SI: no actually dynamic youth ratings IS working and you smell
Thin-skinned Miles has certainly built a company in his own image. Twat.
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SI: no actually dynamic youth ratings IS working and you smell
Thin-skinned Miles has certainly built a company in his own image. Twat.
https://i.imgur.com/Uo57VLi.png
https://data.whicdn.com/images/203639148/original.gif
Fucking finally. We'll probably get slapped 5-0 at Wembley mind you.
Bayern 2038/39 Update
Powered through another season in Germany. Again the transfer windows were mostly spent signing youngsters, however we did end up signing two major players, while selling some of the older ones.
https://i.gyazo.com/a30c3ebe971fd4dc...dc083d3a28.png
One more familiar face joins me at Bayern, as Neubauer joins us from Leipzig for a combined 140m. For a defender of his stature, who's also proved he can perform in my tactic and is German, I consider that a bargain.
https://i.gyazo.com/17da85158f8dc5de...40f70862c7.png
This one joined us in January. I sold two aging strikers for a combined 125m, bought this guy for 100m and promoted another one from the academy, so I am really happy with that. He hasn't gotten used to our tactics yet but he's scored some massive goals already and he's playing in the sort of supporting striker role in my tactic, so anything upwards of one goal every other game will be considered a win.
https://i.gyazo.com/1e269e8a93abd0b4...95feb04f4f.png
Really really easy and my first unbeaten season in Germany. We were dominant from start to finish, even more so against the big teams, with our two draws coming against Stuttgart and Hoffenheim. We got back to our goalscoring ways with 120 scored (2 shy of our previous record) but it appears to have come at the (small) expense of our defence as we conceded 28.
https://i.gyazo.com/836aa94047d8650e...9cb6bdbaa1.png
Not much to say, just more of the same really.
https://i.gyazo.com/27376f61a818dfbb...30a54a2c89.png
City was the only team to beat us this season and they even did it twice. Thankfully it wasn't enough to keep us from winning our third consecutive Champions League title, which I think I've only managed once more in the 2+ decades I've been playing this game. The squad is just full of world class players (in fact we own no fewer than 8 out of the top 10 players in the world according to that top 50 thingy list they send out every year) and I get something stupid like 300-500 million to spend every season. I'd like to take credit for everything but at this point the game sort of plays itself for me. I did mention Dehghani scoring some massive goals and they couldn't have come at any better moment as he scored a brace against City and in the final against PSG. He earned his 100m tag (and more) just for those 4 goals alone (his second in the final was even goal of the season). As a sidenote, we once again failed to win the European Super Cup, which remains the one trophy to elude me.
https://i.gyazo.com/03eedd1c1a3f8968...d3a59050d7.png
Marcos had a horrible season with just 69 goals scored. I think I might drop him for next season, that's just unacceptable. Washington Luiz was brilliant once again. He might be the first midfielder to score 30+ goals for me. I have already spoken about Dehghani but it is interesting to note that of the 10 goals we scored in our last 4 games, 6 were his with Marcos grabbing the other 4. Quite the pairing I am sure you'll agree.
So where do I go from here? The original plan was to stay one more season and run down my contract, but a decent opportunity arose and I quite fancied a change of pace so I will be moving to Italy and:
https://i.gyazo.com/b155dc08fabf46fc...a6f1eb7f04.png
Did you give Marcos a new contract with a minimum fee clause before leaving?
Nah, that would almost be cheating. Even if I had, I highly doubt he'd leave Bayern for Inter to be honest.
Like what the actual fuck:
https://i.gyazo.com/9d1a569d9bdce103...c3e8f7cd98.png
Hit the post 5 times by the way.
Pogon Siedlce & Poland 2024/25 Season Update:
Transfers In:
https://i.imgur.com/luV9QqK.png
We didn't need another winger but he's natural on both sides as well as being two footed. For £15k I think it was a good deal, especially as he agreed a squad player role.
https://i.imgur.com/8T5uIcT.png
Our second striker has been shit so I needed an upgrade and went for this guy for £48k.He's been an upgrade but he hasn't been incredible which could be a problem next season.
https://i.imgur.com/rPsFcb1.png
This guy is a natural at WBR, MR and AMR as well as being accomplished at DR. £75k for him which is the record fee and it's a bit steep for him but I'm planning on using him at RB.
Transfers Out:
https://i.imgur.com/LzUtqlC.png
I would have liked to keep him as a squad player but he kicked up a fuss so I cashed in and got £48.5k.
League:
https://i.imgur.com/N3InwTA.png
https://i.imgur.com/f8E4ecP.png
I thought we'd stumble after the break and we did have a wobble because of injuries. Thankfully we had a cracking finish and it's a brilliant result.
Squad:
https://i.imgur.com/TU2bxNQ.png
Our starting CBs were superb and were a big reason why we finished so highly in the league. We're losing Krystian Daniel in the Summer as he's agreed to join Sampdoria (I made an offer but they offered him £4.5k a week) and we're going to be in trouble without him.
Also, we could be in trouble as Kopec is wanted by many clubs:
https://i.imgur.com/mkv2fNg.png
https://i.imgur.com/I4InZUL.png
We'll get paid if he does go (I managed to get his release clause out during the season) but he's so good and will be hard to replace.
Club:
So in the league you have to have a stadium with at least 4.5k seats and ours is only 2.9k. The board tried to expand last year IIRC but the council blocked it. As such this has happened:
https://i.imgur.com/21kltpS.png
I hate it, yes the stadium is a lot bigger than our previous home however we weren't filling up the old place and Siedlce to Warsaw is about a 90 minute car/train ride away. Hopefully when the finances are better we can build a new stadium in Siedlce.
https://i.imgur.com/S5qN3Mo.png
Here are our new kits for the season, not great but not too bad.
Poland:
https://i.imgur.com/pM7eQ6U.png
Great start to the qualifiers, especially the result against England. Hopefully we keep it up as I'd love a straight qualification.
https://i.imgur.com/r8aC4qx.png
The board have accepted offers from Arsenal and Mainz for £725k and they wont let me persuade them to stop being twats :(
He's gone. The board have given me just £110k from the deal and Arsenal wont loan him to me unless we pay £150k a month, all of his £15k p/w wages and buy him for £13.75m after 15 games.
I'm seething.
Let’s have a look at Lewandowski?
https://i.imgur.com/zHW6H8k.png
The 19 Natural fitness is putting in some serious work.
Madrid paid £39.5m for him in the second season and Man United are currently sniffing around him.
Can he get 200 caps?
Stat pad with friendlies against Comoros at every opportunity.
His attributes read like a 31 year old. Likely to reach 40?
I don't think so, he'd need to be playing until 39/40. Just a shame he missed like 5 games with me.Quote:
Originally Posted by Baz
He's already retired once from the national team so every time we're playing in a tournament you've got to imagine he's thinking about leaving at the end of it.Quote:
Originally Posted by Manc
Nothing in his plans regarding ending his career though which is good and he's still getting interest from other big clubs.
https://youtu.be/NBW5io7yuL0?t=557
Skip 9:17 if the embedded link doesnt work. More about this dynamic youth rating rather than his twitch save.
Surely a matter of time until Miles suicide bombs his apartment?
He's playing with fire and it's glorious.
I guess it depends on if Miles understands the concept of "America."
He's probably on a no fly list.
I'm not sure SI are really built for (even constructive) criticism. They're built for churning out a game once a year, collecting the dollar and having pally tweets with C-list celebs who play.
Bit of a long update since I played through two seasons at Inter.
Squad overview
Toggle Spoiler
Inter 2039/40 Update
Toggle Spoiler
Inter 2040/41 Update
Toggle Spoiler
I think the plan now is to stay at Inter and hopefully see all those youngsters flourish, but if an interesting job appears in England or Spain I will probably just take it.
I could do with Czapa on my save.
Your board would sell him for £800k.
I hate them so much.
At least you can put the money towards coaching courses.
:moop:Quote:
Originally Posted by Gray Fox
They're hesitant to spend any money. We have £1.4m in the bank right now but anything I request they tell me to fuck off. Training/youth facilities? No money for it. Junior coaching? No money. Youth Recruitment? No money.
https://i.imgur.com/u2PBRei.png
I sold this guy the other season and got £800k + 50% next sale. He's worse than the guy they sold. He's just got a few offers from clubs for £2m so we're set to make a decent chunk.
Turns out we were to play in the Club World Cup, courtesy of them reaching the CL final a few years back (my first CL win with Bayern). We made it past Barcelona (4-1) and Bayern (3-2) to set up a final against City. We were just a couple of minutes away from winning the whole thing before they scored an (undeserved let me tell you) equaliser and then we had a player sent off at the start of extra time and we crumbled from there. Still, we weren't expected to even reach the final so a good performance all things considered.
This was our first Serie A game of the season by the way:
https://i.gyazo.com/dde421b6f42d4df9...f35d0c2a35.png
Just a casual 7 goals from Grahovac. Last season we won our first game 9-0 so there might be a pattern forming up there.
I was also offered the job at Valencia and I was quite tempted to get it, but it was late in August and the squad needed a lot of work so I ended up turning them down. I am also kinda keen to see how all the youngsters I've brought at Inter turn up, so maybe I'll stay a bit longer than I initially intended and maybe hopefully challenge for some European silverware.
I'm 'in'. Apologies if this is all a bit tl;dr or not something you can get behind as an editor is in use (the in game one so I can make real time changes) as not sure if the one inside Steam can(?)
Either way....chaps, I give you....
Ellesmere Rangers.
When Smjffy was announced as the new manager of Ellesmere Rangers, no one bat an eyelid. Why would you? Smjffy was a complete unknown, barely Sunday League experience and Ellesmere Rangers were a club languishing the lower reaches of the English pyramid. In fact, the news attracted just one solitary journalist who reported for the local newspaper that barely anyone read anyway.
But....
Hours later....
Ellesmere Rangers announce Sammy Lee as the clubs assistant manager. Lee, although unemployed, raised eyebrows by dropping so far down the ladder but just a few more hours later, more eyebrows were raised and in the blink of an eye, Ellesmere Rangers were being spoken about on Sky Sports News.
Tony Adams joins as the clubs Director of Football and heads were being scratched. Sammy Lee of course, had experience as a no.2 with the likes of Merseyside duo, Liverpool and Everton as well as relatively short stints with Crystal Palace and WBA. Tony Adams, the Arsenal legend having experience in various capacities with Portsmouth, Qabala, Granada and company.
Strange appointments but as the pieces landed on by one, a clearer picture was starting to emerge. Ellesmere Rangers announced the clubs new owner, a little known company that simply went by TTH LTD. No one knew what TTH stood for and such was the lack of information on the organisation, various claims were being banded about but the arrivals showed no sign of stopping and the only thing lacking was a 'face' to explain what was emerging.
Nicky Butt, former Manchester United midfielder announced as the clubs Head of Youth Development.
David Platt and Gareth Barry signing up to the mysterious project as coaches. Chris Kirkland, former Liverpool goalkeeper then announcing on Twitter that he'd be leaving Colne imminently to join as the clubs goalkeeping coach and then Peter Reid telling <inert sky news> that he too would be leaving his current employers, Ipswich Town to become the the Technical Director.
Finally, Nicky Shorey, a lesser name than the above but said to have a good eye for spotting talent, he joined as the clubs Chief Scout.
As those curious enough waited for further news on the clubs plans, goals, ambitions as well as a bit of information on how it all came about, the club itself posted a short and sweet statement on its newly designed website.
"Every football club has a dream, a supposed DNA, an ambition to be the best but chasing such dreams can and have become a nightmare for those that the club truly belongs to. The fans. Some dream of a billionaire or consortium coming in, waving a major wand and bringing some success, shared adventures, the top talents and of course, silverware.
We here at TTH LTD, we are no different but we aren't billionaires and we don't actually believing that taking over a top flight club, or a Championship club is the right way to create a love affair for the faithful supporters and indeed the neutrals who simply love the game.
We are excited to announce that this is our version, as custodians to this football club, our vision, our goal, our project is to take Ellesmere Rangers to the promised land and beyond. There is no deadline, no time limit, no ten year plan to achieve this, there is just this and that is our word.
We say to you now, tomorrow and well into the future that a promise is a promise and we want to make our first promise known.
We promise that we will be.....
Relentless.
Join us on our journey because this....this is the start.
Yours,
Ellesmere Rangers.
Disclaimer: I am proposing that this is the threads first interactive save but for the time being, you'll have to bare with as none of you will appear until the club get its first youth intake later in the season. I have deemed it to be fair that those with the most posts within the thread will be the given priority (by that, I simply mean, I'll be renaming the first batch to yours) but if anyone who isn't much of a poster and has read this far, simple make mention that you wish to be considered and of course, TTH LTD and Ellesmere Rangers could give you that opportunity as we progress.
Disclaimer II: I will do my utmost to keep TTH representatives at the club but given our current standing in world football and the further announcements due to come, I can't guarantee your long term future but rest assured, I will follow your future and include it in my seasonal updates.
TMD meets FM22 thread? Well, I need something to occupy myself so let's go.
Part Two.
Incoming. It's going to be a busy summer.
After announcing a raft of newcomers in the staffing departments, the select few who followed Ellesmere Rangers beforehand would have already known that the club lacked players. In fact, with the new season due to commence, those loyal to the cause knew that only six first team players were currently attached to club.
Jack Sweeney, a 17 year old on loan from AFC Telford. Marco Adaggio, a 33 year old Italian striker. Nicky Porter (38), Jack Gwilliams (26), Connor Courtney (29) and Carl Rogers (29).
The North West Counties League Division 1 South was about to get raided. Or so it was assumed. It was however, again, a wrong assumption as news quickly leaked that the summer plan was to excite the 'big guns'. I suppose the term 'big guns' to a club competing at the tenth level of the pyramid could have been anybody but the first body.....the first arrival, the first part of a 1,000 piece jigsaw, if you will.....was about to be unveiled.
(Game Time) See if you can guess before hitting the spoiler.
"I started my career with Liverpool FC at the turn of the millennium although I never made the grade. I was given an opportunity with the late great Bury FC which brought first team experience although by my own stand personal standards, a lack of goals. I did reach double figures in my last year at the club though before Championship side Preston North End took a punt.
I feel like I took to the division like a duck in water and repaid the £100,000 transfer fee and if I didn't, I definitely did when Portsmouth paid £4,500,000 and took me to top flight. It was however, although not in my own eyes, a step too far as just three goals in my three year stay at the club suggested I was, quote/unquote, 'a flop'. That FA Cup final though eh...
After joining Burnley on loan, it looked like my time was up with Pompey but I returned a better player and a proven goal-scorer at Championship level. 15 goals in my final season on the South Coast before I moved to Leicester City on a free and enjoyed arguably the best spell of my career during those four years in the Midlands. Another big move followed as again, I made my employer millions, this time Middlesbrough stumping up over £5M. It wasn't a rememberable time and I left pretty quickly believing that Derby County were the club to kick start both myself and my career. It didn't go great in terms in goals but it was more enjoyable although the club opted not to renew the three year deal I honoured. I however, I was honoured as a late call late into the summer transfer window saw me return once again to Preston North End. The old adage that you shouldn't never go back...I think that proved to be true in this instance. I was loaned out to League 2 side Tranmere Rovers before eventually being released.
Well, here I now am as the first arrival for Ellesmere Rangers and as in line with the clubs promise, even at my ripe old age of 36. I promise, I promise to be....relentless."
Toggle Spoiler
I used to love reading TMD back in the day. I think it's the biggest part of why I originally stayed in the old forum. As for the editor stuff, you do you. We're not here to tell you how to enjoy the game, surely?
I couldn't give a hoot if any of you did have an issue with it either but just clarifying that it is in use to some extent. A) for the 'story' and B) because I need to create you folk as we move forward. I hope for it to be an interactive save of sorts so feel free to throw something out there. Perhaps a scandal will occur in the dressing room or as we all sit down for breakfast and as such, the written update will have to elaborate on such internal issues. Think Harchester United. The club promises to be 'relentless' and so I think that is a promise we should all make. If you want to bring a sniper rifle to training (assuming you're in the first intake ;) ) and shoot Sammy Lee dead then you do just that, just be prepared to face the consequences and don't expect to be asked your opinion on who the new assistant manager should then be. :D
Let's play chaps.
Exactly.Quote:
Originally Posted by Adramelch
That's Miles Jacobsons job.
Part Three.
David Nugent's arrival opened the floodgates and the club again started to trend on social media by announcing a further arrival on the hour, every hour. As you would imagine, supporters from all over the country gave their expert opinions but it was also a trip down memory lane for some. Just as importantly though, the number of followers the club account had multiplied tenfold.
Minus the comments section, here are the 2021/22 arrivals in full.
Frank Fielding (33) - Although he never made it with Blackburn Rovers, loan spells at Wycombe and Rochdale (twice) suggested he had 'something' about him before his final loan move, this time to Derby County resulted in a £400K to make it a permanent one. It was a fleeting partnership however despite being #1 at one point as he moved to Bristol City and made the position his own for five successive seasons, well, near enough his own. Released after falling out of favour in his final year, Millwall took a punt and either the missed or Fielding dropped the ball as it didn't work out.
Josh Clarke (27) - An experienced hand who can feature all down the right side of the pitch, much of his career was spent with Brentford although it wasn't entirely memorable. Released after ten years with the club just last season and picked up by Wigan. Zero appearances suggests that didn't work out either.
Sam Habergham (29) - Found his level in 2011 after failing to make the grade with Norwich City. A season with Tamworth enough to tempt Braintree Town into a purchase. A regular he became until agreeing to move to Lincoln City at the end of his contract, a wise decision in hindsight as Lincoln returned to the Football League at the first time of asking. Fared well stepping up to League Two but released a year later, Grimsby Town came in thereafter but the division as a whole seemed a step too far for the left back.
David Wheater (34) - The acquisition speaks for itself and the veteran centre-back's name alone would be enough to to a decent proportion of football fans of a certain age. He'll definitely be a regular starter and should lead by example both on and off the field.
Rob Swaine (33) - At the other end of the scale in terms of recognition, Swaine unlike Wheater has spent his entire career in the lower leagues turning out for Thurruck, Bromley and Billericay Town but recent years he's floated around aimlessly in search of that final contract. For sure he's a stop gap until the youth intakes are ready but will be capable enough at our level and will probably partner DW at the back.
Daniel Boateng (28) - A former Arsenal product who can play at right back and centre back but also another who has had to work hard throughout to forge a career in the game. He didn't make it with The Gunners and had to move from England to secure first team football. First to Scotland, then to Bosnia before fitting in a short stint in Swede along the way. Airdrie took a gamble on him in 2016/2017 and it was by far his most productive season, only a season too as the lure of playing abroad proved to be too much. Short spells in Poland and Romania followed until Welling United brought him back to the UK.
Dean Parrett (29) - The attacking midfielder/winger was rated enough to gain an England U21 cap back in the day but he had to leave Tottenham Hotspur eventually. Loan spells with Aldershot, Plymouth, Charlton, Yeovil and Swindon Town pretty much confirming his true level in the game. Eventually free to leave Spurs despite the London side spending £2M to sign him from QPR, he joined Stevenage and the move helped him gain regular first team football for the first time. Released from Barnet last season though which makes ourselves, Ellesmere Rangers his thirteen club.
Finally...for this update at least but the complete transfer window....
(GAME TIME!)
"I started my career with Liverpool, I even broke into the first team but it would be fair to say that my name wasn't even made on the football pitch, heck, it could be argued that it arrived via Championship Manager 0102 but let's not go there. I had to leave Anfield and joined Hull City where I got more minutes, a few years later I was loaned to Chester City and really, my career never recovered. Spells with Carlisle, Bury and Tranmere Rovers followed, the move to Tranmere highlight that I did actually have a little bit of talent. Preston North End took me after that and we even gained promotion to the Championship during my time there. I didn't feature much after the first season and my last two clubs confirmed where I was heading as I dropped to League Two with Grimsby before finding myself at Atherton Collieries and last season, Stafford Rangers. I'm a midfielder by trade and if I moved to a certain part of the UK, you'd know my surname if not already."
Toggle Spoiler
Part Four - The Final Arrivals.
Jamie O'Hara (34) - Experienced even at the top level of the game but a player who's name has probably been mentioned over the years for what comes out of his mouth as opposed to what he does/did with his feet. He needs no huge introduction but for the uninformed, he left Spurs, joined Wolves for a touch over £3M but not much else thereafter. Spells with Blackpool, Fulham and Gillingham suggested his days in the Premier League were done for and being announced by Billericay in 2016 confirmed it. Playing experience, managerial experience and occasional rent a gob for TalkSport. He's here.
Byron Moore (32) - A regular and a fan favourite for Crewe Alexandra after forcing his way into the first team which became a theme of his career. Port Vale, Bristol Rovers, Bury and Plymouth all appreciated the attacking midfielder for his efforts. Consistent, reliable and determined. Welcome aboard.
Marc Pugh (34) - Part of the Bournemouth team that rose through the leagues to the top flight, Pugh had lived the sort of dream we ourselves wanted to realise. It was a surprise to see he started out with Burnley though as I was convinced he was a former Man United youngster. So random question, who would I be thinking of it not Marc?
Hal Robson-Kanu (32) - BOOM! The clubs statement signing and thanks in large part to Sammy Lee for threatening to upload a photo or sorts. The Welsh striker is sure to surpass his career best of ten league goals, a feat he achieved only two years ago but you know what you are going to get with Hal.
Ross McCormack (34) - Although his career nosedived after joining Aston Villa for £12M, the striker has shown on more than one occasion that he knows where the back of the net is and whilst he'll be backup to Nugent and Robson-Kanu, he'll enjoy the next twelve months after a few years in the wilderness.
--
And there we have it. The transfer arrivals of 2021/22, a combination of experience, quality (for our level at least) and at an age that should ensure they don't stunt the growth of those we bring through from the youth team next season.
Excitement was building around the club, expectations were increased as each announcement was made but the club still had one last thing to share, a vital component to the project both short term and long term, the most expensive addition to date.
The Academy.
The spade was already in the ground, the work was underway and it was hoped that by the end of the season, it would reap the rewards.
See you in twelve months.
As the season heads towards its finale, promotion almost a certainty, Ellesmere Rangers proudly announces the class of 2022.
https://i.imgur.com/91NrBsV.png
https://i.imgur.com/iOrnogg.png
https://i.imgur.com/avEpRSs.png
https://i.imgur.com/ogmUXJj.png
Full Bio on all available but first, let's take a look at the elites.
Sir Andy Mahowry
https://i.imgur.com/othDgKi.png
Yevrah who's mother is rumoured to be Ulrika Johnson.
https://i.imgur.com/cyWTV2N.png
Dark Soldier who even at 15 years old, looks to be a bit of a cheat code.
https://i.imgur.com/LREVYsy.png
More to come. <3
Welcome aboard.
Play me please.
Flying through the seasons at Inter, so here's another one, in what is my 20th season since the start of the save.
Season 2041/2042 Update
This was the first summer that came with proper big transfers. Since I decided to stay at Inter, I thought it was time to try and bring us to the next level and become an actual challenger for the Champions League.
https://i.gyazo.com/b14d4bbc966c17e5...563fdba69a.png
A familiar place in a player that I had (albeit briefly) at Leipzig and in my 3 seasons at Bayern, Borg joins us for a combined 75m to bolster our aging right wing. He's become quite an impressive player since I signed him back at Leipzig and he's still on the young side so I think we're set for quite some time in that position.
https://i.gyazo.com/d3d449ceafc30640...8f5cfef3be.png
Our left wing is also full of aging players so I thought an upgrade there would also serve us well. This thought was solidified when I found an Italian player that fit my standards so Maniscalco joins us for a quite hefty 105m from Arsenal.
https://i.gyazo.com/24217b5a6b70c608...99a8d8820a.png
The third, and last, of the high profile signings of the season. We struggled a bit with filling the box-to-box midfielder role last season so I thought we were due for an upgrade while our youngsters develop. For his quality, I reckon he was (relatively) cheap at 90m and I think he will be a great "bridge" of sorts until Vizzielli and Czapa are proper first team material.
https://i.gyazo.com/784d850f9ef1afb3...be66408474.png
Interestingly enough, that's the third consecutive season we finish with 103 points. Our solitary loss came at the hands of Milan, who made some sort of resurgence this season. Juventus weren't anywhere near as good as they had been the last two seasons, but Napoli stepped up and gave us a real run for our money, as they were level with us until about 10 games before the end of the season, where they started faltering. For the second season running we coupled the league title with a cup win as we went past Cagliari (2-0), Napoli (3-0), Juventus (9-1 on aggregate) and Milan (3-1 in the final).
https://i.gyazo.com/2de5afa04d69b0ae...489e4e7510.png
We were dealt some pretty tough draws all around, but we played really well and made our second semi-final appearance in three years, getting knocked out by Bayern for a second time. We were actually quite close to going to extra-time, but with the very last play of the game we scored the silliest of own goals and they went through to their 6th final in as many years. They lost to surprise package Valencia (who I had no faith in taking over, I should remind you) in the final.
https://i.gyazo.com/90a206ed7b81421a...b58fc7f683.png
The front 3 were incredible once again. I might not have the 60+ goals a season striker like Satriano, Sergio and Marcos in my previous clubs, but I think I might prefer having 3 reliable players. Borg and Maniscalco I feel met my expectations, but I don't think I can say the same about Njoe. He was solid, but nothing more than that. Overall I am really glad that we've started phasing out the older players (2 of them have already announced their retirement) and our young'uns are getting more football. Valles and Grahovac are starting to get up there at 32 and 31, but they still have a few good years left in them.
Are you on FM21 or 22 Adra?
I always love players like Maniscalco. Apart from striker he could play any outfield position and he'd play well there too.
FM22. Speaking of which, I generally have had success in Jman saves in the past but I think it's easier in this version and I mostly think it's because of scouting. In previous versions I would go through like several teams looking at players and scouting them and whatnot to find talent, but now my scouts genuinely just do all the work by themselves. And what they don't do is covered by the "top 50 wonderkids" list you get every season. The hard part was breaking into the somewhat bigger clubs (so like up to getting the Krasnodar job in my case) and from there on it just gets so much easier.
https://i.gyazo.com/32a812fe5520347a...0ea5195f79.png
Hmm? :sherlock:
Imagine a pairing of Alessandro Iommazzo and Alessandro Iommazzo. Now that would be fucking spectacular. Get on it P_3.
I can honestly say Alessandro Immazzo is better than Alessandro Immazzo.
I've just noticed my regen. :moop:
2 star potential CB. Wonderful.
You're fucking crazy.Quote:
Originally Posted by Gray Fox
https://i.ibb.co/thYMq6q/End-of-season-table.png
We won the league fairy comfortably in the end. On the one occasion our form threatened to nosedive a bit and our possession 4-3-3 looked like becoming too passive, I switched to the more familiar version (similar to the West Brom tactic but with dribbling toned down for a few players, ball playing defenders as central defenders with take fewer risks, and one or two other safer options) of 4-3-3 and we began to romp home.
https://i.ibb.co/1MG5Xnm/End-of-season-schedule.png
https://i.ibb.co/s623mt6/End-of-season-squad.png
I was thinking of moving on in the summer and applied for a couple of Dutch second division jobs and two League Two jobs, but wasn't offered an interview at any, so I'm still with East Fife. We're expected to be anywhere between mid-table and relegation in the Scottish League One so we're by no means out of place, so it should be a comfortable enough season.
In terms of personnel, after a few players developed and a couple of signings came in, I've had to play around with my shape a bit. We don't have any outstanding or effective full backs so I've switched to a 3-4-3.
https://i.ibb.co/KsbCfTP/3-4-3.png
We have two strikers who on paper are two of our best players, plus an advanced playmaker who really needs to be starting too. This seems to be the most suited formation to our players so I'm going to give it a try, even if a 4-3-3 might be more effective. A few games into testing and I've noticed both the deep-lying playmaker and advanced playmaker are having little effect on the game (hardly surprising as I'm using my slightly more direct style as opposed to the possession based style) so I've switched them to a volante and attacking midfield. I'll create a possession based style tactic similar to the above, too.
I had a lot of fun with East Fife as part of a Journeyman save I had way back in FM17. Got them into the Championship but found it tough there without turning professional. The Scottish league grind was weirdly enjoyable though - the fact you play each team 4 times really allowed for a lot of narrative with certain opponents.
Yes, I'm enjoying the more compact league table. The Betfred Cup is a welcome pre-season bonus too, as I'm using them as glorified pre-season friendlies.
Those leagues get boring real fast for me. 16-18 team leagues is where it's at.
