And we’re off, amidst all the snow and bad news reports, this blog is finally up and running.

This first post is going to be a continuation of my Current Game managing Leatherhead FC up from level 7 of the English leagues all the way up to the Premiership (hopefully). The first instalment of that game can be found HERE, but I’ll do a quick round-up as well as it’s been a while since I last updated.

I last updated at the half-way stage of the first season, and I was extremely happy with our position. Having told the board I could achieve a safe mid-table position we had surpassed all expectation and found ourselves in 2nd place on the 1st Janurary 2010

We were still drawing far too many games for my liking but I was confident we could rectify that in 2010, which would hopefully be aided by bringing in some new faces in the January transfer window;

Only two signings there, Michael Reed, a Striker who would provide valuable cover upfront due to a recurring injury crisis, and Gavin Dayes, who would provide the same as Reed except at Centre-Back.

Onto our league performance, here’s the final league table of the 2009/2010 season;

An outstanding performance, we were 7th with four games left, so I went all out and managed to secure 3 wins and a draw, which was enough to bump us up into 4th place. We then faced Met Police in the Playoff Semi-Final, a team we’d beaten twice in the league and once in the cup, so I was hopeful we could do the same this time;

We crept through with a 1-0 win, which had been the story of our away form this season, standing between us and promotion were the slightly more threatening Dulwich Hamlet, who had finished just one place above us in the league but a full 8 points infront of us. Needless to say I was nervous going into this one. As it turned out, I shouldn’t have been;

We hammered them. When we went 1-0 down I slumped back into my chair thinking we were doomed to a 5-0, instead we managed to claw one back before half-time and I just told the boys to go for it, which they did. We’d done it, promotion in the first season.

Here’s the Squad and Tactics screenshot for the 2009/2010 season;

A strong squad with goals coming from all areas of the team, this was the team that won me promotion.

So after a very strong and confident start to my Leatherhead tenure, I strode confidently on towards the 2010/2011 season and the new pastures of the English Southern League Premier Divison.

Thanks for reading,

TB.

Since the end of FM09 is around the corner (for me anyway)  I thought it best to go back to my most successful game since my domineering Leeds team on Championship Manager 01/02.  Merseyside is the setting and Everton are my team; the year is 2012 and we are coming back off one of the most epic seasons I have ever witnessed on any football management game, time for a flashback:

After a 14 game winning streak that has seen my Everton side clime 10 points clear of Chelsea I was hit with the most depressing news since the death of my cat. I knew the finances weren’t the best but I didn’t think we were anywhere near the depths administration! How I was wrong. In case you haven’t already worked out what has happened, we got deducted 9 points for going into administration. We were still top of the league but it didn’t take long for me to work out that our lead wouldn’t last for long. The changing rooms were similar to a funeral reception in terms of atmosphere, self sympathy and depression, we were suddenly and ironically hit with a plague of injuries and now a top 4 finish seemed many miles away.

After losing a couple of games on the bounce, something needed to happen. That something came in the form of the first season top scorer now re-named Cunt.  Since the bollockless Hulk and Rossi couldn’t buy a goal between them, I had no other choice than to let the Cunt unleash. His goals not only won me a couple of important games, the confidence boost throughout the squad was immense. We managed to get level on points with Chelsea on the last day and that’s what it was all going to boil down to. To my shock and immediate sense of ‘oh fuck’, we were going up against Chelsea on the last day in a match that would decide the season and decide my legacy as a manager. Fortunately we managed to mastermind a 2-0 Victory at the bridge that won us the title. The scale of different emotions that this one game put me through was frightening, from crying in bed on the night of administration, to organizing a house party to celebrate the title winning triumph. That is why I love Football Manager.

(This happened a while ago so some of the finer details may not be 100% correct)

Enough of the sloppy shite, we are back and ready for the new season.  We got took over and the finances were apparently stabilized.  I knew that a few would leave and few would need to come in. I wasn’t sure on how much I would have to work with considering the Administration and the title win. To my relief, I was given 53 million to work with which is more than enough to create a team that can challenge once more. I had targets from previous seasons that I didn’t manage to land so I didn’t waste any time letting them get away.

My first signing was Aleksandar Kolorov from Newcastle for a fee of 13 Million. I had been playing Vermelean at left back last season but his defensive mentality cost me quite a bit, I wanted someone who would bomb forward to feed my target man but still willing to get back and put in a good tackle. Kolorov was just the man for the job. To fit in with my new fullback system, I need a similar right back to Kolorov. That man happened to be Valon Behrami from West Ham for 12 Million. Although he wasn’t as good going forward as Kolorov, you could guarantee he would still get up and down the flank and remain reliable at the back.  I now had two perfect full backs.

I had been after the next player for a while as I have never had him on any other of my games and I have heard great stuff.  The player in question was now Rangers star player, John Fleck. I managed to pick him up for 10 Million. He was not going to be playing every game in his first season but I had no doubt that he could fit straight into the team in a couple of season’s time. The next signing was an orgasmic one. This young lad a loan spell a couple of seasons ago and was a hero, becoming a fans favourite and left with Everton very close to his heart. I’ve wanted to get him at Goodison permanently for a while now but this time another loan signing was the only deal we could materialize. Franseco Bolzoni joins on a loan deal from Inter Milan.

Looking at my squad I realised that there was absolutely no backup for Sergio Asenjo, before looking at bidding for someone I had a snoop at the free agents and found Ferdinando Coppola who signed a couple of days after being offered the deal. Now that I had the goalkeeping situation sorted I needed a target man to give me a different option up front and to finish off the physically dominant team I was creating (Felipe, Fellaini etc) Knowing that I still needed a centre back I opted to loan the highly rated Pavel Pogrebynak for one year. He was pretty much perfect for my team. Now we move on to the much needed Centre back to partner the much loved Felipe. I was desperate to get Zapata, Felipe’s partner at Udinese playing in blue colours as his pace would of been a real asset. However, AC Milan had a massive shit on that one plan. Panicking slightly after having bids for Federico Fazio and Steven Taylor rejected I had a look through my fellow Premierleague clubs. I finally settled on a surprise signing, no other than Pascal Cygan’s early child, Philipe Senderos for a massive 22.5 Million. I know what you are thinking; why the fuck have you wasted 22.5 Million of the administrators money on that big fucking donkey! But wait, Senderos is actually a beast on the game, great physical stats matched with equally good mental stats. He was pretty much like for like with Felipe and he fitted in perfectly.

