Football Manager 2010 - New Features Wishlist

Football Manager 2009 started rather disappointingly - with the problems of activating the game. Millions had bought the game, yet few could play the game for hours, felt like days!! The phone lines were dead and siga's official website was down. Eventually, when I was able to activate the game, all was forgiven! I loved it from day 2! (day 1 being the struggle to activate it)

However, this post will focus on the wishlist for new features in fm2010.

• FM2010 needs to be faster & more responsive than 2009.
• Stadium building needs to be better than just saying the capacity has increased by 3,782!
• There is only one camera view in the 3d match that I like (corner) - there needs to be more!
• A highlights package with a similar look to LMA or FIFA manager.
• Being a chairman of a club instead, or as well as, being a manager could be fun
• Press Conferences are not that good. I always send my assistant now.
• Tactics are poorer now! The arrows, indicating runs, are now more limiting.
• There are no fans in the stadium on matchday! I want fans, together with chants!
• International Managers don't have a shortlist anymore! It's easier than using the vast national pool.

The stadium expansion really does need looking into. On other games, such as LMA manager on the playstation, I used to love being a small team and developing their stadium. I was even the manager of Barnet for this reason. In the highlights, you got to see how your stadium looked and how development was progressing.

Season 5 updates

The injuries continued to mount as I began Season 5. I soon remembered why I lost motivation for the game in the first place! It is incredibly frustrating, especially as I'm doing nothing wrong. I'm not overtraining, nor under-training, my players

Pre-Season News

I have managed to sign a number of players on free transfers. Most noticeably, the below players.

Jeremie Aliadiere, Matty Ritchie, Stephen Bywater, Jordan Stewart, Richard Eckersley, Lubomir Michalik & Gylfi Sigurdsson.

I have set the target of avoiding relegation - anything more will be a bonus!

Season 5 - Opening Fixtures

Season 5 - Opening Fixtures

Here are the fixtures for the Championship, season 5.

Rest of the season

Here is my archived copy of my Carlisle team from Season 4...

Here are the results from the last 4 games of the season...

Port Vale 2-2 D
Swindon 3-0 W
Luton 1-3 L
Bradford 2-2 W

I used these games to bring in some youngers players to the team. I finished second in League 1 to gain promotion to the championship.

Promotion Guaranteed!

Gillingham 0 v 5 Carlisle
Hutton 3, 27
Simpson 37, 61
Madine 88

A brilliant result against third placed Gillingham. This has guaranteed Carlisle promotion to the Championship. We have not conceded in 7 games and have won our last eight. I will start looking at the players whose contracts are close to expiry, to bag some free transfers.

I have four games left now, so I will bring in some younger players into the team.

April 2013

The games against Millwall and Port Vale were called off due to international call-ups. So the next game was against mid-table Plymouth Argyle.

Carlisle 2 v 0 Plymouth
Simpson 28
Taundry 31 (og)

We got our fifth victory in a row here to close the gap on leaders Millwall. It is also our fifth cleen sheet in a row! The next game is against leaders Millwall (a). Gylfi Sigurdsson comes back into the starting line-up after injury. Jay Simpson and Gary Madine continue upfront, whilst David Hutton returns from his injury, on the bench.

Millwall 0 v 1 Carlisle
Aleksandrov 72

Over 11000 were at the new den for the match between League 1 leaders and second place. A single goal by Milan Aleksandrov won the game for Carlisle.

League Table P Pts
1 Millwall 42 91
2 Carlisle 41 85
3 Gillingham 42 75

The next game is away to third place Gillingham.

Carlisle v Leyton Orient

Leyton Orient are 10 points behind Carlise, but they have a game in hand. If they win today, it'll just out a little pressure on us. A win for Carlisle though, would virtually clinch automatic promotion.

Team News
David Hutton refused to take the injections to get him through this match, so Gary Madine, still lacking match fitness, comes in to replace him.

Carlisle 1 v 0 Leyton Orient
4 Potter

Darren Potter scored a cracking freekick after only 4 minutes to give Carlisle the win.

League Table P Pts
1 Millwall 39 85
2 Carlisle 39 79
3 Preston 39 67
4 Southend 39 67
5 Leyton Orient 39 66
6 Gillingham 39 66

Promotion to the Championship is looking very likely now, as we are 12 points clear of our nearest rivals.

Injury setback to star striker

David Hutton damaged his foot in training and could be out for a month. I've advised the physios to give him painkilling injections, so that he can be available for the next match. He will not start and will only play if needed.

