Football Manager 23 [Archive] - Page 10

Dan

15-02-2024, 01:19 PM

I don't think this will be a particularly exciting summer, but there are definitely a few spots I'll be looking to target & if we can hit on our moves we should be well set up for a good future.

Portsmouth 207/28 Midseason Update

After comfortably staying up in our first season back at the top we're now looking to solidify our status as a Premier League side, but with a few key players to replace & still comfortably being the smallest (https://imgur.com/v85VGzC) & least wealthy team in the league we had to get things right to avoid the sophomore slump.

Transfers:
https://i.imgur.com/AsUpn2x.png

https://i.imgur.com/d0hduOh.png

With Joel Ndala not wanting to make his three year loan spell permanent we needed to get ourselves at least one new winger, and Adriano Onyegbule seems like a pretty good replacement for a much cheaper price. We also added Matheus Nascimento, who can play as a winger whilst also providing cover up front, and we also added a wonderkid newgen in Arne Røyse to give us extra options at both spots. We did manage to get a loan deal for Joao Fonseca converted into a permanent deal, and we've also brought in a new left back in Marcelo Morales, and as you can see we made the decision to get a new starting goalkeeper - I went back to a couple of guys I've had before in old saved & as they were both so cheap I just decided to get them both in to be safe :D

Joe Morrell was the most notable departure, and we cashed in on a couple of academy kids who weren't going to make the grade, but other than that it was basically just a lot of loans, including sending the old GK back to Norway until the new year in the hope they'll buy him.

Results:
https://i.imgur.com/n4hqQw0.png

League form has been up & down so far, with a nice start, then a horrible run in the middle & a good recovery to end the year. We're currently sitting in 8th place (https://imgur.com/ckjIsLC), although Newcastle are behind us with a game in hand & a few of the teams ahead of us also have some extra games to play so I don't think we'll be pushing for Europe just yet. Also just want to point out Spurs, who are in a relegation battle & have recently sacked their manager only to replace him with Jurgen Klinsmann, which hasn't exactly transformed their fortunes.

I'm still happy with how things are going - I was aiming for 10th we're on course to achieve a top half finish, although I have made the squad a bit smaller than I probably should have & we're feeling it at the moment due to a few injuries piling up, so I might need to recall one or two players if I can't find some stop gaps in January.

We had a quick run in the EFL Cup, outlasting West Ham in a marathon shootout (https://imgur.com/65y7sZb) before getting shown the door by Man City in the next round, and we'll be playing Birmingham in the third round of the FA Cup, so hopefully we can go through a few rounds there.

Some business needed in January, but we're in a decent spot to at least maintain our performance from last year & hopefully we can challenge for a top half finish.

John Arne

18-02-2024, 12:34 PM

Sir Andy Mahowry

18-02-2024, 12:51 PM

Scouts could be shit, there could be negatives that the scouts think will hold back the player (some of the hidden attributes you've shown us in that screenshot aren't great), it's a combo of both or you just haven't scouted him enough so your scouts only have a vague understanding of how good he could be.

Baz

18-02-2024, 12:55 PM

Who’s a team that’s not loaded but has a decent enough reputation, in any country, that I can have a fun save using the transfer bug to assemble a team too good for their own right and whoop my way up to the top?

Gray Fox

18-02-2024, 01:23 PM

Everton. Borussia Mochengladbach, Valencia, Fiorentina, Feyenoord and Marseille?

Mike

18-02-2024, 01:38 PM

Here’s a list of budgets. It might be when the came launched, so before any patches/updates

https://sortitoutsi.net/football-manager-2024-club-transfer-budgets

Sir Andy Mahowry

18-02-2024, 04:10 PM

https://i.imgur.com/xItZvoR.png

MASSIVE day for us in Hitchin.

Dan

18-02-2024, 05:01 PM

Some business needed in January, but we're in a decent spot to at least maintain our performance from last year & hopefully we can challenge for a top half finish.

Portsmouth 2027/28 End of Season Review

After a solid start to our second season in the Premier League we were looking good to improve on last season's 13th place finish, and if we could finish strong it wasn't inconceivable that we could find ourselves in contention for a European place in what has proven to be a very competitive league this year. We did have some work to do in January though, so let's start there...

Transfers:
https://i.imgur.com/a0MDeDq.png

We didn't need huge moves midseason, but we definitely needed to increase our depth at a few positions, with the main focus being to get some reinforcements along the back four, so we made a couple of loan moves, bringing in Lenny Yoro to help cover for Joao Fonseca's injury, along with Rainey Breinburg to give us some extra depth at LB. We also needed some extra cover up front, so we recalled Bobby Murdoch, who hadn't been playing while on loan at St Johnstone. The only other move was to do some wheeling & dealing in midfield, as we brought in veteran model pro Morten Thorsby for peanuts while flogging Filippo Ranocchia for £7.25m.

The League:
https://i.imgur.com/5DYKtGE.png

Pretty much the definition of an inconsistent mid-table team, as we were able to beat Liverpool one week but then limped to a draw against relegation fodder Leicester when they had 10 men for more than an hour. That left the final table looking like this:

https://i.imgur.com/mnOd8DB.png

Spurs :roflol: Who could have guessed that hiring Jurgen Klinsmann wouldn't work out?

As for us, we benefitted from teams dropping points all over the place & ultimately managed to hold on to 8th when we could easily have slipped a couple of spots if the likes of Fulham hadn't completely shat the bed over the final few months of the year (sorry Thommo). I think we would've had European football if Crystal Palace hadn't beaten Liverpool on penalties to win the FA Cup, but to be fair we could probably still use another year to build before we get all those extra games chucked our way, so I'm not too disappointed.

The Cups:
https://i.imgur.com/CqaaHl6.png

I've already covered our brief EFL Cup run in the midseason update, but we had a good run in the FA Cup, reaching the semi finals while being involved in a lot of high scoring games, including beating Fulham on penalties after a 5-5 draw (sorry Thommo).

The Players:
Goalkeeper:
We started the season with Magnus Smelhus Sjøeng (https://imgur.com/3qJ4Iu2) still between the sticks, but he was so bad in the first game of the year that I immediately got him out of the squad & went shopping for replacements. In the end Stefano Turati (https://imgur.com/v7brQQT) took the spot as our starting GK, but Alessandro Plizzari (https://imgur.com/oBodHuq) played in the cups & proved to be a capable alternative. MSS will be gone in the summer, and I'd consider selling Plizzari too as we still have a decent veteran in Josh Vickers (https://imgur.com/twJbF4G), as well as three newgen GKs that could provide emergency cover.

Defence:
Things have stayed pretty consistent here, with Loic Mbe Soh (https://imgur.com/w6RBha3), Joao Fonseca (https://imgur.com/BmsCC0g) & Malachi Fagan-Walcott (https://imgur.com/ZjiYpBu) sharing the two CB spots again this year. Sean Roughan (https://imgur.com/s2rs8cz) (LB) & captain Regan Poole (https://imgur.com/Qc3THxl) (RB) have also continued as our fullbacks, although there's a bit more movement here as Roughan is out of contract in the summer so he's slowly been phased out in favour of Marcelo Morales (https://imgur.com/Hc11EeN), and I'm also looking to give Simon Walde (https://imgur.com/VlUlmF7) the RB job moving forward.

Lenny Yoro (https://imgur.com/xLsg8kn) will be going back to Brighton, but I'll probably bring Rainey Breinburg (https://imgur.com/jaiUEL7) in permanently since it only costs £30k & we need the depth. I still feel like we can upgrade LB, so that will probably be the main area of focus for the summer, even though I've already got Mário Tabuaço (https://imgur.com/RhMKcDY) on the way.

Midfield:
I'm planning on making some changes here, with Miguel Azeez (https://imgur.com/NqBk5wc) & Félix Lemaréchal (https://imgur.com/HHWbTYm) likely to leave, and I'm also intending to try to get Charlie Patino (https://imgur.com/TSO6NUh) out the door as despite an improved season this year he does still seem to have started getting dinged up consistently & he doesn't have a huge impact on games. We have a couple of academy kids that I'd planned to use to fill out the squad, but then I stumbled across two newgens who were too good to turn down, so we'll be having Vladimir Petkov (https://imgur.com/Ga28PRX) & Mahir Hadžić (https://imgur.com/YD65YfY) in the side next year. When you also include Leopold Uhlig (https://imgur.com/QJWR6Ze) & Morten Thorsby (https://imgur.com/ppryoiI), who have been sharing the B2B role this season, and Alex Robertson (https://imgur.com/Zwr3hmw), who will likely be playing CM more next season, you can probably see why I'm willing to let Patino go.

On the wings we got decent seasons from Adriano Onyegbule (https://imgur.com/lGe0n8S) & Arne Røyse (https://imgur.com/eky7dhk), but it was Paddy Lane (https://imgur.com/WKHdYs3) who really stood out, creating 21 goals & adding 6 of his own. Eli Junior Kroupi (https://imgur.com/SbBuv4A) has begun to take control of the AMC role, and continues to attract a lot of interest from bigger clubs, so we're getting ready to double his wages in order to get his release clause for CL teams up to £80m rather than the £34m one that he currently has - we've already had bits of up to £50m for him from non-CL teams, so this should hopefully help avoid us losing him on the cheap. We do have Fábio Esteves (https://imgur.com/ycfFYSi) behind him, as well as another newgen who will be returning from loan, so it won't be a disaster if someone does end up taking Kroupi from us, but I'd definitely prefer to keep him here a while longer.

Striker:
Arnaud Kalimuendo (https://imgur.com/TgBQz4J) continues to be our main source of goals, and he was basically our only true striker this year, with Røyse & Matheus Nascimento (https://imgur.com/3J3Bhzk) also playing out wide a lot, but Bobby Murdoch (https://imgur.com/2eBj6Ne) did okay when he saw the field, which is encouraging. I do have one guy out on loan that should probably rejoin the squad next year, but I might keep an eye out for other options in case there's a monster out there who can be the long term starter.

--

We have about £60m to spend already, so if we can get a few players off the books I think we should have more than enough in the warchest to get in a new LB & a striker whilst also finally pushing the wage budget over £1m a week.

Other Stuff:

We should be heading back to Fratton Park after a year away, with the stadium expansion almost completed. That should take us to about 31,000, which was roughly what we've averaged in a bigger stadium this season, and I think we can still sneak a few extra seats in down the line if needed. We're also continuing to upgrade our facilities, although you wouldn't know it from the rather uninspiring youth intake we got this season.

Taking a quick look around the league, Everton have finally had the tycoon takeover that seems to happen in every save, so I'm expecting to see them go flying up the league in the next couple of seasons, which will probably have a negative impact on our own prospects of securing European football moving forward. It doesn't seem like we're going to be far from the bottom of the league in terms of rep & finances any time soon, so we might be entering a consolidation phase while we drag ourselves up onto a level playing field with the rest of the league.

Sir Andy Mahowry

18-02-2024, 08:14 PM

Hitchin Town 2028/29 Season Update:

League:

https://i.imgur.com/q3St21w.png

https://i.imgur.com/D8MzDRr.png
https://i.imgur.com/WpE3rwU.png

We started really well and then had our customary collapse but thankfully we stopped the rot early and were never in danger of getting relegated (16th was our worst position) and we were mathematically safe with 5 games to go. I feel like we could be on for a playoff run very soon.

Cups:

https://i.imgur.com/YtPgc3n.png

Annoying we couldn't do more but whatever.

Squad:

https://i.imgur.com/1u6Oq1L.png

Sammon really drove us forward massively this year:

https://i.imgur.com/R9QSzRn.png

He's a stunning finisher and he works so well, it took him a little bit to take over Hatcher as first choice but when he did he didn't look back. It's going to be gutting when some bigger team poaches him from us. I think the squad is starting to take shape and it showed with our performances this year. The worst thing is that Matthew Hughes is probably done after the following season as he didn't want to sign a new contract (we had a 1 year extension clause thankfully) and I've managed to piss him off now.

Youth Intake:

https://i.imgur.com/CGt77Y1.png

https://i.imgur.com/kHB5act.png

https://i.imgur.com/ydKE1kr.png

https://i.imgur.com/ifN2SeF.png

https://i.imgur.com/Vct17Vh.png

https://i.imgur.com/3g2ci35.png

https://i.imgur.com/oTB81PW.png

https://i.imgur.com/b9HbVip.png

https://i.imgur.com/NoLXv31.png

https://i.imgur.com/VrxRlg0.png

https://i.imgur.com/X35SMPX.png

https://i.imgur.com/9ewS8j2.png

https://i.imgur.com/yiJ3O2j.png

Most excited about Ojo who is already our second best CB, he has played some games as has Gavin who had to play a few games after our starter got injured.

I feel I need a new HOYD to get the most out of our recruitment from next season.

Baz

18-02-2024, 09:17 PM

https://i.imgur.com/xItZvoR.png

MASSIVE day for us in Hitchin.This is awesome. Did you just ask to upgrade youth recruitment everytime you could?

Sir Andy Mahowry

18-02-2024, 09:44 PM

This is awesome. Did you just ask to upgrade youth recruitment everytime you could?

Yes.

They rejected it many times but I kept asking and would argue as much as I could. The best argument for me seemed to be "We'll be left behind by our rivals".

Sadly I cannot get them to be so forthcoming with coaching courses. They always say that they feel if I get too good I'll outgrow the club and leave so I decide to threaten to resign which they turn around and tell me to do it if I've got the stones. It doesn't make sense but I respect the challenge which they know I wont take them up on.

John Arne

19-02-2024, 12:43 AM

Is that not going to cripple you financially? I believe highest youth facilities cost something like £4m to run.

Sir Andy Mahowry

19-02-2024, 09:32 AM

I think as everything else is still low, including youth level, we should be fine.

We had 3.5 last season and we lost a total of 30k over the season.

Dan

19-02-2024, 10:41 AM

https://i.imgur.com/4dUZYKc.png

Wasn't expecting to get that message. Kane is 34, Rashford has retired from internationals at 30 & I currently have Grealish & Jadons Ancho on trial as free agents, so it definitely seems like it would be time to overhaul the squad. I'm actually kinda tempted...

Sir Andy Mahowry

19-02-2024, 12:09 PM

https://i.imgur.com/WXRc3gE.png

https://i.imgur.com/J0Rgxug.png

:cry:

He's so fucking good and this hurts so much.

John Arne

19-02-2024, 02:35 PM

Dan

19-02-2024, 03:10 PM

That 2kg he’s put on must’ve been all pizza.

Is there anything on his training/coach reports to give you a clue? I’m assuming he hasn’t just broken his leg in between the screenshots

John Arne

19-02-2024, 03:25 PM

That 2kg he’s put on must’ve been all pizza.

Is there anything on his training/coach reports to give you a clue? I’m assuming he hasn’t just broken his leg in between the screenshots

Few minor injuries, nothing major. Torn his knee ligaments, but his decline had already started before that. I think perhaps I just overplayed him, over over trained him - basically had double intensity for 2 years :D

Sir Andy Mahowry

19-02-2024, 03:54 PM

No wonder he turned to pizza.

Clunge

19-02-2024, 05:56 PM

Did a test, found some young players with 170+ potential, still only 16. Had my scouts follow them... so far both had come back with only 3 star potential. So either my current team is absolutely stacked, or my scouts are just shite.

https://gyazo.com/b9a49b75f23d964f9a960a2e2a69efee.jpeg

https://gyazo.com/1e2c96144440175aebeed7b9906fde00.jpeg
Ambition and professionalism are the two biggest determiners of whether a player achieves his potential, iirc. I read a long deep dive into it a while back.

Dark Soldier

19-02-2024, 09:00 PM

Fucked about with corners again and have everyone attacking near post. Chaos.

https://i.gyazo.com/46946cc7a07dc36ecde5ffba651f59ad.png

Bam

19-02-2024, 09:32 PM

:D

The keeper taking the corner also. :D

Mike

21-02-2024, 08:40 PM

https://i.imgur.com/td2H99a.png
Easy

Gray Fox

21-02-2024, 09:13 PM

How have Dortmund been drawn against Bayern?

Sir Andy Mahowry

22-02-2024, 06:51 PM

Hitchin Town FC 2029/30 Season Update:

League:

https://i.imgur.com/trPK4Dc.png

https://i.imgur.com/8H5Obji.png
https://i.imgur.com/SWkpe7l.png

Again we started so well (and at one point we were 6 points clear in the last playoff spot) before the house of cards collapsed spectacularly. We just kept conceding stupid goals and we constantly lost points in games we should have won. Here is the xG table:

https://i.imgur.com/zemR89a.png

For instance we lost a game near the end 3-2 which saw our opponents score in the 93rd and 96th minutes. We also drew a game 2-2 (we had an xG of 3.13 and they had an xG of 1.07) due to a 98th minute equaliser. The game was just against us.

There was a lot of promising bits, including Sammon who scored 32 goals and came second in the top scorer charts. That kid could fire us to the playoffs soon.

Cups:

https://i.imgur.com/SnxdbHa.png

Much better run this year. Really impressed that we fought so hard against Chester who came 4th in the National League although they were top when we faced them.

Squad:

https://i.imgur.com/zn2EfEr.png

Sammon is an absolute beast. Outside of him it's harder to pinpoint who did well. Big props to Gareth Griffiths though, he came through this year and was an instant starter and did really well even breaking a few records for the youngest to play, start and score for us. Gutted as we've lost Hughes now as he's walked out as his contract expired and he refused to sign a new contract, he'll be hard to replace.

Youth Intake:

https://i.imgur.com/98JeIax.png

https://i.imgur.com/tGInlQE.png

https://i.imgur.com/eT0QlZ1.png

https://i.imgur.com/zSNPtvC.png

https://i.imgur.com/pByC4FO.png

https://i.imgur.com/FrsNiV8.png

https://i.imgur.com/NVLiLTl.png

https://i.imgur.com/e1Q6ecm.png

https://i.imgur.com/VPk6Lh3.png

A few have already started for us (Griffiths, Gilfedder, Godfrey and Johnson) with Griffiths and Godfrey coming straight in as starters in CM and RB respectively. Really like this crop for us.

All in all a decent season but it feels like it could have been more. I always knew we'd slip away as we aren't good enough to make the playoffs but to collapse that hard really hurts and I'd have loved us to have shown a bit more fight. It is two seasons in a row though in which there was no chance of us going down which is nice.

Clunge

22-02-2024, 07:45 PM

'Anti Parts' :happycry:

Shindig

22-02-2024, 07:57 PM

Gilfedder looks genuinely life-threatening.

Sir Andy Mahowry

22-02-2024, 08:16 PM

I feel he's an excellent addition to our afro gang.

Here are the others:

https://i.imgur.com/KdE03TS.png

https://i.imgur.com/RhszS0J.png

https://i.imgur.com/hVVpTOY.png

Shindig

22-02-2024, 08:25 PM

Is that not just the same bloke coming back through the door with a different number on his shirt?

Sir Andy Mahowry

22-02-2024, 08:26 PM

Hmm, I've never seen all of them at training on the same day.

Gray Fox

22-02-2024, 08:36 PM

Someone needs to invest in the Newgan facepack.

Sir Andy Mahowry

23-02-2024, 10:09 PM

I feel he's an excellent addition to our afro gang.

Here are the others:

https://i.imgur.com/KdE03TS.png

https://i.imgur.com/RhszS0J.png

https://i.imgur.com/hVVpTOY.png

RIP the Afro Gang:

https://i.imgur.com/Y8TMGXm.png

https://i.imgur.com/skgZWDo.png

https://i.imgur.com/1AWwP3s.png

https://i.imgur.com/LZUrDW0.png

Baz

24-02-2024, 12:01 AM

Randomly started a save with Lommel in the Belgian second-tier, and within a week of starting I’ve had news of a mystery foreign tycoon wanting to takeover the club. That’ll do.

Bam

24-02-2024, 08:35 AM

That newgan pack is a load of shit, they all look like there in there 30's.

Baz

24-02-2024, 09:52 PM

Signed a few potential worldbeaters using the exploit and assembled this motley crew:

https://i.imgur.com/rINwtLi.png

Plan to sell them all before they reach 50 appearances (and I have to pay £2.5m for each) and try and get 50% sell-on fee. Then rinse and repeat until I'm battering Anderlecht and Union SG every year and can go legit.

Dan

24-02-2024, 11:47 PM

It doesn't seem like we're going to be far from the bottom of the league in terms of rep & finances any time soon, so we might be entering a consolidation phase while we drag ourselves up onto a level playing field with the rest of the league.

Well, we've had a pretty interesting six months, as we've broken our record sale three times & I've got a new job. We've also played some games of football.

