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As I mentioned in another thread the other day I am currently in the midst of a journey of taking Dale from League One to become the kings of Europe.
For anyone even slightly interested, my first season ended with me blowing automatic promotion on the last day having been 5 points clear of 3rd with 4 games left. It was a three way battle all season with Wigan Athletic and Charlton Athletic and I ended up in the playoffs.path of Oliver Rathbone to lash home the leveller. A nervy extra time period could produce no more goals and so it went to penalties.
Josh Lillis saved two of the four kicks he faced with Noble-Lazarus and Vincenti scoring, whilst Camps and Henderson having their efforts saved. Then Lillis made a cracking stop from Ward and we had the chance to win promotion to the Championship. Up stepped Rathbone, the hero already, to secure his status as a legend of Spotland with an absolute belter down the middle.
The board decided we needed to invest in youth and avoid relegation but I wasn't having that. I was after a top half finish. I allowed Henderson to leave and brought in a young striker from Charlton for £500,000. Karlen Ahearn-Grant. My other signing was Mark Marshall from Bradford and I brought 4 or 5 players in from the youth team.
They say it's the best way to go up right! Well after 46 matches and around 15 hours of playing FIFA I ended up with Blackburn Rovers over two legs. I lost 1-0 at Ewood Park and was all set to go out when Callum Camps tapped in a cross on 85 minutes to take the tie into extra time and I ended up winning 3-0 to get to Wembley.
There I faced Rotherham United, who I'd beaten twice in the regular season and so fancied my chances. On 73 minutes they broke the deadlock and it looked like I was consigned to another week of late nights trying to get out of the third tier.
However, in INJURY TIME, a lucky deflection found Ian Henderson who laid it into the
I lost 4 of my first 6 without winning and was humped 5-1 at home by Brighton. I feared the worst but eventually tinkered with the system and things got better. Then better still. Then even better.
After 44 games I had just climbed to 5th, into the playoffs for the first time all season. All I needed to do was to take 3 points from the final 6. I drew both. On the last day of the season I was 1-0 up against Wigan and seemingly in the playoffs when late on Tim Chow struck from 25 yards and completely shafted us. Worst still as I pressed for the winner Chow bundled over my young striker Ed Mason and the ref waived play on.
Chow was the new villain of Spotland, Birmingham took the final play off place and I, still playing at 4am, was tired and most vexed. The star of the season was Ahearne-Grant who ended with 16 goals.
So to the 3rd season. Lillis departed and in came a new keeper from Germany, whose name I cannot recall but something like Hause Altotag. I signed Josh Ginnelly and Fred Onyadinma and promoted yet more youths.
This season has been incredible so far. Rochdale are top scorers and have the best defence. It started with a three way battle between us, Hull City and Bristol City. The Tigers slightly faded and Norwich City of all teams came on strong.
After 29 games Rochdale are top of the Championship, 3 ahead of Bristol City and 7 ahead of Norwich City. I won 3-1 at Norwich in a top of the table clash, but in late January I have just drawn 1-1 at home in the league with a last minute leveller and then lost 3-2 at Carrow Road in the FA Cup 4th Round.
Other highlights include Ahearn-Grant on 19 goals already, with 17 games left to play and a 1-0 loss at Chelsea in the League Cup where I played the youths, battered them (11 shots to 3 and 56% possession) but lost to the luckiest, most deflected Diego Costa shot.
I'll complete the season tonight. All being well Rochdale will then be in the Premier League and my 3 year plan of top half, Europe, Champions League will come into play. I'm going to keep going until Rochdale are Champions of Europe. My aim is to win the CL within 15 years.
That's if the board don't sack me! They are genuinely delighted with the league progress but keep getting annoyed that I am failing to meet targets (anyone else had this?). They've asked me to make a profit of £17m this season (in the Championship) and the squad is only worth £9m!
So I would need to sell the entire squad, replace them with youth players and somehow get 30,000 into Spotland every week!
I'll post my progress on this thread if one person shows any kind of interest! Lol.
Any FIFA fanatics amongst us? on 15:58 - Jun 6 by AtThePeake
I'll only be impressed if you manage to win the CL with Canavan still playing at CB...
My username was inspired by his relentless performances for me on FIFA. Obviously in real life I have a very different opinion!
He's my second best player on ability alone and I've lost count of how many goals he saved throwing himself in the way of shots. He's been made captain and will hopefully soon be lifting the Championship trophy!
