Jimmy_D

Depending on how far back you're looking... there was a lower league team that had a pretty good cup run back in '76

Apparently 25 consecutive passes for that goal....

Hehe, I like updating after days like today

I believe the technical term we use around these parts is 'we tore them a new one.' I'd say that third goal was the best goal I've ever seen live... the way we ole'd every pass leading up to it... and the way the finish was made to look so EASY... Very very happy Saints fan right here.

My first season finished as Eastleigh! Picked up a few random freebies which my scouts said were 5*, never worry too much in the very low leagues about specific stats as you can usually pick up youth players for nothing that'll do a job now and have the potential to work in league two or even league one sometimes. I'd set my tactics up similar to how I had Eastleigh in my previous game for FM2011, 4-2-4, two attacking wingers style, controlling and short passing, which served me well for the preseason (gotta be happy with the draw with Saints) and the first four games of the season, but then I went into a bit of a nosedive. My teamtalks, which had been working well when everyone was happy, were failing, the fans were alienated by the loss to rivals Salisbury, and despite a mini revival in the middle of the dip, with a run of two wins and a draw, an awful team meeting managed to alienate almost the entire team and form fell again, including a morale sapping defeat to rivals Havant and Waterlooville. Four losses later, and three wins in twelve wasn't going to be good enough. We'd dropped out of the board's minimum expectation of top half, and whispers were starting to go around wondering whether I'd be in the job much longer. A switch of tactics, adopting the longer ball that would be more effective in this league, as well as stepping back a bit so as to not leave the defense so exposed and the players not so tired towards the end of the match, combined with a team meeting which went MUCH better, and a team talk that Henry V would have been proud of, finally brought some much needed relief in the form of a 4-1 win over Farnborough. An unbeaten run then followed which would see Eastleigh climb steadily up the league, back into the top half, and towards the playoff spots, interrupted only by a weakened team crashing out of the FA Trophy. An unexpected loss to Tonbridge had the fans wondering if all the players' efforts would be in vain, as fears of a repeat of the previous bad run were revived, but it was only a blip before another unbeaten run that would propel Eastleigh towards the top of the table, marred only by a very poor performance against Salisbury in which we were lucky to get nil, and miraculously also kept them to nil as well. A run of one win in four games seemed to have put paid to hopes of the title, but a win at home against table-topping Boreham Wood, followed by beating Havant in their own back yard saw Eastleigh sitting proudly atop the pile. Two further wins weren't enough to shake the chasing pack, and a run of five games without a win saw us drop down to third and out of the title fight, while Boreham Wood and Salisbury fought over top spot. Going into the last game of the season I knew a win was vital if we were to have any chance in the playoffs we'd already secured a place in, and a surprisingly comfortable win followed. I impatiently waited for news of other results to come through, and as I heard that Boreham Wood had lost to Havant my heart sank. It looked like Salisbury would win the league. Salisbury! They were facing Weston Super Mare at home, who, while not mathematically safe, were virtually safe by goal difference. The result came through, Salisbury - 1, Weston Super Mare - 1! I later found out that Salisbury had a man sent off, their