Transfers
https://i.imgur.com/PL2sN7Z.png
https://i.imgur.com/Rlugene.png

I said at the end of last season that we needed to recruit some LBs, and I might've gone a bit overboard on that as I signed four of them, including securing the return of Adam Aznou, who had been on load with us a couple of years ago. Esteban Argüello has stayed in Paraguay until the end of their season but is arriving in the new year, which might cause a few issues with game time for the rest of the season.

I also signed a couple of CBs, with Alan Ramirez coming straight into the squad & Paul Scholl staying at Schalke for the season, and then after some of our big outgoings we needed to add some reinforcements out wide so we reunited with Joel Ndala again & also managed to bring in Lamine Yamal, although I'm not sure we'll have either long term.

The outgoing were where things got interesting though - we'd already done a decent amount of business selling squad players & youth prospects, but I'd been working to get a decent offer for Charlie Patino for the whole window & we finally managed to offload him to UAE for a club record £23m (https://imgur.com/3TjnV6d), only for Schalke to come in a few weeks later & offer £36m for Matheus Nascimento (https://imgur.com/VJF91u9), which was too good to refuse.

That was all for the summer, but as we reached the end of 2028 we got some big interest in one of our best & most beloved players, which resulted in an enormous offer I couldn't turn down, so we're saying goodbye to Arnaud Kalimuendo (https://imgur.com/AuTe0sA), who will be joining Benfica for £60m (https://imgur.com/L9HEIld) :cry: We signed him for £3m & he's been banging them in ever since, so he's going to be hard to replace, but we have a couple of decent young strikers that will have to step up & I've also got another one on the way at the end of the season, so hopefully I won't end up regretting this one.

Results
https://i.imgur.com/CCVlElc.png
https://i.imgur.com/hZucvrQ.png

Things have been going well so far & we've been playing some entertaining games including three 6-3 wins in the space of a month. You might also notice that we've scored a lot of important late goals, and that resilience has helped contribute to our push for Europe, which is looking very promising at the turn of the year...

https://i.imgur.com/NMbyKAu.png

I'm not sure we'll hold on to a Champions League spot, especially given the concerns around replacing Kalimuendo, but we're in a great position to get Europa League football next season, which would be a huge boost to our reputation. We could probably use an extra year before we have to stand up to Champions League football anyway, so it wouldn't be too bad if we missed out on the top four this season. Missing out on Europe completely, however, would be a disaster from where we are now, so hopefully that doesn't happen.

Anyway, on to the new job...
https://i.imgur.com/N8h3bIF.png

I did end up deciding to take the England job when they offered it to me in the summer. We've got time to revamp the squad for WC2030, starting with the Nations League where we were drawn in a group with Italy, Poland & Ukraine. I've not gone too crazy just yet - this is the first squad I selected - but I have started working a few newgens into the side & the FA don't care about the Nations League so we can rotate people through without consequence.

https://i.imgur.com/z07ddu7.png

Results have been good in the Nations League as we topped our group (https://imgur.com/wUfEX77) & have Portugal in the semi finals, and we've also been handed a very winnable group (https://imgur.com/pDLDEHI) for World Cup qualifying, so things should be fairly straightforwards here until we hit the World Cup. I'm sure that won't come back to haunt me...

Sir Andy Mahowry

25-02-2024, 07:16 PM

Hitchin Town FC Season 2030/31 Season Update:

League:

https://i.imgur.com/d3jkGdv.png

https://i.imgur.com/qomkSXj.png
https://i.imgur.com/ngMaTLm.png

This season saw us break our team record for most wins (at 15) but it was also one of the tightest in terms of relegation. We were 4 points from safety with 6 to play and it was looking bleak. We then went on a mad run to save our hides and push Ilkeston down with the highest points total relegated in this save.

We struggled so much without Matthew Hughes at the back and my keeper went to absolute shit so I kept cycling youth keepers and defenders. Then the intake happened and we found ourselves a new bonafide number 1 CB and he helped us to only concede 3 goals in the final 6 games.

Props to Stourbridge for quite possibly the worst season ever in an FM save. Their points came in the following games (0-0 against Solihull in November, 1-1 against Redditch in February thanks to an own goal, 0-0 against Scarborough in March and then they finished the season with 2 0-0 draws in their final two games against Bamber Bridge and Ilkeston). Their fans must have had fun.

Cups:

https://i.imgur.com/YTVlgyT.png

We were in our awful run of form during the two losses and our keepers seemingly had no hands at all.

Squad:

https://i.imgur.com/J4pFxnC.png

The two Thomas' were huge, Sammon wasn't as prolific as he was last year but he had injuries. Johnson though became a fucking star down the stretch in the league and we'd have been buried if it wasn't for him. Big props to Ryan O'Conner our new CB as well as Javelle Bennet and Ejike Babatunde who really stepped up this year.

Youth Intake:

https://i.imgur.com/C0jDMgN.png

https://i.imgur.com/G2pgl1t.png

https://i.imgur.com/j3fXQVX.png

https://i.imgur.com/BuA0NFC.png

https://i.imgur.com/jO6HB6A.png

https://i.imgur.com/ZBGPzHZ.png

https://i.imgur.com/IvaP8hY.png

https://i.imgur.com/tAmsMGS.png

https://i.imgur.com/hL2k6Xg.png

https://i.imgur.com/hsGAUvJ.png

As mentioned above, Ryan O'Conner is the star of this intake. He's instantly our best CB and he looked assured when he came in as a starter.

wullie

26-02-2024, 07:36 PM

2027/28

After finishing 8th with Cov the season before a distress call came out from Arsenal who'd just had a recent low of 6th so I jumped ship with a fairly low bar set of doing better than sixth

https://i.imgur.com/Aobim07.png

Having beaten Southampton in the League Cup, pipping Man City to the league and beating Juventus in the Europa, facing Rotherham in the FA Cup to complete the set was a bit of an anti-climax. Anyway, as Arsenal have already won the Champions League in the seasons before me I've resigned

https://i.imgur.com/PjM67Kw.jpeg

Also to prove how magic I am, Cov immediately went down having gone through three managers in the single season.

Dan

27-02-2024, 12:31 PM

Portsmouth 2028/29 End of Season Update

I'm not sure we'll hold on to a Champions League spot, especially given the concerns around replacing Kalimuendo, but we're in a great position to get Europa League football next season, which would be a huge boost to our reputation. We could probably use an extra year before we have to stand up to Champions League football anyway, so it wouldn't be too bad if we missed out on the top four this season. Missing out on Europe completely, however, would be a disaster from where we are now, so hopefully that doesn't happen.

Having hit the midpoint of the season in contention for the Champions League, but with our star striker on the way out, we were approaching the rest of the year with a sense of uncertainty as we were relying on some unproven youngsters to step up & keep our European push on track. We didn't end up making any moves in January, preferring to show faith in the squad we've assembled, but would that be the right decision?

https://i.imgur.com/2NxWQ7u.png

Kinda ended up going roughly how I'd expected, as we continued to show promise but the lack of an elite goalscorer held us back slightly against the bigger sides. A 3-1 win against City was huge, but losses in our final two games ensured the drama went right to the end of the season...

https://i.imgur.com/wFDDtx7.png

We slowly fell away from the CL spots, but we did still have a chance at sneaking in if results went our way on the final day, however our loss combined with wins for both Newcastle & Bournemouth meant that we fell to 6th. Whilst it's disappointing to miss out on the final day it's probably a better outcome for us long term as the Europa League is more our level right now & it gives us a chance to keep building the squad before we start really trying to compete against the big boys.

Quick update on the cups too:
https://i.imgur.com/pdhqdx5.png

Not particularly impressed that we consistently drew good Premier League teams - the only exception was Blackburn, who made the playoff final in the Championship (then lost to Spurs, the dickheads).

Man City immediately dumped us out of the EFL Cup for the third season in a row, however we fared much better in the FA Cup & after battling through a couple of replays we powered our way to the final, where we'd take on Man Utd...

https://i.imgur.com/Fi0RqME.png

:(

For the second time in three seasons United have beaten us in the FA Cup. Clearly we just need to avoid the Manchester clubs if we want to have a chance at winning anything.

Players:
Goalkeeper:
We've settled things down in goal, with Stefano Turati (https://imgur.com/MH6Fa0h) firmly established as the number one now - he also got to score an injury time penalty when we smashed Luton 7-1. We've also tied down veteran backup Josh Vickers (https://imgur.com/qe0Efzg) for another couple of years, but I do have a few young GKs out on loan so I might have to add one of them to the squad for next season as well.

Defence:
I think the main area of focus for the summer could be the back four, where Loic Mbe Soh (https://imgur.com/TRnDsRq), Regan Poole (https://imgur.com/n32mj7h) & Malachi Fagan-Walcott (https://imgur.com/qUQE5cJ) are all beginning to be passed by younger players & I might consider moving all three on this summer. We have João Fonseca (https://imgur.com/WNfQV4R) & Alan Ramírez (https://imgur.com/Mzxfx37) as the CB pairing of the future, with Paul Scholl (https://imgur.com/AEbc5b5) also available following his arrival from Schalke, and there are some good youngsters who can also fill out the depth over the coming seasons. I do have a few veteran upgrades on the shortlist in case we sell our three current vets, so there's potential for a lot of changes over the next few months.

The battle for the starting LB spot will continue, with Adam Aznou (https://imgur.com/sbGbzTa), Mário Tabuaço (https://imgur.com/gHq3sOm) & Esteban Argüello (https://imgur.com/wvEBogR) all trying to take the job - I think Tabuaço is the long term starter, but having three good options here should be useful given we've got extra European responsibilities next year. Simon Walde (https://imgur.com/3YBzwph) is the starting RB now, and I also want to give a couple of youngsters some game time next year so we should be okay there for the moment, although we might need to upgrade next year if nobody really steps up.

Midfield:
We're all set here, as despite nobody really standing out I'm very happy with our current blend of ascending youngsters & capable veterans. Wonderkids Vladimir Petkov (https://imgur.com/KEuEvzW) & Mahir Hadžić (https://imgur.com/VLknhCG) are the future, with Leopold Uhlig (https://imgur.com/Tgng8zR) also likely to stick around long term, and they've been complimented by Alex Robertson (https://imgur.com/pMBQKS9) & Morten Thorsby (https://imgur.com/PbwAWQi), who will both be here a while yet. We also have a decent selection of academy kids we could add to the side if we need some more depth, so there's no real need to spend here any time soon.

On the wings both Joel Ndala (https://imgur.com/fOyuSfV) & Lamine Yamal (https://imgur.com/JEGUyuG) will be returning to their parent clubs this summer, which could leave us a bit short out wide, and we're not great on academy talent either so there could be some money spent here. Adriano Onyegbule (https://imgur.com/iSTxMHB) will start on the left, although he's had plenty of interest over the last year so there's no guarantee he stays long term, but assist machine Paddy Lane (https://imgur.com/ouSjG0K) has a place in the squad for the next few years - he's had 10+ assists every season of the save so far so hopefully he can keep the streak going a while longer.

Eli Junior Kroupi (https://imgur.com/2ybilSG) continues to excel in behind the striker, retaining the PFA Young Player of the Year award, and with Fábio Esteves (https://imgur.com/t8bpM2O) as the backup, along with some returning loanees & the versatility of our central midfielders, we're good for attacking midfielders for the foreseeable future.

Striker:
With Kalimuendo leaving I was hoping we'd see one of Arne Røyse (https://imgur.com/wrPQBdd) or Leo Scaltriti (https://imgur.com/QCiEKiF) step up, and to my surprise it was Scaltriti who looked the more reliable player down the back half of the season. Both guys will stick around next year, and they do give us some extra cover out wide, but we do already have a pre-arranged transfer for a young Spanish lad who will hopefully be able to lead the line next season. I'm willing to hold firm here at the moment, but we might have to make a move if goals become an issue through the first half of next year.

This also seems like the worst position for us in terms of academy talent, with literally nobody looking useful so far, so hopefully that changes soon.

England:

Not much of an update here, as we've only played a couple of WC2030 qualifiers, both of which we won. We've got our Nations League semi final against Portugal coming up soon, but I'll do a proper update at the end of the year.

John Arne

28-02-2024, 11:31 AM

Anyone ever had a players physicals just collapse? Got a young player who is developing well, but last 3 months his physicals have fallen off a cliff.

Before
https://gyazo.com/0ab8a992acbd04d70e60ed8daa7d333b.jpeg

After
https://gyazo.com/743148096c9d51742a9575a6931b5ca3.jpeg

Well, spent a season doing just normal training and massively reducing his playing time... but it seems the damage is done... he's slowly gaining wait and losing all athleticism :D

https://gyazo.com/c5385b8a6f7d82eb2c1d54b7bd727c11.jpeg

Sir Andy Mahowry

28-02-2024, 11:38 AM

Fat little shit.

John Arne

28-02-2024, 12:27 PM

Must be the famous Crewe pies.

Mike

28-02-2024, 09:25 PM

Pep’s worst nightmare

John Arne

01-03-2024, 01:40 AM

The Kenny Lunt Arena gets a massive upgrade.

https://gyazo.com/011783077aa0e17cd29105df9356f2d7.jpeg

Baz

01-03-2024, 03:33 AM

Patch is out. Reapply your real name fixes, everyone.

Mike

02-03-2024, 09:47 PM

Had a 'Golden Generation' come through
https://i.imgur.com/etZcLFJ.png

https://i.imgur.com/eoRxmDx.png

My fav has to be this chap with Finishing 17!

https://i.imgur.com/lHxaSww.png

Sir Andy Mahowry

03-03-2024, 12:51 PM

Hitchin Town 2031/32 Season Update:

League:

https://i.imgur.com/VTdXAnv.png

https://i.imgur.com/r3nVZBW.png
https://i.imgur.com/RVeuuvC.png

We should be doing better than this but we keep hitting massive slumps which completely total our season. I really thought we had an outside shot at the playoffs this season.

Cups:

https://i.imgur.com/lsHYCQV.png

Completely fucked it.

Squad:

https://i.imgur.com/Ahofc2z.png

Our defence isn't good enough, Ryan O'Connor is our best player and he plays well a lot of the time but whoever I put next to him isn't good enough. Babatunde and Barnett are absolute stars but we're not going to be able to give them new contracts and Championship Luton are after Babatunde so he might be leaving in the Summer.

Intake:

https://i.imgur.com/xNP5F4B.png

https://i.imgur.com/clEdklv.png

https://i.imgur.com/PsvDt7F.png

https://i.imgur.com/RFvr5NZ.png

https://i.imgur.com/pD7n9JK.png

Our worst intake in a while, these are the only ones that look semi-decent.

Baz

03-03-2024, 01:55 PM

Got the Cape Verde job while managing Belgian boys Lommel. Now have 3 cape verdians joining when they turn 18.

Mike

03-03-2024, 10:32 PM

https://i.imgur.com/zPyN4RD.png

Come on money bags owners!

Sir Andy Mahowry

03-03-2024, 10:45 PM

I had a takeover.

He instantly cancelled our affiliate link with Stevenage (friendly game every year where we keep all the cash) and he took out a £100k loan...

Mike

03-03-2024, 11:04 PM

https://i.imgur.com/I2OGaI8.png

https://i.imgur.com/o3JiutR.png

Mike

03-03-2024, 11:08 PM

I had a takeover.

He instantly cancelled our affiliate link with Stevenage (friendly game every year where we keep all the cash) and he took out a £100k loan...
They better not cancel my new stadium! It’s 12 months away!

Gray Fox

03-03-2024, 11:08 PM

I remember the Brendan Rodgers Liverpool team coming up just short of City and one of the pundits said you can't win a title shipping 50 goals in a season. Was it tactical issues or are your defenders just a bit crap?

Mike

04-03-2024, 08:04 AM

The young defence, while filled with potential, is currently crap. The problem is we’re tiny, so have no money, the wage budget for the season started at £0, meaning we had to sell last seasons keeper and our best defender went to City for big money.

Adramelch

04-03-2024, 11:20 AM

Finances in Serie A are perpetually an issue really. Even if you become one of the big teams domestically, it takes so long to be a proper big team.

Sir Andy Mahowry

04-03-2024, 11:56 AM

We have our first big sale at Hitchin:

https://i.imgur.com/DDJXQaT.png

https://i.imgur.com/xZsmj8X.png

I'm going to miss him but what an offer.

Edit: Got a bidding war going with Reading. QPR ended up going up to £400k with the loan, 50% next sale and friendly which he has accepted.

Mike

04-03-2024, 07:19 PM

The League Fixtures
https://i.imgur.com/vcgPNnU.jpeg

The Champions League fixtures
https://i.imgur.com/hcQg6Wz.png

Dan

04-03-2024, 09:42 PM

Portsmouth 2029/30 Midseason Update

We slowly fell away from the CL spots, but we did still have a chance at sneaking in if results went our way on the final day, however our loss combined with wins for both Newcastle & Bournemouth meant that we fell to 6th. Whilst it's disappointing to miss out on the final day it's probably a better outcome for us long term as the Europa League is more our level right now & it gives us a chance to keep building the squad before we start really trying to compete against the big boys.

Having broken into Europe for the first time we approached this season needing to add some depth to our squad, and also hope we'd managed to replace our star striker Arnaud Kalimuendo. As it happens he wasn't the only French superstar we'd end up having to replace...

Transfers:
https://i.imgur.com/7ugkZz1.png

We made some moves to revamp the back four, with long time starters Loic Mbe Soh & Malachi Fagan-Walcott leaving, alongside club captain Regan Poole, but the huge news was that Eli Junior Kroupi left us for yet another club record fee, as Aston Villa offered us £97m for him (https://imgur.com/s0NjZUK), which was extremely fortunate as he had an £80m release clause for CL teams, so it was lucky that none of them bothered to make a bid despite lots of interest. It's sad to see him go, particularly to a team we're competing with, but we already have two other AMCs who can take over so he's actually very easy to replace despite his excellence.

There weren't any huge moves in terms of incomings, although we did break our transfer record for a Ukrainian winger (https://imgur.com/aOOoFyB), and then broke it again to pair him with an Ivorian lad that came through at ASEC Mimosas, who have also become our latest feeder club (after nagging the board for a year & cancelling two other links). We mostly signed veterans to help us get to the squad registration limits & provide some good mentors for our youngsters, but there was one other guy who came in that's worth mentioning...

Even before I'd sold Kalimuendo I'd been on the look out for a young striker to be his eventual replacement, and after being priced out of a couple of options I settled on a Spanish kid called Diego Otin from Cadiz, who stayed with them last season before joining up with us in the summer. Whilst we'd got some decent returns from Leo Scaltriti down the back half of last year, Otin is the guy who will be leading the line this year & we'll need him to hit the ground running.

Results:
https://i.imgur.com/an5CKph.png

It's been a pretty good start to the season, and you might have noticed that Diego Otin has been on fire out of the blocks, with basically a goal a game at the turn of the year, although it does seem like Europe may have had some impact as we do seem a bit more inconsistent than last season, which has translated slightly into the table:

https://i.imgur.com/CVdqxPR.png

We're sitting seventh as it stands, however it's all very tight at the top & we do have a couple of games in hand on most of the teams in front of us, so a Champions League push is definitely not out of the question. I did get an offer for an interview with Chelsea (https://imgur.com/SfH9oqZ), but that was lolled off pretty quickly.

In terms of the cups, we had a fairly unimpressive run in the EFL Cup which was ended by Brighton (https://imgur.com/O4gJbo6), who are apparently our bogey side at the minute, however Europe has been going great as we've capitalised on a pretty soft schedule (https://imgur.com/gpJnDcd) to put ourselves in position to skip the playoffs.

It's definitely one of those seasons where context is important, as it looks like we've regressed with the extra pressure of Europe but I do feel like we're actually holding our level compared to last season & with a few extra games on out schedule there's a good chance we'll start to climb down the closing stretch.

England

Quick update on how 2029 has gone for the national team:

https://i.imgur.com/w7hujw8.png

Pretty solid year, which was to be expected as most of our games came in our relatively easy WC2030 qualifying group. It ended up coming down to us & Sweden, but a decisive home win late in the year was enough to ensure we topped the group (https://imgur.com/V1zXcrb). We've ended up with what feels like an unnecessarily tough group, though, as we've been drawn alongside Chile & Ghana (https://imgur.com/kW3Gxkt). I'd still expect us to win it, but it would've been nice to have got at least one jobber in the group.

Even though the results look pretty good on paper there's definitely still a lot to be concerned about. We limped through a lot of the qualifying games without putting anyone to the sword despite Eddie Nketiah scoring 14 goals this year, and when we did play a couple of good teams in the Nations League final four we ended up losing to Portugal & Spain, which doesn't fill me with confidence. I think I'd be happy with making the quarter finals at WC2030, but then I might just sack it off as I can't really be arsed with the extra faff.

