FM12 Crystal Palace Story- Fly like an Eagle!

Good luck! I had a save of Crystal palace on my FIFA10.. that was fun.
Can't wait to see someone do it on FM12 :), Good luck bro!

Palace appoint Smith

Crystal Palace today appointed Joe Smith as their new manager to hopefully guide the club back to the Premier League. In his first press conference, Smith said that his main focus this season would be the League, and he then revealed that, while he expects Southampton to win the League, that he believes he will finish in the top half of the Championship this year, although he does harbour hopes of reaching the Play Offs.

To reach this level, he made it clear that he would put his own stamp on the team.

The first thing he did was begin a staff room overhaul, and here is who he has, so far, brought in and let go:

IN

Mark Chamberlain, coach
Ray Clemence, gk coach
Jack Chapman, scout
Paul Winsper, fitness coach
Faustino Asprilla, scout
John Sivebaek, scout
Ricky Sbragia, scout
Herbert Wimmer, scout
Finidi George, scout
Tosh Farrell, youth coach
Nick Worth, physio
Adrian Lamb, fitness coach.

Clemence, Winsper and Lamb are people I bring into whatever team I take control of because they are very good, and cheap, which is always good- especially when you aren't in the Premier League. In addition to that, I brought in Asprilla, Wimmer, George and Sivebaek to get better global player knowledge and to open up new player options for the club. Unfortunately, Asprilla's knowledge isn't brilliant because, while he has expansive knowledge, none of his players can join because of work permit issues. Oh well, he will come good eventually.

OUT

Dougie Freedman, manager (obviously)
Scott Guyett, fitness coach
Curtis Fleming, youth coach
Ray Lowes, scout
Alex Manos, physio
Dereck Mardell, scout
Chris McGrath, coach
Peter Mead, scout
Stuart Wardle, physio
Steve Kember, scout

Transfers

Given a transfer budget of £750k for a top half finish, and having inherited a decent squad, I could use the money to get in a few quality players.

The defence did not need a lot of work, but I really do dislike Paul McShane, so his loan spell was terminated straight away.

Here is who I brought in:

Craig Dawson


To replace McShane, Dawson is a very good defender at this level. Transfer listed at West Brom, he was brought in for £1.3m and will be my first choice central defender.

Gael Bigiramana


Possibly one of the most under priced youngsters I have seen on the game, Bigiramana is one of my favourite players in real life simply because he has an immense name. For £130k and said to have the potential to be a good Premier League midfielder, you can't really say no. He has been loaned out to Southend to guarantee first team football this year.

Andros Townsend


A very good winger, Townsend has been brought in on loan. I have written in a £7.5m buy out clause if I want him here full time (I know I can't afford it, but I may get taken over by a sugar daddy or a stupid offer may come in for Zaha or someone), he will most probably be my first choice winger.

Robbie Blake


Back up for the two strikers and wingers, the experienced Blake is in on loan from Bolton for the year with an option to buy for £160k. I am a fan of this guy as when he was at Burnley when they were in the Prem he scored a belter against Manchester United and is a good creative midfielder.

Stephen Dobbie


Another player brought in to add a bit of creativity to the team, Dobbie was brought in on loan for the year with an option to buy. Not sure if he will be starting every game, but we will see.

Hogan Ephraim


I inherited a team with very few players capable of playing on the wings, so he has been brought in for that purpose on loan.

Josh Carson


With money left from excess wage budget and transfer money left from sales, I brought in Carson who was on the transfer list at Ipswich. I negotiated a deal to buy him for just under £750k. Loaned out to my new feeder club, Stevenage.

Here is who went out:
David Wright to Southampton, £350k
Sean Scannell to Coverntry, loan
Owen Garvan to Hibernian, £250k
Jermaine Easter to Watford, £100k
Jon Williams to Stevenage, loan
Dean Moxey to Peterborough, loan £80k
Josh Carson to Stevenage, loan
Gael Bigiramana to Southend, loan

Good luck mate. Birigamana is a good signing, and I think you should try and loan in Karim Rekik from Man City, he's a CB with lots of potential. Wonderkid on here.

i would mate but he simply wouldn't get a game at the moment, dawson and mccarthy are pretty solid