player manager, in what would be his last game before he became a full time manager! Mixed emotions followed, as I reflected on that late run of games without a win, we'd missed out on the title by two points. I couldn't let that get through to the players though, as I tried to keep their minds focused forward. The playoff semi final would be against Chelmsford, which pleased me as we had an unbeaten record against them. The first leg away from home went very smoothly indeed, none of the players seemed to be feeling any pressure at all as we comfortably won 2-0. The second leg seemed to be going the same way, as we scored twice, including a controversial penalty (is there ever any other kind?) very deep into injury time of the first half which would later prove vital. The second half the players seemed to freeze up completely. With fifteen minutes to go they scored their first, with six minutes to go an own goal by the keeper gave them their second, and with three minutes remaining another goal gave every Eastliegh fan a mini heart attack. Every player was behind the ball for the next three minutes, before the board went up and told the players they'd have to hold out for another three. No one more relieved than me as the final whistle went, with the possible exception of our goalkeeper after conceding the own goal. A grin spread across my face as I heard the result from the other match. It'd be against Salisbury. The nerves would follow later, as I realised we hadn't beaten them during the season, but I couldn't let the players see that. I tried to get them fired up with the team talk, but a nervy first half played out, until finally on the half hour mark, exciting youth prospect Andy White burst into space an curled a long range effort past the keeper to send the fans wild. We held on until half time. Unsure of how to handle the team talk, I tried to guard them against complacency, but it failed as just four minutes in, an equaliser came. To their credit, the player's heads didn't drop, and an end to end contest followed. With fifteen minutes to go, I brought on two subs as the players were starting to look out on their feet. With just two minutes remaining, and just as I was thinking of extra time and even the dreaded penalty shootout, Salisbury earned a free kick in a dangerous position and I tried not to let the concern show on my face as I wondered if an entire season would be wasted in an instant, but I needn't have worried as the keeper got underneath it and safely caught it. All the players spurred themselves to one last effort and pushed themselves forward. Some neat passing up the left wing worked the winger onto the byline, and from his cross he earned a corner. As it was swung in, veteran defender Tom Jordan fought his way through two defenders to get on the end of it and power a header into the bottom corner to send the fans into dreamland. I immediately told every player to stay behind the ball, and made my last sub to waste some time, but it was scarcely needed as the final whistle went and we'd done it! http://cloud.steampowered.com/ugc/648743808096103563/EEE0853565D7AF129C498E3C8DF27EFEBDA9BA35/ No-one remembers much of the celebrations that followed, especially the chairman, who swears he doesn't remember signing off the plans for a new 5k capacity stadium, especially considering the average attendance of 574 we had http://cloud.steampowered.com/ugc/648743808096102857/F974B3D96DD478889108782D53D91F14C9BF0A31/ http://cloud.steampowered.com/ugc/648743808093129652/0ED023DA807B8766E25E4E2E63BB3442BEABF0F1/ http://cloud.steampowered.com/ugc/648743808093128245/C1E9DB6341887748F002DDFB48DA1D666E9047B5/ Played using 'hardcore' rules. ie. NO reloading if I don't like a result as well as not using downloaded tactics, or the annual 'corner' trick.