That will do for now, my fingers are aching and I need to play the game so I have something else to write about! The second update will feature my new look team and the first few results of the new season! Also,  I should mention that this will be my last season with Everton as I look to move on to another club/nation to stop this blog from getting boring.

The Coca Cola Championship is the highest division of The Football League and second-highest division overall in the English football league system after the Premier League. According to Deloitte, the well known accountancy firm, in the 2004-05 season it was the richest non-top flight football division in the world, and the sixth richest division in Europe.

Teams who win promotion from the Championship are promoted into one of the worlds biggest leagues, the English Premier Division. Many teams struggle to battle against relegation after promotion, however teams such as Reading and West Ham have survived their first season up. Due to the influx of sponsorship money, the Championship is making its clubs richer and enabling them to sign more high profile players and lucrative salaries. This explains the big names who are currently playing in the Championship.

Throughout the Championship there is not much to separate the top teams. Unlike the Premier Division where certain teams continue to finish in similar positions the Championship is wide open year after year. Anybody can beat anybody on their day and this adds to the excitement of the league. Look at Bristol City last season, they came up and managed to get a solid play off position in fourth position.

A number of the Championships top players are expected to have the potential to make the step up into the Premier League in the near future. These include Michael Kightly, Owen Garvan, Joe Mattock, Joe Ledley and Victor Moses. A number of players have also been very successful at making the step up in the past. Names such as Darren Bent, Michael Dawson, Marlon King and Dean Ashton are currently playing their trade in the Premier League.

The question is, who are going to be the surprise packages this season? Who will be the underachievers, will teams with a big history such as Southampton survive the threat of relegation?

Year Founded: 1887.
Status: Professional.
Team Name: Barnsley
Current Cash: £2.77M
Current Wage: £58, 734 p/w
Star Player: Hugo Colace (DM MC)
Media Prediction: 22nd
Stadium: Oakwell, Barnsley.
Stadium Capacity: 23,009 all seater with under-soil heating.

Barnsley were founded in 1887 and used to be known as Barnsley St Peter’s. They were promoted to the Championship after promotion was secured at the end of the 2005-06 season by beating Swansea City 4-2 on penalties in the play-off final. Their current manager is Simon Davey and he has been at the club since 2006. Last season they exceeded expectations by reaching the FA cup semi finals after beating big Premiership teams such as Liverpool and Chelsea. Their home ground is Oakwell which holds 23,009 fans.

Barnsley are targeted to at least avoid relegation, and if this target is picked then the board will give you £800,000 to spend, with a wage budget of £68,000 p/w. One of Barnsley’s best players is Maceo Rigters, a Dutch striker who is on loan from Blackburn. Barnsley have a pretty big squad, with a varied nationality throughout the side. Other best players are Hugo Collace, Denis Souza, Iain Hume and Diego Leon.

Who would I sell? I would sell Miguel Mossto, a Peruvian striker who is worth £100,000, he does not have particularly great stats and Barnsley already have good strikers with Rigters, Hume and Macken. You might also want to sell striker Kayode Odejayi, as he has displeasing technical stats and is valued at around £160,000.

Year Founded: 1875
Status: Professional.
Current Cash: £7.53M
Current Wage: £246k p/w
Star Player: Sebastian Larsson (AMR)
Media Prediction: 1st
Estimated Value: £21.5m
Stadium: St Andrews, Birmingham
Stadium Capacity: 30009

Formed in 1875 as Small Heath Alliance, they adapted a number of names before finally becoming Birmingham City F.C. in 1943. Birmingham were promoted to the Premier League via the play offs in 2002. At the end of the 2007-08 season, they were relegated from the Premier League to the Football League Championship. Their current manager is Scotsman Alex McLeish. Their home ground is St Andrew’s since 1906 which has a maximum attendance of 30,009. They have a long-standing and fierce rivalry with Aston Villa, their nearest neighbours, with whom they play the Birmingham derby. The club’s nickname is Blues.

Birmingham’s minimum expectation is to get promotion to the Premiership, and you are given £3,000,000 to spend on transfers and a wage budget of £250,000 p/w. Birmingham have a vast array of good players, one that stands out though is James McFadden. He is a Premiership striker playing in a Championship team, and will bag you at least 15 goals. Other good players consist of Sebastian Larsson, Lee Carsley, Liam Ridgewell and Garry O’Connor.

Who would I sell? There is not really any bad areas in the side, the depth is just about right. If anything, the squad is good enough how it is at the moment.

Year Founded: 1887.
Status: Professional.
Current Cash: £2.06M
Current Wage: £57,862 p/w
Star Player: Alan Gow (AM L / ST)
Media Prediction: 24th
Stadium: Bloomfield Road, Blackpool.
Stadium Capacity: 9,065

Blackpool were founded in 1887 and have been a member of the Football League since 1886. They were promoted to the Championship in 2006-07 after winning the League One Play-Off Final. They are nicknamed the seasiders or the tangerines. Their main rivals are Preston North End in which they play the West Lancashire derby. Their home staidum is currently Bloomfield road, with only a small attendance of 9,650 it is one of the smaller grounds in the Championship.

Blackpool does not have much expectation in the Championship, the minimum is to “Attempt to avoid relegation”, which will give you a £600,000 transfer budget and a £61,000 p/w wage budget. There are some good players who you can rely on to stay up though, especially Gary Taylor-Fletcher. He can play upfront or out wide and would make a good partnership with Alow Gow and Ben Burgess. Blackpool are decent in midfield and defence too, David Vaughan and Keith Southern are good central midfielders and Ian Evatt is a good prospect at centre-back.

Who would I sell? I would sell Claus Jorgensen, he’s 32 years of age and is quite poor technically, even around £75,000 would be a good sell. Rob Edwards is another I would show the door, he’s worth £300,000 and he would be no miss for the defence.

Year Founded: 1897.
Status: Professional.
Current Cash: £7.52M
Current Wage: £63,333 p/w
Star Player: Louis Carey (D RC)
Media Prediction: 7th
Stadium: Ashton Gate, Bristol.
Stadium Capacity: 19,500 all seater.

