A Career in Football Manager 2008. - FMFormation.net - Football Manager

**liveru** · 11-12-07, 12:25 AM

The Beginning.

The leagues that are open are;
England (League Two and above), France (National and above), Germany (Second Division and above), Italy (Serie B and above), Holland (First Division and above), Scotland (Third Division and above) and Spain (LIGA BBVA and above).

I picked a team out of a hat (I used the randomise button on the New User screen really) and the first team was Peterborough United.

I was going to start unemployed but it would take too long to get a job as I have found out before.

My profile at the start of the 2007/08 season.

The season's expectations are high. Winners of The Coca-Cola League Two or challenge for said league. I had to go with the highest so I'm going for the title.

Here is the team information for the start of the 2007/08 season.

Let's hope this goes well.

I'll update monthly and post screenies.

**liveru** · 11-12-07, 02:42 AM

League Two odds came through and to be fair, I've got good odds of gaining promotion.

A very busy transfer window for me. The three goalkeepers that started at the club didn't look up to League Two standard so I decided they all had to go. I managed to shift Shwan Jalal but James McKeown and Mark Tyler weren't snapped up despite Dagenham & Redbridge and Rochdale expressing an interest in Tyler. So they have been relegated to the reserves. In their places, Ali Uyanik, Kelvin Jack and Colin Nicholson have all joined for a collective £35k.

Peterborough United's squad for the 2007/08 season.

Results have been up and down for August. It started off with a 0-1 loss away to Rotherham. Despite having the better of the match, we still managed to lose. Mainly due to having the largely inexperienced, Colin Nicholson in goal, due to Jack's and Uyanik's injuries. Things looked a bit better in the 1-3 loss to West Brom in the League Cup 1st Rnd as we looked bit more dangerous in the final third, new striker Tommy Hoiland getting on the scoresheet. We were only really beaten by a better team in the end. A 2-0 home victory against Bury gave us our first win of the season whilst a 3-3 thriller at Macclesfield finished off the month.

Manager Overview in August 2007.

Ten signings in a month is obviously going to upset the balance but hopefully after having a couple of months to settle and gel together, hopefully we'll be able to push for promotion.

walkinshaw · 11-12-07, 06:57 AM

goodluck mate ive started a game recently with them, my reson though was they were beign paid out on 606 boards for their nickname the posh, so thought i'd make them actually posh in the prem lol.

im into second season sof ar won league 2and now 3rd in league 1 14 games in.

SIGN ALEX FERNANDEZ, might show you some my pics of last season and player if you dont mind them in your thread mate? They are the same team after all

INeedBeer · 11-12-07, 08:04 AM

Looks good, I agree with the guy above try and get Fernandez he will do you a very good job in league 1 & 2 and he usually cost nowt so you can't lose

Keep us updated mate looks interestin

**liveru** · 11-12-07, 01:28 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by walkinshaw

goodluck mate ive started a game recently with them, my reson though was they were beign paid out on 606 boards for their nickname the posh, so thought i'd make them actually posh in the prem lol.

im into second season sof ar won league 2and now 3rd in league 1 14 games in.

SIGN ALEX FERNANDEZ, might show you some my pics of last season and player if you dont mind them in your thread mate? They are the same team after all

Post away mate. I'd like to think that I'm good at FM

but I'd appriciate any help.

**liveru** · 11-12-07, 02:15 PM

Manager Overview for the end of September.

A slightly bizarre month results wise for me. It started off with a home match against Hereford. A comfortable 4-0 win made me happy, as did Craig Mackail-Smith as he started his first game of the season with a hat-trick. The other goal scored by George Boyd.
Next was the JPT South 1st Round against League Two leaders Brentford. I didn't go into this game with much hope, playing five in defence with a counter attack. We soaked up the pressure well and hit back four times. 4-0 being the final score. Hoiland, Mackail-Smith (2) and Charlie Lee scoring the goals.
My number 1, Uyanik was called up for international duty with Cameroon for their African Cup of Nations Qualifier against Eritrea, so Kelvin Jack made his debut in the 2-1 win at MK Dons. This time another one of my new players, Carl Asaba, got both the goals.
A 1-1 home draw against lowly Lincoln angered me as I gave the whole team the hairdryer treament. We were outclassed and luckily it was Lincoln's poor finishing that gave us the point.
The next two games resulted in losses. A 0-1 away loss to the team I beat just two weeks ago, 4-0 in the JPT. Brentford this time handled our counter attacking and managed to get one in the process.
A 2-3 home defeat against Darlington ensured we finished the month on a low note.

