Football Manager 2011.

[Vhailor]

Anyone else playing this? I took over Liverpool and managed to get Eden Hazard, Ryan Shawcross and Davide Santon fairly cheap. Currently in first place halfway through the season.

[Cahill]

I haven't been to bed yet. It is now almost 10:30 AM here and I am finally going to get some sleep. Highly addictive. I've been using Chelsea in my first save, I am already in my third season. It is ridiculous how much money they get, I just wanted to see what type of team I could build with their finances in a few years. It's messed up hahahaha. I have Aguero, Nani, Pato (free transfer), Maicon, Neymar, Lakaku, Rodwell and I also purchased a bunch of hot prospects which my scouts think will be pretty good.

Wanted to get the young guys, develop them, and then turn them around for good profit to offset the amount of money I've been spending but I don't think it's possible with how much I've been spending. I did manage to make a profit the second year though. I won the EPL first year along with the League Cup. Second year, finished 3rd in EPL with a lesser quality team that was ravaged with injuries, and won the League Cup again but got bounced out in the semi finals of the FA Cup and CL.

[Vhailor]

Dude, I know. I haven't played another game for the past week.

Romelu Lukaku was my last purchase, actually. Got him for $8 million after my board of directors had restructured our debt. He's made an impact and is a very solid player, but I'm currently playing a 4-2-3-1, with Reina as the goalie.

I attached a low-resolution soccer 'whiteboard' to show.

I still need some central defenders but can't afford any new ones. Looking to sell Jovanovic, Skrtel and Konchesky come June.

You must've paid stupid money for Maicon and Kun Aguero, man.

[Cahill]

Dude, I know. I haven't played another game for the past week.

Romelu Lukaku was my last purchase, actually. Got him for $8 million after my board of directors had restructured our debt. He's made an impact and is a very solid player, but I'm currently playing a 4-2-3-1, with Reina as the goalie.

I attached a low-resolution soccer 'whiteboard' to show.

I still need some central defenders but can't afford any new ones. Looking to sell Jovanovic, Skrtel and Konchesky come June.

You must've paid stupid money for Maicon and Kun Aguero, man.

Lukaku is a great deal for any club. He always does really well, I'd imagine he would beast in a lower league because he does pretty well against some of the best teams in the world. How is he doing for your Liverpool squad?

Yeah, I got Maicon for 30 mil USD and Aguero for 86 mil USD. Might be stupid money but Chelsea have stupid money to spend. Aguero was worth every penny in my opinion. When he is on the pitch, my team plays so much better and he really makes an impact each game by either scoring or creating goals. I just got Maicon so I don't know if it will be worth it but I had to shore up my back line after losing Ashley Cole, he hated me after I fined him one time so I had to sell him after my first season. Defense kind of fell apart the second year so it was an area that had to be improved in my opinion.

I'm just waiting to see how bad my finances end up after spending big money two out of the three years and seeing what happens. I think Roman will come and bail me out of trouble or at least fire me.

I think I am going to start a new save soon though. Not sure what team to go with. I think I might want to start out with a npower Championship League team and build them up. Have any recommendations?

Some of the new features I like this year are:

The Ability to build a new stadium (although I haven't since I spend all my money)
Negotiations through Agents
League Reputation can increase or decrease now
The changes they made in the interface (interviews, chatting with players)

These are just some of the few that come to mind right now. I know I am leaving out tons.

[Vhailor]

Lukaku is a great deal for any club. He always does really well, I'd imagine he would beast in a lower league because he does pretty well against some of the best teams in the world. How is he doing for your Liverpool squad?

I really hadn't used him all that much because Torres is doing really well and I found it hard to excuse putting Lukaku in when Torres is doing so well. David N'Gog is also a pleasant surprise for me as he is also doing well when I've used him. I sent Lukaku on loan to Bristol City in the nPower Championship.

Yeah, I got Maicon for 30 mil USD and Aguero for 86 mil USD. Might be stupid money but Chelsea have stupid money to spend. Aguero was worth every penny in my opinion. When he is on the pitch, my team plays so much better and he really makes an impact each game by either scoring or creating goals. I just got Maicon so I don't know if it will be worth it but I had to shore up my back line after losing Ashley Cole, he hated me after I fined him one time so I had to sell him after my first season. Defense kind of fell apart the second year so it was an area that had to be improved in my opinion.

I totally get it. I do prefer to buy youngsters and then letting them develop. I don’t like to spend a lot of money, but I’m not afraid to do it if I think it’s required. I think the most I spent was £80 million for Cesc Fabregas in FM 2010 when I played with Barcelona. I just can’t afford that kind of money with Liverpool in 2011. Just can’t. I also don’t buy a boatload of players because that affects teaming, and nothing kills games more than not being comfortable with the lad next to you.

I'm just waiting to see how bad my finances end up after spending big money two out of the three years and seeing what happens. I think Roman will come and bail me out of trouble or at least fire me.
I think I am going to start a new save soon though. Not sure what team to go with. I think I might want to start out with a npower Championship League team and build them up. Have any recommendations?

I like Bristol City a lot. Ashton Gate is a good stadium and City have a fairly decent squad. I think as long as the results add up for you, you should be fine.

