CM. Posted February 16, 2023 Share Posted February 16, 2023 James Coppinger, pretty sure he was still playing up until a year or 2 ago. This is superb, I've not really managed to get into the 03/04 or 06/07 mods brought out in the last couple of FM's but I reckon I'm for a save or 2 on this one. My first memories of football are from a tad later (the following season) but this is close enough. 0 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
aidan-bufc Posted February 16, 2023 Share Posted February 16, 2023 22 hours ago, djchapsticks said: 8 new faces came in and 2 PCA's during January. Here's the next batch of faces on the Tyne. Reveal hidden contents Ian Harte - £7.5m - Left back was a real problem area an Ian Harte has plenty of upside. 21, ridiculously good stats, can hit a mean free kick and good defensively to boot. Newcastle's record signing at this point and as it stands, the club record transfer: Reveal hidden contents Rafa Marquez - £1m from Atlas in Mexico. Got the hop on Bayern and Barcelona to get in ahead and nab him. Everyone knows the legendary career he had so it's a no-brainer. Reveal hidden contents Juninho Pernambucano - He of the 45 yard free-kick. A snip at £2m from Vasco da Gama but wasn't my first choice, this was in response to missing out on Xavi and Michael Ballack. Don't think he'll be a lifer with Newcastle but you never know. Reveal hidden contents Jason Koumas - signed solely on the basis of being a CM3 legend so I'm reasoning that he'll have high potential. If not, he cost £1.2m from Tranmere and was a suitable cheap domestic player option for the squad. Reveal hidden contents Peter Schmeichel - because why not? My favourite goalie of all time. And was on the transfer list at Man Utd. At 35, I've well overpaid in shelling out £2.1m for him but I've now definitely got the best two choice combination of keepers in the league. Reveal hidden contents Nihat Kahveci - not going to lie, recruiting a striker in this window has been fucking torture. I though I had Keane, Henry, Pizarro, Michael Bridges and Nikos Machlas all at one point and all fell through. Nihat is a superb player, he was superb for years in Spain with Sociedad so I'm basing him being a success on that fact. £2.5m from Besiktas Reveal hidden contents Carles Puyol - f**k yes. The old 1-2 Puyol/Marquez dream team is going to be a thing in B&W stripes. He won't start all the time just yet but he was out of contract in the summer and Milan were about to bag him on deadline day so I nipped in there to get him for, get this, A HUNDRED AND SIXTY FIVE GRAND! for Carles fucking Puyol! Reveal hidden contents Stiliyan Petrov - final deadline day signing from CSKA Sofia and a snip at £800k. Again, needed midfield numbers to make up for the loss of three so he definitely will do a turn. That rounds up the January business. Coming in this summer are these two relative unknowns. Reveal hidden contents You’ll be playing for free kicks at this rate 0 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
djchapsticks Posted February 16, 2023 Author Share Posted February 16, 2023 1 hour ago, aidan-bufc said: You’ll be playing for free kicks at this rate Harte as an 8 for free kick taking is a definite oversight. One of the best dead balls in PL history. 0 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
djchapsticks Posted February 16, 2023 Author Share Posted February 16, 2023 End of March and with 10 games to go. How have the last 3 months gone? Ooooft. Some absolute shoeings in there by the far superior Man Utd and Arsenal. Also took a tanking off Everton in the cup and this team is summed up by losing 3-0 to Charlton at The Valley in the Coca-Cola Cup and then going on to hose them 6-0 in the same ground 4 days later. The new signings have started pretty well and Nihat has had more games than suspected due to Duncan Ferguson suffering a broken toe in training after the Leicester game. The recent home win vs Chelsea was a nail biter. 3-1 up after an hour and Luca Vialli had 2 injury time goals ruled out to keep me clinging on. The league is awfy tight between 5th and 10th for the two UEFA Cup slots. I guess I should mention as well, all competitions in game have been changed in name only. Not format. The Coca-Cola Cup back in 1999 had 2 legged rounds all the way through, the Champions league was not the bloated format it is now (but starting to head that way) but rather 24 group teams advancing to a last 8 with six group winners and two best runners up heading through, also neither the UEFA Cup nor the Cup Winners Cup ever had group stages, it was straight knockout. Our run-in is decent too. 6 home games with 4 of those home games being Leeds, Everton, Villa and Spurs - all direct rivals for those European places... the only definite loss among those fixtures being Liverpool away. 0 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
djchapsticks Posted February 16, 2023 Author Share Posted February 16, 2023 The first youth intake is here - time to see if the thing that sets this database apart from the retro databases of the past has worked. And it has, Jenas obviously (though not 100% accurate as he came through the ranks at Forest and signed for Newcastle at 18) and also Stephen Brennan are two very real players. The others I think are the usual regens but I'm mighty impressed by this. I half expected a few high profile players coming through but it appears that it's dropped even to journeymen like Brennan. 0 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