Baz

07-03-2024, 09:47 PM

Despite Darwin Nunez scoring 52 goals last season, I've just signed Haaland for £440m. :drool:

Baz

08-03-2024, 08:10 AM

Is FFP a genuine threat on this if I’m a big team who will likely win prize money?

I’ve basically used instalments to sign Haaland, Musiala, Gvardiol, Arsen Zakharyan and hopefully Gavi using money I don’t have. I presume I won’t actually get on any kind of financial trouble, right?

Gray Fox

08-03-2024, 09:02 AM

The game does tend to be hardwired to stop you liquidating. You'll get random sponsorship payments or the owner will shove money in from time to time, but you can still rack up the points deductions.

Dan

08-03-2024, 08:22 PM

Portsmouth 2029/30 Season Review

It's definitely one of those seasons where context is important, as it looks like we've regressed with the extra pressure of Europe but I do feel like we're actually holding our level compared to last season & with a few extra games on out schedule there's a good chance we'll start to climb down the closing stretch.

Despite entering 2030 on the edge of the European spots I felt pretty good about the squad & had confidence we'd begin to climb over the second half of the season. That confidence was knocked slightly when Everton poached one of my amazing newgens on deadline day (https://imgur.com/tSZUDZJ), but aside from bringing in a couple of young Asian lads we went with what we had. Was I vindicated, or was my confidence misplaced?

https://i.imgur.com/Hggitye.png

We immediately started climbing with a hot run of form over the first 6wks of 2030, but we soon regressed towards the mean & the rest of the season was solid without being spectacular. Even so, the Prem seems to have become a highly competitive league where half the league has a legit shot at the Champions League on a given year, and that parity lead to a very close title race, with six teams still in it down the home stretch (https://imgur.com/undefined). Thanks to multiple fixture rearrangements we actually ended up playing our final game of the season against Man City after the final day, and it turned out that there was quite a lot on the line... (https://imgur.com/krZTDsS)

https://i.imgur.com/Kl0v8hx.png

Yeah, that loss to Man City on the final day scuppered our dreams of an unexpected title :(

Third is still a great result though, and it'll be nice to play Champions League football next year, although given that this was the lowest points total to win the league in the entire save so far this might've been our best shot to steal one for a few years.

The Cups:
https://i.imgur.com/wIZe944.png

Not much to report in the domestic cups, as we continue to be very sluggish in both competitions. The Europa League, on the other hand...

https://i.imgur.com/RuAMpuK.png

We got pretty lucky with draws throughout the whole competition, but once we saw of Villa I did think we had a chance, and that proved to be the case when we blew Lazio away in the second leg of the semi to set up a final against Sporting...

https://i.imgur.com/j9ZaiyR.jpeg

:dance:

We picked up our first proper silverware (https://imgur.com/MMQpa0b) in dramatic fashion as we controlled the majority of the game but had to rely on a bundled in late equaliser to avoid defeat, and when it went to penalties Stefano Turati stepped up to save two & ensure he got to lift the trophy.

The Squad:
With the departure of several veterans in the summer Stefano Turati (https://imgur.com/XyZ9Rsj) took over as club captain, and he's justified that decision with another strong season & some big performances when it mattered. He'll be the guy for a while longer, which is bad news for recently acquired Japanese stopper Sho Kitano (https://imgur.com/gx65jHz), who will compete with a handful of other decent youngsters to be the eventual successor between the sticks.

We overhauled the defence this year, with Joao Fonseca (https://imgur.com/jCNIIZz) & Alan Ramirez (https://imgur.com/2CnGzwB) taking over as our primary CB pairing. There were some ups & downs, and both Paul Scholl (https://imgur.com/XBCJbLX) & veteran Jerome Onguene (https://imgur.com/aKQK6B8) ended up playing more than I'd planned. I'm still being aggressive in bringing in players here, with Zeng Lisheng (https://imgur.com/Xw18HTI) joining in January & another big move already lined up for the summer. We have some good young players out on loan too, so we should be able to find the right pairing eventually.

At fullback we have good options on both sides, with Mario Tabuaco (https://imgur.com/IezkzA6) & Esteban Arguello (https://imgur.com/qEzlaoO) rotating on the left & talented academy kid Zbigniew Urbanski (https://imgur.com/ZWyz5jP) backing up Simon Walde (https://imgur.com/77TgRBc) on the right. We have another promising RB on the way, but there's not really much else coming through to give us insurance on either side, so I might look to find a veteran who can also do some mentoring.

Our midfield took a hit with the loss of Vladimir Petkov, however we do still have some good players here. Mahir Hadzic (https://imgur.com/FO4djc6) is almost as talented as Petkov, and Leopold Uhlig (https://imgur.com/tvy7b40) is a very good allrounder, but both had a few injuries this year, which forced us to rely on Alex Robertson (https://imgur.com/w9B2fmV) & Morten Thorsby (https://imgur.com/G53LulZ) almost exclusively at times, as the only other option was the ghost of Jordan Henderson (https://imgur.com/bcpc9pJ). I've got someone coming in & we have some reasonable academy players who could provide some extra depth, so hopefully we don't have as many issues here next season.

Moving forward slightly we managed to replace Eli Junior Kroupi pretty easily, as both Hamza Bensabouh (https://imgur.com/6wHSMy7) & Fabio Esteves (https://imgur.com/B3c5Luy) playing well in the AMC role, and out wide we got yet another solid season from Paddy Lane (https://imgur.com/7w1sHF2), who continues to churn out 10+ assist seasons with his eyes shut. Adriano Onyegbule (https://imgur.com/LJsCR8V) has been a decent option on the left for the last few seasons, but I think the long term future out wide lies with Jimmy Zady Sery (https://imgur.com/0HKJL0R) & Mikhail Popov (https://imgur.com/5QHJBNr), who both showed promise in their first seasons. We also gave some game time to Dan Davis (https://imgur.com/88lRw9j), who was the first decent player to come through our academy & he played pretty well despite some fairly underwhelming attributes, so hopefully he'll stick as a long term squad player.

Up front Diego Otin (https://imgur.com/8pxyllT) immediately made us forget about Arnaud Kalimuendo, although he did fall on his face in the last month of the season so there's still room for him to level up even more over the next few seasons. Leo Scaltriti (https://imgur.com/f9Iivdv) has established himself as the primary backup, which might spell the end for Arne Royse (https://imgur.com/KLj7Ycp), although his versatility & raw talent might keep him around as a depth player with upside, particularly as we don't really have any other options in the club who could fill in.

We have a big stack of cash at our disposal, and I'm starting to look at making some bigger moves as we have most of the squad sorted already, so there's always a chance we take a big swing, but I'd imagine it'll be a quiet summer as we look to make a final push towards title contention.

Oh, and there's also the World Cup. We'll be beginning our campaign to bring it home in the next couple of weeks, so I'll do a separate update on that fairly soon, but it's definitely going to be the one & only competition I take them to as I'll be resigning once our tournament is over.

Mike

08-03-2024, 08:47 PM

Found a player who is a 4 star RW and a 4 star CB.
https://i.imgur.com/VKwsiw5.png

Sir Andy Mahowry

08-03-2024, 09:14 PM

With that jumping reach he can stay on the wing.

Dan

08-03-2024, 09:16 PM

If they’re a winger & a centre back then they’re clearly actually a wing back.

Baz

09-03-2024, 09:44 PM

Despite Darwin Nunez scoring 52 goals last season, I've just signed Haaland for £440m. :drool:
https://i.imgur.com/U4tov5B.png

Danny

10-03-2024, 04:36 PM

1766841157567275307

Sir Andy Mahowry

10-03-2024, 04:48 PM

Good hustle.

Dan

10-03-2024, 05:08 PM

Oh, and there's also the World Cup. We'll be beginning our campaign to bring it home in the next couple of weeks, so I'll do a separate update on that fairly soon, but it's definitely going to be the one & only competition I take them to as I'll be resigning once our tournament is over.

Here we go then. After qualifying in second gear we've been given a group that should force us to start turning things up a few notches, however given we've lost both our previous games against the top tier nations I was definitely not coming in expecting to get my hands on the trophy.

https://i.imgur.com/qexCqlv.png

Yeah, pretty much the standard England tournament performance - look good in the groups, struggle past an okay team, give a flash of what you could be then fall right on your face.

I was happy with our first two games, aside from losing captain Declan Rice (https://imgur.com/Ma7661p) for the rest of the campaign, but we played like shit against Australia, to the point where I blanked the team at half time. I'm not sure that was the reason we came back, but we did manage to scrape level & eventually won against ten men in extra time. The Belgium game was closer than the scoreline suggests, we just blew them away with three goals in three minutes, but it was an encouraging result given they're pretty comfortably the best team we've beaten during my reign. We gave a reasonable account of ourselves against Italy, despite conceding inside a minute, but set pieces proved to be our demise as they retook the lead midway through the second half from a corner & then finished us off after some pathetic defending at a free-kick.

I've already resigned (https://imgur.com/F8nLIC8), and Niko Kovac has quickly taken over after some good work with Palace the last few seasons, so it'll be interesting to see if he commits to a massive overhaul of the squad or if the old lads manage to hang about a bit longer. France saw off Italy in the semi finals, before edging out Argentina (https://imgur.com/vO9nYqO) to win it all.

In terms of notable players, there weren't many who stood out. Saka was decent, Foden & Alex Scott had their moments, and Jadons Ancho played himself back into the squad, then into the starting lineup, but Eddie Nketiah was the one true star, scoring 21 times over my two years in charge & 24 times in 23 caps overall.

Pre-season had already started for Portsmouth by the time I returned, but now I can focus in on preparing us for our first ever season in the Champions League, a Super Cup game against PSG (https://imgur.com/undefined) & (hopefully) another title challenge.

EDIT: Clearly didn't send word of my international retirement out. (https://imgur.com/pj9YPth)

Sir Andy Mahowry

10-03-2024, 05:27 PM

Hitchin Town 2032/33 Season Update:

League:

https://i.imgur.com/mzlhRRQ.png

https://i.imgur.com/KjHgK9V.png
https://i.imgur.com/1eg5SRh.png

We played really well at times and then absolute shit at others. Harshly done again by the ME as we finished 9th in the xG table and I really thought we could push for a playoff run.

Will be really hard to do as well with no Babatunde next season.

Cups:

https://i.imgur.com/HBA5t8o.png

That FA Cup run was absolutely massive, just a shame it ended so poorly and I was really hoping for a big Premiership team away to maximise financial gains but we still earned a huge amount. We also had our first ever sell out against Bristol City which was great to see.

Squad:

https://i.imgur.com/EDQ1ca1.png

Our four strikers in Sammon, Hatcher, Lentell and Johnson are really big for us as is our midfield especially Babatunde and Barnett. Sadly our defence (bar Nyadombo who loves getting assists) just doesn't seem to gel.

Here's Babatunde as well:

https://i.imgur.com/6l6mEx0.png

Sold to QPR for £400k, 50% of next sale, loan for this season and a friendly. The SI forums official rules say I've failed because I got him back on loan but fuck those dweebs, I think it's fine. Going to miss him as he's so fucking good but that price is mental. Money instantly left the bank though as we used all £400k on an upgrade to the training facilities.

Barnett wants to leave as well so I'm hoping I can get a similar deal in the Summer for him.

Youth Intake:

https://i.imgur.com/HT13vv7.png

https://i.imgur.com/jDUMNJd.png

https://i.imgur.com/H0N5jav.png

https://i.imgur.com/s2nmQRn.png

https://i.imgur.com/2vwyVIg.png

https://i.imgur.com/ahJYl9G.png

https://i.imgur.com/GBpCPGS.png

https://i.imgur.com/UJnmasj.png

None of them good enough to get senior football this season but I'm excited for Pavett and Everett. Also, we have our first ever Cypriot but I don't know where to fit him in. He can't tackle, mark or pass well enough for CM and he has no finishing ability with no composure.

Baz

10-03-2024, 07:31 PM

Seems like a slog, Mahow. Not sure I could be arsed.

Sir Andy Mahowry

10-03-2024, 07:40 PM

It is and I love it.

The low leagues are my favourite and I love a hard challenge.

Baz

11-03-2024, 03:44 PM

Finished the season in Belgium:

https://i.imgur.com/FfyxCwW.png

Won the league, as expected, mainly due to rinsing a certain bug before it was patched:

https://i.imgur.com/h0dBr1y.png

https://i.imgur.com/Z7ZoiQ9.png

Young-Coombes scored 26 in 29. Shame he looks like an absolute rat.

However, it has led to this:

https://i.imgur.com/V8DguCs.png

So I'm not sure what will happen. I've a few leagues loaded so might be able to jump ship before it starts to cause problems.

John Arne

12-03-2024, 02:36 AM

Hala Madrid, my arse.

https://gyazo.com/6acc8a8d29729933cafb45c206d4ec87.jpeg

Dan

16-03-2024, 10:44 AM

Portsmouth 2030/31 Midseason Update

We have a big stack of cash at our disposal, and I'm starting to look at making some bigger moves as we have most of the squad sorted already, so there's always a chance we take a big swing, but I'd imagine it'll be a quiet summer as we look to make a final push towards title contention.

After failing to win the title on the final day last season, we're looking forward to our first ever season in the Champions League & hoping that we can provide a proper challenge for the title this year. We had a lot of money at our disposal, but I'm pretty happy with the squad so it was just a case of making a few additions in the right places.

Transfers:
https://i.imgur.com/puNXckm.png

We had three deals already agreed (https://imgur.com/xTFj9Jt), bringing in a Romanian RB to eventually replace Simon Walde, a Uruguayan CM to fill the gap left by the sudden loss of Vladimir Petkov last season & smashing our transfer record (https://imgur.com/FbUu859) to bring in a talented French CB who looks like he could be a future superstar.

Beyond that, however, it was very quiet as we just brought in a new stable of veteran mentors, including 38 year old ex-Liverpool man Mo Salah to replace 39 year old ex-Liverpool man Jordan Henderson - I've also seen that Alisson could be available now but sadly he's retiring, so he can't make it a hat-trick. We also brought back former academy kid Chad Burke, who I always liked but to Ipswich sold a few seasons ago. Things didn't worked out for him there, so he's back to pad out the squad depth & help with our homegrown quotas.

No major departures, other than the sale of talented youngster Arne Royse to Wolves. He looks like a potential star but things just never fell right for him & he ended up finding himself as our third choice striker, so I figured everyone would be better off this way. We sold another striker for good money when Forest offered us a chunk of cash for a kid who's never played, but it was mostly just moving on youngsters that aren't going to make it.

The League:
https://i.imgur.com/1HmLb5u.png

Not too bad so far - we still have problems against the traditional elites at times, and it was disappointing to lose our first derby of the season against Southampton, but overall we've done okay.

https://i.imgur.com/o19suJM.png

We're in a fairly similar spot to last season, albeit with less games in hand to be able to reel in the teams above us. I think a title challenge is out of the question this year, but we definitely still have a good shot at getting back into the Champions League for next season, which would be a good result for us.

The Cups:
We've made it through to the ELF Cup semi finals, and we'll be facing West Brom in the FA Cup third round, but let's be honest, this is mostly about the Champions League.

We were handed a pretty tough set of fixtures (https://imgur.com/5X71qOD) for our first ever CL adventure, which immediately sent me from feeling confident about making the playoffs to hoping we could luck our way into 24th. Then I went to do our registration & realised I'd ballsed it right up, meaning I had to leave our several players I'd planned to include to stay within the rules. Not exactly the ideal way to kick things off, but would that carry over to the pitch?

https://i.imgur.com/QeZonK1.png

No it would not :cool: :cool: :cool:

I have no idea what is going on here, but we've walked in & absolutely dominated everyone we've faced so far, and sit top of the table as the only team with a perfect record. We do have Barcelona & Leipzig left to play though, so I'm sure we'll swiftly be brought back to earth, but we've already ensured we'll progress & we should be in with a good chance of skipping the playoffs altogether, even if we do lose both of our remaining games.

I'd say we're on course for another good season, and while I think it might end up being a slight step back from last year on paper, it should still be a season of overachievement compared to our expectations. And who knows, maybe we'll pick up another trophy from somewhere.

John Arne

17-03-2024, 02:53 AM

Literally 2 games into the new season and my star midfielder (who also spent most of the summer at World Cup) is upset that he isn't starting more games :/

Bam

17-03-2024, 06:45 AM

First season with Notts Co and we stormed League 2, broke pretty much every league record on route. The following season, Fa cup winners and newly promoted from the Championship Leeds coming offering me a job, which I turned down.

Not really sure if I should of took it, but we are now sitting top of League 1 so hopefully will be in the Championship next season

Baz

17-03-2024, 08:50 AM

I’ve had interviews with Sporting and Hearts, after my successful first season in Belgium with Lommel. Torn!

Gray Fox

17-03-2024, 11:04 AM

Bam

17-03-2024, 11:09 AM

Then you can sell to the big teams and also Man City.

Aww you! :gay:

Baz

17-03-2024, 03:15 PM

You could win in Europe with Sporting. With Hearts it'd likely take a lot longer.

Portugal is around the perfect sweet spot for being able to buy in all the wonderkids, but actually play them in all of the games. Then you can sell to the big teams and also Man City.
https://i.imgur.com/T4IacSp.png

They've let me bring Oyvind Leonhardsen with me as a coach, which sealed the deal.

Gray Fox

17-03-2024, 03:21 PM

That name is a serious blast from the past. I remember a lad in school asking me what I thought of him. I told him I thought he was a bit shit and the lad got visibly upset. Turned out that was his Uncle.

Adramelch

17-03-2024, 06:20 PM

I just had a player throw a hissy fit because I didn't register him for the last two Champions League group stage games. Only, he's at the AFCON so he wouldn't be available anyway. That's the quality design I'm paying for.

Edit: In another one of the FM classics, I've had a player in my shortlist for about 8 months, he's been out of contract for all that time (which by itself is ridiculous as he's a really good player asking for very little money) and I finally made room in the squad to go for him. The very day I offer him a contract, another two teams do the same. It feels like this game was design in the early 2000s sometimes, which is probably quite a bit true.

Bernanke

18-03-2024, 08:07 PM

Finally caved and got this. Two questions:

1. What skin is best?

2. This original/real world shit is confusing. Previously I could set the game start to "start of Swedish season 23/24" which is in February 2024, and all other leagues would be simulated up until that point, and you could jump in mid season in other leagues. If I do that now the leagues except for Sweden are completely null and you have to wait until summer 2024 for things to start. Is the "simulating leagues in parallel" just gone with the addition of original/real world/your world? Edit: Scratch that, it was because I set it to start Feb 2023. :moop:

Mike

18-03-2024, 08:11 PM

I like FM Rensie for skin
https://coffeehousefm.com/rensieskin

The other bit I dunno without loading it, sorry.

Adramelch

18-03-2024, 08:15 PM

Regarding the second point, can't say I've been in that situation before, but it sounds like some sort of bug. One kind of work around I could think of would be to add an additional league that starts in the summer and holiday all the way to February 2024, but that's still a bit shitty I guess.

Continuing on with my complaints:

https://i.gyazo.com/984083d91846aa917317fa44cefbded3.png

6 games in 1.5 weeks. How is that still a thing after all these years?

Baz

18-03-2024, 08:21 PM

Bernanke

18-03-2024, 08:29 PM

Sounds ace, please share it. I got the full skin already.

Clunge

18-03-2024, 08:38 PM

I’d love that IF they left-aligned the names in the title bars. Hate the centre alignment.

Sir Andy Mahowry

18-03-2024, 09:00 PM

WTCS Gold skin for me.

Mike

18-03-2024, 09:31 PM

+1 for FM Rensie skin but edit the XML files to get rid of the coffee cup logo and annoying link to his website. (I can share my edit if you want, it replaces his logo with the club badge if whoever you’re on, and no clickable link)

I also use the edit he (Rensie, not Baz)includes to use background pictures, as it looks better I think.

Baz

18-03-2024, 09:41 PM

Sounds ace, please share it. I got the full skin already.https://akr.st/rensie24

Dan

19-03-2024, 04:38 PM

We're in a fairly similar spot to last season, albeit with less games in hand to be able to reel in the teams above us. I think a title challenge is out of the question this year, but we definitely still have a good shot at getting back into the Champions League for next season, which would be a good result for us.

Portsmouth 2030/31 End of Season Review

After finding ourselves in the middle of the pack midway through last season we managed to climb the table & narrowly missed out on an upset title win. This year we've found ourselves in the middle of the pack midway through, but could we go one better that last season?

