Hey guys and welcome to my FM 2012 Charlton update from 2032/33. After four seasons of rebuilding we are finally back in the big time, Charlton endured a long slide down the league ladder before my appointment as Scarborough rose from the ashes and now I am back to challenge my former side. As many have already said, this is where the challenge really begins, it will take a good few years but this season is the first proper step towards toppling the Seadogs from their thrown at the pinnacle of World Football.
My initial budget was set at £17.5 million and the wage budget at £135K per week…this sort of money is enough for me to really build a foundation for the seasons to come. I went about signing players straight away and despite stretching my budget the board decided to offer even more…
…The seasons expectations were to avoid relegation, but I upped this to a mid-table finish. While the £22.5 million budget wasn’t completely in addition to the initial budget, a large amount of it was extra funds. I even have £64K per week extra for wages. However the media odds of 5000-1 indicate I may need the entirety of that cash!
I have already mentioned a few keys players may be leaving this summer, well here is the full list. My best defender, Cassidy left for £2.5 million, Wolves activated his minimum fee release clause which was devastating. I also lost Ramsay, my legend goalscorer and Davydenko, my wonderkid winger as they would not sign new deals. Most of the other departures were to clear funds for the new arrivals.
Now we move onto what was a very busy summer in terms of players entering the Valley. The best of which you can see by clicking their names. Luis Firmino is an incredible wonderkid that will start on my left wing and was signed for £140K. Pernao was my most expensive signing in defense at £13 million, while his compatriot Chorao was signed for £7 million and will be my best midfielder. Then finally we have my best signing in Calelo who plays right back and is one of the most talented defenders around.
Results — August to October
My Premier League campaign got off to a flyer with 3 wins and 2 draws to tough opposition, we then lost to Man City and Chelsea but saved face with a 3-0 victory over Birmingham. Charlton also made it to the 4th round of the Carling Cup but were then beaten to Championship side Sunderland.
Results — November to December
November was a good month, despite a late 4-0 loss to Arsenal we did thrash both Wolves and Norwich. December continued in similar vein as we won 4, drew two and lost to you know who…Scarborough!!
After a very good start Charlton find themselves in a hefty 3rd position…its still very early but my boys are level on points with Scarborough after playing a game more.
My board decided such form deserved a better budget, I capitalized on this saying I could attain a top half finish. As a result my transfer budget is now in excess of £10 million.
Despite more money been thrown into the development of my squad, I decided to resist temptation and sign one very talented central defender. Cosmi is 17 years old and despite some low physical attributes has great potential.
Results — January to March
Despite opening January with three wins on the bounce, I then suffered some rather awful injuries. I think this bad luck is responsible for my form of zero wins, 3 draws and 3 losses in the EPL. I did however beat Bolton, Liverpool, Manchester Utd and Manchester City in the FA Cup…an incredible run which sees me reach the semi-final.
Results — April to May
After some torrid form in the league and amazing triumphs in the cup, I wanted to tilt the balance slightly. This is exactly what we did, Charlton just saw off the challenge of Blackpool in the FA Cup semi-final winning 2-1. But our Premier League form really got going with 6 wins, 2 draws and 3 losses…by the way, we lost to Scarborough, again!!
So the Premier League campaign finished on a high and I’m sure you’re wondering where my boys finished. This is probably the first season in forever that the results don’t give it away. Well I can confirm we finished in a very respectful 6th position. I was delighted with the lads and this was much better than I’d anticipated.
FA Cup final vs Arsenal
My first major final with Charlton and its my old foe Arsenal…if you remember, I lost three times in this competition and at this stage against the Gunners while managing Scarborough. All I can say about this game is that it was a stormer, I recommend watching the highlights by clicking here. The goals may have been scrappy but this match stunk of commitment, work rate and a gritty underdogs performance. A performance that paid off!!
So my first major trophy is the FA Cup and won in a very admirable fashion against one of England’s top sides. So my rise continues and while Scarborough won the EPL, they endured early exits in the FA Cup and Carling Cup not to mention a semi-final loss in the Champions League…that gap is closing :)
Squad stats and finances
You always expect some fairly low ratings during the first EPL season as every player has to adapt to such a high standard of football. But Pernao my new centre back defied this theory with a 7.4 and 11 goals. If my key striker Leandro hadn’t been injured for months on end then I think we may have made the Champions League with the Brazilian adding too his 10 goals.