12th in the league after 8 games doesn't look like the end of the world yet. Besides our media prediction is only 9th. Progression in the JPT will be hard, with League One's Northampton Town waiting for us in Round 2.

**liveru** · 11-12-07, 02:32 PM

After careful thought and consideration (and recommendations from walkinshaw and INeedBeer), I have signed a new striker.

It won't go through until January but he's defo coming.

INeedBeer · 11-12-07, 04:24 PM

Good descision to sign fernandez mate, let us know how he goes on.

Don't know how your fixed for wingers but try and get Rocky Lekej on loan for Sheff wed, stats aren't brill but can be very dangerous

Graham FM · 11-12-07, 05:02 PM

well done m8
kutgw and gl for the rest of the season :D

**liveru** · 11-12-07, 06:39 PM

Manager Overview for the end of October.

The month started off very badly with a 0-2 loss at Morecombe following our poor performance from the end of September. The one plus from this game was that former Arsenal midfielder, Ray Parlour made his debut and looked impressive at League Two level.
Mackail-Smith continued his impressive run of scoring in the 2-0 win at Wrexham. Vice captain Dean Keates getting the other goal.
Keates actually went on to score in the next two games, the JPT 2-1 home win over League One's Northampton and the very impressive 4-1 win over Notts County. Notts County could've been on the end of a 5-1 loss if it wasn't for Tony Caig saving Abel Thermeus' penalty kick in the 67th minute. Funnily enough, Caig was the keeper that I attempted to sign before settling for Uyanik. Mackail-Smith (2) and Asaba finished off Notts County.
Mackail-Smith scored yet another brace, this time against Dag & Red in the 3-1 home win. Josh Low limped off after just 33 minutes with a twisted knee. Which was worrying, but after closer inspection by my physio, Keith Oakes, he would only be out for 3 weeks.
We took the trip to Spotland in the final game of October to take on high flying Rochdale. The final score was 2-2 in a very entertaining game for Rochdale fans. Luckily for us the only 2 shots we had, we managed to put in the back of the net. Mackail-Smith (again) and Tommy Hoiland giving us a 100% shots to goals ratio in the match.

The FA Cup was drawn giving us an easy tie at home against Accrington and Luton Town will come to London Road in the JPT South Quarter-Finals.

Things are starting to look up despite us still languishing 9th in the league. The team is starting to gel and Mackail-Smith (seems like I'm constantly writing his name) is scoring at will. An impressive 12 goals in 13 games proves that!

smallieman · 11-12-07, 07:13 PM

nice game

**liveru** · 11-12-07, 10:43 PM

Manager Overview for the end of November 2007.

The perfect month started with a 1-0 home win against Accrington in the league with Mackail-Smith getting the one and only goal.
Another 1-0 home win came against Shrewsbury. George Boyd this time getting the winning goal.
The FA Cup came around against Accrington, the same 1-0 result happened, this time vice skipper Keates getting the goal.
The JPT Quarter-Finals came around. The fans got excited of a possible upset against Luton Town and we duely delivered. An exciting tie resulted in a 2-0 win for The Posh. Mackail-Smith and Low getting on the scoresheet. That lifted the morale of a squad that has recently been complaining of playing in an underperforming club.
My fourth 1-0 win of the month came at Wycombe Wanderers. A close fought match was ultimately settled by our star man, Craig Mackail-Smith in the 60th minute.
My last game of the month was at home to Chesterfield. Another close fought match resulted in a 2-1 win for The Posh. Boyd getting a brace in the process.

A brilliant month, which saw me pick up Manager Of The Month, has pushed us from 9th to 2nd in the league. We're still 7 points behind leagues leaders, Brentford though and still got a long way to go.

The FA Cup draw took place on the 12th, giving us another chance to beat a team from a higher league. This time sun and the seaside awaited us in the form of Brighton & Hove Albion.
The JPT South Semi-Finals draw took place on the 16th. Darlington in the north and ourselves in the south were the last two teams left from League Two so I was guarenteed another League One team. Bristol Rovers were the team that came out of the pot immediately after us, giving us yet another home advantage over a bigger club.

The squad is really showing it's quality now with goals flying in from all angles and Ayanik keeping 5 clean sheets in the last 6 matches.

Happy days at Peterborough United so far.

