Welcome! This is all very different and yet quite familiar. Welcome to the first real update of the new save, where I’ve basically moved the goalposts and given the Premier League an American Takeover. If you’ve missed the introduction and previews, you might as well click here and get caught up first. Done that? Good. Let’s get on with it.
You’ll have seen from the previews that Chelsea were the early pace setters, and they are matching their real life counterparts for dominance it has to be said. Here they are lining up their first trophy, meeting Kevin Keegan’s Barnsley in the final of the pointless cup.
For any new readers, I call it pointless because you get no European football for winning it. They’re doing ok in the FA Cup too
There will be a Division 1 side in the final, but I’m not sure how Bury have found themselves in this position. Man City are runaway leaders of Division 1, Bury however are 9th. Inexplicable.
There’s still some money to spend, so Derby have gone all out for a CM legend. One of my favourite players in the game
Turning down Arsenal and Liverpool for Derby, what a guy.
The Thrillers are in on the act too
Unfortunately a lot of the premium talent has been tempted abroad, for example Giggs is at Real Madrid, Robbie Fowler has turned up at Inter and Roy Keane at Barcelona. Alan Shearer had been left alone due to his injury but Milan win the race following his return to fitness.
It makes the Milan squad somewhat ridiculous
Is Christian Ziege a star player? I’m not so sure. Taibi on the bench too. They’re 10 points ahead in Serie A, which takes some doing with this Juventus team
Hey look it’s Sol Campbell. They also didn’t really need Zola or Overmars but here we are. There are two Italian sides in the last 4 of the Champions League, to nobody’s surprise.
David Beckham is at Parma, so he can expect to be kicked 10 feet up by Roy Keane.
Here’s a question for you: What do you do when you have no money but you LOVE signing players?
Oh Kevin. You are a card. I’m more amazed Andrew Duncan was on a free for so long, he’s usually snapped up by a lower league team early on.
Homes Under the Hammer Brazil anyone?
Anyway, Chelsea have a healthy lead over, well, everyone, but the Aston Thrillers and Keegan’s Tykes are catching. Kind of.
Since the preview, Chelsea have added free transfers Nigel Winterburn and John Sheridan to the ranks. But the real star has been young Sheva
Gallacher has a huge proportion of the Foxes’ goals. But With Bobic and Hughes also looking good to get 20 goals, it’s no wonder Chelsea are top of the pile and on for a possible treble.
At the bottom…
Blackburn are close to being put out of their misery. Just 14 goals in 30 games is no picnic – Romario has managed 5. Gerry Francis hasn’t had a positive effect on Leeds whilst Roy Hodgson’s Newcastle are in real trouble. But look at Man Utd! Bierhoff has only managed 6 league goals and that’s a lot less than they’d have expected. Somehow, no managers have lost their jobs yet, nor are they under any pressure.
That rounds off the first update then and it feels good to be back. Chelsea look set to win the league but Keegan’s Barnsley score so many goals the Pointless Cup might be close but the FA Cup comes down to their semi with Ian Rush’s Liverpool, who have fallen away a bit. There’s also World Cup 98, so that’s something to look forward to. Bye for now.
What’s all this then? Get caught up here or see the links at the end of this post for the previous preview posts.
We’ve finally made it to the final four teams! Preview 5 is here and the game hasn’t let us down. Sadly, my creativity is lacking in several places but hopefully you’ll forgive me. Right? Anyway, let’s head to the south coast to kick us off.
Southampton Dell Boys (Southampton)
It’s an unnecessary Only Fools reference. But you would cash in on that, wouldn’t you? Regardless, they’ve done some good wheeling and dealing to get the former AC Milan and Italy manager
As a World Cup runner up in 1994, this is a big coup for The Dell Boys. But have they signed any plonkers?
This is a strange squad. There’s hardly any goals and their best striker is being played in front of the defence in a 3-1-3-3 and he’s willingly signed John Salako. He’s also got mad man Jens in nets. There’s a lack of fullbacks and it’s a squad low on numbers. Very strange.
Current Position: 6th
Prospects: Sacchi deserves a medal. He has this side up in 6th and the top scorer is Lee Robertson, a £1.1m signing from Molde. There’s £8m in the bank to improve further, but this could be Sacchi’s greatest achievement yet.
The Spurs (Tottenham Hotspur)
More lazy Dave on show here. To be honest it’s a rubbish appointment and I haven’t gotten over my feud with this jerk from the previous save.