The most notable news to comes about after the seasons end was our stadium expansion plans. The board decided to increase the stadiums capacity by 7,000 seats at a cost of £8.5 million.
After that investment the clubs finances stand at around £5 million, not bad considering our large investment in players (although the majority of my deals are been paid off over 24 months.) But we did start the season around £5 million in the red so positive signs financially I think.
Well that is all for today guys, I hope you are still enjoying the journey. Charlton had a great season, winning our first major competition, finishing 6th in the league and qualifying for the Europa League. Lets hope we can push on from there next season, but until then I look forward to reading your comments as always.
Rob
4 августа, 2012 at 19:02
A bit unrealistic with Sheff Utd. doing well whilst Wednesday struggle, nyway great seson, where did Ramsy ctually end up?
Darren Smith
4 августа, 2012 at 19:15
I am in the year 2033, nothing is unrealistic now. Ramsay actually retired, very random seeing as he wouldn’t sign a new deal and didn’t hint at such a decision.
Philip
4 августа, 2012 at 19:11
Hah! Not an Englishman on the side! Nice season. :)
Darren Smith
4 августа, 2012 at 19:13
Unfortunately there are no decent English players, not ones that are interested anyway, I never play the game with any sort of nationality bias anyway.
saltwater
4 августа, 2012 at 19:17
Great season, I don’t know how you have finished 6th straight after promotion because that’s just incredible. A couple of those signings were real bargains and that first piece of silverware I garentee will be the first of many.
I don’t know how you’re gonna take down Scarborough. They are in the box seat in english football! This has become some sort of twisted action movie; you’re gunna have to destroy the evil intelligence that you have created. :)
I don’t mean to pry, but any idea when the next podcast is out?
Go Team GB!
Darren Smith
4 августа, 2012 at 19:24
Haha, that description about sums it up…if this were a movie I would have created the best evil monster of all time though :) Scarborough are even stronger than when I left all those seasons ago which is just scary.
The next Podcast will be out next week…either mid-week or by the weekend.
MRDNRA
4 августа, 2012 at 20:30
I’m not too surprised you ended up there, if I recall correctly that’s also where you ended with Scarborough in your first season in the Prem with them as well! Some unbelieveably good signings there, the future looks very bright indeed. Nice win in the FA cup final too.
Darren Smith
4 августа, 2012 at 20:38
Thanks mate, I think you’re right about me finishing in the same position during my first EPL season with Scarborough…I think we then went onto either just miss out on the title or actually win it the next season, but I can’t see Charlton progressing that quick.
Jojo
4 августа, 2012 at 20:47
Man, great season and all of your «chapters» in general are awesome. Sometimes i read them over and over again cause they are fun. Again, thanks for the help an it really is working for me.
Darren Smith
4 августа, 2012 at 20:57
Thanks, glad you are enjoying your save too.
Conor Joseph Donovan
4 августа, 2012 at 21:02
Well that’s as good a first season in the Premier League as you could have wished for. 6th is very decent. FA Cup success is brilliant and that has you in Europe which will be great, even if it’s disappointing it’s not Champions League.
Your 3rd in the cup final was a nice goal and interesting to see Southern getting Arsenal’s second. :)
The finances seem to have improved a lot. And hopefully the stadium expansion will further improve this in the long term.
Good luck next season!
Darren Smith
4 августа, 2012 at 21:11
Thanks Conor, I think that was a great season too and to think we came close to fourth just says it all I guess. My old players seem to have a nasty habit of biting me in ass but I was just happy Southern’s goal wasn’t decisive.
denson
4 августа, 2012 at 22:46
Amazing season Darren!
I can’t believe how perfectly Luis Firmino will fit into your formation amazing at dribbling flair and can finish, and as he is a left winger and right footed he can cut in and score lots of goals!
Good Luck next season!!
denson
4 августа, 2012 at 23:03
Oh yeah, did you find those players manually or through scouts?
Darren Smith
5 августа, 2012 at 09:35
Thanks Denson, I think Firmino is a perfect also, unfortunately he suffered a cruciate ligament injury just after the seasons conclusion which will sideline Firmino for 12 months. So we’ll see if he can develop after that. I think most of the players were find through manual searches but one or two were curtosy of scouts I think.
Sam Birch
5 августа, 2012 at 00:38
You’re too good at this game!!!!