Another two seasons done, courtesy of a snowstorm that meant everything ground to a halt and I spent all my time playing FM. Lovely. Let me start from the fact that after three seasons at Inter, I moved to PSG, a decision I was conflicted about since I wanted to see how all my youngsters would develop. But it plays to my plan of winning all the big leagues at least once so I ended up biting the bullet.
Squad Overview
Let's start from the people already at the club.
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I have also signed a lot of players. A LOT of players. In fact, no fewer than 24 players have joined the club in my two seasons here with the vast majority of them being youngsters, as that seems to be my modus operandi in this save. But apart from them, 6 high profile players have joined the club. In a trend that started from me at Bayern, I mostly focused on players I knew would fit my tactic, coming from my previous clubs.
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Season 2042/43 Update
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Season 2043/44Update
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What's your whole career path been so far Adra? And which leagues do you still plan to conquer?
I've reached the elongated winter break in 2022/23 for the Qatar World Cup. I'm presuming no players from the Welsh Premier League are going to the WC, but we've still got 2 months off nonetheless, and we've crammed 18 league games into 3 months to facilitate this. The fixture congestion has been a serious problem for my ragtag bunch of semi-professionals and kids with performances definitely dropping off in the later matches. The current table is as follows:
https://i.postimg.cc/3RwCJyDs/winter-break-s2.png
We started extremely well, especially for a newly promoted team, winning 8 of the first 9 and sitting pretty on top of the table. But we only picked up 7 points from the following 9 games, and have struggled to create really good goalscoring opportunities in a lot of recent matches. We've got 4 games to go in January before the league splits, and I just need to make sure I'm in the top half at that point to ensure there's a guarantee of no relegation. One good point is we're through to the semi-finals of the Welsh League Cup, where we'll play Newtown. TNS are in the other semi, so I'd imagine they'll be the opposition if we make it through.
Some good news for the nation as a whole - some solid performances from TNS and, incredibly, Haverfordwest in the ECL qualifying rounds means we'll be moving up a few coefficient spots next year. TNS missed out on the group stage of the Conference League on penalties - whilst it would have given them a ton of money and widened the divide, it would have been very positive in terms of the coefficients.
I might do a little summary of the Qatar WC in my save if it's at all interesting. I've got nothing else to do at Llanelli for 2 months anyway...
Asteras Varis (Greece) > Daugavpils (Latvia) > RFS (Latvia) > Krasnodar > Olympiacos > Feyenoord > Leipzig > Bayern > Inter > PSG so far with the trophies starting from RFS onwards. I don't know if I will stick it out that long, but ideally I'd want league titles in Spain and England and possibly like a Euro/World Cup (although I haven't delved into international football yet).
How's that Bayern striker doing?
Still at Bayern at 37. Has scored 737 goals for them in 17 seasons and he already has 10 in 11 this one.
https://i.gyazo.com/706f4ae3b90e66c3...9bc4d97682.png
Chairman is back at it accepting low offers for one of my best players:
https://i.imgur.com/QKa1Zz3.png
Firstly they are better offers than Kopec and I gave him a new contract just a few weeks ago so he's not overly keen on moving right now.
https://i.imgur.com/Lwq9fSg.png
:(
At least it's a decent amount and there's potential to make more.
Chairman has also just rejected my request to improve the training & youth facilities plus the youth recruitment as the finances aren't good enough. I hate him so much.
Those playing manager career get Crystal's Palace Eze hidden mine.
New people. :drool:
Don't think I've had that before but the board just reduced our transfer budget mid-season from like 80m to 0 and our wage budget to below what we're already spending in wages. Yikes.
At PSG? That's bizarre. It's not FFP is it?
It's just finances I guess. The chairman pulled his financial backing at some point and we are like 20m in the red mid-season, which typically gets back up to the 200-250m once the sponsorship money and the likes come in. Looking at historical data this has been the same pattern for however many years now. I mean in the end it doesn't make a difference for me as I wasn't looking to spend any more money this season (or next even), it was more so that if I was someone who waited until late in the season to renew expiring contracts, I would have definitely lost some players I reckon. And it was surprising rather than anything else.
So, a summary of how the World Cup in Qatar is going in my save.
Group A
Norway and Senegal played the curtain-raiser to the World Cup, and fittingly, it was Erling Haaland who scored the first goal of the tournament. Norway’s high powered attack hit the woodwork twice, but Ismaila Sarr converted a controversial penalty to draw Senegal level before half time. Norway were not to be denied their 3 points though, with Haaland tucking away his second soon after the break, and the Scandinavians held on for the win despite Alexander Sorloth receiving his marching orders with half an hour to play. The hosts Qatar featured in the other game, with Ireland their opponents. The Irish completely dominated proceedings, preventing the hosts from even managing a shot, and it was James Collins who scored the only goal of the game early in the 2nd half to seal victory.
Norway comfortably confirmed their passage through to the knockouts with a routine victory over Qatar in the 2nd round of fixtures. Josh King scored in either half, as well as providing an assist for Martin Odegaard. It could, and probably should, have been more for Norway who hit the woodwork twice again, but Qatar found something to celebrate with a late consolation, Almoez Ali of Marseille converting a chance in the 88th minute to pull it back to 3-1. It looked like Ireland were going to be joining Norway in the knockout stages – they led Senegal for over 45 minutes after James Collins had given them the lead late in the 1st half. But Senegal were fighting for their tournament lives, and in the 3rd minute of stoppage time, Ismaila Sarr bundled in a cross at the back post to keep their hopes alive.
Senegal needed a win in their final game to have any hope of making it through, and it even looked like that was in jeopardy when veteran Abdelkarim Hassan put Qatar ahead inside 5 minutes. That woke the Lions up, and they scored 3 in the next 18 minutes to turn the game around. A 2nd half red card for Youssouf Sabaly did nothing to prevent Senegal from holding on. They’d done everything they could. Ireland knew they just needed a draw with an already qualified Norway to get through. But Norway came out firing with a full strength squad and sunk the Irish hopes. Sorloth, Haaland and Odegaard all found the net, and Ireland could barely muster a shot in anger.
https://i.postimg.cc/wTXFYzYD/Group-A.png
Group B
Belgium and Spain were the heavy hitters expected to advance from Group B, and Belgium lived up to those expectations with a comfortable 3-0 win over Algeria in their opening game. Kevin De Bruyne opened the scoring inside 3 minutes before 2nd half strikes from Eden Hazard and Romelu Lukaku (from the spot). However Spain stumbled at the first hurdle, and against the weakest opponents, Costa Rica. Alvaro Morata scored twice in the opening 22 minutes, but Los Ticos found equalisers, firstly from Oscar Duarte, secondly from ex-Arsenal man Joel Campbell. Spain controlled the 2nd half but were unable to find a winner.
Costa Rica couldn’t pull off a similar result in the next round of fixtures, with Belgium utterly dominating the game and preventing them from managing a shot at all. Costa Rica played over 65 minutes with 10 men after Deyver Vega received 2 bookings in the opening quarter of the match. Timothy Castagne broke the deadlock early in the 2nd half before another Lukaku penalty sealed the game and qualification for the knockout stage. Spain were held once again in the other game of the group. Algeria were steadfast in defence, even with new West Ham signing Baghdad Bounedjah being sent off with 20 minutes to play. Algeria received 6 other bookings as they managed to hold on to a clean sheet and a 0-0 draw, leaving it all to play for in the final match of the group.
Costa Rica and Algeria played each other, with both sides needing a win to have a chance of progressing. Truth be told, it was never really a contest, with Algeria being very clinical with their chances. Andy Delort was the standout player, converting a hat trick, with left-back Mohamed Fares grabbing the other goal in a 4-0 thrashing. It would all be for nothing if Spain beat Belgium however. Spain had got off to the worst possible start, with goals for Pascal Struijk and Eden Hazard leaving them 2-0 down at half-time. Alvaro Morata converted a penalty with half an hour to go, and Koke popped up with a late equaliser, deep in added time. But a 2-2 draw was not enough for Spain, and they were out in the group stage, with Algeria making their way into the round of 16.
https://i.postimg.cc/ZKsnRBmm/Group-B.png
Group C
Group C saw Argentina and Croatia meet again in the groups, just like 2018. Croatia were up against Japan in their opening game and they were ahead inside just 3 minutes. Nikola Vlasic, who signed for West Ham for £28m, scored the opener before turning provider for both Luka Ivanusec and Ante Rebic. Vlasic then added his second and Croatia’s fourth late in the 2nd half to wrap up a real thrashing. Argentina faced Jamaica in the group’s other game. Jamaica played remarkably well, holding on defensively to the draw until late in the 2nd half, Argentina were awarded a penalty. Lionel Messi stepped up, and saw it saved by Andre Blake, diving to his left. But Messi would have one last chance to be the hero for Argentina again. In the 3rd minute of stoppage time he curled in a perfect free kick to send the fans wild and secure the win for his country.
Jamaica’s defensive tactics seemed to work well, and they held Croatia to a 0-0 draw in the next round of fixtures. This was despite being down to 10 men for the final 20 minutes after Wes Harding was sent off. Croatia were fairly dominant but could not break the deadlock. Japan were eliminated after being comfortably beaten by Argentina in the other game. The South Americans were 3-0 up after half an hour thanks to a Messi brace and a goal from Lucas Ocampos. Keitaro Hashimoto scored a late consolation for Japan but it was not enough. Argentina progressed through with their 2nd win in 2.
Jamaica still had faint hopes of qualifying for the knockouts and they did their part with a 2-1 win over Japan in their final game of the group stage. Despite going behind to an early goal from Tadashi Shinbo, Damion Lowe equalised before half-time, and his centre-half partner Michael Hector nodded in a winner from Lewis Baker’s corner with 15 minutes to play. It was all in vain unfortunately, as Croatia comfortably beat Argentina for the 2nd World Cup in a row. Josip Brekalo opened the scoring, but Messi curled in another glorious free kick to quickly restore parity. Kramaric restored Croatia’s lead before the break, and doubled it with his 2nd goal of the game soon after half-time. A 3-1 win was enough for Croatia to go through as the group winners.
https://i.postimg.cc/9XJF8Rr9/Group-C.png
Group D
Just like in Brazil 2014, Portugal, Germany and the USA met in the group stages. They were joined by South Korea, who knocked the Germans out of the last World Cup. They met again in their opening game, and it was a cagey affair with neither side really fashioning any clear chances. The resultant 0-0 draw gave South Korea hope of qualification. In the other match, Joao Felix led Portugal to a victory with a goal in either half, and it could have been more, as Portugal hit the woodwork twice.
The USA then found themselves eliminated without a goal or a point after their 2nd match against Germany. The German defence held strong and Jamal Musiala provided the only goal of the game early in the 2nd half, the 19 year old converting from a tight angle after Emre Can had sent him through on goal. Portugal again relied on Joao Felix, as he gave them the lead late in the 1st half against South Korea. But with quarter of an hour to play, Heung-Min Son marked his 100th international cap with an equaliser to keep their hopes alive.
The final game of the group saw the two European powerhouses go up against each other, but like most of the games in the group, it was a tight and defensive affair. It was settled by a solitary goal, the 115th international goal for Cristiano Ronaldo who scored after a quarter of an hour. Germany couldn’t find an equaliser and so the door was open for South Korea to potentially knock them out once again. The USA, playing for pride, had other ideas. 2 goals in 6 1st half minutes, scored by Brendan Aaronson and Christian Pulisic, gave the USA an advantage they never relinquished. South Korea thought that had a route back into the game when Park Yi-Young tapped in a rebound from a free-kick, but the offside flag cut short the celebrations, and USA held on for a 2-0 win.
https://i.postimg.cc/HLhF8mxV/Group-D.png
Group E
Group E was where Gareth Southgate’s England were drawn, and they opened their campaign with a remarkably comfortable 3-0 win over Cameroon. They were held until half time but took control in the 2nd half, with goals for Phil Foden, Harry Kane (from the spot) and Jack Grealish sealing the win. Colombia and Iran faced off in the other group game, and Iran were solid in defence for almost an hour until a rash challenge gave Colombia the chance to open the scoring from the spot. Arsenal’s new £26.5m signing Duvan Zapata stepped up and converted the penalty, and Colombia wrapped up the game deep in stoppage time, with Luis Diaz calmly finishing from Steven Alzate’s through ball.
This group was the most uncompetitive of the eight, with both Colombia and England confirming progress to the knockout stages after 2 games. Colombia matched England with an easy 3-0 win over Cameroon. After Jefferson Lerma had opened the scoring after 8 minutes, Duvan Zapata was on target with a brace, but missed out on a hat-trick after Andre Onana saved his penalty early on. Cameroon offered virtually no goalscoring threat throughout. Meanwhile, England hammered Iran in the other group game, scoring 4 goals in the final 15 minutes of the 1st half, Reece James, Kane, Foden and Marcus Rashford the goalscorers. Kane added a 5th shortly after half time, before completing his hat trick late on. There was still time for Foden to score his 2nd, chipping the keeper to round off a 7-0 thrashing.
Iran and Cameroon could not be separated in their final group game. Leandre Tawamba scored his first international goal to give Cameroon the lead after quarter of an hour, but Sardar Azmoun, now of Brighton, equalised for Iran just 6 minutes later. Iran were down to 10 men early in the 2nd half, when Saman Ghoddos received his second yellow card, but neither team could find a winner. After scoring 10 goals in 2 games, England needed just a draw to confirm themselves as group winners, but Colombia had other ideas. An entertaining game saw 35 shots, 9 yellow cards and one late scrambled winner for the South Americans. Luis Muriel had a shot blocked up in the air deep in injury time, and as Reece James went to clear the ball, it ballooned off of Zapata and into the net, to the delight of the Colombians. A 1-0 win and they’d topped the group.
https://i.postimg.cc/mkhPHhH0/Group-E.png
Group F
The opening game of this group was a heavyweight clash between Uruguay and Italy. The Europeans were well on top throughout, but Uruguay took the lead against the run of play, Federico Valverde with a smart finish after half an hour. But Italy came out for the 2nd half looking even better and Ciro Immobile was on hand to convert Insigne’s cross to equalise. 3 minutes later, on the hour mark, and Immobile went from hero to zero as his soft penalty was well saved by Fernando Muslera. Uruguay managed to hold on for the rest of the game for the 1-1 draw. Australia took the lead early on in the other match in the group against Nigeria, with Deni Juric scoring his 7th international goal. The Super Eagles drew level in the 2nd half through Victor Osimhen, but couldn’t find a winner despite having the majority of chances.
Australia were not able to repeat their performance in the next game, when they faced Italy. Two quick-fire goals in the 1st half from Manuel Locatelli saw them 2-0 down at the break, and Locatelli’s club teammate, Federico Chiesa, put the game to bed with a 3rd goal midway through the 2nd half. Meanwhile, Nigeria and Uruguay were playing out a World Cup classic. Nigeria took the lead inside 2 minutes thanks to Wilfred Ndidi, but Uruguay levelled it up midway through the 1st half when Luis Suarez slid a beautiful pass through for Nicolas de la Cruz to score his first international goal. Victor Osimhen converted a penalty on the stroke of half time to restore Nigeria’s lead, but Uruguay hit back again with a 2nd equaliser, this one headed in by Darwin Nunez. But Nigeria were clinical in this match, and on 86 minutes, their 3rd shot on target provided their 3rd goal of the game. Tosin Adarabioyo of Fulham nodded in HIS first international goal and the winner for Nigeria.
Entering the final round of games, all 4 teams could qualify. Italy played Nigeria and both teams could secure qualification with a draw. After an hour, it was goalless and the draw was on the cards. But Lorenzo Insigne’s calm finish on 64 minutes opened the floodgates, and with Nigeria piling forward unsuccessfully, Italy picked them off with 5 goals in 21 minutes. Federico Chiesa got on the scoresheet too, but the main man was Ciro Immobile with a hat trick, this time converting his opportunity from the spot. With Nigeria being hammered, a win for either Uruguay or Australia would see them progress. This match was cagey throughout, but with just 7 minutes left, Jackson Irvine fired in a goal that looked to have sent Australia through to the next round. Merely 2 minutes later, and Uruguay were back level thanks to Rodrigo Bentancur, but a draw helped neither side. Both teams had opportunities late on but there was no winner, and so Nigeria sneaked through, despite being thrashed.
https://i.postimg.cc/ryW1gP03/Group-F.png
Group G
Brazil were the big hitters in Group G and they opened up their tournament with a game against Denmark. Neither side covered themselves in glory and it was a poor match in terms of chances created, but Brazil’s quality showed with goals from Gabriel Jesus and Neymar enough to earn a hard-fought 2-0 win. The other game in the group was a lot more entertaining as South Africa raced into a 2 goal lead inside quarter of an hour against Switzerland. Early goals from Lebo Mothiba and Cafu Phete put Bafana Bafana in a fantastic position, but the Europeans hit back before half time thanks to a powerful header from Breel Embolo. The same man was sent through on goal just 90 seconds after the break and he made no mistake to draw the game level. From that point there was only one winner as Switzerland swarmed all over the South Africans. The pressure told a quarter of an hour from the end as Ruben Vargas prodded in a winner to complete the comeback.
South Africa then had the thankless task of taking on Brazil in their second match. They were forceful, committing 29 fouls and receiving 6 yellow cards, but could do nothing about the Brazilian attack. Brazil were 2-0 up inside 11 minutes thanks to a Neymar brace, and Coutinho made in 3 in 1st half injury time. Gabriel Jesus came off the bench to score a 4th midway through the 2nd half, but there was some joy for South Africa as Teboho Mokoena dinked the keeper gloriously to grab a late consolation. The other group game was a real battle – both Denmark and Switzerland picked up 3 yellow cards in the 1st half alone. The Danes ended that half on top however, thanks to a late Mikkel Damsgaard goal. Things didn’t get any better for Switzerland in the 2nd half, with Remo Freuler given his marching orders with half an hour to go for an awful hack through the back of Jonas Wind. Wind would get his revenge soon after, slotting in a penalty to double the lead. There was some faint Swiss hope late on as Patjim Kasami converted a penalty with a few minutes left, but Denmark held on for a vital win.
Brazil wrapped up the group win with another comfortable victory in the final game against Switzerland, a result that all but confirmed the Europeans were not making it through. Marquinhos nodded in a corner in the 1st half to give the Brazilians the lead, and further goals from Neymar (from the spot) and Vinicius Jr. made it 3-0 with less than 15 minutes to play. Young Dan Ndoye did score a fine consolation goal with 5 minutes left but that was the final action of the tournament for Switzerland. In the other match, South Africa would need a 2 goal win to somehow sneak through and qualify for the knockout stages, but Denmark were just too strong. Damsgaard was on hand to open the scoring after just 40 seconds, and although South African veteran Lebohang Manyama equalised soon after, the Danes were too strong. They scored 3 times in the final quarter of an hour in the 1st half, Simon Kjaer converting a penalty before Joakim Maehle rifled in a beauty from outside the box, and Mikkel Damsgaard rolled in his 2nd of the game to wrap up a 4-1 win.
https://i.postimg.cc/jSCQ6dzQ/Group-G.png
Group H
Group H saw the holders France and they opened their tournament in a manner that suggested they were not going to be giving up that trophy without a fight. They dispatched Peru with ease, with a brace from Paul Pogba, and further goals from Mbappe, Benzema and Griezmann. The other game in the group saw Mexico grab a narrow but deserved victory against Russia. Raul Jimenez was the hero, scoring the only goal of the game after 69 minutes, converting a cross from right-back Luis Rodriguez, who had a fantastic game.
The second matchday was a rinse and repeat of the first round of matches, as Mexico snatched another narrow win, this time over Peru, to confirm qualification to the knockout stages. Once again, Raul Jimenez was the match-winner, with a bullet header from a cross from the left wing early in the 2nd half. France did concede to Russia, but it was after they’d already scored 5 and also confirmed qualification. Jordan Veretout opened the scoring inside 6 minutes, and Kylian Mbappe added a second before half time. Further goals from Paul Pogba and Odsonne Edouard, his first in international football, were followed by a truly calamitous own goal from Georgy Djikia. The centre-back blocked off his goalkeeper before deflecting a shot past him into the goal. Russia’s sole consolation came in the 90th minute courtesy of a scorching volley from Magomed Ozdoev.
With this group already wrapped up, you’d have forgiven France for taking their foot off of the accelerator. And they did just that, only hitting 4 past Mexico in another thrashing. Benzema, Mbappe and Raphael Varane added 1st half goals, before another international goal for substitute Edouard, who made a £37m move to Manchester City in the summer. Russia took the lead early against Peru, with Fedor Chalov notching his first international goal, but were pegged back just 4 minutes later with Miguel Araujo scoring the equaliser. A second half penalty was converted by Pedro Aquino to give Peru an unlikely lead, but Russia did salvage a draw late on, thanks to an injury time equaliser from Chalov.
https://i.postimg.cc/XvtZC9Wd/Group-H.png
All of this leaves the Round of 16 looking like this:
https://i.postimg.cc/BQtXMhvH/knockouts.png
Following your example, here's some winners from my save:
World Cup
https://i.gyazo.com/6fa2f2cc38e2909d...fe09719f43.png
Euros
https://i.gyazo.com/7887b7999308c9ed...d3c99aab6e.png
And for @Jimmy Floyd, Afcon:
https://i.gyazo.com/e6af22b4fcc0d56e...a3cb9b5281.png
Also, glad to see the realism in this game. I just had VAR disallow a goal for a player that wasn't interfering with play, and he wasn't even offside. Just like those stupid ass decisions we see every other week.
hey google define summary :eyemouth:
:D
Had a quiet day today and channelled my inner TMD.
Had a good window over in Latvia ready for season three.
https://i.imgur.com/WB2liu2.png
Round of 16
Algeria v Norway
Norway were in fine form coming into the knockout stages and it was a bit of a surprise it took them as long as 41 minutes to break the deadlock. Haaland was bundled over in the box, and it was he himself who stepped up and slotted in the penalty for his 4th goal of the tournament. But Algeria had other ideas, and in the 4th minute of 1st half stoppage time, Riyad Mahrez whipped in a free kick and Aissa Mandi was on hand to nod in the equaliser. The momentum of the game had swung completely to Algeria and they took full advantage in the second half. Haris Belkebla slid the ball through for Baghdad Bounedjah to round the keeper and put Algeria into the lead just before the hour mark, and things went from bad to worse just minutes later for Norway. Firstly, Alexander Sorloth received his marching orders for the 2nd time in the World Cup, and from the resulting free kick, Mohamed Fares fired in after a scramble. With a historic quarter-final spot virtually secured, Algeria played some lovely football, and Belkebla got himself on the scoresheet late on to make it 4-1. There was even time for Bounedjah to have his penalty saved in injury time. Algeria progress, but Norway bow out with a bit of a whimper.
https://i.postimg.cc/zDk8WKtL/algnor.png
Belgium v Senegal
Senegal came into this one as huge underdogs, and the first half showed as much, with Belgium piling on the pressure but Senegal holding strong and reaching half time level at 0-0. However, the pressure began to tell in the 2nd half, and it was the performance of Alexis Saelemaekers that stood out in particular. The wing-back firstly won a penalty midway through the half after a strong run down the right side. Romelu Lukaku saw his kick saved, but followed it up to fire in the rebound. Saelemaekers then turned direct provider 7 minutes later, cutting the ball back for Axel Witsel to power in a 2nd goal, and Belgium comfortably saw the game out to ensure progression to the final 8.
https://i.postimg.cc/1XRxM7C8/belsen.png
Portugal v Argentina
Ronaldo v Messi for surely the final time in the World Cup was a bit of a damp squib, if a bit feisty. Messi found himself on the bench and was only introduced at half time, at which point Portugal were already down to 10 men. Joao Moutinho saw red just after the half hour mark for a horrible scissor challenge on Dybala, but Argentina couldn’t find a way through, despite dominating possession. Ronaldo himself was substituted late on as the game meandered to extra time, where Bruno Fernandes was the 2nd Portugal player to be red carded, receiving a 2nd yellow card after 98 minutes. Portugal dropped deeper and deeper and Argentina finally made their advantage count, with Emiliano Buendia curling in a shot from inside the box. The 9 men couldn’t offer up a response and so Portugal exited the competition in a rather soft manner.
https://i.postimg.cc/13qd0ZmW/porarg.png
Germany v Croatia
The 3 group games for Germany had yielded just 2 goals, so it was no surprise when this match ended 1-0. A stodgy encounter saw both team’s attacking prowess stymied through bad decisions and good defending, until Germany’s two young guns combined midway through the 2nd half. Musiala slid a glorious through ball to Karim Adeyemi, who rounded the keeper and slotted home the eventual winner with his left foot. A great time for the 20 year old to score his first international goal, as Germany progressed to the quarter finals.
https://i.postimg.cc/MHLsR9h2/gercro.png
Italy v England
A rematch of the EURO 2020 final was eagerly anticipated and it was England who came out of the blocks fastest. Raheem Sterling had a goal disallowed for offside after 15 minutes, and after some good pressure throughout the 1st half, Marcus Rashford broke the deadlock on the stroke of half time, converting Sterling’s low cross from very close range. Sterling himself then got on the scoresheet midway through the 2nd half to double the lead, Kane turning provider to set him free behind the backline. Italy hit back soon after however, with Bryan Cristante thumping in a beauty from 25 yards to give them hope of an unlikely comeback. But England had power in reserve, especially in the form of Jack Grealish, who came off the bench to fire in England’s 3rd goal just a few minutes later, Kane with another assist. And English nerves were calmed when Fikayo Tomori powered in a header from a Foden corner with 8 minutes to go, securing a very impressive 4-1 win and qualification for the quarter finals.
https://i.postimg.cc/hGh18L1K/itaeng.png
Nigeria v Colombia
Both teams looked cagey and it showed in a real lack of confident attacking play throughout the 1st half. Fouls were being committed all over the pitch, but it was eventually Nigeria who started looking the most likely to find the net as the game reached the end of 90 minutes. Extra time beckoned and the yellow cards were waved – 11 in all as the match devolved into a stop-start, feisty affair. Crucially for Colombia, Alfredo Morelos had been introduced off the bench for extra time, for his first appearance of the tournament. As the clock ticked past 120 minutes, Colombia got the bit of luck they’d been waiting for. A long kick from Ospina was completely misjudged by Ramon Azeez, and the ball sailed over his head for Morelos to sprint onto. He still had a lot to do, but he rifled home the ball to steal a win and a quarter final spot away from the Super Eagles.
https://i.postimg.cc/j26HqZt4/nigcol.png
Brazil v Mexico
Only one man had scored for Mexico in the group stages, and it was indeed Raul Jimenez who found the net again for El Tri early in this knockout tie with Brazil. Jesus Corona got free on the right side of the box, and cut the ball back for Jimenez to fire in the opener inside 7 minutes. The bad news for Brazil continued, as Neymar limped off midway through the first half, replaced by Raphinha. Mexico stood firm in the face of a lot of Brazilian pressure, with Guillermo Ochoa making a number of key saves. But with 10 minutes to go, calamity struck in the form of a needless push in the area by Jorge Sanchez. Gabriel Barbosa comfortably dispatched the penalty, and extra time loomed. By this point, Mexico were clinging on, and eventually Brazil broke through to take the lead in the 108th minute. Fabinho’s header hit the bar, and Roberto Firmino was on hand to tap into the unguarded net to send Brazil through.
https://i.postimg.cc/mgpQrcfJ/bramex.png
Denmark v France
The final game of the Round of 16 saw free-scoring France come up against an obdurate Danish team. France were unable to fashion any clear chances throughout most of the match, and an injury to Benjamin Pavard forced them to an early unwanted change. Denmark didn’t manage a shot on target all game, until the 89th minute, when Kasper Dolberg fired in the most unlikely of goals to shock the World Cup. But VAR intervened and the goal was disallowed for a very tight offside call. Within a minute, France had earned a corner. Upamecano’s initial header was saved well, and as the ball dropped in the box, Pogba threw himself to the floor and a penalty was awarded. Despite Danish protests, Jordan Veretout calmly stepped up and slotted the penalty home to confirm a controversial win for France.
https://i.postimg.cc/sgLhrt5R/denfra.png
That leaves the quarter final draw looking like this:
Belgium v Germany
Algeria v Argentina
England v Brazil
Colombia v France
Quarter Finals
Belgium v Germany
This quarter final tie started poorly for the Germans, with the Belgians dominating early possession, and it got worse after quarter of an hour, as Matthias Ginter turned the ball into his own net to put Belgium ahead. A low cross from Saelemaekers forced Ginter to stick out a leg, deflecting it towards the goal. Neuer should have still dealt with the ball but it somehow spilled through his hands, off the post and in. Alexis Saelemaekers had been the difference for Belgium in their previous knockout tie, and he was at it again here. He grabbed a 2nd assist on the stroke of half time, as Romelu Lukaku powered a header into the top corner from his pinpoint cross. Germany came out looking a lot better in the 2nd half, creating more chances, but they couldn't find a way through as Belgium sat back and soaked up the pressure. A 2-0 win sees Belgium through to their 2nd successive World Cup semi-final, but Germany bow out having scored only 2 goals in their 5 matches at the tournament.
https://i.postimg.cc/FH4XWxPg/belger.png
Algeria v Argentina
After hammering Norway 4-1, Algeria’s reward was a quarter final against Lionel Messi and Argentina. Confidence was running high and Argentina’s defence were not ready for the counter attacking style the Algerians played with. Just 8 minutes in, and Mohamed Fares had a cross deflected to the edge of the box, where Riyad Mahrez rifled in a stunning volley to put the Africans into dreamland. It was to get even better, as Ismael Bennacer clipped a ball over the top for Adam Ounas to run onto. He had all the composure needed to chip Emiliano Martinez and double the Algerian lead. They looked comfortable up until the 56th minute when Ounas himself had a rush of blood, hacking down Messi from behind to receive a straight red card. Algeria sat deep, committing fouls to break up play and surviving chance after chance. Argentina did eventually break them down, as Buendia curled in a glorious free-kick as the clock hit 90 minutes. But Algeria miraculously held on throughout the 5 added minutes to confirm an incredible win and a place in the World Cup semi-finals.
https://i.postimg.cc/J7ff0qWV/algarg.png
England v Brazil
England and Brazil met in a World Cup for the first time in 20 years, since THAT Ronaldinho goal. And it was the South Americans who came flying out of the blocks, with Vinicius Jr. chipping a ball through to Gabriel Jesus to sweep home a 5th minute opener. That was as dangerous as Brazil looked all game, as England largely controlled the play, creating good opportunities for both Kane and Grealish. Kane thumped the bar with a header, and Alexander-Arnold curled a free-kick inches wide of the post. As the game wound down, Gareth Southgate rang the changes, but Alisson made a number of good saves as Brazil clung onto their 1-0 lead. England went home wondering what could have been, but Brazil were back in a semi-final of the World Cup.
https://i.postimg.cc/c4fVnnsK/engbra.png
Colombia v France
France were very heavy favourites coming into this game, and they showed everyone why that was with an early goal from Adrian Rabiot. The midfielder nodded in a wicked free-kick from Mbappe for only his 2nd international goal. Colombia still looked dangerous and earned themselves a penalty late in the 1st half when Duvan Zapata was pushed in the back. But Edwin Cardona’s spot kick was weak, and Lloris comfortably saved it, diving to his left. After half time, the Colombians lost their heads somewhat in search of the equaliser. Firstly, young winger Jaminton Campaz was booked for a second time in the 54th minute, and he was joined back in the dressing room later on by veteran Juan Cuadrado. France calmly marshalled the final minutes of the game against a frantic 9 man Colombia to wrap up the 1-0 win.
https://i.postimg.cc/3wx6Vf2p/colfra.png
Incredibly, this leaves the semi-finals looking like this:
Algeria v Brazil
Belgium v France
Its not coming home :drool:
Isn’t that Argentina group their exact group from France 98?