Bristol City Football Club is one of two football league clubs in Bristol, the other being arch rivals Bristol Rovers. They play at Ashton Gate which has an attendance of 19,500. Gary Johnson has been the team’s manager since 23 September 2005. They were promoted to the Coca-Cola Championship in the 2006-07 season after finishing second in League One but failed to make a second consecutive promotion to the Premier League after they were defeated by Hull City in the Championship Play-Offs. The club is nicknamed the Robins.

Bristol City does not give you a choice of a target to set, they set it for you. Your transfer budget is £1,400,000 and wage budget £69,000 p/w. The target is to get to the Play-offs at least, which could be tough. Bristol City have a great player in Michael McIndoe, a left winger who could cut it in the Premiership from past experience. Adriano Basso is also a reliable goal-keeper, who will be integral to the clubs fortunes. Lastly Lee Trundle is a popular striker who should bag around 15 goals for you, evident of his past.

Who would I sell? Well Bristol City have a pretty thin squad, but if anyone’s to go then a couple of reserve players would not go a miss, like Steve Brooker and Jennison Myrie-Williams.

Year Founded: 1882.
Status: Professional.
Current Cash: £3.58M
Current Wage: £89,920 p/w
Star Player: Christian Kalvenes (D L)
Media Prediction: 18th
Stadium: Turf Moor, Burnley.
Stadium Capacity: 22,516 all seater with under-soil heating.

Burnley Football club are nicknamed the clarets and are managed by Owen Coyle. They play in a claret and blue strip, having played at their home ground of Turf Moor since 1883. Since 2000, they have been in the second tier of the English league. Burnley have played their home games at Turf Moor since 1883. Their rivals are Blackburn Rovers and Preston North End who they come across more often in the Championship.

Burnley’s minimum expectations for the season are to finish Mid-table, and with this target you are given £600,000 to spend and a £100,000 wage budget p/w. Burnley have a few good players at the club, one being Chris Eagles. He can play anywhere across the midfield and looks to be one of the best Championship players. Robbie Blake is another player who I have singled out, the striker can net around 15-30 goals a season with service from the likes of Mahon and Eagles. Graham Alexander is also a good influential right back for his age, at 36 he wont last long though.

Who would I sell? I would sell ageing Ade Akinbiyi, he’s not better than any other striker at the club and is taking up £5,000 p/w. I would also sell Steve Jones, the winger has poor attributes and it would not be hard to replace him.

Year Founded: 1899.
Status: Professional.
Current Cash: £5.55M
Current Wage: £98,295 p/w
Star Player: Joe Ledley (M LC)
Media Prediction: 11th
Estimated Value: £5.5m (Loan debt: £17m).
Stadium: Ninian Park, Cardiff
Stadium Capacity: 21508

Cardiff are a team with potential. Recently they have had a number of highly talented youngsters such as Chris Gunter and Aaron Ramsey who has recently moved to Arsenal. They also have the likes of Joe Ledley on their books who is expected to have a promising career ahead of him. They were promoted from Division Two in 2003 and have since established themselves in the Championship.They play their home games at Ninian Park and are nicknamed the Bluebirds.

Cardiff have a target of getting a top half finish, £750,000 transfer budget and a £110,000 p/w wage budget. Cardiff have a great midfield with consists of Ledley, McPhail, Wittingham and Gavin Rae. Striker Jay Bothroyd is definitely the clubs best striker, from past experience he has the capability to score over 30 goals a season. There’s a good built defence as well, Rodger Johnson and Darren Purse make a good centre-back partnership.

Who would I sell? I would sell striker Warren Feeney, he is currently on loan but you could get around £100,000 for him. I would also sell Riccy Scimeca too, his contract runs out at the end of the season and the midfielder is no better than the others that play in his position.

Year Founded: 1905.
Status: Professional.
Current Cash: £2.7M
Current Wage: £145,839 p/w
Star Player: Martin Cranie (D RLC)
Media Prediction: 9th
Estimated Value: £21m (Loan debt: £3.5m).
Stadium: The Valley, London.
Stadium Capacity: 27,111 all seater with under-soil heating.

Charlton Athletic are also known as the Addicks. Charlton have had a number of periods in the top flight, the most recent one being between 2000 and 2007. Charlton play at The Valley which can house just over 27000 people. They are currently managed by Phil Parkinson and are struggling against relegation this season.

Charlton are a team with not an appealing financial situation. They set the target of reaching the play-offs, but you don’t get no money to spend and £140,000 p/w to spend on wages. Charlton have lost their Premiership standard players, but the likes of Darren Ambrose and Zheng Zhi show signs of being useful Championship standard players in the midfield. Andy Gray is also a reliable striker who could score quite a few goals in the league and would make a good partnership with Todorov.

Who would I sell? I would sell centre back Mark Hudson, he could leave for around £350,000 and there is good enough players to cover for him. Stuart Fleetwood is also a useless striker for Charlton and there is cover too, he could go for anywhere between £50,000-£100,000.

Year Founded: 1883.
Status: Professional.
Current Cash: £6.89M
Current Wage: £77,282 p/w
Star Player: Elliott Ward (D C)
Media Prediction: 21st
Estimated Value: £4.9m (Loan debt: £34m).
Stadium: The Ricoh Arena, Coventry.
Stadium Capacity: 33,263 all seater with under-soil heating.

Coventry City were the longest serving top flight team before their relegation to the second tier a few seasons back. They were also founding members of the English’s Premier League back in 1992. Recently in 2005 they moved to a new ground, The Ricoh arena. This is a very impressive stadium, especially for the Championship. They were threatened by administration in 2007 however Ray Ranson’s takeover of the club got them out of trouble.

Coventry’s target is to stay clear of relegation and you are given £1,500,000 to spend with a wage budget of £82,000 p/w. Coventry especially have a good bunch of strikers, the likes of Freddy Eastwood, Michael Mifsud and Clint Morrison. 10 goals each from these strikers would suffice. Coventry also have a good centre back in Elliot Ward and centre midfielder Guillaume Beuzelin is a useful player to have. Jay Tabb is a player who can play anywhere in midfield, many teams seem to chase the Irishman and his ability to get assists is the reason why.

Who would I sell? I would sell Leon Best, as said before the strikers are good at Coventry and more money could be made by offloading Best. Kevin Kyle is another I would show the door to, his contract runs out at the end of the season and he is rotting in the reserves.

Year Founded: 1905.
Status: Professional.
Current Cash: £5.65M
Current Wage: £97,809 p/w
Star Player: Jose Fonte (D C)
Media Prediction: 3rd
Estimated Value: £15.5m (Loan debt: £2.2m).
Stadium: Selhurst Park, London.
Stadium Capacity: 26,309 all seater.