Incredible season massively impressive, well done
Darren Smith
5 августа, 2012 at 09:35
lol, thanks sam.
Malhar Bhadbhade
5 августа, 2012 at 02:42
hey Darren
you did a magnificent job finishing 6th against the odds (which I must say were slightly ludircous. 5000-1 :O) That would have shut the press up for a while. I must say I thought you wouldn’t finish higher than 8th, but you’ve done really well to finish 6th AND win the FA Cup by beating Arsenal in the final, no less. Scarborough seem to be unstoppable in the league.. Excited to see what next season brings. Good luck! (for the triathlon too)
Darren Smith
5 августа, 2012 at 09:39
Thanks Malhar, I too think those odds were way over the top. It really was an over achievement for us.
Johnny Karp
5 августа, 2012 at 08:57
Excellent season, finishing 6th in the league is fantastic and winning the cup too is something big already. Best of luck in Europe next season!
Darren Smith
5 августа, 2012 at 09:40
Thanks Johnny, hopefully we can build on this next season.
Kevin
5 августа, 2012 at 09:34
Hi Darren
Great effort for the first crack at the EPL and qualifying for Europe is a bonus for sure. Very nice to win the FA Cup though I see your old buddy Southern managed to get on the scoresheet. You made some terrific signings in pre-season so do you plan to let this group of players work togehter now as you have a realtively young squad as they had what could be considered a successful season?
Gaurav Chaddah
5 августа, 2012 at 11:27
Brilliant season their Darren, well done! After looking at the table after half a season, I thought you might have grabbed a top 4 spot but 6th is still brilliant, can’t wait to see how you do in the Europa League, will you be using it to give younger players experience or going in trying to win it? Also well done on the FA Cup win, hope you can bag more trophies next year and qualify for the champions league! ;)
Darren Smith
5 августа, 2012 at 12:41
Thanks mate, I think our Europa League exploits will depend on injuries…last season saw us miss the top four through injuries alone…so if we keep a clean bill of health I’ll give Europe my best shot.
TheZiggy
5 августа, 2012 at 12:35
Congratulations on the FA Cup victory, and a superb first season in the EPL. I was pretty sure you’d do fairly well, but you exceeded what I was thinking, of a safe top half finish, but just short of the European qualifying spots.
Your old team still look very formidable, so it’l be interesting to see how near you can get to challenging them next season.
Darren Smith
5 августа, 2012 at 12:41
Thanks Ziggy, we exceeded even my expectations to be honest but overtaking Scarborough feels a long way away yet…they have an abundance of talent.
Frank Sollie
5 августа, 2012 at 15:23
What database did you start with, and did you do any changes to it? I`m trying two teams in one savegame now. Just started with Liverpool (England) and Rosenborg (Norway). They are both good teams in their own country, and I wonder if I should start with another team. I was thinking about starting with the old giants Forest instead.
Frank
Darren Smith
5 августа, 2012 at 15:50
Heres the database I started with http://sortitoutsi.net/forum/topic/55366-official-gason-leghinf-english-national-league-system-update-taking-fm12-to-level-12-by-fma-football-manager-advanced/ and I didn’t make any changes no.
Aaron
5 августа, 2012 at 16:04
Hi Darren, 6th & a Cup win is an incredible achievement! Any chance of doing another one of the videos that you had for finals in your Newcastle game should get Charlton to the CL final? Also, I’m looking for a few tips for transfers. How exactly do you find such talented players at those prices with a manual search?
Darren Smith
5 августа, 2012 at 16:54
Thanks Aaron, to be honest I don’t have time to do those videos anymore. Theres nothing special to finding those players, that is why it surprises me the amount of people who struggle…you can’t just go on the filter, do one search and then give up…you need to try searching under different attributes, age positions etc etc…you just need to experiment a lot.
Aaron
7 августа, 2012 at 15:30
Ah I see, but how much would you lower attributes by for younger players? And do you always scout them before signing?
Darren Smith
7 августа, 2012 at 18:35
I always scout before signing but the attributes will vary on many, many different searches so I can’t comment there…I don’t have a set amount I use or change from youth the older players, you’ll just have to play around with it and see what works like I did.
Ryan Daly
5 августа, 2012 at 16:12
Those signings were incredible Darren :O I was looking forward to seeing Firmino progress but hearing that injury news is disastrous, but hopefully he can recover to be a star.
