Almost Retired

the end is upon us

2011-04-15T22:51:00.004Z

This will be 1 of my final posts due to FML being cancelled :(

Lend Me Your Eyes

2011-04-08T17:43:00.002Z

A hot topic in both the Subscribers forum & the Moderator forum at the moment is the state of the current match engine & the tactics people are currently using, With 1 side saying this match engine is total rubbish & the other saying it is people's tactics that are the cause of the problems. Reading between the lines it does come across that a number of flaws have been ironed out during the last match engine patch & it is making a lot of tactics that used these flaws look quite unstable, Which in turn is annoying a number of users.

Now i wouldn't class myself as an expert on tactics, But the ones i have previously thrown together have normally done me proud at all levels, I have tended to build my tactics around the players i have got at my disposal at senior level (based on their stats) & also how i would like them to play football. This tactic is then used at all the youth levels so that the players i hope to bring through from u17 to my senior side have the right stats when they hit 20/21 years of age.

So going off the replies being given on the forums i thought it might be wise to pm my current setting's to WWFAN & see what he thought needed improving & what i was doing wrong. As this tactic was OK 85% of the time, but when it was bad it was really bad if you understand my meaning i do get a lesson in footballing terms.

These are the settings i was using & sent to WWFAN

Philosophy - Balanced

Match Strategy - Attacking

Passing - Shorter

Creative Freedom - Default

Closing Down - Press More

Tackling - Default

Marking - Default

Crossing - Default

Roaming - Default

Defensive line - 10

Width - 12

Tempo - 12

Time Wasting - Default

Passing Focus - Down Both Flanks

Counter Attack - No

Play Offside - Yes

Primary Play maker - FLC

GK - Def Role - Sweeper Keeper- all default

RB - Sup Role - Passing 6 - Rest Default

LB - Sup Role - Passing 6 - Rest Default

DLC - Def Role - Mentality 8 - Rest Default

DRC - Def Role - Mentality 8 - Ball Playing DC - Rest Default

MCL - Def Role - Mentality 8 - Ball Winning Mid - Rest Default

MCR - Sup Role - Deep Lying Play maker - Passing 6 - Rest Default

AMR - Att Role - Inside Forward - Mentality 18 - Passing 6 - No Long Shots - Rest Default

AML - Att Role - Inside Forward - Mentality 18 - Passing 6 - No Long Shots - Rest Default

FLC - Att Role - Trequarista - Mentality 20 - Passing 6 - No Long Shots - Rest Default

FRC - Sup Role - Complete Forward - No Long Shots - Rest Default

Shouts - Retain Possession, Pass To Feet, Run At Defence, Look For Overlap & Get Stuck In

And the reply i got from him, RE:HEY

I'd be wary of using such short passing on FB's, Especially if you are using AML/R's. You are limiting their passing options, Which might lead to the DC's getting caught in possession when the FB's pass centrally as there is nobody else in range.

Would be wary of reducing passing for a play maker or TQ. Whole logic of their central passing settings is that it allows them to play any type of pass, Not just short simple ones.

Likewise, I'd be wary of the TQ having no long shots as a default setting. He should pop up in open spaces quite often and might well score a few from distance if he has the right attributes.

Retain possession is a useless shout if passing and temp is set manually, Needs them to be on default to have an effect.

Your mentality splits are terrible, Should never be a gap of 10-12 in mentality in the team, You are basically telling the attack that the strategy is aggressive and the defence that it is cautious. Which will cause disconnect, Keep mentality close together to ensure a cohesive performance,

Defensive line is far too low for a high pressing strategy, Width should probably be default so you give your wingers more space to move into as they cut inside. A manually set tempo stops you from being able to adjust tempo to the conditions.

Can see there being an issue with passing between midfield and attack unless the complete forward is phenomenal at finding deep space, With the short passing and a front line rushing up field, It will be difficult for the midfield to pick out their man without somebody disobeying instructions

Shouting strategies should be focusing on conditions, Opposition type and player attributes rather than being generic shouts you like to use i.e wet pitch = more direct passing, Very dry and hot = shorter passing, Against a narrow formation = play narrower to choke the middle in defence and exploit the flanks to gain 2 on 1 advantages in attack, look for overlap can be a good shout on a chewed up pitch as it keeps a lot of players just outside the box where the ground is better.

Apart from that it is all good

Remember we've been working hard on making the match engine respond to the logic of the tactic creator, Which is all based on real life football logic. If you think about how football tactics are constructed in real life and what managers do to cope with different questions, You will do well.

Good Luck

Richard

Which does give me plenty of things to think about, Which in reality does take me away from my thinking on my tactical setups going forward. Back to the chalk board HEHE. I am sure i won't be the only person basing their tactical knowledge on previous versions of FM, Where 1 tactic conquered all & you really didn't need to think about things, Just click continue & let things trudge along. This new version of the match engine is actually a challenge to master, Something people will need to do to make things work on the pitch as they want them to, Otherwise they will get beaten & eventually leave FML saying everything but themselves is wrong & that we should revert things back to match engine xxxx.

So going off the above, 1 tactic doesn't fit all scenario's these days, You need to adapt to what is going on around you, The 1 tactic fits all approach that a lot of us have ingrained into our subconscious needs wiping from your memory, As this throw back to the FM series of yesteryear is what is causing all your issues and will all need to get past this change and embrace these new options, out with the old & in with the new sorta thing :)

Working out what works & what doesn't will take time & plenty of patience, You will need to watch the games, Reacting to the in game needs as a real life manager would do & possibly analysing the full match to work out where it all goes wrong, I am away now back to the class room to work out properly what each shout does in regards to the match engine & maybe think about how i go about things tactic wise, So far i am thinking of 5 tactics all based on the same formation.

Defensive setup to defend when I'm trying to close games out

Balanced setup to start games whilst working out what is required on the pitch

Attacking setup for when i need that all important goal

Counter attack setup for when i go a goal up & expect the opposition to attack me, Which should leave gaps in their defence.

Possession setup for when they loose a player & i need to keep the ball to tire out them more before going in for the kill.

So wish me luck while i work my way through all this & hopefully once Ive got it nailed i may give you all a little snippet of my findings :)

P.S. i have made some alterations to the above settings, as i don't want to give you an easy option to beat me in any of my 3 current game worlds

The World Cup

2011-04-02T14:53:00.005Z

Something that seems very popular at the moment is the loan world cup, Which is an interim fix while we wait for the code to be added for International football inside FML, I think by now most gameworlds have run it at least once by now & with it brought a lot of good out from within the gameworld community. It is a brilliant way of getting the community interacting with one another & does bring people together who may not of even spoken to one another without this comp/event.

The build up during pre season keeps users logging in at a time most take a break from fml & with it building up all week to the main event it does add quite a lot of chat & banter inside the game. It all starts off with the auctioning off of the nations using a mixture of live auctions & private bidding all run by the mod team, Obviously this is quite time consuming for the mods who are sorting this out, But the positives do out way the negatives currently due to the amount of people taking part.

Once the auctions are over & its down to actually getting players in, Is where this begins to fail in my opinion. This is down to the amount of players that are currently not accessible for a number of different reasons.

The player hasn't been at his current club 28 days.

The player's contract will end before the loan length required will permit.

The Manager will not accept the loan offer.

The Player is already loaned out.

Of course in real life not all players can be called up for a number of reasons, But how often do you see a full starting 11 missing for an International side ? This is my only grumblings in what is realistically the flagship event inside FML at the moment & i do hope it is S.I's next addition to the game. As i feel they should be able to code a lot of this to take the work load away from the mod team & also take away the risk of the players being released by a moderator rather than cancelling the loan & returning the player to his original club.

So for me we really do need these options when running these events going forward.....

A proper auction system allowing the bids on nations using the in game reward points.

A way of assigning the nation won to a user once the auction has ended.

An International comp setting to stop the players being used in official games.

The ability to call up any player for your squad with a limit of 22 players maximum.

Caps won to show on the players profiles.

There may be things i have missed, but these basic options will make it more accessible to everyone & hopefully allow more to take part. So please S.I. pull your fingers out & get this sorted out.

Where do i go wrong

2011-04-01T19:52:00.001Z

So after days & weeks of threatening to update this blog & several post it notes later i have finally set enough time aside to put notes into words. I very much doubt people even bother to check the link these days due to my sporadic posting's, But what the hell i do this more for myself than anyone else !!!! I personally feel the game itself is quite solid if unspectacular at the moment, But it has all gone quiet in most gameworlds, The lack of in game chatter/banter/abuse coupled with the lack of info from S.I. towers doesn't bode well for the future, I'm sure this won't be the case as there will be updates & announcements by S.I. which should have a knock on effect in game. I would guess that once 1.7 is finally announced as ready to patch to all the live gameworld's S.I. will send it to everyone on the FML mailing list, similar to how they recently re-invigorated a number of users with a mail shot mentioning their in game finances. If it all goes well I'm sure this quiet rest period will soon be forgotten as everyone gets more involved all over again. I do feel thought that not the source code of the game is stable it is time S.I. started adding in some of the extras that have been requested for as long ago as i can remember. Hopefully these things will sort out one of the biggest complaints being bandied around at the moment, The lack of things to do, I do read the forums but rarely reply these days, As to be totally honest most of them come across as people whining without actually offering a solution to the actual issue. The only post not of this vein was 1 i read this week by a forum user called StewartDowning1 who does at least offer something that S.I. could consider & look at. But even if all the things suggested where added by S.I. I'm certain it would upset some users as i have seen numerous times, What 1 person would love another user hates. So no doubt there will be a number of forums posts in the future slating S.I. & their total lack of consideration for everyone involved. This is most likely down to how passionate most of us are about FML/football in general. Anyhow my ramblings are done until i get round to letting you know how I'm fairing in game & before anyone asks , YES i do have some notes already :)

Ramos

2011-02-06T15:38:00.000Z

Decisions Decisions Decisions,

So 9Th of April its a while off yet, But does keep inching closer & closer. This is the date i have got when my original side will either die or i make a decision to continue it. Most the guys i knew from Psycho or Shearer have long since gone from this gameworld. Serge & JG being the last 2 to move to pastures new or onto other things in the real world. There is a few in Ramos i do chat to but i feel no ties at all to this gameworld. So do i cancel & let it die or look at moving it to another gameworld where i have friends that i can interact with.

Side wise i tend to flirt between the championship & premiership levels. got a number of decent youths coming through, But i don't get the feeling that i need to log in as i am missing out on something. Lets see which way i go but at the moment it does look like the side i originally started with will be no more in a matter of months.

Nunez

2011-02-05T14:50:00.000Z

So after dominating the TFA youth comps for a few seasons i took my eye of the ball & built 2 very average squads, This was costly as i finished no where in most youth comps. So during this season i have spent time working on a tactic & lots of time scouting as many u17 players as i possibly can. I also added in a few decent u21s which allowed me to reclaim the u21 league title.

