Bought this yesterday - I did have a... ahem, 'version' of the game beforehand but I wanted the Winter transfer update & I couldn't 'obtain' the patch anywhere.
Regardless, I've started as Newcastle as I always do. I had honestly forgotten how addictive this game is, foolishly. I'm a couple more press conferences away from throwing on my suit & taking it even more seriously.
Usually when I play FM I just download a tactic that is known to win the majority of the time but I've decided to make my own this time & it is really doing well, to my surprise.
First off, I needed a bit more strength in the centre of midfield as although the starting midfield at Newcastle is top quality, (Cabaye, Tiot? and to a lesser extent Danny Guthrie), there's not much offered in the squad for much impact off the bench/in the event of injuries.
So, being trusted with a budget of ?10m assuring I secure a top half finish, say hello to the newest arrivals on Tyneside.
Cairney/Petrucci are very much ones for the future. Cairney has made appearances in cup games for us this season & done well but he's not going to break into a regular Starting XI for some time.
N'Zonzi has solidified his place in the line-up with performances in the past few games. Fans were sceptical when he first arrived but he's played well enough to silence those doubters thus far, which has pleased me.
It's not been all straight forward in terms of transfers though. It's mid-November in the first season right now & I'm worried I've f**ked up here. M'Vila became available for ?12.5m. He's an absolute animal in midfield on FM & I always look to sign him in my games. This opportunity came up around the same time PSG, Inter & Napoli, (as well as Liverpool & Aston Villa but I don't tend to sell to teams in my league), were sniffing around Cheick Tiot?; tempting me with offers of ?10-12m. I took up Stade Rennais' offer & approached M'Vila, whilst accepting offers for Tiot?.
Tiot? was very happy with the offer from PSG & I'd put ?51,000 p/w on the table for M'Vila to mull over. This all was going on during an International break so I was anxiously continuing the game awaiting news M'Vila had joined the Geordie Revolution. Unfortunately, he decided to take a contract offer from FC Porto.
This left me no option but to pull the plug on all deals concerning Tiot?'s move away. And boy, he wasn't happy. He wanted a private chat with me...
Uh-oh.
He's now considering his options in the short-term but hopefully we can convince him to stay. It shouldn't take too much, especially when he looks at the league table.
And I sh*t you not; this is without the ol' save/reload tactic. Believe me, I'd have done it by now in a few of these games. Notably being 2-0 up at the Etihad Stadium & losing 4-3...
Regardless, we've got some tough fixtures coming up that we'll need to get good results out of to keep right in the thick of things.
I've missed you FM, old friend...
). Met Swansea in the Carling Cup semis & won the 1st leg at home 2-1. Went back to Wales and things were back level going into ET. The 119th minute saw Ciss? head in from a corner & Newcastle finally had another day out at Wembley to meet...
)