Wonderful. How’s the squad looking?
Good to see CM Legend Stefan Selakovic get a run out here, as well as signing future Spurs players Dean Richards and Steve Carr. Incidentally I have no idea why the name “The Spurs” is only the league table. I love that Luca Fusi is a sweeper only, that’s very niche. John Barnes is still decent even if he wasn’t ever a holding midfielder. Michael Branch has huge potential on this game however in reality he is now in prison. Who knew?
Current Position: 7th
Prospects: I have to say Milne is doing a good job, annoyingly. The squad is nothing special and the top scorer is Steve Watson with 3 goals. How is he doing this!? There’s £6m in the bank, Milne is about the only manager to buy defenders, so maybe that’s the future.
East London Hammers (West Ham)
A long time before West Ham reinvented themselves in the London Stadium, West Ham had the chance to rebrand and this is what I chose. However, I did not pick the manager.
His only previous managerial experience was in 96/97 when he took over at Forest following Frank Clark’s resignation. At least here, West Ham have a player and a manager.
Pearce has raided South America for a Brazil under 21 International (Silva) and Madeiros (Bolivian International) but he’s also got Nigel Quashie, Robbie Elliott and Rob Jones. Oh and uncle Dean Sturridge. John Curtis is a legend and future England international. Well let me tell you this: Robbie Elliott is the top scorer with two goals. TWO. Goodness me.
Current Position: 10th
Prospects: The theme of this preview is that managers are doing better than I expect. They have no right to be 10th but with £8m to spend they could yet go better. Fair play Psycho.
Wimbledon Aces (Wimbledon)
Oh look it’s a Tennis pun. It goes without saying that the tennis Grand Slam is seen as a marketing tool here, so that’s great. They also bring back a popular manager from the 80s
Bassett of course took them from the old Fourth Division to the top Division so he’d be a hugely popular appointment. He’d also get a lot of credit for this signing:
Before gambling quite a bit of money on Marcus Stewart
The squad is full of players Bassett would sign. Phil Babb, Frank Sinclair, Steve Lomas, Ray Parlour, Ian Walker, Mark Wright. Lads Lads Lads. Experience. Know how. A young Jamie Carragher will learn much. Karl Heinz Riedle is a good striker too
Yet somehow, Harry Bassett has messed it up
Current Position: 13th
Prospects: This side should be better, in my opinion. Stewart signed relatively late on so maybe they’ll improve in the coming weeks, but it’s one of the fuller squads we’ve seen with a few options and a decent balance. There’s another £7m to spend, so no doubt more journeymen will be acquired.
That’s it then, you’ve seen all the teams and their positions. For the avoidance of doubt, here’s the table:
Chelsea look so much better than the rest it’s incredible. The massive goal difference is no coincidence, they’re going to take some stopping.
Blackburn are already looking cut adrift but there’s lots of football to play and more players to sign. There’s still plenty on free transfers or up for “auction” so who knows.But what do you think?
I’ll be back next week with the first in play updates, as we move from October to March. See you there!
Previous posts:
Preview 1: Arsenal, Aston Villa, Barnsley, Blackburn
We have arrived at the penultimate preview piece, covering four more teams who are hoping to make the most of the American Reset. Granted, a better title could have been found, but this is what we have. Remember, Manchester United haven’t been branded as it breaks the game for reasons I can’t quite fathom. But anyway…
Liverpool Patriots (Liverpool)
What I love about this is that theyy’ve gone for a club legend who is still a player.
So that’s a player sorted and a manager in the dugout. Now, what can Rushy do with £25m?
It’s another side with a lack of defenders. The good? Keith O’Neill normally causes a scramble at the start of every save, so he’s a smart buy but at the cost of £5m. I like Rob Lee, and although getting on a smidge he’d in his prime at the start of this season. Also, points for predicting the future and signing Danny Murphy. Noel Whlen though? This chap is pretty useful
Versatility is king in this world, he currently lines up at centre back in Rush’s 4-4-2. Bjarne Goldbaek was a snip at £1.4m but he suffered a 3 month injury early doors.
Current Position: 2nd
Prospects: Just 5 points off the top, it’s looking very promising for the Patriots.There’s still £9m in the bank to further improve and, seeing as nobody seems to care about defending, why not spend it all on players better than Noel Whelan?