My u17s squad for this current season & next seasons does look tasty & if i can add in slightly better at GK DL DC MC & AML i think i could have around 20 players in a few seasons time pushing for senior games & hopefully winning me senior comps.

At 17 years of age i have the already very impressive Rene Kipre scoring plenty of goals at striker, Antonio Pujol & Nando chipping in with goals & assists from the wings (Nando has the ability to turn a game on its head), Ive got Darren Flynn out on loan who should be a fantastic right back & on the subs bench i have Celick Bulent & Steve King waiting to get on & replace Kipre should they get the chance.

At 16 i have Thiago Goncalves as a potential star of the future at 16 he is turning in very decent performances at right back, Federico Romero & James Ellis the striking options with Ricardo adding some bite into the midfield, Again i have another decent right back at this age group out on loan in Jose Ferreira

At 15 i have the very impressive Anderson smashing forwards to bits from his dc position, Hopefully the other dc at this age will develop over the next season or 2 & give me the back bone of a quality side (Marcos Rezende).

So with the wage auctions soon to be upon us, Its time to scout out which u17s will be hitting the auctions & ensure i can bid as much as possible to fill in these gaps.

Time Flies when your having fun

2011-01-16T02:14:00.000Z

So November & December pass without me finding time to update this blog, I have made notes several times but never got round to actually turning them into something meaning full, Cannot remember why i failed to update in November (old age showing) But December was definitely down to being a little bit over social.

Away from FML I'm either busy with work or on my ps3 (current game of choice is gran turismo 5) , which is quite enjoyable & not something i would normally go near (i am more a strategy man than a button presser). Its good fun & also is allowing me to unwind away from FML which at times can be quite demanding on your spare time.

Sanchez

In Gameworld Sanchez we have merged the CFA,TFA & VFA into 2 brand new themed FA's, The names on these are to be voted on each season & if the name is to be altered a secondary vote to be run to allow the users in each FA a control on how the FA shapes up going forward, This wasn't without its problems as assigning roughly 200 sides in the divisions they should be in based on previous performances made for a tough job & a very time consuming 1 (Cheers Ritchie & Martyn). December brought with it a the festive period but the way some user acted i feel they got visited by 3 ghosts in a hope of correcting these pessimistic & disruptive ways. 1 particular user chose to ignore these ghosts & carried on into the new year. It did result in a very tiresome new year period & i was actually glad to be returning to work. On the pitch my side is slipping, relegated from the Premiership & almost relegated from the Championship the following season, But a fine end of season rally resulted in me being safe for at least 1 more season, I do have quite a youngish side so i do hope with a couple of decent signings i may actually get back into the Premiership. On a plus note i do have quite a few very promising youths coming through that will eventually add some real quality to my senior side.

Ramos

442 or not 442 that is the question, I have stuck by this formation but others either play the 442 narrow diamond or the 4132 formation that seems to still be over dominant, Again like Sanchez my side is in a transitional period, But with a bit of cash about me & possibly just a DC & RB to find in the next pre season wage auctions i feel i do have the players about me if i can just get the tactic working slightly better than it currently does (Nunez 442 does need moving across).

Nunez

My side in here flatters to deceive considering the average age, I am really unsure how i manage to stay in the TFA Premiership each season, Yet now these young lads are really showing some improvements i honestly feel i can push on & secure a major trophy or 2, Since season 1 i have brought youngsters through from 15/16 to the senior side & it will now bear some fruit. My youth sides for most of the past few seasons had totally dominated the youth comps within the FA, Yet during the season that has just ended i only managed to win the u19 league & cup, I was there or there abouts in the other age groups but realistically just wasn't good enough. I did also win the uffa u19 gold cup.

Hopefully it wont be another 3 months between posts but who knows what life will throw at me next........

Nick

Time Off

2010-10-21T16:00:00.000Z

So i decided last Friday to take a break from my moderating role (only over the weekend), I felt i was close to calling time fully so a short break would hopefully recharge the battery's & hopefully get my head & heart back into the role. I did spend sometime on Friday on my PS3 playing red dead redemption & also playing in Ramos with my Inter Retirement side, But with working Saturday AM & playing 11 aside Saturday afternoon, I was no where near a computer again until Sunday evening. I did manage to totally miss all the who-ha of the new patch in FML :) .

I was planning on being in Sanchez on Sunday evening to run the 1st stage of the Universally Challenged Quiz that is currently being rolled out across every gameworld, But a text at just before 4pm inviting me to go to the pub quickly altered these plans. Several pints later & after going for a curry i was unable to even focus on my computer screen, So just went to bed.

Monday came round & it was cup night for the works 5 a-side team, Supposed to kick-off our 1st game (hopefully) of the evening at 6.50pm but due to the referee not arriving until we did at 6.45pm for the game before ours it was delayed for 30 minutes. Not really what you want after a long day at work & even less with it pissing down :( . We finally get round to playing our quarter final game & take an early lead only to be pegged back midway through the 2ND half. I was kept busy in goal by the opposition team & felt relieved when the final whistle went, The game to be decided by a penalty shootout, I save the 1st, their 3rd is put wide & i save the 4Th & we go through to the semi final. Great only an hour to kill. Its not really ideal weather to be sat around waiting so we all go to McDonald's for a coffee. The semi final practically plays out the same way as the quarter final 1-1 at full time except this time we go out on penalty's, I save 1 & 1 is put wide but it wasn't enough as we missed 2 & their keeper saved 1, But at nearly 10 o'clock i think we were past caring & glad to be on our way home to get dry & warm.

Tuesday & i finally get time to log in properly into FML, I was hoping to get time to go round all 3 gameworlds but due to a lot to catch up on in Nunez i just managed the 1 gameworld. I was surprised to see i had managed to finish 8Th in the TFA Premiership, My side wasn't exactly the best, I would of honestly thought i would be on more for relegation than a place in a UFFA competition next season. But my tactic was fairly solid & was unaffected by the patch. Hopefully i will be able to push on next season as a few of my youths are looking good enough to throw into the senior side & with a few well chosen wage auctions buys i feel i should do well in season 5.

Hopefully now as the weekend draws nearer i will be able to get into all 3 gameworlds & catch up in each with everyone i know, sort out my sides & should the need arise maybe just maybe do some moderating :)

Hmm should i start posting again

2010-10-13T15:49:00.000Z

Ok With the 2 Gameworlds settling down somewhat & maybe just maybe having a little more time to relax & enjoy things again, I may just may start adding things to this blog again.

Since the reset of FML i have been in Ramos (Inter Retirement), Almost Retired (Valdaramma & Sanchez) & Dodgy Knee United (Butragueno & Nunez).

I am currently the resident support moderator in both Nunez & Sanchez which does take up quite a bit of time in my evening, with also dealing with cheating & the like from other gameworlds via the Support Moderator login.

My original beta side Inter Retirement is still kicking around in Ramos & after going down the youth route initially in there i am now sitting top 4 in the OFA Championship with a very decent side that allows me to compete. I have also a number of fairly decent youth players coming through so i should be able to maintain this position without much effort. Stadium is 3/4 finished & paid for so money coming in realistically is just for squad building/wages.

The Almost Retired side is now in the OFA Premiership in Sanchez, A gameworld i was transferred to after starting in Valderamma. I joined late (season 3 or 4 iirc) but did things gradually & the only thing holding me back in there is my stadium, I think i need a 30k+ stadium but up to now my money has gone on squad development. But i am in a decent position & should all being well manage to hold my own in the premiership in the season that started last night & in turn plow this money into my stadium.

The Dodgy Knee United side sat dormant until June when i was added into Butragueno & after a couple of seasons was moved over to the last gameworld that was opened Nunez, Coming towards the end of season 4 i currently sit mid table in the TFA premiership with a very average side, BUT i have quite a number of quality youth players coming through which should more than allow me to compete long term. Nunez has been a little busy & after 4 seasons we have seen SI remove over 60 sides for varying reasons (cheating/abuse etc) which has been quite a grind in all honesty, Hopefully now though it will begin to settle down & allow the mod team & myself to push on with the community side of things.

The moderating side does have its ups & downs & i have been close a number of times recently to stepping down, But normally after a night out on the beer with the lads i come to round & sort things out. Sometimes a small break is all that is needed to recharge the batteries, Ive also gone back playing football this season with Rossendale Amateurs & due to this i do tend to disappear most Saturdays :) & even though i ache for a week afterwards i am thoroughly enjoying it, Just need the results to improve.

I will hopefully find other things to post on this blog over the coming days/weeks/months

ttfn

Nick

Season 10 & The Return To Youth

2010-04-07T18:15:00.000Z

So after a spell of only playing senior football in the CFA association & winning back to back titles in both the Division 1 & Championship i felt it was about time i had another stab at the youth side of things. 5 of these initial signings went onto to play regular football for my seniors & in Kadriu & Leblanc i had a brand new midfield engine & at the time of the reset Leblanc was currently the best player in my squad. Berardini the RWB was signed from Ish (Fc Bozzy) for 12.5k in a transfer auction & was the only 1 of these players not to of joined directly from the free agents list. I still remember the chat i had with Jak when i showed him Kadriu & Leblanc & he told me i was crazy for throwing 5k a day at 2 youth's.

The Other Legend

2010-04-07T17:57:00.000Z

My other legend has got to be Jorge Diaz a Peruvian Goalkeeper, Who to be totally honest with you did not set the world on fire at youth level, Yet when he stepped up to the senior side he rarely let me down. In the end it did prove to be 20k very well spent. He pushed out Kevin Trapp from the 1st team number 1 jersey slot who had claimed it himself a few seasons earlier. Diaz had been pushed out of the side though in what was the final season himself by again another youth product in Dave Masters (more on him later).

Due to me moving from Shearer to Toms as moderator & selling off my entire youth setup i have no others in my squad still from seasons 2 to 10 when i started buying youth players again.

Inter Retirement Legends

2010-04-07T17:43:00.000Z

So now that i have a little bit of time & motivation i think its about time i added in my youth screens that i took from GW Shearer before the reset.

I feel every club has its legendary players & i feel Zezinho my Brazilian midfield maestro fits that bill, Signed for a massive 14k (he was one of my very 1st selections when i entered the gameworld), He played an incredible 3115 youth games for me scoring 479 goals in the process & even at 16 his average rating was over 7. He was getting on at the end of the gameworld but he still turned out an impressive performance at 33 in season 17. But i feel i would of extended his contract until he felt it was time to retire

Reset Looming

2010-03-20T16:16:00.000Z

So the reset dates have been set. All the original gameworlds will be closed down sometime Monday the 22ND of March, Going off how they did this when they closed the original beta gws down i feel Sunday's login will be my final 1 into Muhren, Shearer & Keane. Sad times all round for everyone involved. But starting on Wednesday (no times as yet) the new post reset gameworld's start to be opened up, With gameworlds being merged together based on age of the gameworld & what new type of gameworld you have chosen (Fantasy or Returning Stars).

