A New Dawn at the Etihad

A shock announcement from the Etihad Satdium today, Roberto Mancini has left the club due to personal reasons. The club have known of Mancini’s intentions since a few days after City won the Premier League title last season but had asked him to stay on and help choose his replacement. It was Mancini himself who made the announcement that David Batty would be the man to take the helm at the Etihad Stadium. At a press conference Mancini said that Batty had impressed in his interview and that the former Leeds and Newcastle United midfield hard man would bring some much needed English steel to the Manchester City dressing room.
So Batty comes into the Machester City job with the club current English Premier League champions and with the target of bringing more success to the club, particularly to help the club progress better in the Champions League.

Squad Assessment
Goalkeepers
Joe Hart – Joe will be number 1, he is one of the best keepers in the world and will be a big part of any success we have here
Costel Pantilimon – this lad is happy to be number 2, will be good enough when called upon

Defenders
Vincent Kompany – will remain club captain, one of the best centre halves in the world
Jolean Lescott – a very solid CB, will be in a squad rotation
Matija Nastasic – has the potential to be one of the best in the world, may need to go out on loan to gain experience, this would mean I would need to bring in some more cover
Pablo Zabaleta - will be my starting RB
Micah Richards – currently injured, has been for a while now, will have to see if he can fight his way back into the team when he is fit again
Gael Clichy – a quality LB
Aleksander Kolarov – I real asset with his delivery from set pieces, will be in a rotation with Clichy
Kolo Toure – not sure if he is good enough anymore, I may have to offload him
Maicon – good player to have in a rotation at RB position

Midfileders
Yaya Toure – one of the best in the world, will be club vice captain
Gareth Barry – good solid CM, will be a starter
James Milner – a good utility player, can play in many different positions
Javi Garcia – a new signing at the club, will have to prove he can do it in the Premier League
Jack Rodwell – a good prospect, new to the club, will get some playing time but not a starter
David Silva – quality attacking midefielder, will be a big part of the team
Samir Nasri – has quality but does not show it often enough
Scott Sinclair – a young English player with a point to prove, I will give him opportunities, it is down to him to take them

Attackers
Sergio Aguero – one of the best strikers in Europe, will be a big player for us
Carlos Tevez – has the quality to win games
Edin Dzeko – will be backup to Aguero, but has good quality and will get goals

Tactics
There are two different tactics we are going to train in. Our primary tactic will be 4-2-3-1 narrow, this means playing with no wingers, we will be playing with three AMC’s behind one ST. The central AMC will play the Trequairsta role. Our secondary tactic will also be a narrow tactic with no wide players, this will be 4-1-2-1-2, I don’t plan on using this tactic too much, mainly when we need a goal near the end of a game.

Transfer Targets
I have a few transfer targets, the main areas I think we need to strengthen are AMC and CB, mainly to ensure we have quality cover in case of any injuries or suspensions during the season. I have a transfer kitty of 45m.
Alexis Sanchez - the player is slightly interested in joining us, will probably cost between 20-25 million
Marek Hamsik – there are a number of teams interested in him, he does want a move away from his current club Napoli but may cost too much
Douglas – the big Dutch CB is only 23 years old and will develop into a very good CB, could be good to get in now and develop him further here, probably cost around 10-15 million.
I do not want to bring in too many players as I don’t want to upset a Premier League winning squad too much, I will probably end up signing two players from the three targets above.

What do people think of my current transfer targets?
Next update will have transfer activity and first few games of the “Batty era” at Manchester City.

as there are enough city storioes, try to make other signings then all the othr stories

Ok fair enough, I am starting this game on the updated squads etc since Jan so can't get the likes of Wellington Nem for 3m anymore or anything like that.
I will update soon showing transfers and season start!

Transfers In
Alexis Sanchez – 25m from Barcelona
This is a big transfer for the club, the club hierarchy want big name signings and this lad is exactly that. Wasn’t getting the first team football he wanted at the Nou Camp so was happy to join us

Douglas – 9m from Fc Twente
The big Dutchman was a player I really wanted, after a week of talking to the press about him he handed in a written transfer request. This showed me the player really wanted to join us and helped us get him for what I think is a cut price 9 million.