In the older football manager games with the 3D match engine, there were always certain ways you could set up corners to be taken so that you'd score far more often than is realistic (2010 was notorious, I was getting 2 or 3 goals a game from corners, and once got six). I'm pretty sure they've toned it down since, and I'm not sure if anyone's found a 'broken' tactic for FM2012 yet, but you'd have to look yourself since I'm trying to avoid net tactics for this year.

My first season finished as Eastleigh! Picked up a few random freebies which my scouts said were 5*, never worry too much in the very low leagues about specific stats as you can usually pick up youth players for nothing that'll do a job now and have the potential to work in league two or even league one sometimes. I'd set my tactics up similar to how I had Eastleigh in my previous game for FM2011, 4-2-4, two attacking wingers style, controlling and short passing, which served me well for the preseason (gotta be happy with the draw with Saints) and the first four games of the season, but then I went into a bit of a nosedive. My teamtalks, which had been working well when everyone was happy, were failing, the fans were alienated by the loss to rivals Salisbury, and despite a mini revival in the middle of the dip, with a run of two wins and a draw, an awful team meeting managed to alienate almost the entire team and form fell again, including a morale sapping defeat to rivals Havant and Waterlooville. Four losses later, and three wins in twelve wasn't going to be good enough. We'd dropped out of the board's minimum expectation of top half, and whispers were starting to go around wondering whether I'd be in the job much longer. A switch of tactics, adopting the longer ball that would be more effective in this league, as well as stepping back a bit so as to not leave the defense so exposed and the players not so tired towards the end of the match, combined with a team meeting which went MUCH better, and a team talk that Henry V would have been proud of, finally brought some much needed relief in the form of a 4-1 win over Farnborough. An unbeaten run then followed which would see Eastleigh climb steadily up the league, back into the top half, and towards the playoff spots, interrupted only by a weakened team crashing out of the FA Trophy. An unexpected loss to Tonbridge had the fans wondering if all the players' efforts would be in vain, as fears of a repeat of the previous bad run were revived, but it was only a blip before another unbeaten run that would propel Eastleigh towards the top of the table, marred only by a very poor performance against Salisbury in which we were lucky to get nil, and miraculously also kept them to nil as well. A run of one win in four games seemed to have put paid to hopes of the title, but a win at home against table-topping Boreham Wood, followed by beating Havant in their own back yard saw Eastleigh sitting proudly atop the pile. Two further wins weren't enough to shake the chasing pack, and a run of five games without a win saw us drop down to third and out of the title fight, while Boreham Wood and Salisbury fought over top spot. Going into the last game of the season I knew a win was vital if we were to have any chance in the playoffs we'd already secured a place in, and a surprisingly comfortable win followed. I impatiently waited for news of other results to come through, and as I heard that Boreham Wood had lost to Havant my heart sank. It looked like Salisbury would win the league. Salisbury! They were facing Weston Super Mare at home, who, while not mathematically safe, were virtually safe by goal difference. The result came through, Salisbury - 1, Weston Super Mare - 1! I later found out that Salisbury had a man sent off, their player manager, in what would be his last game before he became a full time manager! Mixed emotions followed, as I reflected on that late run of games without a win, we'd missed out on the title by two points. I couldn't let that get through to the players though, as I tried to keep their minds focused forward. The playoff semi final would be against Chelmsford, which pleased me as we had an unbeaten record against them. The first leg away from home went very smoothly indeed, none of the players seemed to be feeling any pressure at all as we comfortably won 2-0. The second leg seemed to be going the same way, as we scored twice, including a controversial penalty (is there ever any other kind?) very deep into injury time of the first half which would later prove vital. The second half the players seemed to freeze up completely. With fifteen minutes to go they scored their first, with six minutes to go an own goal by the keeper gave them their second, and with three minutes remaining another goal gave every Eastliegh fan a mini heart attack. Every player was behind the ball for the next three minutes, before the board went up and told the players they'd have to hold out for another three. No one more relieved than me as the final whistle went, with the possible exception of our goalkeeper after conceding the own goal. A grin spread across my face as I heard the result from the other match. It'd be against Salisbury. The nerves would follow later, as I realised we hadn't beaten them during the season, but I couldn't let the players see that. I tried to get them fired up with the team talk, but a nervy first half played out, until finally on the half hour mark, exciting youth prospect Andy White burst into space an curled a long range effort past the keeper to send the fans wild. We held on until half time. Unsure of how to handle the team talk, I tried to guard them against complacency, but it failed as just four minutes in, an equaliser came. To their credit, the player's heads didn't drop, and an end to end contest followed. With fifteen minutes to go, I brought on two subs as the players were starting to look out on their feet. With just two minutes remaining, and just as I was thinking of extra time and even the dreaded penalty shootout, Salisbury earned a free kick in a dangerous position and I tried not to let the concern show on my face as I wondered if an entire season would be wasted in an instant, but I needn't have worried as the keeper got underneath it and safely caught it. All the players spurred themselves to one last effort and pushed themselves forward. Some neat passing up the left wing worked the winger onto the byline, and from his cross he earned a corner. As it was swung in, veteran defender Tom Jordan fought his way through two defenders to get on the end of it and power a header into the bottom corner to send the fans into dreamland. I immediately told every player to stay behind the ball, and made my last sub to waste some time, but it was scarcely needed as the final whistle went and we'd done it! http://cloud.steampowered.com/ugc/648743808096103563/EEE0853565D7AF129C498E3C8DF27EFEBDA9BA35/ No-one remembers much of the celebrations that followed, especially the chairman, who swears he doesn't remember signing off the plans for a new 5k capacity stadium, especially considering the average attendance of 574 we had http://cloud.steampowered.com/ugc/648743808096102857/F974B3D96DD478889108782D53D91F14C9BF0A31/ http://cloud.steampowered.com/ugc/648743808093129652/0ED023DA807B8766E25E4E2E63BB3442BEABF0F1/ http://cloud.steampowered.com/ugc/648743808093128245/C1E9DB6341887748F002DDFB48DA1D666E9047B5/ Played using 'hardcore' rules. ie. NO reloading if I don't like a result as well as not using downloaded tactics, or the annual 'corner' trick.