The League
https://i.imgur.com/km3sTNz.png

That's pretty good. I didn't even realise we'd been quite that strong until I went to get the screenshot of the results, but we were really solid at the back & had some excellent moments going forward as we rocketed up the table, but was it enough to stop Erik ten Haag's Manchester United from claiming a fourth consecutive title (lol)?

https://i.imgur.com/1czfRU5.png

Nah :(

United are just a bit too good at the minute, and we'd given ourselves too much to do to reel them in, and while we weren't really in with a shot of winning the league this time round we did beat last season on both total points & league finish, so we're starting to establish ourselves as one of the top teams in the country, which will hopefully mean that we stop getting teams trying to nick all of our players soon :D

Domestic Cups
https://i.imgur.com/iAX5cwh.png

Fairly unremarkable here, as we were once again knocked out of the league cup by a Manchester team, before falling to Liverpool (https://imgur.com/akMJHR0) in the FA Cup.

Champions League
https://i.imgur.com/u2JLH7U.png

After dominating everyone we faced in the first half of the season we came back down to earth in the second half of the year, possibly as a trade off for our good form in the league. It was a bit disappointing to immediately draw another English team in the round of 16, and despite the best efforts of Hamza Bensabouh we exited at the hands of Arsenal (https://imgur.com/vFf9bRz). Still, a very encouraging first season in the competition, and hopefully one we'll be able to build on moving forwards.

The Squad
Once again Stefano Turati (https://imgur.com/WlK9V1C) has proven to be a reliable presence between the sticks. He took on even more of the load this season as we ended up loaning out all of our promising young GKs over the course of the season, so there wasn't much behind him.

We took a step forward at the back this season, with Joao Fonseca (https://imgur.com/0m6ypWL) mostly playing alongside Alan Ramirez (https://imgur.com/n24hgcj), although the arrival of Kevin Rivierez (https://imgur.com/undefined) in the summer is probably going to spell the end for Ramirez this summer, especially as we have a stable of talented young CBs out on loan who can all come straight into the squad, as well as Zeng Lisheng (https://imgur.com/GXpZlPy), who's already been featuring in the rotation this year.

Our fullbacks are looking pretty good, with Mario Tabuaco (https://imgur.com/52xVsNJ) & Esteban Arguello (https://imgur.com/tzHueqz) on the left, and Simon Walde (https://imgur.com/bL1VA6n) & Hristu Serbanica (https://imgur.com/0gx1Upa) on the right, although Walde migh be sold this summer to make room for some of the returning youngsters.

Our midfield is in a good spot too, with Mahir Hadzic (https://imgur.com/1VuRlQs) taking a huge leap forwards in his play on the way to winning PFA Young Player of the Year (https://imgur.com/iiEzUkf), and new signing Sebastian Barrios (https://imgur.com/7uAY2R5) had a promising first season too. They're ably backed up by the likes of Alex Robertson (https://imgur.com/wiuL2X6) & Leopold Uhlig (https://imgur.com/dye73WD), as well as veteran Morten Thorsby (https://imgur.com/6nMa7Rk) & returning academy product Chad Burke (https://imgur.com/LxjKY2j).

On the wings we had some excellent production across the board, as Adriano Onyegbule (https://imgur.com/VnibqKa) got into double figures for both goals & assists, Paddy Lane (https://imgur.com/wwjmMqj) shrugged off a slow start to keep his streak of double digit assist seasons going, and both Jimmy Zady Sery (https://imgur.com/ADeP09R) & Mikhail Petrov (https://imgur.com/NsGZR7m) continued their upwards trajectory with strong sophomore seasons.

Our two most outstanding players this season might well both play in the same position, as Hamza Bensabouh (https://imgur.com/V8T4XT8) & Fabio Esteves (https://imgur.com/ZlpObvR) have both been fantastic playing in behind the striker, with Esteves racking up the numbers in both goals & assists whilst Bensabouh lived up to his billing as a big game player with several great performances in important games.

Diego Otin (https://imgur.com/fKBdGCl) had some issues trying to follow up from his outstanding first season, with his inconsistency showing up more this season, however he did still manage 29 goals & showed flashes of his clinical best. We're lucky to have an outstanding backup option in Leo Scaltriti (https://imgur.com/ESs1mPb), who stepped in & produced whenever he was called upon, so it's not entirely out of the question that he could push his way to the front of the line if Otin continues to struggle next season.

The results on the pitch weren't the biggest story of the season, however, as it's finally been confirmed that we will be starting work on a new stadium (https://imgur.com/496vy77), which will see us sell Fratton Park :( We have a couple of years left before we move, though, so hopefully we can find a way to say goodbye with a trophy or two.

John Arne

20-03-2024, 11:59 AM

Just accidently started my 3rd choice goalkeeper as right back. Fulham beat us 3-2. 6.4 rating.

https://gyazo.com/1ec82fa43f2cf330ca55c67b9766532a.jpeg

Adramelch

20-03-2024, 12:18 PM

And then when you've gone through all your subs and your keeper gets injured with 5 mins to go, you have the answer. Perfect plan.

John Arne

20-03-2024, 12:56 PM

And then when you've gone through all your subs and your keeper gets injured with 5 mins to go, you have the answer. Perfect plan.

"The next Pep".

Adramelch

20-03-2024, 08:14 PM

So last time I managed AEK in one of those was back in FM13, when we went bankrupt and were relegated to the third division. I ended up randomly winning the Champions League about 6-7 seasons in and I haven't attempted a similar save since. But with Dragon's Dogma 2 coming on Friday, I didn't fancy starting some other game and stopping midway through, so I thought a short-ish save with AEK would do the trick. And then this happened:

https://i.gyazo.com/7dab09a76261e93acd0df871ae0d8d3c.png

Just 5 seasons in. And it wasn't even a fluke, we legitimately outplayed Bayern and Real on the road to the final, where we beat PSG 3-1, getting the lead in the 4th minute and never losing it from there. Not a flash in the pan either, seeing as we made the semis the season before (knocking City out and then only narrowly losing to PSG) and the Europa League final in the first season, albeit in that case we just had very easy draws and were played out of the park by Liverpool in the final.

I think I've pinpointed what it is. Firstly, I've created a successful tactic in previous saves (nothing outlandish, just a solid, very aggressive 4-2-3-1), so it was plug and play here and success was immediate. But secondly, and that's what led to success in my other save over a decade ago, it's too easy to sign wonderkids and have them develop fast by playing in the league where the stakes are very low (basically every team apart AEK, Olympiakos, Panathinaikos and PAOK is significantly weaker). And thirdly, I think they've made it too easy to keep players at clubs without their will. I've declined multiple 70-80m offers for players (which is an immensely ridiculous amount of money for Greek league standards), they complained, I told them to shove it and then they forgot about it once the transfer window closed.

Now obviously, I could self-impose some restrictions, especially in regards to the wonderkid situation, but that's my favorite part of the game as a whole, so that's a big no.

Just to give you an idea of the type of players I'm getting, this guy joined us a couple months back for 1.3m and he's a second backup:

https://i.gyazo.com/96450206d29f553a53564ac91305bb43.png

And we have this guy joining in the summer (7m):

https://i.gyazo.com/7dd5ddc94ca0372910c99e1c96d94aa2.png

Both of them only 18.

Limoutsonik

20-03-2024, 08:28 PM

Good shit brother,i myself only sniffed the quarterfinals 4 years in and had nowhere near the luck or fortune to beat the heavy hitters. Any chance we can see that aggressive 4-2-3-1?

Adramelch

20-03-2024, 08:40 PM

I should preface this by saying that I've ended up with a very deep squad, where the second (and possibly third) string would probably win the league on their own, so I could afford to heavily rotate. I think that played a part in our CL win as we went in with fully rested players.

https://i.gyazo.com/0439280216df6cfcd659f3aed822f9d9.png

It's a high possession tactic, where you're more likely to win 5-3 than 2-0 and have the occasional big defeat (lost to City 7-3 in the group stages for example), but it's been very solid for me so far. https://file.io/6rX9aPpBZGaL for the whole thing.

And the corner routinesm that I struggled with in a previous save, eventually ending up with those after a lot of tinkering. Set-pieces also play a rather big role in the success. For reference, we scored 14 goals from corners and only conceded 2 in 15 games in the Champions League.

https://i.gyazo.com/9f5f85c78c0a8812a62d756628561c23.png

https://i.gyazo.com/082e8aa82279813c395ce46d0c77707a.png

Dan

21-03-2024, 12:12 AM

it's too easy to sign wonderkids

I definitely think this is a big part of what makes FM easier than it should be. I’ve started editing my database to lower things like national youth rating & club youth facilities, as well as bumping up the base transfer values for some of the major talent exporters like Brazil so you can’t just hoover up a million shit hot 18 year olds for £3m each, but need to finish the Pompey save before I get to actually testing it out to see if it’s made any difference.

Planning to download the Mustermann skin & try a save based around stats rather than attributes for another extra level of challenge.

John Arne

24-03-2024, 04:47 PM

One of the most complete players I've had for some time - and my DOF signed him. Makes a fucking change.

https://gyazo.com/80ae8b8d6a571d5963fe68233a71337e.jpeg

Baz

24-03-2024, 04:51 PM

Jeez he’s class

Gray Fox

24-03-2024, 05:05 PM

He's so good at so many things. I have no idea where I'd want to play him mind you. He could play any position on the pitch.

John Arne

24-03-2024, 05:26 PM

I started playing primarily as a central striker, but lately pushed him back into attacking midfield, also central. Haven't even tried him out wide yet.

Dan

27-03-2024, 08:24 PM

The results on the pitch weren't the biggest story of the season, however, as it's finally been confirmed that we will be starting work on a new stadium (https://imgur.com/496vy77), which will see us sell Fratton Park :( We have a couple of years left before we move, though, so hopefully we can find a way to say goodbye with a trophy or two.

Portsmouth 2031/32 Midseason Update

Gonna do this with mostly screenshots as I can't be arsed to write a proper update this time :D

TRANSFERS (https://imgur.com/TbDzPLU) | LEAGUE RESULTS (https://imgur.com/Uabdu18) | LEAGUE TABLE (https://imgur.com/8MGIYQz) | CUP & CL RESULTS (https://imgur.com/ta2dHLh) | CL TABLE (https://imgur.com/dCbePur)

Really great first half of the season, obviously, picking up where we left off in the second half of last season & with United finally taking a step back we've put ourselves in a great position to nab our first Premier League title. We still have Liverpool & City (who offered me a job interview in the summer) on our tails though so there's not a lot of margin for error just yet.

CL is going okay, but I'd imagine we'll find ourselves in the playoff round this year, so hopefully we can get a decent draw there.

It was sad to see Leopold Uhlig (https://imgur.com/TbDzPLU) go, as he's an excellent allrounder but that's a lot of money for a rotational player who doesn't like big matches, which is something I've put extra focus on this year to try to push us over the edge, and Teun Koopmeiners has slotted right in as a quality veteran who actually costs less as well.

John Arne

31-03-2024, 12:35 PM

Simon Boateng, club legend. 221 goals in 329 starts for the reserves and youth team.

https://gyazo.com/31bd10bae2a5700aa03d265e36958d96.jpeg

https://gyazo.com/dbdcd7e84f896f7cf21ebf01c28b3b4a.jpeg

John Arne

01-04-2024, 12:43 AM

What's the opposite of group of death :D

https://gyazo.com/27fcdec51e763fab115b519c3bb5bb2c.jpeg

Dan

01-04-2024, 10:57 AM

Portsmouth 2031/32 Midseason Update

Gonna do this with mostly screenshots as I can't be arsed to write a proper update this time :D

TRANSFERS (https://imgur.com/TbDzPLU) | LEAGUE RESULTS (https://imgur.com/Uabdu18) | LEAGUE TABLE (https://imgur.com/8MGIYQz) | CUP & CL RESULTS (https://imgur.com/ta2dHLh) | CL TABLE (https://imgur.com/dCbePur)

Really great first half of the season, obviously, picking up where we left off in the second half of last season & with United finally taking a step back we've put ourselves in a great position to nab our first Premier League title. We still have Liverpool & City (who offered me a job interview in the summer) on our tails though so there's not a lot of margin for error just yet.

CL is going okay, but I'd imagine we'll find ourselves in the playoff round this year, so hopefully we can get a decent draw there.

It was sad to see Leopold Uhlig (https://imgur.com/TbDzPLU) go, as he's an excellent allrounder but that's a lot of money for a rotational player who doesn't like big matches, which is something I've put extra focus on this year to try to push us over the edge, and Teun Koopmeiners has slotted right in as a quality veteran who actually costs less as well.

Portsmouth 2031/32 End of Season Review

Having carried our strong form from the end of last season into the first half of this year, we were in a good position to finally get our hands on our first Premier League title, but with Man City & Liverpool still in striking distance we couldn't afford a bad run in.

https://i.imgur.com/X7gigXJ.png

Pretty solid set of results - a few too many draws for my liking, but we had a few fortunate ones, most notably the 0-0 with United where they had 3xG & Turati just superkeepered them. It was the big games that continued to be our main source of frustration as we lost to City & drew with both United & Liverpool, but would those dropped points be enough to deny us the trophy?

https://i.imgur.com/YT7qViX.png

Nope :cool:

It did got right down to the last game, but the final day drama was limited as Man City were held to a 0-0 at Brighton, meaning our result didn't matter. There was a point where City did sneak back ahead of us, and for a few games it looked like it might come down to goal difference, but Chelsea pretty much won us the league by beating City 5-3 then immediately losing 5-1 to us the game after.

Winning the title whilst Southampton get relegated is the icing on the cake :drool:

Domestic Cups
https://i.imgur.com/un22kOO.png

We immediately exited the FA Cup, losing to Spurs in the third round, but we made it all the way to the final of the EFL Cup, where we would face good old Man City, who seem to knock us out of this competition every season.

https://i.imgur.com/THUceOO.png

Yep, they got us again :moop: Oh well, nobody cares about this one anyway.

Champions League
https://i.imgur.com/uh7Ghu3.png

Well this is a surprise.

We had a decent enough time in the league phase, and comfortably saw off Ajax in the playoff before deservedly upsetting Bayern. I expected United to take us out, but for once we got the best of them, and when we nicked a 1-0 away to Barcelona I started thinking we actually had a shot. We finished the job at Fratton Park, which set up a Champions League final against defending champs Real Madrid.

https://i.imgur.com/omxLAAS.jpeg

:dance:

Apparently I found the super secret 'you win' button at half time, as after a cagey first half we came back out & completely ran them over, led by one of our few big match players Hamza Bensabouh, who scored two outstanding goals to inspire us to a huge upset (https://imgur.com/afgqsv5) & pretty much guarantee that this is where the save ends.

Players
Not gonna do the full squad this time, just a recap of some of the key players in the save.

First up is probably the most important player of the save, Stefano Turati (https://imgur.com/7Ee4EGv). After we sold Nathan Baxter we had some issues replacing him, so I turned to a couple of Italian lads I'd had good experiences with in other saves. Turati ended up beating out Alessandro Plizzari & established himself between the sticks, eventually becoming club captain & producing some outstanding performances to lead us to an unlikely double. He's also finally earned himself a call-up to the Italian national team, which he's deserved for a while now.

There are two guys who've been here from the start that deserve some love - Alex Robertson (https://imgur.com/Mzv4sBM) stuck around after his initial loan spell, starting for several years before settling in as a reliable squad player over the last couple of seasons, and it's a similar story for Paddy Lane (https://imgur.com/SWCi8yG), who managed to keep his 10 assist streak going for the entire length of the save.

Hamza Bensabouh (https://imgur.com/NdyvpOa) should get a mention, if only for his performance in the CL final, but he's easily the most talented player on the team & on attributes alone he's got a case as one of the best players in the world. Diego Otin (https://imgur.com/LyxwDKZ) has driven me insane over the last couple of seasons, but despite his inconsistency he does still provide more than his share of goals & on his day he's a clinical finisher. Adriano Onyegbule (https://imgur.com/St3kMeQ) is kind of a weird one, as I've considered selling him almost every season but he just continues to contribute both goals & assists with regularity from the left wing, so I should probably just accept that he's worth his spot.

Lastly, just a shoutout to a couple of academy kids. First up is Zbigniew Urbanski (https://imgur.com/RCHNW7G), who is by far the best player we've produced & has established himself in the England squad this year. Dan Davis (https://imgur.com/7epaKXO), on the other hand, looks extremely average but he was the first decent prospect that came through in my time here & he just consistently outplays his attributes, which is more than can be said about a lot of players in the squad.

I've been wanting to try a new save for a while, and have slowly been losing a bit of interest in this one as a result, so I think this might be where I call it, but if I do continue there's definitely a huge overhaul of the squad on the cards. We haven't spent much in the last few seasons, but I think we need a bit more focus on consistency & big match ratings to help elevate us to that final level alongside the truly elite clubs, so with our rep now finally getting to the point where elite players will consider joining us it might be a good opportunity to bring in some difference makers.

John Arne

04-04-2024, 12:50 AM

Cutting it fine. Newcastle gave only a second start to some shitty 18yr striker, who proceeded to score a haul. Edged through 8-7 into the Mickey Mouse Cup Final :drool:

https://gyazo.com/66d37c5d772d8f485962104109bf71d6.jpeg

Mike

05-04-2024, 09:44 PM

Mbappe is asking for big things...
https://i.imgur.com/29pndgq.png

Dan

05-04-2024, 11:08 PM

I guess he’s rooting for the Super League.

Very different experience with Mbappe in the tests of my database. I’ve put the inevitable move to Real in, but for some reason they keep immediately transfer listing him on the grounds that they don’t have a role for him to play, which seems unlikely to me. His asking price has dropped as low as £13m as I’ve holidayed forward, and I have no idea how to stop it happening.

Adramelch

06-04-2024, 11:21 AM

Is there there a way to add him into Ancelotti's favourite personnel list or something? Maybe that would help if possible?

John Arne

08-04-2024, 11:39 AM

Should I sell this guy? I don't need the money, however, I do love a good bit of profit.

https://gyazo.com/0e5d86923067aa7f906aa7961c4908da.jpeg

£145m all in. I paid £19.5m three years ago.

https://gyazo.com/a81cc62b50c82fb1a12316e7d8b68997.jpeg

I have thee three ready to step up, Melham being basically on rotation with this guy currently.

https://gyazo.com/e35a3e6fcbb842aa8c74b0e4395007d6.jpeg

https://gyazo.com/9e5377a12f22746641a2cb8480ddefe0.jpeg

https://gyazo.com/a7ae963f38078b28a7d3ff4ea258dc19.jpeg

Gray Fox

08-04-2024, 11:54 AM

John Arne

08-04-2024, 01:15 PM

You'd be crazy to sell him. Assuming you're a top Prem side now and your coach has good JPA/CA, then he's literally a world class elite talent and of the three you listed only one of them might get to that level in Yamada.

All excellent points. Winning a bit too easily now, and I want the $$$$ so one day the board actually build a new stadium.

I may keep him and try to offload Melham.

John Arne

10-04-2024, 01:01 AM

Final data update release and some other guff.

All gameplay adjustments will be effective immediately in existing careers, although new save games are required for you to play with the latest player and team data.

Changes to FM24 (PC/Mac) in the 24.4 update include (but are not limited to):

- Crash fixes and general optimisation
- Save game compatibility optimisation
- Points deductions updated/applied for applicable English, Scottish and Welsh clubs**
- Fixed issue where user managers who are over 70 years old and unemployed can’t get a managerial role
- Fixed homegrown status not displaying for players that play in certain non-European nations and clubs
- [Turkey] Removed 'the match squad cannot have any players aged over 33' rule in the Turkish Cup
- [Pre-Game Editor] Fixed issue regarding the importing of fixture files

John Arne

11-04-2024, 12:44 AM

Second game of the season :face:

https://gyazo.com/0faa7db57acbbe6bc315755bc22d8bb4.jpeg

Also, I'm getting carried away selling my best players for $$$. Sold my best midfielder for $70m, but also managed to get 2 very good youngsters in the deal. Not managed to get an exchange deal really work in the past (given I'm selling my best player, arguably haven't got this to work either).

Sold...

https://gyazo.com/881e8c29641888d006ce2d3b562a596f.jpeg

Got...

https://gyazo.com/37bf8950c8f1a2ae6bf596b1f0ffd925.jpeg

https://gyazo.com/7f2e1b26fe38aa4e8f6444dd4cb1830f.jpeg

Sir Andy Mahowry

14-04-2024, 10:56 AM

I haven't stopped the Hitchin save, I've slowly been plugging away and we've finally made a HUGE step:

https://i.imgur.com/nud1bbq.png

No promotion (yet) but we've finally secured a promotion place. It looked like we might do it last year but we collapsed after January.