It's clear though. All you lot need to do is sign Ahearne-Grant and it's Premier League inside a couple of years :)
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Any FIFA fanatics amongst us? on 16:20 - Jun 6 with 10095 views
Good effort so far, you might as well carry on updating the thread with your progress. There's not gonna be much else happening on the forum for the next few weeks anyway. I managed 8 seasons with Derby County but continually unrealistic expectations year after year caught up with me and eventually got the sack. I now only really play ultimate team since they've brought in weekend league
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Any FIFA fanatics amongst us? on 16:22 - Jun 6 with 10092 views
Any FIFA fanatics amongst us? on 16:02 - Jun 6 by CanavanOfLove
My username was inspired by his relentless performances for me on FIFA. Obviously in real life I have a very different opinion!
He's my second best player on ability alone and I've lost count of how many goals he saved throwing himself in the way of shots. He's been made captain and will hopefully soon be lifting the Championship trophy!
It's clear though. All you lot need to do is sign Ahearne-Grant and it's Premier League inside a couple of years :)
He is pretty imperious on FIFA to be fair to him - that's where it ends sadly! I couldn't bring myself to have him in the starting lineup so I went for Tanser as a ball player and McGahey.
I can only play on professional difficulty nowadays on FIFA, even though I'm in division 2 in online seasons, must be the way I play but the computer are arseholes for me to play against. On Professional I won the league at a canter in the first season.. but every time I tried to notch it up to world class I couldn't do it! Because of this I ended up focussing on youth and signing everyone from the youth team - I got a brilliant left winger who i've trained up to be 71 rated now but I haven't played it in ages. Currently upper mid table in my 2nd season in the championship, when I go back to it I'll probably knock it up to World Class and sink or swim.
My original team survivors in the championship are Camps, Allen, NML and McGahey just 'cos I like him. Everyone else on the bench to make way for my all my free transfers/loan signings/youth team. Prudence is king.
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Any FIFA fanatics amongst us? on 16:33 - Jun 6 with 10076 views
Any FIFA fanatics amongst us? on 16:22 - Jun 6 by Knowlesy
He is pretty imperious on FIFA to be fair to him - that's where it ends sadly! I couldn't bring myself to have him in the starting lineup so I went for Tanser as a ball player and McGahey.
I can only play on professional difficulty nowadays on FIFA, even though I'm in division 2 in online seasons, must be the way I play but the computer are arseholes for me to play against. On Professional I won the league at a canter in the first season.. but every time I tried to notch it up to world class I couldn't do it! Because of this I ended up focussing on youth and signing everyone from the youth team - I got a brilliant left winger who i've trained up to be 71 rated now but I haven't played it in ages. Currently upper mid table in my 2nd season in the championship, when I go back to it I'll probably knock it up to World Class and sink or swim.
My original team survivors in the championship are Camps, Allen, NML and McGahey just 'cos I like him. Everyone else on the bench to make way for my all my free transfers/loan signings/youth team. Prudence is king.
What I am really enjoying is that so many cool narratives have appeared that could have been written. Like Rathbone's injury time leveller at Wembley.
The craziest one though goes back to Tim Chow. He cost us the play offs in that final game of the season, he then should have conceded a penalty and left me fuming. So this current season, first game of the season I get Wigan at home in a repeat. I went 1-0 down and who scored? Chow! Like I didn't hate him already.
I equalised and then again in the last minute after going all out attack I won a penalty. Chow again! It was given. Ahearne-Grant converted and I let out a big 'F*** you Chow' as he did. Amazing that those games were back to back.
I've got it on Legendary. I can only succeed that way in a very specific system that allows me plenty of triangles to keep the ball and eventually work space for the wide men in a front three to get in behind.
I previously got a 5 star youth scout but ended up with an entire team of amazing 17 year olds, so I agreed to go 1 star in League One, rising to 3 stars in the Premier League, 4 after 3 seasons there and 5 after 5 seasons there. I'll stick to that for realism. I also only scout the home nations. In the Premier League I'll branch out.
I had a previous career where I relegated QPR for financial irregularities and won League Two, then finished 2nd in League One, then finished 9th in the Championship, then won the play offs, then finished 11th in the Premier League before finishing 5th and winning the FA Cup. I got bored in the 7th season which was also the Europa League as I couldn't get my head round seeing Villareal and Napoli at Loftus Road.
Goodness knows how Barca will view the Sandy Lane End!
I'm now close to replacing Camps and Noble-Lazarus who were incredible in League One, but only really okay now. I think come the Premier League it'll only be McGahey and Canavan left as regulars.
I also took the Northern Ireland job. I called up Camps and McArdle played one game which I beat Spain 2-0 in and then resigned as it was just delaying the league games I wanted to get on with.
[Post edited 6 Jun 2017 16:35]
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Any FIFA fanatics amongst us? on 08:03 - Jun 7 with 9876 views
Any FIFA fanatics amongst us? on 16:33 - Jun 6 by CanavanOfLove
What I am really enjoying is that so many cool narratives have appeared that could have been written. Like Rathbone's injury time leveller at Wembley.