You could probably throw Brighton from last season in there as well.

Well toilets do take pi... What do you mean that's not what you meant?

West Ham's thread was claiming they were champions in waiting... This thread is pointing something we've ALREADY done. Even if we fail to win, this run will still stand.

Didn't expect that... rumours going round that tickets for their game against us will actually go on general sale. No doubt they'll still sell out, but it's another indication that the support for the team just isn't there any more. The state of their club, combined with us, Brighton and Reading all around them being above them in the league must be starting to squeeze on their catchment area now.

Starts talking about Saints at 5.28 and http://news.bbc.co.uk/sport1/hi/football/15415698.stm is a longer lasting link.

I think if Lallana was only being rested, he'd already have been back, at least on the bench. Also, we'd have probably done it before this run of tough games we're going through, instead of when we need him most. With only 5 spots on the bench, I wouldn't put a sub keeper on there, at least for league games. Teams can go entire seasons without using one, and the lack of one would negatively affect one game every few seasons, while not necessarily costing anything (BWP super rush goalie keeping a clean sheet while he was on springs to mind). Meanwhile, the extra option off the bench could potentially positively affect several games a season, especially with Adkins' record of making game changing subs. This would leave us in effect with only 1 less sub than we had last year, with the slight risk of a goalkeeper injury losing us a game. Obviously it'd be different in cup games, where knockout rules apply and you only get one chance, or if the keeper is prone to injury, but I believe having an outfield player on the bench instead of a sub keeper would win more points than it'd lose over a season of league games. (Especially as some of those points could come a few seasons later from being able to have given a youth player the chance to get a few appearances)

I don't see how they could afford a new stadium any time soon. Their attendances so far this season aren't good enough for them to keep up with the CVA, so income isn't going to pay for it. A global recession, not to mention they haven't even STARTED paying off a CVA from the last time they went bankrupt, would make any financing for the stadium extortionately expensive. Not to mention increases in the price of materials over the last few years... Yes, they desperately need a new stadium, not because they need the extra capacity, but because of the state of the old one, but I can't believe how many Pompey fans are talking about it as a realistic possibility.

Didn't we have a waiting list for season tickets at The Dell before we moved?

Ah well, niether team playing first teamers, reduced the match to a virtual coin flip. Need to make the home game against Boro count now.

Resorted to nuns far too early. Blatant tactical error.

It occurs to me that any decent managers Pompey might have had as a target now have the far more attractive job at Leicester to look at.

BBC News have finally got around to mentioning the 6-3 result, showing that beautiful lob by Le Tissier, pointing out it happened a week after the 5-0 result by Newcastle, and asking if things are worse now because they've been thrashed like that at home.

Have to say I'd be happy to see Sven given the Pompey job

I've only been there when England were playing, jeez it was awful getting there that day.

Wonder what the odds are on him managing Pompey now?

Like we did against Blackpool

http://www.bbc.co.uk/i/b016ps55/?t=4m41s No it wasn't!

Relax, you're not as worried about getting humiliated as they are.