the end is upon us

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

Lend Me Your Eyes

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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.

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

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

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

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

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

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

New Gameworld - Humble beginings

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