Manchester United
Well if it isn’t Manchester United, Mr ‘I’m too good to have a fancy name’. Let’s see who they’ve appointed to run the dull train
Wow, that is…underwhelming. At least they’re making the effort with the players
As you’d expect from a side who still has Champions League football, they’ve been able to spend well and their squad is quite impressive
It’s a bit of a who’s who of CM legends. Bierhoff, Zetterbeg, Le Tissier, Tricky Trev, Tom Youngs, Kieron Dyer, a young Kevin Davies, Rio Ferdinand…but also Delroy Facey. It’s a strong team but the manager is punching here. Sure, he started his career at Man Utd and had a stellar playing career, but he’s spent most of his managerial life managing Raith Rovers. That can’t help.
Current Position: 5th
Prospects: There’s only £500k left but with 2 Champions League games to come there’s still money to be earned. It’s one of the better balanced sides in midfield but far too many strikers. I think they’ll be in the top 4, but they’re 13 points behind leaders Chelsea.
Newcastle Mavericks
Newcastle are still hanging on to their entertainers title despite Keegan’s exit 6 months ago. How do you build on that success?
That will not help. Roy is a good manager but more suited to some clubs than others.
I’m not really sure what Roy has done here. Well, except sign a boat load of midfielders
The good? Well, Freddy Leon is a bit of a hero on this game. Huckerby was at Newcastle the previous season, whilst Steve Stone is a Geordie. Other than that though, it’s uninspiring and contains Peter Atherton.
Current Position: 16th
Prospects: There’s still £15m in the bank which isn’t really surprising, Roy’s dithered in the market and ended up with all this rubbish. They’re only out of the relegation zone on goal difference and I think they’ll be relegated unless they sign some talent very quickly.
Sheffield Owls (Sheffield Wednesday)
Firstly, my old mate Stebbs pointed out on Twitter that these should have been called Sheffield Hooters. It’s hard to disagree with that, an oversight, though Hooters might have sued me. Anyway, Sheffield Owls appoint…
Well, this guy. He actually managed Barcelona for most of a season, but that was in 2000. He’s a left field choice here but we’ll give him a chance.
Shots fired with a big money purchase
To give old Lorenzo some credit, his squad is canny…
Otero and Rebrov is unusual but with Sutton and Gillies able deputies, there should be goals in the side. Ruddock and Wetherall will smash the opposition about, and some yougnster called Frank Lampard is in the middle of the park. Brazil’s number one is between the sticks. FInally though, shout out for bringing Andreas Brehme to the Premier League at this late stage of his career. That pace.
Current Position: 15th
Prospects: Another £17m to spend but to be honest I’m surprised they are so low down. The strikers alone should be able to get them out of trouble, add in a couple of decent midfielders and I think they’ll be well clear of relegation.
That’s it for now though, I’ll be back next week with the final 4 – Southampton, Tottenham, West Ham and Wimbledon.
What’s all this then? This should get you up to speed, and don’t forget to enjoy Preview 1 and Preview 2.
Here we are again! The third part of our preview and four more teams step up to the plate (see what I did there) to try and hit this crazy scenario out of the park. Can Derby find a better manager than Nigel Pearson? Will Everton find their David Moyes? Are Leeds able to avoid administration? Is there any way Leicester can top 2015/16? QUESTIONS WILL BE ANSWERED.
Derby Rams (Derby County)
You can’t argue that I was very lazy with some of these names. Anyway, Derby go for blog save favourite Brian Little to lead them in the new era.
What Brian Little doesn’t realise, is that Nobby Solano is not big enough to be a centre half. He also doesn’t have a right back. To be fair to Brian though, he’s built a young squad including Ball, Bowyer, Heskey, Humphreys, Jansen, Cadamarteri, Thorpe…even Solano is only 22.
Sasa Ciric usually does well, so they’ll be happy with him at £1.4m. Heskey is of course one of the stars of the game, who is just 19 here and can be a staple of your team for many years. But they have no current stars…
Current Position: 17th
Prospects: Long term, this squad could be brilliant. There’s also £15m in the bank, so all is not lost. Keep them up and they will be very good.
Everton Blues (Everton)
This is one of my worst team names. I can only apologise. However, they’ve really embraced the spirit of this game
A former Everton player during their glory spell in the 1980s, this appointment is brilliant.
Denilson moved for a World Record Fee during the 97/98 season, whereas here he moves for £2m to Everton. He turned down many teams. Reid is living the dream.
