Hello again guys and thanks for joining me. Today we will glance through Newcastle’s pre-season, transfer action and products of the Y2G system. The dust has settled after another quadruple winning year and my boys have hopefully recovered from any holiday hangovers. We finished 2016/17 unbeaten in 70 games and doing the double over Man City to win both the FA Cup and Champions League just three days apart. With all that in the past, I look to build on the future and where better to start than the boards expectations and media odds.
A less predictable meeting then usual where the board expressed their need for European qualification. I was shocked by this as last season saw them demand the title…ow well less pressure on me and the transfer budget is still huge at £148 million (not that I need it.) Being named favourites for the Premier League title still eludes me as Man City take this honour again…guess its time to stick a sneaky £20 bet.
Before we look through the summers transfer action, let me share some more upgrades. I have been pushing the board to make improvements over the last few years as shown below. My youth recruitment is ‘above average’ so I’m delighted they let me upgrade that, then the youth facilities are just ‘good’ so improvements were needed there too. Both these upgrades should be complete fairly soon.
I’d also like to share the richest clubs list, which reads well for me yet again. Last year saw Newcastle in 4th place worth £401 million, but this year has seen us climb above Arsenal to 3rd and worth £474 million. We are growing far faster than Barcelona and Real Madrid, so despite this been a drawn out process I am optimistic we can get top spot one day.
OK I won’t keep you in suspense any longer, its time for the summer transfer news. Unfortunately this could be a little anti climax though as only two faces left Saint James park and the same number entered. Leaving the club was Webb on a free transfer, the right back never improved since joining our academy…rather depressing as he was potentially the best we’ve produced, this sums up my rotten luck with youth intake. The main departure was Musacchio, the Argentine is 26 years old and bought during 2011 for £6 million. We made a nice profit of £4 million on the centre back that could be surplus to requirements now.
Joining the club were two very talented youngsters. The first was from Flamengo in Brazil and the deal was agreed one and a half years ago. Melo plays centre back and is rated at 3.5* potential ability. The 18 year could improve to Kalu’s level which is exciting and he seems to be in a similar mould. I’ll concentrate Melo’s training on quickness. This kid is a bargain at £1.3 million.
Next up we have Joao Borges, a 17 year old striker purchased from Porto. The youngster has bags of potential despite a few troublesome attributes such as pace and acceleration. My main reason for buying the Portuguese striker is his 20 determination and 17 work rate. These are vital to any regens development and I’ve never seen such high attributes in these areas. I have an inkling this kid could improve beyond any other player I’ve bought. Besides £1.6 million is nothing to my wealth so he is of minimal risk.
Now you’ve seen the anti climax of my summer transfers I have a little surprise. During last season I purchased four young players, I didn’t share them at the time because they were all hit and miss, but with so few signings I’ll take this opportunity to introduce you to the Y2G systems latest editions.
First off we have Danilo, this Brazilian has been in the pipeline for some time and looks great at just 18 years old. The CM still has a lot to do and won’t make the first team this year. I paid Atletico Miniero £2 million for his services and hope to receive at least three times this amount for the Brazilians future transfer fee.
While we’re in Brazil let me show you another addition bought from the same club. I signed Everton from Atletico Miniero for £1.7 million, the midfielder should mould well into an advanced playmaker role but this depends on his development. Aged 18 I believe the future is bright for Everton should he improve on passing and pace.
Before I reveal one of my favourite signings, let me share a gamble buy. His name is Matturano and departed from Cruz Azul for £1.2 million. This 18 year has a lot of improving to do, but I felt the small fee warranted the risk. My usual taste points towards big determination and work rate attributes but I stepped away from that for this guy. Playing central midfield means the Mexican has a competitive position, but we’ll see how he handles that.
Last but certainly not least is Victor Hugo Pavoni signed for £1.7 million from River Plate in Argentina. Despite some very low attributes in areas, the main bodes well for this kid. I have seen him improve already and plan to offer a little game time this year. So a lot of central midfielders, but I saw potential in all of them and decided they’d be better bought now for under £2 mill than forking out £15 mill plus in four years time if they fulfil my hoped potential.
Those new players may not be visible in my squad below, but that’s because they need time to develop in the reserves first. We still have great depth and 18 year old Melo will be getting some first team action at centre back to aid his development following Musacchio’s departure. The most pleasing aspect must be my players growth and transfer value. We have developed some very valuable stars which will reel in the big bucks during the next 4 years.
The Community Shield has been a permanent pre-season fixture for the last six seasons. This years opponents were Manchester City and I used the same starting XI that won in the Champions League final. Watch the match highlights below to see if Newcastle managed another great performance. Only the goals are shown, no video diary this time as I don’t want to over do them.