August 2011: The Eagles soar

Results

Crystal Palace 2-0 Barnsley
Chris Martin
Hogan Ephraim

Stevenage 0-2 Crystal Palace (League Cup)
Stephen Dobbie
Michael Bostwick

Leicester 1-3 Crystal Palace
Wilfried Zaha
Wilfried Zaha
Chris Martin

Crystal Palace 4-1 Peterborough
Wilfried Zaha
Chris Martin
Glenn Murray
Wilfried Zaha

Burnley 4-1 Crystal Palace
Chris Martin

Crystal Palace 2-1 Watford (League Cup)
Chris Martin
Paddy McCarthy

Crystal Palace 2-1 Nottingham Forest
Wilfried Zaha
Chris Gunter OG

A very good start to the season for Palace as they reach third place in the Championship with 12 points from an available 15. Zaha is having a very good start to the season. I am using a few tactics to prevent teams working us out, with 4-1-2-1-2 and 4-5-1 with wingers and an anchorman seeming very succesful so far. Next update will be at the end of September 2011.

September 2011: The Eagle's wings are cut

Results

Blackpool 1-0 Crystal Palace

Crystal Palace 1-2 West Ham
Glenn Murray

Blackburn 2-3 Crystal Palace (League Cup)
Hogan Ephraim
Andros Townsend
Andros Townsend

Crystal Palace 4-0 Doncaster
Wilfried Zaha
Chris Martin
Wilfried Zaha
Darren Ambrose

Derby 0-0 Crystal Palace

Leeds 0-0 Crystal Palace

Dropped to 6th in the table at the moment, and we are worryingly struggling to score enough goals. Generally, we are ok defensively, but the strikeforce is worrying me. We are now through to the 4th round of the League Cup against Birmingham which will be an interesting game.

Speroni has been injured since the West Ham game but is coming back for the next match.

Next update end of October.

October 2011

Results

Crystal Palace 2-0 Watford
Craig Dawson
Robbie Blake

Millwall 0-0 Crystal Palace

Crystal Palace 2-1 Coventry
Robbie Blake
Robbie Blake

Birmingham 0-3 Crystal Palace (League Cup)
Craig Dawson
Craig Dawson
Wilfried Zaha

Brighton 0-3 Crystal Palace
Wilfried Zaha
Robbie Blake
Wilfried Zaha

An unbeaten month for Palace as we reach 3rd in the table as Blake, Zaha and, surprisingly, Dawson get the goals to propel us higher in the table. In games I have played in the past, Palace have never been in the higher echelons of the table before, so I am wondering what I am doing differently that would otherwise be done automatically... we have drawn QPR in the League Cup after beating Birmingham, which was a very surprising result to be honest as I expected to lose that one, but not by much, but it really was a hammering.

Next update end of November...

November 2011: Palace sit royally in the table

Results

Crystal Palace 0-1 Ipswich

Middlesbrough 1-4 Crystal Palace
Wilfried Zaha
Darren Ambrose
Darren Ambrose
Wilfried Zaha

Portsmouth 1-3 Crystal Palace
Antonio Pedroza
Antonio Pedroza
Antonio Pedroza

Crystal Palace 0-0 Southampton

Crystal Palace 3-0 Cardiff
Antonio Pedroza
Kagisho Dikgacoi
Darren Ambrose

Crystal Palace p2-2 QPR (League Cup)
Wilfried Zaha
Antonio Pedroza

Bristol City 0-0 Crystal Palace

We are now 2nd in the table behind Southampton, who are seven points ahead. To be honest, I am glad we didn't lose to them in the match in November because, although we aren't even half way through the season, it could have been the end of the title race. When Chris Martin got injured in October, I was wondering who to play up front with Zaha and sometimes as a lone striker, but Pedroza really has surprised me with his hat trick last month and the other goals he has pinched. Also, after success over QPR in the League Cup, we will be facing either Manchester United or Tottenham in the semi final with the first leg at home. We will be extremely lucky to get through that!!

Next update end of December..

