :) I am hopeful towards the £75K wage cap, but that may be realistic. I will enforce as best I can but won’t lose the best players because of it.
Sears
7 мая, 2011 at 18:29
Oh ya, can we see a pic of Walcott and Danny Wilson in ur next post? Cheers!
Liam101
8 мая, 2011 at 01:22
Great Work darren. love your posts and am reading every post
Darren Smith
8 мая, 2011 at 09:48
Thanks Liam, hoping to make NUFC rich for once. :)
hils
8 мая, 2011 at 07:48
Hi Darren,good signings there!!!!!!!!!! Seems like you have balanced the finances a bit!!!! Good luck!!!!!!!!!
Darren Smith
8 мая, 2011 at 09:48
Thanks Hil.
CsAtlantis
8 мая, 2011 at 07:55
Wilson might have been a bit overboard, quite a bit portion of your money was spent on him, is he better than Steven Taylor? You probably have to sell off players before they spend too much time at your club to keep your salary cap at 75k, is your stadium being upgraded or is a new one being built soon? I’ve just realized that Birmingham can’t seem to upgrade their stadium anymore so we’re stuck at a 30k spectators until we get a new stadium…….
Too bad you couldn’t upgrade youth recruitment, good luck with that later on
So the challenge will also be maintaining the same success that the club is enjoying while improving the bank balance, I am sure you can do it!
Darren Smith
8 мая, 2011 at 09:47
Hey CsAtlantis, like I said in my post Wilson was over the top but unavoidable as I’d done this transfer ages before my Y2G system. He is tonnes better than Taylor though and a lot younger too. I agree with the wage cap, I am going to adjust that rule as it will damage the quality of my side too much. Instead I’ll just aim to get the wages below a certain level and have ‘x’ amount of players over a certain wage. I shouldn’t need much doing to the stadium…the board have already upped it to 60K capacity and I’m happy with that.
I am hoping to upgrade the youth recruitment next season. While the challenge is to maintain quality as well as making the club stable, I reckon my Champions League form will take a hit over the next year or two until things settle.
JeanPaul Borg
8 мая, 2011 at 15:41
This story is looking good!
TO ALL OF THOSE THAT ARE READING THIS COMMENT!
I would like to set up and start a new network game with a couple of people. If anyone is interested in this, I suggest you add me on MSN (pborg107@hotmail.com) and we’ll start from there :)
Laxeyman
8 мая, 2011 at 19:21
Although you didn’t save money on transfers, you saved alot in wages Darren, so I’d say that your Y2G system is starting to work already. I reckon you’ll also win the league again, good luck!
Darren Smith
8 мая, 2011 at 20:12
Hey Laxeyman, I too think the Y2G system is off to a good start. I still have to get the foundations in place including lowering the wage bill. Then the system will flurish. :)