Sunderland AFC story

I dont know if its just me, but whenever I play as Sunderland, regardless of who I sign, the team always perform poorly.

I went on the editor (yes I like to tamper) and increased the transfer budget to a mere 39 million (usually costs 15-20 million for a decent player). The morale has also been boosted.

I aim to solidify SAFC as a top half/European power.

As a start, I removed the current Assistant from O'Neill's non-existant reign (I made him DoF).

I now set about signing a few good players.

Joaquin is always offered to me on every save, glitch?
Another great player is Carlos Fierro, 16 year old Mexican. He signs for United/Arsenal on almost every save, and scored on par with Chicharito for Man United (roughly 25 a season).
Other than these two players, I won't be too interested in strengthening a decent enough squad.

Robert Huth was offered to me for 8.5m, this is a bargain for a player who is the most consistant defender I have played with on FM.

Another update will follow after pre-season

It'll be interesting to see a Sunderland story. How do you use the FM Editor?

#54404 Glenn T : It'll be interesting to see a Sunderland story. How do you use the FM Editor?

You go onto your steam account, go to the download screen, and it should be a free download on there. I forgot how I did it, but thats what you need to do.

First 5 fixtures for the new season:
Newcastle United (H)TV
Manchester United (A)TV
Aston Villa (H)
Blackburn Rovers (A)TV
Arsenal (H)TV

Suprised that 4 of the 5 games are televised.

The derby couldn't have came at a worse time as my squad won't have had a lot of time to gel, and my signings probably won't have all been brought in.

Carlos Fierro
Robert Huth
Joaquin
Jordan Rhodes (end of season)
Guti (trial)
John Jansen has been brought in as my assistant.

See how the final 3 games of preseason go, then will do an update for the Mags game, then I'll probably just do a 3-month update

Rhodes, Huth and Fierro will turn out great. good luck!

I downloaded the editor of steam but dunno how to increase the wage budget. do you have any idea how ya done that?

#54409 patrick1 : I downloaded the editor of steam but dunno how to increase the wage budget. do you have any idea how ya done that?

Load up the game database (12.2 I think)

Click 'CLUBS' on the menu on the left, search for your desired club (E.g Sunderland)

Click 'FINANCES'

It should have you at around 3-5 million for a club like Sunderland, simply add a few zeros
Your max is £999,999,999 but that ruins the game completely.

Your finances is based on how much wage you have LEFT OVER. Setting it at 2m wont give you 2m wage, it will give you roughly 2.5-3m wage depending on your current financial status

Very, VERY, rocky preseason.

Dundee Utd (A) 1-2
Argentinos (A) 2-1
Torquay (A) 1-1
Burton (A) 1-0
I then allowed my new assistant to take over the final 3 games:
AS Nancy Lorraine (H) 1-2
Shrewsbury (A) 2-2
Fiorentina (H) 3-2

Over these games, it seems my key players for the season will be:
Ji Dong Won
Stephane Sessegnon
James McClean
Sotirios Kyrgiakos
Craig Gordon

My transfer bill as of 8th Aug is:
In:
Joaquin, 3.9m
Robert Huth, 8.5m

Out:
Reece Noble - free
Billy Knott, Tranmere, loan
John Egan, Rochdale, loan
Jack Colback, Southampton, 3.6m
Ahmed Elmohamady, Bologna, Loan fee 475k

Carlos Fierro, Jordan Rhodes, Mohamed Aboutrika and Emad Meteb are all on their way. I've dealt with Meteb before, he can be brilliant, or he can be crap. He had a 1 in 15 record on a QPR save, but seems to score loads elsewhere. Aboutrika is a consistant player who can be a game winner in even the biggest games.

I'm looking to get a decent Left and centre back. Any ideas?

Also, I dont know how to add screenshots to this thread, help?

Newcastle have had a steady preseason, finishing with a 2-1 defeat to Juventus.
My plan is keep Cabaye and Cisse a bay (Ben Arfa is injured) and try to retain posession.

Mohamed Diame has been brought in for 6.25 mil, he is a solid holding midfielder with a hell of a shot!

I'll update after the game, and at the end of the transfer window, then do 3-monthly updates.

Very very disheartening...

Sunderland 1-3 Newcastle
Ji Dong Won, Ba/Obertan/Cabaye

We had the most posession, shots on target, and clear cut chances.

The problem was clear from the off, our fullbacks have no pace. Obertan tore Bardsley a new arse.
This means I need to spend the remaining 11 million wisely.

Emad Meteb 4.3m, seemed cheap enough but didnt impress today
Neither did Diame, but I'm hoping they both turn good during the season.

We were the better team today, but lost due to not taking chances when they fell to us.

Onwards and upwards!

September 1st 2011
Transfers:
In:
Joaquin 3.9m
Robert Huth 8.5m
Mohamed Diame 6.25m
Emad Meteb 4.3m
Mohamed Aboutrika 2.8m
Guti - free
Christian Eriksen 2.1m (21m over 48 months)
Isaac Vorsah 8.75m
Total: 58m

Out:
Reece Noble - free
Billy Knott, Tranmere, Loan
John Egan, Rochdale, Loan
Jack Colback, Southampton, 3.6m
Ahmed Elmohamady, Bologna, 475k loan fee
Titus Bramble, West Brom, 3.1m
Total: 7.25m


We've had a shocking start to the season:
Newcastle (H) 1-3
Manchester United (A) 0-1
Sheff Wed (A) 3-0 - Carling Cup
Aston Villa (H) 2-2

There seems to be the same problem in every game: We can't score the clear chances. The United game I felt we played well even if we did lose. The Villa game was due to defensive errors, which is why I signed the lad from Hoffenheim. I believe that if we keep a stable first team, then the results will come.

I have taken solice in the fact Chelsea have the same record as us, with only a 2 goal difference in their favour


P4 W1 D1 L2

Hopefully on the next update we will be in a far better position

A bad start indeed. Hope it gets better for you... you aren't going to be in Europe with those results, tell your players to buck up.

Things started to pick up:

Blackburn (A) 1-2
Arsenal (H) 2-1
Burnley (H) 2-1 - Carling Cup
Fulham (A) 3-1
Bolton (H) 0-0
Everton (H) 0-1
Wolves (A) 1-2

After the abysmal start, we've had a half-decent run of games here.
It seems the problem is defending a lead, and scoring. Emad Meteb is the most unreliable player ive come across, I dont know why I signed him!

Bendtner and Dong-Won are brilliant but inconsistent.

The defeats are narrow, and could have went either way.

Hopefully on my next update we'll have put together a good string of results!

Half-decent is a great way to put it, haha. Interested to see how you will do against the other big teams like Man City, Chelsea, Arsenal etc.