So currently i am set to go to gameworld Ramos with my Shearer sub (Returning Stars)

Ramos Returning Stars
Will take all those from the following gameworlds who had chosen the Returning Stars gameworld type:
Cantona, Clough, Saunders, Lineker, Fernandez, Fowler, Shearer, Keane, Greaves, Toms

With my Keane sub (which i am hoping to move to Altobelli (If the Gods that are support move me on Monday) due to a gameworld conflict with the Shearer sub & this sub will end up in the Belanov gameworld (Fantasy),

Belanov Returning Stars
Will take all those from the following gameworlds who had chosen the Returning Stars gameworld type:
Muhren, Jackett, Whiteside, Altobelli

So by this time next week i should happily be setup in my new gameworlds which will hopefully stop me having to speak to her indoors :).

I have had plenty of fantastic moments & met some fantastic people in every gameworld i have been in either as a player or as a mod & i wish everyone the best of luck going forward. I will be in gameworlds with some of you others that ar'nt so lucky (or unlucky depending on their view) hopefully we will move gameworlds & meet up in the future.

Below i am going to list the biography's of each of my live teams & the gameworlds they have been in.

INTER RETIREMENT

Inter Retirement are an established side based in Ramsbottom, England. They are managed by English manager Nick "Bryan Robson" Megarity and presently compete in the Nighttime FA Premier League, part of the Nighttime Football Association.

As one of the founding clubs in the Gameworld Inter Retirement have a rich heritage behind them, and with an incredible 49 football association competition wins to their name they can legitimately claim to be one of the most successful sides in the Gameworld's history.

Plenty of top players have represented the club over their history but it is generally agreed that German striker Mario Gómez was the greatest player to have ever pulled on the shirt, whilst French midfield playmaker Romuald Leblanc is the star of the current team.

The side have been applauded in recent times for their flamboyant approach to the game. Whilst this approach hasn't always brought huge success against the stronger sides the team are nevertheless known to be one of the most exciting teams around.

Now as you can see i have been quite successful in Shearer on the trophy front, But i feel my biggest achievement is my youth setup & the quality & number of players i have turned half decent in Shearer (More on this in a later blog).

ALMOST RETIRED

Keane

Almost Retired are an established side based in Ramsbottom, England. They are managed by talented English manager Nick Megarity and presently compete in the Casual FA Championship, part of the Casual Football Association.

Almost Retired have been part of the Gameworld for a significant period and so have an established and growing heritage behind them, and with 9 football association competition wins to their name they have achieved their fair share of success in this time.

A number of quality players have represented the club over their history but it is generally agreed that French centre-back Philippe Mexès was the greatest player to have ever pulled on the shirt, whilst erratic Spanish goalkeeper Gorka Gil is the star of the current team.

The side are known to be something of a surprise package in the Gameworld, with many experts wondering how the side achieves such success with the players they have at their disposal.

Hoddle

Almost Retired are a side based in Ramsbottom, England. They are managed by English manager Nick M and don't currently belong to a Football Association.

Almost Retired don't have a lengthy history to look back over however they have lifted one football association trophy already.

A number of quality players have represented the club over their history but it is generally agreed that Brazilian midfielder Roberto was the greatest player to have ever pulled on the shirt.

I joined both of these gameworlds quite late (march 09 for keane) & January 10 (for Hoddle), I have had some success in both gameworlds, So it does show that joining late even as the gameworlds where then does not hamper you in the slightest.

DODGY KNEE UNITED

Toms

Dodgy Knee United are an established side based in Ramsbottom, England. They are managed by English manager Nick Megarity and don't currently belong to a Football Association.

Dodgy Knee United:team#1018 have been part of the Gameworld for a significant period and so have an established and growing heritage behind them, and although success has proven hard to come by they have at least lifted one football association trophy in this time.

The side have been applauded in recent times as a side who truly epitomise the 'beautiful game.' They manage to achieve great success with an open, flamboyant style which has resulted in the side becoming known as a favourite of the neutral supporters.
Muhren

Dodgy Knee United are an established side based in Ramsbottom, England. They are managed by sporting English manager Nick "Bryan Robson" Megarity and presently compete in the The League Of Nations, part of the Fun F.A..

As one of the founding clubs in the Gameworld Dodgy Knee United have a rich heritage behind them, and with an incredible 29 football association competition wins to their name they can legitimately claim to be one of the most successful sides in the Gameworld's history.

Plenty of top players have represented the club over their history but it is generally agreed that Dutch midfielder Ismail Aissati was the greatest player to have ever pulled on the shirt, whilst decisive Brazilian centre-back Eduardo is the star of the current team.

The side have been applauded in recent times as a side who truly epitomise the 'beautiful game.' They manage to achieve great success with an open, flamboyant style which has resulted in the side becoming known as a favourite of the neutral supporters.
Now call this strange but the only senior UFFA comp wins ive ever had whilst playing in FML have both come on this sub, Whilst in Toms i won the Grassroots cup & i bagged the UFFA Silver cup last season in Muhren, Again though my best current player is a former youth team member
So chapter 1 of FML is coming to a close & lets hope chapter 2 goes on for a lot lot lot longer

Me Again

2010-03-07T14:54:00.000Z

Hi Everyone,

I've been rather busy of late, The moderator roles are taking there toll on my spare time. My Almost Retired side has been moved back to GW Keane to help out due to a Mod shortage. It was a shame to leave Hoddle but needs must so to speak.

Things are getting close regarding the reset, SI have said so far that it will be late March without really setting an actual date. So the end of the tunnel should appear quite soon & with it hopefully more will be in the gamewordls, which of late have been rather empty & quite dull.

In Muhren i have possibly had my best season ever, Winner of the World Cup & runner up in the Intercontinental Cup. I also bagged the UFFA Silver Cup & with a couple of games to go i currently sit on top of the table (fingers crossed).

Shearer my side is now after a few alterations to my tactical setup (thanks Alex S.) is finally showing promise & it will be a shame to see this side disappear after all the time & effort spent putting it together, I have players coming through in every position & realistically I'm setup for at least 4-5 seasons. (I do plan to showcase these players off before the reset occurs).

Keane, I am quite surprised with the side i managed to put together with the timing of my arrival in there, I do love £1 auctions especially during pre season as most managers seem to get dragged into the wage auctions & forget all about everything else going on around them,

Miller beta gw is getting quite interesting & is currently the most enjoyable gameworld i am active in, My side is getting better all the time but i still feel i am 1 or 2 players short of being a class side, I am hoping to buy in a team of u17 which will go through to my seniors in a few seasons time.

Until next time i get a few moment ttfn

About Time

2010-01-19T08:43:00.001Z

So its been hectic in recent months, Both in game & real world. But hopefully i should now start getting a bit more time to update this blog again, I have on numerous occasions made notes to turn into an update but by the time i got round to typing it up they were out of date.

Plenty of things have changed since my last post. S.I have announced all gameworlds will be reset & are now working towards altering quite a lot of how the game works to save the future of FML. So far the signs are looking good & i am sure there will an announcement regarding all the changes soon enough.

I now seem to spend quite a lot of time in both Muhren & Miller with my sides in Shearer,Hoddle (moved from Keane) & Coppell taking a back seat. I have set the Hoddle account to deactivate, Which will hopefully allow me more time to spend elsewhere. But i think it may be June before the subscription will lapse.

In Muhren there has been quite a lot of changes, Before the announcement was made we had just merged quite a number of the original F.A.s due to lower numbers. Then due to the announcement we lost around a third of the active users we had & felt the need to redo the F.A.s again. The orgs & most of the gameworld felt this was the best way forward & they put plenty of effort in during the Christmas break which seemed to pass a few groucho's in the gameworld, who were looking to complain about anything & everything. But the 1st season has ended under these new F.A.s & everyone now seems quite happy with the results.

Personally i joined the Fun F.A. which is a combination of the teams who have reset & the same nation squads, Both sections lost & gained new teams during the pre season break & it does look like it will be another close run set of leagues. I missed out winning the League of Nations by 1 point in the end, Coneheads pipped me in their final game with an 89Th minute equaliser, Well Done Mr. A1, i will be back challenging this season again :). I think a lot of sides have improved their squads so it may be a lot closer this time round (top 6 were separated by about 6 points). I'm having a weeks break now (1st time off in over 12 months moderating) so see you all in game in a week.

In Shearer my young side set off very slowly but did settle towards the end & a great run into the end of the season should get me a silver cup spot for next season. I do have a bit of money to spend & have so far brought in a young DC & i am also attempting to build my final u17 squad without going silly on wages, youths still going for 10k+ even tho it should be more about fun at this stage. I did manage to win the u19 youth gold cup this season (beating Brian's Bungy Rovers in the final) after losing heavily in the u21 version a season back. I do feel i can run this side until reset though without really doing anything with it (something S.I. are looking at changing). I do still have Zezinho playing for me as well, He was part of my initial squad when the gameworld started in november 2008 & he does run my midfield.

I moved to Hoddle after yet another pester from Rik, He had been on about me playing there for a few months & with a heavy heart i left Keane & the friends i had made in there behind. I built an all Brazilian squad & joined the RFA fa. After a weeks worth of qualifying leagues i had managed to do diddly squat & ended up in the championship. The 2 week worth of league games over & i finished in the top 10. Added a couple of decent players & brought in an entire youth squad, I do need to go in & see how they are getting on. Sad news though on my brief visit on Sunday was the news that Rik had decided to call it a day regarding his moderating role. Rik had always put more than enough effort in & i feel this is a big loss no only to the gameworld but to the entire moderating team. Good luck Rik I'm sure you will still be playing & active somewhere.

Coppell is still the only gameworld where i tend to go on for a few hours a week, Partly down to time partly down to lack of users, But seeing as Coppell & Horton have been merged & there are now more users about, I may try & spend a few more hours in there than i normally would. I have a semi decent side that generates me around 2million a season & with me being in the cfa i don't really have any issues with losing out on prize money due to offline penalties. So i don't really have much to do whilst in game. Pop in play any games (live or AI) i can & sign back out. Season finishes pop in everyday & bid on players to improve my squad. Job done !

Miller this is the gameworld where i tend to go to & unwind, Either down to Guido's quiz or just the general relaxed feel about the gw (i may have blinkers on). I do enjoy the time i spend in game, Assessing youths to add to my u17s squad, I don't bid blind anymore after bidding high on what turned out to be very low potential (tbh though i have renewed them both at wage demand due to how well they have played). I have currently found a few 3.5* pot youths & got them at £200 i am hoping to discover a few real gems though. The introduction of academy's hasn't yet stopped the silly spending on youth player wages via the free agents pool, but given time i feel it will, well that & the money changes currently being tested will hopefully help out as well.

