Career KTS freebie challenge

[kts365]

Introduction

Found this challenge trawling through the forums challenge section. I fancied something different and I thought this covered it. 

The basic premise is that you sell your 5 highest value players every season and you aren't allowed to spend a penny on transfers. Oh and no Bosmans. 

After that it's pretty much stay employed and do as best you can.

The Team Selection

The challenge basically excludes all of the top teams so I decided to pick my beloved newcastle as their wage cap is £90k a week and there is an OK level of depth in the positions of "high value" players (strikers and attacking midfielders)

Season 1

Outgoing Players

My 5 highest valued players are immediately demoted and put up for sale. I also send back any loanees.



So Ayoze Perez and Remy Cabella are sold off. However some players I didn't receive any bids for so those remain in my reserves as seen below.

I am a little worried having lost my two top strikers and three decent attacking midfielders but I hope to replace them as best I can.

Incoming  Players

So I hit the free transfer market to look for some replacements. Well there are slim pickings out there so I end up with a couple of relative unknowns and two very experienced guys in Tim Cahill and Ronaldinho.

 

The Season

I was expecting pretty poor results with no outside replacements for my two top strikers. I had to cope with replacements from within. All that said I think the team coped pretty well.



As you can see we finished in 8th which isn't too bad a result in my opinion. My biggest surprise were the players who stepped up.

Aarons, De Jong and of all people Gabriel Obertan were my three best players with plenty of goals and assists between them. Beyond that, of my freebies Tim Cahill and Jeffrey Sarpong had moderate success.

So not the worst start to this challenge. I'm hoping for better freebies next year though. Wish me luck.

 

 

Edited July 16, 2016 by kts365

[Real_Random]

Nice start mate. Good to see Tim Cahill getting another chance in the Premier League

[kts365]

1 hour ago, Real_Random said:

Nice start mate. Good to see Tim Cahill getting another chance in the Premier League

Thanks, was always a fan of him. Played his bloody heart out for Everton.

[kts365]

Season 2

Outgoing Players

My five highest value players this season are Aarons, De Jong, Townshend, Obertan and Janmaat. No surprises there.

This is a little worrying though as I am losing some very effective players from last season including my top scorers and assist makers.

Incoming Players

I decided to use my now massive wage budget (thanks financial controls) to pick up a lot of players. This was to cover me for potential future windows with slim pickings.

I'm particularly pleased at picking up Zlatan and Torres, they're old but I still see plenty of quality coming from them. Also, Jony looks a decent replacement for Rolando Aarons. The rest are mostly for squad numbers and rotation.

The Season

I know this season is going to be difficult with me losing some very effective players from last year but I have confidence in my new veteran forwards and new man Jony

Unfortunately the results were not quite as good as last year.



An 11th place  finish was quite disappointing. Luckily the board gave me a vote of confidence when the going got tough. My team struggled to get goals up front and conceded more than they scored.

Fortunately new boy Jony  stepped up netting 24 times from the left flank whilst Torres and Ibra both played quite well but failed to hit the net much.

Anita stepped up on the assist front as my only player who managed double figures followed by star man Jony. 

A disappointing season for sure, I am really hoping for better next year.

 

[Real_Random]

Unlucky mate. Torres hasn't been the same ever since he left Liverpool. Hopefully you can improve next season and maybe try get a couple Regens on a free transfer

[kts365]

@Real_Random I know, it's a shame because he was a world beafter under rafa benitez at Liverpool. 

I'm excited to see how benitez does an the toon.

[kts365]

Season 3

So my board decided that because I finished in 11th last year that this year they expected continental qualification. Thanks guys.

Outgoing Players

I only just noticed on my screen shots that I made a mistake this season, I eliminated 6 players instead of 5. Including my star man Jony, my best defender Chancel Mbemba and my top assist provider Vurnon Anita.

So I left myself an extra top player short...... silly. As if the challenge and board expectations aren't tough enough.

Incoming Players

Quite slim pickings again this year in the free transfer market but I managed to get some okay signings.

I managed to pick up some players who were half decent and a couple of experienced guys. I'm particularly pleased at getting my hands on a still very decent Alvaro Negredo.

The Season

With my new players in tow and the boards lofty expectations in front of me I set off into the season.

Firstly how did my guys perform?

Well I would say it's easy to see my player of the year is local boy Adam Armstrong followed by another local boy Sammy Ameobi.

Also as a surprise Fernando Torres hit double figures in goals and bagged himself a couple of assists too.

However, did myself and the team meet the boards expectations to qualify for Europe?

Of course we did. The boys came through and really outdid themselves this season. All including the extra player dropped too. 

Time for the next season. On to Europe!

