Football Manager 15

I’ve been playing Football Manager on Windows for about 12 years. Not constantly, obviously. I take breaks for sleeping, eating, and maintaining a career. My obsession might go some way to explaining why I have spent the majority of those 12 years as a single man. Although I’m never really alone, because I have my team. I’m not the only one who thinks like this. Rumour has it that no other game has been named more during divorce proceedings. Every year I eagerly await the new version of the game, and it absolutely kills me that it doesn’t come out until November. It’s been OK the past few seasons because I’ve been able to get my hands on beta versions, which means I can start playing a few weeks early. Bugs and all.

Probably the most important thing you have to do in FM15 is expand your scouting network. Doing so means more players show up in your searches. Whatever club you choose, my advice is to get hold of the scouts Patrik Anderson and Ronnie Rosenthal. Both are available on low wages, will go almost anywhere, and bring a wealth of international knowledge.

When I first started this year’s version I played two games in the Championship with Cardiff City, and got sacked both times. Once during the January transfer window when I was mid-table, and again after seven games of my second season after I had failed to win promotion. Vincent Tan is one intolerant bastard. After that, I decided I needed a different challenge and started a game with Bristol Rovers of the Vanarama Conference, logic being that having just been relegated from the Football League they should have a decent enough squad for the division. Plus, I’ve always liked pirates.

It’s an entirely different game over at the Memorial Stadium. The bookies make you 1-10 outsiders to win the league, but you have a core of decent players. Neil Trotman and Tom Parkes make a good centre-back pairing, and in Jamie White and Ryan Brunt you have two solid forwards (even though Brunt hasn’t scored in real life for about two years). Left wing is also in good shape, with arguably your two best players, Angelo Balanta and Andy Monkhouse, vying for game time. Unfortunately, that’s about it.

The club are properly skint. But you do start the game with about £70,000 in the bank, which you are better off converting to wages so you can offer prospective signings better deals. Upon arrival, I cancelled the pointless loan signing in midfield and sold Mark McChrystal and young goalkeeper Kieran Preston. He’s a good prospect, but I thought I might be better off cashing in. An SPL club will pay in the region of £130,000 for him, and I inserted a substantial sell-on clause. I factored that money into my wage budget, too, and offered some existing players new contracts on reduced terms. I find giving them impossible bonus incentives is a good strategy, like telling a centre-back you will give him £12,000 for hitting 20 league goals, or a £1,000 bonus for every cap he wins for his country, knowing he is about as likely to win international honours as I am.

Then it was time to go shopping. By that, I mean, it was time to go rooting through the free transfers. A problem area is centre-midfield, which I addressed by snapping up ex-Man Utd prodigy Jack Rudge. He’s only 19, but has great potential, and is worth his place in the team just for his corners and free kicks. Other options are Damien Mozika and Tim Jakobsson. A decent right-sided midfielder is also required, Johnny Gorman can do a job out there. In defence I brought in Slovakian U21 right-back Kristian Kostrna and utility defender Daniel Boateng. Kostrna went straight into the first team, being a dramatic upgrade on Daniel Leadbitter, and though I originally got Boateng for cover because he can play in a few positions, he soon forced his way into the team. 28-year old Spaniard Manuel Ruz is a fantastic option at full-back and would easily be one of the best in the division. The thing is, he isn’t cheap. If you sign him it will fuck up your wage budget.

The U21 team also needs some love. I replaced Preston with Alex Gott, another young Scot who has even better attributes, and brought in Emmanuel Monthe (LB), Billy Simpson (CB/DM), and Heath Harrison (CM). You can pick up all four for a combined £500 a week or so. The object here is not to find players for the first team, but talented youngsters who can fill a gap in an emergency, with the ultimate aim of improving them and selling them on at a profit.

This being the lower divisions where the onus is more on kick and rush rather than technical ability. I started with an attacking 4-4-2 formation with a defensive forward playing off a more advanced attacker, two wide midfielders (one in attacking mode and the other supporting) and a ball-winning midfielder. After some experimentation, when I had the luxury of choosing from a full-fit squad, I settled on this first XI:

Steve Mildenhall (GK)
Lee Brown (LB)
Tom Parkes (CB)
Daniel Boateng (CB)
Kristian Kostrna (RB)
Andy Monkhouse (LM)
Ollie Clarke (CM)
Jack Rudge (CM)
Johnny Gorman (RM)
Jamie White (ST)
Ryan Brunt (ST)

Bench: Puddy (GK), Trotman (CB), Lockyer (CB/RB/CM), Balanta (LM), Taylor (ST)

So how did it go? Pretty fucking well, to be honest!

By Christmas I was top of the table, with White banging in something like 22 goals in 25 games. Brunt also got into double figures before getting injured. Boateng, Kostrna, Rudge and Gorman all established themselves in the first team , and by that stage were worth a cool £500,000 between them.