I am currently going through the challenges so i can get the mascot i really want 600k reward points required. The challenges do seem quite repetitive but do give you something to do if you have no games to play rather than attempting to get a few friendlies. The Challenges i feel will be looked at down the line & extra content added which will surely benefit the game in the long term.

We are also changing over the NFA to the Hybrid Fa this season & hoping to run 16 team leagues 3x a season with 4 up 4 down per run. It could be a way of running the extreme divisions in live.
The old way of running the NFA was fun for those who played in it & most are sticking around to try this new format. Personally i am looking forward to it & all the new users we are hoping to gain will hopefully as well.

Decisions Decisions Deciosions

2009-08-16T16:31:00.001Z

So Keane gameworld starts its 10Th season tonight at 8pm & i am at a cross roads. I have an aging squad with no real saleable assets & no cash to alter this either. This is purely my own fault as i threw my money at my squad without any real infrastructure to back it up. I have managed to sign a few stop gap signings in the preseason due to end & lower my wages per day by 30k but I'm still well overdrawn & really need to sort stage 3 out of my stadium. I'm hoping when the F.A. prize money gets added into my projected 28 day balance i will be able to start on my plans.

Realistically going into season 10 with my worst squad to date i feel i may struggle to compete at the level i have done for the last 2 seasons. But i will bounce back it may take 2 seasons but i am more than confident i can turn my current situation round. Getting the finances in order is priority 1. This is what keeps me signing in everyday the constant challenges we face.

Stadium wise the dilema i currently face is do i use my normal stadium building plans & abuild a 4 tier ospitalita stand or do i go 2 tier. I know i will need to see an earlier return on my stadium this time round so a 3 tier (24 days) or a 2 tier (9days) gives me an obvious option. The 2 tier i can have seats added & money coming in within 18 days (6 days sooner than the 3 tier), So i feel even though i may have to demolish it in the future at this moment it is my best option going forward.

I will finish learning the finance 5 management skill during the 1st week of the season & will straight away start the commercial skills which will no doubt benefit my balance. The future will be bright again at the Psycho Memorial Stadium.

Where does the time disapear

2009-08-09T17:04:00.000Z

Ok i thought to myself roughly 2 weeks ago its about time i found a little time to update this blog. I made some notes at the time & it has still taken until now for me to update :) .

I cannot believe its been 6 weeks since i last found the time to do this either, Doesn't time fly when your having fun. But the real reason i haven't had the time is basically the amount of work needed in the 1st 2 seasons of a gw (before we can appoint fa orgs). With us being a man down mod wise in gameworld Muhren at times we have been more than stretched. But with us now 1 week into season 3 & every fa having at least 1 organiser hopefully we can get on with doing more of the community based things that are needed to make a gameworld flourish.

We have started looking at a few of the guys we have promoted as chat helpers/ fa organisers as potential moderators which takes time as we all need to be involved in a decision as big as this.

Anyhow onto the gws

Shearer

This is the side i would class as my flagship team, plenty of high quality players yet i find its my most frustrating side, Awesome 1 game the complete opposite the next. But it is moving in the right direction & once i get to grips with the 442 tactic i am currently working on i feel i am in a good position to start challenging for the titles i know i can win. The stadium work is coming along nicely its currently pulling in 250k ish a day & Ive an empty 3 tier stand to fill, 9 million gets me the 2 corporate boxes it can accommodate & also the seating required for the fans i have cannot currently fit in.

I have started up a youth team again, All under 17 so i can watch them grow & go from there, No silly wages as i feel currently the youth side of things is just for fun rather than a career path in fml.

I have also left the SFA association after 9 seasons (: & joined the cwa this is more to do with time i can actually sign into gameworld Shearer. I felt last season in the sfa i struggled being online during the fa's time slot & as such was possibly affecting how others where enjoying the experience.

Keane

Strangely i only spend an hour or 2 max in gameworld keane per night & its in here that i am finding the most success. Season 8 runner up in NFA premiership & a domestic cup treble. Season 9 i won the premiership & the league cup. I have been hovering around the 20-50Th rank in the gameworld rankings. I also feel this is the best place for me to sign in & relax as the guys in the NFA are all totally mad & are there to enjoy themselves.

I signed my biggest ever bargain ever whilst i had played in fml. Ramires a 29 year old dm AQ fee over a million 4.5* rep in an auction ending quite soon, Current bid was about 50k. So i thought why not put an offer in which took it up to 80k ish. LOL Jonny in the NFA chat wasn't happy as he also wanted him & knew he couldn't compete with my financial muscle. 15 mins before the auction ended another bidder appeared GRR and took the price up to 170k with him currently getting him. But as everyone is aware its always best to bid last minute as this doesn't Tye up your cash. With the auction entering its final minute i put a max offer of 250k in for him & soon enough had the mail saying he had joined my side for an amazing price of 200k.

Muhren

Having spent most of season 1 sorting gameworld issues out my side in muhren limped through the qualifying league i was in, But with a few decent signings i had the balance to compete at the level i found myself.I don't have any superstars but my side played well enough to earn me a playoff spot in the xefa division 1a league. But with the winner having 100% ai i was given promotion straight away. What i wasn't expecting though was this promotion to skip the championship & land me into the XEFA Premiership, Knowing my side is no where near good enough & with me messing up my normal stadium building plans (built a 3 tier instead of 2 tier) i had no money to throw at my squad. So i feel i may struggle for wins this season & may possibly end up getting relegated. I also have started a youth team in Muhren to give me a few more games & so far I'm finding it fun trying to bag a few potential stars without JP.

Miller

The season that has just finished in miller was slow to start but finished with a real surge. With me being in the now famous NFA ladder fed the leagues or of 6-8 teams & i set off in division 4.These leagues run for around 4 days at a time & then teams are promoted & relegated as required & then started again, So it is possible to be in the bottom division at the start & in the top division at the end of the season. At the seasons end i finished 3rd in the 2ND division 1 point off promotion back to the top division. I have made a few decent signings during the preseason wage auctions & I'm actually looking forward to pitting my wits again quite soon in the nfa.

With miller always having the newest code i really do need to spend a bit more time in here exploring the new options. AI teams have been added so you can always grab a game to see if your new tactic changes work etc. Theres also a challenge mode where you are set challenges to complete to gain tokens.Need to see what we can spend these on but as yet that hasn't been added into the code. The new match engine is also in miller & so far i am quite impressed, Some of the new options for tactics do make it far easier to get your team playing how you want them to.

Coppell

currently i am struggling financially in Coppell but this is down to over stretching on my stadium so once this is paid off i will be fine no doubt. Side i have is fairly decent which helped me reach the cwa premieship & not get relegated. I tend to only get an hour or 2 a week to tend to this side so i cant really mention to much of note of how Ive really been doing.

So until next time cya

Mod Regen

2009-07-20T17:57:00.001Z

New Gameworld - Humble beginings

2009-06-09T00:13:00.000Z

So i made the Toms Grassroots Final & just my luck my new gameworld opened the day i was due to play the game, Those of you who play fml will know just how hard it is to get to a UFFA final.I have since been told the result but feel it was a hollow victory.

English manager Nick Megarity's high flying Dodgy Knee United have won the ninety-four-club UFFA Toms Grassroots Cup after their 3-0 win over Lithuanian manager Deividas Januska's reigning champions Daveland Sparks in the Final. (Thanks Nik for passing me that link).

As i say a hollow victory,3-0 abandoned game the opposition failed to submit a team in time. But hey it was all my efforts to get there in the 1st place.Thanks to everyone in gameworld Toms that made my 2 months in there very much enjoyable, David,Nik,Liam,Lee,Enrico & Sam good luck in there don't let them drive you mad.

So Dodgy Knee United has moved onto gameworld Muhren which is 1 of the new beginer gameworlds. But as per the norm quite a few are old hands in there to show there skills off to those new to fml, Quite a few of the managers are testing how far they can push things. But there are also a few prepared to help out in game much to the benefit of the community in general - thanks guys its very much appreciated. Luckily i knew most of the mod team i am working from my time in gameworld shearer, The only 2 i hadn't worked with before are Al Moon (gw Saunders) & Michael Phillips (gw lofthouse i think). Everyone seems keen so far on making sure the rules are abide by even if at times we have all spent longer than expected logged on.

My side in Muhren does need plenty of work doing on it so i think even though season 1 only started last night i might right it off now & get saving for the contract wage auctions at the end of this season. But only time will tell if i manage to stick to this policy. But either way i will be trying to upgrade my stadium so that i do have a foundation to build from. My 1 & only star is Matt Derbyshire who has started very well for me.

My side in Keane have started doing really well, Having missed the opening week at least of the season i found myself languishing in the bottom 3 of the NFA premiership, But after a couple of decent signings my fortunes have turned & i now occupy 4th spot. Who knows i may even get my ai level down below the 25% limit so i can keep my hard earned prize money. With my foundations in Keane built really well, With a 2 tier Aziendale & 2 tier Mercantile stands built & full of seats & 1 corporate box i am making roughly 50k a day at present, Which i will look to use towards improving the playing staff further at the end of the season.

So into Shearer
gone have all but 13 of my youth team players,those left will be loaned out or sold on if a deal i like crops up. Having exchanged Nilsson with RB for Sergio Mota & a bit of cash i ended on a high in the SFA premiership. With us now in preseason & the contract wage auctions i have been able to add 3 more players & lose 1 to Stephen Gilchrist (thieving toe rag) HEHE. Pedro Ken has been acquired for my right wing berth,Damiano Ferrinetti to replace Sorin my ex right back & also added a bit more cover in midfield with the arrival of Mesut Ozil a German amc who has plenty of pace which at times i feel i was lacking with the players i had at my disposal. I do have a bit more money to play with but i feel this may be better used adding another corporate box than another wage.

Now Ive finally got access to beta gw miller i have managed to look at what is coming in the v1.2 update. Quite enjoying taking part in Guido's quizzes, It does make a change to participate rather than run. Its also fun in there catching up with friends from my time in the Psycho beta gameworld. Even after a month I'm still getting to grips with how these new tactics work, But given time even i should work it out & you can revert it back to the classic settings most people will know. Not having to go into a screen to change tactic,make subs etc is a fantastic addition which im sure plenty will agree with. The face book style page (that i keep forgetting about) does work quite well keeping you upto date with the going ons of your in game friends (friends need to accept your friendship request for this to work).