The craziest one though goes back to Tim Chow. He cost us the play offs in that final game of the season, he then should have conceded a penalty and left me fuming. So this current season, first game of the season I get Wigan at home in a repeat. I went 1-0 down and who scored? Chow! Like I didn't hate him already.
I equalised and then again in the last minute after going all out attack I won a penalty. Chow again! It was given. Ahearne-Grant converted and I let out a big 'F*** you Chow' as he did. Amazing that those games were back to back.
I've got it on Legendary. I can only succeed that way in a very specific system that allows me plenty of triangles to keep the ball and eventually work space for the wide men in a front three to get in behind.
I previously got a 5 star youth scout but ended up with an entire team of amazing 17 year olds, so I agreed to go 1 star in League One, rising to 3 stars in the Premier League, 4 after 3 seasons there and 5 after 5 seasons there. I'll stick to that for realism. I also only scout the home nations. In the Premier League I'll branch out.
I had a previous career where I relegated QPR for financial irregularities and won League Two, then finished 2nd in League One, then finished 9th in the Championship, then won the play offs, then finished 11th in the Premier League before finishing 5th and winning the FA Cup. I got bored in the 7th season which was also the Europa League as I couldn't get my head round seeing Villareal and Napoli at Loftus Road.
Goodness knows how Barca will view the Sandy Lane End!
I'm now close to replacing Camps and Noble-Lazarus who were incredible in League One, but only really okay now. I think come the Premier League it'll only be McGahey and Canavan left as regulars.
I also took the Northern Ireland job. I called up Camps and McArdle played one game which I beat Spain 2-0 in and then resigned as it was just delaying the league games I wanted to get on with.
[Post edited 6 Jun 2017 16:35]
So ..... after a massive FIFA binge last night Rochdale reached the Premier League.
IN THE MOST UNDERWHELMING WAY POSSIBLE
With 8 games to go we were top, 10 clear of Norwich and Bristol City in 2nd and 3rd. The title and promotion appeared a formality.
Wrong.
After only losing 4 games in the first 38 games, we lost 4 of the last 8 and the goals dried up. Promotion was secured with a 1-0 home loss to Sheffield Wednesday with two games to spare which left me in no mood to celebrate as Norwich, who couldn't stop winning, overtook me by a point.
I won for the first time in 6 matches to beat Brighton 1-0 only to find Norwich had won as well. So the title went down to the final day. At half time I was drawing 0-0 at Wigan (who I played on the final day for the second season running and even more bizarrely after playing them on the opening day of the season).
Norwich were losing at Bristol City and so I just needed to hang on to win it on goal difference as it stood. However Morsy gave Wigan the lead and I just couldn't fight back.
As I threw everyone forward they scored again. I then lost all composure and they ended up winning 3-0, my second heaviest defeat ever. I hate Wigan.
So Norwich won the league after I was top for probably 36 matches out of 46. We celebrated promotion with a defeat and then the players all danced about with joy after a pasting which didn't feel right.
Even Ahearne-Grant, who scored 24, was pipped to the golden boot having led all season. Forestieri passed him on the final day.
Ajax made a £10m bid for my keeper which I had to accept having been given only £2.3m by the board to strengthen. I've signed a new Swedish striker, Ollie Watkins, a new Italian goalkeeper and two young Irish defenders as cover.
The only few was spent on Rico Henry, a whopping £3.65m for the Walsall left back. I've upgraded the scouting system and released Mark Marshall and Peter Vincenti. I was very fond of both.
Having been utterly dejected I decided to play one last game. An opener at White Hart Lane.
After 4 minutes the ball broke loose and my new Swedish striker hit a rocket from 20 yards that flew past Vorm. Pandemonium in the away end.
Spurs knocked and knocked but it was Dale who got the crucial second. Ahearne-Grant scored on 78 minutes and Rochdale took the points on their PL debut.
I went to sleep at 3am much happier!
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Any FIFA fanatics amongst us? on 13:26 - Jun 7 with 9762 views
Any FIFA fanatics amongst us? on 08:03 - Jun 7 by CanavanOfLove
So ..... after a massive FIFA binge last night Rochdale reached the Premier League.
IN THE MOST UNDERWHELMING WAY POSSIBLE
With 8 games to go we were top, 10 clear of Norwich and Bristol City in 2nd and 3rd. The title and promotion appeared a formality.
Wrong.
After only losing 4 games in the first 38 games, we lost 4 of the last 8 and the goals dried up. Promotion was secured with a 1-0 home loss to Sheffield Wednesday with two games to spare which left me in no mood to celebrate as Norwich, who couldn't stop winning, overtook me by a point.