Crystal Palace are another former great loitering around in the Championship waiting to return to the levels they have been at previously. They currently play at Selhurst park. They are managed by Neil Warnock since he took over from Peter Taylor in 2006. They are now entering their fourth consecutive season in the Championship after being relegated from the Premier League a number of years back.

Crystal Palace’s target is to get to the play-offs. They give you £2,500,000 to spend, a healthy amount, and £120,000 to spend on wages. I feel with the squad Palace have they have the ability to reach their target, players like Julian Speroni, Carl Fletcher and John Oster provide that reliability. Palace also have some quality in their youngsters, players like Victor Moses, Rhoys Wiggins and Ben Watson are just some of the best youngsters, even in the Championship.

Who would I sell? There is not really any players that I feel need to be sold, if anything the club should be strengthened. If anyone reserve players like Simon Thomas and Calvin Andrew should be offloaded in the near future.

Year Founded: 1884
Status: Professional.
Current Cash: £11.77M
Current Wage: £256k p/w
Star Player: Emmanuel Villa (ST)
Media Prediction: 4th
Estimated Value: £23.5m
Stadium: Pride Park, Derby
Stadium Capacity: 37,859

After a disastrous season in the Premier League Derby will be looking to bounce back up. They were promoted after finishing third and winning the Play offs. Last season they set the new record low for the lowest points in the Premier League. Their current manager is Nigel Clough.

Derby County are a team that are at the very least expecting a play-off spot come the end of the season, and you are given £3,000,000 to spend and a £275,000 wage p/w structure. Derby have some good players in their squad, most notably striker Emanuel Villa, he’s in the prime of his career and should bag at least 20 goals in the first season. Other good players consist of long standing injured Giles Barnes, who from past experience is wanted by a host of Premiership clubs, midfielder Kris Commons and the promising youngster Miles Addison.

Who would I sell? I would start off by selling left back Mo Camera, he is past it at 33 and is not needed. I would also sell ageing Andy Todd, he takes up £10,000 p/w on wages and there is sufficient cover already.

Year Founded: 1879
Status: Professional.
Current Cash: £2.18M
Current Wage: £47,550 p/w
Star Player: Jos Van Nieuwstadt (MC)
Media Prediction: 23rd
Estimated Value: £5.75m
Stadium: Keepmoat Stadium
Stadium Capacity: 15111

Doncaster are a new team to the Championship. They were promoted from the play offs at the end of last season. This season Doncaster are struggling to adapt to the Championship despite a promising start with a win over Derby County. One of their worst runs in recent history sees them bottom of the Championship as of December 20th following a narrow 1-0 defeat to Wolves at home. They are managed by Sean O’Driscoll. They play at the Keepmoat Stadium which has a capacity of just over 15,000.

Doncaster are a team who are heavily tipped to struggle this season, the boards minimum aim is to just attempt to avoid relegation and you are given a budget of £300,000 to spend and £51,000 p/w on wages. Doncaster have a pretty healthy squad, brims with depth and there are a few good players among them. For one Paul Hefferman is a Striker who I’ve seen come up the ranks from previous FM’s, and always seems to be pivotal in Doncaster’s success. Reliable Welsh-capped left back Gareth Roberts is someone who has experience and technical ability to help the cause of staying up and other decent players include John Spicer, Jos Van Nieuwstadt and Stuart Elliot.

Who would I sell? I would sell striker Darren Byfield, he’s worth £100,000 and has no ability better than the rest of the strikers. I would also sell midfielder James Coppinger for the same reasons, and he is worth £450,000, money which could be spent on better quality.

Year Founded: 1878.
Status: Professional.
Current Cash: £15.06M
Current Wage: £116,362 p/w
Star Player: Richard Wright (GK)
Media Prediction: 8th
Estimated Value: £18.75m (Loan debt: £22m).
Stadium: Portman Road, Ipswich.
Stadium Capacity: 30,300 all seater with under-soil heating.

Ipswich have a very good set up for a Championship side. They last appeared in the Premier League in 2001-02. They had a good go at getting back up shortly after that after only just missing out on promotion in 2004/05 and then making the Play offs the following season. Their home ground is Portman Road which holds just over 30,000. They have a good base to build upon, and with the right guidance they could soon be back up in the Premier League.

Ipswich Town are a well known team in the Championship, mostly for their money. Their expectations are to reach the play off, a healthy £4,800,000 to spend and a £155,000 p/w wage budget. Ipswich brim quality throughout their team, and from past experience they tend to reach the play offs and sometimes win the league. Big players include well known striker Danny Haynes, his pace is a quality asset in the Championship as he beats a lot of defenders to the ball and can finish well. Midfielder Tommy Miller is another good player in the team and would make a good partnership with Macedonian Shumulikoski. ‘Keeper Richard Wright is also someone who sticks out, has experience and a lot of years left in him.

Who would I sell? Well personally, no-one. There is good depth and I would keep the same team till at least January, they have the ability to go up and then you can rake the money in.

Year Founded: 1902.
Status: Professional.
Current Cash: £8.21M
Current Wage: £94,152 p/w
Star Player: Dejan Stefanovic (D C)
Media Prediction: 14th
Estimated Value: £14.25m (Loan debt: £17.75m).
Stadium: Carrow Road, Norwich.
Stadium Capacity: 25,600 all seater with under-soil heating.

Norwich are nicknamed The Canaries and are currently managed by Bryan Gunn after the recent sacking of Glenn Roeder. Norwich have quite a good recent history as they were founding members of the Premier League and managed to get into the UEFA cup after the first few seasons. They play at Carrow Road where celebrity chef Delia Smith often makes an appearance.

Norwich City’s expectation is to achieve a mid-table position, but from past experience they can reach the play offs. Given £500,000 to spend and a wage budget of £100,000 p/w. Norwich have quite a few good loanee’s at the club, for example strikers Arturo Lupoli and Antoine Sibierski make a good strike force. Midfielders Wes Hoolahan and Lee Croft end up doing well a lot of the time, and Darrel Russell has good technical stats. There are some good defensive players too, the likes of Adam Drury, Gary Doherty and Stefanovic.

Who would I sell? I would not sell anyone, they have a pretty small squad as it is and rely on loans. I would wait till the season is over and then offload the ones that don’t perform.