Any how its getting late & i feel i am beginning to ramble so until i find time again tada

Ok Where to begin

2009-05-21T17:38:00.000Z

Since moving to Toms as mod i have found my time stretched, I now have 5 sides to manage,
3 retail & 2 beta.so my time has been spent ingame finding my feet in toms & keeping things tkicking over in Shearer & Keane.The 2 beta accounts are basically as & when i have a spare moment. so for a while i have not updated my blog. Now toms appears to have settled down I am hoping to be a more frequent poster again .

So i will start with a team by team review.

Inter Retirement - Gameworld Shearer

Out have gone Falcao & Kardec to be replaced by Nilmar & Mario Gomez. Again my side flatters but rarely delivers. I am at a cross roads do i continue down the youth team route or do i sell up & concentrate on my seniors. U17s i have managed to scrape a side together but to be honest there no where near good enough & i feel due to the ott wages still being paid out i do feel it may be time to cut my losses & come back to it f & when academies are added to the game.I am also toying with the idea of changing fa's as most of the old crowd that had been the nucleus of the sfa have moved onto pastures new & currently the chat does feel quite empty.

Almost Retired - Gameworld Keane

My side in Keane is 1 I'm quite surprised at (i spend the least time on it). I won the NFA Division 1 in my 1st season & due to in actives i went straight into the NFA Premiership for my 2nd season in there.Through a very decent start up squad & some well chosen wage auction buys my entire 1st team squad are all at least 3.5* rep.Ive 2 2 tier stands built so I'm on track to be setup to compete with the big boys by the end of next season. I finished a respectable 12Th in my 1st season in the NFA Prem.

Dodgy Knee United - Gameworld Toms

Moving into Toms so late in the preseason meant my initial squad was not at the same level as i did in Keane,but i was pleasantly surprised by how well i actually did, Ive been ranked between 100-200 for most of my time in Toms.At the end of the season i had done enough to qualify for a playoff spot for a shot at the sfa premiership. But again due to inactive sides i was actually guaranteed a place in the big league in my 2ND season in Toms.But due to the merger of the Nfa & Sfa my premiership plans where thrown out due to us all being assigned to a qualifying comp for the 1st week of this season.Top 4 from each of the 4 groups get a Premiership spot with the remaining sides going into the championship. I finished 2ND in my group & so booked my place in the big league for the remainder of the season.

I will fill you in on my beta sides in my next update
cya all soon Nick

Into Toms

2009-04-10T20:57:00.000Z

This is a badge i created for a manager in the sfa in Toms

Responses

2009-04-08T21:07:00.000Z

Don't leave me Nick!!!! NOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOYou better be here a lot! From what I hear Toms is somewhat low on numbers currently anyway, so hopefully that'll change, don't want you slacking off now!Big shame to see both you and Stu go You know my feelings on what you've done for the world, good luck in the next one!
Rb

Hope everything turns out OK for you.Know you from beta, and enjoyed your company, was nice to see you back in this gw.Don't be a stranger mate.Will miss you.
Arne

nick its not a bad GW decent people are there they don't like me as all i did was complain lol but some good people in lobby
Robert "Stigsy" Daniel

Good luck in the future Nick. hope it all goes well to the toms gameworld
Caroline Todd

Take care mate, you've been great!
Thomas Digby

Best of luck Nick, we might not always see eye to eye on certain topics of debate but I've always respected the way you've gone about your business, you've been a credit to the Moderating team on Shearer and wish you the best of luck on Toms, not that you'll need it.
Kind RegardsPaul

Pastures New

2009-04-08T20:36:00.000Z

Hi Everyone

This will possibly be my last official mail to the SFA Members in Shearer

I will be keeping my Inter Retirement side in here but from later this week/early next i will be Joining Toms as part of its Mod Team.I will continue to play in here but on a somewhat casual basis. So no asking for any of my players as i am keeping them all

Thanks for all your efforts in making my experience in here very enjoyable over the last few months, I hope you have enjoyed it as much as i have.I have made plenty of friends whilst in here & will be sorry to miss out on some of the banter that we exchange.My last thing i need us to do is WIN a major uffa competition, I am looking at George, Jak & Robert you know what we expect

I do leave you in very capable hands in Andy & Rob & with the rest of the F.A.'s support these to can get even better,So i do hope you do all get behind them & continue the success that i feel the SFA is
Also last week Stewart started contributing to the SFA blog (link is on the FA profile page) so if any of you have match reports,interesting stories or are just prepared to help him out i think all would be accepted

Thanks you have been great Nick

Current Badge Set

2009-04-03T22:13:00.000Z

busy times

2009-04-02T18:23:00.000Z

So season 4 finished, My worst finish in the sfa prem to date,not in a senior uffa comp but not to worry, It gives me something to strive for in season 5. sold off most of my u21/19 players just left myself with the ones who i feel could make the 1st team in future seasons. Zezinho already is a 1st team regular at 19 & think he will be fantastic in a few more seasons, Kaladze is a regular from the bench with the other 4 subs at best. Its possibly a season early to push them on.

Ive built a very good squad of u17s & with these playing regular football at u21/u20/u19/u18/u17 levels in the sfa comps theres a few coming on very quickly. Johan Nilsson has jumped up to 65k aq fee already & his stats are coming along nicely as well. I'm hoping to take this squad right through to my seniors but that depends how well they progress.

Signed 5 new senior players during the pre season wage wars which i feel have really strengthened my side & are so far doing well in season 5. Ive started a 3 tier ospitalita stand as i was only just making money & when this is built & full of seats i can bring in roughly 200k from my stadium income added this with my media money & prize money i should be cash rich before the end of may.

The blog name has spawned its own team. Almost retired made an appearance in gw Keane & having only played 8 league games currently remain unbeaten in the nfa fa's division 1, Having listened quite a lot to Jakswan about starting out in a existing gw i have tried to keep my wages small. So i had a plan & stuck to it, I took my time building my initial squad trying to sign players between 26 & 30 & with a min rep rating of 3* whilst also trying to keep the wages low. 16 signed up for total wages of 65k job done or so you would think (LOL). It was wage wars in Keane after all, But for every player brought in i have shifted 1 of my initial squad out . I go into the season with a daily wage bill of 70k. I had been concentrating my skill time on infrastructure skills as my next step once the season started was to build a stadium that would allow me to compete within a season or 2, So i start work on a 2 tier aziendale stand & add everything other than the corporate boxes,I'm now only making a few k per day but as this is a long term game im sure to reap the reward in the future. My next step well that's for a future update :)

Youth Team Sell Off

2009-03-07T02:37:00.000Z

So i have decided to sell off the majority of my u21s & u19s from Sunday 8th of March. I am just going to have an u17 side & use them at all ages (u21,u19,u18 & u17).Hopefully this will allow me to improve my seniors in a few key positions during the end of season wage wars & also allow me to improve my stadium.Ive already got the plans drawn up (in my head so to speak) & i am looking at a 3 tier stand with 2 corporate boxes & high value seating.At my current level it will give me roughly 205k per day stadium income :).With my media money being 50k & the sfa prize money payments i will be coining it in quite soon.

I am hoping to pay for these improvements with cash rather than the bank of SI as i currently owe 400k for my original stadium improvements with the last payment due on the 4th of April
Build the tier 1st & add the seats as & when i have the cash to do so.by doing this it should allow me to compete in the transfer market which will hopefully kick into life quite soon.

Current topic doing the rounds in the shearer chats is the amount of AI games people are having to endure (potential game killer). People are under the impression that the ai does wonders for their sides results & will help them climb the rankings. Having looked at the amount of sides inactive in the sfa we appear to be very active compared with other f.a's
Premiership - 2 inactive
Championship - 6 inactive
Division 1a - 10 sides
Division 1b - 4 sides

so realistically the only division we have a high % ai is the division 1a with over half the sides inactive, but with 22 sides out of 74 inactive it doesn't bode well for repeat subscriptions !!!!!

I have suggested an alteration via the fml forums regarding a change to how the ai rights work
but basically if both sides are online games can be played, Games gone to the AI stage can only be started during the FA's playing hours (gives the game more chance of being played live), with any ai games not played by the end of the FA's play time auto resolve as normal. I am hoping this gets looked at by the development team & maybe gets added into the game because they can see the benefit of this system.

Im still in the uffa silver cup having breezed through my group & beating fellow SFA side Wrexham Tigers managed by our SFA organiser Andy Elvis :) 2-1 down in the 1st leg with 10 mins to go a quick few tweaks to my tactics & hey presto 3-2 home win. Still all to play for in the 2nd leg. 1-0 an early goal by Alan Kardec (I'm already celebrating my win hehe) yet with Andy determined to progress himself soon battled back to parity & in all honesty looked set to snatch a winner in the game & take the tie on away goals. But it wasnt to be as half way through injury time a cross in & Kardec scored his 2nd goal of the game to take the tie & put me into the next round.

My league season as realistically ended mid table & so inconstant. Beat unathletic Madrid (1st) draw with Real Beziers lose to bottom of the table, Sounds more like Manchester United of the 80's than the usually reliable Inter i know, So i have thrown my head at learning the tactic skills in an effort to combat this form slide & help to turn it round asap

2009-02-25T22:33:00.000Z

So season 4 has started,i finally get to play my 1st games of the season 3 hours after the 8pm season start. Uffa silver cup games couple of decent results against a side of similar rank (1win 1 draw) & i think this season could be the one where i press on & maybe mount a title challenge. But after only 2 sfa premier league games i only manage 1 win & a loss, Now i know its still only early but i would say my form is patchy at best & i never seam to go more than a few games winning before a loss. Tried all sorts altering settings on my tactic rotating players, but still no Joy. Beginning to wonder if its through my squad being a little on the young side & the inexperience is playing a part. Hopefully though if that's the case in a season or 2 this will change & maybe i will get to see my side really flying :)

Award

2009-02-16T22:49:00.000Z

The results are now in for the prestigious Managers' Manager of the Season award .

Below are the top three managers nominated for this award.
1st Nick "Dean Martin" Megarity

2nd Paul Wallace

3rd Mattinho

Wow never expected this

Not Good Enough

2009-02-14T21:53:00.000Z

So a season that at the half way stage looked very promising petered out to nothing, SFA Premiership alsorans. no where in either cup, Gold Cup knocked out on auto resolve. OK i did win 2 youth comps (u21 League & u19 cup), but i feel this isn't enough for the quality of players at my disposal.

My stadium is coming along nicely & should be finished mid week, Well stage 1 any way stage 2 wont start until i have enough money in the bank but i have the plans in place which when they come to fruition will mean i make more money under this new system than i ever would of done under the existing 1. As my stadium stands now its estimating 142k per day add the 25% media money (roughly 50k) & I'm 20k down from this season.but stage 2 i can turn the 142k into 193k & still have room to expand (SI money sinc or money maker) , OK it is going to cost me nearly 9million to do this but i made nearly 7 million in 1st 2 seasons before spending 7 million on my stadium phase 1.