Well done on winning the FA Cup, and for your 1st season in the big time you couldn’t have asked for more :D
Darren Smith
5 августа, 2012 at 16:54
Yeah that was a massive setback in pre-season and left me feeling despondent.
Kevin
5 августа, 2012 at 17:50
You didn’t reply to my comment….gutted!!!
:)
I see GB is no better than England….another penalty shoot-out failure!
Darren Smith
5 августа, 2012 at 18:13
How did that sneak past my radar? :) It was a great season Kevin and as for the crop of youth I will be relying heavily on a lot of them…they’ll be a few additions come the summer then that should be the rough foundations I’ll build my squad around.
I watched the GB game, very, very poor indeed!
Bhargav
6 августа, 2012 at 05:17
Wow, your boys have really adjusted well to the Premier League! If it wasn’t for the wayward results against Norwich and Cardiff you would have been in the Champions League! I believe yours is the second highest ever finish for a newly promoted (first being Blackburn of the 90’s but they had a free-spending owner).
Darren Smith
6 августа, 2012 at 11:50
Thanks mate, interesting stat about our placing though Ipswich may have finished in the same position or fifth even at some point?
Bhargav
6 августа, 2012 at 16:49
Ah you’re right. After looking at Wikipedia (which only gave me info about the Premier League era) these are the top 4 best finishes for newly promoted teams:
Blackburn ’92-’93 — Fourth
Newcastle ’93-’94 — Third
Nottingham Forest — ’94-’95 — Third
Ipswich — ’00-’01 — Fifth
Darren Smith
6 августа, 2012 at 18:59
Some surprises there.
Lye
6 августа, 2012 at 07:45
Great debut season in the Premiership Darren. Fantastic achievement in winning the FA Cup and qualifying for Europe in the first attempt. The days of over toppling Scarborough should be near soon.
Darren Smith
6 августа, 2012 at 11:51
Thanks Lye, it was a great season and fingers crossed the first stepping stone to toppling Scarborough.
cameron
6 августа, 2012 at 08:01
Well done so far really good job. I was just wondering do you always stick with the same 4-5-1 and do you always use the fluid philosophy even in the lower leagues?
Darren Smith
6 августа, 2012 at 11:52
I always use a 451 and never deviate from fluid.
silva
6 августа, 2012 at 13:53
Great Season Darren EL Football is good for your first season
Darren Smith
6 августа, 2012 at 18:58
Thanks Silva.
Sears
7 августа, 2012 at 15:50
That was an extremely impressive season Darren. Your signings were brilliant once again , Pernao and Calelo were my favorites. Congrats on winning the FA Cup and best of luck next season!
Darren Smith
7 августа, 2012 at 18:42
Thanks Sears, I too think Pernao and Calelo were important signings…they helped plug up what would have been a leaky defense.
vaibhavc
7 августа, 2012 at 21:56
Great season Darren, well done! This season’s fixtures never actually gave your place in the league away. Some of your signings are amazing. Looking forward to hearing the podcast.
Darren Smith
8 августа, 2012 at 11:55
Thanks Vaibav.
denson
8 августа, 2012 at 15:09
Darren, What do you look for in players when you are in like league one and two i have just got the carlisle job in league two bottom of the league because they started with minus 10 points but i don’t know what players to look for, I use a similar tactics to you? Thanks
denson
8 августа, 2012 at 15:13
and conference premier/ north south
Darren Smith
8 августа, 2012 at 19:12
I just look for players that can do a good job in the level above what I’m playing in…also need pace.
Christopher Wathen
12 августа, 2012 at 23:03
Hey, great work to get that far Darren.
Can you tell me how well my team, Epsom & Ewell FC, are doing in you’re game?
Back when you started they where in the Combined Counties League (9th Tier).
Thanks.
Darren Smith
13 августа, 2012 at 09:15
Thanks mate, Epsom have drifted between the league below them and their current league.
Anh Duc
5 сентября, 2012 at 20:47
Hi Darren
would you please recommend some tactics on away matches ? I know it depends on what kind of players do I have in my team, but I tried a lot of tactics and made some changes and when I played away match I tied it or lost it. I’ve never won 2 or more games in a row when I was playing away.
Thanks
Darren Smith
6 сентября, 2012 at 11:48
I’d recommend this tactic with counter strategy http://www.mediafire.com/?pqu0aera2ipb9zi