Belgium's to lose imo.
It is indeed, didn't notice that myself.Quote:
Originally Posted by Browning
Semi Finals
Algeria v Brazil
Brazil were still without Neymar who twisted his ankle in the win over Mexico, and there was very little attacking bite in the opening moments of this semi-final. It was a truly historic moment for the footballing nation of Algeria, and they almost opened with a goal inside 60 seconds, Bensebaini nodding over from a free-kick. And there were barely 10 minutes on the clock when Belkebla played a glorious through ball for Riyad Mahrez to run onto, beyond the left-back. Mahrez took the ball down and curled a finish home from the edge of the box before sprinting away in wild celebration. VAR had a look but there was nothing wrong and the goal stood – Algeria led Brazil in a World Cup semi-final. And they were good value for it, playing some lovely football and creating further chances in the 1st half. Brazil kept the ball well but had no cutting edge, and as the game drifted through the 2nd half, there were more tired challenges and yellow cards being given out. It was from one of these fouls that Brazil were able to manufacture their equaliser. Gabriel Jesus received the ball, Raphinha made the run in behind, and Jesus chipped a lovely crossfield pass over to the winger who placed the volley beyond Oukidja, drawing Brazil level with just under 20 minutes to play. But Algerian heads didn’t drop, and they still looked the more likely of the two teams to find a winner in regular time. With 10 minutes to play, Belkebla whipped over a corner, and Bentaleb went down in a bundle in the box. The referee deemed he was pushed, and up stepped Baghdad Bounedjah to calmly tuck away the spot kick. Brazil pushed forward in search of a 2nd equaliser but Algeria were very happy to sit deep and compact, preventing any real chances of note. As the final whistle sounded, the celebrations began in full – Algeria were through to the final of the World Cup!
https://i.postimg.cc/bvb8NN68/algbra.png
Belgium v France
A tight 1st period saw few chances of note, right up until the final minute of the half. Allan Saint-Maximin, who had replaced Kylian Mbappe in the French starting line-up due to a knock, chipped a free kick to the back post, where Jordan Veretout was unmarked to nod in an opening goal. This only served to spur the Belgians into action. Virtually from kick-off, Yannick Carrasco was sent free down the left wing. He chipped the ball up to Romelu Lukaku, standing on the edge of the box, who crashed an unstoppable volley into the top corner to draw the Belgians level within 50 seconds. This shifted the momentum and Belgium were on the front foot during the majority of the 2nd half. Eden Hazard had a breakaway goal disallowed for offside, and the introduction of a half-fit Mbappe did nothing to prevent Belgium controlling the game. For all their dominance, it looked like it was heading to extra time. But there was a late twist to this semi-final. Substitute Jeremy Doku whipped a ball over which Lukaku looked to control at the front post. He was unnecessarily bundled over by Veretout and the penalty was awarded. Lukaku stepped up himself and sent Lloris the wrong way to claim a dramatic winner and send Belgium through to play Algeria in the final.
https://i.postimg.cc/1z12B0Hh/belfra.png
3rd Place Playoff
France v Brazil
France and Brazil had to drag themselves from the depths of tournament defeat to play out what I think is one of the most meaningless games in world football. France felt the same way, ringing the changes and giving Odsonne Edouard a start as the lone striker. Brazil started the brighter, and Coutinho had an early goal chalked off for offside. But just 8 minutes later, makeshift right-back Fabhino (!) cut the ball back for his club teammate Roberto Firmino to place the ball past Lloris, giving Brazil a 1-0 lead. It was to be their only shot on target for the entire game. France huffed and puffed but couldn’t create a real clear opening, Alisson handling a number of long-range efforts fairly comfortably as the game petered out with Brazil holding on to their advantage.
https://i.postimg.cc/wv9w1gXn/frabra.png
2022 World Cup Final
Algeria v Belgium
There was bad news for Algeria in the run-up to the final – both Riyad Mahrez and Haris Belkebla, key players in their tournament, were doubtful with niggling injuries. Both would not start the game, with Adam Ounas and Saphir Taider stepping up to take their places. Belgium were virtually full strength, with key players Lukaku and Saelemaekers able to start, although Yannick Carrasco was dropped at left wing-back in favour of Timothy Castagne.
Belgium controlled the possession early on, with Algeria sitting deep and defending stoutly. But, with quarter of an hour played, a cross was whipped over from the left into the Algerian box, and Axel Witsel went down in a heap on the penalty spot, pushed over by the centre-back Mandi. The referee immediately blew up for a foul, Ismael Bennacer being booked for his protests and Romelu Lukaku had nerves of steel to slot his penalty into the corner for his 7th goal of the tournament. Saelemaekers and Thorgan Hazard continued to have a lot of joy down the right wing throughout the 1st half, but Belgium couldn’t find a 2nd goal. They would soon rue not taking their opportunities as Algeria fought back late in the half to grab an unlikely equaliser. Islam Slimani was brought down near the edge of the box, and up stepped Ismael Bennacer to curl in a wonderful free-kick.
The 2nd half continued in a similar vein to the 1st with Belgium controlling the flow of the game and Algeria happy to concede territory and defend deep. Thorgan Hazard was continually causing problems, providing Lukaku with good service, but Algeria held strong. The breakthrough came in the 71st minute, with Bennacer trying to find Bounedjah with a through ball. Pascal Struijk timed the challenge perfectly to dispossess the Algerian striker but the ball rolled free, and Mohamed Fares got to it first, before outsprinting the Belgian back line. Through on goal, he displayed no sign of nerves, with a delightful chip over the onrushing Thibaut Courtois, sending the Algerian (and neutral) fans utterly wild with delight. Fares had scored 1 goal in 23 caps prior to the tournament, but he’d found the net 3 times in Qatar, none more important than this goal.
Belgium threw caution to the wind, and piled forward in search of the equaliser, but were unable to fashion a real goalscoring opportunity. It was incredible that this ‘Golden Generation’ had finally made it through to a major final, and now were to be upstaged by the underdogs in the most dramatic, unlikely story. 4 minutes of stoppage time were signalled, and Algeria kept the ball masterfully for the majority of it. The whistle blew for full time, and incredibly, Algeria had won the 2022 World Cup!
Toggle Spoiler
:cool:
I've seen weirder wins but they usually come a lot later in a save.
Pogon Siedlce 2025/26 Season Update:
Transfers In:
https://i.imgur.com/uPDOPFb.png
https://i.imgur.com/kWn8bi9.png
Signed him to be a starter but I only ever used him as a backup, he got the hump and he ended up being sold.
https://i.imgur.com/9QB4T8q.png
Better than my current keeper and with more potential. He started the season really well but struggling massively at points.
https://i.imgur.com/QokttUC.png
Kopec left (for peanuts) and I needed people to replace him. Rakozy was the first piece of the puzzle for a bargain price due to a relegation release clause.
https://i.imgur.com/bhFXpOr.png
Our record signing. I'm not sure he was worth that massive outlay but I had cash to spend and I couldn't help myself. He's one of the best Polish prospects I've seen in his position plus he wanted to come to us and he fits my system.
https://i.imgur.com/rOE3iyB.png
Natural CDM and CM who can play at CB, a bargain especially if my scouts are right about his potential.
https://i.imgur.com/Z5ou5mC.png
I needed some backup on the wings after some sales so I bought this guy. Those red arrows are annoying as I think he could be really good.
https://i.imgur.com/RmDOqKa.png
More expensive than Zielonka and I feel he's worse but I still think he'll be nice.
https://i.imgur.com/NlWoGwV.png
With Deren leaving in January I needed to replace him. This is the best guy I could find who wasn't crazy expensive and/or a youth with massive holes. He's no Deren but he's done alright.
https://i.imgur.com/LFqrNI7.png
Wanted move cover for LB and CB (he's natural in both) so scooped him up.
Transfers Out:
https://i.imgur.com/63OXX5E.png
A lot of money made but it could have been so much more if the board had let me do the Deren and Kopec deals. Also, speaking of Kopec the board accepted a deal for him with no potential extra money from his next sale. How much are Arsenal asking for him right now? £25m. Well done Chairman...
League:
https://i.imgur.com/KfnBYWX.png
https://i.imgur.com/LzeBCMI.png
Decent season but we struggled at times as we'd keep dropping points from winning positions such as this game:
https://i.imgur.com/UPQEqWd.png
Overall though we did well and left the table looking like this:
https://i.imgur.com/OLUHq30.png
Surprised we finished this high and we were constantly nipping at Legia's ankles but without ever really looking like we were going to overthrow them. European football next year though \0/.
Cup:
https://i.imgur.com/N2UvIYc.png
Another first round exit...
Squad Stats:
https://i.imgur.com/gRsBj1R.png
A CB being our joint top scorer :cool: I'm hoping that Formella kicks on next season like Krystian Daniel when he struggled in the first season but was prolific in his second season. I'd like to bring Skopek back but they want £1.6m right now (it's in the loan contract) but I think we can get him for a bit cheaper. Better fullbacks would be nice and someone with real star quality I suppose.
Facilities:
https://i.imgur.com/L0RZwpH.png
Cool that we're going back to Siedlce but the stadium is tiny (although it's big for our club) and if the 20 year rule thing is still in effect we're fucked.
A Poland World Cup update will be coming tomorrow.
The summer of 2025 and Leroy Sane has broken the transfer record moving to Real Madrid for a whopping £207m. Never seen the like.
Ye, highest I've seen is 219m but that was in euros and it was also like a good 10+ years later. Bayern have offered 250m for one of my players also, so things do get that bonkers, but definitely not that early in the save.
Here are our kits for the next season btw:
https://i.imgur.com/9ivf9mO.png
Easily the best we've had so far, not bad but not great.
I will get round to posting an update of 'our' first season together but for the record, Yevrah is immense.
Our third season with East Fife is complete.
https://i.ibb.co/kcqGchL/Table.png
After the collapse of last season, this was never in doubt.
https://i.ibb.co/CVvYDmt/Squad.png
https://i.ibb.co/HHd7YFk/Muir.png
Muir was absolutely terrific, and just a bairn too.
https://i.ibb.co/QMKWQX0/Tactic.png
I'm happy to have got this tactic to work, which pretty much ticks all the boxes: getting the best out of our best players, attractive, possession-based attacking football.
https://i.ibb.co/H48WJZH/Stats.png
https://i.ibb.co/D78MWBk/Stats-2.png
Backed up by the stats.
After three seasons and two promotions, I'm keen to move on really. I've upped my reputation to 2 stars and will at least hope to get an interview with any attractive looking jobs that come up in the summer.
What's the deal with penalty ratings in this game? I mean, it's been like that for a few versions now so not really new, but it seems at least a bit silly that so many global stars have ratings between 5-10. I'm in my 6th season at PSG and I have a player with 14 rating, one with 12 and everyone else is at 10 or below. Doesn't seem reasonable for a team that's won 4 out of the 5 last Champions Leagues.
Also, 2 of my latest acquisitions will please @Sir Andy Mahowry I reckon:
https://i.gyazo.com/d2c398b54290ea45...3b9b0588d1.png
https://i.gyazo.com/3e49a66ae85d02a9...0fa03ba630.png
Obviously the second one being more one for the future. The one I had at Inter has also developed quite nicely:
https://i.gyazo.com/f1ddd5da2def7ac7...1a5f77b20a.png
Looks like Greenwood ended up a Stevenage on my save....
https://gyazo.com/af27bd4f4b4ee88868308dbdea8ba44a.jpeg
Got back into this again recently as home alone for a couple weeks. Decided to go for a non-mental, slow paced possession tactic. First season:
https://i.gyazo.com/50e98064231df26f...b38cf65680.png
And a couple of goal examples:
https://streamable.com/og68zr
https://streamable.com/csniys
Loving it to be honest.
I bet your matches take ages!
I've always played 2D at fastest speed so its not too bad. Would be a nightmare in 3D.
I promised a World Cup update a few days ago but I was SEETHING at the outcome and as such I haven't played for a few days. Anyway, here it finally is.
Poland 2026 World Cup:
Group Stage:
First up was Paraguay and we were playing them in Mexico.
https://i.imgur.com/43MH3KL.png
We played well but were a little lacking in going forward, I was scared we'd drop points when Karbownik picked up a red but thankfully they never really put us under any sort of pressure.
Next up was Mexico who were playing at home:
https://i.imgur.com/XiPEGGr.png
And we battered them, we looked dangerous and their defence couldn't cope with us. 4-0 flattered us according to the xG but I thought it was pretty fair tbh.
Up next was Greece in the second round which we travelled to Kansas City to play:
https://i.imgur.com/h3zU7fh.png
We were poor in the first half and didn't really wake up until they scored their second. I changed the system up and went at them. When Lewandowski got his first I thought we'd power past them and I still had hope entering into injury time. Then Vasiliadis hit a tame effort from just outside the box which looked like it would be saved easily by Szczesny, he decided otherwise though and he let it bobble over the top of him. A fine way to end his career...
Knockout Tree:
https://i.imgur.com/H5cLNMh.png
We'd have got battered by Spain I'd imagine but it would have been nice to have had the chance. Ukraine winning made an already angry me SEETHE quite hard.
Edit: Belgium have offered me a contract, it's a shame I'm doing Club/Country as I'd love to take that job.
Have Ukraine spawned a few world beaters?
There are no newgens in their squad:
https://i.imgur.com/KLxWHfX.png
Big fan of Callum Styles joining up with the squad.
This is the best prospect they have in their U21s though:
https://i.imgur.com/frbQJNN.png
Also, I had a look at the awards and this lad won the best young player:
https://i.imgur.com/hZf56nR.png
Only 1 sub appearance for United's first team thus far though.
Jeez the regens faces are bad.
Look like they're straight out of some torrid 70s punk bands called The Bleeding Hearts or Smashed Larynx etc.
The faces are alright, it's the hair which is terrible. Looks like it's been done with the spray can feature on MS Paint.
Tim Pritchard in the youth team
https://starsmedia.ign.com/stars/ima...633180-000.jpg
https://i.imgur.com/3ah6MtW.png
SEETHING doesn't begin to cover it.
While it's always been a thing in this game, I've noticed it happening a lot more in this version. Especially your team missing a fuckton of chances. In my last few seasons at PSG we've scored fewer goals than the xG, which by definition is quite absurd.
Kitbasher has just generated this beaut of a third kit for me :drool:
https://gyazo.com/abe3a2cd66955d35590568b71de40ad3.jpeg
After 6 seasons at PSG, with 4 CL wins and another appearance in the finals, I moved to Barcelona and the penalty rating situation is even more ridiculous. Our best takers have a rating of 11 and so far we have scored 1 in 4 from the penalty spot. It just seems incredibly unrealistic to me.Quote:
Originally Posted by Adramelch
https://i.imgur.com/GjL43Ri.png
We didn't deserve any points but that stings.
https://i.gyazo.com/bdafd7550d7964c5...c20ad43eae.png
Missed out on Europe due to conceding in the last minute of the last game of the season.
:moop:
Hit the woodwork 8 fucking times
https://i.gyazo.com/6ecf773efeefadb6...23bc686893.png
I am assuming a good 3 of those are players trying to lob the keeper and hitting the bar. Seems to happen a lot in this version, regardless of player traits and whatnot.
Also my favourite disallowed goal in FM:
https://i.gyazo.com/8762b7b5792330d0...21eadf74aa.png
Bakkeby scores by shooting it along the yellow line, yet the goal is pulled back due to presumably the circled player interfering with play (who, in this occasion, doesn't even look to be offside).
https://i.imgur.com/8YP9abI.png
:drool:
I'd wait until the actual intake. I've had a supposed "excellent intake" give me four 2.5-star potential players as the best of the lot. Different positions as well.
I've already printed off the "Golden Generation" banners though.
I'd go ahead and print the World Cup 2034 winners t-shirts too. Better be prepared.
Wraca do domu :drool:
Fuck the Chairman part 1282928193:
https://i.imgur.com/nWnGbux.png
Deadline day, 19:15 and he accepts a shit offer for our best winger. Incredible...
https://i.imgur.com/upITAFS.png
At 22:50...
We fucking signed him for £1.7m and he's improved massively under us. The prick didn't even get involved when Dortmund put in a bigger offer.
I can no longer work with the chairman and as such the save is on hold until I can stop SEETHING.
I have decided to load up an English level 10 Journeyman save. I have put on attribute masking and I will only be signing players based on scout reports and DOF recommendations. I cannot go looking for players myself.
I've been there.Quote:
Originally Posted by Sir Andy Mahowry
https://i.imgur.com/pd2mQLt.png
https://i.imgur.com/JfQoDJE.png
The club were founded in 1883 and, according to Wiki, are the Northernmost team to play in the Football League. This is down to them being founder members of the Football League Third Division North. The town is 15 miles north of Newcastle and they have some footballing history as the Charlton brothers were born here. The club currently plays in the ninth tier
I was planning to stay south, ideally in Hertfordshire or one of the surrounding counties but they came in and offered me a whopping £1,350 wage budget, although the club are currently spending almost all of it.
Here is the squad:
https://i.imgur.com/bcBAtz7.png
Which is surprisingly thin considering how much we're spending in wages however there is some quality there. Including these two:
https://i.imgur.com/phqHD8B.png
Yannick looks too good for this tier of football and he's going to be solid at the back. Coach report reckons he's got the potential to be a Vanarama North/South player which is 3 tiers higher than this division. He's wanted by others and obviously on a non-contract so I doubt he's staying here for long.
https://i.imgur.com/Cjsbbxj.png
He looks very well rounded and the coaches think he can play in any role at CM which is handy.
Here is our hot prospect:
https://i.imgur.com/hGewtGX.png
Might have to target him at set pieces to knick a few goals.
Not sure what tactic I'm going to play, I'd like a 4-4-2 but I'd need to bring players in for that as we have nothing on the wings so it will probably be a narrow diamond for now.
Media is currently predicting us to finish 4th so in the playoff spots. Previous manager has played a game and we won 3-1 against Crook Town who are predicted to finish bottom. The manager played a 4-4-2 with the assistant manager, a 39 year old CDM, playing at LM. Probably not something that I will be looking to copy.
Mahow following in the footsteps of Steve Harmison :cool:
Thommo told me this too, I have no idea about cricket though.Quote:
Originally Posted by Danny
Thommo also pointed out that Ben Harmison is his brother.
Finally got a player with 16 for penalty taking and he's scored 1 in 5. :moop:
At what point do you stop playing and start a new save? Any milestones?
I was planning to get a league title in all the big nations (England still to go) and maybe some international silverware but I can't be arsed with the latter so just Premier League it is. I am just waiting for a decent opportunity to move there really. Not planning to start a save immediately after this one is done, but I've started watching Critical Role episodes again so I might actually fire one up to play when I am watching, which would probably a lower league to CL type of save.
I always get to a point where all the real players are now managers and I hit a bit of a lull and want to start again elsewhere. Some of the monster games I see on here are impressive, I'm not sure if I've gone past maybe 15 seasons at the most
When your dickhead chairman sells 6 of your best players for peanuts...Quote:
Originally Posted by SincereTheRebel
There's a (Greek funnily enough) manager that has kinda made his career on the back of mine. He joined Bayern when I left, then PSG when I left and now Barcelona.
Stayed on another season for this.... the Champions League qualifying path fixtures!
https://i.imgur.com/Ypf8Fbe.png
https://i.imgur.com/SfOgXT6.png
That's quite the unlucky path it feels like. Cluj in the first round especially.
King of the giant killings here.
No matter the outcome, I'm gone once the season is done.
Pogon Siedlce & Poland 2026/27 Season Update:
I have calmed down and have been playing the save for the last few days and finished the season.
Transfers Out:
Let's get the bad news out of the way first.
https://i.imgur.com/cC8xocJ.png
Zyro got the hump in the Summer as Legia were sniffing around so I put a £2.5m price tag on him. He was my best CB but that much for a 28 year old would have been too much to reject. RWD came in for him offering peanuts which I rejected, a day later they offered the full £2.5m which the board accepted (I would have done it too. So I was happy with the business done in the Summer.
I then thought we were safe as whilst clubs were sniffing around Formella (Dortmund primarily) the board weren't accepting offers for him and it looked like he was going to stay. Then with hours to go on deadline day the dickhead chairman accepts a low offer for him (lower than Dortmund offered...) as well as my best winger. It was a massive blow.
https://i.imgur.com/cC8xocJ.png
https://i.imgur.com/b6KAkVL.png
Losing them both was tough. Jakub isn't an amazing all rounder but his physicals are just really strong for this league and Formella is near perfect for my tactic and my scouts (at the club and internationally) absolutely love him. He will be in the Poland squad soon.
Transfers In:
https://i.imgur.com/qRBp7Yg.png
He doesn't fit into my system but my scouts think he's got a lot of potential and for just £170k I felt like I had to take the gamble. He hasn't played much for us but he's done better than I thought he would. He's already wanted by a few clubs so I think the deal was sound.
https://i.imgur.com/npJ68b6.png
I felt we needed more quality in midfield so I splashed out £850k for him as he was already better than what we have and has a lot of potential. Club Brugge are interested in him so I expect THE DICKHEAD will be looking to accept offers of £1m if that.
https://i.imgur.com/MlB02w4.png
A big signing at a cool £1m. He can play anywhere in defence and I've been giving him lots of opportunities at full back and he has consistently failed to deliver. He's clearly only a backup but I've been really struggling to find good Polish full backs in the save so far, hopefully he kicks on next season.
https://i.imgur.com/zs5R9pv.png
£110k and man has he been great, he's stepped up in a lot of games this year. He's a natural RB/AMR/ST (weird combo) and he's been sensational at AMR. Sadly when Formella left he became our second striker and he hasn't been nearly as effective there.
https://i.imgur.com/ZnPZ0Bs.png
£875k and our replacement for Zyro. He can't take a penalty like Zyro but he's been better defensively, he's been great for us thus far.
League:
https://i.imgur.com/ytRALQd.png
https://i.imgur.com/toac8xJ.png
https://i.imgur.com/SHGxgUR.png
Had we not been so good last year this season would be a great success, especially as we lost so many key players. As it is this was a bit of a failure and we really struggled at times, especially after the transfer window closed when we lost two key players and weren't able to replace them.
Cup:
https://i.imgur.com/HWNAEOv.png
At least we won 1 game this year.
Europe:
https://i.imgur.com/4QAivI3.png
As soon as we drew Bilbao we were done. We actually played fairly well in both legs, especially away but Inaki Williams was just too much for our defence to handle.
Squad:
https://i.imgur.com/ImCRM4m.png
We're super light at ST right now so that is something that I will have to address in the Summer. Other than that I'm fairly happy with my squad as is.
Also, our youth intake was not as great as my coaches/scouts made out however this guy isn't too shabby:
https://i.imgur.com/wUUveOz.png
Poland:
https://i.imgur.com/ckMrUNm.png
Level on points with France but due to their better H2H against us they ended up beating us to qualifying for the knockouts for the Nations League. We've also started our Euro Qualifiers and have played two games, a 12-0 win over Liechtenstein and a 2-2 draw with Switzerland. The group also includes Gibraltar, Hungary and Austria.
Lewandowski is still doing fine, he scored 4 against the goat herders and 1 against Switzerland.
There are a few promising youngsters starting to come through too:
https://i.imgur.com/1YKoydy.png
Produced by Groningen who was then sold to Leverkusen for £14.5m and this season made the move to Juventus for £31.5m. A starting CM for us and was number 1 on the nextgen list the year before.
https://i.imgur.com/sTiq9cf.png
He was at Legia and I tried to sign him this Summer when Zyro was sold but he wasn't interested. He went to Hamburg for £3.2m but they have not been playing him so he requested a transfer in the mid-season window and was interested in us. Sadly the club wouldn't give us the money to sign him despite Hamburg only wanting £2.8m. He's since asked to come off the transfer list though.
https://i.imgur.com/yp3HqxQ.png
Just produced by Bayern, he was originally listed as German but I asked him to switch and he gladly did so. He will be getting a cap ASAP to lock him to us.
https://i.imgur.com/xQTlBgi.png
Not willing to change allegiance just yet but I will be trying to change him.
It seems Olcha did not have a change of heart.
He was still on the transfer list but for £16.5m however my scouts/DOF have just informed me his price has dropped to £1.7m.
Edit: He wants £11.25k a week, RIP.
This is spicy though:
https://i.imgur.com/cSzGFbT.png
Lewandowski soon.Quote:
Originally Posted by Sir Andy Mahowry
He doesn't have a contract right now.Quote:
Originally Posted by Baz
Sadly he will not talk to us.
Prusaczyk looks a player. Keep the updates coming.
https://i.imgur.com/efTySPy.pngQuote:
Originally Posted by Mike
It's on!!
My fourth season with East Fife, and first in the Scottish Championship looked a tricky one:
https://i.ibb.co/bPZGsYL/Pre-season-odds.png
After a pretty good start:
https://i.ibb.co/f2LmNg1/Mid-season-table.png
I decided to call it quits. East Fife were a semi-professional club and I seemingly couldn't go beyond a National A Licence with them, meaning nobody was really interested in my services. I applied for some League 2 and even National League and National League North/South jobs, and still no luck. These were teams with lower reputations than me and East Fife. I applied for a few jobs in the lower leagues in the Netherlands, Belgium and Italy too, but with no joy.