I won for the first time in 6 matches to beat Brighton 1-0 only to find Norwich had won as well. So the title went down to the final day. At half time I was drawing 0-0 at Wigan (who I played on the final day for the second season running and even more bizarrely after playing them on the opening day of the season).
Norwich were losing at Bristol City and so I just needed to hang on to win it on goal difference as it stood. However Morsy gave Wigan the lead and I just couldn't fight back.
As I threw everyone forward they scored again. I then lost all composure and they ended up winning 3-0, my second heaviest defeat ever. I hate Wigan.
So Norwich won the league after I was top for probably 36 matches out of 46. We celebrated promotion with a defeat and then the players all danced about with joy after a pasting which didn't feel right.
Even Ahearne-Grant, who scored 24, was pipped to the golden boot having led all season. Forestieri passed him on the final day.
Ajax made a £10m bid for my keeper which I had to accept having been given only £2.3m by the board to strengthen. I've signed a new Swedish striker, Ollie Watkins, a new Italian goalkeeper and two young Irish defenders as cover.
The only few was spent on Rico Henry, a whopping £3.65m for the Walsall left back. I've upgraded the scouting system and released Mark Marshall and Peter Vincenti. I was very fond of both.
Having been utterly dejected I decided to play one last game. An opener at White Hart Lane.
After 4 minutes the ball broke loose and my new Swedish striker hit a rocket from 20 yards that flew past Vorm. Pandemonium in the away end.
Spurs knocked and knocked but it was Dale who got the crucial second. Ahearne-Grant scored on 78 minutes and Rochdale took the points on their PL debut.
I went to sleep at 3am much happier!
Just about to start a mid afternoon session with Newcastle away next. Typical FA to give little old Rochdale two away games to open the season with. I see every other team got at least one home game. Disgraceful lol.
I've just watched back the replay of my opening game with Spurs. There's something wonderful gaming wise about being able to score at White Hart Lane and have the player sprint to the corner flag and slide on his knees in front of the Dale fans going absolutely ballistic!
I can't wait to do that at Old Trafford and The Emirates. I wonder how many seasons Rochdale would need in the Premier League before United and City overtook the likes of Bury and Oldham in the rivalry stakes?
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Any FIFA fanatics amongst us? on 09:26 - Jun 8 with 9670 views
Any FIFA fanatics amongst us? on 13:26 - Jun 7 by CanavanOfLove
Just about to start a mid afternoon session with Newcastle away next. Typical FA to give little old Rochdale two away games to open the season with. I see every other team got at least one home game. Disgraceful lol.
I've just watched back the replay of my opening game with Spurs. There's something wonderful gaming wise about being able to score at White Hart Lane and have the player sprint to the corner flag and slide on his knees in front of the Dale fans going absolutely ballistic!
I can't wait to do that at Old Trafford and The Emirates. I wonder how many seasons Rochdale would need in the Premier League before United and City overtook the likes of Bury and Oldham in the rivalry stakes?
Episode 4 - CANAVAN-ISHED!
The incredible scenes at White Hart Lane on the opening day as Dale secured a 2-0 win were soon forgotten after an Ivan Toney inspired 4-1 drubbing at Newcastle.
I now feared the worst. Chelsea were up next at Spotland and I rather believed the opening 3 points was nothing more than a fluke brought about by the absolute height of concentration and a little bit of anger still at Norwich denying me the title.
Fear not though. A scrappy goal from new signing Castegren gave me a 1-0 win and this was promptly followed by a late 1-0 win at West Bromwich Albion thanks to a Callum Camps header.
Four games played. Dale were second with 9 points from a possible 12 and who should come to town? The enemy in more ways that one - Norwich City.
It all started brilliantly. Ahearne-Grant side-footed home on 8 minutes and it looked like another win and Dale possibly going top of the Premier League. However, Norwich equalised after 73 minutes through Steven Whittaker and here's what really p*ssed me off.
Whittaker did something I have never seen a computer player do by sprinting from the goalmouth to the dugouts to leap into Alex Neil's arms. WTF? I have never seen it and here is the team that are my hated rivals in real life and now my hated rivals in the game and this guy is celebrating like he's won the Champions League! Is FIFA actually trolling me because I have entered Ipswich as my favourite team?!
We bounced back from this 1-1 home draw with the enemy with another away win 1-0 at Swansea, before losing at home 2-0 to West Ham in a pathetic display. But two more wins over Bournemouth at home (2-0) and Everton away (1-0) ended the evenings session.
P9 W6 D1 L2
This put us on 19 points and joint top with three other teams; Stoke, Crystal Palace and Newcastle United. It's the weirdest PL table I've ever seen at this stage.
None of the big 6 are in the top 6. Liverpool and Spurs are 7th and 8th, Man Utd, Arsenal and Man City are all mid table and Chelsea have won once in 9 games and are just outside the bottom 3! Stoke started with 6 wins, but have only taken a point from their last available 9.