I decided against signing Marek Hamsik, he handed in a transfer request but Napoli wanted 30m for him and I though this was over the odds. He ended up signing for Man Utd for 32.5m, let’s hope this decision doesn’t come back to haunt me!

Starting XI

I am still unsure about my starting XI, it is in the AMC and CB positions where I am undecided. With Tevez, Nasri, Sanchez, Silva, Sinclair and Aguero that can play the AMC position I need to decide what my best three would be. At CB Kompany takes one spot but the other is between Lescott, Douglas, Nastasic and Richards when the latter returns from injury. These are the positions I have decided on.
GK – Hart
RB – Zabaleta
CB – Kompany
CB - Lescott/Douglas/Nastasic/Richards
LB – Gael Clichy
CM – Yaya Toure
CM – Gareth Barry
AMC – Sanchez/Nasri
AMC – Tevez
AMC – Silva
ST – Aguero

The CB position is the one giving me the biggest headache
Lescott – very experienced premier league campaigner and played a big part in the league win last season
Douglas – a quality player that I have no doubt will be a big hit in this league
Nastasic – going to be one of the best CB’s in world football but needs playing time to progress
Richards – a Blue through and through, the type of player that wears his heart on his sleeve and the fans love him
So as you can see there are two places in the starting XI that are very much up for grabs, the players will be given a chance to prove why they should be in the first team.

Community Shield

Chelsea V Man City

Chelsea Starting XI City Starting XI
Cech Hart
Azpilicueta Zabaleta
Ivanovic Lescott
Terry Kompany
Cole Clichy
Fellaini (27.5m from Everton) Rodwell
Mikel Yaya Toure
Moses Sanchez
Oscar Tevez
Hazard Silva
Torres Aguero

Chelsea 0 – 1 Man City
This was a tight game until the 54th minute when Azpilicueta got a second yellow card and was sent off, having only picked up the first yellow card on the stroke of half time. I brought Edin Dzeko on for Alexis Sanchez in the 62nd minute, putting Aguero back into an AMC position and putting Dzeko upfront. This paid off in the 77th minute when Dzeko scored a close range header after some good work from David Silva on the edge of the box. We held on to take a good solid win and get our season off to the perfect start, the only downside was when Jack rodwell had to come off injured in the 44th minute, he will be out for 4-6 weeks with a hamstring problem.


Does anyone have experience of this problem I have at CB, who do people usually start with?

Very Nice start m8 I like the way you're doing your posts and this story seems to have a great potential:D

Don't worry if you don't find a starting XI now, this can change with form, opposition, injuries, bans...
I would sign a new young CB like Varane, Sakho or Papadopoulos but as you have Douglas this can wait for a season or two (but price will rise).

Good Luck for the season, I will be following

Hey mate, this is a good start to your story. A City story is probably not what everyone wants to read(because almost nothing is an achievement when you have a shitload of money.) But if its good, it will get views anyway

I'd like to see you try to add some pictures or screenshots and give it a bit of colour. Also appreciate that you avoided stupid spelling errors and used proper grammar - a thumbs up for that! :p

Sonalexwild
Thanks for the comment, Varane and Nastasic as a future CB partnership would be impressive!!

Liverbird
I will be adding screenshots in later in the story, thanks for your input!

Kidd leaves Manchester City by mutual consent
David Batty announced in a press conference today that Brian Kidd had left the club by mutual consent; Batty stated that he and Kidd has not got on in his first few weeks in charge of the club and decided this was best for both parties. Batty then announced that the man sat beside him, David Platt, would be taking over the assistant manager duties. Platt said he was delighted to get the opportunity and he thought himself and Batty could work together to get the best out of the extremely talented group of players at the Etihad

Fitness is Key
I believe that with this group of players we know the quality and talent is there, the key to having an edge over our opponents is superior fitness. We will train at above average intensity and will concentrate on fitness more than the previous regime did. With us playing a narrow style of football movement is key, so if the players are not fit enough this will not work. This may be a shock to the system of some of the players in the team, such as Carlos Tevez or David Silva but I believe this is how we will bring success to the club and they will be better players for it.