Year Founded: 1865
Status: Professional.
Current Cash: £3.35M
Current Wage: £65,553 p/w
Star Player: Guy Moussi (MC)
Media Prediction: 17th
Estimated Value: £11.25m
Stadium: The City Ground
Stadium Capacity: 30600.

Forest are a team who have had a lot of success before sliding down the leagues. They were promoted to the Championship last season after gaining automatic promotion. They have a good manger in Billy Davies who has been hired to help the club establish themselves in the higher leagues again. They won the European cup in 1979 and 1980 and were founding members of the Premier League.

Despite being newly promoted, Nottingham Forrest have an expectation of achieving mid-table safety. A £500,000 budget is provided and £78,000 p/w wage budget. Journeyman striker Rob Earnshaw is definitely one of the clubs best players, he should get around 20 goals a season with the pace and finishing he possesses. Youngster James Dunne is someone from the Arsenal youth, he has some good technical stats and is a promising midfielder. Other good players consist of Cohen, Martin and Moussi.

Who would I sell? Again Nottm Forrest have a pretty thin squad with a few youngsters in it, I would only buy in the first season.

Year Founded: 1886.
Status: Professional.
Current Cash: £5.34M
Current Wage: £81,843 p/w
Star Player: Emile Mpenza (ST)
Media Prediction: 13th
Estimated Value: £5.75m.
Stadium: Home Park, Plymouth.
Stadium Capacity: 19,800 all seater.

Plymouth have the potential to be both promotion material and relegation material as they are a fairly average side and depending on how they are managed. They have been a Championship side for a little while now, not making any major progress, their last finish was 10th. They have no real rivals with their closest away game being 116 miles away. They are managed by Paul Sturrock and are also named The Pilgrims.

Plymouth Argyle are a team who want at least safe mid table, however a pretty decent budget is given to you with £1,500,000 to spend and £99,000 p/w on wages. Strikers Rory Fallon, Jermaine Easter, Steven Maclean and Emile Mpenza are a good strike force, anywhere in the region of 15 goals each should keep the team in their expectation. Marcel Seip and Timar.

Who would I sell? If anything yet again there isn’t any players that have to be sold, they are all of decent quality for the Championship.

Year Founded: 1881.
Status: Professional.
Current Cash: £4.68M
Current Wage: £74,083 p/w
Star Player: Ross Wallace (D WB AM L)
Media Prediction: 16th
Estimated Value: £8.75m.
Stadium: Deepdale, Preston.
Stadium Capacity: 23,960 all seater

Preston had been flying high in the Championship after making the play offs numerous times over recent years. However, last season they suffered a set back when they were struggling against relegation for the majority of the season. Paul Simpson was sacked and Alan Irvine was hired as manager. He managed to turn the team around and in the end they were safe by quite a distance. This season they have been exceeding what is expected of them again as they are currently amongst the play off places. Their main rivals are Blackpool, however there is also a fierce rivalry with Burnley. They have recently built a new stand to expand their ground.

Preston North End expect a minimum of getting mid-table safety in the first season. The budget is £1,000.000 and an £86,000 p/w wage budget. Preston technically have a lot of good players, the centre midfield spot is full of good competition from the likes of Nicholson, Carter, McKenna, Chaplow and Jarrett. Preston also have good strikers, the likes of Mellor, Elliot, Parkin and Brown should get you 5/10 goals each.

Who would I sell? No one. The squad is very thin and only needs recruitments. If you’re going to sell then its reserves who should go, Brett Ormerod can go as well as Anyinsah and Chris Neal.

Year Founded: 1885.
Status: Professional.
Current Cash: £24.96M
Current Wage: £128,072 p/w
Star Player: Damiano Tommasi (DM M RC)
Media Prediction: 12th
Estimated Value: £12.25m (Loan debt:£1.8m).
Stadium: Loftus Road, London.
Stadium Capacity: 19,148 all seater with under-soil heating.

QPR are a team that have the potential to be massive. They are now one of the richest clubs in the world after being bought by wealthy Formula 1 businessmen Flavio Briatore and Bernie Ecclestone. This was after a period where they struggled financially in 2007. They have also retired their number 31 shirt, this was after the sad death of promising player Ray Jones in a car crash in 2007. Ian Dowie is their former manager, however the new owners decided to sack him shortly after he was hired before bringing in Paulo Sousa as their new first team coach.

Q.P.R are a well known team for their riches, and its been replicated like this on FM. They want you to get at least a top table finish and give you a good £9,000,000 to spend, with £155,000 p/w on wages. QPR have some good players in their team with a mixture of nationalities, 34 year old Damiano Tommassi has brilliant mental attributes and good technical stats too, could do a lot of damage to teams in the Championship. Other good players consist of Radek Cerny, Akos Buzaky, Ledesma, Angelo Balanta and Lee Cook.

Who would I sell? I would start off by selling Agyemang and Rowan Vine, 2 strikers who would struggle and can be easily replaced. I would also sell Zeshan Rehman who’s on loan at Blackpool.

Year Founded: 1871
Status: Professional.
Current Cash: £9.34M
Current Wage: £210k p/w
Star Player: James Harper (MC)
Media Prediction: 2nd
Estimated Value: £24m
Stadium: Madejski Stadium
Stadium Capacity: 24000.

Reading were relegated from the Premier League only last season. However, the season prior to this, they were very successful after promotion. The finished well into the top half of the table which meant they exceeded all expectations. They are also tipped to go straight back up with quality players like Kevin Doyle and Andrew Bikey staying at the relegated club. Steve Coppell is still in charge of the club despite them being relegated.

Reading are a team who expect to get Promotion to the Premiership this season, they give you £5,000,000 to spend and £245,000 p/w on wages. They have some Premiership quality players due to being relegated the season before, players like Kevin Doyle, Stephen Hunt, James Harper and Ingimarrsson should do well in the league. Doyle in particular seems to score around 30 goals a season!

Who would I sell? I would sell Bobby Convey, he’s a good player but teams seem to offer around £3,000,000 for him, and for that I think it’s a good deal.

Year Founded: 1889.
Status: Professional.
Current Cash: £9.75M
Current Wage: £188,130 p/w
Star Player: Gary Speed (DM M LC)
Media Prediction: 10th
Estimated Value: £23m (Loan debt: £23m).
Stadium: Bramall Lane, Sheffield.
Stadium Capacity: 32,607 all seater with under-soil heating.