**liveru** · 12-12-07, 03:02 AM

Manager Overview for the end of December.

Completely outclassed! That was the media reaction to our 1-3 defeat at Brighton in the FA Cup. Chris Westwood and Simon Charlton playing particularly bad. A warning was dealt out to both defenders. Even Mackail-Smith failed to perform with Tommy Hoiland getting our only goal. So my dream of playing Liverpool in the 3rd Round over.
Oh well, the league was next. An away game at Grimsby Town. After Westwood's and Charlton's shockers, I decided to give them a rest and put in Adam Newton and 19 year old, Danny Blanchett in their places. It turned out to be a masterstroke as we looked a lot more solid in defence, restricting Grimsby's chances to just 6. Mackail-Smith failed to get on the score sheet but did set up Josh Low for the opener. Dean Keates scored the second with a fabulous solo effort. He also picked up man of the match as well.
Stcokport came to town for my next league game. A tightly contested game ended 2-1 in my favour. Craig Morgan getting MotM. Mackail-Smith and Hoiland shared the two goals between them. To be fair to Stockport, this game could've gone either way and if it wasn't for my skipper Uyanik between the sticks, then we could've lost.
An easy victory at Chester followed the Stockport game. Mackail-Smith grabbing two of the goals. The other being credited to Chester's Kevin Ellison. Mackail-Smith also picked up the man of the match award to boot. After the match, a journalist came up to me and asked me about Craig Morgan's future, stating that a lot of clubs are interested in him. I don't want to lose him so I didn't rub Morgan up the wrong by saying that he had to stay. I played it safe and I didn't comment.
Another 3-0 win followed. This time when Mansfield came to town. Keates (2) and Boyd grabbing the goals. The only downfall of this match was the injury to Boyd which forced him to leave the field after 80 minutes. Luckily after game, I learned it was merely a dead leg.
Barnet away was the next game. We struggled to a 1-1 draw. Charlie Lee limped off and will be out for 4 months with a calf strain. That's all I've got to say about that.
Last game of the month and another draw. This time 0-0 at home against the team that beat me on the first day of the season. Rotherham United. I was very confident. I'm 2nd in the league and they're 16th. Plus they've recently sacked their manager. So imagine my surprise when we absolutely obliterate them (39 shots to their 5) and only draw! I've got to admit though, I praised rival keeper Andy Warrington after the game for keeping his goal intact.

I looked at the FA Cup draw when it came along and saw that Brighton drew Southampton. I would've liked to have a go at Soton but nevermind. I've got to focus on the JPT. The further into the league season I go, the more apparent it becomes that Brentford are going to be my main rivals for the league. Whenever I win, Brentford wins. It seems that I'm going to have to win all of my games and hope that Brentford slip up because they are storming through the league. (2 losses in 23 matches!)

The JPT kicks off again next month and with the arrival of highly rated Alex Fernandez and the possible arrival of Coventry's Leon McKenzie (depending on contractual agreements), things look good.

Let's just hope that we can keep it up and don't slump toward the end of the season.

walkinshaw · 12-12-07, 07:54 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by INeedBeer

Good descision to sign fernandez mate, let us know how he goes on.

Don't know how your fixed for wingers but try and get Rocky Lekej on loan for Sheff wed, stats aren't brill but can be very dangerous

i got him on season long loan in 1st season

he is a gun but get kyel reid from west ham, they my parent club, the guy is a gun!!! scored 5 assisted 15 doing great in league 1 this 2nd season 2!

cheers liveru ill put some pics up now

1st season league table

2nd season so far

Squad

The ALMIGHTY Fernandez

**liveru** · 12-12-07, 01:01 PM

Fernandez's stats look very impressive in the two seasons for you walkin.

walkinshaw · 12-12-07, 02:50 PM

yeh mate, Fernandez is a gun, hopefully if ic an get promoted to the championship this season he can get another 20 for the season.

**liveru** · 12-12-07, 11:46 PM

Manager Overview for the end of January.

Transfers in and out.