 

Edited July 18, 2016 by kts365

[Real_Random]

Congratulations mate. All Hail Adam Armstrong. Enjoy Europe. KIU

[kts365]

Season 4

This year my board have tempered their expectations somewhat just expecting a respectable league position.

Outgoing Players

This year's cuts saw fit to rob me of Josue  who had a decent season last time out but more worryingly I'm losing Adam Armstrong and Sammy Ameobi.

Seems I'm worrying every season about losing my top boys.

Incoming Players

I decided to pick up a few extra players this year due to the extra matches for the team.

As can be seen there are 2 big names there in Wayne Rooney  and Loic Remy. On top of that there are two decent defenders in Cala and Arribas. The others again were just half decent players for squad depth.

The Season

Board expectations were pretty low at "respectable league position" but that gives me some leeway at least. 

So let's see how my players performed

Remy looks like a good signing with his 19 goal tally taking him to the top of my scorers followed by the young Toon original Alex Gilliead. 

Jack Colback heads up the assist table followed closely by the cheeky new boy Nando. Also nice to see Gilliead and Remy chipping in with 7 a piece.

So where did these exploits get my team?

A 12th placed finish. Pretty poor after last year's outing. There were several poor runs in the league where we would lose 3 or 4 in a row. Something just didn't click this year in the BPL.

Ah, but what about the Europa League (Euro Cup).

I drew a group of Hamburg, Napoli and RKC (anyone?). So really not the toughest, the big boys of the group to me would be Napoli.

However that is not how things worked out with Hamburg topping the group followed by my toon boys and Napoli crashing out of the competition.

First knockout round I draw Shakhtar (Donetsk I believe). By means easy and never to be overlooked. They beat me at their ground in the first leg by 2 goals to nil. Down but not yet out, my boys are ready to battle in front of the home fans. Injuries have reduced me to putting a makeshift side out though with a very aged Zlatan partnering Remy up front.

The lads battle to a win but it's not enough as the opposition get the away goal and we drop out of Europe quicker than even Nigel Farage would like.

So in summary a pretty unimpressive season. At least next year can only be better eh? Either that or I get sacked. On to next year then. Where I have an improved transfer strategy in mind (no more Rooneys)

 

Edited July 19, 2016 by kts365

[Real_Random]

Another decent season mate. Congratulations with what you're doing with Free Agents at Newcastle.

[kts365]

37 minutes ago, Real_Random said:

Another decent season mate. Congratulations with what you're doing with Free Agents at Newcastle.

Cheers mate. I think it's a decent challenge to stay competitive with only free transfers especially with no bosmans. 

[kts365]

Season 5

Going into this season my board have wisely decided to demand European qualification again after a relatively poor season, however I am determined to have my best season yet.

Outgoing Players

I'm not sure whether I've done well or not this year with my losses as I've managed to keep (the ageing) Loic Remy but I have lost two big assist providers in Colback and Nando, along with young Alex Gilliead and a good defender in Kevin Mbabu 

Incoming Players

This year I did a little more research on some of the players I was to purchase rather than just looking at their abilities.

This led me to make the following signings

Notable signings are former juventus wonderkid keeper Nicola Leali, Carles Gil who seems to have outgrown Villa, unloved former Manchester United and Chelsea youths Callum Gribbin and Mario Pasalic, big strong Colombian striker Jhon Cordoba and finally but for me the most exciting player Kike from Eibar.

This is why I signed him.

Firstly he has some decent stats particularly  his shooting and movement, also nothing below a 10.

Secondly he has this record

36 goalsbin 40 games last season and two years before that 31 in 32 games. Over the last 3 years he has 81 goals in 111 games.

I am quite impressed with my signings this year.

The Season

Again I am expected to gain European Competition for next year so with that in mind I set about the Season.

My players had a hell of a year, they performed very well.

My three top forwards  (Remy on the wing) scored 73 goals shared pretty evenly between them Kike and Cordoba really pulled through in the goals department buy also the assists too with a target man poacher combo doing the business.

 

I was also very impressed with my center back pairing of Cala and Arribas they were real rocks.

So where did these performances get the team in the league? After 29 games we were sat here in the league.

Exciting times for a team that essentially cost nothing.

Then disaster struck 

Within a 2 week period I lost my two best forwards for 3 weeks a piece. How will this effect the team?

We will get to that later....

First though I got my first managerial award of the challenge this year

Also there is some much bigger news

OUR FIRST SILVERWARE! 

CAPITAL ONE CUP FOR THE FREEBIES.

Now that is out of the way how did the Season end?

A run of poor results dropped us to third but this has been the most successful season for us yet. As seen by this:

Manager of the year. 

Top, top season for all involved. Looking forward to next season.

 

 

Edited July 20, 2016 by kts365

[Mikee1984]

So close mate well done on getting in champs league, just read this through looks very challenging  might have to give this a go sometime.