Premier League
From our first 10 Premier League games we won 6, drew 3 and lost 1. Our only defeat was on the opening day of the season at the Etihad to our bitter rivals Man Utd. We scored in the 22nd minute from a corner, Vincent Kompany leading by example with a powerful header, then the Red Devils turned it around with a brace from Robon Van Persie and one from Wayne Rooney. We knew this was going to be a tough game to start the season with but I had expected better, especially after taking the lead. The draws were
Sunderland @ home 3-3
Villa away 1-1
QPR away 1-1
All 3 were disappointing results, we led 3 times in the Sunderland game but poor defending cost us the game. We are too inconsistent so far; in the 6 games we’ve won so far in the league we have scored 24 goals
Stoke away 2-0
Southampton @ home 5-0
Fulham away 2-1
Arsenal @ home 6-3
Swansea away 5-1
Everton @ home 4-0
These are all pretty impressive results, the Arsenal one imparticluar, but coupled with the disappointing draws it has not been good enough, we sit 3rd after the first 10 games, behind Man Utd in 2nd and Chelsea out in front.

Champions League Draw
We are second seeds in the draw this year so we know we are going to get at least one major club in the group stage, the ones to avoid are Real Madrid and Barcelona.
The draw is NOT kind to us
Barcelona
Man City
PSG
BATE
To get PSG as 3rd seeds in the group is a tough draw, with their recent investment we are going to have a tough test getting out of the group stage again this year. Our 3rd and 4th games are back to back fixtures with BATE Borisov, these will be must win if we are to get out of this group.

2013-03-20 14:37#86084 Liverbird : Hey mate, this is a good start to your story. A City story is probably not what everyone wants to read(because almost nothing is an achievement when you have a shitload of money.) But if its good, it will get views anyway

I'd like to see you try to add some pictures or screenshots and give it a bit of colour. Also appreciate that you avoided stupid spelling errors and used proper grammar - a thumbs up for that! :p

I appreciate what you're saying, but it's about the story not the team

Also, good to see another City story on the scene, will be following

I'm all for another City story good luck mate!

Its not quite as easy as everyone says to win everything with all the money, its about buying the right players and playing the right team!!

Champions League Campaign get’s underway
We start our Champions League campaign away to PSG, this is likely to be a very difficult game but if we can get a win here it would be a brilliant start to the group stage.
PSG 3 – 2 Man City
Once again we took the lead in this game thanks to a Vincent Kompany header from a corner, we then went on to concede three goals, all from PSG corners. A 88th minute goal from Carlos Tevez was of little consolation, not the start to the campaign we wanted, this means we are likely going to need to get a result out of one of our games with Barcelona to qualify.
Next up is the visit of the Spanish giants Barcelona, Messi, Xavi and co will be coming to the Etihad for the first time; the fans are going to be looking forward to this one, if we could get a win for them it would be a huge result.
Man City 0 – 1 Barcelona
This result hurts, we played well, matching Barcelona throughout, we probably had the better chances but we did not take them. Their goal was scored by Messi and was bordering on the ridiculous, Valdes kicked it out of hands and Messi, without the ball touching the floor, looped it over Joe Hart from about 30-40 yards out, Hart probably should of done better but I don’t think he would have expected the shot to be honest (I will try and upload a video of the goal when I get chance). Next up is the trip out to play BATE Borisov, after losing the first two games we MUST win this one, anything less than a win and our chances of qualification are all but over.
BATE 1 – 1 Man City
Another game where we take an early lead and are unable to add to it despite having lots of chances, then we concede in the last 10 minutes, this result is infuriating and rumour has it Batty let’s the team know in no uncertain terms that this is NOT good enough.

Capital One Cup
This is a competition that City doesn’t pay too much interest to, although it is an opportunity for silverware the team will be changed in this competition. I will rest some key players and give others, like Scott Sinclair, a chance to show what they can do. We don’t get much luck in the 3rd round draw as we draw Man Utd away. I play a slightly weakened team but there is still quality in there.
Man Utd 3 – 1 Man City (AET)
We got a last minute equalizer through Edin Dzeko to take the game to extra time but United brought Van Persie on at the start of extra time and he changed the game, scoring one and setting another up to dump us out of the cup at this early stage. Normally I wouldn’t be too worried by this but it is another defeat against a big team, we need to find a way of winning these games.