So I packed my bags, and ended up managing to bag a job at lowly Blyth Spartans, in the National League North. They're a much worse team, but at least they're professional status, and straight away I was able to go for my Continental C Licence. My reputation took a slight hit, but hopefully that will recover quite soon. I forgot to take a screenshot, but Blyth were 21st out of 22 in the league at the mid-way point in the season, with 15 points.
https://i.ibb.co/F6P5tvJ/Early-season-schedule.png
The squad was absolutely bloated (highest wages in the league), and mostly with shite. It took a while to peddle the shite back into the Under 18 squad, but I was still left with a squad of 26. I reverted back to my no-nonsense, slightly more direct style of football as Blyth don't really have any playmakers. I also had to switch a little between three and four at the back, due to a lack of options in defensive midfield.
https://i.ibb.co/drpWX0H/Late-season-schedule.png
It was pretty straightforward to turn things around.
https://i.ibb.co/dpJFPjR/End-of-season-table.png
Now it's summer 2025, I have my Continental C Licence and my reputation is back up to 2 stars. I'm currently deciding whether to stick around or look to move on. There's a League Two job which may be worth testing the waters...
Does anyone know how many caps it takes to lock a player in for a nationality?
One of the youths I convinced to SHUN Germany has now been given 4 caps (at 16) and it still says he's eligible for the krauts.
I think it's four if they're under 21, but competitive only (friendlies don't count). I'm just going off real life rules mind, I still play 01/02 like a true fossil.
They've all been Euro qualifiers.
It seems they have to turn 21 or play in a tournament...
https://i.imgur.com/uIP52rk.png
A fucking day before the Euros begin.
On we go!
https://i.imgur.com/uPfV4fl.jpeg
And that sucks Mahow
Ah no. How many caps did he get?Quote:
Originally Posted by Sir Andy Mahowry
He's on 194 right now. He'd have gotten to 200 if we did alright at the Euros.Quote:
Originally Posted by Baz
I'm hoping it will give me the option to ask him to wait.
Finally got round to finishing off my 2nd season with Llanelli Town, and it all ended in a bit of an anti-climax. After our lightning start helped by our promotion momentum, the season fizzled out completely, and we struggled after the split into the Championship Phase. We started off with 8 wins in the opening 9 games, and followed that with just 23 points in the remaining 23 games. 5th is still a great first season at the top level, but Europe wasn't far away and it would have been really nice to get the rep boost and an influx of cash.
https://i.postimg.cc/JmFjHTGM/22-23.png
Our attack completely stalled in the latter stages of the season, as we scored only 4 times in the final 9 games of the season, so I'm already looking to recruit upgrades for the front 3, and tweak the tactic to allow us to be a bit more dominant and create a bit more. I've swept up a number of trialists, most notably Marcus Maddison, he of many good seasons with Peterborough United. Hopefully his wage demands aren't ridiculous as his technical stats are phenomenal.
One final point to note - the good performance from TNS and Connah's Quay last season in Europe has meant that Wales are up to 46th in the nation coefficients, and we've got an extra Conference League place. 4th spot will grant European qualification (depending on the Cup winner), and I think that, with some good additions, that has to be the aim for the next season.
Youth recruitment day:
https://i.imgur.com/NURxp86.png
He's alright but I doubt he'll ever play for us if we can keep hold of our current keeper.
https://i.imgur.com/Zpe6k9f.png
I quite like him but not entirely sure where I'll end up playing him. He's a natural CDM (which we don't play) and then he can also play at CB and CM. I'll re-train him as one of those fully at some point.
https://i.imgur.com/jDT5KbE.png
Full backs are a major problem for us (and Poland) right now but I don't think he's the answer. Not sure what my scouts see in him really.
https://i.imgur.com/625c3Bh.png
The giant :drool: I really like him a lot as do my backroom staff who are already recommending that he be moved into the first team the day I signed him to a contract. I think he's probably the best the club have produced in my save but the personality trait is a real shitter though.
At least he won’t wanna up sticks to Legia Warsaw anytime soon.
Maybe he’ll beat Lewandowksi to 200 caps.
Speaking of the great man.
He's at 196 caps, we have two friendlies before the Euros to take him to 198 and his retirement date is still set for the day before the Euros.
He better not go through with this.
He is going through with it :(
I can't select him for my Euros team.
You need to get Marczuk to mentor the other lot in eyebrow maintenance. Monobrow freaks
https://i.imgur.com/k2lTbzg.png
https://i.imgur.com/pxSTC9j.png
He's still playing well ffs.
This is all Madrid's fault, they wouldn't give him another contract and no one else was willing to give him one. Well I was willing to give him one but he wasn't interested in coming to us.
Outperforming xG at 39. :cool:
Just about to manage my 300th game. No silverware to speak of.
https://i.imgur.com/7OM1cVk.png
10 minutes AFTER I had to name my squad :cab:
Can you put him on a reserve list?
Nope, got to hope someone gets injured before I name my 23.
I have reloaded and named 28 men in my 30 man squad in the hopes of being able to get him in at some point.
https://i.imgur.com/zhLIJ9S.png
Final day of the season is going to be spicy.
Cracovia play Lechia (6th) at home, we play Arka (12th) at home and Legia play Wisla Plock (15th) away.
Pogon Siedlce 2027/28 Season Update:
Transfers In:
https://i.imgur.com/vPxSEoQ.png
https://i.imgur.com/p1zqYhA.png
I had tried to bring him in at the end of his contract the season before but Lech activated a one year extension. I don't think he's great outside of his physicals and I bought him to make an impact on games from the bench.
https://i.imgur.com/oYTvPuq.png
I wanted someone tall as we were lacking in height at the back. I rarely used him because outside of that he's shit, he will be going in the Summer now that our youth team has produced a taller better giant.
https://i.imgur.com/2cn0Rq5.png
Went out on loan not long after joining us, I think he could be very handy for the team when he realises his potential.
https://i.imgur.com/umwPI4B.png
£74k is a steal and Legia are already sniffing around him.
https://i.imgur.com/wo6oP03.png
https://i.imgur.com/yWRlx88.png
https://i.imgur.com/fbcaoPy.png
I'm going to group these three together. All very cheap backup options who I'm hoping I can make a little bit of money on. None of them did anything for us this year and two of them went out on loan whilst the third couldn't be loaned out due to lack of interest.
https://i.imgur.com/Lud6Jbo.png
The first of my big spends. I needed a quality CB to come in to partner Strzezysz and Tommie filled the role. Some big clubs are looking at him now so he might not be with us for long.
https://i.imgur.com/GYjrYsP.png
Very cheap winger with good physicals who has decent potential.
https://i.imgur.com/rDxevBN.png
I did not think I would be able to get him but am I glad I did. The guy was insane for us this year and he fit the team so well, we needed someone like this after losing Formella in February last year to Legia. Sadly a lot of clubs are looking at him right now although I've offered him a massive new deal.
https://i.imgur.com/gdod9RP.png
Our first choice keeper got injure for 2-3 months and I didn't think any of our youth were ready to step in and start so nabbed this guy from Legia.
Transfers Out:
https://i.imgur.com/Er8pl7E.png
No big names leaving other than Sitek. The board did not accept this deal, it was something that I engineered. He was a natural all down the right and could play in a few other positions too. In his seasons with us I was mainly playing him at RB and he just wasn't doing anything so this deal was a no brainer.
League:
https://i.imgur.com/qjjOsRK.png
https://i.imgur.com/jEuLpuT.png
We were playing some really good football but in the first half of the season that wasn't resulting in a lot of points. We'd do well then get in or near the European spots before dropping points like crazy. In the second half we continued playing well but we were actually putting away our chances and not conceding stupid goals. I kept thinking we'd eventually start regressing when he hit 5th but we didn't and we kept rising up the table.
https://i.imgur.com/PRnEQWf.png
https://i.imgur.com/puqUWNQ.jpg
Absolutely insane season. We struggled so much in the first half and we couldn't establish ourselves in the league:
https://i.imgur.com/zaa3HDs.png
But in the second half we couldn't be stopped. I didn't think we had a chance at winning as Cracovia were 9 points up with only a handful of games to go but they ended up losing to Miedz, us and Lechia as well as drawing with Arka.
Cup:
https://i.imgur.com/BDt2o0v.png
One year I'll take it seriously.
Squad:
https://i.imgur.com/bhPtmWX.png
I think one of the biggest things that helped us finally start clicking is getting the RB position sorted. I started playing Blaszczykowski (our AMR) there and using Koziara at AMR and they formed a serious threat down the right. This also seemed to give Oszust a little kick up the backside as he started doing a lot better when we brought him back into the team.
I think ultimately I will be putting Blaszczykowski back there as an attacking RB and looking to bring Koziara back on loan or buying a new AMR as it really helped. LB is still a problem though.
Champions League football next season :cool:
One of our games in the Euros (update post will be tomorrow) was played in the Ryan Giggs Stadium...
Built in 2022 in Bridgend.
Poland Euro 2028 Campaign:
We were rocked by Lewandowski announcing his plan to retire as a player the day before the tournament only to then change his mind literally 10 in game minutes AFTER I announced my squad. I tried to see if I could get him in but sadly it wasn't to be. He was there with us though as sometime last year I offered him a job as a coach with the national team. I will be firing my assistant and offering the job to Bob soon too.
Group Stage:
https://i.imgur.com/OIv04w0.png
Norway up first and we were looking good early on and I thought we were going to blow them away. In the second half I went less attacking to ensure they didn't get back into it.
https://i.imgur.com/nUOlXTu.png
FUCK FRANCE. When Mbappe scored I feared for us but we rose to the occasion and battered them. My boy Walczak with a goal in his debut too, better than Mbappe.
https://i.imgur.com/eDXvEwJ.png
As we were through to the next stage already and guaranteed to be in first I made a heap of changes and the second string played fairly well and I thought we'd take all 3 points but it wasn't to be.
Second Round:
https://i.imgur.com/q117OPQ.png
Bottom Ireland awaited us and it was a strange game. We were missing a lot of easy chances throughout the 90 minutes and I feared we'd end up losing thankfully my front two decided to wake up in extra time.
Quarter-Final:
https://i.imgur.com/rgDkduG.png
Absolutely blown away by the Turks, we never looked like we could stop them although when Walczak scored I was thinking it might lift us and drag us back into the game but it did not. Michael Oliver was rated a 5.5 for the game after and I had a news item about his shocking performance as a ref. Their first was a penalty that looked bullshit so I'm claiming :sherlock: and that we'd have won with a different ref.
Tournament Outcome:
https://i.imgur.com/yHeHZLz.png
Losing to the eventual winners (especially under SUSPICIOUS circumstances) makes me feel a little better as does England losing on penalties yet again. It's weird though that the World Cup is held by Ukraine and the Euros by Turkey when the save isn't that far into the future.
Turkey only have 1 newgen in the squad (a backup LB) too so I'm not sure what's gone on there.
Squad:
https://i.imgur.com/hzVBQeX.png
A lot more youth in the squad this time especially as I was trying to lock some Germans to us. I even tried to get a few more to defect but I couldn't manage it sadly. Walczak, who was named the young player of the tournament, really had a strong showing and he'd have been left at home if Lewandowski (who has just postponed his retirement for a third time) fucked it.
Here are the newgens in the squad:
https://i.imgur.com/dFp3EiA.png
I've tried to buy him 3 or 4 times for Siedlce but it never happened. He was produced at Legia before being sold to Hertha for £3.2m he then started seething in January of his first season with them at not starting so was listed for just £1.7m. Unfortunately his contract demands were too high and he's now happy at Hertha.
https://i.imgur.com/9tjXAHN.png
Backup RB who was previously German. Hopefully he comes good as we could use a good RB.
https://i.imgur.com/eMllesA.png
He's a natural LM/AML who can play LB, I locked him and I'm hoping to make him an attacking LB.
https://i.imgur.com/PSb8IhR.png
Our main man in CM.
https://i.imgur.com/vCJwHy0.png
I had him on loan at Siedlce in our debut season in the Ekstraklasa and we had a £1.4m optional future fee. I decided not to use it as I thought we could get him cheaper outside of the loan. We couldn't as they still wanted £1.4m but he ended up going to Heidenheim for £2.3m. I tried to buy him again this summer but he went to Hoffenheim for £1.6m. Painful.
https://i.imgur.com/gSbbJsE.png
Another German to be locked in as Polish. I think this guy is going to be amazing and he's done really well whenever I've played him.
https://i.imgur.com/4OLUZEV.png
We bought him for £1.7m only for THE DICKHEAD chairman to sell him on deadline day in February 2027. He had a release clause of £3.2m and I tried to buy him back this Summer. He wasn't interested though and he's now at Bournemouth on huge wages and they wont sell him for anything less than £50m. My board fucked up hard on this one.
https://i.imgur.com/Hy7eiVt.png
A German who did not want to switch. I brought him on loan to Siedlce last season and he did really well and eventually switched allegiance. I've also secured another season long loan for him this year.
There seem to be a lot of irregular betting patterns involving the Turkish national side.
https://i.imgur.com/PT2eKp0.png
They've heard about my previous exploits to the country...
The Champions League dream is over
https://i.imgur.com/eeUqMyQ.jpeg
But the European dream goes on.
https://i.imgur.com/b9tFQlf.png
Our Champions League dream is very much alive:
https://i.imgur.com/vIrpdEM.png
Our first match we were drawn against the toughest seeded team in Dinamo Zagreb and I didn't think we had a chance. We played really well though in the first half but I got scared and went defensive when they pulled one back.
https://i.imgur.com/rcpaOro.png
In the second leg we were in control but they did have a few chances but my keeper was in great form and wouldn't let them through. The goal wasn't needed but it was nice to grab it.
We were then drawn against the toughest unseeded teams in Maccabi Tel-Aviv.
https://i.imgur.com/dKJw0KT.png
I feared for the worst when they scored early but Zielonka who has been nothing more than a sub for me missed a few chances before finally putting one away. It was then cagey until I made some changes, Rakoczy who had just come on scored a wonder goal from outside the box and that seemed to relax the team and they ended up grabbing two more not long after.
It was a real treat for the twenty fans who travelled with us. I'm sure it will all come crumbling down when Tel-Aviv batter us at home in the second leg.
https://i.imgur.com/IpqtOvK.jpeg
Into the group stage of the Euro Cup!
https://i.imgur.com/I9wyu1h.png
Wow
https://i.imgur.com/Dg7FTf1.png
https://i.imgur.com/YetTrAU.png
:drool: :drool: :drool: :drool: :drool: :drool: :drool:
https://i.imgur.com/N7y4yEn.png
United are the current holders too.
Man UFC?
Despite the massive cash injection my dickhead chairman is at it again:
https://i.imgur.com/xYbmH8O.png
It's a good offer but I really don't want to break this squad apart.
https://i.gyazo.com/305db3f4ea5c07fc...a06c02e134.pngQuote:
Originally Posted by Adramelch
Also:
https://i.gyazo.com/6448807066e2840f...78c63defa9.png
That must be one of the weakest CL quarter-finals I've seen in a while. PSG are the only proper big-team of the lot, with United a somewhat distant second. Gladbach knocked City out, Feyenoord beat Bayern (both of those with away wins as well) and Leipzig beat Juventus.
https://i.imgur.com/WxDPRLi.png
I have no words.
A fair result given they hit the woodwork four times. Still a hard pill to swallow.
He won though, didn't he? I was also a bit confused initially (especially because of the late goal), but I think he has no words due to the magnitude of the achievement. It must feel great.
Right your are. Played, Mahow.
https://i.ibb.co/KyCZxxg/Pre-season-odds.png
Fairly poor pre-season odds with Blyth.
https://i.ibb.co/SNhnFjr/Table.png
But a pretty comfortable season.
https://i.ibb.co/59VxWWT/Schedule-1.png
https://i.ibb.co/bXzgX66/Schedule.png
https://i.ibb.co/F5Q8mB4/Squad.png
...
Onto the following season and after bringing in some young players released from Premier League clubs, I was confident we could have a good season.
https://i.ibb.co/mG7p6Yh/Pre-season-odds.png
Really poor pre-season odds but it was going pretty comfortably...
https://i.ibb.co/KxpW1Dt/Blyth-before-leaving.png
When I finally got a bit of recognition higher up the leagues. Millwall and MK Dons both offered me jobs in League One, and I opted to move to Millwall.
https://i.ibb.co/YfqHmKc/Millwall-joined.png
They're quite a bit further on in the season. They have a pretty strong squad in terms of work rate, fitness and determination, but less so in terms of technical qualities, so it's back to the slightly more direct version of the 4-3-3, with the shadow striker and runners as opposed to playmakers. The squad is lacking depth in a few areas and the players seem fatigued already so there's a fair bit of balancing going on, but things have started pretty well and we're closing in on the playoffs after around ten games in charge.
I've nearly bought FM22 a few times recently but having played CM01/02 exclusively for 20 years, I fear it will overwhelm me. Can you turn off certain settings to simplify the game while you get used to it? Also will it spank the shit out of my laptop?
There is a fair amount you can automate, but if you're coming straight from 01/02 it will still shock you as regards the sheer size and scale of the game and how long everything takes. There is loads of extra reward for that in detail and immersion, but you need to be a committed player. Almost like going from a Nokia 3210 to whatever the latest iPhone is, in the same time period.
Is there a demo for it yet on steam?Quote:
Originally Posted by Ben
Get watching some YouTube guides on stuff to get ready maybe?
Found some time to complete another season, and it was the best one I've had since taking over at Torino.
https://i.gyazo.com/c292ded536c915e1...6e58553ec5.png
The season culminated in a race for 3rd place between AC Milan and ourselves. Appropriately enough, we played them in the final game and smashed them 4-1.
I'd say the biggest difference to previous seasons is that I've finally found a centre-forward who provides goals as well as link-up play:
https://i.gyazo.com/87d621ee4e6c1372...3c12f02452.png
Initially I didn't even want to make an offer since his attacking stats are not that great, but I couldn't find anyone better so I settled for him. 19 goals in 32 is not mind-blowing but a definite improvement over his predecessor.
I've also realized that the game brings out excessive stinginess in me. I'm still on the 16th-highest wage budget of the league and any bid for new players that exceeds 10 million Euros hurts my soul a little bit. :D Might splash the cash now I've got Champions League money.
Finally there are some prospects coming through the youth setup which might be able to hold down a spot in the first team in the coming years. Pick of the bunch is this one who has already filled in a couple of times when the first-choice defenders were injured.
https://i.gyazo.com/bf5e33d44ab1e97c...653c3e413f.png
I've noticed that with my formation, which essentially has two defenders, rotation in that area tends to affect performance the worst, though, so it'll mostly be cameos from the bench in the foreseeable future.
Got job offers from the national teams of Belgium, England France, Holland, Italy, Portugal and the US of A on the back of that season after the 2034 World Cup ended. I chose USA because their world ranking is the lowest out of all those, so it should be a challenge. Though said ranking is 11th, meaning they're hopefully not terrible and I can guide them to World Cup quarter-finals or even semis next time around.
https://i.imgur.com/2GqyADZ.png
That was not pretty. That's easily my biggest defeat on any FM ever.
The seethe must have been glorious.
https://www.reddit.com/r/footballman...pdate_223_out/
:eyemouth:Quote:
Tweaks to how Dynamic Youth ratings work, including some rebalancing and allowances for smaller nations to receive boosts within realistic parameters
Miles lied?
Youth intake today and again it promised much but again it looks a little disappointing. Something strange has happened though and I don't think I've ever seen it before.
This guy popped out:
https://i.imgur.com/IypiJ7H.png
Doesn't look all that great although my staff love him. The weird thing is this:
https://i.imgur.com/K1Vqjrc.png
He currently has no second nationality because he doesn't want a Polish passport. I don't think I've ever seen a newgen not have a first or second nationality from the nation that produced him. It's going to be shit if he never applies AND he comes good as I wont be able to use him.
I've just had a quick look round youth teams:
https://i.imgur.com/MK14GIi.png
:|
He's better than my current strikers.
He's outrageous for a kid that age. Only killer is the Natural Fitness, so he won't be playing until he's 40, but definitely some kinda Rooney-like half-life
Incredible stubble for a 15 year old as well.
On that, next year why don't FM just use thispersondoesnotexist and set some parameters for some "proper" pictures. It's also free to use commercially.
Winter Update:
More than 4.4m database changes are incorporated within the Main Winter Update, including changes to player data based on their performances in the first half of the season.
Even more excitingly, the Main Winter Update brings with it the return of Versus mode for PC/Mac gamers. You’ll need to be an FMFC member to access Versus - log in via the FM22 start screen to get started and compete against your friends. More information on Versus mode’s return and how to get the most from it is available on The Byline.
This update also contains fixes and improvements across multiple areas of the game. All gameplay adjustments will take effect in current careers, although you will need to begin a new save to take advantage of the data updates.
Changes in the 22.3 update included (but are not limited to):
- Tweaks to inside wingers/forwards and how often the cut inside with the ball when attacking
- Tweaks to how Dynamic Youth ratings work, including some rebalancing and allowances for smaller nations to receive boosts within realistic parameters
- Girlfriend beater Mason Greenwood has been removed from the database
- A number of stability and crash fixes
- Format structure and rule changes for nations including, but not limited to Argentina, Belgium, Brazil, Croatia, England, Norway, Russia, Switzerland, USA and Wales
- Added ‘Last Match Analysis’ to be viewable after one match is played, rather than having to wait for three matches
- Added an option to remove 3D eyebrows when using photofit face so that you can have just the eyebrows from the photo
- Fixed freeze when adding teams to club continental competitions
A more detailed changelist is available on our community forums.
Most updates of this nature should download automatically but if yours doesn’t, just quit and relaunch Steam or the Epic Games Store to prompt it to do so. If you’re playing via the Windows Store or Game Pass, you may need to manually search for the update – more information is available here.
The Final Winter Update follows in a few weeks, covering data from windows that closed in February, including MLS and China.
You may recall me taking over Millwall mid-way through the season in League One, with them firmly entrenched in mid-table.
https://i.ibb.co/QbvXqFK/End-of-season-table.png
I was happy with that, even though we were a last minute penalty concession away from winning the league.
https://i.ibb.co/2vSwb5n/Pre-season-odds.png
That was the task faced in the first season in the Championship. Again though, I was confident we could finish somewhere in the top half, or mid-table at least and build from there.
https://i.ibb.co/3FphNfw/Halfway-table.png
https://i.ibb.co/319pKKk/Halfway-schedule-1.png
https://i.ibb.co/BVqM9Lg/Halfway-schedule-2.png
It's been a really interesting season, and easily the most challenging. After that first run of bad form, I was scratching my head a bit. Morale was low and we didn't really have the technical quality for the Championship to play the possession football I was attempting. So I went overboard on the praise for training, recent form and the last performance - basically anyone achieving 7+. Morale turned fairly quickly but I also opted for my most cautious tactic, which sits deep, soaks up pressure and counter attacks. We picked up form and I was able to revert back to a more positive style. We then had another slight blip but looking at the table below after 30 games you can see that we managed four straight wins again.
https://i.ibb.co/r65D5nc/30-game-table.png
I was actually enjoying my time at Millwall and would have happily stayed: I'd worked hard in the sense that I'd had to adapt my tactics and felt it was really paying off. However, the job at Brentford became available and it seemed like a natural progression, so I took the job.
After four seasons at East Fife and a couple at Blyth, my career didn't seem to be going anywhere fast despite the good results, however within the space of a couple of seasons I've jumped from the Vanarama North, briefly spent some time in the Vanarama National League, League 1 and a first time promotion, and from the Championship play-offs to the Premier League. It's been 15 months between leaving Blyth and joining Brentford.
https://i.ibb.co/Wk6YJF8/Brentford-25-game-table.png
13 games to try and survive.
Other than Lewandowski players are dead to me when they hit 30.Quote:
Originally Posted by Raoul Duke
He could become Lewandowski-like though if that's how he is at 15.
Pogon Siedlce & Poland 2028/29 Season Update:
Transfers In:
https://i.imgur.com/w3QrqbY.png
Burning through that CL money...
https://i.imgur.com/RtuuMoB.png
From our feeder club. He's the second CM we've signed from them on a free with the first being sold (by the dickhead chairman) for £800k. I'll be sending him out on loan next year to give him some experience but I'm hopeful he'll come good.
https://i.imgur.com/Wf7leMx.png
Full backs are the biggest problem for us (and Poland I feel) on the save right now. I'm not convinced by him but £135k is now throwaway money for us so I don't mind taking the risk.
https://i.imgur.com/EP1ThC2.png
This guy was weird. He was listed as extremely interested in us but his agent hated me for some reason and no matter what I promised him the agent would be furious that I wasn't giving him what I wanted. I think this was happening to other clubs too as there were some Bundesliga clubs who made offers for him and he rejected those too. His contract with FC Inter was expiring at the end of November and thankfully at the start of November he was willing to talk. He's come in as our second best CM. He is also Polish, don't worry about that.
https://i.imgur.com/Yk3VksP.png
I'm going to be thinning the squad by quite a bit this Summer as I'm going to cut losses on a lot of youth who have failed to develop as well as I had hoped. One area that we will be lacking in is wingers, this can guy play on either side and up front. His physicals are great for the league so hopefully he can push on nicely.
https://i.imgur.com/7v7ccvw.png
The biggest transfer BY FAR as I was hunting a genuinely class full back. I had been keeping tabs on him for a while but he wasn't interested in us before and we had no money. This season changed that and so I snapped him up. Sadly we couldn't sign him in the Summer as I feel we could have used him in Europe. Desperately trying to get him to switch to Poland but he keeps rejecting us.
https://i.imgur.com/SlS2YJI.png
Another to try and solve our RB problem. He hasn't been amazing when used thus far, hopefully he kicks on next season.
https://i.imgur.com/fuqnWqS.png
He's come in as our third choice CB this season but I can see him taking a starting job next year unless we buy someone else. Can also play as a full back on either side too.
https://i.imgur.com/JVFPraH.png
I'm not all that keen on him but scouts love him so I thought why not for 10k.
https://i.imgur.com/TlQGjE3.png
I do not remember signing this guy at all. I believe I have all the transfer stuff as my responsibility so I don't think my DOF could have signed him but I also can't believe that I signed him. At least he was free...
https://i.imgur.com/VHS5yoa.png
Another who I've had my eye on for a while. I tried to sign him even though he wasn't interested earlier but he rejected me. I was then pained when I saw he was interested but we had no money so I asked the board if they'd sign him as they wouldn't increase my budgets. They gladly accepted and the deal was done swiftly. He's natural at CM and AML so he'll be splitting time. My expectations are high.
Transfers Out:
https://i.imgur.com/vha0rHf.png
The biggest names there are the final two. Steczyk had a great three years as our main ST but then we signed Walczak and he faded into the background. Getting £1.5m for him at 30 was great. Rakoczy only had one year as a starter and the next three seasons as a rotation between 3 guys but he was having his best season for us since his first. However the game time starting slowing down after the mid-season window and I decided to cash in.
League:
https://i.imgur.com/UB6ifMt.png
https://i.imgur.com/zwky1EJ.png
https://i.imgur.com/mhNW0nc.png
We went top after the second match and we never looked back. Our start coupled with the back end of last season meant we went on a 17 game winning streak as well as a 34 game unbeaten run. We were great in the first half of the season especially in December where we won 3 tough games in a row despite fitness being a serious issue. We slowed down after the break but the league was effectively done by then.
Cups:
https://i.imgur.com/EOyQ0ZQ.png
We won the Polish Community shield, yay.
https://i.imgur.com/CP4e5aJ.png
We failed early in the cup again, yay. Our board hate us for this but I'm so glad we did, we were struggling so bad with fitness near the end of the calendar year with CL and league football as the squad is too small.
Champions League:
https://i.imgur.com/uwZy6vx.png
I was stunned that we made it to the groups as we had the hardest draw in each of the qualifying games and then we were put into a shitter of a group. We battled valiantly (expect the matches against United) and came so close to something really special but we fell just short.
https://i.imgur.com/QUqmDfJ.png
We went into the final game knowing that if we beat the Belgians we were through to the knockouts. A draw (or a loss coupled with a United win) and we would drop down to the Europa. Sadly Anderlecht came out swinging and were 4-0 up after 18 minutes. We grabbed 2 back before half time and we also had a goal disallowed early into the second half but we just couldn't claw it back.
United who had won their first 4 games whilst being managed by Mourinho again decided to sack him as he was doing shit in the league and then they lost 2-1 to Anderlecht and 4-2 to Milan.
On balance we deserved this but to come so close only to fuck up against the worst team in the group is heart breaking.
