"The Lions" - London FC || *Season Opener* McFadden Time!

[Fresh8]

Nice update man. Go Joao!

It was a good read... start playing games!

[Arcane]

good signing Mark and good storyline too.

[kibaxx7]

Yep, great signing. Great article too bro

[Mark.]

Nice update man. Go Joao!

It was a good read... start playing games!

Yeah Bro, Joao is the man, will be the linchpin of my attack. Games have been played, probably two more updates before the first month of games is posted.

good signing Mark and good storyline too.

Cheers dude, glad your liking the storyline, wasn't really going to focus much on the story etc, just to set the scene I guess.

Yep, great signing. Great article too bro

Thanks man, glad you like the signing.

Was planning on posting another update now, but dunno if Ill have time, otherwise will be tonight probably.

[Mark.]

July 27th 2008
Lions Add Another to Already Potent Attack


Giles Barnes... London's new Attacker will be looking to find his way back into the Premier League

Just two days after announcing the blockbuster signing of João Moutinho, London FC have once again made a great play in the transfer market. For the second time in two days Manager Mark Moore has struck a bargain deal with a club looking to relieve some pressure on their bank balance by cashing in on promising talent. Moore adds to his already potent attacking lineup with the signing of Winger/Forward Giles Barnes from Derby County for a shell shocking £3m transfer fee. Barnes has always been a highly touted English player who has had many of the big clubs in England flocking to get his signature, however with Derby's relegation, he has seemed to slip off the radar recently, allowing Moore to complete the transfer with little competition.

With the addition of Barnes many will be speculating as to how Moore will manage to fit all his attackers in. Barnes will join incumbent James McFadden and the ever exciting Asamoah Gyan as the teams first choice attackers, but with Moore already hinting that he will be playing a possession based tactic it would appear that there won't be as much use for Barnes' abilities out wide leaving him to compete for one of the striking spots. LondonFC.com however is picking Moore to avoid these problems by playing a three striker line up to make the most out of all three players.

Now with two attacking signings under his belt one must feel that Moore will be looking to upgrade his defensive line. We expect to have more news for you in the next 2-3 days as Moore tries to get his squad ready for the up coming season. Stay Tuned.

[Fresh8]

Good to see to see you got another forward cause u were saying that u needed one.

[kibaxx7]

Barnes is really good too Can't wait to hear the defensive signing.

[Mark.]

Good to see to see you got another forward cause u were saying that u needed one.

Yeah other than McFadden and Gyan I dont really have that much proven talent at striker. Perhaps that will be a January objective for me.

Barnes is really good too Can't wait to hear the defensive signing.

Yeah im a big fan of Barnes, IRL and in the game. Love him in FM08 too, haven't tried him in FM09 yet.

Next update will be up this evening.

[Fresh8]

Sign Robbie Fowler.

[Jing]

Oh shit this is new (to me). Cool stuff and writing Mark.

[Srbija]

Looking real nice bro. Great signing with Joao Moutinho, will be following this for sure. Nice presentation aswell.

[Mark.]

Thanks for the comments guys, and no Sit, Robbie Fowler isn't in my plans unfortunately.

Next update should be soon, I had some technical difficulties with the game and actually ended up restarting from just after I signed Barnes.

[Mark.]

July 28th 2008
Lions Complete Summer Signings


London FC's four newest members.

Just days before London FC are set to play the first game of the inaugural season, Manager Mark Moore announced during a press conference that the club had completed their summer transfer dealings. Four new players will be joining up with the team over the next few days as they prepare for their season opener versus Nottingham Forrest. The four signings are pretty much what was expected as Moore had made it known that he was looking to sign 2-3 defenders to round out the squad, however the first of these transfers to go through was actually another attacking player. The recent signing of Giles Barnes had many pundits guessing that The Lions would be looking to invest the rest of their transfer allowance in either defense or midfield so the signing of Brazilian prospect Guilherme from Cruzerio came as quite a surprise.