The squad is decent. Richard Wright and David Seaman in net, Ehiogu and Rufus, Denilson and…Froggatt, then Wright, Ferguson and Collymore. It’s not perfect, but he’s convinced Andy Hinchcliffe to stick around, and isn’t that the main thing? Well no, bringing big Dunc back is, but still. We salute you Peter Reid.
Current Position: 8th
Prospects: I hate to say it but Reidy is underachieving here, in my opinion. They’ve only got £300k in the bank but look at their strikers alone should do well. Any injuries at the back though and all bets are off.
Leeds Lions (Leeds United)
Leeds Rhinos called, they want their gimmick back. Incidentally, John Candy was also on the phone
The mullet has landed. He’s a better choice than George Graham I’d say. Anyway, Leeds don’t learn about money management and Smicer arrives for £6.25m, no doubt Risdale was involved.
If you think that’s bad, look at this car crash:
Ok, so you have a limited budget, and a maximum of four non-EU players in your squad. You are Leeds. How many do you buy? If the answer is less than 4, you are not Gerry Francis. Dida is a good keeper, I’ll give him that. Gerry also loves a Romanian, especially Bratianu, the Bucharest Dion Dublin. It’s awful planning.
Current Position: 18th
Prospects: If Gerry sees it, he buys it. Unfortunately he holidayed in the Czech Republic and Romania in the Summer of 97. There’s still £8m in the bank, so all is not lost, but I think they will struggle to pull away from the bottom 3. It took them until August 12th to buy their first player, after the season started…
Filbert Foxes (Leicester City)
This is a bit better. And a great appointment too, I imagine Gary Lineker had a lot to do with it.
Bobby is just about the only manager to have bought more than 5 defenders and no strikers. A different approach, he has a goalkeeper who takes freekicks and a few great connections.
Bobby’s first purchase at Newcastle was Kevin Gallacher, obviously a big fan of him as he’s got him here too. Steve Staunton worked with Sir Bobby at Ireland, so that’s a tedious link too. Also, Rigobert Song. Slavisa Jokanovic is now the Fulham manager.
Current Position: 9th
Prospects: I don’t think this squad is all that, but with Bobby at the helm they’re overachieving. Gallacher has 11 in 17 and there’s only £3.5m in the bank, so there’s not much to play with to add a third striker to the squad.
The Men Who Stare at Goals – an FM Anthology. Available now and 10% of profits go to CALM
What’s all this then? This should get you up to speed, or catch up with Preview 1
Welcome back! Part two of this five part preview is upon us, which means more hijinx as we catch up with the life and times of Bolton, Chelsea, Coventry and Crystal Palace. Can you sensationalise Bolton? Let’s find out.
Bolton White Sox (Bolton Wanderers)
No matter how snappy the name is, there’s always a sure fire way to ruin things…
Compulsive liar and professional idiot Joe Kinnear will certain draw some headlines if he is allowed to run his mouth for long enough, I’m sure that appealed a great deal. I’m obviously biased against JFK (I’ll let you guess what the F stands for) after he disgraced my club on a few occasions, but he always seems to do well for himself on 9798. He’s signed Richard Dunne here, to form a dream partnership with David May
To be fair to old Joe, he’s signed some decent players. Purk, Broomes, Mulryne, Kennedy and Cooke all have a huge amount of potential, whilst future Blackburn reject Corrado Grabbi cost him £3m. It’s not bad.
Current Position: 11th
Prospects: Joe has been thrifty and quite savvy for the future. There’s £14m in the bank and even if success doesn’t come this season, they are well set for the future. If they change manager.
Chelsea Cobras (Chelsea)
Solid manager appointed, former Liverpool man Roy Evans being the chosen one
Roy hasn’t hung around either, he’s gone balls out the bath on this one. He’s built a squad full of attacking talent, including a young Sheva (his name is slightly wrong in the database but we’ll forgive you, 1997)
It doesn’t stop there. Bobic, Giuly, Andreas Moller…John Hartson. Colin Hendry holding the fort at the back. It’s a dream.
Even Duberry has gone back there, oh and Mark Hughes. Two solid keepers, Paul Brayson, what more could you want?
Current Position: 1st
Prospects: Evans might have cracked it here, by just buying as many strikers as possible and playing them all. They’ve lost only once and have a 5 point lead. Are we looking at champions? They’ve overspent by £318k, so who knows what happens next.
Coventry Sky Blues (Coventry)
Go on, appoint a former England captain
He’s gone for a very continental squad, and of course retained Marcus Hall. Why not? Siegl, Slade and Neffa are good CM gems, whilst Alex Notman is a good one for the future. Ian Pearce has won a Premier League. Bjorn Kvarme hasn’t.