Almost all my goals have come from Ahearne-Grant (3), Castegren (4) and Jones (4). I think Camps, Noble-Lazarus and Rathbone have one apiece.
After only making one or two signings each season I have made eight in total this season. The entire back five is now different with two full backs having both asked to leave. Here is the ridiculous part.
On Transfer deadline day, Canavan was sold. I was furious. I never had a bid. I had him set to no transfer offers. Yet I just got a message saying he was sold for a paltry £400k to Millwall. My captain and player of the season! Gone.
I reloaded it to earlier in the transfer window and it just kept happening and happening. Eventually I agreed I could not stop it. This time he went to Fleetwood for £450k.
So Canavan has gone. Ahearne-Grant is out for 3 months with a broken ankle. But Dale are joint top of the Premier League with a quarter of the season gone.
Next up it's the League Cup 3rd round at West Ham. A chance for revenge after a 3-0 win over Bradford City in the 2nd round.
Any FIFA fanatics amongst us? on 09:26 - Jun 8 by CanavanOfLove
Episode 4 - CANAVAN-ISHED!
The incredible scenes at White Hart Lane on the opening day as Dale secured a 2-0 win were soon forgotten after an Ivan Toney inspired 4-1 drubbing at Newcastle.
I now feared the worst. Chelsea were up next at Spotland and I rather believed the opening 3 points was nothing more than a fluke brought about by the absolute height of concentration and a little bit of anger still at Norwich denying me the title.
Fear not though. A scrappy goal from new signing Castegren gave me a 1-0 win and this was promptly followed by a late 1-0 win at West Bromwich Albion thanks to a Callum Camps header.
Four games played. Dale were second with 9 points from a possible 12 and who should come to town? The enemy in more ways that one - Norwich City.
It all started brilliantly. Ahearne-Grant side-footed home on 8 minutes and it looked like another win and Dale possibly going top of the Premier League. However, Norwich equalised after 73 minutes through Steven Whittaker and here's what really p*ssed me off.
Whittaker did something I have never seen a computer player do by sprinting from the goalmouth to the dugouts to leap into Alex Neil's arms. WTF? I have never seen it and here is the team that are my hated rivals in real life and now my hated rivals in the game and this guy is celebrating like he's won the Champions League! Is FIFA actually trolling me because I have entered Ipswich as my favourite team?!
We bounced back from this 1-1 home draw with the enemy with another away win 1-0 at Swansea, before losing at home 2-0 to West Ham in a pathetic display. But two more wins over Bournemouth at home (2-0) and Everton away (1-0) ended the evenings session.
P9 W6 D1 L2
This put us on 19 points and joint top with three other teams; Stoke, Crystal Palace and Newcastle United. It's the weirdest PL table I've ever seen at this stage.
None of the big 6 are in the top 6. Liverpool and Spurs are 7th and 8th, Man Utd, Arsenal and Man City are all mid table and Chelsea have won once in 9 games and are just outside the bottom 3! Stoke started with 6 wins, but have only taken a point from their last available 9.
Almost all my goals have come from Ahearne-Grant (3), Castegren (4) and Jones (4). I think Camps, Noble-Lazarus and Rathbone have one apiece.
After only making one or two signings each season I have made eight in total this season. The entire back five is now different with two full backs having both asked to leave. Here is the ridiculous part.
On Transfer deadline day, Canavan was sold. I was furious. I never had a bid. I had him set to no transfer offers. Yet I just got a message saying he was sold for a paltry £400k to Millwall. My captain and player of the season! Gone.
I reloaded it to earlier in the transfer window and it just kept happening and happening. Eventually I agreed I could not stop it. This time he went to Fleetwood for £450k.
So Canavan has gone. Ahearne-Grant is out for 3 months with a broken ankle. But Dale are joint top of the Premier League with a quarter of the season gone.
Next up it's the League Cup 3rd round at West Ham. A chance for revenge after a 3-0 win over Bradford City in the 2nd round.
Episode 5 - COULD IT REALLY HAPPEN!
Oh my days. Something incredible is going on at Rochdale.
Last night I played 10 more league games to reach 19 and the half way stage, as well as two extra League Cup ties.
As I concluded the evening the mighty Dale were 5 points clear of Tottenham at the top of the Premier League in early January 2020 and NINE clear of Manchester United in third. It seems that with less games and more recovery time I am not having my form broken up by having to chop and change the line up to allow players to rest.
Incredibly we have gone from winning 1-0 and 2-1 to taking teams to bits. A 3-0 win against Southampton at Spotland, a 3-0 win at Anfield against Liverpool, a 4-1 win at Watford.