A fantastic performance and solo display from Sanogo guaranteed the 4-1 victory. City must be sick of us by now, but the match stats showed a far more even match than it felt. Despite this, Sanogo’s hat trick was sublime and no one can say his first goal wasn’t world class.
Now we move swiftly onto finances where the end of last season left £155 million in the bank. We haven’t spent much and made more than £5 million in the transfer market, so the bank balance now reads £165 million. Not bad at all and I hope to at least maintain this level for next season. As I always say, your main profit comes from players sold, so its only natural that this year hasn’t seen a massive improvement financially.
Well that is all for my pre-season update, I hope you enjoyed the read and will be back to see our start of season. Until then please feel free to comment and I look forward to reading your thoughts. Thanks guys.
Sears
18 июня, 2011 at 17:41
Hey pal,
Great win versus City, Sanogo is going to be amazing again this season. Lovin’ your finances, £166 million is phenomenal. Nice signings too ;-)
ps I can’t view the video, it says it’s private?
Darren Smith
18 июня, 2011 at 17:48
Thanks Sears, Sanogo is a beast and should improve my finances drastically by the time I sell. I have sorted the video and made it viewable, sorry about that.
vaibhavc
18 июня, 2011 at 17:54
Hey Darren
Great win in the Community Shield, you cannot seem to lose anything. Your players are amazing! The Y2G is going really well in two ways, players and finances. Good luck on trying to beat RM and Barca in the finances part!
Darren Smith
18 июня, 2011 at 18:30
Thanks mate, it does feel like we’ll beat anyone at the moment. But I made a bold decision mid-season which could change that…you’ll see what I’m talking about in the next post.
Laxeyman
18 июня, 2011 at 19:31
You certainly have some extremely talented youngsters Darren, and you’ve brought in 2 more excellent prospects, meaning that your incredible side will continue to be amazing for years to come. I’m sure you’ll win the league again this season, and maybe the Champions League too, good luck!
Darren Smith
18 июня, 2011 at 22:05
Thanks Laxeyman, one of the real challenges to me is raising youth. One perfect example is Goetz my young French winger. His attributes showed little promise bar pace, but I saw something in him and have brought it out. I reckon he’ll be as good as Kakuta if managed correctly…thats a huge achievement considering where he started.
Ana Garcia
18 июня, 2011 at 19:59
Go Barca! £956 million is a good target as you will have to get a billion to surpass them!
That said you are going about it the right way, and Sanogo looks amazing will you cash in on him or just keep a hold?
As always its nice to see your Spaniards doing well, Marcelo Santos looks to have the world as his feet.
Well done on winning the community cup thing! I guess thats like the spanish super cup.
As always Darren the best of luck! :)
Darren Smith
18 июня, 2011 at 22:03
Yeh, Barcelona seem impossible to catch at the moment, but I’ll certainly try. I plan on keeping Sanogo until a ridiculous offer comes in, then when he reaches 27-28 years old I’ll seek more than £50 mill if that amount is available in the market.
The Spaniards have been fantastic and all four of them are key to my plan. Santos is potentially better than Sanogo, I just need to improve his acceleration.
vikingmarius
18 июня, 2011 at 20:37
I wasn’t expecting much from this transfer window for you and I was right, but you have a fantastic squad anyway and should have absolutely no trouble winning as you always do :)
Darren Smith
18 июня, 2011 at 22:01
Yeh, it was a quiet transfer window but that will change come winter. I am hoping to maintain our winning ways this season, but some big moves in the market come January may effect that.
Sibo
18 июня, 2011 at 22:52
Quiet transfers, but to be honest none were necessary, you have a fantastic squad and you only needed to buy youth prospects for the Y2G system. I believe you should be on course to win a lot of trophies this season again. Good luck! :D
Darren Smith
19 июня, 2011 at 09:47
Thanks Sibo, the market will liven up come January as I realise a few prospects and have to cash in on some stars.
Johnny Karp
19 июня, 2011 at 00:39
Darren, have you tried making links with Asian or American clubs? Those were a good source of income in FM 10, I haven’t tried it in the current game though. Apart from that, brilliant transfers as always :)
Darren Smith
19 июня, 2011 at 09:45
Great idea Johnny, I’ll give that a go.