Anchabadze has been a steal at £2m. What a beast
Current Position: 12th
Prospects: There’s still £8.5m to spend to improve from midtable, but this squad lacks star power. They’ll do well to finish top half.
CP 69ers (Crystal Palace)
One of the more ridiculous team names but they’ve gone for one of the more obvious manager choices
Toshack usually ends up back in England during the first season when the first Premier League manager goes, he’ll do well I imagine. Using his knowledge of Turkey, he’s tempted Hakan Sukur to follow him
Continuity. Aside from that, it’s another squad that lacks…everything. He has Disco Des Hamilton to call on, and of course Philippe Albert (oh!) but then he also has the scorer of the greatest own goal ever Jamie Pollock and Andy Griffin. Ruel Fox makes it a quarter of ex-Mags, for some reason.
Current Position: 19th
Prospects: Toshack has made a big mess of this. They’ve scored 6 goals in 15 games but they’ve won 3 games, so they’re 4 points clear of bottom side Blackburn. That gives you an idea of how bad Blackburn are. The only plus is that they have £16m to spend.
That’s your lot for this episode, but next time it’s the turn of Derby, Everton, Leeds & Leicester. Before I go though, as ever I’d like to plug the FM Collaboration The Men Who Stare At Goals where FM Writers around the world have put together some pieces for your reading pleasure. 10% of the proceeds are going to the charity CALM, so it’s a good purchase all round (in my biased view)
Welcome to the first preview piece for the new save. Hopefully the introduction has got you in the mood for some retro madness, so I’m going to bring you the latest from four teams per preview, highlighting who they’ve put in charge, how they’ve spent their £25m and if they’re on course for success. I’ve had to play up to the end of October, 15 games in, to allow these idiots to actually sign some players. As you’ll see, some are still a work in progress
London Gunners (Arsenal)
Despite losing their place at the top of the alphabet, the London Gunners now carrying a threatening name. They’ve also appointed the polar opposite of Arsene Wenger
In the least surprising move ever, one of Jack’s first signing was Dennis Wise. They’ve also gone for Gary Pallister, Gary Flitcroft and Tim Flowers, but went more exotic for their big signing:
Jack’s still got £10m in the bank, which looking at his squad is hardly a surprise.
Seems like signing just four defenders was an awful idea, but 6 forwards should help. Jack plays 4-4-2, to the surprise of nobody.
Current Position: 14th
Prospects: Honestly, not great. They’ve invested very strangely and the remainder of the budget should really go towards defenders. Big Jack was not the man for this environment.
Aston Thrillers (Aston Villa)
Their name is a dream of a pun, and they have gone for current Birmingham player Steve Bruce as the man for job.
They’ve predicted the future! Attracted to Steve’s multiple title winning credentials as a player, they’ve killed two birds with one stone by signing a player and a manager. Brucey’s gone big on midfielders, spending £4m on CM legend Sabri Lamouchi and Santiago Ezquerro, but he’s got some decent bargains up front with former Man Utd team mate Andy Cole heading the attack.
Again, a bit light on defenders but who needs defenders anyway when you’ve got Tony Adams, Henning Berg and Julian Dicks alongside you, like some sort of 1996 fantasy football back four.
Current Position: 4th
Prospects: Very promising. There’s still £11m in the bank, and they’ve made a very good start. Should only get better from here
Barnsley Tykes (Barnsley)
It’s not very imaginative to put their nickname in the club name but…get used to it. This is one of my favourite stories, because they’ve appointed a Yorkshireman
The man who shot to fame in the mid 90s is the perfect man to spearhead a project like this. His signings don’t let us down either – they’re turning down everybody to play for King Kev.
Kevin Gallen and Roberto Muzzi also arrive, but again there’s a lack of defenders. Perhaps no surprise with Kev
Still, like I always say, if you can afford to leave Chris Casper out, you must have a good team.
Current Position: 3rd
Prospects: With only £900k left in the coffers, Keegan will need to go with what he has for the most part. If injuries are kind to them, they might be able to hang on for European qualification.
Blackburn Bears (Blackburn)
Prepare yourself for some hideous decisions, it’s like the Venky’s are in charge
NAYIM FROM THE HALF WAY LINE. This guy is famous form among other things, beating Arsenal in the Cup Winners Cup final. Obviously that would be his appeal to a mass Premier League audience. However, he’s really struggled to attract players in any great number, though the addition of Romario should help
Now we’re talking. I’m sure he has more than 0 goals for Brazil though. Anyway, he’s living the dream of playing alongside Martin Keown, Darren Peacock and a very young Ian Harte. Honestly, this team is atrocious, and threadbare.
