Season 6: The Club

Hi guys and welcome back to the north east of England and my FM 2012 story with Middlesbrough. Last season was extremely successful for the club with the prep title finally being ours and our sights are firmly set on "doing the double" and retaining the trophy.

I've had a few questions about my staff, tactics and training so this post is an overview of some aspects of the club. Hope this will answer some of your questions.

After last season, i decided it was time for a backroom staff overhaul and a clear out in my squad. The recognition of the club has finally increased to a point at which i can get a really good staff team. I had a huge staff overhaul (not that i had huge amounts of staff at the club before..). I'm really happy with what i managed to get at the end.

The Middlesbrough Staff:

As you can see, the backroom staff at Boro is now very extensive but they all have a part to play and, so far, have done a very good job. If you want to carry on your game far into the future then your staff are some of the most important parts to maintaining a strong team.

Training:

Good training is also integral to any team. Firstly, it is important to have quality over quantity and once you have room to manoeuvre you can start bringing in a larger team. What you need to be looking for in staff are attributes tailored to the individual coaching role you want your coach to be teaching. More info can be found: http://i853.photobucket.com/albums/ab91/Atokous/StaffAtributes.png

The schedules are also very important. You should never use the default ones that are set by SI. The best set of schedules to use, in my opinion, can be found here: http://thedugout.net/community/showthread.php?t=77686

Middlesbrough Training:

Tactics:

Having a good team is nothing without good tactics. I have three tactics set up (i downloaded + tweaked all of them).

My main tactic:

Download: http://www.mediafire.com/?9ucecnjoh83isho

I really like this tactic as it has extremes of both attack and defence. The two CB's play deep which makes it extremely hard for other teams to counter attack. Going forward, the wingers stretch their defence leaving gaps which the midfielders and strikers can exploit.

Some examples of the passing that goes on as well:

The other tactics:

This is, simply put, a more defensive version of the first.

Download: http://www.mediafire.com/?b7bz2olre5bt273

This tactic is completely different and provides you with an opportunity to change things around if the winders are having no impact or if the midfield are constantly losing out.

Download: http://www.mediafire.com/?73c3tu7n1i1p05p

Enough about the intricacies of the club for now. Focusing now on the coming season :)

Transfers:

Continuing with my overhaul of the staff, quite a few players left the club as well. Most were youngsters but there were also some big names leaving Boro such as Soukouna, Podstowski, Bennet and LLori. I took a gamble and decided to focus more on the up and coming players and i was sure they would be up to the task. The selling also brought a nice £35m into the club to balance some of the spending.

I spent quite a lot this transfer to bring in some better players than the ones i sold. All are young players with a great future.

Ironically, the best player i bought was the cheapest. Kaizer Mazibuko was signed on a pre-contract and is an incredible player and talent. Will rotate with Niang and Sanogo up front.

Fatai (not going to attempt to spell his first name) cost a lot but was worth every penny. He will become one of the best wingers in the game i think.

I've been searching for ages to find a keeper with the ability to rival Branescu for the number one spot and i've finally found a really promising young keeper.

Another position i've been wanting to fill with a quality player is the left back role. I had to splash out for Robinson but, again, he's worth every penny :)

Two young full backs were also brought in. I have high hopes that they will be the next generation on the flanks of my defence. They both cost a bit but i'm sure they are a good investment. Kisuya was only bought in January.

I finally got a half decent player to come through my youth system. Boland isn't going to be the next Rooney but he's got some potential. I'll probably just build him up and then sell him when he's worth a bit (he was signed towards the end of the season).

Squad:

I'm happy with my squad for the coming season. There needs to be a bit more strength in depth potentially in a few areas. However, the future is looking good.

I hope this post helps with any questions you had about training, staff and formations. The next post will revert back to the normal format and will give an overview of the season. As always, your comments are welcomed.

Thanks,

Atok