Almost no chance we win the playoffs but it's going to be damn fun trying it.

Sir Andy Mahowry

14-04-2024, 01:13 PM

https://i.imgur.com/nhDbYSA.png

We were so good in the first half but we turned to shit after HT :(

Clunge

14-04-2024, 05:29 PM

New stadium :D.

https://i.imgur.com/WTDqweJ.png

That name...

Shindig

14-04-2024, 05:45 PM

https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/f/ff/Minge_Dresden_%28cropped%29.jpg/220px-Minge_Dresden_%28cropped%29.jpg

Yeah, he looks like a Minge.

John Arne

15-04-2024, 12:44 AM

Dan

15-04-2024, 02:13 PM

Is there there a way to add him into Ancelotti's favourite personnel list or something? Maybe that would help if possible?

I tried this, as well as adding him to the clubs favoured personnel, but it didn’t sort it. In the end I’ve just cancelled the transfer & set him to leave on a free.

First run of the db he had some interest from Barca but went to Bayern, who also signed Osimhen. Gonna run it a couple more times & then I should finally be ready to go - I’ve also put together a benchmarking spreadsheet to help with working through all the data, although it’s not quite as psychotic as the Mustermann version ( https://youtu.be/mPV8YbPiYqc?si=vIeRUj0esiM7fPrd)

Sir Andy Mahowry

17-04-2024, 08:36 PM

https://i.imgur.com/gbKBwOu.png

Another playoff run this season. We're getting close and should have already been promoted:

https://i.imgur.com/uEiYFPL.png

MASSIVE props for Ioan Jenkins:

https://i.imgur.com/tgIGX7n.png

He scored more than the Flamingo wankers (44 goals) and Basford (49). He's absolutely bonkers.

Dan

17-04-2024, 08:43 PM

I think I've got everything sorted now - I did have a brief scare when all the job vacancies & insecure jobs outside of England randomly vanished at the start of September, but I went back to an old file & that one has gone fine. Leaving Mbappe to sort himself out has worked too, as after Bayern & Man Utd he ended up signing for Real on the third run, so i've moved forwards with that version, and after a few months of applying for jobs someone has finally decided they want to hire our manager (https://imgur.com/Zzo3WPn).

https://i.imgur.com/ELNnxib.png

Sandvikens (https://imgur.com/h09ftnH) were newly promoted to the Superettan Obos, the Swedish second tier, for the 2024 season & narrowly survived, winning a relegation playoff after finishing 14th of 16 teams. I've not properly analysed the squad yet, but from a quick glance it does seem like we have some decent players, and considering I have four months before the start of next season I should have plenty of time to crunch the numbers & find some upgrades for the 532 system(s) I'm planning on running in this save.

Sir Andy Mahowry

17-04-2024, 08:47 PM

https://i.imgur.com/GHIqQan.png

:face: :cry: :(

John Arne

19-04-2024, 03:17 PM

That'll do.

https://gyazo.com/a0d5d3ca13ef677e75c59b020b593623.jpeg

https://gyazo.com/e0481b1f3925daaee2f886a45c30ee87.jpeg

https://gyazo.com/1a4863e47214d3a43ffc3df2eab3e3bd.jpeg

Manc

19-04-2024, 03:51 PM

Soares is pure filth.

John Arne

19-04-2024, 04:11 PM

Aye, proper player.

In bigger news, after being rejected about 10 times when asking for a new stadium (with $450m in the bank), finally leaked it to the press, and got this message immediately...

https://gyazo.com/7510a0c89db39369a29a7bc024735bb3.jpeg

Fingers crossed they don't name it after Dario Gradi (which happened all the time in FM22 and FM23.

Sir Andy Mahowry

19-04-2024, 04:40 PM

Baz

19-04-2024, 04:47 PM

Bennell Park

John Arne

20-04-2024, 01:56 AM

Give me Soares and Blake please. Thanks.

For the first time in just over 3 and a half years Hitchin are back in the black. I sold my LB this Summer (pain) and I've been cutting player and staff wages for the past two seasons as we were in £250k debt and it was looking bleak. Unfortunately my mental striker, Ioan Jenkins, wants a new contract and he wants some fat wages so he might need to be sold or, hopefully, we get promoted soon.

I found a good lower ploy, when someone comes in with an offer, add loan back until end of next season - they generally seem to accept. You get his wages off your books, and keep the players for another 1-2 seasons.

Bennell Park

You joke, but I wouldn't put it past the Crewe board...

Sir Andy Mahowry

20-04-2024, 07:43 AM

I found a good lower ploy, when someone comes in with an offer, add loan back until end of next season - they generally seem to accept. You get his wages off your books, and keep the players for another 1-2 seasons.

You joke, but I wouldn't put it past the Crewe board...

Apparently that's ILLEGAL in this save type. I did it once before I realised.

The other times I changed the transfer date to the end of the season. Couldn't do that with my LB though as Swindon (who bought him) wanted him as their first choice LB.

Adramelch

20-04-2024, 02:15 PM

Apparently that's ILLEGAL in this save type. I did it once before I realised.

That will definitely get you disqualified from the Official Leaderboards™.

Sir Andy Mahowry

20-04-2024, 02:56 PM

I guess it's just to CLAMP DOWN on people not bringing in any other sneaky loans but it's dumb.

The player isn't leaving you, you're just getting his services (without paying for it) for another year. I assumed it was fine when I did it but found out it's not so I haven't used it again although I probably should. Fuck the official SI forums.

Bam

21-04-2024, 06:30 AM

Took over Notts Co in league 2 and back to back league wins got us up to the Championship, was expecting a tuff season of trying to stay in the league but to my amazement we're 15 points clear at the top and unbeaten coming into December.

Just got to hope the wheels don't fall off now.

Also Klopp has been sacked by Liverpool and they have shown an interest in me, not sure if I could turn that opportunity down if it comes up.

Sir Andy Mahowry

21-04-2024, 09:50 AM

Real end of an era shit happening at Hitchin:

https://i.imgur.com/x5EEVvK.png

:( He wanted £2.5k to stay for next season which I couldn't give him. He did accept £1.8k with £60k loyalty bonus and some hefty fees but he accepted Galway's offer sadly.

https://i.imgur.com/AOqJSBS.png

https://i.imgur.com/Mo9Q8D5.png

Real shame he's not going to hit 500 appearances but he's got a shot at the 250 goals as we have 6 games remaining plus any playoff games.

My first seriously good newgen at this level, it's going to be heartbreaking when he actually leaves.

Dan

21-04-2024, 10:06 AM

He’s no John though, is he?

Sir Andy Mahowry

21-04-2024, 11:10 AM

https://i.imgur.com/Xu8Ccwn.png

Absolutely stunning performance from us this season, a real shame that Doncaster and South Shields are just too fucking good. We did beat South Shields 2-1 on the final day so I have HOPE in the playoffs.

Flamingo twats also getting relegated is lovely.

Sir Andy Mahowry

21-04-2024, 11:51 AM

We got to the final:

https://i.imgur.com/HAlW3e0.png

It was a close game although they were better in extra time but we held on with them hitting the bar in the final few seconds.

On to penalties:

https://i.imgur.com/hnx9Fbc.png

We had two chances to win in Sudden Death and ultimately Sammon fucked us hard. It was the most tense, brutal shootout I've been involved with in FM and I feel sick after.

John Arne

21-04-2024, 01:17 PM

What year you in now?

Sir Andy Mahowry

21-04-2024, 02:10 PM

That was the 38/39 season.

I really thought we were going to win when my keeper Roger Hartman saved their 11th penalty and then had the chance to score to win it. Would have been glorious.

Baz

21-04-2024, 02:35 PM

Can’t believe you’ve not been promoted there.

Manc

21-04-2024, 02:38 PM

Are Donny and South Shields operating on mega budgets? Those points tallies are mental.

Sir Andy Mahowry

21-04-2024, 02:59 PM

Donny are loaded.

https://i.imgur.com/HJOTo4O.png

Their bank balance is £600k.

South Shields aren't loaded but they didn't lose many players from their National side.

The previous highest points tally for a winner was 110 which South Shields got in the first season. The 102 points we got was enough to win in 7 seasons across this save.

Sir Andy Mahowry

21-04-2024, 03:04 PM

Here's a little roundup of the season:

League:

https://i.imgur.com/PLWMxD4.png
https://i.imgur.com/AatQBSo.png

We had a shaky start but after December we came into our own and were right up there with Doncaster and South Shields as the dominant forces in the league.

Cups:

https://i.imgur.com/g9hUYUA.png

Squad:

https://i.imgur.com/TTPvU1W.png

It's all down to one man really:

https://i.imgur.com/vZuBSwm.png

Ioan fucking Jenkins. He scored 54 league goals this season and 53 last year. What's even more impressive is that he only scored one in his his first four games this year and was looking a little lost. He's on such low wages because I knew early he'd be amazing so I gave him a contract with a lot of various extension triggers, sadly they are no more. He still wants to stay but he wants £3.1k-£3.7k a week so I'll probably have to sell him soon as I'm not going to be able to hand that out any time soon.

Sir Andy Mahowry

21-04-2024, 03:25 PM

Only one relegated team and 4 promoted sides for next season. It could finally be our year.

Sir Andy Mahowry

21-04-2024, 04:27 PM

https://i.imgur.com/u59ef12.png

I want to live in this universe.

Ioan Jenkins who has been the top scorer three seasons running with 143 goals scored over those seasons isn't even in the top 6 bookies favourites.

TTH would be millionaires.

Gray Fox

21-04-2024, 04:29 PM

TTH gave Mellin and Bazbot the money they would have put on that bet.

Sir Andy Mahowry

21-04-2024, 05:24 PM

https://i.imgur.com/4HUN2N3.png

Daniel Wood, the Sammon replacement, with two goals and seven assists lol.

Manc

21-04-2024, 05:31 PM

6.81 xG. Beautiful.

Adramelch

21-04-2024, 06:12 PM

Loaded a host of European leagues of various levels and started a Journeyman save. First job I got was at the Finnish second tier with IFK Helsingfors, who found themselves underperforming. Turning the tide around was easier than expected and we made it to the promotion playoffs, but ended up going out in the dying minutes of extra time. That's where the real challenge began though: The entire squad had opted to leave at the end of the season (I'm guessing some bug with the option with realistic transfer dates or whatever), which would leave us with about 0 players of note. On top of that, a (real-life) transfer embargo was pending from the start of next season and lasting two years. Luckily there was a little bit of a wiggle-room time-wise, so I was able to assemble a decent squad, though not much better than the one we had, if at all. Me being at the club from the start of the season meant that promotion was an easy deal in the end:

https://i.gyazo.com/c29ef98a9e54e92471d52a7d54b5430f.png

The truth is that we weren't that good in head-to-head games against our competition, we just were a lot more consistent.

That said, I'm at a crossroads now. I want to stay here for the new season, but we'll still be under a transfer embargo so no squad improvement, which we especially need in terms of squad depth. Oh well, I guess I'll just take it one day at a time and see where that gets me.

Baz

21-04-2024, 09:24 PM

Season two's going well:

https://i.imgur.com/iLHgi9s.png

4th November and Haaland's just scored his 25th goal of the season.

Adramelch

22-04-2024, 07:01 PM

https://i.gyazo.com/4382a37aa9dad120185f3200d4b9c770.png

https://i.gyazo.com/6b683408d6a278b9a50a3ecb983c3cd1.png

Halfway through, the new season has been very disheartening to play through so far. The above game being our default experience.

Dan

22-04-2024, 07:31 PM

Quick update on Sandvikens. I've pushed the finances to the limit to try to overhaul the squad (https://imgur.com/LgVt9KM), with a mix of players signed from playing around with the data & others who were recommended by scouts. We started pretty well (https://imgur.com/m31LrSz) & were up in 4th at one point, but we've struggled for the last couple of months & now find ourselves in 11th place (https://imgur.com/BtuKBan) at the midpoint of the season.

We don't really have any room to make any more moves, so it might come down to morale management to keep us out of trouble.

igor_balis

22-04-2024, 10:40 PM

Sir Andy Mahowry

23-04-2024, 08:31 AM

It's the superior system, stop living in the past.

You just multiply your stake by the odds and the sum is your winnings and stake back. It's simple and effective.

On the other hand, £50 stake on at odds of 11/8, fuck off.

John Arne

23-04-2024, 08:41 AM

Yeah, I used to be openly anti-decimal.... but now, you just gotta accept that it makes way more sense. Like communism.

Adramelch

23-04-2024, 04:29 PM

Halfway through, the new season has been very disheartening to play through so far. The above game being our default experience.

In the end we did find our groove:

https://i.gyazo.com/b646979a402b97d6f941830fdd3b882b.png

We ranged from solid to very good throughout the season, but what also did it was that everybody else was inconsistent. So even though results largely went against us early on, from the moment we signed a new keeper and a central defender, we (somewhat) stopped leaking goals and started climbing the table. We still finished the season with the third worst defensive record, but outscored everyone, with 12 more goals than the second best.

I am a bit tempted to stay for one more season just so I get to experience some European football (well two games in which we'll get battered pretty much), but with Finland having summer leagues, that means I'd have to wait for like 9 more months for that, which I'm not sure I fancy doing. But at the same time, I've applied to at least a dozen clubs with the same reputation as HIFK throughout the past season and got snubbed by all of them so it's not like I have anywhere better to go for the time being. Oh well, we'll see what happens during the off-season I guess.

Dan

24-04-2024, 01:01 PM

Sandvikens IF 2025 End of Season Update

Quick update on Sandvikens. I've pushed the finances to the limit to try to overhaul the squad (https://imgur.com/LgVt9KM), with a mix of players signed from playing around with the data & others who were recommended by scouts. We started pretty well (https://imgur.com/m31LrSz) & were up in 4th at one point, but we've struggled for the last couple of months & now find ourselves in 11th place (https://imgur.com/BtuKBan) at the midpoint of the season.

We don't really have any room to make any more moves, so it might come down to morale management to keep us out of trouble.

My first year in Sweden is over, kind of. We have the Svenska Cupen which mostly runs between league seasons, but the league is done so that's as good of a time for an update as any.

https://i.imgur.com/avYZ4Ni.png

Very inconsistent, as was the case in the first half of the year, but luckily that seems to be the general theme of the league as there was only 10pts separating 4th & 13th place.

https://i.imgur.com/dbqNmmj.png

We improved slightly on last season, both in terms of points total & league finish, but that's mostly because we turned losses into draws. We also had a huge disparity in our home & away results, with us third in the home table (https://imgur.com/2vjRi8S) with only one loss, and joint worst in the away table (https://imgur.com/jPxwBZw) without a single win to our name on the road. The xG table (https://imgur.com/9YFp2zr) was a bit kinder, but it does show that we underperformed at both ends of the pitch, which fits with my general feelings.

We didn't have any huge standout players, but the main ones deserving a mention are Raymond N'Dour (https://imgur.com/6LknlLd), who came in from Senegal & provided the majority of our goal threat; Falko Michel (https://imgur.com/LAXrZrN) & Wilitty Younoussa (https://imgur.com/iV8ziOl), who both came in off the street & formed a solid DM parternship; Lucas Hedlund (https://imgur.com/7BhTLhG), who had some decent moments playing as our more attacking AM; and club captain Gustav Thörn (https://imgur.com/WAQimxf), who was one of our better all around CBs.

-

We've had the wage budget increased by about £10k p/w for next season, and with £235k in the transfer budget we should be able to find one or two guys who can help improve us. I think the main areas of focus will be finding someone who can contribute more goals, either as an AM or possibly a big striker to go more direct to, and we'll also look to continue upgrading the back five, but unless we get promoted I might start thinking about looking for another job after next season.

Sir Andy Mahowry

25-04-2024, 10:32 AM

Hitchin Town 2039/40 Season Update:

League:

https://i.imgur.com/iXOUO7C.png
https://i.imgur.com/4Hcwit1.png

We were flying and 5 points clear at the top come January but we wobbled hard in January/February and slipped down to 4th at one point 5 points behind the leaders Carlisle. It looked bleak heading into the final few games as we were 3 points behind Carlisle (we did go top on GD but the loss against Radcliffe put us back behind) and they were looking good. They drew 2-2 with King's Lynn having been 2-0 up which put us 1 behind with 2 games to go.

We both won our penultimate game which meant it was all down to the last day. They faced Oxford with us having a test against Macclesfield who also were hunting for the title. We won comfortably and they ended up losing 3-1:

https://i.imgur.com/HMZ2ush.png

We've finally been promoted although I almost had a heart attack. Fully deserved for us:

https://i.imgur.com/Utnjeu3.png

And Carlisle were lucky to be where they were.

Cups:

https://i.imgur.com/BjML974.png

https://i.imgur.com/q6eredk.png

Some nice runs which really boosted our finances, the Charlton game alone netted us £100k or so.

Squad:

https://i.imgur.com/hSSmWuT.png

Ioan is an absolute king. 50+ league goals 3 seasons in a row is bonkers. I thought we might struggle this year with Sammon leaving but Daniel Wood (who was produced last year) was incredible.

16th times the charm it turned out. Can't wait to have a go in the VNL.

Adramelch

26-04-2024, 08:19 PM

Last I left you was with us having had a very successful season back at the Finnish top tier. I had been applying for any reasonable job available (2-star clubs, same as Helsingfors, with my rep being the thing holding me back at 1 star), but most wouldn't even offer me an interview, so I thought it was inevitable that I would spend another season in Finland. It wasn't the worst deal mind you as we would eventually play some European football, courtesy of finishing second. The first half of the new season went by and things looked pretty much the same, with us in second place again and quite honestly playing the best football in the league, bar some defensive lapses that cost us points:

https://i.gyazo.com/c06de54599236c9c3e71ed3c39f209c9.png

Things have been pretty much the same on the job search front. I reckon I've applied to about 25-ish similar reputation clubs in the past year and a half and I've been offered 10-ish interviews and rejected by all of them, often outright rather than them choosing a different manager. We're at the point where things are about to get good though with the Conference League qualifiers fast approaching. We were drawn against Dinamo Tbilisi in the 1st round and dispatched them with relative ease (two 2-1 wins) to set up what I reckon is an unwinnable tie against Banik Ostrava. But I never got to find out if it was as I finally got an offer:

https://www.footballdatabase.eu/images/photos/clubs/a_1/1739.png

That's Karpaty Lviv, who ply their trade in the Ukrainian Premier League. The club finished just outside the relegation zone last season, which is pretty much par for the course with them, yet they still decided to (amicably by the looks of it) part ways with their manager and that's where I come in. It's gonna be a massive change, it has to be said, as, despite the two clubs having the same reputation, there's substantial differences both in the quality of the players, as well as the finances. To paint a picture, I had no transfer budget and a wage budget of 12.5k p/w at Helsingfors and at my new post I have 11m for transfers and 145k p/w for wages, of which the club is only spending half currently. That said, I think I will be conservative with the money I spend on transfers and the number of players I signed, until I get a lay of the land.

Dan

27-04-2024, 08:39 PM

We've had the wage budget increased by about £10k p/w for next season, and with £235k in the transfer budget we should be able to find one or two guys who can help improve us. I think the main areas of focus will be finding someone who can contribute more goals, either as an AM or possibly a big striker to go more direct to, and we'll also look to continue upgrading the back five, but unless we get promoted I might start thinking about looking for another job after next season.

We've reached the midway point of the 2026 season, so I'll give you an update on that in a minute, but first, the Svenska Cupen.

We'd made it to the group stage last season, and came back at the start of the year to play it out. We were drawn against another Superettan team, Östersunds FK, and two Allsvenskan teams - Örebro SK & BK Häcken. Encouragingly, we smashed Östersunds & also beat Örebro, but we couldn't finish the job against Häcken & went out after finishing second in the group. (https://imgur.com/3bnlw4Q)

In terms of transfers (https://imgur.com/BjTNcDp), we did our best to improve our goal threat, bringing in Mauritanian striker Hemeya Tanjy, who the data had flagged to me last season & he came up again this year so we took the plunge. We also upgraded behind him with Yusuf Ibrahim, who had also been a repeat name in my numbers, and Filip Olsson, who we signed after a trial. At the back we added a CB upgrade right after last season ended in the shape of Ghana u23 international Maxwell Woledzi, and then added options at wing back with Brazilians Jean & Gabriel Rodrigues on the left & Ali Suljić on the right.

https://i.imgur.com/eBfWSr1.png

It's translated pretty well to the league this season, as we've been much better at both ends of the pitch & have managed to turn draws into wins, which has seen us climb the table & we're in with a shout of joining the promotion race if we can sustain it.

https://i.imgur.com/5iud8K8.png

Unlike last year I didn't max us out before the season even started, so we have some money to play with if we find anyone worth signing. I'm not sure there's any particular area I'd be looking at, so it will probably either all go on one big move or I won't use any of it. I did get offered a new two year contract, but I've turned it down for now as I'm still considering moving on after this season. I have made sure to lock down our best players just in case though.