Romario is yet to score in 10 games…
Current Position: 20th
Prospects: 1 win and 5 goals in 15 games tells you everything you need to know. There’s still £12m in the bank but they need a miracle. No wingers in the whole squad, so the manager is playing a 4-3-3 narrow with Lee Jarman as an emergency forward. Lovely.
That’s it for this update though, join me next time as I take you through the happenings at Bolton, Chelsea, Coventry and Crystal Palace
What do you do when you’ve completed the game? You make your own game!
I’m normally against editing the database, I like it to be as close to the default as possible. However, I’ve done that to death and this is an opportunity to try something very different
The Scenario
It’s the summer of 1997 and Premier League football is starting to take off around the world. A crafty American businessman sees an opportunity to cash in and grow the sport knowing fine well that someday, the TV deal will be worth billions of pounds. He thinks if we add in a bit of American showmanship, we’ll have the greatest sports empire in the world on our hands.
19 of the 20 Premier League clubs have been re-branded to be Americanised. Manchester United are already deemed a hit around the world and have various copyrights in place preventing a name change. In reality, I can’t change their name in the database without it causing utter mayhem and breaking the game on start up. Oh well.
All clubs are managerless, each franchise can appoint a manager of their choosing. Likewise, all teams have been given a £25m budget but have no players contracted to them at the outset. Clubs will have to bid for players to fill up their roster, but as this is a reset every single Premier League club has a reputation of 15, so it’s going to be a scrap for every player. Of course, clubs abroad are unaffected by this so whilst Barnsley could now be quite the pull, the Tykes would have to pay full price to prise a player over to the new league, which could dent their budget severely. It’s a real humdinger.
The players are not available for free, they are all at “minor team” meaning they can be acquired for an auction price. Quite how that price is figured out, I don’t know. Ryan Giggs comes in at £4m whereas you’d have to pay £14m for Alan Shearer.
I think, though I can’t back this up, that because reputations are all fairly high (it’s rated out of 20) it means any clubs who are struggling early doors will see their managers come under severe pressure. That should help.
What will I be doing? Well, I’d actually like to sit out of the way on this one and let the madness unfold. I might take a job in the second season or something, but I just want to see how the AI handle it all and try to fill up a squad. They’re going to need about 20-25 players to be competitive, which means £1m per player. That could be an issue. But it could also be hilarious.
I’ve simmed the game until the end of October. I was originally planning to start from the eve of the season but it turns out 3 weeks isn’t enough time to build a squad, who knew? Over the coming weeks, I’m going to bring you a preview, covering four teams at a time so you can see what they’ve been up to. Then we’ll be back to weekly updates every Sunday to see how it all unfolds. Let the games begin!
Here’s some preview images to get you in the mood…
One more image for you, I’ve contributed to the brand new FM Anthology ‘The Men Who Stare At Goals‘ alongside several (more talented) members of the FM Community. Make it your first purchase this January transfer window!
The blog has been relatively quiet since the save came to an end, which was always likely to happen but I promise you there’s more to come.
There’s still a lot to write about, and I’ve been playing some FM17 and CM0102 over on The Higher Tempo Press. Unsurprisingly, one of those is going considerably better than the other. The FM17 series will probably run into the New Year, but I imagine I’ll be sacked before long. It’s a struggle.
I’m also awaiting a new laptop, and until that arrives I don’t want to start a new game to blog about because I don’t know if it will be transferrable. My current laptop is struggling quite badly, so it’ll be a relief when the new one is up and running.
I do plan to bring you a new CM9798 save, most likely I’ll do some messing about with the database and perhaps give the “American Takeover” save I did for THTP a proper go. I also enjoyed the England Over 33s series I ran on Twitter, but I have a few ideas anyway which I’ll look forward to bringing you.
As the song the title of this particular post suggests, the festive period is a good time for reflection. Completing the game was a highlight, as was the response from you all expressing how much you’d enjoyed the blog. It means a lot to me so once again, thank you for your support.
I’ve been broadening my horizons this year and trying to write as much as possible, not just about CM/FM but about football in general. I’d like to thank the lads at The Long Ball for allowing me to contribute to their second issue, where I ranted a bit about Newcastle. You can see that here. I was also grateful for the opportunity to make my podcast debut for the gents over at Man On the Post, and to do some live texts for ByTheMinute. I plan to do a lot more of that in the New Year.