Sheffield United are one of the teams with higher expectations in the Championship. They won promotion to the Premier League in the 2005-2006 season but then could not survive at higher level and therefore got relegated the following season. They have spent the last season in the Championship however they were unable to fight back and gain another promotion. They are managed by Kevin Blackwell and are nick named the Blades.
Sheffield United have set an expectation to get to the play-offs and give you £4,000,000 to spend on players and a £210,000 wage budget p/w. From past experience with Sheff Utd, Billy Sharp is a beast for the club. Scored around 30 goals in 1 season and makes a good pairing with James Beattie. Workaholic midfielder Nick Montgomery is a reliable tool in the team and there is a lot of experience with Lee Hendrie and Gary Speed.

Who would I sell? I would sell defenders Mamadou Seck and Ugo Ehiogu, they are technically very poor and will struggle in this league.

Year Founded: 1867.
Status: Professional.
Current Cash: £5.21M
Current Wage: £53,994 p/w
Star Player: Deon Burton (ST)
Media Prediction: 15th
Estimated Value: £13.25m (Loan debt: £25.5m).
Stadium: Hillsborough, Sheffield.
Stadium Capacity: 37,859 all seater with under-soil heating.

Sheffield Wednesday, also known as The Owls are one of the oldest professional clubs in the world since first joining the Football League in 1892 they have competed in the top-flight for the majority of their history. However more recently they have been playing their football at a lower level, being in the Championship for the last three season and in League one the season before. Their main rivals are Sheffield United. They have had a relatively good start to the Championship this season and are currently in mid table.

Sheffield Wednesday are expectant of getting a mid-table finish come the end of the season, and give you £300,000 to spend with a low £65,000 p/w wage budget. Sheff Wed usually struggle on my games, young defender Tommy Spurr seems to attract interest from a lot of clubs and rightly so, he will be pivotal in the clubs success. Marcus Tudgay is another player who will be vital, he’s a striker who can score quite a few for the club.

Who would I sell? I would not sell anybody due the clubs lack of depth, just reserves like Peter Gilbert and Leon Clarke.

Year Founded: 1885.
Status: Professional.
Current Cash: £2.23M
Current Wage: £105,065 p/w
Star Player: Jack Cork (D RC DM MC)
Media Prediction: 19th
Estimated Value: £14m (Loan debt: £21m).
Stadium: St. Mary’s Stadium, Southampton.
Stadium Capacity: 32,470 all seater.

Southampton have been playing in the Championship since their relegation from the Premier League in 2005. Their home ground is St Mary’s where they moved to in 2001. They have recently slipped to the bottom half of the Championship after having a poor season last year and they are yet again struggling a little. They recently received their record high transfer fee of £12m for Theo Walcott from Arsenal.

Southampton seem to be financial difficulty, whatever aim you choose no money will be given to you to spend and only £105,000 p/w on wages. However there is some good players in the team, the likes of Skacel, Surman, Schneiderlin, Dyer, Lallana and B Wright-Phillips should help your team at least achieve mid-table mediocrity. Stern John is also a striker who should get at least 15 goals in a season.

Who would I sell? To raise funds I would sell reserve players that are not needed and don’t have a future at the club, the senior team seems to be decent at the moment.

Year Founded: 1912
Status: Professional.
Current Cash: £3.85M
Current Wage: £44,745 p/w
Star Player: Leon Britton (AMRC)
Media Prediction: 20th
Estimated Value: £6.5
Stadium: :Liberty Staidum
Stadium Capacity: 20300

Since 2005 Swansea have played their home games at their new stadium Liberty Stadium. They were promoted to League One in 2004-2005 and the League Championship (as Champions) in 2007-2008. 2008-09 will be Swansea’s first season at this level since 1983-84. Roberto Martinez is the current manager. A former player and is more famously known as his role in Central midfield, he took over as manager in February 2007, and led the Swans to promotion in his first full season in charge.

Swansea want to avoid relegation in the first season, they give you £800,000 to spend but a poor £59,000 p/w wage budget. Jason Scotland should be a big player in the clubs bid to stay up, the striker usually scores a lot of goals from past experience on FM and makes a good partnership with Febian Brandy. Other good players consist of Pratley, Tate, Bodde and keeper De Vries.

Who would I sell? I would raid the reserves and sell people like Matty Collins, Guillem Bauza, Dennis Lawerence and O’Leary. Should make around £100-200k with these sells!

Year Founded: 1882.
Status: Professional.
Current Cash: £530k
Current Wage: £115,665 p/w
Star Player: Grzegorz Rasiak (ST)
Media Prediction: 5th
Estimated Value: £17.5m.
Stadium: Vicarage Road, Watford.
Stadium Capacity: 19,500 all seater with under-soil heating.

Brendan Rodgers is the current manager of Watford after replacing Ade Boothroyd late in 2008. In 2005 they reached promotion bia the play offs to the Premier League where they could only manage one season up there before getting relegated and returning to the Championship. Ade Boothroyd left the club earlier this season after their disappointing start to the season. Watford are nicknamed the Hornets.

Watford have a set-minimum expectation of finishing in the play-offs this season, yet only £150,000 to spend and £110,000 p/w on wages. There is a few good players in the team, certainly Tommy Smith, John Eustace, O Toole and Jay De Merit will be big players for the team. Others include Harley, Bangura and McAnuff.

Who would I sell? I would not sell anyone from the senior side, the squad is quite thin and there is no slacking players in the squad.

Year Founded: 1877.
Status: Professional.
Current Cash: £13.72M
Current Wage: £130,304 p/w
Star Player: Michael Kightly (AM R)
Media Prediction: 6th
Estimated Value: £12m.
Stadium: Molineaux, Wolverhampton.
Stadium Capacity: 28,525 all seater with under-soil heating.

Wolves are a team that hold high expectations and this season they seem to have picked up their performances. They are currently sat at the top of the Championship in a very strong position. Wolves were last in the Premier League in the 2003/04 season where they only managed that one season before getting relegated. They have been tryiong to fight back more recently and some fans are expecting this one to be their season. They have a good manager in Mick McCarthy who should be able to guide them up.

Wolves minimum expectation is to reach the play-offs and give you a good £3,500,000 to spend with £150,000 going to wages. Wolves are known to have good players, such as Michael Kightly, Matt Jarvis and Kevin Foley. But also have a very good bunch of strikers, which consist of Keogh, Iwelumo, Ebanks-Blake and Vokes. They should all get at least 5-15 goals each a season, maybe even more.