Football Manager Half Live

2009-02-08T14:01:00.001Z

So i had qualified for the uffa gold cup last season through finishing 2nd in the sfa premiership,
Group stages drawn, decent enough opposition & thought i had no chance of progressing especially after my 1st game when i only managed a home draw with the weakest side in my group.But going into my final 2 group games i still was in with a shout of qualification, Just need 2 wins against a side ranked 30 places above me in the rankings & with a very impressive side.
2 hard fought wins later & I'm into the knockout stages.

Play my games in the knockout stages and get through to the quart finals. & was waiting for my opposition to win there last 16 tie & then play against me. NOW this is where it falls down, I played my game on Wednesday & Saturday comes still no further games played, I go to bed in the early hours of Sunday & sign back in just before 1pm to find out that all the unplayed gold cup matches had been auto resolved & i had gone out on away goals !!!!!!!!!!!!

Now i find this unfair as i had played my games & given myself plenty of time to play the quarter final matches.Yet through no fault of my own ( i hadn't even been given ai rights) i had gone out of the BIGGEST comp the gameworld currently runs. Now i do understand the reason the auto resolve is used BUT would it not make more sense for it a few games at a time & give us chance of actually playing games (this is the object of the game).

Hectic

2009-01-29T18:29:00.000Z

I bet you all thought id given up to this, But nope Ive just been rather busy since becoming a mod. I have a lot of new things to learn as well as making sure i stick within the rules set out.

I manage to finish 2nd in the SFA Premiership behind Unathletic Madrid & qualified for season 3's uffa gold cup (1st time ive finished that high even in beta).Pre season has come & gone with me losing no players & gaining a few at fairly decent rep. Im hoping to push on from here but with stadiums being added yesterday & only 28 days to build a stadium that can accommodate the fans my rep requires cash could be a big issue.Having a quick mess around with the stadium builder i roughly need 4 million in the bank to build 1 large enough to satisfy my fans needs & to also generate the 75% of my daily income i require. I think i may need to lose a few squad players & reserves & maybe lower my wage bill at the next round of wage auctions which thankfully happen before the 25th feb deadline for the finance switch.

Plenty of people in the gameworld are very annoyed at this new patch, Yet it is from the forums where this idea came from. I would suggest to anyone complaining to give it time & see if there opinion changes over the next week or 2. As i can remember when the tactics skills where added during beta & i was soon on the forums voicing my concerns, Yet when i got used to this change i could see the benefits of this & soon dropped my concern of the direction the game was going in.

Made a Mod

2009-01-21T22:53:00.000Z

Hi guys,
I hope that you'll join me in congratulating Nick Megarity,Serge A. Storms is back:,Steve Lamacraft and Stuart (Won the lot) Gallacher, the newest members of the FML Moderating team who have made the step up tonight.They have demonstrated over the past couple of months what great guys they are, and we are lucky to have them donate their time to making Shearer such a great place to be .Please give them your help and support as they make the transition and try not to break too many rules until they get to grips with the job .If anyone else is interested in becoming a moderator I can suggest that you follow the example set by these guys - be helpful in chat, help out in your FAs and above all DON'T BREAK RULES

Thanks,
Richard Tebbutt FML Lead Moderator - SEGA

FML Community Game ?

2009-01-18T00:53:00.000Z

Whats that you here fml is about building an online community,Yet in gameworld shearer the uffa finals so far played have happened just like any other game in the season between just the opposing mangers, Where was the build up,the mail to the entire gameworld stating there kick off times ? the links to the games in every chat so those that want to watch the biggest games to happen every season can do. No none of this happened, the results just appear in your incoming mail.

Maybe us as part of the community need to do our bit you get to a fed cup final - set a time with your opposition manager & post this to all members of your fed, start the game, post a link to the game in your fed chat,If your feeling brave enough add the links to the lobby, the market place get others from outside your fed watching . let the full 5 minutes count down before kick off, It doesn't hurt & lets everybody get involved & it will certainly add to your fml experience.

I think the mods in game need to get this sorted for next season & try and get more of the community involved, Otherwise the uffa comps will become quite meaningless which is not what i feel there about. Am i alone in this i hope not & do hope SI put something in place so these finals in the future get a crowd involved which generates a buzz, fed members cheering on there own & booing the opposition, neutrals in there just to watch. Things like this was the norm during the beta test in gameworld psycho so how can we get that excitement in retail ?

End Of Seasons Woe's

2009-01-16T23:03:00.000Z

I bag the sfa under 21 league by gd of 1, both me & my mate Jak finished level on points in a very nail biting climax. 1 of the last fixtures was Inter Vs Jakswans which finished 1-1 a winner for either side would of seen them take the title.He did still manage to take all the other sfa youth comps beating me 1-0 in the under 21 cup final (with a player i tipped him off about). I was 2nd again in the under 19's league & not in running for the under 17's.

The seniors continue to surprise I'm currently 3rd in the sfa premiership & looking good to finish top 5 at least, I do seem to have imbalanced my side since making my biggest ever move in the transfer market, when i signed Falcao a world class striker on 17k per day wages for 4.75million.But if as expected he settles & so do the side i can see a bright future for both club & player.

I did make it to the uffa youth gold cup final but lost in a game i wasn't expecting or quite ready for. I sign in for my evening session to find myself mid game in a friendly comp game & the moment this ends i get taken into the final (thanks Alex will remember that 1). No one in the gameworld where aware that this prestigious game was going on & with it being the 1st final i feel both me & my opposition manager should of had a private chat & agreed a time for us to play & have time to let the community know so that they could come & watch this show piece final if they chose to, Its games like these that bring the community together or is that just my humble opinion!

close Finale

2009-01-13T20:09:00.000Z

So apparently you can play to many games in fml & this has resulted in my injury crisis since the new year came in , At one stage i had 13 out injured including my entire senior midfield (2 of which where long term). But through having a fairly decent squad & not 1 superstar as many seem to do I have still managed to be 3rd in the sfa premiership (about 8 games left) , get through to the sfa u21 cup final (against Jak) & with 3 games remaining in the u21 league the game against the jakswans should decide the trophy's destination. A real climax to the season you could say. But again whilst offline i get injury's to 2 key players in my u21s who will now miss the remainder of the season, We cant put off the games as the AI dates have passed so tonight I'm hoping my side steps up & bags my 1st batch of official trophy's.

wages have dropped slightly since 1.1 was added to the mix ,but still youths are going for 9 & 10k per day wages, I think these wages will finally drop to realistic prices once the stadiums are added as most managers don't yet have the budget for them & we could realistically see star players leave clubs for peanuts, shame its 6 weeks away but i can wait.

The 100k 16 year old winger has changed hands now 3x over the last 3 days (people need to start looking more carefully) & the last manager to sign him has released him back to the free agent pile. So hopefully this time he will be on decent wages , shame another numpty has signed him on trial as all this results in is higher wages !!!!!!!!!1

Super Regens

2009-01-03T17:17:00.000Z

So the dust has hardly settles on the 2nd super Regen spawned into gameworld shearer,Especially the wage Jack Hayward's Blackpool Lights side ended up paying for him. Yet barely 2 days later another 1 appears & a total idiot signs him on trial & then instantly bids. Haven't these idiots worked out yet that by signing players on trial contracts nullifies everybodys scouting ability & lets the ENTIRE GAMEWORLD bid on him. Either this needs changing or people need to be educated about this little flaw. Youth academy's cannot come soon enough so please S.I. pull your fingers out & get them in beta & then into live gameworlds.

Now instead of maybe a handful of sides bidding on Mattia Favero & his wages staying quite reasonable we will get up to 50 or 60 managers bidding for him & driving his wage sky high again,

At 5.30pm there has been 23 bidders on him & as is usual with most bidders they will bid as late as possible so as not too tie up their money until they have too.

New Lows

2009-01-02T00:32:00.000Z

So after being involved with the beta test of fml youth wages never really got overly silly,well after season 1 anyhow (1st seasons wage auctions no one knew they paid what they bid).
This was probably down to no one knowing how much longer the gameworld was going to run before retail,which would give us the long term stability that most of us craved.

Yet after 6 weeks in gameworld shearer i feel these original worlds will of run there course before next summer!!!
the 1.1 update is coming & the feeling i get from most managers is they will most likely move too a new gameworld with that in it from the off.Now i feel this is a step in the right direction but doesnt go far enough as yet.To me this update sorts out a few of the faults in the senior game but as yet the youth side of things is being left alone.If the updates take roughly 3 months to test & clear out all the bugs its going to be summer before youth academies are introduced. The game going forward should be brilliant but how are they going to fix the stability. Managers are getting frustrated now as signing youth regens has become very hard a basic 1 is costing 1k-4k in wages
a fairly decent 1 5k -15k & anyone looking remotely fantastic you may as well shut your eyes throw a dart a the dart board x3 & bid that.

Our 1st over the top youth wage was Vanderson Padilha on 40k wages & the whole gameworld went up in arms proclaiming madness, But that was surpassed today when Blackpool Lights manager Jack Hayward paid £100,001k per day for a 3.5* potential winger named Giampaulo Canosa. 1st Ive got too Question WHY ? was it down too him appearing new years eve & the bid was made while still intoxicated & secondly somebody else bid 100k as well , do they not realise by doing this the long term game will be over before its really begun. If youths become too expensive early on where will the players come from too replace the existing stars in the gameworld & within months the gameworld will die through not enough decent players to go around. I was hoping that shearer was going to be my long term home but at present it looks like i will be looking for somewhere else to go before the summer.

Onwards

2009-01-01T13:04:00.000Z

So my seniors manage to bag another trophy (its 2 now) after an epic final in the Intertutu Cup after an epic final against Stuart Gallacher's Aldershot Phoenix 1-1 going into injury time, Veselenovic scores to put me 1 up only for Carrick to score almost straight from the kick off to force extra time.End to End during extra time & the game looked destined for penalties until the very last minute when my 6'6" Serbian beast popped up with the ties winning goal.Huge prize for winning (20k) but every bit helps.

Currently sat 6th in the social premiership with games in hand on most of the sides above me,doubt come the end of the season i will be challenging top after a run of injury's left me without 3-4 seniors & 3 more youngsters who i would of normally promoted.Think losing these players to injury will result in points dropped especially with Kardec missing for a few days & martensson out for 1-2 weeks.

Beat Ian Heyburn's Deportivo Liverpool in the 1st round of the sfa cup in a tense game with just the 1 goal separating these 2 premiership sides.

House On Fire

2008-12-30T16:41:00.000Z

So the 2nd season starts & too say i hit the ground running would be an understatement!!!!
In my opening 6 games i won 5 & drew the other. After adding a fair bit of rep to my fledgling side, it was still a youth player who shined the brightest & in Alan Kardec i have a striker who will scare the living daylights out of most defences in the shearer gameworld with 8 goals in the opening 5 premiership games he should finish with the golden boot award at the end of the season, He also hit 5 in our 1st sfa under 21 game as well.