[Real_Random]

Fantastic Signings mate. Great season also. It's amazing the quality you can find on the Free Agents list after a few years

[kts365]

7 hours ago, Mikee1984 said:

So close mate well done on getting in champs league, just read this through looks very challenging  might have to give this a go sometime.

I think this will get tougher as it goes on as the better you perform, the more the board will expect but also there's no guarantee there will be decent players available from one year to the next.

2 hours ago, Real_Random said:

Fantastic Signings mate. Great season also. It's amazing the quality you can find on the Free Agents list after a few years

Agreed mate, plenty of quality available but I've been fooled by a few player who look good on paper  then turn out to have a bad attitude or they're injury prone which kind of shows why they were released.

[danovic78]

Great career so far, tempted to have a go myself.

Quality signings in Pasilic and Cordoba, the squad is coming along nicely.

[kts365]

3 minutes ago, danovic78 said:

Great career so far, tempted to have a go myself.

Quality signings in Pasilic and Cordoba, the squad is coming along nicely.

Thanks mate. I was surprised when Pasalic was available and when I saw Cordoba I snapped him up, used him before to great effect.

[danovic78]

1 minute ago, kts365 said:

Thanks mate. I was surprised when Pasalic was available and when I saw Cordoba I snapped him up, used him before to great effect.

Yeah, they often get rid of Pasilic. I have always picked him for a low price when he has had enough at Chelsea.

[Real_Random]

 

2 minutes ago, danovic78 said:

Yeah, they often get rid of Pasilic. I have always picked him for a low price when he has had enough at Chelsea.

Thank You Jose Mourinho for not giving young players a chance

[danovic78]

1 minute ago, Real_Random said:

 

Thank You Jose Mourinho for not giving young players a chance

“Some of them are big names, they are today Champions League winners or in the Euros, playing for national teams and 49 is a lot,” he said. “So once more, one lie repeated many times, sometimes it looks like it’s true but it will be always a lie.” Jose Mourinho

[Real_Random]

40 minutes ago, danovic78 said:

“Some of them are big names, they are today Champions League winners or in the Euros, playing for national teams and 49 is a lot,” he said. “So once more, one lie repeated many times, sometimes it looks like it’s true but it will be always a lie.” Jose Mourinho

That may be what he says but he is now at a club famed for it's youth so it will be interesting to see what happens.

[danovic78]

23 minutes ago, Real_Random said:

That may be what he says but he is now at a club famed for it's youth so it will be interesting to see what happens.

Indeed, I think he will use the youth players only when necessary, LVG had no choice really due to so many injuries.

[Real_Random]

1 hour ago, danovic78 said:

Indeed, I think he will use the youth players only when necessary, LVG had no choice really due to so many injuries.

You're right but Mourinho isn't exactly known for trusting youth in big games like LVG did with Rashford

[Taff]

Just caught up and it a great challenge maybe I'll have a go once my other three careers end.

KIU you are doing very very well and have made some excellent signings 

Edited July 21, 2016 by Taff

[kts365]

Thanks guys. Nice to get people who are enjoying following this challenge. I remember when I started my only aim was to keep the job as long as I can.

[kts365]

Season 6

Afterms the great exploits last year my board expects European qualification again, fair enough given last season. Also I am in the Champions League this year. Exciting times.

Outgoing Players

Painful outgoings this year both Kike and Cordoba are gone, Pasalic is away and the promising young Callum Gribbin is gone.

On top of this there are around 5 players retiring this year but they're all subs and rotation players.

Incoming Players

With me losing 10+ players I went a little wild in the free transfer market but I did get a lot of quality players.

Notable names here are Vincent Kompany and Juan mata, both ageing but with quality still there and had been playing regularly.

Mario Fernandes was quite the coup also.

Ake, Barker and Ntcham are all former big team youth players.

There is Sergi Gomez, a top defender for sure.

Following last year's template of proven scorers up front I bought in Andrea Belotti and Gerard More no on their respective pedigrees.

Belotti (which I can't help but think Bill Oddie when I read it) is clearly the better of the two but Moreno can score.

Then last but not least Cristiano Ronaldo.......at 35, but it's Cristiano Ronaldo!

Ahem..... onto the results.

The Season 

After a good pre-season I started the Season with Moreno and Belotti up front and Ronaldo as an IF on the left opening game we hammered Liverpool 4-1. Then this happened.....

No matter what I did my team was conceding more than they scored far too often. My board rating bar was in the red, I could get sacked this year!

After a bit of tinkering I decided whilst Ronaldo was playing well he wasn't best utilised out wide as his pace had dropped since his prime. With my forwards struggling I stuck him up front, as a target man, with his 17 heading 15 shooting and 13 strength I decided I had nothing to lose anyway. Fingers crossed!