djchapsticks Posted February 16, 2023 Author Share Posted February 16, 2023 Some of the Scottish youth intakes - aye. Colour me impressed as f**k. 0 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
djchapsticks Posted February 17, 2023 Author Share Posted February 17, 2023 Going into the last four games of the season and the only consistency is that we are painfully inconsistent. A win from absolutely nowhere at leaders Liverpool was swiftly followed up by losses at home to Southampton and away to Blackburn to sort of sum up where we are this season. We approach the last four games with a bit of optimism, 3 games at home and away to the side firmly in line to get relegated. The league also gets an extra slot for Europe as the two cup finalists are Utd and Arsenal. Everything to play for. 0 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
djchapsticks Posted February 17, 2023 Author Share Posted February 17, 2023 Game 35 - Everton (H) Everton are more or less out of the European reckoning now after a poor run of form and anything other than a win here will rule them out completely. Elsewhere the fixtures are kind as Leeds are at Home to Chelsea, Wimbledon travel to Highbury and Villa are away to Champions in waiting, Liverpool. A win here would be massive. Spoiler And we got it, no fuss whatsoever. Destroyed Everton in the first half. This boy Ronaldinho is turning into a pler. Who'da thought it? Elsewhere: Spoiler Routine for Arsenal leave Wimbledon with too much to do to catch us I think, Liverpool leave it late at Villa and Leeds smash Chelsea with a stunning 5-1. Spurs up on the Sunday away to Southampton Spoiler And they f**k it. Well rounded and grounded in reality type individual Matt le Tissier puts Spurs to the sword and with three games left. The league is looking very good all of a sudden: We currently can't finish any lower than 9th - we are at home to Leeds next which will seal qualification if we win, regardless of results elsewhere as victory means we can't finish below Leeds or Wimbledon. 0 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
djchapsticks Posted February 17, 2023 Author Share Posted February 17, 2023 Match 36 - Leeds (H) Doesn't really matter what's going on elsewhere. We've got one job to do and we know what it is. Leeds, like ourselves, coming off the back of a thumping win last week. We make a couple of changes due to suspensions. Howey in for Marquez, Kishishev replaces Puyol and Ferguson returns in place of Nihat. Cagey start to the match and after 24 mins Spoiler Thomas Hassler for Leeds. f**k sake. Spoiler And that's how it stayed until bang on half time when Etcheverry releases Ferguson who very calmly, slips it past Nigel Martyn 1-1 at the break. Spoiler 53 minutes gone: c**t - Lee Bowyer with a rasping low drive across goal from a corner. Spoiler 59 minutes and Shay Given has a fucking meltdown and rushed 25 yards from goal at which point Luizao lifts it past him - 3-1. Sake. And Hassler again on 72 minutes. We're getting a shoeing here. Fucking typical of this team. Spoiler Just a minute later though: Shearer to take it. And that was the last fucking highlight. 20 minutes and not even a shot or a glimmer of hope. Raging at the arseholes. Spoiler So how does that leave us? Thankfully Spurs lost so we should be over the line. We've got the Tyne-Tees derby up next! 0 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
djchapsticks Posted February 17, 2023 Author Share Posted February 17, 2023 Match 37 - Middlesbrough Schmeichel comes back in after Given's howler, as do Puyol at RB and Marquez at CB. And wow, a completely devoid first half. Not even a shot to test either keeper. Second half and nothing going until the 57th minute when. Spoiler Hamilton Ricard with an absolute belter of a goal. Takes it about 35 yards on a run to the edge of the box and fires it right into the opposite top corner. Not a lot you can do with that. Spoiler Then in 76 minutes: Ugo Ehiogu with a bullet header from a corner. Right, don't f**k this up! Spoiler 84 minutes: Yaaaas! Shearer! But nope, ruled out for fucking offside. And that was that. Spoiler We should have won that. Absolutely pummeled Boro in the second half. But how does it leave the table? Results elsewhere when our way which means we're back in European football via the Cup Winners Cup (Conference league). Overall, I'd have definitely taken that. Our season was littered with issues and there was a pretty massive squad churn which might well continue more into the summer. I've a few targets in mind, some of whom I missed out on in January. 0 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