Also guys, I am not brilliant at writing these things. If you have any suggestions as to what else I could/should include in them or anything else I could change about layout etc, please let me know

December 2011

Results

Bristol City 0-0 Crystal Palace

Crystal Palace 0-2 Reading

Birmingham 1-1 Crystal Palace
Paddy McCarthy

Crystal Palace 1-0 Hull
Stephen Dobbie

Barnsley 2-2 Crystal Palace
Wilfried Zaha
Antonio Pedroza

We are still second in the League at the turn of the year, although the goals seem to have dried up this month, which is a bit of a worry, and we are conceding a few more than I would have liked. I will post a half season review next post

Mid-Season Review

Tables

Championship

1. Southampton, 54 points
2. Crystal Palace, 43
----------------
3. Bristol City, 42
4. Reading, 40
5. Nottingham, 39
6. Ipswich, 37
----------------
22. Millwall, 18
23. Portsmouth, 13
24. Doncaster, 9

A very open race for the play offs developing here, with only 5 points separating 14th from 4th. Portsmouth are off the bottom despite their 10 point deduction. We are 3rd highest scorers behind Southampton (63) and Reading (43), and we have the best defence in the League, something I like my teams to be- hard to score against.

English Premier League
1. Manchester City, 45
2. Liverpool, 45
3. Arsenal, 40
4. Tottenham, 30
-----------------
5. Manchester United, 28
6. Chelsea, 26
-----------------
18. Fulham, 15
19. Sunderland, 15
20. Stoke, 14

NPower League 1
1. Charlton, 48
2. Preston, 45
-----------------
3. Stevenage, 44
4. Sheffield Wednesday, 40
5. Bournemouth, 39
6. Scunthorpe, 37
-----------------
21. Exeter, 19
22. Tranmere, 19
23. Yeovil, 16
24. Bury, 14

Ligue 1
1. Lille, 42
2. Lyon, 41
3. Marseille, 41
-----------------
4. Nice, 32
5. Rennes, 31
6. Evian, 29
-----------------
18. Saint-Etienne, 17
19. Lorient, 13
20. Caen, 10

Bundesliga
1. Wolfsburg, 36
2. Hannover, 32
3. Leverkusen, 28
-----------------
4. Werder Bremen, 26
5. Hoffenheim, 25
6. Stuttgart, 25
-----------------
16. Augsburg, 17
-----------------
17. Freiburg, 11
18. Hertha Berlin, 11

La Liga
1. Real Madrid, 37
2. Barcelona, 33
3. Atletico Madrid, 33
4. Osasuna, 30
------------------
5. Real Sociedad, 26
6. Valencia, 25
------------------
18. Mallorca, 13
19. Rayo Vallecano, 13
20. Levante, 7

Serie A
1. Siena, 32
2. Lazio, 32
3. Inter, 32
------------------
4. Juventus, 32
5. Roma, 28
6. Udinese, 27
------------------
18. Genoa, 15
19. Novara, 13
20. Lecce, 11

NPower Championship stats

Goalscorers
1. Tadanari Lee, Southampton, 15
2. Jermaine Easter, Watford, 14
3. Chris Wood, Bristol City, 12
4. Wilfried Zaha, Crystal Palace, 12
5. Jason Scotland, 11

Assists
1. Adam Lallana, Southampton, 13
2. Radoslaw Majewski, Nottingham Forest, 11
3. Jay Emmanuel-Thomas, 9
4. Jem Karacan, 8
5. Robert Snodgrass, 8

Clean Sheets
1. Frank Fielding, Derby, 11
2. Robert Green, West Ham, 9
3. Kelvin Davis, Southampton, 9
4. Boaz Myhill, Birmingham, 9
5. Matt Gilks, Blackpool, 8

Next update end of January 2012, including transfers.

I like your story and even your layout cos it's different. i see too many stories with the same layout keep it up

January 2012 Transfer Window

Transfers In
Lewis McGugan


Brought in on loan for the rest of the season with an option to buy for £700k at any time. Pretty decent signing in my opinion, hope he will get some goals and assists and be quite solid for me this year.

Mark Wilson


Brought in for a bit of cover at full back for Clyne and Parr, brought him in from Celtic for £20k and £80k over 18 months. I doubt he will get much game time but we will see. I had brought in Gary Borrowdale on loan earlier on in the season, but the fans didn't like him so I terminated that. Besides, he was crap.

Other Transfer News

In other news, Tottenham signed Manchester United's winger Nani in a £13m deal. In addition, Kwadwo Asamoah joined Arsenal for £14.25m from Serie A outfit Udinese. Liverpool bought Brazilian left back Dodo in an £800k deal from Corinthians. Championship Player of the Month Adam Lallana joined Sunderland for £4.2m from Southampton.