This following guide is for anyone who wishes to play as West Brom after the update! I am basically going to be describing the different things i did for example; The Tatics i use, The Players i signed on the first season and any changes i made to the staff!!

My initial starting XI and the roles i set them is as follows

Formation: 4-2-3-1 Deep

GK: Ben Foster (Default)
DR: Steven Reid (Full Back, Defend)
DL: Goran Popov (Full Back, Defend)
DC: Jonas Olsson (Central Defender, Stopper)
DC: Gareth McAuley (Limited Defender, Cover)
DM: Claudio Yacob (DLP, Support)
DM: Yousouff Mulumbu (Anchor Man, Defend)
AMR: Zoltan Gera (Winger, Attack)
AML: Chris Brunt (Inside Forward, Support)
AMC: James Morrison (Advanced Playmaker, Support)
ST: Romelu Lukaku (Advanced Forward, Attack)


(Both Lukaku and Long both play very well as Advanced Forwards)

Here is just a small list of players that i transfer/loan listed after playing my first friendly game:

Gabriel Tamas- Transfer
Craig Dawson- Loan
Peter Odemwingie- Transfer
Boaz Myhill- Transfer
Kemar Roofe- Loan
Saido Berahino- Loan
Adil Nabi- Loan
Kieran McCalla- Loan
Jack Rose- Loan
Scott Allan- Loan


Scott Allan was the 1 player that picked up more interest then the rest of these, about 5 Championship Clubs offered Valuable Player in the loan deal and 2 Premier League Clubs offered for Cover in loan. So if you do loan him out, be prepared to face a tough decision, do you want him playing regular in view of bringing him back into the squad or act as cover and maybe sell him the following summer window?

Just a quick note to this, it depends on what secondary tactics you have lined up for your team.

For me my other tactics were 4-4-2 and 3-4-1-2

So back to the players i made bids for:

Jores Okore (19 year old, Danish, Centre Half from FC Nordjesland) ((May not want to join))
Adryan (17 year old, Brazilian, Attacking Midfielder from Flamengo)
Will Hughes (17 year old, English, Midfielder from Derby County)
Mason Bennett (16 year old, English, Striker from Derby County)
Josh Carson (19 year old, Northern Irish, Winger from Ipswich Town)
Tony Watt (18 year old, Scottish, Striker from Celtic)
Karl Darlow (21 year old, English, Goalkeeper from Notts Forest)


Out of these players, Will Hughes and Josh Carson both grew into top players for me within 3 seasons, Hughes became England Captain at the tender age of just 21, Carson however, while he didnt score many goals, he certainly contributed by getting between 15-20 assists and both of these players made the Premier League team of the year 2 years in a row!

Depending on the style of manager you are, talk to your board to get different things from them whether it be Improving Youth/Training facilities, Improving Youth Coaching/Recruitment, Getting more Staff Members etc.

For me, i personally focus on getting my youth system upto scratch, i find i am constantly asking the board to improve certain areas of the youth setup.

Other areas you may want to look at improving is the stadium (of course this depends on how well/terrible you're doing.) Also i'd suggest looking at getting yourself lined up with about 3-4 affiliate clubs, my 4 are; Tamworth, Cordoba, Club Brugge and Walsall.

Again depending on the type of manager you are and the tactics you are using, you may want to re adjust the backroom staff.

Now for any of you that are West Brom fans, you should know that Richard Garlick (The Current DoF) isnt really that good at his job, so with that in mind, that may be the first staff role you want to change.

My Current Staff that have staid are as follows;
GK Coach: Dean Kiely
Reserves Manager: David Oldfield
U18's Manager: Jimmy Shan
Coaches: Keith Downing & Henry Cleminson
Head of Youth Devolopment: Mark Harrison
Scouts: Joost Volmer, Tim Davies & Bobby Hope
Physios: Richie Rawlings


Adding to those staff members i have brought in some others, they are as follows:
Joe Jordon (Coach)
Ray Wilkins (Coach)
John Owens (Coach)
Andrew Cole (Coach)
Juan Cruz Sol (Scout)
Tommy Miller (Scout)
Patrik Andersson (Scout)
Nicky Hammond (DoF)

Now this in my books is the most important part of FM13. Below is a list of players who for me became first team players within 3 or 4 seasons.....give or take.

From the Reserves i had 2 players, they were;
Adil Nabi (Striker, became my secondary striker in 2017, scored 14 goals in 19 apps)
Saido Berahino (Striker, became my number one striker in 2017, scored 21 goals in 20 apps)

From the Youth Setup;
Jack Rose (Goalkeeper, for a while was my second keeper, but after i released Foster, he did well)
Alex Jones (Striker, though i trained him up to be a left winger and he did well before i sold him onto Southampton for around £4m)
Danny Barrow (Winger, after going out on loan until 2017 he made 20 apps and made 12 assists)

Youth Players i signed:
Mason Bennett (Striker, bought from Derby County, become a great international goalscorer)
Lorenzo Tassi (Defensive Midfielder, from Inter, becomes a top premier league midfielder)
Wilfred Gnahore (Midfielder, from Notts Forest, becomes a 3 star midfielder and scores alot of goals from free kicks if you train him up on his composure)

Right thats it for now, if there is anything else you would like tips on, just leave behind a comment and i shall try and get back to you as soon as i possibly can!

Happy Playing People


BOING BOING!!