However, my squad needed to be slimmed down a little, so in the January transfer window, out went Leadbitter, Lee Mansell and Jake Gosling, all on free transfers to get them off the wage bill. I also tried to get shot of Stuart Sinclair and Ollie Clarke, but I wanted fees for those and nobody was interested. In came forward/right-winger Alex Nicholls and defensive midfielder Gary Deegan. Both the optimum age of 27 and with experience of having played in higher divisions,

In the second half of the season I won the FA Tropy, beating Southport at Wembley, and finished second in the league behind Gateshead (who?). I had led for long stretches before falling away, but was secretly glad to qualify for the play-offs as even that exceeded all expectations. There, my team beat Woking 3-1 on aggregate in the semis, and Kidderminster 4-2 in the final. Promotion and a return to league football was the prize. At the end of the season, White was the highest scorer not just in the league but possibly in the known universe with 45 goals from 55 total games and Rudge topped the assist chart with 17. Brunt and Monkhouse also did well. All things considered, it was a successful season. Though I was a bit peeved at not winning the Manager of the Year award. What does a man have to do?

Cardiff City’s Summer Signings – The Good, the Bad & the Average

A few months ago I wrote a summary of Cardiff City’s summer transfer activity. Now all the players brought in have had a chance to show what they can do, I feel a quick progress report is in order.

Steven Caulker

The commanding centre back brought in from Tottenham for around £8 million slotted straight into the heart of City’s back four and has proved nothing short of a revelation. We knew he was good from seeing him during his loan spell at Swansea, but his passing ability, aerial presence and composure, have been invaluable to a side lacking experience at this level. So impressive he was soon given the captain’s armband.

Verdict: 9/10

Peter Odemwingie

The £2.2 million signing from West Brom arrived with some baggage but in all fairness, he started reasonably well. He was enthusiastic and ran hard. I say ‘was’ because he seems to have lost some of that urgency of late as City slumped to the bottom of the league. Being played in a lone striker role probably does him no favours, but to my mind he has a tendency to ‘go missing’ during games and a return of one goal in 15 league appearances is simply not good enough.

Verdict: 5/10

Andreas Cornelius.

The £8 million boy wonder who, if reports are to be believed, was at least partly responsible for Malky Mackay losing his job. Much has been made of his potential, but the fact of the matter is that at this stage in the club’s development, they need strikers who can score goals now. True, he spent the first couple of months of the season sidelined through injury, but judging by what little we have seen of him so far (7 substitute Premier League appearances and a couple of starts in the cups) the club’s number 9 is a mere shadow of the player we thought he was. Unfit, inexperienced and low on confidence.

Verdict: 3/10

Gary Medel

The £11 million record signing from Sevilla has featured in virtually every game this season in the holding midfielder role in front of the back four. He has been very impressive until the past few games, where he has started to look a little fatigued. The fans are divided over whether he was actually worth the money or not. I say he most definitely is. If we had a team of Gary Medel’s we probably wouldn’t break any scoring records (not that we would anyway) but we certainly wouldn’t lose many games.

Verdict: 8.5/10

Kevin Theophile Catherine

A snip at around £2 million and quickly proving one of the bargains of the century, rampaging right-back TC has wowed the fans with some powerful, direct displays. Just what you need and expect from a modern fullback. Gets caught out of position at times, but at 24 he is still learning and well on the way to establishing himself as the best full-back at the club.

Verdict: 7.5/10

John Brayford

The £1.5 million signing from Derby County arrived as one of the most highly regarded fullbacks outside the Premier League. However, apart from two League Cup appearances, he has been unable to force himself into the side and currently finds himself behind TC and veteran Kevin McNaughton in the pecking order. A big disappointment, though maybe through no fault of his own.

Verdict: 3/10

Simon Moore

The 23-year old was brought in from Brentford in League One as back up for goalkeeper David Marshall. And on the bench is where he’s stayed. He gets two points for turning up every week, which is more than some of the other players have done.

Verdict: 2/10

This article originally appeared in the Huff Post (UK):

http://www.huffingtonpost.co.uk/chris-saunders/cardiff-citys-summer-signing_b_4636965.html

Read my archive:

http://www.huffingtonpost.co.uk/chris-saunders/

My book, From the Ashes: The REAL Story of Cardiff City is out now on Gwasg Carreg Gwalch:

http://www.amazon.co.uk/From-Ashes-Story-Cardiff-Football/dp/1845242130

Cardiff City’s Summer Spending Spree

So, after endless play-off heartache, Cardiff City have finally made it to the Premier League. It was obvious to all that certain areas of the team would need strengthening if they weren’t to be relegated by Christmas, and with last season’s top scorer Heider Helguson and midfield stalwart Stephen McPhail both being released, gaps needed to be plugged. A transfer kitty in excess of £25 million was promised by big-spending owner Vincent Tan, so all eyes turned to Malky Mackay to see how he would spend it. Over the next couple of months, the existing transfer record for fees paid was broken on three separate occasions.