djchapsticks Posted February 17, 2023 Author Share Posted February 17, 2023 A routine 2-0 victory over relegated Coventry coupled with Leeds going to Old Trafford and taking a last day tanking, means that instead of Cup Winner's Cup football, we are upgraded into the UEFA Cup. Overall, a very successful first season. In Scotland: Rangers edge out Celtic by three points - the decisive match being a 3-0 win in which a surprising January signing broke Celtic hearts... Spoiler Killie relegated to be replace by St. Mirren. Falkirk and Raith fighting the that last promotion/relegation spot. 0 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
djchapsticks Posted February 18, 2023 Author Share Posted February 18, 2023 (edited) Pre season transfers 1999/2000 As predicted, there has been plenty of transfer movement both in and out. Lets look at the outgoings first: There's a few major ones in there. The one that will jump out most is the sale of Juninho back to Vasco da Gama for a million more than what I paid them for him. He became really agitated that I wasn't willing to change out system to play the system that he wanted and when I said to him to adapt, he took the hump and stuck a transfer request in. Cruzeiro tried to lowball me with an offer but Vasco upped it and he's off. Domi was second choice left back with not that much upside so when Southampton offered over £6m for him, I jumped at it, particularly as I knew who I wanted as his replacement for backup to Ian Harte and wasn't willing to make the leap with him still in the squad, so it opened up that gate as we'll get to. Solano also took a major huff when I raged at the team following that 4-2 showing up by Leeds, he didn't like the tone, no-one else in the squad had issue so off he fucks. In terms of others, Pistone, Albert and the unfortunate Stephen Glass (who is actually good but fell down the order as last season went on) all pulled in around a million between them. Milan also offered nearly £40m for Shearer which did tempt me for a second given he's rounding the corner towards 30, but I've got him a new strike partner and another to really snap at their heels. I'll consider flogging him off once the understudy is up to speed. Incomings next and fair warning, the board threw nearly £70m of a transfer kitty at me, so I better get to spending... Edited February 18, 2023 by djchapsticks 0 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
djchapsticks Posted February 19, 2023 Author Share Posted February 19, 2023 Incoming! Going by position we've strengthened in pretty much every area of the park. Goalkeepers Spoiler Decided when I saw the youth intake that I'd have a pop for Craig Gordon, he ticks a lot of boxes in that he's cheap, has high potential and covers the Homegrown quota - £325k from Hearts. Spoiler Iker Casillas - Debated this one the entire window. I wanted a more experienced goalkeeper and the 18 year old doesn't fit that bill. I missed out on Stipe Plestikosa for what would have been a snip at £750k, and then Rogerio Ceni knocked me back on deadline day to sign a new deal with Sao Paulo. So Casillas became by second last signing of the window. £6m plus add-ons from Real. Centre Backs Spoiler Scouring for at least one new centre half and I happened across Bordon in Sao Paulo who had a £5.25m release clause which on the surface of it was a snip. Easy to negotiate with and easy to tie down. He did come with a caveat of wanting a teammate to help him settle. That teammate became my last signing of the window. That was it for my centre halves until Aston Villa started sniffing about Rio Ferdinand - I'd already made the choice not to go for him as I was already overloaded and guessed he'd end up at Man Utd or Arsenal, clubs I couldn't compete with. But wasn't letting him go to Villa. So parted with £13.5m for him. Left backs Spoiler As said previously, Bordon wanted a teammate to help him settle. That, I genuinely had no issue with. Sao Paulo are fucking tremendous in game. There is literally a wealth of options. From the previously mentioned Rogerio Ceni, to Juliano Beletti and Edu, to the reserves who have a couple of up and coming forwards such as Julio Baptista and a boy called Kaka. Problem is that none were interested in signing for us as Sao Paulo, as mentioned, have a massive reputation. So I settled on a season long loan deal for Fabio Aurelio with option to buy for £2.9m After selling Domi for £6.5m though, I already knew who I wanted as my second choice left-back. I had eyes on him for ages but as said in previous post, wasn't for getting him unless I freed up space, so when the bid came in, I'd already made my move for John Arne Riise from Monaco. He also cost less than I got for Domi, joining for £4.2m Right backs Spoiler I wasn't really in the market for a right back, Puyol and Kishishev are doing a good job rotating there but I was aware that a lot of foreigners were coming in so I had to get domestic numbers up. I saw that Stephen Carr was on the transfer list at Spurs and parted with £1.5m for him with the understanding that he's an emergency option. Also when scouting Scotland, my scouts came back with an A level rating for Gary Naysmith at Hearts and he was available for only £550k, so he was bought and loaned straight back to them for the upcoming season. Midfield Spoiler Right - business end of the park. I missed out on both of these players in the summer and was always intending to go back in for them if price and budget were right. And it turns out both were. Firstly....Frank Lampard. Again ticks all