Good job NT2005, I told you there's nothing to be embarassed about, you've done well so far.
NYHits, you shouldn't be upset about the retirement of star players, because their replacements are always very good, and end up being just as good, and usually better than the real thing.
I'm in my 3rd season, 2nd with West Ham United. I won promotion by winning the Championship on the last day of the season. West Bromwich Albion had the same point total as I did, but I had a better goal differential.
I bought Paolo Maldini's replacement when he was 19, he's now 20 and he's already 3 stars. Also, at the end of the previous season, I got promoted to the EPL with West Ham, and with the extra money I bought Zinedine Zidane's replacement. He's 3 stars, and he's only 18. He and Maldini's replacement are the difference between being in the middle of the table and being in the top 3.
I'm currently in first place. I'm 7-0-1, my only loss was to Charlton. I was down 3-0 at half, then came back in the 2nd half and tied it at 3-3, only for the computer to score a ridiculous goal, as usual, to lose 4-3. My best result thus far has been a 6-2 home win over Manchester United. I don't know if they weren't prepared for my attacking style, but they seemed to have no defence at all. I have to play Arsenal next, luckily for me, it's a home game, but I can never seem to beat Arsenal in any of my careers.
I'm going to stay with West Ham for my whole career, and build them into a dynasty by buying all of the stars replacements. Eventually, I'm going to buy all of the players that used to play for West Ham: Frank Lampard, Jermaine Defoe, Joe Cole, etc.
I'm 1 1/2 stars at the moment, hopefully I'll be at 2 or 2 1/2 by the end of the season.
Cheers!