Some of the new features I like this year are:

The Ability to build a new stadium (although I haven't since I spend all my money)
Negotiations through Agents
League Reputation can increase or decrease now
The changes they made in the interface (interviews, chatting with players)

These are just some of the few that come to mind right now. I know I am leaving out tons.

I don't know about you, but FM 2011 feels a lot more 'mature' than the previous iterations.

[Andyy_47]

Well I've started a poor man's game as Rangers start off with 0 cash so with some clever sales of high earning players I managed to tempt Peter Crouch, Jermaine Jenas, Andrew Driver and Landon Donovan to Glasgow

Through to the last 16 of the Champions League, Barcelona never even made it through the group stages, weird.

Anyone else finding crazy bargains? In a few years time people are saying Kaka goes for free.

[Cahill]

Well I've started a poor man's game as Rangers start off with 0 cash so with some clever sales of high earning players I managed to tempt Peter Crouch, Jermaine Jenas, Andrew Driver and Landon Donovan to Glasgow

Through to the last 16 of the Champions League, Barcelona never even made it through the group stages, weird.

Anyone else finding crazy bargains? In a few years time people are saying Kaka goes for free.

Beginning of the third year, I signed Pato on a free transfer. Very odd. Maybe they will have to patch that if it's happening with a bunch of other world class players.

[Andyy_47]

Beginning of the third year, I signed Pato on a free transfer. Very odd. Maybe they will have to patch that if it's happening with a bunch of other world class players.

It kinda makes sense in some cases, players get older, don't perform on a high level so dumped 100k a so off your budget per week is savvy. But getting half the Tottenham reserves for free at the very start seems odd.

[Vhailor]

It kinda makes sense in some cases, players get older, don't perform on a high level so dumped 100k a so off your budget per week is savvy. But getting half the Tottenham reserves for free at the very start seems odd.

Yeah, that's gotta be something they will look to fix.

I am going to fine Daniel Agger somethin' fierce! He just got sent off against Man Utd!

EDIT: AND SO WAS RYAN SHAWCROSS! ARGH!

[Cahill]

Yeah, that's gotta be something they will look to fix.

I am going to fine Daniel Agger somethin' fierce! He just got sent off against Man Utd!

EDIT: AND SO WAS RYAN SHAWCROSS! ARGH!

It seem as though this years version has players receiving red cards a lot more often. Do you guys feel that way as well or is it just me?

[Vhailor]

It seem as though this years version has players receiving red cards a lot more often. Do you guys feel that way as well or is it just me?

I had Agger and Shawcross be sent off against Man Utd, then Lucas sent off against Blackburn and later on, I had Raul Meireles sent off against Chelsea. Four red cards, really? The challenges weren't that bad, but whatever. I'm not really complaining because we ended up winning all those games.

What I am complaining about is the fact that, on average, I have two goals called for offeside. On average. So if I win 2-1, the scoreline could have been 4-1. In most cases, they're stupid calls from the referees - I can see that Cole beat the offside trap and went clean on goal, yet he is still called for the offside.

[milehighireland]

I haven't been to bed yet. It is now almost 10:30 AM here and I am finally going to get some sleep. Highly addictive. I've been using Chelsea in my first save, I am already in my third season. It is ridiculous how much money they get, I just wanted to see what type of team I could build with their finances in a few years. It's messed up hahahaha. I have Aguero, Nani, Pato (free transfer), Maicon, Neymar, Lakaku, Rodwell and I also purchased a bunch of hot prospects which my scouts think will be pretty good.

Wanted to get the young guys, develop them, and then turn them around for good profit to offset the amount of money I've been spending but I don't think it's possible with how much I've been spending. I did manage to make a profit the second year though. I won the EPL first year along with the League Cup. Second year, finished 3rd in EPL with a lesser quality team that was ravaged with injuries, and won the League Cup again but got bounced out in the semi finals of the FA Cup and CL.

You should try a real madrid or man city save man, they get even more money, its pretty much limitless

[Vhailor]

Haven't had much time to play FM 2011 these days, but should have some time tomorrow.

I'm hoping that once I've won what I can with Liverpool, that I will have an opportunity to take over Barcelona.

[Cahill]

I've ran into this bug that totally killed my Chelsea save. I had my board finally approve the request to build a new stadium and it was in the planning stages. Once the date came where they would stop planning and begin building, nothing happened. The progress bar just stayed like that and nothing ever changes. I've read on other forums that this has happened to quite a few people and I have uploaded my game save to the SI Games FTP server for them to take a look at it. Hopefully you guys don't run into this issue because it can be frustrating.

[Vhailor]

I've ran into this bug that totally killed my Chelsea save. I had my board finally approve the request to build a new stadium and it was in the planning stages. Once the date came where they would stop planning and begin building, nothing happened. The progress bar just stayed like that and nothing ever changes. I've read on other forums that this has happened to quite a few people and I have uploaded my game save to the SI Games FTP server for them to take a look at it. Hopefully you guys don't run into this issue because it can be frustrating.

How far into the game were you? Three seasons? I hope SI releases a save-game compatible patch that will fix that.