the boxes in being young, excellent and domestic. I had to include a release clause of £29m which is a pisser but I'll be negotiating my way out of of it ASAP. Parted with £16m to West Ham for his services but he'll be worth it. Secondly, the genius himself, Xavi. The release clause went up after my failed attempt in January but £8.5m is still pretty much stealing him. Forwards Spoiler Two forward additions here. Two fucking blockbuster forwards. I couldn't let go of losing out on Thierry Henry on deadline day, it really annoyed me. His agent came back about a month after the deadline to say they were willing to negotiate terms again and I decided there and then to finish up last seasons budget and dig into this season's in getting him in. He's the most expensive signing of the window at £18.5m (plus £2m add-ons) but he was one I had to get as soon as possible as Juve had him listed. Finally - my crown jewel. I didn't even look for this guy in the database as I was sure by this point he was already tearing it up at the club he made his name. So when my agents in Eastern Europe came back to tell me that his club were willing to get him go for £9.5m as he was exploring the options at the end of his deal. I snuck in, got my bid in early and hoped the interest from Milan and Bayern didn't amount to anything. Ladies and gentlemen. Newcastle's new FIVE STAR rated centre forward... The absolute LEGEND that is. Spoiler Andriy Shevchenko! And there we have it, a total spend of over £80m but lets be honest, £80m has bought Newcastle a genuinely world-class squad. Strength in depth in every area of the field. The board want top 6, I'm aiming for top 3....maybe even top 1. 0 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
The Equalizer Posted March 2, 2023 Share Posted March 2, 2023 You better be in traction @djchapsticks What's going on with the Toon?!?!? Also can you provide links to this setup? I would love to give it a whirl. 0 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
RandomGuy. Posted March 7, 2023 Share Posted March 7, 2023 Aye the database is huge fun, i worried for a bit i was cheating but f**k it, it brought the joy back to FM for me. I turned Arsenal towards the Czech Republic rather than France. Nedved, Poborksy and Prosinecki were my big first window signings 0 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Alert Mongoose Posted March 8, 2023 Share Posted March 8, 2023 (edited) @djchapsticks why no Willie Howie or was he an earlier version superstar? Edited March 8, 2023 by Alert Mongoose 0 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
djchapsticks Posted March 8, 2023 Author Share Posted March 8, 2023 Apologies folks, work got a wee bit hectic so I've not really had change to showcase my unreal array of talent that I've unleashed on the late 90s North East of England. So here's a wee update: August and September: We started off with a bang and a half! A 4-0 opening day win over a Utd side who last season were regularly dishing us out bitch slappings. We followed that with a visit to Highbury and another side who had out number and staged a massive late fightback from 4-2 to grab a hugely deserved point before visiting our biggest rivals and then tough customers in Sunderland and Everton, handing out telts left and right. A 3-3 home draw with Ipswich was mighty disappointing though. October and start of November: We remain unbeaten in the league and picked up a brilliant late win over the Champions Liverpool. A heavily rotated squad saw us pumped off Arsenal and the goals had dried up a wee bit until the last match there. Poor Litex didn't know what hit them. The league has been a dream start. All the big boys have started well actually, so expecting it to be a fun season. As for goalscorers, SAS was the original, Shearer and Sutton. Sheva and Shearer blows it out the water. Shearer, 13 goals and 9 assists in 12 games Shevchenko, 16 goals and 6 assists in 13 games Right behind them playing in attacking mid, chuck in the rise of Ronaldinho. 12 goals and 7 assists in 16. 0 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
djchapsticks Posted March 8, 2023 Author Share Posted March 8, 2023 3 hours ago, Alert Mongoose said: @djchapsticks why no Willie Howie or was he an earlier version superstar? He's just appeared as a regen in pre-season. Looks not bad either. I'll keep tabs on him (I'm waiting for Mark Kerr coming through as well) Ignore the face, I'm running NewGan and because it's a new database, it's picked up the ID number from a previous save and applied this AI generated face to Howie. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Alert Mongoose Posted March 8, 2023 Share Posted March 8, 2023 38 minutes ago, djchapsticks said: He's just appeared as a regen in pre-season. Looks not bad either. I'll keep tabs on him (I'm waiting for Mark Kerr coming through as well) Ignore the face, I'm running NewGan and because it's a new database, it's picked up the ID number from a previous save and applied this AI generated face to Howie. From memory Howie was a wonder kid but you had to play him in a middle three with an attacking arrow... 0 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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