Football manager 2015

[Alcibiades]

I'm still enjoying 14, any real reason to get 15?

[The Larch]

I've bought it together with some other friends for the purpose of playing it online together, we'll be beginning a 5 player MP campaign in the Premier League in January. By luck of the draw I got Man City so I expect it to be cushy for me.

[katmai]

Sounds cool, look forward to hearing how that works.

[Josephus]

Never done MP. How does that work?

[Norgy]

If there's any interest for it, we could download a European Super League mod and have a go at MP.

[Josephus]

Never done MP. How does that work?

[katmai]

Interested but yeah never did MP in FM before.

[Norgy]

Me neither, but it's rather similar to PBEM (with turns) I have gathered.

[Josephus]

Bought it. It's on sale at Steam

[Josquius]

It was cheap on amazon. Nice to get the physical version cheaper than digital.
So far its pretty good. Though yes. Players in matches are....weird. SO MANY occasions of the ball hitting players and guys stumbling around like amateurs.

[Josephus]

Noticed the Premier League, the teams don't have the proper badges, crests....that's new I think.

[Josquius]

Yeah, its a pain, fixed that ASAP.
The J-League doesn't even exist.

[Norgy]

sortitoutsi is a good place to go for that, Josephus.

[Josephus]

So it is. thanks

[Josquius]

Following Sunderland's miraculous "Great Escape" of the 2013-2014 season, many fully expected Gus Poyet to renew his contract and guide Sunderland to greater things in the following season.
It wasn't to be.
Apparently due to profound disagreements with the club chairman Poyet left the club.
His hastily found replacement was a young, relative unknown. This, combined with the 20 million transfer fund that appeared for him seemingly out of nowhere, led one leading football pundit to suggest witchcraft was at work.

Transfers

Sunderland's pre-season was a period of a lot of movement at the Stadium of Light. A wide variety of players were targeted, many of these attempts ending in complete failure. However there was still quite a lot of transfer activity for Sunderland.

First up, Houssine Kharja. A 32 year old Moroccan international who spent most of his career in the Italian leagues. Unattached for the previous season he was convinced to dust off his boots to give some depth to the Sunderland squad.

Next, a 21 year old Colombian central defender by the name of Éder Álvarez Balanta, bought for 5 million from River in the Argentinian league. Very highly spoke of by the Sunderland manager he was a signing expected to make a big impact.

Another South American defender was also brought in. Argentinian wing back Gino Peruzzi, 4 million from serie A.

With a view to the longer term several hot prospects were also pursued. There were three success stories here, Luka Jovic, Fabio Castellano and Martin Odegaard, who would join in January.

Last but not least was Argentinian midfielder Diego Valeri, brought out of the American league to provide further options in the middle of the park.

Leaving Sunderland there was a lot less activity beyond the usual plethora of loan moves for young players.
Misfiring striker Danny Graham headed to QPR for 2 million. Having originally cost Sunderland 5 million this move may not have seemed the best business but given the quality he had so far shown for Sunderland many were happy to have him off the books.
Attempts to get rid of American international Jose Altidore and Cape Verdian Cabral came to nought.

Summer

Sunderland did not have the most confidence building of pre-seasons. A series of losses and draws against opposition of far lower quality left some in Sunderland very worried about the year to come. Nonetheless the key focus of pre-season was in fitness building, and the new manager experimented a lot with his tactical options.

What was particularly worrying about this poor run of form was that the gods of scheduling had determined that the first game of the season would be one of the most important of the year for Sunderland's supporters; away to arch-rivals Newcastle United.
Thankfully, it seemed Newcastle too were not quite ready for the season, and the game proved to be rather drab as derbies go. Adam Johnson's single goal being enough to grant Sunderland victory.
The performance wasn't great but a win against Newcastle was a brilliant way to start a season. Many supporters were excited for what was to come....

The following games- were less than impressive. A 4-0 cup win against Cambridge being Sunderland's only win in 5 games. Every other match, against the solidly beatable teams of West Ham, Crystal Palace, Swansea and Hull, ended in a draw.
They weren't losses, Sunderland's defence seemed to be doing their job at least. But their tactics going forward just weren't working out.
Several different formations were tested, 4-4-2, 3-1-4-2-1, 5-3-2, but this experimentation served only to hinder Sunderland becoming comfortable with a way to play.

There was one bright spell towards the end of September. The following round of the league cup saw Sunderland drawn against Swansea, two weeks after drawing against them in the league they came out 3-1 winners in the cup.
This game was followed by a televised 1-0 defeat to Manchester United.
To be beaten by a big team such as Man Utd is hardly the end of the world but still, it was largely just through luck that Sunderland were holding on, things were not going too well.