Who would I sell? I would sell Jody Craddock, Lewis Gobern, Michael Gray and Denes Rosa. All should make around a £200k income.

Teams
As you may or may not know, the Championship contains 24 teams. The season spans from 11th August until 4th May. The top two teams go up automatically into the Premiership. The next four enter a playoff system. The semi finals are a two legged home and away affair with the final played on one day. The overall winner gains promotion with the 1st and 2nd placed teams. In the relegation issue the bottom three teams are relegated to League One.

Jointly authored by Chilvers and Cookie

General Information

Year Founded: 1881
Status: Professional
Reputation: National
Chairman Status: Loves the club
Icons: David Nugent, David Moyes, Sean Gregan
Favoured Personnel: Matt Hill, Mark Rankine, Mick Rathbone
Fierce Rivals: Blackpool, Burnley
Other Rivals: Leeds, Wigan, Blackburn and Bolton
Finances: Secure
Estimated Value: £10.25m
Stadium: Deepdale, Preston
Stadium Capacity: 20,100 all seater
Pitch Dimensions: Length: 101m, Width: 69m
Max Pitch Dimensions: Length: 107m, Width 76m
Training Facilities: Good training facilities
Youth Facilities: Average youth facilities
Continental Competition: None
Media Prediction: 16th
Squad Personality: Determined
Affiliate Clubs: Bury, Everton

Preston North End play in Football League Championship.

Finances

Transfer budget: £1m
Balance: £4.83m
Total wage budget: £83.61k P/w
Current wage budget: £70.83k

These are an average set of finances for the Championship and the transfer budget should allow you to bring in a few quality players.

Full Squad

Captain: Paul McKenna
Vice Captain: Callum Davidson

Overview

Preston have been associated with a number of legends throughout their history. The include Sir Tom Finney and Bill Shankly. The club have not experienced top flight success for a long time now however they are a quality team. They won successive promotions from the Third Division (CocaCola League 2) to the First Division (CocaCola Championship) and the club has reached 2 play-off finals since 2001 and has missed out closely on promotion.
They won the top flight in English football back in 1889 and 1890 and they finished runners up in another 6 seasons. They also have a history in the FA cup, winning it in 1889 and 1938.

Expectations

The board have a minimum expectation of you to finish safely with a mid table position in the Championship this season. With regards to the first season I would recommend that you tell the board you can that you can achieve a top half finish as the squad is definitely capable of this. This will increase your transfer budget to £1.2m and increase your wage budget by approximately £4k. This goes against the media prediction but it would be good to prove them wrong.

Goalkeepers

At the start of the season you have two goalkeepers capable of playing at Championship level. These are Andy Lonergan and Wayne Henderson. At first Wayne is injured for between a month and two months and therefore if Andy got injured you may be struggling. Andy is the better of the two keepers however they are both very similar in standard so I would keep an eye on who’s improving the most. They are both young keepers at the age of 24 and therefore they have a long career ahead of them. If you do need back up and don’t sign a goalkeeper Chris Neal would be the third best to bring in form the reserves.

Best Goalkeeper: Andy Lonergan

Defenders

The Preston first team squad contains 6 or 7 defenders spread fairly evenly between the different positions. First at right back the choice is between Billy Jones, Sean St Ledger and Michael Hart. As I would preferably play Sean and Billy elsewhere it leaves us with Michael to slot in at right back. They are 3 top quality defenders who are all great players at Championship level. At Centre back, you have the options of Billy Jones, Sean St Ledger, Youl Mawene, Neal Trotman and Liam Chilvers. Michael Hart is also an option however we have used him at right back. So from the 5 defenders I mentioned I would pick St Ledger and Mawene. I have said this as again I believe Billy to be a better option in the centre of midfield. Liam is injured at the start of the season and I believe he would come in as your third choice centre back. Trotman is still very young and as there is plenty of cover it may be an idea to send him out on loan. At left back the choices are Callum Davidson and Billy Jones and Ross Wallace. First choice would be Callum Davidson as he is a player with plenty of experience who offers a lot to the side. Billy Jones and Ross Wallace will provide good back up for this position however they are best used as midfield players.

Best Defender: Billy Jones/Sean St Ledger

Midfielders

The MR options are Chris Sedgwick, Barry Nicholson and Simon Whaley. I would suggest playing Nicholson on the wing to start out with and then choose to have another one as back up. Between Simon and Chris it is a very close call to make as they are two very evenly matched players as whilst Chris may edge out Simon on technical attributes, Simon’s pace leaves Chris for dead so this may well be a personal choice depending upon you how to wish the players. At MC the available players are: Billy Jones, Richard Chaplow, Paul McKenna, Barry Nicholson and Darren Carter. The starting pair would be Billy Jones as he is the best MC in the squad despite also being the best DR and DC. Alongside him would be the more experienced player in the form of McKenna who has only one area that lets him down being his pace and acceleration unfortunately. On the bench for this position would be Richard Chaplow who narrowly misses out on a start but may well move to edge McKenna out of the side over the course of the season if he applies himself well in training or when he comes in covering for injured players. Over on the left wing we have the choice of Lewis Neal, Darren Carter and Ross Wallace. Ross is by far the best player in this department and would be a brilliant asset to any Championship side. The other two would be best for back up, probably Darren Carter being the next best choice.

Best Midfielder: Billy Jones/Paul McKenna

Strikers

The available strikers are Chris Brown, Jon Parkin, Neil Mellor, Steven Elliot, Brett Ormerod and Karl Hawley. There is quite a variety of strikers to choose from here. However, I would play Neil Mellor alongside Chris Brown at first. They are the two best strikers in the squad and they still have chance to improve. As third choice, I would bring on Steven Elliot who is quicker and would be better running at tired defences. I also believe that Jon Parkin is the only other striker who would be worth a place in the team. He is not a great player at this level, however he will do a job if required. Karl Hawley and Brett Ormerod are not up to the level this league requires and I would therefore offload them or put them in the reserves.

Best Striker: Neil Mellor.