Squad:
https://i.imgur.com/c7UbqX5.png
https://i.imgur.com/m45tdCb.png
My boy Walczak wasn't scoring as freely this season but he finished with better averages because his game play was so much better this season. I want to bring Malkowski and Koziara back for their third seasons, we've had an offer accepted for no fees/wages for Malkowski but Bayern want crazy money for Koziara so I doubt he comes back. Also, as a spoiler for next season, I have agreed a deal with Legia for the mental 15 year old so he will partner Walczak up front. Other than that I'm happy with the first 11 but we need to improve the backups.
Finances:
The chairman was quite agreeable this year for a change and we've improved a lot. Our recruitment is now 5 stars as is the junior coaching and he agreed to two youth and training facility upgrades along the season. £7m in the bank but we haven't been given CL money for this season yet.
Poland:
https://i.imgur.com/DUpNSB0.png
Up against England again but this time we got the better of them and finished ahead of them.
https://i.imgur.com/Gmdn7Ue.png
We took the lead against Portugal but it was all them after that. They scored in the 119th minute to win it though which is annoying as we might have taken it on penalties.
Against Italy we were better than them throughout but they scored in injury time of the first half as well as the second half to send it to extra time and then we fucked it hard on penalties. Annoying.
https://i.imgur.com/ttTum54.png
And yet we've finished above them in every season we've been in the same league bar one. Plus winning the league the last two seasons as well.
Idiot...
The dickhead chairman is back at it:
https://i.imgur.com/HBWxJ1E.png
https://i.imgur.com/Mb3ISoP.png
However, this time I can't really blame him. £15.5m plus 20% of any profit (would have been nice for next sale, dickhead) is pretty tasty. Annoyingly though he's gone from Champions League football to a yo-yo club and he has a relegation release clause of £10.25m. They've been in the Prem three seasons before in my save getting relegated in two of them (finished 17th in the other) so it's unlikely we make more from him.
A very quick update on how the Brentford end of season turned out:
https://i.ibb.co/Rzt8gFy/End-of-season-table.png
A successful 13 games; we actually survived with a game to go. In our seven home games we won 5, drew 1 and lost 1, and in our six away games we won 1, drew 1, lost 4. Conceded 22 goals in those six away games, showing there is a bit of work to do.
I'm currently attempting to get some more technical players in, as at the moment we have no choice but to play the tried and trusted sit back and counter style. Which is fine for a side expected to go down, but it's not a long term ambition.
Am I blind or does the Zealand skin not show a players value?
Not, not for me either.Quote:
Originally Posted by Baz
Don't think I've ever had a son come through on FM. Just been playing around on a career game and added a new manager to another team to free up the position (add manager, then resign, retire). The random name I gave the new manager was something like 'John kjhkjh'. Resigned him, then retired him.
Few days later, my normal team I'm managing had the youth date and I had a young player come through called 'Peter kjhkjh'.
Arseholes.
https://gyazo.com/01dc331c89d721db870950ebf026ffd5.jpeg
I see it.
There's a little box on the top row of the player overview screen titled "Transfer Information". Right beside the Biography box.
Just above a player's positions graph on the attributes screen.
Anyone know a decent tactic for 22? I'm just about to get started on this but cant be arsed to make one. None of that strikerless BS though.
Get fucked.
You what?
:lol:Quote:
Originally Posted by Manc
What team, what are your players like...?Quote:
Originally Posted by Bam
looking for a plug and play really. anything I can build a team around.Quote:
Originally Posted by ScousePig
I've not decided on a team yet but thinking Ipswich.
Have you tried PMing Bam for help?
I'll pm your fucking sad life, if you like.
Ipswich should have some good technical players for League One so you should be able to create a controlling possession type tactic easily enough. McKenna uses quite an expensive 3-4-1-2 IRL.
Have a read: https://totalfootballanalysis.com/he...alysis-tactics
https://i.imgur.com/RsWaFMl.png
Number 3 :cool:
Also, one of my CMs that I bought last year is at 16.
I like to play youngsters who come from the country im managing. In my Arsenal save, im 10 years in and they are all shit. Regens have yet to make the England squad.
https://fm-base.co.uk/threads/stephe...3#post-2556538Quote:
Originally Posted by Bam
I've had a lot of joy with the 4231 version linked there - took Cov up, back down alarmingly quickly again but then up for keeps and now pushing a European place
https://i.gyazo.com/2cbdca2863facce4...33b1c5886e.png
Bit of a write-off, this season. Like two years ago, European football and the rotation that comes with it lead to very inconsistent performances. Our Champions League group of Manchester United, Porto and RB Salzburg proved a bit too challenging, but we qualified for the Europa League in third. Quality-wise, I think we could have gone all the way there, but an evenly-matched quarter final against Tottenham ended up with them scoring late in extra time to kick us out. Getting to the final here is the big aim for next season, plus top three in the league.
As is tradition, a big club came in with an offer for my best centre-back, and as he threw a fit when I rejected the first bid I let him go for €44M. I immediately spent it on this legend:
https://i.gyazo.com/5a7cf9d511438dd3...86a809fd20.png
Came in at 18 years old and was immediately one of my best performers. His somewhat below-par heading attributes mean that I'm adapting my tactics a bit to funnel opposition attacks through the center rather than push them out to the flanks where they can cross.
I need to bin off several players who came in as youngsters but only developed into good but not great players. Should be an interesting transfer window.
Lazio relegated. You love to see it.
I've noticed that where heading hurts the most in my case is from long balls over the top rather than crosses so I am not sure how much that'll help. When it comes to crosses it's always the opposite full-back that struggles for me.Quote:
Originally Posted by Serj
Good point. Will probably not be relevant either way, as Leverkusen have come in with a massive bid and the board have accepted it. He's not interested in negotiating a new contract. :moop:
On the bright side:
https://i.gyazo.com/ebb7b0771fd26d8f...cea96ded06.png
Should really have been Mexico's, as all our best players are close to retirement. Managed a smash-and-grab 1-0 against them in the quarter final, though. After that the Cup win was almost a foregone conclusion.
Board's really are shit.Quote:
Originally Posted by Serj
Mostly you need excellent jumping reach so your centre halves score loads from corners.Quote:
Originally Posted by Adramelch
Pogon Siedlce & Poland 2029/30 Season Update:
Transfers Out:
https://i.imgur.com/CEk9jVn.png
Some big transfers out, the only one there I didn't want to lose was Mularczyk but the board stepped in. Annoyingly they also accepted a 20% of profit clause in the deal and obviously Blackburn got relegated and he has a release clause of £10.25m...
The mong decided to play a season in the Prem getting 15 points and a relegation when he could have been playing Champions League football this season (and spoilers, next season too). He's interested to come back but not at that price.
Big moves selling Blaszczykowski (who was no longer playing for me) and Strezysz who wasn't happy at being third choice CB. There were also some free transfers but I've omitted them.
Transfers In:
https://i.imgur.com/U06zoE7.png
https://i.imgur.com/nAi8DPg.png
I had to bring him in and he instantly became a starter. Not too many goals in his debut season but he played well. I'm excited and the game has him ranked at 3 on the NxGn list.
https://i.imgur.com/oEIheJo.png
I got rid of some keepers so I bought in someone with a decent amount of potential for nothing.
Natural at AMR and ST so he can cover two positions in my tactic and he was fairly cheap with bags of potential. I'll have to lock him to Poland soon as he's also German.
https://i.imgur.com/k9jJgYL.png
When I bought him it was to form a partnership with Mularczyk but the board quickly ruined that. £750k for a young CB that comes in as a starter is great.
https://i.imgur.com/pguHmuZ.png
I wanted to buy him last season but I ran out of money. Not sure he's worth it but he was cheap enough.
https://i.imgur.com/Sr4CfTW.png
The guy knows how to pass, I doubt he'll ever be a regular in my team as he has holes elsewhere but he's the Polish Xavi.
https://i.imgur.com/kDerMzL.png
For added cover at ST.
https://i.imgur.com/xdjw6re.png
£1.1m is a bit much but I like his physicals and I needed more decent players in defence.
https://i.imgur.com/yX8WyH5.png
Not sure why I bought him, I'm sure his potential was higher when I did but he's cheap enough.
https://i.imgur.com/dxK60vO.png
Selling my third choice CB for £7.5m and bringing in Jasinski for £5.75m to be my first choice CB is great business. He also plays a lot for me for Poland.
https://i.imgur.com/Kg4s8P3.png
My fourth choice striker destroyed his ankle so I went in for Ragnar who I had been thinking of buying for a couple of seasons but never had the money. I'll have to lock him to Poland soon as he's also Faroese and English.
League:
https://i.imgur.com/am58U1a.png
https://i.imgur.com/BFx5KGn.png
https://i.imgur.com/5e0gx2o.png
I'm not surprised we won but I am surprised we did so well as I was using the youth for a lot of games throughout the season to ensure we had the first team fit for Europe.
Cups:
https://i.imgur.com/Wb9MIQT.png
Easy.
https://i.imgur.com/8BEU4Ah.png
The youth actually got us through the first three rounds before the starters took over and it was only going to end one way when that happened.
Europe:
https://i.imgur.com/p9czydE.png
https://i.imgur.com/oRR5rAg.png
I never want to see Man United again in this save but I'm delighted with that thanks to two huge games against Porto.
https://i.imgur.com/wBHl9Iq.png
Sadly the European dream didn't last too much longer...
Squad Stats:
https://i.imgur.com/jqa6TYM.png
Trimmed down the squad a lot and I'm happy with it. Not sure what to upgrade now, we've lost Malkowski for next season as PSV aren't accepting another loan deal this time.
Other Club Shit:
Youth intake was again listed as excellent but no one stands out, even if there were a few top prospects.
https://i.imgur.com/7XwpvJK.png
Interesting that we'll be at Legia's stadium for a few months, could make some decent cash especially if we get to play European games there too.
I've also been asking the club for upgrades at every possible opportunity and it's been working:
https://i.imgur.com/UOdCLCm.png
Training facilities are also being upgraded as we speak too.
Poland:
https://i.imgur.com/SRymz5e.png
https://i.imgur.com/XvrBEqg.png
Happy with that, Scotland game was with the reserves too so 3-3 wasn't bad. World Cup group sees us face Australia and The Mighty Gambia.
Im trying to sign him for £130m. Yes, I am paying coins for the English premium, but I'm all for regens from the home nation I'm managing. 50 premiere league appearances already with an average rating of 7.01 :drool:
https://i.ibb.co/k66jyyn/eric.png
image hosting services
I'm no longer at Brentford. After guiding them to safety and making a decent start to the next season, my stock had risen sufficiently to go for a slightly bigger job.
https://i.ibb.co/wB0Y15W/League-tabl...ord-Wolves.png
In a possible twist of fate, I'm back at Wolves. In my main career save for FM21 I also managed Brentford before moving to Wolves. We'd done well at Brentford despite three defeats in a row, and only being there around 10 months. Wolves, however, is a different proposition. Their new (?) Chinese owners want them to be the 'best of the rest' within a couple of seasons as well as having the best academy in the country. High expectations, which leads me to believe that this could be a slightly longer term project. As you can see from above, they'd made a nightmare start.
https://i.ibb.co/RyDd0hW/First-12-games-schedule.png
However, since coming in I'm unbeaten in 12 and really not sure what the last manager was playing at. They have a talented squad, both in terms of technical ability and pace. Below is in order of vision.
https://i.ibb.co/gPjKy4x/Squad-vision.png
This means I can create a few tactics, all a 4-3-3 in some fashion. My first tactic is a total control one, but with enough penetration to ensure we don't keep possession for the sake of it. I'm hoping this can be my go-to tactic. Then we have the traditional quick, vertical counter attacking tactic which works pretty well with most sides, and one I'll turn to either when we're struggling for form, and/or away to the top teams. I then have a bit of a hybrid which switches the shadow striker to an advanced playmaker, to try and get the best out of the players at Wolves. All three tactics then have an option of switching the deep-lying playmaker to a half back against two striker opponents.
A quick look at some of the technically gifted players (I messed up the print screen a bit):
https://i.ibb.co/kK1cn4D/Nascimento.png
https://i.ibb.co/djmCcGZ/Goncalves.png
https://i.ibb.co/nnQ9PVg/Inacio.png
And a couple of other good players who I am trying to get into the side, but struggling:
https://i.ibb.co/HFJWmQC/Ramsay.png
https://i.ibb.co/Xzj5XzB/Saad.png
Ramsay has more or less everything I look for, and is versatile. However, for once I've actually been provided with natural inverted wing backs, meaning he misses out as first choice in that position. He'd be an excellent Volante but that doesn't really fit any of our current systems, and he can play comfortably as a Mezzala or attacking central midfielder but again, isn't quite first choice. Saad is another interesting one, as he has all the attributes I would look for, however the positions he is natural in don't lend itself to my tactics. I'm trying to make him a shadow striker, but I already have a more natural player for that role, plus I don't always use that role and there are a couple of other strikers in a similar situation. We don't really have a natural right footed right winger, so again a striker or central midfielder is out there at the moment.
I am glad at least that I've been left with a really versatile squad, as including the above we have the likes of Brandon Williams, Scott McTominay, Andrea Cambiasso and Noni Madueke. Many of these players are already well into their prime too, so I may be able to build myself a younger, better squad in the next few seasons.
Poland at the World Cup 2030:
Group Stage:
https://i.imgur.com/FnXUtUB.png
The Gambia up first and I decided to use my second string. Idszak getting sent off after 14 minutes in his debut put us up against it and we were shit up front. Awful opener but oh well, The Gambia also took a point against Australia so we went up against them knowing a win is what we needed.
https://i.imgur.com/Bllz0yo.png
I got scared when they equalised but thankfully we destroyed them.
Second Round:
We were drawn against Ukraine who were the current holders of the World Cup:
https://i.imgur.com/WMOcwFm.png
We weren't amazing but we got the job done.
Third Round:
France next and I was quietly confident as we've played them a lot recently and we've done well against them.
https://i.imgur.com/b1uN2lv.png
We were not good against them on this day though... I'm surprised that we had as many shots and xG as listed there because the highlights showed fuck all. We were horrendous.
Tournament Tree:
https://i.imgur.com/ISVypDF.png
Third World Cup in my save and the winners have been Italy, Ukraine and Wales. What a run the sheep shaggers had from the third round onwards. They did get to the Quarter finals four years ago but they failed to beat Scotland in the second round in the Euros 2 years ago so fuck knows how they've managed this.
Here is the Wales squad btw:
https://i.imgur.com/8O3m2gR.png
Surprisingly they're not relying on too many regens.
https://i.imgur.com/2Cidc3S.png
This guy is absolutely class, produced by Cardiff in the very first season before being sold to Newcastle for £12.25m in 2025/26.
https://i.imgur.com/CZtwLqg.png
He looked absolutely class when he was 19:
https://i.imgur.com/hZf56nR.png
But has failed to kick on because he's barely playing at club level. He was loaned out to Barnsley in 2025/26 and made 42 league starts (plus another 4 starts in the cup) but he hasn't gone on loan any other season and has made only 12 league appearances for United (no starts, and he only has another 3 cup games, all of which were starts) over 8 seasons. Bayer Leverkusen are interested in buying him.
https://i.imgur.com/RL0j6SF.png
Not amazing but his attributes are in the right areas for his position. He contributed a goal in their World Cup campaign.
https://i.imgur.com/Ll6XXDR.png
I have no idea how Tyler Roberts is starting ahead of him. He did make 4 starts at the World Cup and he scored 3 goals (all against Iraq in the opening group game) and got 3 assists
Your game world is broken.
It's not that broken, England haven't won a Euros or World Cup yet.
https://i.imgur.com/FTBuqck.png
Happy with that, no United for once and I think we're fairly nailed on for third with a chance at taking second.
https://i.imgur.com/dGXWHel.png
Fiorentina - Introduction to the Save
So, I haven't played FM in years, but now the NFL season is over I've been doing my usual thing of finding some other sport to fill my weekends, and this year I've found myself watching Serie A a lot. Inevitably, that started the curiosity about FM, but last time I played a trial version I wasn't all that in to it, so as the Xbox version of FM22 is included with GamePass I downloaded that & have been blasting through it on my week off from work.
I decided to go with Fiorentina as they're one of the teams I always used to like when I was a kid, and they have a nice balance of fun & challenge being a solid team with some promising young players who are hanging around the fringes of the European spots. The Xbox FM22 database is updated to include January transfers, so no Vlahović sadly, but we have enough talent to get by without him.
I hardly ever post on here outside of a handful of threads, so I figured I may as well stick my head in here now too. Getting screenshots from the Xbox is a bit wonky, but I've dug a few out to help cover the journey.
Season 1:
I kept it fairly straightforward in season one as I figured out where we stood, who the core players were etc, plus how the actual game plays. I picked up a few players to add some depth & snagged a decent young players for pennies while clearing out some of the dead weight & veterans who didn't have a long term future.
We played surprisingly well, with both Krzysztof Piątek (12 goals) & Arthur Cabral (17) notching double figures whilst rotating up front, and Jonathan Ikoné (9), Riccardo Sottil (9) & Nicolás González (7) chipped in from the wings too. In the end Juventus (aka Zebre, apparently) ran away with the league, but we had a great season & managed to pip Milan to third place & an automatic CL spot.
Season 2:
We continued our reshuffling of the roster in season two, grabbing a few more young players & some newgens, whilst letting some more veterans go. The league was once again won by Juventus without much effort, but we proved that the first season was no fluke, with Arthur Cabral stepping up to lead the line with 36 goals in all competitions, including 28 in the league to lead us to a second place finish after a we outlasted both Inter & Lazio over the final four games.
In Europe we got a decent CL draw, and should have made the knockout stages, but we bottled it in the last group game, losing to Porto to finish third & drop to the Europa League. We claimed a few surprising wins there, beating Real Santander & Sevilla, but we threw away a first leg lead to Tottenham to see our run end in the quarter finals.
-
I've just hit January in season three, so I'll update on that in a bit, but we've had a much more significant overhaul to the roster this year, so it would be nice if we could show signs of being able to take the next step & actually challenge for the title.
Am I the only person who is bang average at this game? Just shy of 400 games and not a trophy to my name.
I'm also bang average. Way too stubborn with the kind of tactics I want my team to play and the wages I'm willing to spend. Also too lazy to properly analyse my shortcomings.
That being said, this season it feels like my team is actively plotting against me:
https://i.gyazo.com/385281fe8d9a81bc...57721234f3.png
Wanted top three, now I'm facing the sack in February. :groove:
xFucked.
Serj Potter.
I've just been offered an interview for the Real Madrid job (their previous manager went to Juventus who also wanted to interview me) and then 24 hours later been offered the job.
I've never seen a turnaround that quick, especially for a big job.
Also, I'm not taking it but why aren't the board trying to convince me to stay? Does this not happen any more? I've interviewed for quite a few few jobs now (although I've never directly applied) and have never been offered something by the dickhead chairman to stay.
Is spending $50 to buy FM22 worth it to replace FM2020?
He's calling your bluff.Quote:
Originally Posted by Sir Andy Mahowry
He's donned me again :(Quote:
Originally Posted by Manc
I have managed to get one over on him though. He started accepting bids again in the Summer (he didn't accept a £9m offer for a backup winger in January but was happily accepting bids over £6m for starters in August) so I set players values to £500k. Teams kept bidding £500k and I kept rejecting.
https://i.imgur.com/rS0CiW1.png
https://i.imgur.com/FRj67D8.png
Arteta can get fucked.
I've got through the initial stage of the Welsh Premier with Llanelli in my 3rd season, and we've managed to maintain a fairly credible challenge for Europe and even the title. This is the table as the league splits:
https://i.postimg.cc/4dWc421L/close.png
We've got 10 games to go, home and away against the top 6. TNS have hit a wonderful run of form, 14 unbeaten, since an early-season wobble which could probably be put down to fixture congestion thanks to Europe, so I'm willing to concede the title may be tough to take. But Europe is definitely on the cards. We came out of a crucial set of Christmas fixtures (Bangor (H), Haverfordwest (A), Haverfordwest (H)) with 3 wins and we've got a little more squad depth than last season to cope with any injuries or issues we come across.
I might be off but I think that only happens when you apply and/or declare interest for the job.Quote:
Originally Posted by Sir Andy Mahowry
As for the quick turnaround, in my save I applied at Barcelona, they offered me an interview some 35-40 days later and then offered the job the next day. Never happened to me prior to this version.
https://i.imgur.com/cyZhL99.png
They'll be breaking out the black armbands for the second match.
Err...Quote:
Originally Posted by Dan
https://i.imgur.com/EnFAivb.png
Not entirely sure how it happened, but we managed to do the double this year.
It's definitely more a reflection of how far Juventus fell than on how far we rose, as they went from 96pts in each of the first two seasons to 84pts this year, whereas we went from 83pts to 85, but we got a few big breaks - Milan had a man sent off early to help us win our last big game of the season, and Spezia did the same in the final game of the year to ensure we took the title.
Juventus also had a man sent off against us in the Italian Cup final, and we got the easiest possible draws in the groups & first knockout round of the Champions League on our way to the quarter finals, so I suspect there may have been some dodgy dealings by our owner under the hood :sherlock:
--
We were busy in the transfer market this season, but the core of our team remains relatively similar to the starting side, so I'll give you a quick look at the key players:
Goalkeeper:
We still have Bartłomiej Drągowski in goal, although he's one of the main spots I'm still looking to upgrade, and we've added Marco Carnesecchi following a successful loan spell this season. We also still have some decent young players in the reserves, including a couple of newgens who could be the long term solution.
Defence:
Nikola Milenković & Lucas Martínez Quarta have been consistent as our CB pairing, and we added Chris Richards from Hoffenheim for £1.3m after the first season as his deal was running out, which has proved to be an absolute bargain. The real star, however, is club captian, icon & probably the best player on the team, Cristiano Biraghi, who's put together three excellent seasons so far. He's getting to the end of his prime now, so we'll need to find a long term replacement, but I've gone wild on newgen fullbacks this year so we should be able to bring one of them through over the next year or two.
Midfield:
This is where we've had the biggest overhaul, with only Riccardo Sottil remaining from the group at the start of the game. We tend to rotate our wingers quite a bit, and the other guys are just solid role players or newgens I'm trying to develop, but we did bring in Reiss Nelson on loan to be the main guy opposite Sottil, and he did a pretty solid job so I'm considering signing him permanently.
We've got a nice group in the middle, with Florentino Luis being our main ball winner & Facundo Farías being the main creator. Samuele Ricci is the main guy who rounds of the trio, although Riqui Puig has put in some excellent performances when needed, and Fábio Carvalho has shown flashes when he hasn't been injured.
Attack:
Arthur Cabral is the main man, putting the ball in the net more than 30 times each of the last two seasons, but this year we had someone else behind him to take the pressure off, and Brenner had an impressive first season at the club, scoring 22 times either off the bench, playing left wing or even playing alongside Arthur Cabral, so we should have no problems getting consistent production up front going forward.
--
I definitely don't anticipate having similar results next season, as we're still not really on the level of Juventus or Inter, but we do look set for consistent CL football & maybe we can mount another title challenge if the big two continue to falter. The board are extremely lenient with their targets, so I'm not even really under much pressure to deliver anything more than European football, which should give me the opportunity to bring through a few of the more talented newgens I've been hoarding.
I'm not planning on making any big moves over the summer, but if a good GK or CB becomes available those would be the most likely areas to see heavy investment. Other than that we'll just keep fine tuning the squad & hopefully we'll avoid a big drop off next season.
I don't like the Champions League :(
Did you play Man Utd again?
I followed up my wins over Lazio and Liverpool by losing twice to Rangers (3-0 and 1-0 despite having a better xG in both games) and in the end instead of going further in the Champions League we dropped down to the Europa.Quote:
Originally Posted by Dan
This won’t make you feel better then. Our CL group this season is Porto, Salzburg & Besiktas :drool:
Just realised we’ve been in the same group as Porto all three seasons :cab: We also drew Salzburg in our first year, so no doubt we’ll play Besiktas again in the future.
https://i.imgur.com/6JCyT0b.png
Good to see that Spurs are still weak as fuck.
https://i.imgur.com/4aZwJcP.png
https://i.imgur.com/LTTTLLB.png
That was the most stressful match I've ever played in FM. We missed 3 one-on-ones late in the normal match and ET plus another easy chance or two. I also think Vlahovic's goal was onside.
As expected, the board threatened to sack me if things did not improve significantly.Quote:
Originally Posted by Serj
Well, we went on to win 11 out of 14 remaining league games and qualified for the Champions League in fourth. Not quite the top three finish I had in mind and we're still underperforming xG-wise, but I'll take it. :cool:
https://i.gyazo.com/83808ee60c57f35c...399a00970a.png
Dampening the mood a bit is a 2-4 defeat in the Cup final to Empoli of all teams, but they were the better team on the day and had also kicked out Inter and Udinese before that, so fair enough, I guess.
Best performer of the season is Sam Percival, who's completed his third year at the club already but is only now really coming into his own. Great attacking player both when playing behind the striker or cutting inside from the right wing. Unsurprisingly, he's also one of the star players of my US team.
https://i.gyazo.com/93af6ba6138d3dd5...f8639e01e3.png
The more pleasant surprise though is Pavel Kedziorek, something of a hail-mary purchase from the Polish league at the end of the January transfer window. I intended him to be the main backup at centre-back, but we concede a lot less on average when he's on the field so he's become one of the regulars.
https://i.gyazo.com/809682ff2a87eefa...ccb533f865.png
All in all, not the catastrophic failure that it looked like mid-season. Still, it's been six seasons since winning Serie B. If we don't win any silverware in the upcoming year, I'm probably moving on.
https://i.imgur.com/OGDqL0M.png
:dance:
Did not see that coming at all. We've been good this season, going unbeaten until January, when we shat the bed all month, but lately Arthur Cabral has ascended to god tier, scoring 10 times in his last 6 games (32 in 32 over the whole season, with 29 in 27 in Serie A), and we're set for a really exciting race to the finish line between us, Juve & Inter.
https://i.imgur.com/RJA9gIS.png
We continued our amazing luck with CL draws, getting Porto, Salzburg & Beskitas in the groups & we're now in a good spot going in to the second leg of our first knockout tie against Leverkusen.
Have you been there since the start or did you move around before you got to Torino?Quote:
Originally Posted by Serj
https://i.gyazo.com/0a399f385de511ed...c9f92e7bbf.png
As with most of my saves, I can never decide if I want to do a journeyman save or build a legacy™, and end up doing a bit of both, and neither very well. :D
Having said that, I think this is my most trophyless run in years of FM. Still a lot of fun because the focus was more on trying (and stubbornly persisting with) non-standard tactics.
I'd say that's still pretty successful to have got to that level from where you started, even if you don't have the trophies to show for it.
2024/25 season is over, and it was a dramatic one all the way to the end.
Transfers:
We didn't go too crazy this season, trading out goalkeepers with Carnesecchi arriving following his loan spell last season & Dragowski leaving for far more than I expected to get for him. Everyone else that came in was a newgen, with a lot of them having been agreed a season or two ago when they weren't old enough to move. Aside from Dragowski the only other notable departure was Del Prato, who was a utility defender that played a decent amount as a rotational player, but we have decent depth at full back & a few newgens who could take over in the next couple of years, so we took the money whilst it was there.
Serie A:
As mentioned in the last update, we went unbeaten until the turn of the year, and then had a wobble through most of January that saw us fall behind Inter & Juve, and with 11 games to go all three of us were level on points. Inter ended up slipping away, but the battle between us & Juve went to the final day. We won our game against Torino, but we were a point behind Juve, who came from behind to beat Napoli 3-2 & reclaim the title.
Arthur Cabral destroyed the league this year, breaking the record for goals in a season by averaging a goal a game across the whole season on his way to winning the Player of the Year award. He was also, unsurprisingly, recognised as the best striker, and the other legend of the save, Cristiano Biraghi, won best defender.
Italian Cup:
I didn't care about this one very much, and we exited in the quarter finals after beating Torino the round before.
Italian Super Cup:
We took on Juventus in a game I didn't realise took place in the middle of the season. Unfortunately for us, it was right in the middle of our slump, and Juve took the trophy.
Champions League:
We continued our amazing fortune with group stage draws, being paired with Porto, Salzburg & Besiktas in a group that we easily won, before being drawn against Leverkusen in the knockout round. Having beaten the 2-1 away in the first leg I fancied our chances of progressing, but then we had a wild second leg that went all the way to penalties, where our backup goalkeeper (Carnesecchi was out for the game) proved to be the hero, saving two to send us through - weirdly, every single penalty in the shootout went to the GKs left.