Bam

28-04-2024, 05:57 AM

My press officer at Notts Co Sam Jones, must be a right bundle of fun. He is always expressionless and feels the press conference was just fine.

Sir Andy Mahowry

28-04-2024, 10:17 AM

https://i.imgur.com/RReZzOM.png

Crazy that we've made the playoffs in our first season but SEETHING that we should have won the league.

Fucking piece of shit keeper.

Sir Andy Mahowry

28-04-2024, 10:58 AM

Got to the final:

https://i.imgur.com/9dz4RFs.png

Their first goal was an insane long range free kick and their penalty was absolute bullshit.

Adramelch

28-04-2024, 03:01 PM

Breezed through the first season at Karpaty. As I said in my last update, I had a lot of money at my disposal for transfers, but it was my intention to not spend a lot and assess where we're at in my first season here. I (mostly) stuck to that, and while we did sign about a dozen of players, I ended up spending less than 4 out of the 11-ish million at my disposal. Most of it was to bring the following, sort of marquee for our level, players in:

https://i.gyazo.com/b1181491e0b141af56c74eae68477d63.png

Our first big transfer, since we didn't have a solid attacking midfielder at the club. Joined us from Salford for a relatively low 375k.

https://i.gyazo.com/e3706af46c73904ca5bcae4d4874610c.png

Didn't quite need a winger, but he was available for 1.1m so I just pulled the trigger.

https://i.gyazo.com/72a074a71c33cdb87beb64ffb9d96439.png

Joined us on a free after leaving Partizan. A real bargain.

https://i.gyazo.com/a64e74754fc5bfaedf3a92e559673855.png

Our second big free transfer, but one that joined us in January (well technically in October, but we couldn't register him until January). Brought some real quality to our defence.

https://i.gyazo.com/63aa13a75b1574bac5a4aaadfebc564b.png

The final big signing of the season and our most expensive one of the season, but signing a very promising home-grown striker is not an opportunity I would ever let go.

The personnel at the club was at a quite decent level across the board and with the above players I felt like we had chances for a solid first season. And a solid first season it was:

https://i.gyazo.com/5565f2bf2c1c363a02b118bb14261976.png

We spent most of the season hovering between 3rd and 4th, but a late blip in form from Dinamo allowed us to beat them to the punch. In the end it didn't matter, as they were playing Dnipro in the Cup final so the Europa League spot would be allocated to the winner of that. But in the end it was still satisfying to finish second, as I did feel we were the second best team in the league.

https://i.gyazo.com/7fb1a2e6a4dd2b33189790ee42a6ad83.png

I think that screenshot depicts our season pretty accurately. We were very strong offensively, finishing second in the relative chart with 78 goals in 30 games (just 6 behind Shakhtar), but our defence, while okay-ish, wasn't up to the same standard and that is reflected perfectly here.

So first season is done and it was a great one. I'll be playing the Conference League qualifiers for the second season in a row, but this time around with much better chances of at least beating a couple of teams. Transfer-wise, I still have money to spend, but I am relatively satisifed with the level of the squad and I will mostly be looking at signing good Ukrainian players, rather than going for the best players I can find.

Dan

29-04-2024, 11:23 PM

Sandvikens IF 2026 Season Review

It's translated pretty well to the league this season, as we've been much better at both ends of the pitch & have managed to turn draws into wins, which has seen us climb the table & we're in with a shout of joining the promotion race if we can sustain it.

After seeing some improvements over the first half of the league season, I once again decided not to make any moves in the midseason window. I felt good about the squad, and didn't really see anywhere we needed to upgrade, but would my faith be rewarded?

https://i.imgur.com/YLvr4IK.png

I'd say that's a yes. We played really well all season long, and as the season went on we moved from battling for the final automatic promotion spot to a full on title challenge, thanks largely to us beating the Landskrona BOIS (https://imgur.com/SaommNg) just days after a win over GAIS which helped cut the top three clear of the rest. The results above took us to the final day, where all three teams were still in with a shot of winning the title. We squeaked in front of Landskrona by a point on the penultimate game week, with Västerås - who we smashed (https://imgur.com/AmuCJWk) - only really still in the race on a technicality due to our 3pt lead on them & huge goal difference advantage. Could we get it done?

https://i.imgur.com/F80wEae.png

:moop:

Proper FM stuff, this one, although going by the stat you might say they were the ones who got FM'd, not us. Their dominance on the stat sheet wasn't reflected in the highlights though, so it was left to the ref to balance things out. Their penalty was one of those nonsense ones where the defender goes to make a tackle & it just hard cuts to the spot kick, the second yellow was probably even worse, and then we conceded a header from a corner with basically the last touch of the game. Anyway, that left the door open for Landskrona, who could steal it back from us with a win...
https://i.imgur.com/bbhNQ2x.png

:fun:

When we conceded I thought we'd fucked it. I didn't catch the score in the other game, but I thought they were winning & when the final whistle blew there was no trophy lift & I got team talk options about blowing the title, so I was very surprised when I saw that Landskrona had also been FM'd (https://imgur.com/stvecSH) & we actually had won the league after all.

https://i.imgur.com/1iPKTYS.png

I think we were deserving winners in the end, and in a way it was quite similar to Pompey's season in real life. We were hard to beat, solid all over the pitch & consistently stepped up in the big games, and we've ended the season on a 20 game unbeaten run whilst the teams around us started to falter as the pressure ramped up.

The Squad:
Just want to recap some of the standout players this season, as it was a very different story to our unremarkable first season.

We'll start in goal, where Mathias Nilsson (https://imgur.com/fcCG1wT) had a much better season, living up to his billing as one of the better GKs in the league & someone who should be able to play in the Allsvenskan. He made some big saves, including stopping 2 penalties, and even though the skin doesn't have a pizza chart for goalkeepers his per 90 numbers are all strong so it's good that we managed to get him to agree to a midseason contract extension after he'd had his head turned over the offseason.

We'd had some issues with our back three last year, but the unit took a big step forward this season with the addition of Maxwell Woledzi (https://imgur.com/Z8aPRKS), who proved to be an excellent allrounder, hitting key numbers in tackle success rate & header win rate whilst also providing great passing & progression numbers. The other two guys were already here last season, but some changes to how they were deployed helped us get more out of them. Herman Magnusson (https://imgur.com/Wa6rzYt) was brought in as our highest earner last year & was very underwhelming as our right CB, but a move into the middle saw a much better season from him, with captain Gustav Thörn (https://imgur.com/8g7aRnY) swapping over & continuing to play well. Our wing backs were solid, with Jean (https://imgur.com/TfehgV8) probably being the best of the bunch, but I just don't seem to be able to get monster seasons from my FB/WBs.

In midfield we once again got solid seasons from Wilitty Younoussa (https://imgur.com/9CrVipv), Falko Michel (https://imgur.com/n4CasNw) & Simon Marklund (https://imgur.com/v8jDEEO), although all three had some injury problems as the season wore on, but I'd been looking for more goal threat from our AMs & we got a huge hit there in the shape of Filip Olsson (https://imgur.com/FyQjK6P), who hit double digit goals & has an argument to be our player of the season. It doesn't stop there though, as I was pleasantly surprised by the contributions we got from Kevin Holmén (https://imgur.com/VkJmT5B) & Markus Björkqvist (https://imgur.com/D1ptaWF), a couple of guys who I'd signed as squad depth but who stepped in ably in multiple spots when injuries hit.

Up front Raymond N'Dour (https://imgur.com/lp3pcK0) had another prolific season, but he was surpassed by the guy I almost signed instead of him last season, Hemeya Tanjy (https://imgur.com/tLpN0Rg) from the mighty Mauritania, who came out of the blocks hot with four goals in his first start & never really looked back.

I'm not entirely sure what I'm going to do now, to be honest. My contract runs out in a few weeks & there are plenty of jobs going since the Swedish season ends in November, however I'm not sure I'll have the rep to be able to get a job that's a significant upgrade, and there aren't any intriguing vacancies out there at the moment anyway, so I might be better of staying for one more year & seeing what that does for my rep. I guess we'll have to wait & see how things play out...

Adramelch

30-04-2024, 02:07 PM

How long have you been there Dan? Also what's yours/the club's reputation?

Dan

30-04-2024, 02:29 PM

How long have you been there Dan? Also what's yours/the club's reputation?

This is the end of the season season. My rep was only 10%, but I don’t think I’ve moved on far enough for it to update from this season yet, so hopefully I’ll get another 5% when it ticks over.

Can’t check club rep at the minute as I’m at work, but the sort of jobs I’d be targeting are only marginal upgrades/lateral moves - Norwegian/Danish second tiers, Turkish second/third tier or maybe Belgian second tier if I can get it (my manager is Belgian so might have an extra boost there).

I think one more season is probably the right move, but I might put some feelers out & see how teams react before I commit.

Adramelch

30-04-2024, 02:48 PM

Yeah I think I'd stay if I were you. Getting a chance to play with the big boys, even if it ends up being half a season or something is too good to pass.

Have you been trying to get coaching licenses? I know it's not the easiest thing in the smaller clubs with typically strict budgets (though it always seemed unrealistic that I'm being paid a couple thousand a month, yet I have to rely on my club to fork over the 450 euros or however much it costs), but it helps a ton with reputation.

Adramelch

30-04-2024, 06:09 PM

Quickly finished my second season at Karpaty and it was a good one. Let's start from the (important) transfers:

https://i.gyazo.com/ee34dc0fcf790038dbd98e0cde210ff9.png

Goalkeeper was one of our weakest positions, so I immediately looked for a replacement when the summer transfer window opened. He's not the best you've seen around, but he was a big upgrade over our previous one and he joined on a free. Not too shabby.

https://i.gyazo.com/b2cb16bc3f27a68656d4c464ef29f62b.png

A signing we didn't necessarily need, but one that was a minor improvement over what we had, on top of being home-grown. And we didn't have to pay anything for him either, as Shakhtar decided to not renew his contract.

https://i.gyazo.com/8d5d472ed64e936f6485f05019db27eb.png

A player who played regularly for Monaco in his teens but found himself out of favour both in France and later in Belgium at Genk. We had the opportunity to sign him for shy of 800k so we just went for it. On hindsight, a very impactful and consistent performer.

https://i.gyazo.com/2f318f13b718ba7c89e4b02c4bc2fc1d.png

Again a player we didn't quite need, but a promising young Ukrainian for just 1.9m? Yes please. Dinamo were fools for letting him go for so little money.

https://i.gyazo.com/7232923cc31d00203ded2e9826e51d14.png

Continuing on the theme of Dinamo letting promising youngsters go for little money, we only had to pay 1.1m for this guy. Granted Dinamo's squad is on a different level, so one man's trash is another man's treasure but still

With all these players in and without losing anyone relevant, I was quite confident of another successful season. It would start with the Conference League qualifiers and it honestly went much better than expected:

https://i.gyazo.com/b669e5bf2194a41f2aca8d908acecc48.png

We got the worst possible draw we could have in that fourth round, yet we gave it a very good go. 5-3 on aggregate probably flatters West Ham a bit, but they were the better team over the two games so can't really complain. They went on to reach the final, so very satisfied with how we kept them on their toes. Our knockout performances wouldn't stop there as we made it all the way to the Cup final, where despite matching Shakhtar all the way through, they still got away with a narrow 2-1 win to claim the trophy. We did get our revenge in the league, however:

https://i.gyazo.com/2d2fa7e05b8b50ac0d265e38ebf18c51.png

That was not only unexpected, but also surprisingly easy. We held an 8-point lead over them for most of the season and, while they did cut that down to 2 at some point, we persevered and managed to win the whole thing for the first time in the club's history. Good timing too, as 77 points wouldn't have been enough for the title last season, when Shakhtar gained 80 points, albeit that season was the anomaly, with 70-75 points being their standard yield.

https://i.gyazo.com/5d1e7110f09093d95c7a6e828f89f67c.png

The front four remained unchanged from last season and for good reason. 66 goals and 50 assists between them is quite the yield. That said, it was just more of the same for them as we scored just 4 goals more than last season (82 from 78). What really did it was our massive defensive improvement, going from 43 goals conceded to just 32. It isn't exactly evident in the stats, but watching the games I'd argue that's mostly down to Matazo. You know how people say that the best defensive midfielder is the one you forget about during the game? Matazo was the embodiment of that. No mistakes, solid passing and tackling numbers, what more could you want?

Normally, I'd already been planning for our maiden Champions League voyage, but this time things are different and that's because I've already agreed to join a new club at the end of the season:

https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/b/b5/FC_St_Pauli.png

Now, having won the league and with the reputation bump that brings, going to St. Pauli is at best a sideways move. Normally, I would have regrets about a pre-agreed move in a situation like that, but this time it's a bit different and that's why I agreed to join when we were 8 points ahead and things were looking good. Firstly, I rarely get to manage in lower divisions of big leagues in Journeyman saves, so it was an opportunity for something new. But more importantly, it's Sankt fucking Pauli, what else is there to say?

John Arne

01-05-2024, 12:36 PM

That'll do.

https://gyazo.com/e0481b1f3925daaee2f886a45c30ee87.jpeg

https://gyazo.com/1a4863e47214d3a43ffc3df2eab3e3bd.jpeg

After years of nothing, I got the two above last year, and this year I have these two little monsters.

https://gyazo.com/51bf3d5feb9e61ec73216dfd63602984.jpeg

https://gyazo.com/94ce77e49ad7e0669e1e2c3ec5ca1028.jpeg

Baz

01-05-2024, 12:51 PM

Determination 20!

John Arne

01-05-2024, 12:53 PM

Bing bing bing!

Adramelch

01-05-2024, 03:09 PM

First one's mental attributes are also, well, mental for that age. Shame his determination is on the lower side, but you can't have everything I guess.

Clunge

01-05-2024, 07:29 PM

Both 4 for natural fitness though, which isn't ideal. And determination means naff all for player development I learned recently. All about ambition and professionalism.

Baz

01-05-2024, 08:55 PM

And your mums fat

Gray Fox

01-05-2024, 10:35 PM

Both 4 for natural fitness though, which isn't ideal. And determination means naff all for player development I learned recently. All about ambition and professionalism.

When Baz did all of the work on Club TTH and made us all high potential players I tested out on development and you are correct. Determination has very little effect.

In fact it's almost all about game time. Ran the save over a few times and there wasn't really a correlation on players reaching potential and anything else. On one save CJay was Messi incarnate and on the next played in non-league for the most part.

Essentially they need to be generating a match rating at a decent level league from the ages of 19-21. 18 year olds going on loan/playing first team games helps too but it's if they're good enough. That time before they hit 21 is where you'll get by far the most growth. After that gains come a lot harder.

A pro tip here is that if you are sending a youth on to try and develop them, unless they score or assist, they wont gain a match rating if brought on after the 75th minute.

The games way of knowing they're playing is by looking at match ratings. And as you say, players with high ambition will not be happy being on the bench or a sub player and so will demand first team games with either you, or if not, someone else. The professionalism keeps them doing well in training which also aids in their growth.

Clunge

02-05-2024, 06:11 AM

These more youth-focused saves – Crewe, Hitchin, etc – has inspired me to fire one up with Exeter and see how far I can push their youth set up.

John Arne

02-05-2024, 07:07 AM

My pro tip would be to NOT send players out on loan too quickly. Once you have world class facilities, players progress way quicker in better facilities, so I would keep youngster at your club from 16-18, and then loan out for a couple of years 18-20 - ideally where they will play a lot, but also to a club that also has good facilities. I used to loan our young players as soon as they hit 17, but that certainly wasn't the best way.

Also, ignore the stars. 2 of my current best players were probably 3 stars potential when they came though, even if my AssMan was 20 JPA... stars are a massive red herring. Judge it on arrows... if a player is developing a lot... there's scope for big improvement.

John Arne

02-05-2024, 03:43 PM

Somewhat mixed messages here.... Also, the council are cunts.

https://gyazo.com/e1177a54be9f43946d92a570c730acee.jpeg

Adramelch

02-05-2024, 08:22 PM

https://i.gyazo.com/53c8dc2b92062b632db52f8ca10345a1.png\

Yikes.

Dan

02-05-2024, 09:41 PM

I'm not entirely sure what I'm going to do now, to be honest. My contract runs out in a few weeks & there are plenty of jobs going since the Swedish season ends in November, however I'm not sure I'll have the rep to be able to get a job that's a significant upgrade, and there aren't any intriguing vacancies out there at the moment anyway, so I might be better off staying for one more year & seeing what that does for my rep. I guess we'll have to wait & see how things play out...

Well, it's January 2027, preseason has just started & a decision has been made...
https://i.imgur.com/JFlKvxn.png

Bit of a spicy one, as we're staying in the Allsvenskan & will therefore be facing Sandvikens this year, but there's just no way I could sensibly turn them down. The wage budget is £200k p/w rather than £45k, the transfer budget is £10m(!!) compared to £200k, their facilities are way better, their stadium is about 5 times bigger, they're in the Conference League & I was looking at loads of their reserve players as options to sign for our first team. They're just obviously massively better.

I had a few other opportunities - Beerschot offered me an interview unsolicited, and I did actually get a job offer from Sint-Triuden, so it's pretty clear I can go to Belgium whenever I want, but that seems like something I'll look at further down the line. Staying in Scandinavia, I had an offer of an interview with Tromso that I refused, and one with Rosenborg which I took but didn't get the job.

It seemed like I was going to end up staying put, particularly as I'd already agreed to a two year extension at Sandvikens by this point, but Djurgårdens finally decided to look through their job applications after Xmas, and so I'll be taking on a job with some pretty high expectations - they want me to make the knockout playoff in the Conference League & finish in the top three, but after that it's win or bust, so I might only stay here for a year or two before looking to move abroad.

The most annoying thing is that i'd already done all my data stuff for Sandvikens so I'm going to have to go & redo everything now :moop: At least that's my weekend plans sorted, I guess.

Adramelch

03-05-2024, 10:45 AM

Good move that and with good timing. I am a fan of moving upwards within the same league in the early stages of such saves as it just makes more sense. Though usually I've only received such offers later through the season, where the club in question is just significantly lower in the league than my current one, so I typically don't go for it.

Adramelch

03-05-2024, 03:23 PM

Maiden season at St. Pauli (2028/29 for anyone wondering) is done:

https://i.gyazo.com/e296ed7118ad6f5e2a0c75a62f921537.png

It's all just been very easy so far in this save and well this version of the game I guess. Granted it's all been relatively lower leagues where just going all out attacking tends to work very well. That said, we also had one giant killing with that approach in the cup and were very close to a second one:

https://i.gyazo.com/a734bcdd7ff2e24a194fe4d0d0601b7b.png

We got fucked with that semi-final draw as we got the only remaining Bundesliga team in the competition, but we gave it our best shot and in the end we were just a penalty or two away from making it to the final. Props to Kaiserslautern for beating them in the final, while also demolishing Freiburg 4-0 in the quarters.

https://i.gyazo.com/1a9a1c6beb4b2d0e005634a1f2c06ece.png

Very good performances all around really. Our only (sort of) sore point being the goalkeeper. I mean his average rating is solid but it felt like we condeded too many goals from non- and half-chances.

In terms of signings, the following are the 4 most important ones, with all of them being among our best players as well:

https://i.gyazo.com/d5a94aba6b12071c4426ed70d256559e.png

https://i.gyazo.com/06e561d02edf8d95831c4bc02eb1c70a.png

https://i.gyazo.com/a5daf3ddbb02cc75a6177bc35b76d144.png

https://i.gyazo.com/25987197a90d39b3b70b571993327b01.png

And with that, we prepare for our first Bundesliga run in almost 20 seasons. Well I say we, but in reality it will be St. Pauli without me as an this club came knocking and I thought I might as well give it a go:

https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/en/c/c1/FC_Basel_crest.svg

Dan

03-05-2024, 04:55 PM

We definitely seem to have come into our saves with a similar approach.

As much as it’s sad to leave St Pauli to fend for themselves in the Bundesliga, Basel could be a pretty fun move for a few seasons. Have they fallen off a bit or are they still up near the top of the table? I feel like Young Boys tend to end up sticking as the dominant force in Switzerland & everyone else just fights for the leftovers.

Adramelch

03-05-2024, 05:47 PM

https://i.gyazo.com/515bca40433d51db635103aca728777c.png

They had mostly started falling into mid-table(-ish) obscurity, before winning it twice consecutively. Last season they again finished 4th, which is why the job became available. I wouldn't mind staying at St. Pauli, but I tend to avoid spending too many seasons in the same league in Journeyman saves and I'd rather go back to Germany at a bigger job. That was my thinking at least.