Recommended Starting 11

GK – Andy Lonergan
DR – Michael Hart
DL – Callum Davidson
DC – Sean St Ledger
DC – Youl Mawene
MR – Barry Nicholson/Chris Sedgewick
ML – Ross Wallace
MC – Billy Jones
MC – Paul McKenna
SC – Neil Mellor
SC – Chris Brown

This is a solid team that should perform well in the Championship and with a few choice buys can easily win promotion to the Premiership.

Recommended Sales

Lewis Neal – 150k

Not really going to get a chance in the first team and it would be best to sell him on and free up the wage bill. Best as a League 1 player.

Brett Ormerod -150k

Getting on now and is not in the top few strikers at the club. It would be best to cash in and boost your transfer budget further.

Karl Hawley – 150k

Not up to Championship level really. Can get a fair amount of money for him and it would be better than leaving him to rot in the reserves.

Jason Jarrett – 100k

Plenty of competition in the centre of the park and therefore I feel it would be best to get rid of Jason. He’s in his prime but isn’t going to add anything extra to our squad.

Joe Anyinsah – 50k

A young player who unfortunately I don’t think he’ll ever make a Championship standard, Would be better letting him go and get some money in for him.

Recommended Buys

Ian Walker – GK – £160k – £3,700 p/w – Bolton Reserves

I think cover is needed in goal. Ian Walker is a lot better than Andy Lonergan and so I think he would be a great addition to the squad in this key position.

Ben Burgess – ST £90k – £3,700 p/w

Burgess is a striker who is a great player at Championship level. He would be a good extra option as back up to your front two and when required he would be able to do the job.

Don Cowie – AMRC – Inverness – £900k – £2,200p/w

Would be a good addition to the midfield and would probably start ahead of Barry Nicholson.

Helguson – ST- On loan from Bolton – £7,000 p/w (80%)

Helguson would be a good signing to help out up front when there is a lack of goals. He is quickly snapped up though so you would have to move fast to have a chance of signing him.

Tactics

I play a flat 4-4-2 with my Preston team. I don’t think a narrow formation would suit them as this would take away the benefits of having quality wingers like Ross Wallace. A 4-4-2 allows the team build upon a solid base and make use of the quality Preston have in midfield.

I allow the dull backs to make forward runs as both of them, especially Callum Davidson is a good player going forward. This will add strength to attacks and should not weaken our defence too much, unless hit on the counter attack where we might be more at risk.

The two centre back have more defensive runs. This ensures that we don’t commit too many men forward when attacking. Also, they are not the best players going forward and therefore it is best to focus them on their strengths which is defending.

Team Instructions

The above graphic shows the team instructions I have selected for this tactic. I have set the team up so that they are going to focus more on attacking rather than defending. This is by giving the team a more attacking mentality we should create more up front and therefore, with a bit of quality finishing, score more goals. Also, we should be able to put the opposition under pressure by doing this.

I have selected a passing style which is mixed but focuses mostly on short passing. The players have the ability to pass the ball well and we might as well take advantage of this. It will also help us to keep possession giving us more time and more chances to create goal scoring opportunities.

Again, I have instructed the team to get the ball quite wide. This will get the wingers into play and give us an extra outlet when needed. Ross Wallace is a great player to give the ball to as he has the ability to put in a great ball and cause trouble for opposition defences.

I have also asked the team to close down in most areas of the pitch. This limits the amount of time the opposition has on the ball, meaning that they should be more prone to making mistakes. The fitness of the players should be good enough to do this job.

I have also set the team to man marking. This is more of a preference as neither are likely going to make too much difference. The squad is fairly good at marking on the whole so they should be able to cope with both styles. I have also requested players to mark tightly. This limits the amount of space the opposition gets and should work in our favour. I have used a play maker with this tactic, Ross Wallace. This is because he is a great player at this level and is a good creative player.

Name: Andrew Surman
Age: 21
Current Club: Southampton
Language: English
Nationality:English
Position: DL/MLC
Cost to buy: £2,100,000
Type of team he’d come to: Championship/ Premiership
Wages: £7,250 P/w

Strengths

Passing (14), Natural Fitness (15), Work Rate (14), Long Shots (13), Creativity (13)
Andrew is a very young player and is still learning and therefore he does not have too many key strengths. Although, he does have a very good sets of stats all round, with few standing out.

His passing is one of his stronger points which is obviously very important. He would slot into a side who like to keep the ball down and be able to stand up to what is required. Also, as he is a young lad, his fitness is quite high. This allows him to cover enough ground without too much trouble in a game and he has a work rate to match this. If played on the left wing, he may get more opportunities for long shots, which he is strong at and I’m sure he will improve. If you like to give your players a chance to be creative, then Andrew is likely to add a lot of creativity to your team.

He is a very versatile player, who can play anywhere down the left, or even in the centre of midfield. His attributes allow him to do a good job in any of these positions and increase his value to the club. He is also good with both feet, meaning that defenders will not be able to force him onto his weak foot, he will still be able to deliver a quality cross or get a good shot off.

Weaknesses

Bravery (.8), Aggression (9), Strength (10), Long Throws (4)

Andrew is only 21 however he does not possess too many weaknesses. The weakness that will affect his game the most, is probably his strength. Saying this, as he grows older and matures he will become stronger and training should help this. Other main weaknesses, such as his long throws and his bravery are not likely to have an affect on his game. Bravery is mainly needed at centre back, or in the centre of midfield, and therefore out on the wing or at left back a high level of bravery would not be required. Again, another player can be used to take throw ins and therefore Andrew will ot be required to take throws.

Individual Instructions

Andrew is best played on the left hand side of midfield, this is his natural position. However, he can easily slot into left back or be thrown into the centre of the park. If you did play him at CM while he is still a young player, you might find that your midfield is slightly lightweight and could have a major effect on the game.
It would be a good idea to give him some creativity freedom or long shots. These are two attributes which are likely to improve as he plays and they could add an extra edge to your team going forwards.

Training

Andrew is on a medium workload with a lot of attacking and defending. As his main position is on the left hand side of midfield, he is going to need to both attack and defend to give his best performance for the team. Also, as he is an accomplished left back he should needs to work on his defending. I have not included too much strength work in his schedule as this is not as important for wingers and it is bound to increase with age. I cut down the amount of tactics work he did so he was not being over worked.

Overall

Andrew is a young player who has plenty of potential. Currently his best level would be in the Championship, however in a couple of years time he will be a good quality Premiership player. A good buy for only a couple of million and his wage demands are not too high either. He has been capped at England U21 level which further shows his ability and his potential.