The remaining three signings were a lot more expected. Micah Richards surprisingly turned down a contract extension with money laden, Manchester City in favour of the chance to join London FC. Costing a fee thought to be roughly in the region of £8-9m, Richards will be second most expensive signing for the club. Following this signing Moore was only left with around £4m left in the clubs transfer coffers so the next signing of Miguel Torres from Real Madrid for exactly that amount seemed rather reckless on Moore's behalf, however the crafty manager (who is already building a reputation of being able to sniff out great value deals) managed to find a steal in the signing of stalwart defender Aarón Galindo on a free.

Moore's reaction to questions asked press conference will be available shortly.

[kibaxx7]

You now have a great team, I really like Richards. Torres is a good prospect too, honestly didn't hear much about Galindo or Guilherme, but they look decent

[Mark.]

June 28th 2008
'This is a Squad that will Challenge for Multiple Trophy's this Year'
Mark Moore... confident his side will bring home the silverware

On the transfer market this summer...
"This summer there were a number of talented players that were being shopped by their teams, I think due to the current financial climate teams are more willing to part with their players for lower amounts that usual. This really worked well for us as players that we normally wouldn't have been able to fit into our budget became available to us. This was indeed a good summer for any side building from scratch."

On the big signing of Micah Richards...
"Micah is one of those players who is more than just a "Player", he is an athlete. He has great physical abilities while also showing a good work ethic which has allowed him to develop sound skills. While he is only 20 he is already showing that he has the required skill set to become on of the top defenders in the world. It isn't often that managers are willing to spend so much on a defender, but I believe that the signing of Micah was a value deal, not only for the future, but also this season to help us aim for more than just winning the league."

On the signing of another striker...
"To be honest after the signing of Barnes I wasn't really expecting to sign anymore attackers, but that was before I was aware that Cruzerio were making Guilherme available. Guilherme is one of those special players that you can rely on to step up in the big games, but also be a consistent performer through out the season. He is known as a goal scoring striker but I also see him as someone who can provide great opportunity for his team mates."

On the Miguel Torres signing...
"Miguel possesses great versatility which is what I like to find in players. He can play on both sides of the pitch which was important to me as we will only have three out and out fullbacks in the squad. Of all the players I signed, Miguel was the hardest to get the deal done as Real Madrid knew his value and were not happy to part with him."

On the free transfer of Galindo...
"I knew that people would have been questioning my signing of Torres as it would have left us with no more money to spend in the window. To be honest I probably wouldn't have gone through with the Torres deal had Galindo not been available. Once I heard that Ein. Frankfurt would not be re-signing Galindo everything fell into place. Galindo is a consistent performer in the back line, he is one of those no frills players who gets the job done at the back with no fuss."

On the overall strength of the side...
"I am very happy with the squad. I believe this is a squad that will challenge for multiple trophy's this season. Our main focus will of course be gaining promotion to the Premier League, however due to the quality and depth of the team I can see us going deep into both the League and FA Cup."

[Arcane]

Great work on the new signings hope the season goes well for you. looking forward to seeing how you go.

[Srbija]

Good stuff to land all those new signings especially Micah Richards, all you can ask for in a defender.

What do you plan on doing next?

[Fresh8]

Can't wait to see the team in action!

[Mark.]

You now have a great team, I really like Richards. Torres is a good prospect too, honestly didn't hear much about Galindo or Guilherme, but they look decent

Yeah the team is deffinately looking very strong. I have never heard of Galindo either to be honest, but he looks to be a solid player. Guildherme is quite well known around the FM boards, usually turns out to be a quality player.

Great work on the new signings hope the season goes well for you. looking forward to seeing how you go.

Cheers mate, I have high expectations for this season. I will need to win games to get my revenue up for the next season where improvements will be a must.

Good stuff to land all those new signings especially Micah Richards, all you can ask for in a defender.

What do you plan on doing next?

Yeap Micah is very solid in this game, in some ways I think he could be a bit overrated by EA, but im not complaining

Next up will be the season opener followed by the first monthly recap.