1 Win in 8…
We have been on a terrible run in our last 8 games…
PSG away 2-3
Sunderland @ home 3-3
Man Utd away – 1-3
Villa away 1-1
Barcelona @ home 0-1
Arsenal @ home 6-3
QPR away 1-1
BATE away 1-1
As you can see we have scored 15 goals but conceded 16, so scoring isn’t the problem, the problem is we are letting in too many goals. I have decided that I am going to drop Lescott, although he has an average rating of 7.18, I think it is time to give Douglas a chance of partnering Kompany at CB, I hope this will solve the problem.

In our next 2 league games this change seems to have worked so far
Swansea away 5-1
Everton @ home 4-0

One thing that is worrying me is the lack of home grown talent in the club, even players trained in this country is quite low. One player I have been tracking is Will Hughes from Derby County, does anyone have any experience of signing him on FM13? Does he turn out a top class player or just an average player?

Unlucky with the UCL results, and as for Will Hughes, I've seen him come quite good but I haven't ever signed him.

Poor results really should be beating BATE and for plenty of text, no images which makes the story less interesting to be honest.

As for Will Hughes he is awesome on my liverpool save but would he fit into your squad? and would he play often? these are the things you have to think about cos of the money and the squad that man city possess.

I know i should be beating BATE, when they scored it was one of those "Football Manager claims another laptop" moments!!
As for pics etc i will be adding them in in coming updates, will put up some screens of results etc, but to be honest i usually enjoy stories with less pics and more text, what do other people think?

Premier League Progress
From our next 7 games in the league we win 3, lose 2 and draw 2, so as you can see things are still not going to plan. Our 3 wins come in games we are expected to win with ease
Wigan away 2-1
Norwich @ home 1-0
West ham away 3-0
These are the first 3 games of this 7 game run, we then go on a run of 4 league games without a win
Reading @ home 1-2
Newcastle away 1-2
West Brom @ home 0-0
Spurs away 0-0
We took the lead in both the defeats, Dzeko against Reading and Aguero against Newcastle, then lost both games by conceding 2 in the last 10 minutes of the game.
So from 7 games we have scored 8 goals and conceded 5, the West Ham result the only one that met expectations, if you exclude that game we have scored 5 and conceded 5 in 6 games, this is nowhere near good enough. Something needs to change.
The harmony within the squad is not good, some of Batty’s tem talks have not gone down well with the players, particularly Yaya Toure and Vincent Kompany, these 2 players are the club captain and vice captain so there unhappiness has a real unsettling effect on the whole squad. The teams on field form is being effected by this so Batty and Platt sit down and decide they need to call a team meeting to try and clear the air and get everyone pulling in the same direction again. Rumour has it Batty and Platt called the whole first team squad in to one room and shut the door behind them, firstly there were some calm words from David Platt, explaining why this meeting had been called. Then Batty made a passionate speech, telling the players how good they were and that the title was by no means gone, if they could get their act together now there was no reason they couldn’t win the title. He then sat down and gave it a few seconds for this to sink in, they asked if club captain Vincent Kompany had anything to add, apparently Kompany replied in just as passionate a manner, agreeing and reiterating to the other players that he felt they could still win this league title, all they had to do was show their quality out on the pitch and they would be good enough to get back to the top. So everyone left this meeting feeling a lot better about themselves and about the club, the next game after this meeting is league leaders Chelsea at the Etihad, this will be a real test.

City Starting XI
GK - Pantilimon (Hart injured)
RB – Maicon (Zabaleta suspended)
CB – Douglas
CB – Kompnay
LB – Clichy
CM – Javi Garcia (Barry injured)
CM – Miler (Toure injured)
AMC – Silva
AMC – Tevez
AMC – Sanchez
ST – Aguero

Chelsea Starting XI
GK – Cech
RB – Ivanovic
CB – Cahill
CB – Luiz
LB – Cole
DMC – Lampard
DMC – Mikel
AMR – Moses
AMC – Mata
AML – Hazard
ST – Torres

Man City 0 – 1 Chelsea
Once again we have lost a game where we were by far the better team, we had 55% possession, 13 shots and 5 on target, Chelsea had 5 shots and 2 on target but scored with one of them. We lost Kompany to injury in the 32nd minute, in the end I think that was the difference. A good performance though, next up is Liverpool who are breathing down our necks in 5th place, we need to go to Anfield and get a win.