FM 2012 Charlton AFC story 2033-34: You’re not singing anymore…

Hey guys and welcome to my Charlton season report for 2033/34. Last year saw me battle it out in the top flight for the first time as Charlton manager, with many predicting a relegation dog fight we defied all the odds by finishing 6th and winning the FA Cup. This season is all about building on that success and trying to qualify for that pot of gold in the Champions League.

My initial budget was quite good, £27 million could buy a few class players and this was increased to £31 million after I claimed continental qualification should be our minimum goal. I had of course spent some of the cash before the expectations were discussed so in reality my budget was larger than shown.

The media suggested I could mount a title challenge but only with the slimmest of chances and a lot of luck…I’d fancy a gamble on those 200-1 odds!

Come pre-season I examined the squad and let loose some deadwood. This helped raise £10 million and increase the wage budget.

I decided this was the season to make a real statement in the transfer market. A lot of cash was splashed and here are my best signings. Johan Van Hoof joined for free as our main ball winning midfielder, his physical prowess will be invaluable in the middle of the park. Juliano is a promising advanced playmaker who should be a key star in two years time, £13 million was a little excessive but I feel its a good investment. However, my buy of the season has to be Dicko, he will rotate as advanced playmaker and I believe he’ll be a worldy come four years, not to mention he was available for a bargain £3 million.

Results — August to October

The season started with a Europa League qualifier against AEK Larnakas, needless to say we won 9-0 on aggregate. Our start to the EPL wasn’t so easy though as Charlton did exceptionally well to win 5, draw one and lose just once. The likes of Chelsea, Man City and Liverpool were among our opponents.

Results — November to December

Our excellent form continued but not before a nasty loss to Dortmund in Europe. After that we won 5 and drew three of our 8 EPL matches, my boys also saw off Celtic and Tel-Aviv to qualify from our Europa League group.

The Premier League table was shaping up nicely, Charlton lie 5th just 8 points off top with 2 games in hand. The season seemed to be on a knifes edge, a bad run could lose my Champions League hopes while a really good run could see us challenge top.

As mentioned we qualified from our Europa League group, Dortmund claimed top and Charlton finished 2nd a staggering 9 points clear of Celtic.

Results — January to March

A very important set of fixtures approached, not only was it time for the Europa League and FA Cup knockout stages, but our EPL form would decide what Charlton could fight for come the final few months. And lets just say we have a lot to fight for, not only are we through to the FA Cup and Europa League semi-final but my boys won 9, drew one and lost just two of our 12 Premier League fixtures.

Results — April to May

The final few months were very exciting, with everything to play for I had to watch the players fitness and avoid putting a foot wrong. My boys came through with flying colours winning all of our Premier League matches bar one, we also reached the Europa League final but did lose 3-2 to Arsenal in the FA Cup semi-final.

After an incredible run of form, Charlton beat all the odds to finish top of the EPL.

Europa League final vs Juventus

Charlton’s first Europa League final was upon us and the chance to win some European silverware had come much faster than anticipated. Juventus while full of experience and quality did lack the physical edge my side seemed to boast. This match was decided by one incredible goal which you can see by clicking here…but for those that don’t watch it, you’ll see who won below :)

Squad stats and finances

After an awesome season that saw Charlton lift two more pieces of silverware, there are plenty of stars to thank. The most surprising of which was left winger Kyle Craig who scored 8 goals and assisted 23. When you consider his attributes aren’t the best and he’s been with me since our Blue Square Premier days its quite an incredible achievement.

The season went so well that my board decided to increase the stadium capacity to 32,353, add under soil heating and upgrade the clubs youth and training facilities.

The only problem is that all these improvements came at a price of £20.5 million, leading the board to invest a further £19.75 million into the clubs running costs.

The most recent investment leaves my bank balance at £27.2 million, a good sum but we still have a lot of debt and transfer fees draining our resources. Hopefully Champions League football will help balance things out though.

Well that is it for this update. I won’t be updating this story for a little while though. The last few months have seen me over play the game and I have started to feel stale and a little bored, that doesn’t mean I will be ending the save but I do need a little time away in order to fuel my hunger for the game. We all hit this awkward period but hopefully mine won’t last long, I just need a small break. So thanks to everyone who has commented so far and I’m sure I will return with another update soon.