19 year old Castegren is now the top scorer in the league with 11 goals. I have just turned down multiple £10m bids for a player I got on a free 6 months ago.
We beat West Ham 2-0 in the League Cup and then, in a very weak looking last 8, got Northampton Town who played like Brazil but we got through 2-1 in a very nervy encounter. We were hoping to avoid Man Utd and Man City in the semi finals and get Sheffield United, but it's United for us, at Old Trafford first and then back at Spotland.
Annoyingly I lost Ahearne-Grant for 3 months with a broken ankle, he came back for 4 games, scored 4 goals and is now out AGAIN for another 3 months with a broken ankle!
I've put a £90k bid in for a young striker from Mansfield as even though I have £11m in the bank the board will only allow me £300k. I survived okay without Ahearne-Grant before so hopefully I avoid injuries to other key players or I could be in trouble.
Having blown the title from a 10 point lead to Norwich last season I am counting no chickens, but I do have a 15 point advantage in the race for the Champions League. That was beyond my wildest dreams last season but now I want the title! Having mentioned the N word, it's great to see the Canaries struggling in 19th :)
Move over Leicester. There's an even greater story in town.
I don't normally do FIFA binges day after day but the wife is working this evening and so I have every chance of completing the season tomorrow, by which time maybe Dale will be Champions of England!!!
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Any FIFA fanatics amongst us? on 08:57 - Jun 10 with 9418 views
Any FIFA fanatics amongst us? on 09:30 - Jun 9 by CanavanOfLove
Episode 5 - COULD IT REALLY HAPPEN!
Oh my days. Something incredible is going on at Rochdale.
Last night I played 10 more league games to reach 19 and the half way stage, as well as two extra League Cup ties.
As I concluded the evening the mighty Dale were 5 points clear of Tottenham at the top of the Premier League in early January 2020 and NINE clear of Manchester United in third. It seems that with less games and more recovery time I am not having my form broken up by having to chop and change the line up to allow players to rest.
Incredibly we have gone from winning 1-0 and 2-1 to taking teams to bits. A 3-0 win against Southampton at Spotland, a 3-0 win at Anfield against Liverpool, a 4-1 win at Watford.
19 year old Castegren is now the top scorer in the league with 11 goals. I have just turned down multiple £10m bids for a player I got on a free 6 months ago.
We beat West Ham 2-0 in the League Cup and then, in a very weak looking last 8, got Northampton Town who played like Brazil but we got through 2-1 in a very nervy encounter. We were hoping to avoid Man Utd and Man City in the semi finals and get Sheffield United, but it's United for us, at Old Trafford first and then back at Spotland.
Annoyingly I lost Ahearne-Grant for 3 months with a broken ankle, he came back for 4 games, scored 4 goals and is now out AGAIN for another 3 months with a broken ankle!
I've put a £90k bid in for a young striker from Mansfield as even though I have £11m in the bank the board will only allow me £300k. I survived okay without Ahearne-Grant before so hopefully I avoid injuries to other key players or I could be in trouble.
Having blown the title from a 10 point lead to Norwich last season I am counting no chickens, but I do have a 15 point advantage in the race for the Champions League. That was beyond my wildest dreams last season but now I want the title! Having mentioned the N word, it's great to see the Canaries struggling in 19th :)
Move over Leicester. There's an even greater story in town.
I don't normally do FIFA binges day after day but the wife is working this evening and so I have every chance of completing the season tomorrow, by which time maybe Dale will be Champions of England!!!
Episode 6 - ONE TROPHY IN THE BAG
Another day, another big batch of games played and whilst the top 3 of the Premier League has changed frequently, the leaders Rochdale are immovable.
The session was hugely broken up by cup games with 7 league games played. We twice went behind at The Etihad before winning 3-2 in a thriller. We looked to lose only our third league game of the season at home to Leicester before a characteristically late leveller. There were no big margins until the last game. I'll come onto that.
In the FA Cup we saw of Leeds after a replay and then Leicester before a trip to Anfield in Round 5. My dreams of a treble were shattered after an injury time 3-2 defeat after I lead twice. I was extremely annoyed that their final two goals from me not clearing the ball and trying to be too clever.
In the League Cup we reached the Semi Finals. Manchester United at home ended 1-1 and I went 1-0 down. Nothing was going right. Then on 78 minutes I levelled with a lucky deflection and then won it in extra time on 115 minutes.
Wembley here we come! The final was against Man City and again I went a goal down. I had battered City and they scored with their only shot. However Ethan Jones side footed home on 73 minutes and just four minutes later we won the cup when Baker went through one on one to win the Cup for Dale.
In the League Everton overtook Spurs then United overtook Everton. 10 points clear of United with 13 games left I went to Old Trafford for a huge match just two days after the cup final with everyone knackered.