CsAtlantis
19 июня, 2011 at 03:07
Apparently when Man Utd signed Park Ji Sung they increased their merchandise sales in Korea so apart from Johnny’s idea of getting a feeder club to improve your profile in another country it’s worth a try, that is still a lot of money in the bank
Some good solid bargains in the transfer market as always
Very nice thumping win over Man City in the community shield, halfway towards matching Barcelona, give it a few more years and I am sure you can do it
Darren Smith
19 июня, 2011 at 09:43
Yeh, I think both ideas are great and something I’ll try. I’d like to get near Man Utd in terms of revenue…I remember playing with them and receiving so much money from god knows where that I could spend as I liked. Once we reach that sort of level, Barcelona will be caught with ease.
Kevin
19 июня, 2011 at 10:28
Hi Darren
Some fantastic youngsters you’ve acquired. I can’t see anyone challenging Newcastle for quite some time if at all!
Darren Smith
19 июня, 2011 at 12:41
Thanks Kevin, I do like those youngsters but just wish FM would produce more pace. Ow well we’ll be fine for another century or so lol :)
joelance
19 июня, 2011 at 13:30
Pace or acceleration, always lacking in the regens. And those who have it have nothing else.
Not surprised you didnt make big moves this summer. In the Y2G system, are you allowed to sign big players, say Pastore for 35million? And can you please post the link to the post you did on the Y2G system, I’m a little confused on some stuff.
Darren Smith
19 июня, 2011 at 13:48
Yeh unfortunately only a handful of regens have the complete package but thats what training is for I guess.
I think your missing the point of the Y2G system. There are no rules, only guidelines to then adapt for your own style. The idea is if I have a player who’s 25 I’ll need to sell him at around 28 to still make loads of profit. At the same time I need to find a wonderkid young and cheap to replace him in 3 years time. So as I’m selling the now 28 year old the wonderkid replacement I bought cheap three seasons ago is ready to step up. This is as opposed to selling a player really old, then replacing him with an expensive signing because you need the instant quality. Its explained in full here https://www.footballmanagerstory.com/2011/04/football-manager-financial-guide-part-2-youth-to-gold-system/
Also remember that you can do this a different way. As long as you buy and sell at the right time you can get older players in. For instance I could sell a quality player at the age of 26 for £40 million if I have another signing lined up for half the price or less. Its all about using the transfer market to make money and my Y2G system is an extreme example.
Buying Pastore at the age of say 26 for £30 plus million is only a good move if you can sell him later on for more than you paid. If you can make almost double on each and every players transfer fee, then you are paying for your transfers and making a profit. A clubs biggest expenditure bar wages are transfer fees, so if theres a way to change this minus figure into a plus your golden…thats what my Y2G system does.
Sayam Khan
20 июня, 2011 at 17:28
Quiet Pre-season! But.. You don’t need to strengthan anywhere, I like the youngsters at the club also. Good Luck!
Darren Smith
20 июня, 2011 at 20:03
Thanks Sayam.
Martin
20 июня, 2011 at 20:17
Hey Darren! Nice post…fantastic win against Man City you again showed them who’s boss…your just like Genk on my save lol.
I’m liking the youngster…i’m sure they’ll become world beaters like the rest of your side…you seem to have a knack for nurturing them.
So where in Yorkshire you from…i’m also a yorkshire lad!
Looking forward to the next post…hope you keep the unbeaten run up!
Darren Smith
20 июня, 2011 at 20:28
Cheers Martin, we really do have a knack against City…I always expect to win lol :)
I am having some luck with nurturing players, but its a fine balance between risking a weak squad to develop them and not including the youngsters to make sure of victory.
I’m from a small market town called Malton, its about 30 mins away from York and 30 mins in the other direction to Scarborough. Where you from in Yorkshire? Leeds area?
Martin
20 июня, 2011 at 21:18
Yeah I live near Leeds…near to Bradford sadly. Yeah think I’ve heard of Malton.
Darren Smith
20 июня, 2011 at 21:30
We’re about 1-1.5 hours away from Leeds and Bradford, tend to use that airport along with Manchester when going on holiday.
Stromson
22 июня, 2011 at 03:22
Before reading the post let me guess — Darren won a lot of stuff!
*rereads title*
Oh wait…brb…
Hmm, not a bad preseason (and indeed quiet like you’d said). I’d say all of those prospects have quite a bit of growing to do, and I hope at least a couple of them find a way into the first team. Finances are looking ace (Barcelona is worth nearly a billion!), and you’re doing a brilliant job of turning around Newcastle’s finances. Keep it up Darren, I’m expecting more good things in the future! :)
Darren Smith
22 июня, 2011 at 19:51
Thanks Jon, I certainly have a lot of nurturing to do. The finances are superb but can’t touch Barcelona yet. Hopefully this season will continue the growth.
George Dobson
22 июня, 2011 at 20:35
well done Darren your doing well great Y-G system