The first game for the new year was a trip to Bury. The game itself wasn't very exciting despite it being 3-2 to Peterborough. Alex Fernandez made his debut and set Josh Low up for the opener but the magic of Craig Mackail-Smith put Fernandez's debut in the shade with a brace and the man of the match.
Bradford visited London Road next. A 4-2 win didn't reflect what was an incredibly tight match. Mackail-Smith again overshadowed Fernandez by getting two goals whilst Boyd got the third. Alex Fernandez was denied his debut goals. First by the offside flag and the second was awarded to Bradford's Mark Bower as an OG. Dean Keates picked up a knock but managed to soldier on through the whole match.
A surprisingly one sided game in the JPT South Semi Final saw me beat League One's Bristol Rovers 1-0. Craig Mackail-Smith getting the winner. Leon McKenzie made an unimpressive start to his Peterborough career with a match rating of 6. Bournemouth awaits me in the final. A possible meeting with Darlington is still possible as they are in the North final.
Macclesfield came to Peterborough on a very bad run of form (11 losses in 14 matches), which meant they were severe underdogs. We didn't go easy on them either. Completely overpowering them. Despite it only being a 1-0 win for us. Dean Keates slotting home his penalty for the winner.
We had a trip to Hereford next. The dilemma of having three quality strikers in the forms of Craig Mackail-Smith, Leon McKenzie and Alex Fernandez finally hit me. So I decided to play all three in a 4-3-3 formation. It worked as we won 3-1 with all three strikers getting one a piece. Also 19 year old keeper, Colin Nicholson made his second appearance for the club between the sticks, filling in for Uyanik who was travelling to meet up the Cameroon squad for The African Cup of Nations. Let's hope Cameroon go out early.
MK Dons visited us next. A comfortable 3-0 win resulted with Mackail-Smith getting another hat-trick.
The last game of the month was Lincoln away. Earlier in the season, Lincoln had held me to a 1-1 draw in September. This time we won 2-1. Mackail-Smith was given the day off as he's been on fire. Instead Leon McKenzie stepped up and scored two goals. Colin Nicholson continued his good run of form in the absence of club captain, Ali Uyanik. Micah Hyde was the only player that played bad. Given the performance of the rest of the squad, I let him off.

Abel Thermeus' Peterborough career lasted less than 5 months after he failed to show me how good he was following his free transfer. He ended up joining Oldham for free during the transfer window. Cameroon has started to annoy me as they're not even using Uyanik. Surely there's better Cameroonian keepers that Peterborough's number one?! I wouldn't mind so much if he was second choice!!!

Craig Mackail-Smith has the run of the board at the moment with the most goals, assists, man of the match awards and the highest average rating. Go Craig!

The team has gelled so well. A dodgy start to the season, due to the fact that so many new faces were introduced at once, has been erased. The team is on an incredible 20 game unbeaten run in the league and a 13 game unbeaten run in all competitions!

Oh and I got Manager Of The Month. Well done me.

walkinshaw · 13-12-07, 04:42 AM

nice work, craig mackail is going guns for u!

**liveru** · 13-12-07, 04:22 PM

Manager overview for the end of February.

Manager Of The Month Award.

Player Of The Month Award.

New Peterborough United record.

February came around and so did Brentford. The two previous results against my closest League Two rivals were a 4-0 win for me in the JPT and a 1-0 win for them in the league. The two previous games I was playing very defensive as at the time my team wasn't gelling together. This time however, I played very attacking, gung-ho so to speak! Dean Keates scored two and Josh Low, Craig Mackail-Smith and Leon McKenzie all got one each in a 5-1 thrashing! It was a dirty game as well with three of my players getting yellows and five of theirs recieving cautions.
A visit to Darlington was on the cards next and a comfortable 3-1 win, Alex Fernandez (2) and Leon McKenzie getting the goals. The press after the game said that it was rearguard action providing the memorable Posh victory. It also said that we didn't have as much of the game as Darlington. I disagree. Stats wise it was very even, it was just that I had a better strike force.
Wrexham came to town for a 2-0 thrashing next. The press asking questions about Peterborough's former player and Wrexham's Peter Gain before the match. I hardly know the player as I sold him pretty much straight after I joined the club. So I just said that he isn't good enough to get in the side nowadays. McKenzie continued his ood run of form and Dean Keates scored as well. Uyanik finally returned from Ghana and the ACN. He never played a single game in their run to the final. So he took his rightful place in goal and resumed his role as club captain.
A frighteningly close game against 12th placed Notts County was next. Leon McKenzie opened the scoring on 28 before Fernandez seemingly made the game safe on the stroke of half time. Notts County had other ideas though. They came out after the break and wen't all out to get the two goals needed for the point. Their hard work paid off in the 85th minute when Spencer Weir-Daley slotted past Uyanik to ensure we had an uneasy five minutes. Our defence of Louis-Jean, Blanchett, Morgan a