If you’d like to work with me in 2017, please get in touch. There’s always a collaboration to be done, or even if you just want to have a chat about CM to plug your own work, I’d love to help you out in the same way many of you have helped me. With that though, I wish you all a brilliant Christmas and a very happy New Year. See you in 2017!
P.S Sorry for the lack of pictures in this post, I can’t find any of Beardsley in a santa’s hat and everything else seemed token.
Hello! The saved game might be finished but there’s still lots more to come on CM9798.co.uk. Here’s a look at where each of the current crop of managers plying their trade in the Premier League can be found on CM9798.
Eddie Howe
Before Eddie Howe was deemed the best young manager who ever stepped foot on planet Earth (we’ll all ignore his stint at Burnley), young Eddie used to play a bit too. His stats aren’t that bad for a centre half – decent position, heading & strength but Division 2 Bournemouth are having none of it. He’s on the transfer list. If only you knew what was coming lads.
Arsene Wenger
We all know where Wenger is. Where he’ll always be. Manager of Arsenal – nothing to see here, folks.
Sean Dyche
Dyche, Dyche baby. The versatile Sean Dyche moved to Bristol City for the 1997/98 season and plays alongside such luminaries as Paul Tisdale, Brian Tinnion and Shaun Goater. The whereabouts of his goatee and the graveliness of his voice are not include in the stats unfortunately but that flair stat seems unlikely.
Antonio Conte
Now, this is a player. Conte is a vital part of Juventus’ all star squad, sharing a midfield with Davids, Deschamps, Zidane…and a young Fabio Pecchia, who went on to be Rafa Benitez’ assistant at Real Madrid. Pointless fact. Anyway, Conte sits top of the Premier League as of this writing but whether he celebrates every goal with as much vigour when he was playing, I am yet to find out.
Alan Pardew
Currently hanging onto his job at Crystal Palace, the Pardy man was clinging on to his playing career to start 97/98. Having left his role as player-coach at Barnet the previous season, he went on to move to Reading with manager Terry Bullivant. Wisely, looking at his stats, he never made an appearance. He’s nursing a bruished thigh here – someone else’s fault, of course.
Ronald Koeman
Koeman retired at the end of the 1996/97 season so he shouldn’t be in CM9798. However, luckily for me/you he’s in the database just in case he had decided to carry on.
I’ve therefore un-retired him for the sake of this article. His stats are feast or famine, but really this is a guy who is one of the top scoring defenders of all time who spent most of his career playing at sweeper, you’d be fairly daft to use him as an out and out centre back as he apparently can’t run or head. Maybe that is why he called it a day.
Mike Phelan
Mike Phelan has an England cap!? Apparently he got it in 1989 against Italy – mamma mia. Worryingly, Wiki seems to think he retired in 1995 and went into being assistant manager at a variety of clubs, most famously Manchester United. I would like to buy him a pint for the time he popped that balloon next to Fergie, fair play for that. Hull are a bit of a mess and Mike was the only man who’d take it on. Brave or stupid? We’ll know in May, but I won’t be signing him on 9798.
Claudio Ranieri
Ranieri is 65 and retired in 1986. He’s on the game, managing Valencia, but even on CM9798 he didn’t win the league with Leicester.
Jurgen Klopp
Klopp started his career as a striker but gave that up to be a defender in 1995. Even in the mid 90s he was being a bit zany. In all seriousness, Klopp’s style of football is great but I don’t think anybody saw it coming back in 1997. His stats are quite average and I’m disappointed they don’t have him as a defender/striker, like a German Dion Dublin.
Pep Guardiola
Ah, Pep. Or Josep as he was back then. Guardiola was a world class midfielder in 1997 and it should come as no surprise that he went on to be a great manager. The Barcelona team on this game also includes Luis Enrique, who is one of the managers to succeed Pep at Barcelona, but also Juan Antonio Pizza who has gone on to be the manager of Chile. Of course. I can’t tell you anything about Guardiola you don’t know already, I’m afraid.
Jose Mourinho
The Special One was the Special Number Two back in 1997, being an assistant manager at Barcelona having worked with Sir Bobby Robson the previous season. You don’t need me to tell you about this man.