As an aside, it feels like they've messed up release clauses massively in this version. I don't mind players insisting on adding them on, that part is more than realistic, but I just signed a goalkeeper for 3.6m who insisted on a 5m release clause and he hasn't been the only one. Been a common occurence throughout this save.

Adramelch

05-05-2024, 10:17 AM

First season at Basel was successful one would say:

https://i.gyazo.com/889b3cdeb40117b0b6aa44601158908a.png

Coupled with an equally easy Cup win. We didn't do quite as good in Europe, but it was again a case of a fucked draw as we got the hardest possible opposition in Aston Villa. We generally held our own, but the first leg was one of those where they scored with every chance they got so we ended up going out 4-2 on aggregate.

https://i.gyazo.com/70aade20a19e5ba3ecabde3baf7095e4.png

Very good performances all around, helped by the fact that an easy league means easy wins means easy average rating. Scoring 26 goals in the first two qualifying rounds of the Conference League also helped. For reference we also had a massive 57 goals scored from our backup players. That said, I was quite satisfied with the squad as a whole, so no immediate replacements in the plans. Well not by design that is, as I expect a few release clauses to be activated so we will have to take corrective actions there. In terms of transfers, we signed 10 players this season, the two most impactful being:

https://i.gyazo.com/b145c6d77355d0631c42c8e87fa264e5.png

https://i.gyazo.com/a9d82c9aa0bd9be5859546c01c0bf8fe.png

John Arne

05-05-2024, 02:34 PM

Sugimoto :drool:

John Arne

05-05-2024, 02:34 PM

Also, get NewGan for better regen faces.

Adramelch

05-05-2024, 03:09 PM

I don't particularly care about their appearance and I quite like that I can tell regens from real players immediately.

John Arne

05-05-2024, 03:10 PM

Fair do's.

Adramelch

06-05-2024, 10:41 AM

I'm really not a fan of how you find a talent, they don't have the "Wanted" tag, you put an offer in and then the Reals and Cities of the world make an offer the very next day. I mean fair play, they are good enough that they should be going to the bigger teams, I just don't see why it has to play out like that.

Baz

06-05-2024, 05:21 PM

I’m gonna try and win the Ballon d’Or with one of these young strikers (https://forms.office.com/Pages/ResponsePage.aspx?id=_vFlV5R_-02ncOb04rPEH2aDH8B7iyVEhA7MtoqFTdhURVJBTVNFU1FQSlc zOFBFN1U1NDVDVkpYMC4u) so please go and vote. You can pick up to 10 of them, if you’re indecisive.

Shindig

06-05-2024, 05:42 PM

No need. Coolest name wins.

Adramelch

06-05-2024, 11:57 PM

https://i.gyazo.com/2362a372c921a4597db0fb035c8eab1d.png

Today's game: Guess who plays for what team

Baz

07-05-2024, 09:18 AM

Adramelch

07-05-2024, 02:43 PM

https://i.gyazo.com/e22e02fede434e756a6acd94934a9afc.png

The game said he was injured during a training session, but I'd like to imagine he tripped and twisted his ankle at some point during his flight to Italy.

Shindig

07-05-2024, 05:12 PM

He stacked it on the steps like a statesman.

Baz

07-05-2024, 07:34 PM

Because I’m only bothered about playing this Icelandic striker I’ve set staff responsibilities so I do nowt and President Florentino Perez does the majority. He sold Vini Jr for £102m to City and bought Sancho to replace him. :cab: he has also signed Antonio Silva though so he’s not completely useless.

I’ve stepped in and signed Adam Wharton, Trent Alexander-Arnold, Leny Yoro, Florian Wirtz and some regens.

It’s bizarre how good head of youth development regens are. I got one as my assistant and Celts Vigo have now snapped him up as their manager cos he’s got 20s pretty much across the board.

Dan

07-05-2024, 07:48 PM

Djurgården 2027 Midseason Update

It seemed like I was going to end up staying put, particularly as I'd already agreed to a two year extension at Sandvikens by this point, but Djurgårdens finally decided to look through their job applications after Xmas, and so I'll be taking on a job with some pretty high expectations - they want me to make the knockout playoff in the Conference League & finish in the top three, but after that it's win or bust, so I might only stay here for a year or two before looking to move abroad.

I've finally reached the midpoint of the season, so it's time for an update.

Transfers:
https://i.imgur.com/cemzyuD.png

Not a huge amount of business, at least in terms of incoming transfers, but we did clear out some of the dead wood in the reserves & got some of the more promising young players out on loan. Coming in were three of my Sandvikens lads who will provide cover in the midfield positions as well as helping with the home grown quota (you have to have 9 home grown players in every squad), as well as a Swedish left back who was signed on a free for similar reasons. The main area of focus was our back three though, as we needed more quality on the ball, so in came Jamie Lawrence & newgen Paulo Iachini, who should both be massive upgrades on the players already at the club.

Allsvenskan:
https://i.imgur.com/l1j6Y5T.png

Pretty straightforward here so far. Malmo are our main title rivals so it was nice to get the win over them (https://imgur.com/rj4v53H) to round out the first half of the season, although the table is closer than you might think (https://imgur.com/O59LaOL). So far it's felt a bit like taking over the Celtic job as we seem to be a tier above most of the league, and if we manage to continue our form across the whole year I might consider a one & done here.

Svenska Cupen:
https://i.imgur.com/YjbDDJe.png

Nice, easy way to begin my time at the helm, as we comfortably made our way through to the final, which for some reason is held two months later, where we'd face Elfsborg.
https://i.imgur.com/2GLUbiP.png

Err, yeah. We absolutely murdered them :dunno:

Conference League:
The group phase was already over by the time I got hired, with us finishing in 15th place. Most of the good teams were in the top 16, so I felt like we at least had a chance of making it out of the knockout playoff, but from there on we'd be hoping for some kind draws.
https://i.imgur.com/pcchQ4D.png

We almost bollocksed it up at the first hurdle, losing to Rapid in Bucharest & toiling for an hour at home before a few changes completely took them apart. Beating Gladbach was a huge surprise, but we deserved our win at home (https://imgur.com/ZRqfGXm) & battled for a draw in the second leg. Rijeka were a nice change of pace after that, but when we pulled Lyon in the semi finals it was game over, even if we did manage to beat them at our place (https://imgur.com/qtGqQEf).

It's a really pleasing run, which I hope will provide a decent bit of rep, but I'm definitely not expecting us to be able to get that far again for a while.

I don't think I'll be making many changes in the midseason transfer window, and hopefully I'll be able to make some quicker progress down the back half of the year with no cup competitions to focus on.

Baz

07-05-2024, 09:23 PM

Check out this monster:

https://i.imgur.com/Krj2tPo.png

Baz

08-05-2024, 04:35 PM

Adramelch

08-05-2024, 05:31 PM

A double whammy of an update this time (split in two posts because it won't let me make a longer post), courtesy of me spraining my ankle during easter holiday (yay me!):

Season 2030/31

After a very dominant first season at Basel, a quiet summer window was in the plans. That said, a few release clauses were activated and a few good players were available on a free that would be an upgrade over our current backups, so I still ended up signing seven players. Only two of them are important enough to show however:

https://i.gyazo.com/1e8df2bd162b563d379befa4d7c31f53.png

Our previous left-back failed to really stake his claim here so when the opportunity arose for us to make a 2m profit within a year I just took it. In came Quarto to replace him for just shy of 7m.

https://i.gyazo.com/d000426db93ff727513a0a02f7263f86.png

Another youngster, as is my MO. Not necessarily a player we needed, but at a 5m price and with money burning my pockets I signed him nonetheless.

https://i.gyazo.com/861528b72efc4371d95f298ad89f5e62.png

Even more dominant of a season, which was somewhat surprising since we also had European games this time around. Once again we coupled that with a cup win. As for Europe, once more we got the hardest possible opposition in the Playoff round, but this being the Champions Path, that was just Sparta Prague, which was definitely within our powers to beat. And beat them we did, to qualify for the group stage and beyond:

https://i.gyazo.com/b6571b4468ad2aa52fc9c98f7397119b.png

A very very strong run all in all, with massive wins over Arsenal, Fiorentina and PSG (twice!). The Fiorentina one was massive in particular as it improved our goal difference just enough to finish inside the top 16 and get an easier draw in the next round. After a very easy knockout tie against Galatasaray, we were drawn against PSG and just surprised the whole world. Granted, we were clinical in our finishing and the 6-3 aggregate score flatters us, but make no mistake, we were the better team in both games and deservedly went through. Unsurprisingly, we couldn't repeat the same feat against Bayern, but we definitely held our own, so there's nothing more I could ask for.

https://i.gyazo.com/aadd425fd5de893cd31867199a53f1ae.png

A full squad screenshot for once. As you see very much a collective effort, especially offensively where we had no fewer than 6 players with goals in the double digits and 5 with ten or more assists. Particular mention should of course go to Reichert who found a bit of consistency and finished the season with 35 goals despite losing about a quarter of our games through injury and a bit of rotation.

Adramelch

08-05-2024, 05:32 PM

Season 2031/32

The following season started with me leaving Switzerland and travelling only a few hundred kilometers south, to become the manager of:

https://sortitoutsidospaces.b-cdn.net/megapacks/metalliclogos/source/fm21complete/sortitoutsi%20Metallic%20Logos/graphics/pictures/logos/metallic%20logos/clubs/normal/1099.png

I wouldn't have minded staying another season at Basel, but I haven't managed in Italy for quite a few years now and when the position at Milan became available I thought it was the perfect opportunity. Now, as I'm sure everyone who's managed in Italy knows, the classic Serie A experience was waiting for me: the club had a massive squad, full of aging players and was about 80 million in the red. Thankfully, in this version (and reality) Saudi Arabia exists, which gave me an out. A total of 15 players left the club for a combined fee of just shy of 200 million euros, most of it coming from the transfers of De Ketelaere (80m to Arsenal at 30 y/o), MacAllister (65m to the Saudis at 32 y/o), Theo Hernandez (19m to the Saudis at 33 y/o) and an assortment of decent squad players. Leao was also close to going to Saudi Arabia for 70-ish million, but I decided against it. That meant we had some money to spend so in came a total of 8 players. The most important three were Quarto (the left-back I signed at Basel), who came in as a direct replacement of Hernandez for 13 million, as well as the following duo:

https://i.gyazo.com/225dfb227efe141687ba6c7a3074276b.png

A player, who almost joined me at Basel for less than 3 million last summer, but understandably chose Porto over us. We paid a steep 55m to bring him, but I think it's worth it for a player that can lead our frontline for years to come.

https://i.gyazo.com/d72f12ab26978607a9dc6ebe7215c1a3.png

We really struggled with goalkeepers. When I joined, our first-team keeper was a 36 y/o rapidly declining Maignan and our other options were non-existent. I tried to replace him and I was very close to bringing in a real gem, but he (again understandably) decided to join Real instead, so we were stuck with the French grandpa. Four months later, I had seen enough and I decided to sign the best available option for the money we had at our disposal. And that's where Di Giacobbe entered the picture. He was (and still is) not the finished article, but in our dire situation and with him being young and home-grown, I just went for it. Cost us 30m.

https://i.gyazo.com/78f9b52a0e28f0005e2bdf2c060c1dba.png

That was very, very, very close. In fact, we went into the last day with both us and Juventus at 95 points, with them having the head-to-head advantage, so we were on course to lose a league with 98 points, in what must be a record across European leagues. Thankfully, while we dispatched Como at home with ease, they struggled at Florence, and we emerged as champions, for the first time in 10 years. As an aside, look at the state of Serie A: Brianza (who?), Salento (again, who?), Como, Pisa and Cremonese, among others.

In the cup, we unceremoniously went out to Atalanta in the quarters. As for Europe, we would be playing in the Europa League this season after finishing 5th, which is why the previous manager was fired. The club expected us to reach the quarters, but I knew we had to do better than that as we were the biggest club in the competition. And that's exactly what we did:

https://i.gyazo.com/6f9a4c397795e4ae48302e5300e61956.png

It wasn't as comfortable as I expected, but in the end we got there. Lyon almost cut our journey sort by grabbing a (very undeserved) 2-0 win at their place, but we rallied and manage to score three in the return fixture. After a brief respite against Betis, we were drawn against Frankfurt in the semis, which was probably the second best team in the competition. We were the better team in both games and deservedly went through, but again it was too close for comfort. That meant we would be facing Feyenoord in the final and it was quite the nailbiter:

https://i.gyazo.com/dfc5354e2875541bc008fba3e70448c2.png

We were second best throughout the night, but our clinical finishing gave us the trophy. It was a game full of twists and turns, starting from Thiaw scoring and then picking two yellow cards within 10 minutes, Di Giacobbe saving their penalty only for us to immediately concede from the resulting corner and Leao scoring a Maradona-esque winner, by picking the ball in our half and going past 6 players before slotting it into the corner. Oh well, second best or not, I'm very glad we won the trophy.

https://i.gyazo.com/b67940fbdb02cfea72b10d808d22be4b.png

Our front four might just be the best front four in Europe. 116 goals and 81 assists between them is just ridiculous. If I had to pick my player of the season, it would have to be Popovic. He's probably the worst out of the four in terms of quality, but even though he was to be our backup striker, he got a couple of games on the left wing early on and was so good that Leao was relegated to a bench warmer. That's how impactful his presence was. Also props to Quarto, who made a big step, with big shoes to fill and he rose up to the challenge.

So with that settled, more rebuilding is to come. The club is once again 50m in the red, so a lot of players will be leaving and a lot of bargain hunting will take place. The goal for next season is above all to steady the ship financially, but I wouldn't say no to a repeat performance in the league and a deep run in the champions league.

Dan

08-05-2024, 05:43 PM

Adramelch

08-05-2024, 05:46 PM

I did think you must’ve joined Milan when you posted the screenie of the new signing getting immediately injured. Definitely a nice upgrade, especially as you’d done about all you can in Switzerland.

Brianza are Monza & Salento are Lecce, I believe. At least you managed to avoid Capitolene.

I figured something was going on since I couldn't find who they would have replaced. I guess it goes to show that I haven't managed in Italy for quite some time. I'd noticed of Parthenope/Napoli through our European encounters but not much else.

Raoul Duke

08-05-2024, 07:05 PM

How does Quarto look now? He looks like he could be mega (albeit one of those with low natural fitness who'll be on the way to Saudi Arabia up by early 30's ish)

Adramelch

08-05-2024, 07:14 PM

Not much different since the previous picture was at the end of said season, but he has progress a bit physically:

https://i.gyazo.com/9283c12c323f3e783f08413258688fb9.png

I also think I would be doing you all a disservice if I didn't post a screenshot of Bruno Santos:

https://i.gyazo.com/8acee2cf54eee114231ee58bcdc1656c.png

He had 36 assists without taking any set-pieces. Probably the highest I've seen in that regard.

Sir Andy Mahowry

09-05-2024, 08:33 AM

Didn't play my Hitchin save for a week. First game back one of my CDM's gets sent off after 1:46 and then a CB gets sent off after 21:44.

Here is the squad for our next game, an FA Cup qualifying game against Bamber Bridge:

https://i.imgur.com/Pua15in.png

Lads, simmer the fuck down.

Adramelch

09-05-2024, 08:49 AM

Seems to mostly be defensively-minded players as well, just to make it even harder for you.

Sir Andy Mahowry

09-05-2024, 09:05 AM

Thankfully it didn't matter, we won 6-1.

John Arne

09-05-2024, 09:11 AM

Get Stuck In on?

Sir Andy Mahowry

09-05-2024, 09:26 AM

Get Stuck In on?

It was off.

I checked player instructions though and every single player was on "Tackle Harder", whoops.

John Arne

09-05-2024, 09:59 AM

Adramelch

10-05-2024, 05:22 PM

Another season done and a very successful one at that. As I mentioned in my previous update, the main goal this season was to steady the ship financially, so that we can start building something more permanent, which we definitely accomplished. To begin with, we only replaced two starters, one of which was aging and wanted to leave and the other we could get a significant upgrade on, while making a profit in the process. Apart from those two, we moved to improve the quality of the bench players and we also sold some more than solid backup players to make room for some youngsters. All in all, we only signed six players (two of of which were youngsters that were instantly loaned out) for a (still hefty) combined fee of 83m, but we more than offset by selling a dozen or so players for a combined 212m. The more relevant players that joined are the following:

https://i.gyazo.com/5a3b2ae834221a8798fe1f15a83cb679.png

A side-grade at best for the right back position, but Kalulu wanted to leave and he was getting old so I pulled the trigger. It was a bit of an indirect swap, as Kalulu joined Barcelona for 20m and we then proceeded to sign Sandoval from them for 48m.

https://i.gyazo.com/0d52257c16e538eae5ebd280e69699b6.png

One of the aforementioned youngsters. He joined from Sparta Prague in January for just 9m but stayed with them for the remainder of the season. He will probably see some first-team football from now on.

https://i.gyazo.com/839ccdabe2549d1d7a5a3803fc81adcf.png

Easily the best bit of transfer this summer, but quite possibly one of my best transfers overall in this save. He only cost 7m and was a significant upgrade over the player he replaced, who was the wrong side of 30 and we managed to sell for 35m.

https://i.gyazo.com/c3cd844bdf2e71312c6d9118ad6ad5a3.png

He wasn't as good when he joined but he's already become a great player and he was only a squad player this season. I think he's earned a chance to impress in the upcoming one. Cost 21m from Estoril.

With the transfers done, let's continue with the results. The season started strong with a relatively comfortable European Super Cup win over Manchester City. We didn't continue as strong though as we struggled to close out games and we found ourselves in a 3-way battle for the league with Inter and Juventus. Right as we regained our previous form, they both started to falter, so in the end we retained the league title without much hassle:

https://i.gyazo.com/63cd6aac4ef5349904f6ee4f0a99ccdd.png

This was almost coupled with a Coppa Italia win, however we couldn't beat Inter in the final. Truth be told, they were the better team on the night, however marginally, so kudos to them. At least we managed to win the second tinpot trophy of the season, the domestic Super Cup, by beating Inter in the semis and Juventus in the final. What about Europe:

https://i.gyazo.com/deef11a1826882fcbbee0a4e6778be45.png

That picture makes it look dominant and it was, but only in the knockout rounds. We struggled in the group phase and only made top 8 by the skin of our teeth, when Bayern failed to win at home against Ajax on the final day. And this proved to be massive, since not only did we avoid the extra tie and the tough draw, we ended up getting very lucky in drawing Nice. After dispatching them with ease, we were drawn against Inter and let me tell you that scoreline doesn't reflect the truth, as we should have scored at least a couple in each leg. As it were, a 1-1 draw away was followed by a narrow 1-0 win in the return leg to set a semifinal tie against Barcelona. They weren't as strong as I expected and after a deserved 5-3 win at home in the first leg, I had confidence in reaching the final. The return leg was even more sided, but they somehow managed to hold us to a 1-1 draw. As for the final:

https://i.gyazo.com/47d77dc5d157c4b512758bc33d3b1fe3.png

We were comfortably the better team and it only looks like it was even-ish because they had the good old FM injury time spell where they threw everything at us, but thankfully we held on to our lead. Now, I didn't expect to win both the Europa League and the Champions League within 10 seasons in this save, but honestly this version has been very easy for me in every save I've played. Oh well, it is what it is.

We also played in the Club World Cup this summer, but only made it to the quarters where we were beaten by United through a Rahsford brace. Disgusting.

https://i.gyazo.com/e1e1898734c752510015a2674a45f025.png

As you see, the stats aren't as impressive as last time around. We scored fewer goals in all competitions, but at least we were much better defensively so it more than evened out. I am also very happy with the amount of rotation I was able to do. I am really happy with the squad that I've assembled and I don't expect any major changes the following summer, not because there's no improvements we can make, but more so because I don't really want to spend the money needed to achieve that. I will also look to involve even more youngsters into the rotation and we have some really juicy ones coming through our academy.

In terms of plans, I did throw a speculative job application at Tottenham, but they opted for Inter's Luis Enrique instead (who then proceeded to sign De Zerbi, who had just been sacked by Tottenham; just FM things), though I can't say I was disappointed. Even though I've found some early success, I intend to stick with the save and manage clubs in the other big leagues before calling it a day.

Adramelch

11-05-2024, 05:46 PM

Have a look at this disgusting left-back United have:

https://i.gyazo.com/7842d796c4f66202fdf15162b6679b0f.png

Sir Andy Mahowry

12-05-2024, 10:55 AM

Got to the FA Cup third round again with Hitchin this season and drew Dulwich Hamlet who are in the same league but doing a lot worse than us.