Probably my best ever Fifa performance saw us win FOUR NIL. Everything went right. We are 13 clear with 12 to play. Surely it's ours?!
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Any FIFA fanatics amongst us? on 09:41 - Jun 10 with 9402 views
Any FIFA fanatics amongst us? on 09:41 - Jun 10 by mikehunt
If FIFA have programmed realistic club characteristics you will end up battling relegation 😄
I'm 6 points clear of Everton now with 7 to play. Two horse race for the Premier League title. I have to play them at Spotland as well.
Yes. I fully expect next season every player to want £50k a week, I'll end up selling them all and going down.
I bottled it last season. I've had a 13 point lead cut to 6. So the inner Rochdale is clearly there lol. I'm going to end up blowing the title I know it.
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Any FIFA fanatics amongst us? on 17:56 - Jun 10 with 9298 views
Any FIFA fanatics amongst us? on 11:41 - Jun 10 by CanavanOfLove
I'm 6 points clear of Everton now with 7 to play. Two horse race for the Premier League title. I have to play them at Spotland as well.
Yes. I fully expect next season every player to want £50k a week, I'll end up selling them all and going down.
I bottled it last season. I've had a 13 point lead cut to 6. So the inner Rochdale is clearly there lol. I'm going to end up blowing the title I know it.
Episode 7 - WE'VE DONE IT!!!
Nobody said it was easy.
The 13 point lead was cut down to 6 by an Everton team that seemed to win every week.
We had three draws in a row before a defeat to West Brom at home 2-0, only our third defeat in 31 league games and ending a 22 match unbeaten run in the league.
Then a 3-0 win at Chelsea (who were 15th) put us 9 points clear only to lose 1-0 against Swansea. Only 1 win in 7. I was bottling it again.
With 6 games left I faced Everton at Spotland. 8 points clear. Ahearne-Grant gave us the lead and a penalty for a foul on Callum Camps allowed me to go 2-0 up from the spot thanks to Castregen.
Surely the title was ours.
Bolasie reduced the deficit two minutes into the 2nd half but we somehow held on. Now 11 points separated us with just 5 games left.
Yet again we lost. This time 2-1 at Stoke. Everton won. 8 clear. 4 games left. Next up a draw. 5 clear. 3 games left. Then a draw at Arsenal. 3 clear. 2 games left.
Oh no. I'm gonna blow it.
A 2-1 win against Hull followed at Spotland but Everton won. Rochdale need just a point from their final game to win the Premier League.
AT NORWICH.
WHO MUST WIN TO STAY UP.
Fear not. Camps put us 1-0 up early on and Hakeem made it 2-0 in the second half. We are gonna win the league.
On 85 mins I scored an own goal. Surely even Norwich can't deny me though.
So the whistle sounds.
ROCHDALE HAVE WON THE PREMIER LEAGUE AT THE FIRST ATTEMPT AT CARROW ROAD TO RELEGATE NORWICH THE TEAM I HATE WHO STOLE THE CHAMPIONSHIP TITLE FROM US LAST YEAR INCREDIBLE
We were given £125,000,000 prize money. Could Messi be on his way to Dale?
No.
The board have given me £9,000,000 to spend.
That's not going to buy me Champions League additions.
To be continued.
[Post edited 11 Jun 2017 0:31]
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Any FIFA fanatics amongst us? on 21:12 - Jun 10 with 9266 views
Any FIFA fanatics amongst us? on 17:56 - Jun 10 by CanavanOfLove
Episode 7 - WE'VE DONE IT!!!
Nobody said it was easy.
The 13 point lead was cut down to 6 by an Everton team that seemed to win every week.
We had three draws in a row before a defeat to West Brom at home 2-0, only our third defeat in 31 league games and ending a 22 match unbeaten run in the league.
Then a 3-0 win at Chelsea (who were 15th) put us 9 points clear only to lose 1-0 against Swansea. Only 1 win in 7. I was bottling it again.
With 6 games left I faced Everton at Spotland. 8 points clear. Ahearne-Grant gave us the lead and a penalty for a foul on Callum Camps allowed me to go 2-0 up from the spot thanks to Castregen.
Surely the title was ours.
Bolasie reduced the deficit two minutes into the 2nd half but we somehow held on. Now 11 points separated us with just 5 games left.
Yet again we lost. This time 2-1 at Stoke. Everton won. 8 clear. 4 games left. Next up a draw. 5 clear. 3 games left. Then a draw at Arsenal. 3 clear. 2 games left.
Oh no. I'm gonna blow it.
A 2-1 win against Hull followed at Spotland but Everton won. Rochdale need just a point from their final game to win the Premier League.
AT NORWICH.
WHO MUST WIN TO STAY UP.
Fear not. Camps put us 1-0 up early on and Hakeem made it 2-0 in the second half. We are gonna win the league.