We drew Juventus in the quarter finals, and after stomping them 5-0 in the league recently, this felt like a winnable tie. We went 3-0 up at home in the first leg, but conceded a late goal & then lost 2-1 away to narrowly sneak through to the semis, where we played Arsenal. Another big home win in the first leg set us up for a huge upset, but once again we tried our hardest to throw the second leg, losing 2-0 & only avoiding extra time because they had a third ruled out in stoppage time.
So, somehow we made it to the final, where we had to face Man City. They came flying out the blocks & were 2-0 up after 15mins, at which point I thought we were going to get smoked, but we made it to half time & a change in tactics turned the tide. We managed to pull it back to 2-2, only for Frenkie De Jong to steal it straight back with a free-kick that ultimately won them the trophy.
Brenner won the golden boot, with Cabral second, and they were also the top two in the CL striker of the season award, but they couldn't quite take us all the way.
--
Overall it was another successful season, even if we failed to bring home any silverware. We have a shit ton of promising kids that need to start being worked in to the side, so this summer will probably be mostly evaluating which ones should stay & play, and which ones are best going out on loan. There are a few senior players who might have to move on to help create some playing time, but I don't think we'll be overly active in the transfer market again this summer.
The board are still extremely lenient with their targets, only wanting us to qualify for the Europa League next season, but I'd imagine it'll be us, Inter & Juve battling it out again next year.
It's not going as well as usual half way through the year:
https://i.imgur.com/RFHEAEQ.png
Arthur Cabral has become a mortal man once more, and we've struggled to make the most of our opportunities because of it. We have a brutal run of Juventus, Roma & Milan to finish our schedule this season, so we need to get some momentum going over the next couple of months if we're to secure an automatic CL spot.
We finally got a CL group that wasn't a cakewalk, but it didn't end up mattering, and as an added bonus we avenged our loss to Man City in last year's final:
https://i.imgur.com/Cak2Tav.png
They were eliminated with a game to spare :cool: Our reward for topping the group? PSG :moop:
https://i.gyazo.com/cd8772cf95977d68...5df03b085c.png
Much better, even though we still have the annoying habit of crumbling when it matters. As evidenced in the Champions League, where we came third in a group with Real Madrid, Porto and Celtic. Should really have qualified but a tepid 1-1 draw against Celtic on the penultimate matchday left us needing a win against Real in the last match, where we only managed a 0-0. We were then deservedly knocked out of the Europa League by Southampton.
Just like last year, we made it to the final of the Coppa Italia with relative ease where our opponents were Napoli - slightly below us in the league, but always up for a good performance (having beaten champions Inter in the league, for instance). First half was an evenly matched game with us having a slight edge and finishing better. 2-1 at half-time, scored early in the second half, so I thought I'd go somewhat less attacking and control the rest of the match.
Naturally, we proceeded to get absolutely battered for the remainder of the game. :D They scored in injury time to make it 3-3 and should have equalised much earlier, so at this stage I was already coming to terms with resigning, since I said before the season that I'd leave if there was no silverware this year. Somehow we hung on though, and saw them off on penalties.Toggle Spoiler
I'd be fuming were I playing as Napoli.
Key performers were the same as last season, Kedziorek in defence and the ever-improving Sam Percival in attacking midfield (Serie A Player of the Year + Goal of the Year).
I've decided to play around with tactical approaches again after sticking with the same basic line-up for a couple of years now. Mostly I had to deal with frequent injuries to my wide players, which meant that my usual line-up, which is a riff on a 4-2-3-1:Toggle Spoiler
shifted to variants of 4-1-2-1-2 and 3-4-3, like soToggle Spoiler
The former is especially good in terms of chance creation but the leakiest of the three in defence. That's where the 3-4-3 shines, which was surprising to me as I'd have expected playing a flat front three would leave my flanks exposed.
All of this should give me a nice bit of flexibility next season.
I'm also pretty excited about one of the youth players coming through:
https://i.gyazo.com/bf028e1ff4e48fe2...9b53006b42.png
I'm retraining him as a wing-back, as I think that's what his attributes are suited to the most. Should become a great allrounder in midfield as well, though.
Pogon Siedlce 2030/31 Season Update:
Transfers Out:
https://i.imgur.com/wEcsYFL.png
I lost 3 starters this season but I was fine with it. £10m for Sawicki was a robbery as we only paid £875k for him and he had never played well consistently well for us. We bought Orzechowski for £750k so selling him on for 10 times that was great and he was beginning to fall out of the team.
For Aluszyk I think the board (who accepted deals for him) got far too little for him. They accepted offers for around £9m as well so annoying to miss a bit more. My price point would have been around £12m. Although he barely played for Freiburg and didn't do well for them when he did play and they're willing to move him for a loss.
Transfers In:
https://i.imgur.com/eRn3cgR.png
Not too many coming in as I was happy with the squad.
https://i.imgur.com/N4eO9xM.png
The pace was a big reason I bought him. I can't see him ever breaking into our side but I do think he'll do well in the league and as such I feel like we can make some money off him.
https://i.imgur.com/EahC1qQ.png
Another in the conveyor belt of RB's I've bought. His potential has dropped since buying him so clearly I think it's another swing and a miss. I'll be loaning him out next year and hopefully he kicks on.
https://i.imgur.com/SOAh70E.png
He had been on loan with us for 4 seasons but PSV weren't willing to let him come back on loan so with the money sitting in the bank and no one else I felt would improve our squad I decided to go for it. I was a little hesitant as well as in his final loan season he was out partying about 5/6 times and I thought he'd be downing pints weekly but he kept his head down.
https://i.imgur.com/paZ2sjC.png
Another who had been on loan with us although it was only for one year and I believe it was our first in the top division. He is the reason why I was fine with Aluszyk leaving although his wages are a bit mental.
League:
https://i.imgur.com/8FBWDAP.png
https://i.imgur.com/CSYp7t8.png
https://i.imgur.com/UMD4jPI.png
I think all bar one draw (the first with Warta Poznan) were with my second team as they were always starting before a European game. Easy though.
Cup:
https://i.imgur.com/3EH2rTt.png
https://i.imgur.com/Aln0IpZ.png
Oh well.
Europe:
https://i.imgur.com/nCBUd6y.png
I was in dreamland after the first two group games. We were top of the group and with two games coming up against Rangers I thought we were going through in second place at a minimum. Then it all turned to shit.
We went into the final group game needing to not lose by 3 goals and thankfully we did that to send us through to the Europa knockouts.
https://i.imgur.com/9K3pqQc.png
That second leg match against Spurs was the most batshit game I've ever played on any FM. We scored almost instantly and I thought we'd easily go through and then Vlahovic decided it wasn't going to be easy and they should have won the tie after 90 minutes. We had chances too but kept fluffing them and ultimately took it to pens where Spurs Spurs'd it.
Milan were too strong for us in the next round.
Annoyingly we finished just 0.05 points behind 10th placed Netherlands and 0.75 points behind 9th placed Ukraine in the coefficients list and miss out on an automatic group spot for next season. We do have a shit year about to be struck off compared to good years for them so we'll be easily into 9th and pushing for Portugal in 8th.
Squad Stats:
https://i.imgur.com/tgmnk6k.png
The squad is in a good position with the only glaring weakness being in goal as Bobek can be suspect although he played well this year. I had been thinking of moving on Jasinski and bringing in the guy who plays at RB for the national side (although he is not natural there) but Jasinski decided to drop his unhappiness a couple of days ago.
Other than that I'm not looking to sell anyone but if someone comes in with a big offer for Jan Jasinski or Walczak I'd be willing to let them walk.
I've also agreed to sign 3 new players all 3 are 16, there is a snag with one player though. He is not Polish but he's an amazing looking Croatian for cheap so I'm planning to loan him out and nationalise him.
Here's the non-Pole who will be joining next month:
https://i.imgur.com/xXM109z.png
He's so fucking good and I couldn't say no.
3 years and I can play him. Assuming he takes a passport.
Blimey, some proper drubbings in the league there @Sir Andy Mahowry. Is it a tactic thing or are you just way better than most of the league at this point?
@Serj What's the though process behind asymmetrical formations? Mine always look standard but it seems like asymmetrical ones have always been pretty popular & successful. Does it just help get players in the right areas of the field?
We're just so much better than the league.
Even teams like Warta & Legia (fuck knows how they keep fucking the league up) it's hard to find players there that would get into my first team.
Fiorentina 2025/26 Season:
Another season down & having started slowly we made it tougher than necessary to secure a Champions league spot, let alone make a push for the title, but with the talent we have on our team we just needed to have our key players hit some better form & we'd be able to compete with anyone.
Transfers:
As expected, it was a quiet one, with most of the incoming players immediately being sent out on loan to develop, and the only two players who left were depth players that can be upgraded on with newgens.
Italian Cup:
We had a decent run here, making it all the way to the final, only to lose to Inter.
Champions League:
Having finally been given a tough group stage draw, we proceeded to lol our way to top spot, getting revenge on Man City for our CL final defeat in the process. A knockout tie against PSG looked like a brutal reward for our performance, but we stunned them in the first leg and scored a 95th minute equaliser in the second leg to pull off a huge upset. Sadly we couldn't continue to upset the odds as we were swiftly eliminated by Bayern in the next round.
Serie A:
We hit midseason well off the pace & with our stars in questionable form, but things improved in the second half of the year, and we slowly reeled in the teams above us. With a few games to go it was down to Juve, Napoli & us, but our tough final three games, including a defeat to Juve, were enough of a hurdle to stop us being able to finish the job.
Awards:
We weren't in contention for many big award this season, with Juve dominating most of the categories, however Cristiano Biraghi continued his run as the best defender in the league, and we also had wins for Marco Carnesecchi in goal, and Giorgio Scalvini, who is coming on strong as a utility CB/ball winning midfielder for us.
We broke one more record, with our game against Venezia breaking the record for most goals in a league game.
-
The other main new item of note, was that apparently the board have decided to start planning a new stadium. We only had a capacity of about 42k at the moment, so it's definitely needed, but it sounds like we might still be waiting a while before anything even gets started.
We have one or two bigger name players who might get moved on over the summer as we continue to bring through some of the prospects I've been snatching up over the last few seasons, but FM still seems awful at sending respectable transfer offers so we'll see if anyone actually gives us a fair price for any of them.
Mostly that, plus a result of trial and error. With this one I started out with a 4-2-3-1 shape. Since my workhorse midfielder and the centre-backs with better technique/passing/vision were left-footed, I put them in the position and role that they have now (left-central BBM / BPD, respectively). Then it turned out that the build-up from the back was best if there's space between them and the second central midfielder is pulled back into defensive midfield.Quote:
Originally Posted by Dan
I have a symmetrical 'away' version of it with two DMs as well which I sometimes use in big matches. Got a bit bored of that though, which is one reason why I now have three tactics with three different formations, the other reason being injuries. I'm fiddling around with asymmetrical versions of those other tactics too, so it might just be compulsive at this point. :D
Getting done twice by Rangers. :nono:
Ah I’m a page behind.
https://i.imgur.com/wGCli9i.png
Porto :wub:
https://c.tenor.com/ptFd52kt4sIAAAAC...estfriends.gif
Fourth time out of five seasons in the CL we've been paired with them in the groups.
Haven't had much chance to get into my first Wolves season this week, but I'm halfway through the season now.
https://i.ibb.co/Gd3vvgd/League-table-halfway.png
We've already passed the vision of developing the 'best youth system in the country', and whilst I might need to sign some high profile and/or Portuguese players at some point, it's been pretty straightforward otherwise. I want to up our possession levels as we're middle of the road at the moment, but I'm not going to risk results at the moment.
https://i.imgur.com/Jmx7osf.png
:moop:
Not even happy with Anderlecht as this is what happened when we last faced them:
https://i.imgur.com/p6YJFeh.png
IIRC we only needed a point to secure third...
reminds me of the old regen days :drool:
https://gyazo.com/857801203e3fcebab45f8f7483021734.jpeg
Aggression 5 :(
He needs to go up against a Haaland regen to unlock his full aggression.
Is there a page where i can see who has played the most games for me, even sold players?
Another season down, and we said goodbye to a lot of our big name veterans as the roster starts to finally make the jump to the newgen era.
Transfers:
Absolutely nobody of any note arrived, just a couple of arranged transfers & then some loans to fill out the squad when I cleaned house in January. Samuele Ricci was our record signing a couple of years ago but he wanted a big pay rise & hadn't been playing well enough to deserve it, then he threw a wobbly & submitted a transfer request, so we moved him on for a small profit. Sottil got shown the door as part of the newgen revolution having been a solid rotational winger from the start, Rafia was the same but he played less than Sottil, and Chris Richards was sold for a big profit so I could fully unleash the kid behind him.
The biggest losses, though, are club captain, icon & consistent stud Cristiano Biraghi & stalwart CB Lucas Martinez Quarta. Both got upset when I broke a promise to win the Italian Cup last season by losing in the final, so LMQ handed in a transfer request three days before the summer window close & Biraghi said he'd leave on a Bosman at the end of the year. I was looking to phase them both out anyway, so when we got bids for them in the new year they were allowed to leave.
Serie A:
We started fairly slowly again this season, with Napoli & Milan being the shock early frontrunners. Like last season we struggled for goals a bit, which cost us some games, and at the midway point I think Arthur Cabral was our top scorer with 8. Once we cleaned house, however, we took off, and managed to capitalise on some stumbles from the teams ahead of us to storm to our second Serie A title. The huge surprise here was Juventus, who had a horrific start, losing 4 of their first 8 games & never really getting into title contention despite also improving as the season went on.
Italian Cup:
We seem to do pretty well here despite me not caring about the competition, as we once again reached the final, although we did have a relatively easy path this year, and once again faced Juventus. We were the better team for 90mins, but couldn't find the net, so we went to extra time. We were spared the dreaded shootout, however, as Cabral stepped up with a couple in extra time to ensure we completed a domestic double.
Champions League:
After being reunited with our one true CL love Porto in the groups, we actually flubbed our lines relative to our normal performance, coming second in our group behind Real Santander, which led to us being drawn against Barcelona in the first knockout round. We competed through both legs, but came up just short away from home & bowed out.
Awards:
We had seven players in the Serie A Team of the Year, but as you might expect, our main man was, once again, Arthur Cabral, who had a sluggish start to the season before exploding in the new year & running away with the top scorer award, both in Serie A & across Europe. He also won the Serie A Player of the Year award, and is now our vice captain following the departure of Cristiano Biraghi.
Some of the other key players in the side include new club captain Nikola Milenkovic, who won the Serie A Defender of the Year award, and goalkeeper Marco Carnesecchi, who has proven to be a fantastic upgrade between the sticks, winning one of the two GK of the Year awards & attracting the attention of Bayern, who have been throwing out £75m bids for him over the summer.
We also had award wins for our new stud at RB, Joao Pedro, who won the Best Young Player award, and our second backup RB, Nico Loi, who won the u19 Defender of the Season despite barely doing anything.
Lastly, we managed to break a couple of records in a fixture that has proven to be the most must watch matchup in Serie A history. Following out 6-3 win against Venezia last season, we went one better & beat them 7-3 this year, with six of those coming from Cabral.
Players:
We've overhauled most of the team now, so here are some of the notable newgens that are going to make up the new core of the team. Replacing Cristiano Biraghi is Carlos Salinas, who should give us a nice due of young fullbacks, and in front of them we have another Brazil/Argentina combo in Renan Silveira & Cesar Adamo, who both rotate at the moment but could become a fantastic CM pairing in the future.
We have plenty of talent at AMC, but Lucas Eduardo looks to be a fantastic prospect who can also play out on the wings when needed. Out wide we have even more options, and I'm still swapping them all around & sending guys out on loan to try to develop them all, but this season we had Daan De Boer & Marvin Wattiau in the squad, and they both showed they can play at a high level when called upon.
--
We'll be looking to continue to develop our young players in the upcoming season, with plenty of spots still up for grabs depending on how players develop. It seems unlikely that Juventus will be bad again this season, so no doubt the usual three horse race between us, Juve & Inter will resume, but as long as we can continue to make a title challenge whilst reaching the knockout rounds of the CL we should be able to keep the board happy.
Can't be arsed to do a big recap of this season, but we managed to retain the Serie A title, which essentially came down to the fact that we beat Juventus home & away. We started off the season with a 3-0, a 7-0 & a 5-0, which pretty much summed up the first half of the year, as we ran through basically everyone, but Juve kept pace with us all year & only really lost ground through the head to head games.
We qualified second from a CL group of Man Utd, CFR Cluj & Dynamo Kyiv (we narrowly missed Porto again), but then lost 1-0 on aggregate against PSG. We lost the Super Cup to Juve, and lost to Milan in the semi finals of the Italian Cup.
-
I'm having a big clearout this summer, moving on from some of the newgens that have gained value but aren't likely to be impact players for us, but unlikely many players will arrive. We'd signed a talented kid from Torino last summer who I'm hoping will be the long term replacement for Arthur Cabral, but we should have enough talent on the books to be able to just promote from within over the next year or two.
We've got our new stadium underway, but won't move in for three seasons, and we've also had a change of owner, which looks to have changed basically nothing. Only other points of note are that Milenkovic is now the club record holder for appearances, and Cabral is the record goalscorer.
Does the new stadium capacity take you beyond Napoli?
Keep the updates coming btw. Between you and Serj I've been inspired to manage in Italy for the first time since possibly 2018. Tuscany here I come.
Pogon Siedlce 2031/32 Season Update:
Transfers In:
https://i.imgur.com/zEJAQaX.png
https://i.imgur.com/hfCwMBd.png
My board are SEETHING as they think £3.4m is too much for him but I disagree. I really like him and if he progresses in the right areas he could be brilliant.
https://i.imgur.com/Mr9dTfz.png
The first player that I decided to slightly tweak the rules for. He's not Polish in any way but I couldn't say no to him for just £725k. I instantly put him into the second team where he's run riot in the Polish third division. I also tried to loan him out for nothing in the February window but no one came in, then a week later Legia came in with a huge loan offer. He's also been donning the Ekstraklasa for them, 11 starts with 1 sub appearance, 1 goal, 1.18 tackles per 90, 98% pass completion and a 7.33 rating. He's going to be fucking glorious for us in 768 days.
https://i.imgur.com/8Gb9IVJ.png
£300k which I think is a steal. I've barely used him in the first team this season but he's blasted the shit out of the third division with the second team. 24 goals and 8 assists from 33 starts.
https://i.imgur.com/h0OH8yR.png
I had been chasing this guy since January of last season but he was never interested. I kept trying and finally he decided to talk to us. The wages are a little excessive (our next highest earner is on 27k a week) but he's been seriously good and I think he could end up becoming world class.
https://i.imgur.com/EOv7lby.png
Like Jurica he is NOT Polish. I wasn't planning on doing this again so soon but I decided to go for it as he was only £2.1m and the lack of good Polish keepers on this save is really annoying. He seems to be 4th or 5th choice for Slovenia as he's been called up to the senior squad a couple of times so hopefully he doesn't choose them when the time comes.
Transfers Out:
https://i.imgur.com/Kw1KikD.png
No one of note leaving, I did try to get a few more youth players that haven't progressed much to leave but I was unable to. I also had an offer from Chelsea for one of my starters who is 19. They came in with a £5m bid plus some instalments and a percentage of profit. I then negotiated the starting fee to £30m thinking they'd walk away but they instantly said it was fine. I then got cold feet as I felt they'd be willing to go a lot higher so I rejected it and signed him to a new contract.
Here he is btw:
https://i.imgur.com/Xz0UzDK.png
He mainly plays for me at CB but he's listed as our best CB, RB and CM. Not bad for a freebie from our feeder club.
League:
https://i.imgur.com/uyCqVB2.png
https://i.imgur.com/CtgvmDa.png
https://i.imgur.com/zulVA3x.png
No idea where this Legia performance came from as the last 3 years they've been completely irrelevant. They had a 12 point lead over us at one stage and we were clawing them back hard. We ended up taking the lead when we beat them and I thought that was it but we ended up drawing 2-2 against Wisla Plock having been 2-0 up.
I can't even blame my reserves for losing matches between European games as we dropped a lot of points when playing the starters.
Cups:
https://i.imgur.com/BND39iL.png
Meh.
Champions League:
https://i.imgur.com/Zb2IQQ7.png
When we battered Anderlecht 4-0 I thought it would near enough guarantee us third as I thought we'd both get pumped by Bayern and Barca and there was no way they'd beat us by 5 goals. Strangely in the game after they drew 1-1 with Barca (who needed an 86th minute equaliser) which made the second game a bit nervy as any victory for them would see them go in as third. Thankfully we did the job and took third.
Europa League:
https://i.imgur.com/elmm2rO.png
I thought we were going to lose against Betis as we missed so many chances in the first leg but we looked even better in the second leg and beat them easily. Draw was kind all along the way until the Semi-Final where Arsenal were too much for us. However, they were lucky to win so comfortably especially in the first leg considering their xG was only 1.54. We took the game to them in the first leg and despite going 1-0 down we fought back to 2-1 and we were piling on the pressure but they hit us on the counter in injury time to ensure we didn't find the goals we needed.
Sadly our run wasn't enough to lift Poland into 10th in the coefficients as the other Polish teams had shit years and the Dutch teams had a brilliant year finishing with a whopping 12.7 points. For 33/34 though we look strong as we'll have a shocking year removed.
https://i.imgur.com/4wmO7KT.pngQuote:
Originally Posted by Manc
About 20,000 seats more than the old stadium, so it's a decent upgrade. Napoli are at 54,726 so it'll be slightly bigger than theirs is now.
https://i.imgur.com/vTFDBtc.png
Not quite as impressive as Dan's.
Over £1k a seat too. Must be solid gold thrones.
Whoever does the eyebrow code for regens should be sacked
At least you can get yours done in a few months, rather than three years.Quote:
Originally Posted by Sir Andy Mahowry
They are only adding 934 seats to the current stadium rather than building a completely new one.Quote:
Originally Posted by Dan
I know, i was trying to make you feel better :D
For some reason, when I try to save documents like I have been doing for years, it's saying I need permission from the administrator.
Any ideas?
Quote:
Originally Posted by ScousePig
Yeah, ask the administrator.
I think that's me.
:checkit:
That's about as useful as PMing Bam.
:charm:
https://i.imgur.com/X32k4Pt.png
Absolutely seething (and I have rage quit the game for the night), we're out of Europe completely because we've failed to beat Benfica in the last Champions League game.
This season has been horrendous thus far. I'm blaming it on the new update.
Just be glad your family is not Russian.
I've finally had Karel Poborsky step aside and the new chairman is Bernard Laporte-Fray who comes from Pau FC. Googling the managing director brings up a French lugist (luger?) so I assuming that's not him. Either way the new owner has also agreed to look into building a new stadium and then not saying another word about it, so the new boss is a refreshing lack of difference.
In the Serie A, this season was a bit of a step back. Had a massive wobble mid-season and in general conceded far too many, so we came out of it outside of the Champions League spots, in fifth.
https://i.gyazo.com/b13928704673de32...d3bcfd5a2b.png
Speaking of which, this year we finally made it out of the group stages there, only to be knocked out of the First Knockout Round by a frankly much better Arsenal.
The board were still "very pleased" since I was still spending much less than all the teams around me and qualified for the Champions League relatively regularly (the Glazers would love it), but I felt that we were stagnating a bit. Plus, no silverware this season, so I resigned.
PSG and Real Madrid offered me jobs pretty much immediately, but I saw that another job was available and declined.
https://i.gyazo.com/c441ec29117da45a...2547570d73.png
Should be both a step-up (an early look at the squad's quality tells me that's definitely the case) as well as a challenge, as the last time they won the league was 13 years back. The main aim is to achieve that within 3 seasons.
On the national team front, the World Cup was upon U.S. (ha!). I was a bit torn regarding what to expect. On the one hand, the US had reached the final of the 2026 World Cup, where they lost on penalties to England, of all teams. On the other hand, not much quality had come through the ranks since, which meant that some of the best players in the current squad were still players who had played in that World Cup 12 years earlier, now aged 34-36 and at their last tournament. They'd been knocked out of the 2034 cup with zero points in the Group Stage when I took over. I'd managed to win one Gold Cup and gotten to the final of another one since then, plus I qualified for the World Cup with ease, building a 4-3-3 that was much more conservative than my wonky and higher-risk club tactics; naturally, with my Torino star Sam Percival as the focal point, attacking as a Mezzala from central midfield.
I still had my doubts though, since qualifying for the World Cup out of CONCACAF when you're the US is not really an achievement. Pre-World Cup friendlies went exceedingly well, however. We dominated against Nigeria in a 3-1 win and efficiently dispatched France and the Czechs 1-0 each. Not exactly glorious attacking football, but I'd take it for the World Cup.
The main focus was improving on the previous World Cup, which meant getting out of the group stage. In the current horrible three-team group format, we were drawn against Cameroon and a rejuvenated Greece that had qualified without a defeat. The first game against Cameroon seemed to confirm the good form we'd shown in the friendlies: 2-0 by half-time and hardly gave them a sniff. 3-0 by the end with only one shot on target conceded. I knew that Greece would offer a tougher contest, but I was happy with the defensive stability nonetheless, plus one win in this format meant we had basically already qualified anyways.
The Greeks turned out to be a really tough opponent. They employed the same 4-2-3-1 that the Cameroonians had, but just had much better attacking players, and it showed. We managed to take the lead twice, but both times that resulted in an attacking barrage we couldn’t withstand, and runs in behind my defence that pulled it out of shape. 2-2 at the end meant that we only came second in the group, as that Greek side thrashed Cameroon 5-0.
With that reality check out of the way I was less optimistic for the Second Round, where we faced Russia, who had topped their group against Ivory Coast and Syria. I tried to shore up the defence a bit, dropping a bit deeper, playing a more experienced defensive midfielder and encouraging slightly more direct passing (as getting caught on the counter seemed one of the main vulnerabilities of the team). I’m not sure if those changes were responsible, but we were completely overwhelmed in the first half. 0-2 down after 45 minutes, with a third coming in injury time of the first half. I went all out attack after that but apart from a lot of yellow cards on their side, that did not seem to make much of an impression.
https://i.gyazo.com/79f7af0227aeb138...afe0322af7.png
So, having achieved the bare minimum and frankly being quite bored of the North American internationals, I decided to resign from that post as well.
Liverpool should provide a nice fresh start with either completely new tactics or a variation on the lesser-used recent 4-3-1-2.
That's a pretty decent upgrade in job. Is the Prem still mostly the usual suspects battling it out or have some new teams managed to bridge the gap? Also, lol at Roma getting relegated.
https://i.gyazo.com/67942c5d28432cea...f166ca0af1.png
Chelsea appointed Allegri in the summer of 2023, which seems to have set off a golden age for them; he also won two Champions Leagues with them. He left in 2031, and after that season it's been an all-Manchester affair.
Just finished the 28/29 season, and boy, things got ugly.
Transfers:
We had a huge clearout of some of the newgens I'd been developing, with a handful leaving for nice chunks of cash (some without ever even playing for us), and being replaced by a new bunch of newgens to get worked through the system.
Serie A:
I think we lost more games this season than any other season in the save, and only game less than we had in the last three seasons combined. Somehow, we still ended up in contention for the title on the last game day, but we could only draw with Inter & even if we'd won it wouldn't have mattered as Juve were 2pts ahead of us & beat Spezia to reclaim the title.
We lost three times in the first eight games of the season, but got back in to it by going on a long winning run, only to then lose three games in a row & throw it all away.
Champions League:
We had our toughest group so far, being matched with Atletico, Chelsea & Young Boys, and started slowly, picking up only 2pts from the first three games, however we stepped up in the return games, and a big win against Chelsea was enough for us to pip them to second place.
I was sad to have avoided any of our usual CL buddies in the groups, but that was resolved in the knockout rounds when we were reunited with PSG, who did exactly what they did last year & swept us aside with ease.
Domestic Cups:
We managed to salvage some respectability in the cups, beating Milan in the last seconds of the Super Cup & then making it to the final of the Italian Cup, where we once again beat Milan to secure the crappiest double possible.
Awards:
As usual, Arthur Cabral was the top scorer in Serie A, and Marco Carnesecchi won the Pulici Award. We also had our academy RB win the u17 Defender of the Year, as he stepped in & played when we were a bit short handed at RB, and one of our wingers won the Best Young Player award.
Pleasingly, the young striker I splashed out on last season as the long term replacement for Cabral had a great season out on loan at Benfica, and ended up winning both the World u21 Footballer of the Year award & the European Golden Boy.
--
I want to get rid of some more of the veterans on the team this summer, and I'll probably move a few more newgens on too. All the outgoing transfers this season caused our transfer budget to explode to £328m, which is more money than we actually have, so I might consider splashing out on one or two players if I can find room for them. I'm still struggling to get a group of young CBs that can step in when Milenkovic starts dropping off, so that should really be the main focus, but I'm not sure whether I'll be able to find someone that ticks all the boxes I'm looking for.