It was a shame that my run couldn't continue as in my next 5 games i managed only 1 solitary point, still time yet though as there is plenty of sides yet to play any games & at this early stage you would be hard pressed to name the eventual winner come the 18th of January.

Messed up with a youth signing late last night (should of gone to bed) with my eyes struggling too focus, i had been tracking a young lb who's manager kept lowering the instant buy, Problem being he had 3 or 4 more youth players for sale & was doing the exact same thing with them.
Mail appears player x has been lowered to 150k & bang i purchase without even looking at the player.AARRGGHH when i realised i had just paid 150k & 56x21k for a midfield player rather than the lb i required i felt as if i had been mugged & i am now stuck with albeit a very good player but a silly wage & no sell on.My only way to reduce the wage is too let him go through a wage auction & see if I'm hold onto him but by the time that will of come round he would of cost me 588k over the next 2 months. so after shelling out all that cash am i prepared to watch him leave for his aq fee which is currently a massive 9k.Only time will tell & I'm hoping he improves that quickly that i daren't take the risk.

Made Org

2008-12-28T21:43:00.000Z

Nick Megarity has been appointed by Jak Swan as an organizer of the The Social Football Association .

Hope they don't find out that the times in psycho gw during beta i was appointed twice
the 1st time too The Ladder fed which after 2 weeks failed (we had 40+ 6 team groups) but after the 1st weeks fixtures we found a bug & couldn't continue it & so had the org role withdrawn from me.

The 2nd time i was appointed the org for the sfa fed which i did for the last week of a season & during pre-season only for the gw to crash & never be recovered

Hoping 3rd time lucky

Season 2 Eve

2008-12-28T20:40:00.000Z

So after securing my premiership place with a squad that struggled during the qualifier. I knew that wholesale changes where required just to stop me entering a relegation battle.Had cash in the bank going into the end of season wage wars & luckily enough only 1 player who's contract i hadn't been able to lock (Sommer) , so with not having to worry about defending bids from rival managers i could concentrate on buying the right players for the job.

so 1st up was

Maceo Rigters 26 amr+fc

followed ever so quickly by :-

Ifeanyi Onigbo 19 st
Gustavo Oberman 23 mr+fc
Luis Omar Valencia 30 amlc
Veli Kavlak 20amlc
Murilo Tuche 20 dc
Juri Judt 22 dmc
Guillermo Corominas 17 amfc
Ismael Beko Fofana 20 aml+fc
Jonathan Quartey 20 dc
Michael Dinsdag 26 sw+dc
Christian Grindheim 25 mc
Gianluca Comotto 30 wbr
Lynel Kitambala 20 st
Slavko Perovic 19 amfc
Sebastien Guiraud 15 dc
Lucas 18 dc

i did sell a few player off as well during this period
thomas gravesen 250k
Juan - 100k
Kristian Bak Nielsen - 30k
Mathew Brown - 140k
Valentin N'Dzana - 120k
Jens Larsson - 150k

so i finished the season a 2* team & started season 2 a 3* team with currently 1.3million in the bank & a projected balance of 1 million, So with the challenge of improving my squad done & on the cheap i feel happy enough for the 2nd season to start & i might even be able to challange for a U.F.F.A. spot come the end of the season

Somebody Finally Realised

2008-12-25T23:35:00.000Z

David 'Vanderson Padilha' Bentley says i think the ridiculous wages situation will be resolved once idiots like me realise that you cannot afford such high wages. Padilha for £40k is an investment, cahill for £62k is the toffee part of my brain wanting my fave player but the £87k for Akinfeev was a huge mistake that only a noob could make. I now realise that whilst i can afford these 3 players and their wages, I cannot afford anyone else worth having. Sooner or later other noobs like me will realise that you can't have 11 players on £80k+ wages so the akinfeevs will get sold or released and wages will get back to normal, its going to take another season though. Christine for example won the race for Ronaldo but has since sold him, presumably because she couldn't afford other star players and would have had 1 star and 10 more nobodies. Once other manager begin to appreciate this it should settle down. That's all in my humble opinion, although I'm fully prepared to be completely wrong.

So where 3/4 of the way through the wage auctions before the light comes on shame its only 1 manager out of the 792 in gameworld shearer. The update to version 1.1 can not come any sooner as this will curtail a lot of this very rash bids

Premiership Party

2008-12-23T16:06:00.000Z

So after spending the latter hours of Saturday & most of Sunday worrying that my hopes of being in the S.F.A. Premier League after an awful run in(3 defeats in my last 5 games), The other 2 sides finished with worse records than mine. Gresley managed to equal my points total,but Hurtlocker finished 6th 3 points adrift having lost or drawn most of their last 7 games.

The wage auctions have begun & i have managed to snag a few players already think maybe a couple more at tops & my reconstruction work will be done & i will still have a very nice bank balance. With the players that i have brought in improving my forward line & midfield its the back line that i will be looking to add to. I might have a look at a few youth players but they will have to be very special for me to be tempted, as i don't have many players who will become ineligible from the start of season 2.

Vidi Printer

2008-12-20T21:02:00.000Z

So after losing 3 of my 5 remaining league games my aim of S.F.A. Premier League football was in the balance !!!!!!!!!!!
My projected finish is now 6Th (1 short of the cut off).I am looking at the S.F.A. chat now awaiting the results for 3 teams.

Hurtlocker F.C.
IFA F.C.
Gresley F.C.

I take a look at each sides run ins & there all tough (PHEW)

8.30pm & IFA F.C. lose to IFK Stromstad & with only 2 games remaining they can no longer catch my points total of 56, the maximum they can now achieve is 54,that's the easy one out of the way but both hurtlocker & gresley have 7 games each left to play & with just 4 wins each can push me into 6Th.

Hurtlocker draw but gresley grab a win 6 more games each & at this rate i will have no fingers left never mind nails.Problem being these games can happen anytime between now & 8pm Sunday when the season will end.

2008-12-18T23:20:00.000Z

Sorry for the long delay between posts I've been very busy doing Christmas stuff.Cards written & sent, family's presents wrapped & bagged, only thing left to do is wrap the bosses stuff up (don't want to upset her in doors as she might start complaining about the time i spend on fml).
Still on course for my S.F.A. Premiership ambition, I am currently 3rd with just 5 games remaining.Not happy with my youth setup at the minute as i didn't lift an official trophy this season,I went out of the game world youth cup on pens in the semi's. Finished runner up in S.F.A. Under 21 League 7 points behind the winners Jakswans.Same In the u19's but by a greater distance,& 5 points behind in the u17 league,But in this 1st season I'm not to worried about the results (of course I'd say that) its all about getting them green arrows of improvement on my players. I am so glad that Ive gone down the coaching route as its starting to show up in my results.within the next 24hrs i should have every coaching skill to at least level 1might get them 2 level 3 & then change to something else/
The A.I. is too hard has reared its head in chat rooms, Its far too HARD,i cant beat it.After listening to most of the managers complaining about it they seem as tactically inept as Steve Mclaren.Most just appear to be using the tactics straight outa the box & have no alterations to the players that are in there squads.Ive given the link to the fm britain website in game (if you want the link its on my profile)if your still unsure on how to improve your fortunes on the pitch drag your self to the tactic chat & ask for some advice as i find whining gets you no where & everything has a solution,you just need to find/stumble across it.Just enjoy the coaster ride until you do.

Game Is Dying

2008-12-12T21:39:00.001Z

So after spending a little time in the S.F.A. chat a room a couple of managers expressed there concern about the lack of sides currently signing in & playing there league games , One claimed that the game is on its arse, A bit premature methinks.after less than 1 month in game world shearer people could still be adjusting to there playing patterns, because in the 1st week its hectic & you want to be on every minute you can spare& it takes a few weeks for your real activity pattern to settle down.
I said people could have real life duties to take care of, to which i got the response they shouldn't of joined this federation then.Now come on where a couple of weeks away from Christmas ,so if there not stock taking at work like me ( glad its nearly over).or getting the shopping done before its too late or even the odd Christmas party so let them be & get on with your own life.
so come on lets pull together & play as & when its possible ,& if you have no games to play join a comp, if theres no comps to join create 1, FML is like everything else in life you get out what you put in !!

crash N dumped

2008-12-09T22:03:00.000Z

So roughly half way through the season & still in the 4 official competitions i had been entered into,

1st up S.F.A. Non Premiership Cup
2-0 down after the 1st leg hoping to do just enough to sneak through in the return leg, but after going a goal up in the 16th minute my defence let the opposition score what was the most crucial goal in the whole tie, because even though i added 2 more goals too my tally Aidies Almighty had done enough to progress into the next round

Next was the game world cup against a side 200 places below me in the rankings, I fancied my chances of a win& i think my side probably felt the same. Shame when the whistle went my side sat & watched Unathletic Madrid go up the field & take the lead within the 1st 30 seconds. Great start but plenty of time to turn it round. But my side never got going & i knew i was headed for the exit when Wanderley hit his 2nd goal of the game in the 21st minute. Game over,I created chances but could of played 10 games back to back & never looked like scoring

So Out of 2 cups & with the S.F.A. cup still to play, I had been awarded the A.I rights for this 1, I gave it an hour to see if the opposition manager logs in but nope so played his A.I. anyway.
Because if i didnt it would auto resolve at some point over night.
End to end game which finished 3-3 at both full time & AET . The dreaded FML Lottery
I'm up 1st & gravesen Cooley slots it into the net,1-1 2-1 bravo makes a save, I'm home a dry (or so i think) i miss, they score & before i know it the shoot out is lost & the only Official comp Ive got games left in is my qualifying league, where i currently sit 3rd & hoping i suffer no more setbacks in my quest for the premiership next season :)

On the up

2008-12-07T17:51:00.000Z

So after 3 days of catch up in my federation qualifier i currently sit 4Th, Ive games in hand on the sides above me so all being well i should be able to stay in the top 5 & qualify for the S.F.A. Premier Division next season. There are sides below me with games in hand on me (Jakswans & Macduff FC) but as we all know its about points already bagged not what we hope to get.

It was during today's league games that i came across a side languishing towards the bottom of the table without any wins after 12 games (soon to be 14 after 2 defeats to my side).

The manager of FC Crouch Potato Marcus Payne mentioned during our 1st encounter that he had already cancelled his subscription as no matter what he tried tactic wise he struggled & had already become disillusioned with fml.

So i share some of my knowledge with him & send him a picture of my tactic setup & also a link to the http://www.fm-britain.co.uk/forums/index.php?showtopic=8967 site (a tactical bible).

