Crab Lungs

Kelvin Davis is the go-to guy.

"very much wanted him to stay" - HMMMMMMMMMM

Seriously, just how far can we go, assuming we keep our squad fit/free of suspension for the rest of the season AND next season, if we add 2,3 quality players - can we realistically challenge for a Champions League spot or dare I say it, a title tilt? No, I haven't gone mad - neither do I believe that we will (though it is possible, yet remote and fanciful). The only reason I ask is that in other countries, seemingly smaller/similar sized clubs have managed to challenge the bigger sides and achieve it against all the odds in recent seasons (Villarreal, Celta Vigo, Deportivo La Coruna, Osasuna, Real Sociedad, Montpellier, Lille, Bordeaux, Nantes, Twente, Heerenveen, Vitesse, Bayern Leverkusen, Freiburg, Wolfsburg, Parma, Udinese, Palermo, Sampdoria, Genoa etc). Obviously, some of the above could be pure flukes with no show or promise of sustained success (think Osasuna or Palermo qualifying for the Champions League qualifying rounds or Montpellier beating moneybag rivals Marseille and PSG to the title). As wonderful as it was, they never maintained the dizzying heights - some, in fact did more than struggle. Deportivo, and Celta Vigo both done time in the Segunda (like Villarreal), as have Nantes in France whilst in Italy, Sampdoria, Parma and Genoa dovetailed divisions during the 00's. However, some clubs have made qualification for European football against the odds on a regular basis - the likes of Villarreal, Leverkusen, Udinese and Lille have always been there or thereabouts. Sure, some are more decorated than others but it's clubs of a similar stature, and similar size to us that have in other leagues achieved what we aim to do. It could be argued the financial climate and competition in their respective divisions are far more favourable than ours in the Premier League. Serie A is no longer the powerhouse it once was and anything beyond Barcelona and Real Madrid in recent years could be considered a Champions League potential. In France, it's started to develop into a two-horse race with the re-emergence of Monaco after years of differing champions (Nantes, Lille, Lyon, Marseille, Montpellier) and the Bundesliga is now completely sewn up barring catastrophe by Bayern Munich. That said, clubs have still achieved what was deemed the impossible in recent seasons; Villarreal became regular CL competitors, Twente beat off the predictable three big dutch clubs and Udinese have regularly overcome the big northern Italian powehouses. Can we seriously, honestly challenge the monopoly of the Premier League by the "Big 6" or have we almost reached our "glass ceiling" - as someone else so aptly put it on another thread? Over to you...

Gazzaniga's save ratio

that looks like El Sadar...

Yup! And without looking, it's Dartford's ground

haha, definitely not - that's initiative!

Yes! Boundary Park,, Oldham!

In and around that area, but unfortunately not.

Anyone who has been to a particular part of Southern Spain may have been past this little beaut a few times...

Crewe? Looks like their ground... small stands, then one humungous grandstand...

He's always been a half-decent guy. The whole Bridgey thing was blown out of proportion anyway, people who were criticising them have probably banged their mates' missuses anyway..

I

Uh oh...! To be fair, I experimented a few different team instructions in the first 4-5 games, then decided to "stick" to my original formula. For some reason, the season then turned around and we were gradually getting better. Hopefully I won't expect your 2nd half of the season crash, but I'm now bracing for it!!!!

Hey Tokes x Well, only tested for half a season but so far... You do get caught a couple of times because of the high-line but so far, it seems to be working out ok. Still trying to get them to pass more though, we're only the 4th highest passers in the league; that said, the calibre of players at my disposal aren't exactly that of my rivals! I can't find a way at the moment to get any set piece routines working at the moment... you got any tips? We've been awful from set plays!

Hi all I've been at the tactics creator again and have managed to fashion up my first version of the "Pochettino tactic" for this year's version of FM. I haven't got time to go into massive detail about it but as you know, it's a 4-2-3-1 formation, high-pressing, two defensive midfielders, ball playing centre halves, distribution via the goalkeeper is almost always on the floor and the fullbacks provide the width. An attacking trio support the lone striker and there is a significant emphasis on passing. Here's the file; http://www.filesnack.com/files/c7tiy93u You may want to alter this to suit who you're playing, but here's the default "team instructions" setup you must enter for it to work; - retain possession - hassle opponents - stay on feet - higher tempo - shorter passing - much higher defensive line - roam from positions There has been individual tweaks to suit players per their position too but that's within the tactic so you don't worry about changing them, just set the above. The main key to this tactic is persistence - it'll be awful for the first couple of weeks before suddenly everything clicks as the players adapt to the formation, tactics and become familiar with it. Then you'll start to see the results (and performances) radically changing! You'll often dominate possession against 85% of teams and this will be reflected in the statistics (often 60% dominance) and if you watch the game, the performances. I'm still working on it being an exact replica, but it's as good as I can muster up for now! Enjoy!

'This whole "win ratio" b0ll0cks is starting to do my head in. For a starter, his win ratio includes less games than his predecessors (because he keeps getting sacked for being, errr, rubbish). Secondly, Spurs were massively carried by Bale last season. Irrespective of the above, if you've ever watched football at any great length then surely you'd recognise a poorly organised, motivated and coached side if you see one? AVB was utter dross at Chelsea and has been utter dross at Spurs (with the exception of Bale dragging them out of the crap last year). Ask some Spurs fans - the general feeling and consensus is what I've said above and what I've been saying for frickin' months - AVB is a Mancini clone; Has no presence, is ruled by his players and has absolutely no idea how to motivate or coach a football team. Their teams have no pattern of play, they're just a group of players thrown together, hoping that one of their individual stars will see them through (see Bale last season, see Mancini in their title-winning season... yes, they won the title but it should have been at a canter). Both have underperformed spectacularly in the respective roles for the money lavished on those squads. I'm not joking, Tony Pulis could do far better with that kind of money at his disposal.

Karl Darlow, Forest goalkeeper. Superb prospect. Saw him playing for Walsall on loan last year, was very mature and confident for his age. And he actually saves shots

Thank you to everyone who recommended - I've gone for Templeton Place (thank you, mdearlove!)

Hi guys Just looking at your recommendations now. Found a decent hotel in Ealing (Hotel Xanadu) but the location is a friggin' pain. Looked at some serviced apartments (Premier) in Limehouse and now I'm looking at CitizenM which isn't too far from Covent Garden. I'll take a look at what you guys have recommended too though, thanks so much for the help! :-)

OK, it's that time again. So..... say, if you wanted to book a nice little, bespoke, chic hotel not too far from the bright lights (preferably walking distance) of Leicester Square, Soho, Covent Garden etc, would anyone here have any recommendations? Found quite a few off the beaten track but just wondering if anyone has any recommendations themselves? Thank you all in advance! x

I said to my friend yesterday that the amount of shots on target will equal how many we concede and I wasn't too far off. Every time I see him, it's as if he is way to slow to react. It's almost as if he's given up hope before it's even gone in and the reaction is just that, a delayed, going through the motions reaction. He just doesn't save anything. I hope he has a blinder against city but god knows how we'll cope with aguero and co. We could get pummeled because he literally cannot save anything.

Great players, but they're not a great team. We'll lose by an odd goal but we'll have more than enough of the game to warrant a point.