Aitor Karanka
I’m not really sure what took Aitor Karanka to Middlesbrough but he was assistant to Jouse Mourinho at Real Madrid before that. Having achieved his first cap for Spain in 1995, that somewhat surprisingly was the only time he played for his country, although he was largely a backup at Real Madrid. Before he was randomly walking out his players before leading them to promotion months later, Karanka was setting a trend by finishing his career in 1996 in the MLS at Colorado Rapids. With his aggression and strength at 20, he might have been better suited to a career in UFC.
Claude Puel
Southampton boss Puel retired in 1996 and went on to manager Monaco in 1999. He spent his whole playing career but I can’t find him on 9798 in any capacity
Mark Hughes
Mark ‘Sparky’ Hughes was in the twilight of his career in 1997, but as shown by his injury proneness of 1, he was still very durable and went on to play until 2002. I’m going to go out on a limb here – Mark Hughes is under appreciated as a player. Maybe it’s because he is a very irritating manager, but here’s a guy who played for Man Utd, Barcelona and Bayern Munich amonst others in a 22 year playing career. On 9798, Hughes is a useful foil for Gianfranco Zola and/or Gianluca Vialli, but his determination and influence of 20 show why he went on to be a manager. Some people are made for it.
David Moyes
David Moyes was born in Glasgow. He has a Scottish accent and…likes kilts. Anyway, he’s not English and I have no idea why he is English on the 9798 database. Sack the researcher. Handily, you can help me track this man down as the game names and shames him
Are you Gary N? If so, come and have a chat. Talk me through it. Moyesy though…the Sunderland boss became Preston manager during the 97/98 season and was a player/assistant before that. It’s good that he has high adaptability, that’ll serve him well if he has to work at a big club or abroad. Oh.
Bob Bradley
Bob was out of work in 1997, even if he wasn’t it would have been a leftfield inclusion. He’s been managing since 1981, which seems a long time.
Mauricio Pochettino
Poch spent much of his career playing or managing Espanyol and that is where we find him here. He went on to get 20 caps for Argentina, his stats are fairly solid with good heading and strength and he’s no slouch either. To think, many were outraged when Southampton ditched Nigel Adkins for this guy. Then again, Poch went on to ditch them for Spurs so maybe they were onto something. An undoubtedly astute manager but avery useful centre half in his day.
Walter Mazzarri
The Watford boss wasn’t managing in 1997, having retired in 1995.
Tony Pulis
Pulis was manager of Gillingham in 1997, no doubt setting up with 4 centre halves and 3 holding midfielders just to be careful. Great set pieces though. Usually gets sacked by Gillingham in the first few seasons, however if they ever find themselves in a Premier League relegation fight you can guarantee they’d want him back.
Slaven Bilic
West Ham manager and apaprent legend (49 league appearances…) is at Everton in 1997. He’s a very useful centre half with good defensive stats, and of course went on to the World Cup semi finals in 1998 where he ruined the tournament for Laurent Blanc. I like Bilic, he was a good pundit during Euro 2016 but fundamentally he did sign Zaza, and some things can’t be forgiven.
Since I started this blog in January 2015, I’ve not really had any aims or targets. I just wanted to play the game from start to finish and hopefully bring it to you, blow by blow, in a slightly enjoyable manner. I’m glad to say that at least one of those aims has come true – the jury is very much out on the other one!
The question I am asked more than any other – what happens in the end? Well the truth is I didn’t know. I’d received a couple of screenshots from people who had reached the end but I hadn’t seen it happen myself. However, at the end of Season 29, it happened.
I also took the decision to record the end, just in case you want to see how it goes down. It’s pretty brutal, and even lulls you into false hope by giving you the awards screen but from then on it is like removing a plaster. One click and it’s done. See for yourselves:
On the plus side, the saved game remains so I can sift through the stats and things at my leisure. Peter Beardsley will remain 65 forever. World Cup holder indefinitely. If you’re looking for the last post in the series, it is here
As it turns out, I reached this point in the game as I was about to move house, so the timing was impeccable. I’m not saying this is the end for the blog, I might start a new save at some point but I’ll probably do a Twitter poll at some point. I’m open to offers!
Anyway, for all of you that have supported me through this save (and of course the first save that was so cruelly cut short) through the re-tweets, the general chit chat, buying the book, telling your friends – Thank You. You’re all wonderful people.
For now though, as a famous knight who features as a background in CM9798 once said; it’s farewell but not goodbye.
If you’re looking for a Christmas gift, the book on CM9798 is a great stocking filler!