His next 6 games play out & he records 4 wins 1 draw & 1 loss, Next i open a private chat with him & after explaining how to increase the rep of his players will help him improve further.

He has money in the bank & starts looking for players that are currently free agents & available to sign for him.

Now hopefully through me helping him out he will take to fml & re-subscribe (fingers crossed)

I think through the right education in game a lot of potential cancellations can be avoided

CMON Beta testers help out in your community its needed to help it flourish. Managers that are struggling need help not exploiting, Let the game world age,build friendships ,generate rivalries. Fml can be fun for all .

Andrew Hill & myself have also been busy creating The S.F.A. In Shearer Blog ( http://sfainshearer.blogspot.com/) & are hoping that the rest of Shearer Game worlds members take time to read it & maybe just maybe add something to push this forwards

2008-12-06T16:31:00.000Z

So the 1st real super regen appears in gameworld shearer.roughly 30 sides bid too aquire his services.I wish i could of bid but i had already tied my spare cash up in Bravo my new goalkeeper, so for this 1 im sat on the fence watching proceedings.

Obviuosly with so many clubs bidding i thought his wage would rougly be mid 20k per day just like whats happening in other gameworlds.But no the auction finishes & it comes through the news that his wage is £40,001k per day. Now im thinking thats tottally crazy after 6 seasons in the beta psycho gameworld i never saw a wage so stupidly high.for those wages you could get a world class player or 2.But each to their own & every manager is differant (glad of that or it would soon become boring) & good luck to Kirby everton FC hope he turns out well.

Goalkeeper

2008-12-05T21:18:00.000Z

Goalkeeper key position Y/N ? I personally think yes.So having started with a youth side & missing out on my 1st choice from my chosen list (Renan) I went with Yann Sommer a 20 year old swiss goalie.Now this guy is awesome at u21 level but at seniors he is as reliable as David James in Germany :) . He will become a great for me as there is plenty of time for his stats to increase.

So Sommer & my defence which again is under 21 i felt i was missing a bit of experience.
So i have spent a few days saving my pennies & hoping one of a number of potential targets wasn't snapped up by another manager, 3 targets down & my last target (gulp) had a bid in already.Knowing that i would be able to bid once i got my fed media & prize money for the day & wages in after midnight.i had another 4 hours to wait before i could table my offer& then roughly another 20 hours before i found out weather my offer had been good enough.so its getting close to 8pm 15 minutes before the auction is due to end & there are 3 other bidders battling it out blindly for this player.

English manager Nick Megarity's under performing Inter Retirement team have won the race to sign Chilean goalkeeper Claudio Bravo in the 24 hour wage auction that ended tonight at 20:15Their bid of £23,001 was enough to secure him on a 2 season contract.There is an acquisition fee of £130,000 payable.

So now i have this player in place its on with the fed games which i have left well alone for the last few days so now its back looking for the next potential youth god i can find & get in on cheap(ish) wages If nothing i see Jumps out from the screen at me saying sign me i will start putting cash away ready for the end of season auctions

Early Days

2008-12-04T00:06:00.000Z

Its still only early for bragging about rankings but my youths have just gone top

What a week

2008-12-03T23:29:00.000Z

i still haven't played any more fed games since my disastrous start

i am keeping my activity rating up via a few friendly comps

Its been hard finding time in the last few days to play anyway due to work (we have started stock taking at night after work) & also the little bit of snow that hit us on Tuesday :)

Ive got 15 under 17s players signed up now & for the moment i will leave that squad alone as i still need to improve my seniors & seeing as most decent rep players are 100k+ its going to take a couple of days before i show my hand & actually bid. This will seem weird to me at first as i have signed at least 1 player since gw shearer started last Monday.

My u21 youth squad has done fantastic already 10 competition wins under there belts already(i was the 1st to get this achievement in the gw).Just wish i could finally beat Richard Hainsworth's Hairy Nosepickers side 8 draws & 1 defeat so really need to beat this hoodoo.

My seniors have just taken the biggest scalp available in the Game world cup, drawn away to the side ranked 1#. He made the challenge which i accepted & after 20Min's game time (where my defense felt similar to the Alamo) he signed out thinking job done (cheeky git), 0-0 at full time & extra time begins & Halfar scores for me against the run of play (YYYYYEEEEESSSS) , i make a couple of changes & hope to hold on for full time. But my luck ran out in the 119th minute of the game & with no real time left after the restart the equivalent of fml lottery begins (penalty shootout). Opposition up 1st 1-0, i miss my 1st,he misses 1-1 i score my 2nd , he misses his remaining spot kicks & I'm through to the 3rd round my side seems one destined for cup success if not league

It Begins

2008-12-01T21:59:00.000Z

So having stumbled through the 1st 7 days of gw shearer,some good days some bad the thing most other managers had been waiting for was upon us.The start of season1 was my team ready ? unsure i will have too test the waters & play a game to see if my charges where up to the given task of qualifying for the SFA Premiership in season 2.

It turns 8pm & the moderators start all the comps & within moments my 1st serious challenge of the season had been made Racing McChavburger had challenged me to our sfa cup match though may as well play this as a loss wont be too damaging to premiership hopes.3-0 Win Awesome away win & my cup run continues for at least 1 more game.My young side played brilliant & from this i found new optimism for the league

so i challenged a side waiting patiently for a game & got my league campaign off & running1-1 draw fair result equal chances for both sides , so on i went to my 2nd league game thinking not playing badly hopefully this time i will get a win Bang 15 minutes in & my left back gets a straight red card, damn i didn't need that but still its not all lost just before half time the opposition take the lead & i go in trailing, during the half time interval i made a few tactical tweaks hoping to get back into the game but no matter how hard my lads tried it was to no avail.thought seeing how unlucky i was in my 2nd game i bounced straight into my 3rd league game another 1-0 defeat in a match that the opposition dominated.

So i go off & play a few youth matches to get a few W' s back on the board & leave the fed games till later this lasted roughly an hour before i was tempted yet again into playing another fed game BANG wish i hadn't bothered 1-0 down after just 4 minutes, 1-1 24 minutes in but again my defences parts like the red sea & the opposition striker scores an easy goal 4-1 down at half time at this rate I'm going to be lucky finishing in the top ten of my qual league game finishes 4-3 but after 4 games its 1 draw & 3 defeats Its time to save up get some cash in & buy an experienced goalkeeper & maybe a centreback to boot until i get these players no more fed league games !!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

The kids are OK 6 comp wins already & a few more that titles i should clinch as well my u17 squad building is nearly finished just need a goalkeeper,right back & a centreback & a few squad players I they should be set once Ive done this i will show the world the side i think will dominate for me in seasons to come but more on them another time

FLAWED FINANCES ?

2008-11-28T00:02:00.000Z

team now has to be over its overdraft for a total of 3 days (cumulatively over the projection period) or have a projected cash at the end of the 28 days period that is over their overdraft in order for a veto to occur. This addresses the issue where a team momentarily exceeds the limit and the bank vetoes, which is overly harsh. (Taken from the forums)

So I'm 4 days into my retail game world & I'm currently -£188440k in debt Even though my overdraft limit is for 100k my projection gives me 600k+ profit in 28 days so the bank has allowed me to continually sign players on borrowed money you do get a warning asking you to lower this within 3 days by the bank but as yet i cant see any other form of punishment for being so reckless with my money

the daily mail you receive around midnight daily is slightly misleading as for the last couple of days it has said i am making an average daily profit of 28k.yet last night when i checked i made roughly 10k

wages £81.352k
Income £91.987k

so going off these figures there is no way i can lower my balance by the 90k needed within the 3 day limit If i did this in real life i would expect the bailiffs round demanding some money or goods to the value To me this opens up a way of sides in the early stages of a game world to sign either 1 big player for 180k or a few slightly cheaper ones like i have done, which again goes away from the vision that SI are giving out about the slowdown of sides pulling away at this early stage

To me this needs altering so that the limit you can go over your overdraft is your actual daily profit not a projected one But while this loophole is there my advice to everyone is grab players while you can just make sure your turning a profit,Because when the season begins you will soon get back into the black with the media & daily prize money you will receive via the federation you have joined

COMMUNITY

2008-11-26T12:32:00.000Z

noticed a conversation in the help chat where a manager asked for advice ,received it from a moderator & then came up with a suggestion.He was asked to post his idea in the forums to see if it carried support from the larger fml community

His answer IM NOT BETA & so ended the conversation

for this game too truly suceed managers need to integrate whilst in game & help each other where possible & also post ideas on the fml forums http://community.sigames.com/index.php
S.I. take these ideas & if they will improve the game will endeavor to add them in future updates

Onwards & Upwards

2008-11-26T12:28:00.000Z

After my inglorious start to the shearer game world i knew exactly what i need & fast a few senior players with influence & high rep & some basic tactic skills. Both of which take time to sort,I had bid on a few players during day 1 & was hoping no else bid so i got them at there required wage.unlucky for me but around 3 other managers spotted my bid on Thomas Gravesen (GRRR).so I'm not bidding blindly against 3 people i don't know & now i have no idea as to where to pitch my wage bid.bid made 22k for a player who's wage demand is 12k , Hope its enough as looking round the free agents still available theres no one left with his ability auction finishes at around 1 so will find out then whether i have snagged the 1st of what i hope become a series of signings

YES he's mine ,shame I'm paying a daily wage of £21,001 but he was needed so the other bids i have made go unopposed
My new signings

Thomas Gravesen MC £40k

Juan MC+AML £28k

Rodrigo Souto DM £45k

with my signings added to my squad I'm now hoping for an upturn in fortune after a few games my side settles & the goals start flowing I'm on my way still need the tactics skills but they will come over the next few days

2008-11-25T00:21:00.000Z

Hi & welcome to my blog charting the rise (hopefully) of my fml football team Inter Retirement Having been a beta tester since the end of feb/early march up to august in the beta world psycho i do have a basic understanding of how the game works known as a very successful youth side whilst in beta i hope to continue this tradition into retail.

& here's my initial squad for retail.

with it being a little light on senior aged players my results in the beginning where iffy to say the least,But i did manage to snag Alan Kardec who terrified defences at both youth level & seniors in the psycho gw,knowing how well this LEGEND turns out i know i wont struggle for goals once my side finds it feet.

but with a few choice additions & a bit of luck i know i can turn these rough diamonds into the polished item& keep doing the same with the u17 side i have started creating so that i have a continual production line of cheap but good players having bought 2 of the best under 17 players i came across whilst beta testing Zezinho (WBL+AMC) & Cedric (AML+FC) much to the annoyance of my friend & shearer gw mod Jakswan i have the foundations lay ed ,14 more as good & i will be talking golden era again just like my last U21 squad in psycho
hope to keep you informed as to my highs & lows.

Nick Megarity

Manager Of The Mighty Inter Retirement