Mine's depressingly similar:Quote:
Originally Posted by Serj
https://i.imgur.com/BNfX3U2.png
It does seem like the big clubs stay at the top unless you're the one to break up the monopoly.
Definitely. Serie A is the most varied of the big leagues with five different champions during my save (Juventus/the Milans/Napoli/Roma). For Spain it's Real/Barcelona exclusively and the Bundesliga has seen 26 consecutive titles for Bayern since 12/13. :D
Surprisingly I've had Real Santander win La Liga twice (23/24 & 25/26), with Villarreal & Betis making appearances in the top three. It's been Real Madrid every other year though, and Barcelona are usually second.
Bundesliga is all Bayern here too, although Hertha Berlin did finish second this season, which is about as close as we're going to get I think.
I remember once seeing one of those "I simulated 500 years in FM" videos in FM21 and PSG literally won every Ligue 1 title for 500 years on the run.
I'm too lazy to have done regular updates on this Kaiserslautern save, but I just felt the need to declare that Martin Satriano is a fucking legend.
https://lh3.googleusercontent.com/VV...-no?authuser=0
My players are annoying me.
I've had 4 players come to me about wanting moves in January because they want to play in the Champions League. I guarantee them that we'll be playing at the end of the season and they say we don't have a chance.
We've qualified FIVE seasons running and look good for a 6th...
https://i.imgur.com/7ulNttx.png
Christ on a bike.
I've made an offer for him (despite not being Polish) but Juventus, Man City, United, Lazio and Napoli have also come in for him.
He chose Lazio who paid double the transfer fee we offered but they're paying him £10k a week less than we offered.
Five matches into my Liverpool stint. This seems oddly familiar. :moop:
https://i.gyazo.com/0966e4b50b7f97b3...48f8d88110.png
Pogon Siedlce & Poland 2032/33 Season Update:
Transfers Out:
https://i.imgur.com/3T6Kuo3.png
Some big transfers out this year and we've made a huge amount of cash.
https://i.imgur.com/iO0c5gf.png
I decided he could go this season as I think Skopek is slightly better and I wanted to get Kalinowski into the midfield. Plus I wanted to give Kasperowicz more games. Three offers came in which the board accepted, the lowest of which was £20.5m from Ajax where Pakula wanted to go. Thankfully I managed to talk him out of going there so we could get more money.
https://i.imgur.com/aOpiDMq.png
£26m is a bit on the low side and I think I should have protested the transfer and kept hold of him.
https://i.imgur.com/2syQt9l.png
I had been thinking of selling Bobek for years now as he can have some mental moments but I always struggled to find someone better. I kept getting low offers this Summer but on deadline day Besiktas went all in and the board accepted before I could.
Transfers In:
https://i.imgur.com/Ghjbrsc.png
https://i.imgur.com/N6qxX9b.png
I think this is Polish RB #829 that I've signed now. One day one of them will be great, it might even be Nowak who I do like.
https://i.imgur.com/0QAt4iq.png
I really like Duraj and I might end up selling Walczak this Summer so Kacper can become the starter. I think he could be special.
https://i.imgur.com/svJMwqH.png
£9m is a bit hefty but I like him a lot and I didn't want Legia to ruin him.
https://i.imgur.com/RBM3j7g.png
Scrambled to replace Bobek and I think I've done pretty well. They compare fairly evenly (with Bobek being slightly better) but I think he's great for the price and he'll be my keeper for two years until Pahor gets a Polish passport.
https://i.imgur.com/TTr5OZJ.png
I had been trying to bring him in since he was produced at Fiorentina but he wasn't interested. Thankfully near the end of the mid-season window he relented.
League:
https://i.imgur.com/l5lepET.png
https://i.imgur.com/KKOZD2W.png
https://i.imgur.com/VddipCG.png
We started like shit and had a few wobbles along the way but as soon as we got dumped out of Europe we went on a long winning run and the title was always going to come back to us.
Europe:
https://i.imgur.com/C1fhS5t.png
https://i.imgur.com/xzHxLkN.png
A hard start to qualify for the groups and then we had arguably our easiest group. I thought third was guaranteed with a decent chance at second, especially when we beat Lyon. Sadly we just couldn't get the goals we needed against Benfica despite leading them in xG by quite some bit in both games, SEETHING didn't cover it.
Cup:
https://i.imgur.com/byqTXgX.png
I was a little worried that this, coupled with our shakiness in the league was going to lead to me being sacked. I was at a C+ and "Stable" for a while, I really hope the board realise this is meaningless soon.
Squad:
https://i.imgur.com/cznqnSa.png
I'm happy with the squad right now. Players who might be moving on are both Jasinski's (I've been trying to sell Jan for 2 seasons and Matty for on), Smolarczyk and Walczak. Other than that I would accept a big offer from Skopek (£40m+) but sadly I think the board would step in and accept before it got that high even though we have £40m in the bank with more coming in.
Poland:
https://i.imgur.com/0xcoSrt.png
https://i.imgur.com/yRN6HpZ.png
Forgot to do a Euro update as I was too angry at how it went. Nations League is meh and we've had a crap start to World Cup Qualification.
Also, we hit 9th in the coefficients list.
No more qualifying for us/league champs \0/.
How many titles on the trot is that now?
1, I lost it last year as Legia decided to wake up.
4 from 5 though.
https://i.postimg.cc/d1H55PD7/2022-0...nager-2022.png
Second is on.
My time in Latvia has come to and end:
https://i.imgur.com/x6eA7ru.png
https://i.imgur.com/soHHWod.png
I've managed to reach the semis in my maiden European campaign in the Conference League, after playing a veritable who's that of continental football I got St Mirren in the quarters which let me finally put an end to a tie that had been open-ended for 43 years. Fiorentina in the semis and I'm taking a 2-1 lead into the away leg which is where I think the storied journey surely ends for the season.
https://i.imgur.com/lDaM5Lo.png
Just spotted this guy, he looks bonkers and I have no idea how he's at Southampton.
Some of the biggest clubs in Europe and Spurs are interested in him so I doubt he'll be there for much longer.
I've seen beda.
On my save, Mbappe signed for Liverpool on a free in 2022. Then signed for Real Madrid for free in 2026 and now he is off to Juve for free again, in 2030 :cab:
Those signing on fees :drool:
https://i.imgur.com/tsk1CpX.png
Our first big award
The dickhead chairman has gone :drool:
https://i.imgur.com/7crrX2e.png
Sadly it was a takeover from within and it seems the new guy is also a bit of a twat. He's come in and changed the club philosophies:
https://i.imgur.com/fknPGng.png
I may have the gut of Big Sam but sadly I don't set my teams to play like him.
Just reached the end of my ninth season in charge, and it was one with a decent bit of drama:
Transfers:
We continued our usual strategy of just adding youngsters to go through the development plan, with only a few players from the first team leaving. One of our least notable seasons of business all round, probably.
Domestic Cups:
We got to play in the Super Cup again this season, but failed to retain the trophy, losing 3-1 to Juventus. The Italian Cup also went to a new home this season, as we were eliminated in the semi finals by eventual winners (and now fierce rivals, apparently), Inter Milan.
Serie A:
Having racked up the losses on our way to second place last season, we looked more like our usual selves this year, going unbeaten the first 15 games of the year, before losing to Atalanta when the striker we loaned them scored in the 90th minute :moop: We managed to weather a couple of tough runs in the fixture list, and did the double over Juventus in the league, but we kept drawing games to allow Juve to stay in range, and a draw with bottom club Brescia in April saw Juve draw level with us. We lost our second game of the year against Lazio shortly after, and at that point we were relying on Juve slipping up over their last few games. Both sides held serve up until the final day, and we went in to a home game against Pisa knowing we still had a shot at the title if we could win & Roma could do us a favour by avoiding defeat against Juventus...
Toggle Spoiler
Champions League:
We got a relatively decent draw in the group stages this season, especially when you consider we were paired with Real Madrid, who obviously steamrolled everyone else. We did what we had to though, and qualified second, which gave us a pretty winnable tie against Real Betis, and it proved to indeed by winnable, as we came out with 1-0 wins in both games to reach the quarter finals. We were lucky to avoid all the big teams & instead get paired with Newcastle, but a disappointing 0-0 draw at home made things tricky. We were the worse team in the second leg, but managed to draw 1-1, which took us to penalties, where we eventually triumphed.
We drew Juventus in the semi finals, and having lost the first leg 1-0 we flipped the switch & blew them away with a 4-0 win at home to send us to the final, where we faced Barcelona. Sadly, we fell at the final hurdle for the second time as Barcelona deservedly beat us 2-1 to take home the trophy.
Awards & Other Notes:
We didn't actually win too many awards this season - Arthur Cabral once again topped the Serie A scoring charts, and right winger Adam Becker retained the Best Young Player award, but that was about it.
We have one more season before our new stadium is ready, so hopefully we can say goodbye to the Artemio Franchi with a fifth title next season - out of the 9 seasons I've played we've now won 4 titles & Juventus have the other 5, so it's about time Inter stepped up to the plate really.
Since we sold Lucas Martinez Quarta a few seasons ago I've been struggling to settle on a CB to pair with Nikola Milenkovic, and with him now turning 32 that need is getting even more pressing. I've been investing a lot in young CBs with the hope that one or two are able to make the jump, but when I spotted that another guy I'd been following had suddenly put in a transfer request I knew I had to pull the trigger, so next season we will be getting another Argentine with three names - Juan Manuel Carrera, who looks like a beast. He had a £90m release clause, which feels pretty reasonable considering some of the values floating around on players at this point.
We also pinched another guy on a release clause, with Liban Elmi being available for £46m following Southampton's relegation, so he'll join & will likely be our new long term LB.
There's one more player of note joining us next year - I was doing some scouting on newgen spawing dates, and spotted an insane looking 15 year old at Bayern who hadn't yet signed a full contract. When I approached him I was shocked to see he was actually interested, and after throwing bucket fulls of cash at him we managed to lure him away & only have to pay £4m compensation. Ali Ozkan looks like he should be able to play CB, RB or CM/DM very well, and to be honest I think he might be able to play next season if we really wanted him to. He'll arrive in January when he turns 16, and I'll probably stick him straight on the bench until I can loan him out.
Lastly, Bayern have spent the entire season trying to unsettle the stud young striker I signed to replace Cabral, with news reports about their interest/scouts attending etc cropping up every few weeks. He's been out on loan at Shakhtar this year, and when he comes back I'll be swiftly setting his status to 'reject all offers' because he looks like he's going to be an absolute superstar.
-
I'm planning on clearing some players out this season - I'd like to see Brenner & Fabio Carvalho leave before their contracts expire next season, and the youngsters will all be evaluated to see who makes the cut, but I'm thinking of moving towards my secondary 4312 formation as the primary tactic next season so that Cabral & Taurone can both play up front. It'll be an interesting offseason, and no doubt selling players will prove impossible once again, but next year should be the point where we start to transition towards the next wave of players who will take over as our stars & leaders.
97pts and no promotion :/
https://gyazo.com/27a421f13948ef289b01d5ce824c0c1d.jpeg
would have been enough to win the league outright in 10 of the previous 12 seasons, and good enough for second in all of them.
Pogon Siedlce 2033/34 Season Update:
Transfers Out:
https://i.imgur.com/3OyjlEQ.png
Two first teamers leaving in Matty Jasinski and Tommy Walczak for big offers. I'd have accepted less for them tbh especially Walczak who I wanted to move on due to youth needing more games. It was still a shame to see him leave as he was officially a club legend:
https://i.imgur.com/K03LYqJ.png
https://i.imgur.com/UDEueSd.png
https://i.imgur.com/MrcAgmc.png
Shame he didn't hit 100 but what a guy.
Transfers In:
https://i.imgur.com/xjZfENS.png
https://i.imgur.com/NgZL49k.png
Scouts have raved about him and his value has shot up.
https://i.imgur.com/npSYN27.png
My scouts loved him and then as soon as I signed him his potential ability dropped like a stone which is a little annoying as I only bought him due to scouts recommendation. At least he was free.
https://i.imgur.com/AyHKdCl.png
Potential through the roof as is his value since buying him. I'm a big fan.
https://i.imgur.com/UmjQ5Mr.png
When Jasinski left I felt we needed a replacement and who better than the guy who the board sold to Blackburn a few years ago which promoted me to sign Jasinski.
https://i.imgur.com/GijaVlD.png
Annoying to see the red arrows but he's only just come back from a bad calf injury. He's been pretty good when I used him and I have high hopes for his future.
https://i.imgur.com/zqmaX8n.png
A cheap German/Pole who looks alright but again his potential looked better before we signed him.
https://i.imgur.com/Lgjr6qW.png
Our big signing this year and I think this boy could be special. He's flashed some serious quality in a few matches this season and he had a really nice run in the league near the end of the season.
League:
https://i.imgur.com/xmghSW6.png
https://i.imgur.com/uxIZTI4.png
https://i.imgur.com/ih8ojK7.png
No pissing about this year, we put our foot down early and because we didn't have to qualify I made sure we kept the tempo up and no one could touch us.
Cups:
https://i.imgur.com/GpoaT3u.png
A relatively easy draw meant I could play the youth in the early games and then switch to the first team in the last couple of rounds. It was important to win as I had promised some unhappy players the cup this year.
Europe:
https://i.imgur.com/ARwQKk7.png
https://i.imgur.com/B01BZnc.png
A decent group showing in our easiest game but we were screwed by each team in each round.
Here's the Brugge game:
https://i.imgur.com/XrXUnQh.png
We smacked them and they got a lucky win which made the remaining group games nervy.
The Astana draw:
https://i.imgur.com/a72RxVE.png
Being 2 up and outplaying them before dropping to a 2-2 draw.
United:
https://i.imgur.com/fzdYZyv.png
I have no idea how we got pumped by them in such an even game.
Bayern:
https://i.imgur.com/RkZMrke.png
We deserved to lose but to concede two and have the win snatched away from us in the final few minutes was gutting.
Overall though I'm very pleased. I am however not happy with the coefficients as we've slipped from 9th to 12th this year. This season and last the other Polish teams have been shit and this year Austria, the Dutch and the Turks had great years. The other Polish teams need to pull their fingers out or we're going to slip hard as Czech Republic and Ukraine are breathing down our necks too.
Squad Stats:
https://i.imgur.com/cT8RZYN.png
Ragnar Hojgaard had another terrific season with this being his best goals output (he's increased his goals every season with the first team) and was what we needed. The Duraj boys (not brothers sadly) also stepped it up in the wake of Walczak leaving which is what I had hoped although I though Kacper would be the one to do more.
Also, the new dickhead chairman has decided to ask for even more changes to the philosophy for the upcoming season. In addition to defensively solid football (I'm ok with this as we're fine) and direct football (ugh) he now also wants us to play counter attacking football. I think this could end up being a major problem
Oh and the Croatian defender only needs 39 more days until he can get a Polish passport and play games for us :drool:
Poland 2034 World Cup Update:
Group Stage:
https://i.imgur.com/KMhihMQ.png
Second Round:
https://i.imgur.com/4vWN2Ue.png
The timing of their last three goals is incredibly infuriating and it looks like it's going to cost me the job.
The media are SEETHING that I left out a shit 35 old from my squad and the Polish FA are disappointed with our performance with my job status listed as Insecure. RIP.
Edit: Poland have indeed sacked me.
Edit: I have decided I want revenge. I will win a World Cup before them.
Ivory Coast, USA, England, France, Italy, Portugal, Sweden, Turkey, Wales and Serbia have offered jobs.
I'm leaning towards Serbia because of these three:
https://i.imgur.com/m9iyNhC.png
https://i.imgur.com/Czb80AK.png
https://i.imgur.com/dmJfhzz.png
France, England, Italy and Portugal are out as I feel it would make the mission too easy and Wales won the World Cup on my save in 2028.
Edit: Looked through the rest of the squads and Turkey was a close second but those three above swung it firmly in Serbia's favour.
How high were their expectations for that to lead to a sacking?
EDIT: Just hit the midseason break & Taurone has 20 league goals in 13(1) with an average rating on 8.27 :cool: Cabral has 11 in 8(6) too, so things are going pretty well up front.
They wanted me to get to the third round which is acceptable but when I'm up against the 6th placed nation (we were 16th) in the second round I think it's understandable that we didn't go further.
Especially considering they scored two goals in various injury times and a winner just before it went to penalties.
That definitely seems harsh then.
A very rough awakening. I probably should have done a bit more research before aiming for the title within three seasons. Turns out that when I took the job they'd already agreed to sell two of their best performers (a centre-back and a deep-lying playmaker). Plus, while overall player quality is an upgrade from Torino, there are still several clubs with better players, one of the reasons why Liverpool haven't finished higher than fourth in eight years.
Still, this was exceptionally bad. :D
https://i.gyazo.com/8980a6eb9e23f871...f73acd81ee.png
The tactics I'd come up with initially just did not work. After I changed them up a bit I managed wins against Manchester United, Chelsea, Arsenal and Tottenham, but as soon as I rotated or lost players to injuries it all went to shit again. I'm honestly surprised they're not sacking me, decent Cup performance notwithstanding (won the Carabao Cup and got to the final of the Europa League, where I lost in extra time against Chelsea).
Back to the drawing board it is.
How many did Man City concede?
16. Eleven of which they conceded at home, interestingly. They're almost impossible to score against in their away games. Their two draws (0-0s against Chelsea and Southampton) and their single defeat (0-1 against United) were on the road though, at home its all wins.
Ten seasons down now, and we're about to enter a new era.
Transfers:
This was probably our busiest window so far, with hundreds of millions going both ways as we cleared out a bunch of young players who've been through the system, as well as a couple of veteran starters in Brenner & Fabio Carvalho. This was part one of the process of transitioning from the era of the real players to the full newgen era, with only a few real players remaining in our squad & they'll likely all be gone by the end of next season.
Domestic Cups:
We seem to have started to assert our dominance here lately, despite me not really caring, as we managed to win both the Super Cup & the Italian Cup, beating rivals Inter in both competitions to put a cherry on the top.
Serie A:
We had a tough start to our season as we took on Milan in the opener, and when we lost I thought we might be in for a tricky season, but we came out & beat Bologna 5-1 the following week, and from there normal service was resumed as we blew through most of the league, powered by a ludicrous season from Emilio Taurone, who returned from loan to take the mantle as our star striker & basically couldn't be stopped. Juve took a small step back this year, so it was up to Milan to try to chase us down, but while they kept it close they were never within striking distance, and we sealed our fifth Serie A title with two games to spare, which was just as well as we had to play Napoli & Juve in those two, and ended up losing them both to make the final table look closer than it really was.
Champions League:
We got a decent group draw, with Man City being the only real threat, but we outplayed them in both matchups & ended up winning the group, only to draw another English team in Liverpool. We lost the first leg 2-1 but came back with a 2-0 win in the second leg, before seeing off Napoli in a pleasingly easy quarter final draw.
We drew PSG in the semis, and deservedly won 2-1 in the first leg at home, however we wasted a handful of good chances in the first half of the return game, and inevitably got punished, with Haaland scoring two second half goals, including an injury time winner to knock us out in heartbreaking fashion. The final slap in the face was that PSG then went & got beat 4-0 by Man City, who we'd bested in the groups :cry:
Awards Etc:
Emilio Taurone basically one everything imaginable this season. I'd put them all here but I literally have 13 images of all his awards & records, so I'll just list the main ones - World Player of the Year, Golden Ball, World Football of the Year & Best Player in Europe, and he broke the records for league goals, average rating & MOTM awards.
Arthur Cabral still played like a stud, but he had to play second fiddle & next season will likely be his last as his contract runs out at the end of the 31/32 season.
We'll also be losing club captain Nikola Milenkovic next season, and we've agreed a deal for goalkeeper Marco Carnesecchi to joing Real Madrid for £98.5m in the summer. Facundo Farias wants to leave too, so I think that will leave Giorgio Scalvini as the last real player in the squad.
The new stadium has been completed, and we'll be playing there next season, which should help boost our finances a bit more.
--
I think this is as far as I've ever got in a save, so I'm definitely appreciating the more casual style of the Xbox version, but after a very successful first decade in charge it's time to revamp the squad, fully assert ourselves as the dominant team in Italy, and try to finally grab ourselves a Champions League trophy.
So I initially started with Newcastle. I won back to back Champions League and Premier League titles within four years because I basically bought the best possible team. It got boring dominating everything so for the first time ever in FM, I resigned and moved to a club in a different country.
The only decent team available was Atalanta who had just finished 2nd in Serie A. I went there and made the most of my limited budget by signing 34-year-olds in the last year of their contracts. I got like Griezmann, Coates and Koulibaly for a combined total of 10m or something. Somehow I dragged those corpses to the title in my first season. I tried it again the next season and got Van Dijk, Immobile, Alaba and Casemiro again for like 15m total. I've just won the double and I'm in the Champions League final against Newcastle now managed by Jurgen Klopp.
I'm probably going to resign from here regardless of the outcome of the final because I can't take Atalanta much further and I wanna see if I can go across the big 5 leagues and win the title. There's a really intriguing option in Spain where Albacete got taken over by an Arab tycoon. But they just got relegated from La Liga. I'm tempted to just make a project out of it because every good real player in the game is worth too much to buy meaning the only affordable players now (six seasons in) are regens. So I could get a nice bunch and probably win the league in 4 or 5 seasons. I'm also imagining how funny in real life it'd be if Pep or someone took over a second division side after playing in the CL final. Might just do it for the bants.
Jeez, I thought I was doing well :D
A couple of seasons worth of update from my Wolves game, as I was having trouble saving images.
Going back two seasons, you may remember I lost form and was pipped to the title by Man United. Into the 30-31 season and due to this being when I was having issues, I only have a couple of screenshots.
https://i.ibb.co/5vNjFq3/End-of-season-table.png
https://i.ibb.co/mT8gpTf/End-of-season-schedule.png
A great league season, taking advantage of the other top teams scoring relatively few points. Lots of echoes of the Leicester IRL season. Narrow defeat in the Champions League quarter finals which was still a good run for our first time. In a way, the biggest thing I took out of the season was managing the squad much better, both in terms of personnel and shape, meaning there was no tailing off, which is something I've suffered with a fair bit in the past.
...
Onto the season I've just completed, and firstly some shapes to look at:
https://i.ibb.co/DgNVPrW/4-3-3.png
https://i.ibb.co/xF9LcZV/4-1-1-4.png
https://i.ibb.co/gVffZmZ/4-1-3-2-false-nines.png
https://i.ibb.co/3Rfyp43/Tactic-test.png
The 4-3-3 remains my go-to, but at times when we struggled for form or only certain players were available, I experimented with the other two. The 4-1-1-4 suits our players, and the 4-1-3-2 with the false nines allows me to play actual strikers. You'll notice that the only real difference is there are two false nines in place of two mezzalas, meaning those two players are starting high and dropping (allowing others to run beyond), rather than vice versa. You can see from the first game I tried it that we absolutely destroyed AEK in the Champions League, but I had much more mixed results in the domestic cups.
https://i.ibb.co/7YFTVz1/End-of-season-table.png
https://i.ibb.co/9trTLGB/Schedule.png
It was a really tight season, and we were kind of done by the schedule in the end. Newcastle on Wednesday, Man City on Friday and Man United on Sunday to end our season. In hindsight, I should have just rested everyone for the Man City game and put everything into beating Man United at home. In the end, we flagged and lost both.
https://i.ibb.co/qBY2TFF/Competitions.png
Still, we won the Europa League after failing to negotiate Inter Milan and Real Madrid in the Champions League group stages, and triumphed in the FA Cup too.
https://i.ibb.co/7xfCHCt/Squad.png
We have a couple of elite players in the squad now. Here are the pick:
https://i.ibb.co/hyT5sgm/Nierynck.png
https://i.ibb.co/55gQ8c6/Gomez.png
And my two major signings of the summer so far:
https://i.ibb.co/nMW3HJR/Kara.png
https://i.ibb.co/BjFc2TM/Dufour.png
It's a far cry from East Fife and Blyth Spartans!
My next job is to incorporate a tactic which gets the best out of these players, especially as Dufour is an out and out striker. Also, Nierynck is becoming annoyed that I'm playing him as a mezzala instead of an advanced playmaker. I could fit them all into a 4-2-3-1, but I dislike the shape and it would mean at least one of the central midfielders needing to have a defensive role.
What's the logic behind the strikerless formations? Was it just due to not having talent up front, or is that one of those things that just works well in the engine? Also noticed how much more info there is on every screen in the PC version than the console one, which makes me glad I'm on this version :D
Just finished season 11 so will get a review up later, and I'm also going to do a little overview of the game world & then a look at the squad, given we're about to enter the all-newgen era.
It works well as the match engine struggles to cope with runners from deeper areas. Hence central midfielders on attack and mezzalas are also very useful. Not just that though, it actually makes sense to me. I think of the shadow striker as being a false nine or deep-lying forward really, with four players, one in each channel, making runs either side of him, and him in the central channel causing a nuisance.
The first thing I look at when making a tactic is how I can fill all five channels when in an attacking transition/attack, and how the other five can shape up in rest defence. My formations on paper are usually 4-3-3, but they're anything between 4-1-4-1, 2-3-2-3 and 2-3-5, depending on the phase of play.
We've entered the second decade of my reign at Fiorentina, and to celebrate we moved in to a brand new stadium. We've split the ten previous Serie A titles down the middle with Juventus, but we're looking to establish ourselves as the best team in Italy, and having been defeated in two Champions League finals, we still have unfulfilled ambitions in Europe to push us forward.
Transfers:
Not much in the way of incoming talent, just the usual poaching of promising youngsters, however we had some big names leaving. Marco Carnesecchi was a great goalkeeper for us, but with a stable of young talent behind him waiting for their opportunity it was hard to turn down £98.5m from Real Madrid when they approached us in January last season. We kept him for the rest of the season, but now it's his time to move on. We also waved goodbye to another of the final real players in the squad in January this season, as Giorgio Scalvini was sold to Man Utd to help create room for the next wave of players. Facundo Farias was sold in the summer as he'd been wanting to leave for a few months, and LB Carlos Salinas was moved on to let the guy we signed last summer finally take the job permanently.
Domestic Cups:
Once again it was us against Inter for both trophies, and after winning both last year we split them this time around, with Inter beating us in the Super Cup only for us to get revenge in the Italian Cup.
Serie A:
We kicked off with a pretty tricky run of games, including taking on Inter in our first game in the new stadium, but we came out of that run with some key wins, including a 3-1 win over Inter, and from then on we pretty much had everyone at arm's length the rest of the way. After 30 games we were still unbeaten, and the only tough games still on the schedule were away games against Napoli & Roma to close the season, however we then immediately shit the bed & lost 2-0 away to Cagliari to torpedo the unbeaten season, and generally limped our way to a title we'd had all but wrapped up for weeks.
Champions League:
We had a fairly average draw in the groups this season, and despite starting slow we got it together in the second set of games, and ended up topping the group. Our reward was a tie against Barcelona, and after losing the first leg 4-2 in Spain we didn't feel particularly confident of progressing, however we quickly found ourselves 2-0 up in the second leg to bring the tie back to life. We couldn't finish the job though, and the game ended up going to penalties, where all of the first five penalty takers missed, and the next five all scored. Sadly, we were on the wrong side of the runs, and ended up going out 3-2 on penalties.
Other Stuff:
It's officially the end of an era, as we're saying goodbye to a pair of club icons, and the last two real players in the squad.
Club captain Nikola Milenkovic leaves us as the all time record holder for league appearances, with 473, and will annoyingly be signing with Milan, whilst vice-captain Arthur Cabral departs as the all time leader in league goals scored, netting 268 times in 380 games. He's currently a free agent, although plenty of teams are interested, so he'll show up again somewhere.
Despite only moving in to our stadium this season, we're already expanding, as the board have decided to add another 12,289 seats to take us up towards 75,000. I'd just requested an expansion the day before, and ended up getting a separate message about that a few days later, so I'm not entirely sure what's going to happen with the upgrades now as we seem to have two sets of work going on at once.
--
I'm going to knock together a quick update on the wider game world shortly, just waiting for the Euros & Copa America to finish, and then I'll also try to get up an overview of the squad once everyone comes back & I start to figure out who fits where.
Fiorentina - 2032 World Overview
Okay, so I thought i'd just put a quick post together to summarise what's happened across the big leagues in my save, as well as highlighting the big international competitions & awards (image links are in the headings this time):
Premier League - Liverpool & the Manchester clubs have shared the titles between them here, and in general there doesn't seem to have been a lot of change here, although Newcastle have bought there way into the mix over the last five seasons, so maybe they'll be the ones to break through.
