Reading FM09 Guide

If you're playing Football Manager 2009 already, you're probably testing your Premier League team. As big as a Chelsea supporter I am, I don't play my team, I prefer teams with more target. The Coca Cola Championship precisely. This time my pick is Reading while in 08 my team was West Bromwich Albion (WBA) which is already back in the big show this season.

Starting benefits:
1. 5m transfer budget which is sufficient to revamp the whole team if you get the right player
2. Strongest pair of central defense in the championship - Andre Bikey & Khalifa Cisse
3. Good overall cover for 2nd string players
4. Superb captain in James Harper, on the central midfield
5. Reliable keeper in Marcus Hahnemann (if you don't wanna get any keeper)
6. You've got very-wanted players
7. Consistent strikers in Shane Long and Kevin Doyle


Selling:
Not many will sell because of their big player / major name mentality from playing in the premier league for too long. Players that you can sell to boost your transfer powah:

1. Leroy Lita for 1m
2. Gylfi Sigurdsson for 400k
3. Adam Federici for 800k
4. Sam Sodje for 300k
5. Bobby Convey for 2.2m
6. Michael Duberry for 500k
7. Ivar Ingimarsson for 1m
8. Liam Rosenior for 1.5m

Total income will be 7.7m although some will be pending on monthly installment. Of course you can sell for more especially Rosenior and Convey, I was more eager to push them out the door. Plus that with your 5m, now you have 12.7m to spend to revamp the whole team. Besides, you need to balance the wage budget for your new army.


Buying:
Don't go buying English players, cos you can't afford the good ones, and the ones you can afford are crap. Reading like any other team have 2 problems; right wing and right back. Opt for smaller nation's players although sometimes you can find a freak in Serie C2 of Italian league as well. Now you need 2 central defenders to cover if you set the DCs' tackles to "hard". Bikey and Cisse is very yellow-card prone and ban-prone. For central defenders I opt for:

Center Back
1. Hamed Diomande. Ivorian 20 years old for 350k, no work permit problem
2. Alexander Rajcevic. Slovenian 21 years old for 325k

For my left and problematic right back, I opt for good physical stats especially pace and acceleration. I brought in 4, with another on January window.

Full Backs
1. Peter Masilela. 23, South African for 525k. You're missing out big time if you play the Championship without him.
2. Vasco Regini. 18, Italian from Serie B for 400k.
3. Janvier Besala. 19, from Congo for 850k
4. Tumelo Nhlapo. 20, South African for 160k
5. Jair Iglesias, 27 Peruvian for free

Solved the defense problem, now move on to midfield. Most of the kids don't cut it, so cut them off. After hunting and testing, I stick to:

Central Midfielders
1. Mascio, 17 y/o Italian from Italian Serie C2. This kid is going to be a monster in 2 years, unbelievable stats. You can snitch him for about 100k or less.
2. James McCarthy, 17 y/o from Ireland for 1.6m. Tad expensive but worth it. Consider him a replacement for James Harper when you ship Harper out in January for 4m+.
3. Tinashe Nengomashe, 26 defensive midfielder from Zimbabwe for 550k. Awesome defensive, mental, and physical stats

I'll probably need another one or two but I'll wait till January window opens before hunting in lower leagues again. Now wings, I opt for medium speed and high technicals.

Wingers
1. Nicola Madonna, 21 y/o Italian for 600k from Serie B. Free kick specialist when Mascio is not playing.
2. Anderson Cueto, 18 y/o Peruvian for 250k on the left wing.
3. Jakub Mares, 21 y/o Czech for 650k as cover

Keep Stephen Hunt for now until January window, then ship him out and get a new left winger. Ahmed Samir Farag from Egpyt or Banahene from Ghana can be a good player in Championship. Now my favorite part, strikers. 3 new buys are all unknowns, but very effective so far irregardless what pair I play them in.

Strikers
1. Javier Acuna, 20 y/o from Paraguay for 950k. Expensive but worth it due to his silky runs and great physical stats.
2. Opoku Agyemang, 19 y/o from Ghana for 350k. His stats are deceiving. This is the all new Ruud Van Nistelrooy + Nicholas Anelka for the Coca Cola Championship. Very good timed runs for diving headers and poacher.
3. Denis Maccan, 24 y/o Italian from Serie B for 500k. Good technical and mental stats but consider a slow type of striker. Very deadly if someone like Doyle or Acuna can open up space for him.


Come January window, sell Harper for 4m plus, the 2 Hunts for a couple of millions, and some other fringe players to "fix" your financial status. That's all. More goodies soon.