On 85 mins I scored an own goal. Surely even Norwich can't deny me though.
So the whistle sounds.
ROCHDALE HAVE WON THE PREMIER LEAGUE AT THE FIRST ATTEMPT AT CARROW ROAD TO RELEGATE NORWICH THE TEAM I HATE WHO STOLE THE CHAMPIONSHIP TITLE FROM US LAST YEAR INCREDIBLE
We were given £125,000,000 prize money. Could Messi be on his way to Dale?
No.
The board have given me £9,000,000 to spend.
That's not going to buy me Champions League additions.
To be continued.
[Post edited 11 Jun 2017 0:31]
CHAMPIONS LEAGUE GROUP E
Atletico Madrid Paris St Germain ROCHDALE Wolfsburg
Thanks UEFA!
[Post edited 11 Jun 2017 9:29]
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Any FIFA fanatics amongst us? on 23:09 - Jun 10 with 9240 views
Any FIFA fanatics amongst us? on 23:09 - Jun 10 by CanavanOfLove
Here's that magic moment!
EPISODE 8 - BY FAR THE BEST TEAM IN THE COUNTRY
It's at this time of the year as a bloke I thank the lord my wife is a teacher. She will be marking exam papers for the next 6 weeks, which means every evening she's up the table from the time the kids go to bed until midnight marking, whilst I get to do whatever the hell I like - which currently is play FIFA the entire time, on the proviso I get her coffee every now and then. Not a bad deal :)
Season 2020/21 started with a defeat to Tottenham in the Community Shield. Rochdale's third trip to Wembley and first defeat. A Kevin Volland goal on 64 minutes gave Spurs a underserved winner. Vorm was man of the match by a mile.
After accepting that the board had pocketed £125m prize money and only given me the £9m profit I made last year from shirt sales and tickets, I headed out and picked up players from the Championship. Here we are Champions of England and this is where the ridiculousness of FIFA kicked in.
I decided to go after a Norwich winger who gave me a hard time the last few years. £77k a week he was on! That's £60k more than my top earner. I gave that a miss. Realistically (!) he then signed for newly promoted Derby on £80k a week. Actually that's the sort of thing the real Derby would do.
The Premier League started spookily like last season. 6 wins and 2 defeats from the first 8 put us top. It's now 19 games in and I am a whopping 12 clear of Man Utd, Spurs and Arsenal, who are level on points. I fully expect to retain the Premier League title.
I signed Liam Cooper at the back, brought in an out of contract keeper as a backup, a new defensive midfielder and promoted a couple of youths. The major expense was adding two new youth scouts and sending them off to South American.
My favourite player Karlan Ahearne-Grant, who missed 6 months last season through injury, has stayed healthy and has 12 goals by the start of January. He's 3 clear in the golden boot race.
The Premier League looks a lot more as you'd expect this year with Man Utd, Spurs, Arsenal, Everton and Liverpool the other teams in the top 6. The shock though is Man City who are in the relegation zone and have two wins all season. Gone are the big names we all know and they seem to be largely made up of academy players. I can only assume the Sheikh has run out of money.
Anyway. The Champions League ...
We drew 0-0 at home to Atletico Madrid, then beat PSG 3-1 in a classic. We drew 0-0 at Wolfsburg and were top at the halfway stage as luckily every game in the group apart from our win over PSG was a draw.
We then beat PSG 1-0 away in a famous win and only needed a point to go through but we were totally outclassed in Spain losing 2-0 to Atletico. We still needed a point to go through and played out another 0-0 with Wolfsburg, this time at Spotland, which saw us through, actually as group winners after PSG were beaten by Atletico.
In February we take on Napoli in the round of 16.
I was given £18m for getting through. So along with the £125m I made last season that's £143m profit I have made and I've had none of that as yet to reinvest. I was told by the board that I would get this money next season. I won't hold my breath!
[Post edited 12 Jun 2017 9:39]
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Any FIFA fanatics amongst us? on 20:24 - Jun 12 with 8992 views
Any FIFA fanatics amongst us? on 00:25 - Jun 13 by AtThePeake
Wait... RNL is a Premier League winner and you're talking about realism?!
The beauty of football of course is that a few years ago the likes of Andy King were doing their thing in League One and to suggest they'd go on to be a Premier League winner would have been as ridiculous of RNL!
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Any FIFA fanatics amongst us? on 17:16 - Jun 13 with 8861 views
Any FIFA fanatics amongst us? on 09:33 - Jun 13 by CanavanOfLove
The beauty of football of course is that a few years ago the likes of Andy King were doing their thing in League One and to suggest they'd go on to be a Premier League winner would have been as ridiculous of RNL!
What console are you on and what's your Gamer-tag?
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