 

But did it work?..........

Spoiler

Crazily it did!

The team recovered form nicely and never even lost a league home game all season.

This helped me qualify for the champions league again and appease the boards expectations.

Speaking of the Champions league.......

How did my team perform in Europe this season? 

Well the group stage went pretty well

I finished second in the group losing only to Savilla once.

This sent me into the first knockout round. My opponent? Only Bayern Munich with world player of the year Robert Lewandowski..... crumbs. 

So how did this go down?

Spoiler

Home leg.

0-0 no away goals! We have a chance!

Away leg

Get in! Belotti sends us through to face..... Sevilla, our group stage rivals.

Sevilla were discarded pretty easily in the end. My team are doing the business.

Next up Manchester United who recently beat us 3-1 in the league.

A tense affair but we win by 2 goals to 1 on aggregate in the end.

We have reached the final! Our opponents? Serie A side Roma, a dicey prospect, this could go either way.

Spoiler

EUROPEAN CHAMPIONS! 

An easy match in the end with Ronaldo showing he is still class with a champions league final hat-trick. Leali was also a rock in goal saving 8 shots on target.

 

So who were the big scorers and assist makers this year?

Ronaldo has still got it! 24 goals and 12 assists at 35 playing at the highest level. The same can be said for Remy being involved in 31 goals himself.

My two new strikers did well too netting 44 times between them.

It's also nice to see Newcastle original Haidara up there in the assists as well as Paul Dummett getting 31 games because of his decent form.

So guys, next up, season 7. Bring on the freebies!

Edited July 21, 2016 by kts365

[Mikee1984]

Wow what a recovery mate after that shaky start, and big congratulations on winning the champions league mate. Also quick question I've read through the rules and you say no Bosmans does that mean you can't offer a pre contract and have to wait until they are a free agent.

[kts365]

I took it as meaning you can sign a player as long as their contract has actually ended. Rolling contracts not included. So basically most players you can't sign until around 1st July in Europe or after the 1st January for players in Brazil and the like.

That's why you see some of my transfers as being from a club as they are still there but their contract is up 

[Real_Random]

Great season mate. Ronaldo's still got it. KIU

[kts365]

Season 7

After last year's amazing season my board expect European qualification again. 

The Outgoing Players

As was probably expected Belotti, Moreno and Fernandes are gone along with Patrick Hermann and Brandon Barker.

It is, however, great to hold onto first team stalwarts Massadio Haidara and Jon Gaztanaga.

The Incoming Players

Very slim pickings this year in the free market. Lots of players but not a lot of quality remaining after other teams picked up pre-contract signings.

As you can see not many signings but all 4 are good players. Willian and Boateng  are known quantities and both around 32 so have a couple of seasons left. Branco van den Boomen is a decent defensive midfielder in his mid twenties. I signed Luciano Slagveer for his record at his previous club from the wing.

117 in 281 is a hell of a goal scoring record for a winger.

The Season

First up is the European super cup, where we play the Europa League  (Euro cup) winners Atletico Madrid, definitely a tough side. How did it go?

After a relatively even game Atletico won with a goal in extra time. A pity, but an indication that my team can still stand up to big sides despite losing some of my top players again.

Next up a bit of better news.

Winning the Club World Cup adds to our silverware. 

Anyway this aside let's move onto the league. After last year I hoped to push on and challenge for the league title this year. In doing so I would also achieve the expectation of European qualification along the way.

So how did we do this season in the league?

 

Not the best showing this season. 7th in the league didn't really live up to any expectations for us. Very disappointed in not qualifying for the champions league again this year.

Speaking of the champions league, could we defend our title?

The group stage again went well despite having both Porto and the mighty Barcelona in it.

Oh and in case you didn't see that little result down there.....

WOW! Total domination.

And onto the next round. Our first opponents in the knockout stages Bayern. This feels familiar. Did we defeat them again?

Spoiler

Not the best first leg but only a 1 goal loss away from home.

Aaaargh, so close but we crash out on away goals.

The league campaign left me disappointed this year. I wanted to win, I only finished 7th and didn't hit the Continental qualification spots.

Spoiler

It's therefore a good job this happened

Oh and this.

3 cups isn't a bad haul this year at all really.

How did the players perform though?

Willian  proves to be signing of the year being involved in 49 goals whilst Cristiano Ronaldo involved in 45 goals himself at the tender young age of 36/37 this year, also very pleasedifferent with the progress of young Remi Sanogo who got most of his appearances off the bench but still hit a goal every other appearance.

Not the best season this year but by no means the worst. Onward to season 8!

 

 

Edited July 23, 2016 by kts365