They FM'd us to win 3-1 and got Liverpool away in the fourth round, I'm absolutely fucking SEETHING.

Probably a mill or so lost out on.

John Arne

12-05-2024, 11:17 AM

Have a look at this disgusting left-back United have:

https://i.gyazo.com/7842d796c4f66202fdf15162b6679b0f.png

Just as comfortable on the left wing as he is centre back :D

Baz

14-05-2024, 10:39 AM

My regen won the Ballon d'Or (first regen to win it)

https://i.imgur.com/0LII0Iu.png

He's phenomenal tbf:

https://i.imgur.com/47vyxfP.png

Still no sign of my Icelandic lad ever getting it. :stamford:

https://i.imgur.com/5ZGN2lR.png

Sir Andy Mahowry

14-05-2024, 08:15 PM

Hitchin Town 2041/42 Season Update:

League:

https://i.imgur.com/WkQTnVc.png

https://i.imgur.com/DTKWGOZ.png
https://i.imgur.com/rQGCsAB.png

https://i.imgur.com/ZbSVXyY.png

We fucking did it! Football league here we come.

After ages in the North it was a quick turnaround in the National League as this was only our second season with playoff final appearances in both. I was shit scared when they scored the second basically straight from kick off and the rest of the first half was nervy.

Thankfully we came out firing in the second half to put them to sleep.

https://i.imgur.com/pDU6irN.png

Props to Josh who has been our starting AMC since being in the latest intake (we also have a CB who came straight into the team) and he saved his best game for Wembley. 3 assists and awarded MOTM.

Cups:

https://i.imgur.com/9dkenpv.png

Still SEETHING that we lost to Dulwich Hamlet who then went on to get Liverpool at Anfield. They must have made a fortune.

We've also turned pro and our stadium will be bigger:

https://i.imgur.com/nNk3vqo.png

Worried as shit though for the future as Ioan's contract is expiring at the end of the next season.

Adramelch

16-05-2024, 08:32 AM

Another twofer from me:

Season 2033-34

After an unexpectedly successful season expectations were high. But at the same time, we realistically wouldn't be able to replicate our success. Still, I went into it fairly confident since we had played really good football to get us where we were. With that in mind and also keeping to my goal of not overspending and undoing all the work I've done here in terms of financial stability, I opted to stick with the same squad. We only signed 3 players, but they were just promising youngsters that would add depth so you're not getting any screenshots.

https://i.gyazo.com/6c44d6010e80cc790a5353cbaaa580f0.png

We weren't very good. Towards the end of February we proceeded to lose three games we should absolutely be winning in the space of 3 weeks and it really put us on the backfoot. Thankfully we rallied from there (partly due to a less congested schedule) and Inter started dropping points, so we somehow managed to retain the title. At the very least, we managed to win the Cup this time around, in what must be the most dominant start to a final I've ever seen, as we were 6-0 up within the first 20 minutes against Atalanta. I lowkey hoped we kept going for some sort of record but it only ended 7-1.

In Europe we struggled once again, and only made top 8 in the group phase courtesy of other teams dropping points on the last day rather than us deserving it. We drew Sporting in the last 16, which we easily dispatched and then met with Barcelona in the quarters. A tight 2-1 win at our place left things open for the return fixture, but sadly they were better there and grabbed a 2-0 win to knock us out and take revenge for the semi-final defeat the season prior.

https://i.gyazo.com/eb2c852245eaf84a0ecfde0a23dd6077.png

This season highlighted a few things: Di Giacobbe might have had a decent first couple of seasons here, but he is not good enough for a team with Champions League aspirations so a replacement is planned for the summer. Our defense also isn't up to the level I'd want them to be, so Scanavino has already replaced Sandoval at right-back and we will be looking for a new starting centre back. Finally, Popovic wasn't the game changer that he had been in my first two seasons here so he was replaced by Joelson (who also happens to be an academy product). The plan there is to shift him back to his natural position, playing backup to Astrom and getting another academy product that has impressed out on loan to be Joelson's understudy. As you can see Astrom basically was the reason our season was saved, and he almost broke an 80-year odd record that Nordvahl has held since the 50s with 38 goals in a season, but he only managed to tie it.

Season 2034-35

Following a disappointing(-ish) season and having identified our problems, we made some moves in the market this time around:

https://i.gyazo.com/6be90687f3288425e30e83cb2b9628c7.png

A direct replacement for Di Giacobbe. Cost us a steep 100m, but with the latter moving to Liverpool for 60m, I thought it was a great piece of business all things considered.

https://i.gyazo.com/0f226d135bd46e2669061027f53714a0.png

The starting centre-back I mentioned. He only joined in January but had an immediate impact so I'm very happy with the transfer. Only cost 14m from Brondby as well.

https://i.gyazo.com/b07cd9e57413edcfd7f6b2ddb8e16a7f.png

More of a squad depth signing for the time being, but one with tons of potential that only cost 15m so I thought he was worthy of a screenshot.

https://i.gyazo.com/c4582a144334dbad7512bb9a21b02049.png

A player that hasn't played a minute for us. We signed him for just 7m in the summer when he was at 2.5 stars for current ability, but he spent the season on loan at Torino and was incredible for them, so he'll be a regular fixture for Milan from next season onwards. He could be one of the best players in the world if he keeps developing like that.

https://i.gyazo.com/fc767ca7da20f77c70f68f2eae3a4dc5.png

Back to our best. We were dominant throughout and proved that last season was a blip. This was coupled with another Cup win, with us beating Inter 2-0 in the final. As for Europe:

https://i.gyazo.com/da34c99d8a312a105db62bfdc48e11bc.png

We came close. This time around we were actually really solid, but it was the one season where 18 points weren't enough to guarantee a top 8 slot. Thankfully the draw was very kind, as once we dispatched Juventus, we got the easier team we could have gotten in Marseille, although it has to be said that they've been strong for a few seasons now. Still, we went through with ease to reach the quarters where Barcelona awaited once again. This time around we showed that we were the better team, with a very comprehensive 8-3 aggregate win (3-1 at home, 5-2 away) to set-up a semi against Real. We were the better team at home, but were held to a goalless draw at our place, missing a penalty in the process, but then proceeded to dominate the return fixture to get to our third European final in four seasons.

https://i.gyazo.com/ea54a74d830a59da7d455f11861af8f7.png

We were the better team, but neither team was good to be honest. We got the lead late in the first half, but then conceded two goals to Haaland and couldn't get an equaliser. Oh well, a very good season still.

https://i.gyazo.com/eeb4e437b51194d412bb60a18916f0e6.png

Very happy with the squad overall. Joelson taking over the left wing proved to be an inspired move and it also allowed Popovic to go back to his original position and grab an incredible 21 goals mostly coming off the bench. Boenitsch was really solid between the goals and our usual trio (or I guess quartet if you include Perez) in Simons, Santos and Astrom were on fire once again.

With all that said and done, a new adventure awaits as I was offered a position at:

https://sortitoutsi.b-cdn.net/uploads/team/1736.png

Finding a new club has been quite the adventure. The Real Madrid position was open last summer, but they opted to go for Tuchel instead of me. PSG then never held interviews for Tuchel's replacement, as they immediately agreed a deal with Klopp (who'd just been fired from Real). Then in the winter, United sacked their manager and decided to sign, yep you got it, Tuchel instead of me. Then the Chelsea position became available and they signed Guardiola over me. Thankfully, when Tuchel left Real in the summer to join United, that position was up for grabs, so here I am.

Dan

17-05-2024, 06:55 PM

Djurgårdens IF 2027 Season Review

I don't think I'll be making many changes in the midseason transfer window, and hopefully I'll be able to make some quicker progress down the back half of the year with no cup competitions to focus on.

Well it's taken me 10 days to get to this update so I guess not :D Might as well try to make this quick.

Allsvenskan
https://i.imgur.com/XSMjNCo.png

We were actually pretty rubbish for the last month but that just meant we squeaked out 1-0 wins instead of scoring 3 or 4.

https://i.imgur.com/y9DZPOX.png

Invincible season domestically, having won the Svenska Cupen as well, and we also broke the Allsvenskan points record (https://imgur.com/HTrdNV1). That'll be a one & done then.

Europe:
https://i.imgur.com/EikX3O6.png

Having made the semi finals of the Conference League at the start of the year we battled our way through qualifying to secure a spot in the Europa League this time round. We had a fairly average set of fixtures (https://imgur.com/kDITbtN), although I'm not a fan of starting with the two toughest games.

https://i.imgur.com/n7oGzl9.png

That's about what you'd expect, I guess, and it leaves us towards the bottom of the playoff spots (https://imgur.com/gm5nizc). There are still two league phase games left to play, but both of those are in the new year so hopefully I'll be gone by then.

Key Players:
The whole team graded out pretty well this season, as you'd expect from a team that didn't lose a domestic game all year, but the tippiest of tip top players were probably these guys:

Victor Edvardsen (https://imgur.com/NOd2hYf) - absolutely smoked everyone all the way until the last month, when he died of exhaustion & we started to actually have to work for goals.

Viktor Bergh (https://imgur.com/mf0GsJX) & Lucas Agazzi (https://imgur.com/WKoaQUU) - I finally got wingbacks to work \0/

Jamie Lawrence (https://imgur.com/QG298Xa) - started out as the middle CB in our back three, then moved to the right when I signed Olivier Aertssen on a free. He was a beast in both spots & started adding goals when I remembered to load my set pieces.

I should also give some love to a couple of guys at opposite ends of the pitch who were amazing but got sold in midseason. Jacob Widdell Zetterstrom (https://imgur.com/zqdh7Ww) was a great GK for us, but when we got a national record bid (https://imgur.com/u95A3oQ) for him the board stepped in & he's now at Antwerp. Evidence Makgopa (https://imgur.com/XQbUWOD), meanwhile, was smashing goals in at the same rate as Edvardsen for the first half of the season, but we let him go to Kobenhavn for a decent fee as he was getting grumbly.

Time to get my Xmas shopping done now the season is over & maybe I'll also book a trip abroad...

Baz

17-05-2024, 07:04 PM

Once you get so far in, money becomes absolutely meaningless. Alright I’m Real Madrid, but one billion transfer budget is insane

Adramelch

17-05-2024, 07:32 PM

Once you get so far in, money becomes absolutely meaningless. Alright I’m Real Madrid, but one billion transfer budget is insane

And yet Bellingham wouldn't renew his contract because I could only offer him up to 1.1m per week and the Saudis ended up giving him 1.9m.

Real does feel like a cheat code though, indeed. I have no idea how they're generating that much revenue, compared to virtually everyone else.

Manc

17-05-2024, 08:29 PM

I've reached the summer of 2052 and decided to call time on my annual French adventure. 1062 matches, spells with five clubs and the odd national job. Not sure what challenge to take on next.

Sir Andy Mahowry

17-05-2024, 08:47 PM

https://i.imgur.com/XtNQEg8.png

Holy fuck.

I tried to sell him in the Summer as his wage demands were £5k a week and he agreed to leave for £825k. No one would make an offer due to his wage demands being so high but I've worn the fucker down.

I hate the £625k release clause but fuck it.

9 goals in 11 League Two games (top scorer) so he's still quality at this level.

https://i.imgur.com/tLhzdTq.png

It's done :cool:

Dan

17-05-2024, 09:28 PM

Time to get my Xmas shopping done now the season is over & maybe I'll also book a trip abroad...

https://media1.tenor.com/m/CBJW8dgtEHMAAAAd/poznan-lech.gif

https://i.imgur.com/sCpZJOy.png

Had an interview with Rapid Bucharest & ultimately turned them down, but this came up shortly after & feels like a sideways step with similar budgets, so we should be able to compete for a league title pretty quickly. They were in sixth when the job came up, but have sorted themselves out a bit & are now third at the winter break, however Legia are 11pts ahead of us & have only lost once all season, so we might need to wait until next season for a proper title race.

It's a step up in Europe, as they're sitting 6th in the Europa League compared to 23rd at Djurgården, although our two remaining games are Lyon & Stuttgart, so that's a pretty rough start to my tenure.

We've got a month until the proper games start, but only £2.81m in the transfer budget & £16.78k p/w free in wages, so it will probably have to be some bargain bin browsing or selling to buy. Time to crack out the spreadsheet again...

Baz

17-05-2024, 10:21 PM

And yet Bellingham wouldn't renew his contract because I could only offer him up to 1.1m per week and the Saudis ended up giving him 1.9m.

Real does feel like a cheat code though, indeed. I have no idea how they're generating that much revenue, compared to virtually everyone else.Yeah the Saudi clubs are annoying af.

My loan farms going well, at least:

https://i.imgur.com/1aSgmWM.png

Adramelch

17-05-2024, 11:09 PM

Yeah my loan list at Milan was looking quite similar.

Adramelch

18-05-2024, 12:09 AM

On a different note, it's February and we've scored precisely 0 out of the 4 penalties we've been awarded.

John Arne

18-05-2024, 05:44 AM

Keep the updates coming, gents - enjoying reading these.

On my Crewe save, I got this message through, and thought.. "who is Dyfan Powell?"... he must be one of my youth candidates (they generated like 2 days ago)... I don't recall a Nigerian being in the list.

https://gyazo.com/4a4c9942a2c85134a731e9e61db4b3e9.jpeg

Called up for Nigeria's U20's despite being just a couple of days past his 15th birthday, really not that great, oh and born and bred in Llandough, Wales.

https://gyazo.com/c5e0abcf82459f7f227ba9602ca69583.jpeg

Limoutsonik

18-05-2024, 11:01 AM

I was under the impression that training wonderkinds on your own club provided you have ace facilities,leaving him play in the under 19s and giving him 20-odd matches was better than loaning him out. Is that not the case? Should i just loan out promising newgens?

Adramelch

18-05-2024, 11:11 AM

Baz

18-05-2024, 11:50 AM

In my case I’ve been letting the staff do any selling and played a team of ‘5 star potential’ for three seasons, but my Icelandic striker kept getting subbed off whenever I holidayed ahead. He’s 34 now so running out of time to get anywhere near a ballon d’or (definitely not happening but will see it out until he hangs up his boots) so I’ve loaned out every player I had bar 3, and bought a whole team of 4-5 star current ability players and am ‘only commentarying’ every game so Atli Þór Sindrason can play every minute as we try to win every game. He only seems to score pens, and he misses half of them, though. :harold:

Also made it a save-long mission to sign Lamine Yamal cos he absolutely bums Barcelona. After years of scouting him for four games at a time and constantly declaring my interest, all to no avail, he finally left Barca to join a Saudi club. And he still had no transfer interest, but had doubtful loan interest for the first time ever. A £75m loan deal for the year has seen me successful (if you can call it that) in finally seeing a 34 year old Yamal in a Real Madrid shirt. And he’s absolutely smashing it from AM L as an inside forward. Has a ‘goal contribution’ every game, and might actually be in with a chance of winning the Ballon d’Or just to rub salt into my wound.

Adramelch

18-05-2024, 11:52 AM

It was a very ambitious project to begin with (and fairly out of your control at that), if we're honest.

Baz

18-05-2024, 11:55 AM

It was a very ambitious project to begin with (and fairly out of your control at that), if we're honest.

I should have gone with a tall player to at least score headers from corners. Might go again with Salim Yenpariye (https://fminside.net/players/4-fm-24/2000295506-salim-yenpariye) once I’ve failed this.

John Arne

18-05-2024, 11:57 AM

It's a bit of everything. My general strategy is to keep them at the club until 18-19 and then if they are going to get solid football here (and by solid I mean at least a dozen or so starts, not just sub appearances) I will keep them, otherwise I will loan them out to high profile clubs with the condition that play regularly.

This is the approach I do, and it works best. 16-18 players develop better with clubs with good facilities, after that it's about playing games.

Sir Andy Mahowry

18-05-2024, 12:52 PM

It's tough being a professional club.

We're bleeding money like crazy.

IIRC my monthly youth costs are more than what they were for the whole of last season.

Adramelch

18-05-2024, 04:29 PM

Been flying through seasons while watching a show on the side, so here's another two.

Key players

As I said in my previous update, I would be joining Real Madrid and the situation was that they had finished 3rd twice in a row, behind Atletico and Barcelona, but the squad was quite strong, if a bit on the older side, and they had about 700m in the bank. Alongside Bellingham, who was still incredible at 32, they also had this guy:

https://i.gyazo.com/3d0f0d6336c0de6fc5b8d2277e733d24.png

Over the course of the two seasons, we signed a total of 15 first-team players, as well as an assortment of youngsters. Among them were these three high-profile transfers:

https://i.gyazo.com/d29ad8f6191a84c7c414db73487a46b6.png

Joined in the first transfer window from Hoffenheim for 95m. It was already a bargain at that point but he's also grown a lot in those two years.

https://i.gyazo.com/d363941e8f6c2b9f086fb98bededcc84.png

Joined in the second summer from Fulham for 115m. A bit steep for a player that's not necessarily a finished product but he had a stellar season, so a great piece of business on hindsight.

https://i.gyazo.com/bc93b9816c66128b91dd056ff6283fc0.png

Joined this January. We really struggled to find good defenders, so I just decided to splash the cash on a big name signing. Cost us a combined 190m (out of our measly 445m budget at that point) to bring him from Dortmund.

Season 2035-36

In the first season we almost won everything, except that we didn't. And it was always Atletico beating us to the punch. They beat us in the Super Cup final, they beat us in the Cup final and they also beat us in the league:

https://i.gyazo.com/3a5fb7ed230777b30fd8407d8e605c9b.png

It was a bit of a travesty that we didn't win the league, given our performances, but they went full-on Simeone (who's still their manager and has been for the past 25 years) on us, with 11 single-goal wins. At least we won our consolation prize:

https://i.gyazo.com/0ab8a51654325df92f1c10bffaaabaeb.png

In what has been a theme for this save, we somewhat struggled in the group stage, finishing just outside the top 8 and drawing Chelsea in the knockout round which I thought was harsh. As it turns out they were a complete pushover, as we beat them 10-4 on aggregate. As for the final, we dominated from start to finish against my former club but we couldn't find a goal. In the end, we did, in the most dramatic of fashions, in the 120th minute.

https://i.gyazo.com/3e3eb388cfd497e9d101d24660dba6dc.png

https://i.gyazo.com/35cc59bce4e6dd73763b541d118f15f9.png

Great set of performances all around, but obviously I should single out Guizani and his 47 goals, Rydlewicz and his insane 60 goal contribution and Munoz for being an unlikely hero who was signed as a hot prospect and ended up being pivotal to our performances. Honorable mention should also go to Jude who contributed to 30 goals, despite playing as a ball-winner (which was a travesty in itself, but we couldn't find anyone better). Sadly as I mentioned in a previous post, he left us in the summer to go to Saudi Arabia.

Season 2036-37

The second season was a lot more successful. Domestically it helped that Barcelona and Atletico just weren't at the same level, but we were also much better, especially as the season went on. We won the Super Cup (beating Barcelona in the semis and Valencia in the final), the Cup (beating Girona in the final after going through Barcelona in the semis), as well as the league:

https://i.gyazo.com/1e514d746445329c543628e9d401ed1d.png

Just pure dominance as we proceeded to break league records for most wins and most points in a season, despite having to play every two days (in classic FM fashion) in the tail end of the season. And this congested schedule was down to us being great in the Champions League once again. This time around we remained unbeaten in the group stage and were dominant throughout the competition:

https://i.gyazo.com/c2dbed8fcc79cdc1243082cfe999781c.png

https://i.gyazo.com/ac9154dc69a76f84b970233302aec0dc.png

I'll take it! This wasn't our only international trophy, as we also won the European Super Cup and the Club World Cup to complete a perfect season.

https://i.gyazo.com/9c03ca825188638d9e2f84f03d40c719.png

Guizani was a beast again with 47 goals in the "regular" season and another 7 in the Club World Cup (his hat-trick in the final was after the cut-off date so it isn't included in this screenshot). Rydlewicz was a beast once again although his stats ended up being a bit inferior, partially due to Quin taking over as set-piece taker but also because he missed a handful of games through injuries this time around. As for Quin, I was a bit skeptical when I signed him but he most definitely delivered.

With all that, there's a decision for me to make as City have just sacked Xabi Alonso and have offered me a job. I was very inclined to decline and spend a couple more seasons at Real before looking for another job in England, but after winning the Club World Cup and completing the perfect season, I feel like it's only downhill from there, so now I'm tempted to make the move. Regardless, the goal for the rest of the save is to also win a Champions League with a club from England, France and Germany (along with their respective domestic leagues) before I call it a day.