The first capture, 6’ 4” striker Andreas Cornelius, arrived in a £7.5 million deal from FC Copenhagen in late June and instantly handed the number nine shirt. He was top scorer in the Danish Superliga last season, with 18 goals from 32 appearances, and has also played seven times for Denmark. No doubt he comes highly rated, but personally I have my doubts and fear another Etien Velikonja scenario. The Slovenian international cost us £1.5 million last summer and played only three times, not making much of an impression in any of them despite scoring goals for fun in the development squad. A closer look at his overall record may go some way to explaining this. For Gorica and Maribor he played a combined total of 152 times, scoring 52 goals. Not that remarkable, especially in one of the weaker leagues in Europe. His scoring record was boosted by a record of 14 goals in 17 cup games, where the opposition was generally very much inferior. In short, Velikonja flattered to deceive. If he can’t cement a place in the Championship, he has no chance in the Premier League.

The problem with Cornelius is, as talented as he may be, at just 20 he is very young and untested. Just like Velikonja was when he arrived. Personally, I would have preferred to have signed a more experienced man for that role, to compete with Nicky Maynard and Fraizer Campbell. England internationals Marcus Bent and Carlton Cole were both available, and for considerably lower fees (Cole on a free!). It is likely, however, that they would have commanded higher wages. Not that paying sky-high wages seems to phase Malky or the current owners too much. It is rumored that City are in the market for yet another striker, to add to the considerable options already at the club. If we continue playing one up front, which seems likely, that would probably be an unnecessary expense. Even with injury concerns over Maynard and Campbell and doubts over the ability of Velikonja, Rudy Gestede, Joe Mason, Tommy Smith, and Craig Bellamy are also vying for places, with Rhys Healey banging on the door.

Less fanfare surrounded the arrivals of Goalkeeper Simon Moore and fullback John Brayford, who were brought in from Brentford and Derby County respectively. Third in the pecking order behind established number one David Marshall and his back-up Joe Lewis, it is unlikely Moore will make much of an impression this season, but at just 23, he has time on his side. More is expected from Brayford, generally regarded as one of the best defenders outside the Premier League. At £1.5 million he could prove to be one of the bargains of the season, and is sure to challenge Kevin McNaughton for the right-back slot, leaving Mathew Connolly to push for one of his favoured centre-back positions.

Malky broke the transfer record for the second time in July with the £8.5 million capture of centre-back Steven Caulker from Tottenham. This transfer raised some eyebrows, with the 21-year old being widely regarded as one of the best prospects in the Premier League. He already had two seasons of top-level experience behind him, one on loan at Swansea where he won rave reviews. He had also been a shoe-in in the 2012 Great Britain Olympic team and scored on his full England debut against Sweden. It is believed he agreed to move to Cardiff in order to play more games, instead of being a bit-part player at Spurs, and should go a long way toward shoring up the defence and giving it a more mobile and dynamic look. His centre-back partner is likely to be either Ben Turner or club captain Mark Hudson, neither of whom are exactly blessed with pace to burn.

Then followed the most eye-opening transfer to date, is the £11 million transfer of Chile international Gary ‘El Pitbul’ Medel from Sevilla. The combative defensive midfielder comes with a little baggage, having been sent off seven times in 90 games for Sevilla, but the 26-year old’s pedigree is undoubted. He has been a mainstay of the national team since 2007, racking up over 50 appearances, and is generally regarded as one of the country’s best players. Whenever a new signing is made, a good gauge of their true ability is the reaction of the fans at their old club. In this case, the consensus is that Sevilla should have kept El Pitbul. They didn’t want to lose him, which is encouraging. He looks set to battle Aron ‘Iceman’ Gunnarsson for the holding role in midfield. And what a battle it should be!

El Pitbul didn’t appear to have been one of Malky’s top targets. Negotiations only began after talks with Victor Wanyama and Etienne Capoue fell through, and were eventually finalized while he played for his old club against Manchester United. A game the Spaniards won 3-1, by the way. Let’s hope that’s some kind of omen. The only concern is that, as with Cornelius, it might take El Pitbul some time to adjust to the Premiership, and to learn English. A safer bet may have been ex Cardiff loan star Gary O’Neil, who signed for QPR after being released by West Ham. Or even Scott Parker, who seems to be in the process of being edged out at Spurs. With their Premier League experience, either one would have been a great addition to the squad.

A few more eyebrows were raised with the capture of 20-year old defender Maximiliano Amondarain from Uruguayan team National for an undisclosed fee following a successful trial. Mainly because nobody has ever heard of him. No comment. Less of a gamble was the £2.1 million arrival of lavishly named 23-year old full-back Kevin Theophile-Catherine. This is a player Mackay, and others, had been tracking for some time and comes with no little experience, having played over 80 games for French League 1 side Rennes as well as representing France at U20 and U21 levels.