Can't wait to see the team in action!

Patience my friend, Patience. Nah, the first game should be posted tonight depending on how long I play hoops for.

[Fresh8]

Ok man. I can't wait for you to post it!

And have you seen how bad your Bobcats are doing?

[Mark.]

July 30th 2008
McFadden Brace Carries The Lions to First Ever League Win


LONDON FC: Dudek; Richards , Bramble, Ridgewell (65), Traore; Larsson (65), Sankhare, Moutinho, Barnes; Guilherme (80), McFadden (4-4-2)
SUBSTITUTES: Asenjo, Sakho (65), Silva (65), Wilshere (81), Gyan.
------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
NOTT. FORREST: Smith; Maloney, Chambers , Morgan, Wilson (65); Thornhill, Moussi, Cohen (85); Anderson, Earnshaw , Martin (45) (4-3-3)
SUBSTITUTES: Roberts, Perch (65), Cole (45), Davies (85), Tyson.


Recap
London FC started their promotion campaign in style with a convincing 3-1 victory over Nottingham Forrest. The victory starts the rookie club en route to what many believe will be a white wash season to prepare them for top flight football. James McFadden started his quest for a golden boot award with a pair of powerful strikes that set his club up well for the victory. A Robert Earnshaw goal midway through the second half dispelled any hope of a clean sheet for the new side, but in truth it was more the case of a magnificent shot than a keeper blunder.

A respectful start...
While most pundits are saying that this will be a walkover season for The Lions, the club came out with a completely different stance, respecting their opponents and putting more players behind the ball than expected. Whether it was early season nervousness, or more simply a cautious approach to avoid an early upset, the away team saw a lot more of the ball for the first 10 minutes of the match.

A Break Through...
It was only 13 minutes the fans had to wait for the first goal, and it didn't happen as expected. A brilliantly placed through ball from Sankhare allowed McFadden to run into space with a one on one situation with the keeper, and with his finishing skills there wasn't any question of the outcome. Now playing with a swagger the London side quickly became the more dominant of the two teams, playing most of the football in the other teams half.

A two goal lead is always better than one...
It didn't take long before the fans were once again chanting McFadden's name. A precision pass from João Moutinho allowed the powerful striker to slip two defenders and fire from just above the penalty spot. Compared to his first shot it was of a more skillful breed, placed in the corner of the net with his "weak" foot. The visiting fans were silent by this stage and London looked good to ring in their inaugural season with an unblemished victory.

Earnshaw spoils the party...
While Forrest never looked to be in the game at all, a defensive blunder from Titus Bramble set Robert Earnshaw up for what will quite possibly be the goal of the season. Over running his line, Bramble allowed the Forrest front man to unleash a ferocious shot from well outside the box. The shot was perfect, ringing in off the upright to easily beat the out-stretched Dudek. We will definitely be seeing that goal for some time.

A deserved ending...
Despite the blemish on The Lion's scorecard the London side did not lose a step, maintaining control of the game and never letting Forrest past the point of Earnshaw's great effort. To be fair the scoreline should have been greater with Midfielder Adrien Silva chesting down a Micah Richards cross to the far post, only to sky the ball into the crowd. Looking to play more of a defensive role this season, Silva will be left to rue his chance at getting on the goal sheet. It was in fact another substitute that put the icing on the cake for The Lions. Only one minute after stepping onto the pitch, Jack Wilshere found himself with only open space between him and the goalkeeper and he was not to be denied his glory, striking the ball across the face to the goal to find the net. A great confidence boost for the 16 year old.


Highlights

phpBB [video]

Audio: Banquet - Bloc Party

[Mark.]

Ok man. I can't wait for you to post it!

And have you seen how bad your Bobcats are doing?

There you go And booo to my Bobcats, make them better

[Arcane]

commanding win and look forward to more of this great in depth presentation

[kibaxx7]

Really nice presentation And even better lineup

Edit: Now that I can see the video, nice musical selection

[Fresh8]

Good win to open the season man.