The next game is against Leyton Orient, at home. They are sitting in third place, so this will be a tough game.

In other news, I have signed Stephen Bywater from Northampton, on a free transfer. The experienced goalkeeper should improve the quality in that area of the pitch.

Carlisle vs Notts County

Exeter 0 v 1 Carlisle (Jay Simpson)
Jay Simspon scored the only goal in the win against lowly Exeter. The win further cements our promotion place.

League Table
1 Millwall P 37 PTS 81
2 Carlisle P 37 PTS 73
3 Leyton Orient P36 PTS 65
4 Preston P 37 PTS 64

The next game is against my old club Notts County. Notts Co. are sitting in 17th place in League 1, so in theory it should be a win for Carlisle. However, County still have a lot of players who I'd taken to the club though, so i'm not expecting an easy game.

Gary Madine has recovered from his injury, so has a place on the bench, but he is Severely lacking match fitness.

Carlisle 2 v 0 Notts County
Madine 87
Jerome 90

Two late goals won the game for me against my old club. Simpson and Hutton were replaced by Gary Madine & Sam Jerome, after 65 minutes, who both scored.

Season 4 - vs Exeter (a)

My next game is away to Exeter, they are in 23rd position so a win is expected. I have a couple of injuries going into this game...

Vincent Pericard (2 months)
Kamil Tevfik (1-2 months)
Gylfi Sigurdsson (2-3 weeks)
Gary Madine (1 week)

I think I'll be playing top scorer David Hutton, along with Jay Simpson up front.

Season 4 - results and fixtures

Here are the remaining fixtures from Season 4. It's been a while since I've played on FM2009, but I'm gonna pick the game up again, hence why I've tried to update this blog.

Season 4 - Results so far

Here are the results so far for Season 4. I am now currently in 2nd place in League 1. Here are some players I have signed ahead of season 4.

Kaspars Gorkss

Darren Potter

Gylfi Sigurdsson (on loan)

Luke Chadwick

Javier Martina

Jay Simpson

Vincent Pericard

Season 3 - summary

I had a great run of results as Carlise manager, with a star striker called Gary Madine getting me a bagful of goals. I got to the playoff final, losing to Blackpool. However, optimism is high for Season 4.

Season 3 - Notts Co/Carlise

The 3rd season ended with promotion to League 1 with Notts Co. We finished 3rd! I managed to sign more quality players now that I had gained promotion.

Kevin Thornton (Leeds)
Adam Drury (Norwich)
Mark Davies (Wolves)
Jaime Peters (Ipswich)

All were free transfers. The first 3 games were all defeats, but I managed to put in a good string of results to get County to a mid-table position. Then, I got linked with the Carlisle job. They were a team lower than County in League 1.

I decided to take the job, because I had taken Notts Co. all I could do with no money. Carlise already had a decent set of players, but they had money to spend as well. However, I didn't want to rush spending my money, so I looked into the loan market and free agents list.

Sam Jerome
Jordan Rhodes
(both on loan from my old Stoke team)
James Beattie (loan from Sheff U)
Matty Ritchie (loan from Portsmouth)
Martin Albrechsten (free transfer)

Season 2 - New Job

After being sacked from Stoke, I was offered a job at Notts County. They were 23rd in League 2, facing relegation to the Blue Square Premier.

I managed to sign a few good players on free transfers - as there was no budget available to buy players! Including...

Leigh Mills (released by Tottenham)
Netan Sensara (released by Wallsall)
Tresor Kandol (released by Leeds)
Andrea Orlandi (released by Swansea)
and most impressively, Kayode Odejayi (released by Barnsley)

I had a good second half of the season with County, eventually finishing 16th!

Best Signings on FM2009 - (including wonderkids and bargain buys)

Best Signings on FM2009 - (including wonderkids and bargain buys)

Here are a few players that are worth a check. Most were out of my reach, as Stoke manager, but I also have bargain buys too!

Andy Carroll - You should be able to sign this player on loan from Newcastle. He is a young, very tall striker! Peter Crouch of the future!

Hatem Trabelsi - A right back who starts the game as a free transfer. You may be able to sign him as a good championship club upwards.

Joe Mattock - A young left back from Leicester. Sign him straight away! He will be a good player in the future.

Adel Taarabt - Young midfielder playing for Tottenham. Has the potential to be a star!

Darijo Srna - Brilliant attacking wing-back. A player that I always signed in fm2008 & 2007. He'll cost you a small fortune these days though.