The drama continued. On transfer deadline day City paid West Brom £2.5 million for their Nigerian forward Peter Odemwingie, snatching him on a three-year deal from under the noses of Swansea. This one really divided the supporters. At 32, and with over 50 caps for Nigeria, Odemwingie has both experience and ability in spades, but has been frozen out at West Brom because of infamously trying to force through a transfer to QPR in January. I think it’s fair to say that he comes with a fair bit of baggage, but on the plus side he arrives at the CCS with a point to prove.

If we shed a little dead weight (Simon Lappin, Filip Kiss, or Etien Velikonja, anyone? Going cheap!) the squad looks in decent shape. Maybe we could also afford to lose either Tommy Smith, Craig Noone or Craig Conway and add a quality winger in their place. I think that was the reasoning behind City’s failed approach for Thomas Ince over the summer, though Odemwingie could conceivably fill that role. With Mackay sticking to a 4-5-1 formation so far this season and a clutch of strikers already at the club, it could be the only place for him in the team. Personally, I would have preferred someone else, but still, mustn’t be greedy. This team looks much better equipped to survive in the top flight than some.

Croeso y Cymru, boyos!

My new book, From the Ashes – The REAL Story of Cardiff City FC, is out now on Gwasg Carreg Gwalch.

http://www.amazon.co.uk/dp/1845242130

This blog was originally published by the Huffington Post UK:

http://www.huffingtonpost.co.uk/chris-saunders/cardiff-citys-summer-spen_b_3857067.html

The Legend of Wilf Wooller

Wilf Wooller in his prime

A forgotten Welsh hero, and probably the best all-round sportsman the country ever produced.

I didn’t know who he was, either. Until recently when I was researching my book, From the Ashes: The REAL Story of Cardiff City Football Club, and his name cropped up in some vintage match reports.

Although he didn’t play many games for the Bluebirds, he seemed a decent enough centre forward circa 1939, and once scored a hat-trick, just before joining the 77th Anti-Aircraft Regiment as a gunner when World War II broke out. The thing that caught my attention was the fact that by then, he was also captain of Glamorgan cricket club AND the Welsh rugby team!

Dubbed in his Guardian obituary ‘a man of charm and a man of arrogance,’ Wilfred ‘Wilf’ Wooller was born on 20th November 1912 in Rhos-on-Sea, Denbighshire. He was a gifted student, going to Cambridge university to study Anthropology. By this time he had grown to a 6’ 2” 14-stone man-monster. In 1933 he made his debut for the national rugby side in his country’s first win at Twickenham in twenty years, and went on to represent them a further 17 times. His greatest moment in a scarlet shirt came in 1935 when he played against the New Zealand All Blacks. With Wales 12-10 down and a man short, he put through a sublime kick that allowed his team to score the decisive late try. The Daily Telegraph said he was ‘like the sacrificial car of juggernaut, leaving a trail of prostrate figures in his wake.’ At club level he represented Cardiff RFU.

In 1938 he played his first game of county cricket for Glamorgan, having won the distinction of becoming a ‘double blue’ by playing for Cambridge against their great rivals Oxford. In his first bowling spell for the county he took three wickets for 22 runs in nine overs, and would go on to represent the club for the next 24 years during which time he scored almost 14,000 runs. He was captain for 13 years, and later became club secretary then president. Although never being called up to play for England, he was a test selector for many years. By that time he had also somehow found the time to represent Wales at squash, Cardiff Athletic Club at bowls, and Barry Town at football. For most of his working life he traded coal in the Welsh capital.

During the war years, he was posted to the Far East and captured by the Japanese in 1942, spending time in the notorious Changi prison in Singapore and working on the Burma railway. After the war ended and his subsequent release, it was reported that Wooller consistently refused to use Japanese-made calculators due to his bad treatment as a POW.

Later in life, Wooller became a respected sports broadcaster for the BBC and journalist for the Sunday Telegraph, building a reputation both for his scathing wit, and for not being afraid to voice his outspoken views. He was involved in numerous clashes with everyone from players to politicians. The story goes that once, the mother of a Welsh rugby international sent him a pair of glasses after he dared criticize her son’s performance in a game. He sent the glasses back with a note explaining that his wife worked for an optician, so he didn’t need them!

He died in Cardiff on 10th March 1997 at the age of 84.

They just don’t make them like anymore. What an asset he would be in these days of spoiled prima donna footballers kicking up a fuss because they have to play on the right side instead of the left. Wilf Wooller, we salute you!

This post originally appeared on the Huffington Post UK website.

http://www.huffingtonpost.co.uk/chris-saunders/wilf-wooller-legend_b_3736008.html