La Liga - Mostly Real Madrid here, and it's surprising to see that Real Santander (aka San Sebastian) have won more titles than Barcelona, who only claimed their first of the save this season. There looks to be a good bit of variety here, so this seems pretty solid to me.
Ligue 1 - PSG nearly swept the board, but Lyon managed to take on off them early on. Not sure it'll happen again until Mbappe & Haaland retire though.
Bundesliga - Just complete dominance from Bayern here, as seems to be the case most of the time. Hopefully someone stops them one day, but I doubt it.
Champions League - Manchester City look to have established themselves as the best team in Europe over the last decade, although they're maybe on the decline now. There's a huge English representation across the board, with only three seasons having a non-English winner.
Europa League - This looks pretty reasonable, with Hoffenheim probably the most surprising winner. English clubs generally doing well here too, it seems.
Copa America - Brazil & Argentina taking turns with the trophy like a couple divorced parents. It'll be interesting to see if one of them can take control of the trophy, but you'd imagine nobody else would get a turn for a while either way.
African Nations - Senegal emerging as the top team here, but there's still a lot of variety & this generally looks to be pretty open.
Euros - Pretty standard fare, with Spain doubling up before England ride their traditional FM boost to glory in the tournament that's just ended.
World Cup - We came so close to a shock with Norway reaching the 2026 final, but alas, they lost & it's just a list of the usual suspects.
I'll just list the main player awards below without comment, as these have mostly been won by real players so far:
Golden Ball
World Footballer of the Year
World Player of the Year
Goal 50
Golden Glove
Goalkeeper of the Year
I've also included the current global reputation rankings, as well as the global finance rankings, as there are some interesting teams who appear to have been handed buckets of cash over the last decade.
---
No massive upheavals just yet, but there are a couple of spots where it looks like the opportunity is there, and as the real players continue to fade away it'll be interesting to see if the big teams can stay at the top, or if other teams will be able to bridge the gap. I'd like to see a bit less England power across the board, but that's always been an issue in FM so hopefully I'm not about to witness a decade of everything being won by English teams :D
Fiorentina 2032/33 Squad Overview
With all the real players now gone, we're in the process of building a new core to carry us forward for the next 5-10 years. There are a few players who've already proved the belong at the heart of the team, but we still have plenty of spots up for grabs & with a huge collection of talented young players on the books, we should be able to find quality players at every position, the question is, who will they be?
I'll quickly run you through the main players in our squad, and then go from back to front with an overview of the spots still to be determined, and the players who might take those jobs.
The Untouchables:
Toggle Spoiler
The Core:
Toggle Spoiler
The Squad Players:
Toggle Spoiler
I've been busy developing a large youth system over the last decade, and we have plenty of players who can come out the other side to be key players for our future:
Goalkeeper:
We seem to have an endless supply of talent here, with the academy popping someone out almost every season to go along with the players we've poached from other teams. At the moment we have 21/22 academy graduate Antonio Rega pencilled in as our backup, with 26/27 academy kid Luca Merelli & youth team goalkeeper Sinisa Tomasevic as the pick of the players behind him.
We also had another 21/22 academy graduate on the books in Ivan Farina, however we've just accepted a £3m offer from Juve for him as he's out of contract after this season. We've also sold two other academy goalkeepers in the last few years who are starting for Serie A/B clubs, so we're pretty much the go to spot for young goalkeepers at this point.
Full Backs:
Lots of talent here, with Luis Dybala, Federico Amaro & Shane Solomon at RB & Kilian Langlet, Rafael De La Torre & August Hermansen at LB. We also have Ignacio Del Rio & Cesar Hernandez, who are both out on loan, and I'm expecting academy kid Maurizio Di Stefano to be part of our squad this season as utility backup.
Centre Backs:
I went through a stage of hoarding CBs when I was still looking for long term options to start at CB, and that has meant that we now have some excellent prospects who could push for the first team in the next couple of seasons. Mario Marquez, Orlando Martinez, Lucas Medina & Juraj Kovac are the pick of the bunch, but we have another handful of kids behind them who also look promising.]
I'd expect all the above to be loaned out this season, with Eddy Akbar & Jacob Nielsen joining the squad as backups who may get sold before their contracts run out at the end of the year.
Midfield:
The main name here is Ali Ozkan, who I stole from Bayern just after he generated, and who made his international debut over the summer. I forgot he couldn't be loaned abroad until he was 18, so he'll likely stay in the squad until January & then be sent out to play more regularly, but I'm expecting him to become a core player in the future. I'm also very excited about Andy Graham & Klemen Brkic, who could both also be fantastic players in a season or two.
Beyond them we have some more young players, as well as a couple of solid depth players from the academy in Enrico Lorusso & Kristian Elezi, although they both could also end up out the door this season, as well as some good young AMCs in Mladen Matosevic, Ilija Tasevski & Emil Kruse.
Attack:
We're pretty set up front, so I've not been hugely invested in securing young strikers, but Thapelo Shoai does look like a promising player, and we have a decent supply of strikers from the academy who could develop into contributors.
On the wings we have more options, with Zdenek David, Elkin Garcia & Rafael Marquez standing out alongside a couple of academy prospects in Samuele Negro & Fernando Lauria.
--
I think that pretty much covers the roster for now. We're definitely set up well for continued success, and there will no doubt be further additions to the talent factory over the coming seasons to ensure we continue to spend an absolute fuckton on wages for players who aren't even playing for us :D
Great posts Dan. Your squad really does look good, especially with all those youth prospects waiting in the wings.
I've returned to the game after a couple of months or so away, and finally finished off my 3rd season with Llanelli Town. As expected TNS ran away with the title - they were unbeaten in 22 at one point - before easing up once they'd secured it with a few games to go. But we were solid enough and scrambled enough points in the final Championship Stage of the season to take 2nd spot and with it, European football next season!
https://i.postimg.cc/SNdt5XGz/23-24.png
We were helped by Bangor City drawing 7 matches in a row in the final stage, so whilst we only took 14 pts in the final 10 games, it was enough for us to secure the position thanks to a 4-2 win over Haverfordwest on the final day. TNS are ominous however, and they've already poached my star right-back away from me. It's very hard to attract players when TNS have that professional pull, but hopefully our appearance in the Conference League will help with finances and with reputation. My squad for the season was as follows:
https://i.postimg.cc/136VXFY8/squad-23-24.png
A couple of key players in there, most notably our sole loanee, Harrison Poulter. 28 goals in all competitions (22 in the league - the highest) helped us win a number of tight matches and it was really the difference between us finishing 2nd or 4th. I'm already in talks with Scunthorpe to see if I can keep him for another season. If he goes, we're going to have to scour the depths for a good replacement. Lewis Ridd came in at the start of the season and has been very impressive in goal, pulling off a number of important stops, and I've tied him down to a 3 year deal to keep him at the club. And Gwion James was masterful in the number 10 role, and still is only 17. He also earned his first international call-up and made 3 appearances for the Welsh Under-18s, even managing to score.
Finally, we have to our mention our cup exploits. We stormed through most of the rounds, helped by a favourable draw. But ultimately we couldn't find a win when it mattered most...
https://i.postimg.cc/wxQpqjV9/cup-run.png
Bangor City were just too good on the day, taking the lead with 20 minutes to go, and despite me sending players forward in search of the equaliser, they created numerous further opportunities on the break and a 2nd goal to wrap it up was inevitable. A shame, especially with TNS being dumped out early on in a cupset, but I'm sure the opportunity for silverware will be there soon.
Onto season 4 - I'm eagerly awaiting that European draw!
https://media.discordapp.net/attachm...30/unknown.png
Our first NxGn winner :drool:
Our previous highest was 4th IIRC.
Not sure which of the first two is meant to be the Polish Mbappe though.
After a bit of playing around last pre-season, I came up with the tactics which best suited our players.
https://i.ibb.co/56fQwVs/4-2-3-1-wide.png
https://i.ibb.co/r4jF7jH/4-3-3-narrow.png
The problem being I don't like 4-2-3-1 and I don't find it as effective or as enjoyable to watch as a 4-3-3.
After a pretty strong season playing mostly in a 4-3-3 with an advanced forward instead of a shadow striker, we wobbled, and a heavy semi-final FA Cup loss to Leeds prompted me into action. I needed to come up with/find a couple of tactics that played the way I wanted, but also got the best out of my best players - an attacking midfielder and an out and out striker. Hence...
https://i.ibb.co/wMH0FBc/High-Voltage.png
This is more or less perfect for the team, other than it not being particularly possession based. It was originally a downloaded tactic, but I've tweaked it to fit what I want. The only real differences between this and what I've been playing previously are the shadow striker moving to an advanced forward, and one central midfield moving into the attacking midfield strata. Team and player instructions, as well as player roles are very similar. You'll see the mentality is very attacking, which is a tweak that I've made, but that's just dependent on opposition and being home/away.
The other good thing about that shape is that it's almost identical to my total control tactic:
https://i.ibb.co/VV4WChK/Total-Control.png
A completely different style of football, often more pleasing on the eye, but not nearly as effective. This will become my go-to tactic when we're trying to just control games as opposed to scoring plenty.
https://i.ibb.co/YhVt3Bv/Void.png
Finally, the above tactic has been a God send. Again, it's very similar to my previous 4-3-3 however the two wingers become shadow strikers, meaning the two inverted wing backs become traditional wing backs. This is almost identical to an old tactic I'd used, except for the very attacking mentality. It's not fool-proof as we shipped six away at Newcastle, but shifting to this in the Champions League Final changed the game. It's suits our players superbly, aside from our advanced forward who is still learning to play as a shadow striker. All in all, three slightly different tactics to what I've been using in the past, but all very effective in their own right.
https://i.ibb.co/N6nqTw8/Table.png
An incredibly tight season, which couldn't have gone much more to the wire. It wasn't quite AGUERO but not far off.
https://i.ibb.co/kcLzN19/Competitions.png
https://i.ibb.co/rkFR3sJ/Schedule.png
https://i.ibb.co/KD2YCVb/Squad.png
As you can see, Defour is a world class striker and it's his arrival which led to me having to make a few adaptations.
That’s an excellent season - it does seem like an elite striker can take you up a level, which I guess makes a lot of sense. Also seems fitting that the asymmetrical formation made the difference.
I’ve put Fiorentina on hold for a bit as we’re in the month window where i vaguely care about baseball so I’ve started playing The Show instead, but I’ll inevitably get bored & be back on FM in 2-3 weeks time.
Pogon Siedlce & Serbia 2034/25 Season Update:
Transfers Out:
https://i.imgur.com/bRQx6h5.png
I didn't want to sell Luczywek as he can play across the entire backline and was good cover but the offer was more than good enough. With Kaczmarek I decided to let him go as I knew Topalovic the Croatian CB was going to be getting his passport soon. Schulze also left as it was a mental offer for a sub-standard goalkeeper (he's played in 7 games total, 4 off the bench for Madrid this year).
Other big names to leave were Smolarczyk the mental 15 year old who hasn't really progressed, Jan Jasinski who was never first choice for me and wasn't getting close to his original projected potential, Potoczny & Konieczny who was in the same boat as Jasinski plus Zyznowski who had been our starting AML for a few years but he wasn't good enough.
Transfers In:
https://i.imgur.com/YltTII7.png
https://i.imgur.com/aJyQuhs.png
He will never get meaningful game time with us but I feel he's someone who we can make a decent amount of money off.
https://i.imgur.com/Bm0pMte.png
Our annual RB. I felt we needed more cover (he can also play on the left) after sales.
https://i.imgur.com/sJhRUJX.png
Our first non-Pole of the year. I feel like this guy is special. He's a natural CDM who can play at CB and CM but I'm not sure where I'll use him yet (I still have just over 2 years to work out where his best position will be). He's going to sign a £19.75k in the Summer and I'll try to get him out on loan as soon as I can.
https://i.imgur.com/a2k58tZ.png
With Schulze going to Madrid I needed a new number 1. The pickings were slim and I ended up picking up this guy who did ok. He probably wont play much at all in the next season as Pahor now has his Polish passport.
https://i.imgur.com/068uUGW.png
Our record signing. I'm not sure why the small profile is showing CM as his best position as he's a natural ST. He'll be signing a £11.75k a week contract late this Summer so sadly I don't think we'll be able to find him a loan for the whole season. The kid has been ripping teams to shreds for the second team where all the non-Poles are kept until they have their papers.
https://i.imgur.com/yJ5FVLn.png
I have been trying to bring this kid in for a season and a half I think and he's always rejected me but thankfully he finally accepted an offer. He had been ripping it up for the second team but he recently got injured.
https://i.imgur.com/gtYkxT7.png
Natural ST but can play as an AMR which is probably where he'll get most of his minutes. He is a Pole too so I have already given him a few games and he even scored on his debut.
League:
https://i.imgur.com/rlJQVTn.png
https://i.imgur.com/oPMzB7C.png
https://i.imgur.com/pUZ0QYQ.png
Jagiellonia did actually push us for quite a bit of the season but they crashed hard after the Winter break and we won it easily.
Cups:
https://i.imgur.com/qWHMiHq.png
Oh well.
Champions League:
https://i.imgur.com/JzLkNm7.png
It went how I expected although we really should have grabbed a point against PSG in both matches, especially our home game where they needed a 92nd minute winner.
Europa League:
First Knockout:
https://i.imgur.com/XNTsvRv.png
https://i.imgur.com/1p9lhUS.png
First leg was tight and either of us could have taken it. I'm glad we got one back though.
In the second leg I thought we'd win it easily with the two early goals and then we wobbled. Thankfully we didn't leave it for penalties.
Second Round:
https://i.imgur.com/HTPvKao.png
https://i.imgur.com/5h1N3hB.png
We blew Wolfsburg away and I thought we'd be fine so I rested quite a few in the second leg and it almost fucked us over. Pahor made his European debut and he had a shaky night, thankfully we still had goals in us though.
Quarter-Final:
https://i.imgur.com/ut6HaDi.png
https://i.imgur.com/CIx5JLs.png
We should have beaten them in the first leg but I was still confident going into the second leg. At half-time in the second leg I thought we were done Hojgaard though (who I almost accepted an offer of £40m from Porto in January) decided we weren't losing and dragged us to victory.
Semi-Final:
https://i.imgur.com/nHXZGKY.png
https://i.imgur.com/5towxuq.png
Fucking Mason Mount, two late assists for the prick fucked us over. I really thought we'd win it in the second leg when Kucharski had levelled the tie even though we were down to 10. Sadly it wasn't to be and we lost our second Europa Semi-Final in 3/4 years. Juventus went on to win the tournament and then their manager, Jurgen Klopp, decided to take the Spurs job.
Squad:
https://i.imgur.com/sYlWRZf.png
I really like the squad and there's not much to trim. Better full backs would be nice but that seems to be a major problem in my save. I might let Hojgaard go as he's finding it harder to get into the side and has been struggling for goals this year. I'd also like Skopek to leave as he's getting older and I think the youngsters we have in his position and ready for more minutes.
Kucharski is probably our best player and I don't want him to go. He's wanted by most of Europe's top clubs though, although interest lessened when I slapped the £300m price tag on him, so he might end up leaving but it would have to be for something huge.
Our bank balance is just under £100m right now although it's highest was at £165m in the Winter.
Serbia:
https://i.imgur.com/MIFZ6Mp.png
A tough Nations group but we took first by a point over Italy.
https://i.imgur.com/2TkPR70.png
Nice to pick up a win over Bottom Ireland to get qualification started but then a tough run resulting in fuck all.
Also, it's been a while so here are screenshots of each player in the first team not including those who were signed last year.
Toggle Spoiler
Lovely run in Europe. What's with the non Poles?
They're being signed and they stay in the second team/go out on loan to other Polish teams until they have a passport.
They do not get any senior minutes until they have their papers in order.
Just secured a loan to Lodz for one of the Non-Poles but he rejects them so I offer him out again.
Lodz comes back in and this time I use the option to persuade him to tell him he'd get a lot of game time (which he can't get here) and that it will be good for his development.
He says he likes my idea and agrees with me that it's for the best and is looking forward to the loan deal.
Which he then ends up rejecting...
https://i.imgur.com/Np2Brj5.png
Absolutely seething.
Their keeper had a 9.3 rating.
Pogon Siedlce 2035/36 Season Update:
Transfers Out:
https://i.imgur.com/EdBa2yO.png
https://i.imgur.com/kuzvjdJ.png
Bought for £3.2m, I wanted to sell him last season but couldn't find a team to bid a good amount. Ajax did so this year though. A club legend but it was time for him to leave.
https://i.imgur.com/30b2wd6.png
Signed for £900k and I wanted him to stay for many years but the dickhead chairman sold him to Blackburn for £15.5m. After three seasons there he went to Monchengladbach and after a season there I decided to bring him home for £12.25m. Benfica then came in with a big offer and I felt I had to accept.
https://i.imgur.com/2UDEfgg.png
I wanted to keep him as by attributes he was the best RB in my team but he was constantly moaning and playing like a dick so I cashed in.
https://i.imgur.com/mcfzR1X.png
I signed him last year to be my starting keeper after Madrid came in for our previous keeper (they then bought the keeper I had before him this season) and he was going to be backup this year as Pahor the non-Pole had his papers. So I cashed in.
https://i.imgur.com/tOjrDUs.png
Another legend but he was struggling to get into the first 11 so I decided to sell him. In hindsight I probably could have used him as my strikers were a bit shy at times this year.
https://i.imgur.com/RdwHc2l.png
Signed for £1.8m a few years ago and he was starting to get games but I felt the offer was too good.
Transfers In:
https://i.imgur.com/DCBIks3.png
https://i.imgur.com/HBjHiir.png
He is Polish and I wanted another body at CB. Cheap as well considering his apparent potential.
https://i.imgur.com/AEG7Xss.png
Our annual RB. I'm not sure why he has so many down arrows but his value has shot up and the potential makes me think he could be the one.
https://i.imgur.com/qCRGtLm.png
Our first non-Pole of the season. I almost signed him when he was 16 (we had agreed a deal for £18m) but I pulled out at the last minute when I realised he wouldn't come until his 18th. I tried to bring him in last February but he signed a new contract with Rangers but I wasn't going to let him go for a third time.
https://i.imgur.com/uEN8kM5.png
We have a brilliant LB already but this guy isn't far behind him despite only being 18. He's going to be a star.
https://i.imgur.com/9dz5tMw.png
Annoyingly (like most of my non-Poles) I couldn't secure a loan deal for him in Poland. I like him a lot though so hopefully I can get him some games next year.
https://i.imgur.com/HeQgqqf.png
Needed a backup GK so in came the best Polish youth GK I could find.
https://i.imgur.com/dUJOmac.png
Not too convinced by him but I felt I had to scoop him up.
https://i.imgur.com/HXu8A1Y.png
Not too big of a fan but cheap and I feel I'll make some decent money on him.
https://i.imgur.com/pJ0XDiR.png
I wasn't planning on buying anyone else (especially a non-Pole) but when I saw him I needed him. Man United, City and Newcastle were also in for him so I went big and after 30 games he'll be on £86k p/w... He can't play for us for at least 3 years until he gets his papers though so I'm not too worried. This guy will be a lethal finisher.
League:
https://i.imgur.com/hkKM5QO.png
https://i.imgur.com/n6SExzj.png
https://i.imgur.com/rhCighP.png
This was daylight robbery. We had so many foolish dropped points (like the post above) and I didn't think we'd win it. We were 5 points behind Gornik (who played out of their skins this year) with 2 games left and they ended up losing them both to Chrobry and Arka.
Cups:
https://i.imgur.com/Ujh6kfb.png
Took it a bit more seriously this year, especially when it looked like we might not win the league. I couldn't fail on two fronts.
Europe:
https://i.imgur.com/OtrWVuX.png
https://i.imgur.com/iYsc7cz.png
Absolutely bottled the last game of the group and slipped to second. We had an xG of 2.38 to their 1.13 (their goal was a penalty too) and it was really annoying considering we only needed a point.
Atleti were then drawn to Monaco (fuck me, a dreamy draw) and we were tasked with facing Juventus.
https://i.imgur.com/clSjpdW.png
We didn't deserve to be only a goal down but we had some really great finishing throughout the game and we actually took our chances.
https://i.imgur.com/yCtuTuD.png
Our luck ran out in the second leg though...
Squad:
https://i.imgur.com/Qvj8qRQ.png
Mariusz Duraj (from AML) and Stancyzk were on fire for most of the season but they'd go missing in many games and Kacper Duraj is still struggling to find goals despite having some really nice attributes although he does play well for us.
Serbia 2036 European Championship:
https://i.imgur.com/icmgmSs.png
I wanted a draw and thought we'd get it (don't forget Wales are World Cup winners in my save) but we collapsed in the second half.
https://i.imgur.com/xnZyahv.png
Should have won but we didn't take our chances and that's us gone.
https://i.imgur.com/cwqnhph.png
I can't even take credit for this because when they made it 4-2 I started SEETHING and clicked simulate match.
Knockouts:
https://i.imgur.com/gOP6U0H.png
My game is officially busted. We've had Ukraine & Wales win World Cups and we've had Turkey and now England win the Euros.
I was obviously sacked after this and when the tournament ended I applied to all available international jobs. I got offers from France, Italy, Wales, Denmark, Uruguay and the team I decided on:
https://i.imgur.com/gOP6U0H.png
Colombia.
I have just noticed now that Southgate resigned as Poland manager to take over at Ireland so I have re-applied for the job I should have never lost.
Edit: Resigned as Colombian manager to try and boost my chances with Poland but they ended up hiring Scot fucking Gemmill over me :moop:
Season 4 is in the books with Llanelli Town, and while we've dropped a position in the final table, it still felt like a year of solid progress - we earned more points, the squad feels stronger and we had our first European adventure.
https://i.postimg.cc/50V4mfsZ/s4-table.png
3rd spot is still enough to earn us entry to the Conference League again, but both TNS and Bangor were too strong this season for me to properly challenge for the title. The professional status of those two clubs is a great pulling power and 7 out of 9 league losses were to those two. The league was full of drama though - Cardiff Met Uni earned the final European qualification spot after scoring twice in stoppage time in the playoff semi-final against Haverfordwest, and eventually beating Bala in the final with another late winner.
Not as dramatic as the relegation battle though - Newtown saving themselves on goal difference in the most remarkable manner and condemning their opponents in the process!
https://i.postimg.cc/rs9NpyHc/oof.png
The squad was definitely improved on last season, although we were unable to coax Harrison Poulter back to lead the line.
https://i.postimg.cc/6QGVvfPM/s4-llanelli.png
Marquise Martins took over duties as the lone striker, and while he wasn't as prolific, he played a different role and was influential in allowing our wingers and attacking midfielder to push forwards. Connor Woods started the season in good goalscoring form but tailed off a little after Christmas, but Gwion James was once again brilliant all season long. Double figures for both goals and assists and he continues to develop well, despite still training as a semi-pro. We've already started recruiting for the new season, and the lure of European football is definitely helping us attract better players.
Speaking of Europe, our first campaign right at the start of the season helped boost the coffers and the Welsh co-efficient a little.
https://i.postimg.cc/k5x6C1zP/s4-europe.png
A historic win against Buducnost Podgorica helped earn us progression to the Second Qualifying Round, but Bohemians Praha were just a step up in quality and we couldn't hold on defensively in the away leg. The gate receipts from the two home games totalled approximately £85k, and the competition prize money itself was incredibly over £400k.
When you consider our annual expenditure currently sits at about £430k, this 4-week excursion was enough to ensure a profitable year was had. Hopefully we can mirror this (or even better it) this campaign and push for professional status!
So, my stint at Liverpool was unsurprisingly cut short. Early into my second season the club underwent a takeover and the new board were a lot less patient with my middling results. After a widly inconsistent first half of the season left us in ninth place I was duly sacked. Fair enough.
I then went to relegation-threatened Espanyol in Spain. I really wanted to try something new, so I created a deep-sitting anti-football setup:
https://i.gyazo.com/c0dd8918700bbd1c...adfff301bf.png
Which led to us finishing in a comfortable 10th spot. The problem was that while I did regularly win points off the big teams, we struggled anytime we had to take control of a game. Plus a tactic like that is really dependent on the few attacking players in it. Thus when my lone striker stopped scoring early into the second season the writing was on the wall and I was sacked again, almost exactly a year after being shown the door by Liverpool.
At this point I thought about starting a new save altogether but I thought I'd try one last challenge before doing so. I accepted an offer from Schalke, who were sitting in the relegation zone in Germany. I went back to the attacking tactics I had used at Torino and adapted them for the players there.
https://i.gyazo.com/1dba0fce287e2223...27028fe005.png
Barely staved off relegation in 15th, but had some promising performances.
One season and a couple of transfers (mostly loans) later and things are looking quite different:
https://i.gyazo.com/d91137d2e0c42188...7f7ac4516c.png
I'm a bit annoyed though, as once again, what worked best were variations of 4-2-3-1. Since that always seems to me like the laziest/least creative way to play the game, I'm already busy tinkering with other formations, and probably once again engineering my own downfall.
Pogon Siedlce 2036/37 Season Update:
Transfers Out:
https://i.imgur.com/qTGio5G.png
https://i.imgur.com/tZZoIFh.png
I didn't want him to go but he was moaning and quite a few teams were willing to pay a decent amount.
Transfers In:
https://i.imgur.com/eXSYb8e.png
https://i.imgur.com/FHBS8AJ.png
I didn't like the look at him but before he signed he had 4 star potential (I believe it was an early report) and I jumped on him. Oh well, he was cheap enough.
https://i.imgur.com/owiEaLx.png
https://i.imgur.com/bE9xPCn.png
https://i.imgur.com/PUgiIPt.png
https://i.imgur.com/BW8nh0z.png
All non-Poles and thus wont feature for us for at least 3 years. Also, do not fret, Barilari is actually a RB. Not sure why he's highlighted as LB there, he is absolutely our annual RB.
Slow year for transfers but it's impossible to find Polish players who would come in ahead of our first 11 and it's hard to find decent looking youth prospects. I'm also trying to limit myself on the amount of Non-Poles as we're up to 11 in the second team plus two in our first team who are now Polish.
League:
https://i.imgur.com/ZjDPQzY.png
https://i.imgur.com/27mM2SQ.png
https://i.imgur.com/n9J6bpe.png
Record breaking year and we've made it 5 in a row now.
Cup:
https://i.imgur.com/R6aIuy5.png
Whoops. I played my youth keeper that I bought last year (I had sent him on loan but we had injuries to all keepers and he was playing really well) for his first ever start and he conceded three ludicrous goals. I ended up taking him off and put on two first teamers to try and salvage at least a draw but it was too little too late.
Europe:
https://i.imgur.com/AL8b3Qu.png
https://i.imgur.com/SupEv0J.png
For the second straight year in a hard group we qualify but again we bottle it against the fourth side near the end meaning we take second rather than third. We even almost bottled our first game against Everton as we were losing 2-1 until the 84th minute.
Knockouts:
https://i.imgur.com/m1R7Fkh.png
When we went 2-0 up we were all over them and I thought we'd walk it. Sadly we couldn't get a third in the first half and they came out firing in the second half. We didn't deserve the win over the whole game but I'll take it.
https://i.imgur.com/tPRThDa.png
I want to cry. They were all over us throughout the first half and when we pulled one back in the second I thought we'd be alright. Sadly they came back into it and we fucked it at the end.
Also, we had a chance in the 93rd minute to send it to extra-time:
https://i.imgur.com/WgvIDLq.png
My left back shooting there and not passing it to Stanczyk who is our best striker who happened to be all alone in the box will haunt me for years.
Squad:
https://i.imgur.com/kTjMAw5.png
Mariusz Duraj, despite not being our best player by attributes, keeps performing the best for our team. Also, all hail our first 5* player:
https://i.imgur.com/85klPBz.png
It's a shame he's not a natural Pole but what a player he is. All for just £2m.
Also, I am back in international management. After being sacked from Serbia I took the Colombian job but resigned when Southgate left Poland for Ireland. I did not get my old job back and I went a few months with nothing but I ended up declaring interest in a few jobs and it ended up leading to me becoming the manager of Nigeria.
Pogon Siedlce 2037/28 Season Update:
Transfers In:
https://i.imgur.com/B2MOQDy.png
Finding it hard to find players who are worth buying right now (which is pissing the board off as they want me to throw money around) as most Polish youth look crap and I'm trying to limit the foreigners coming in.
https://i.imgur.com/Az13mTW.png
Not too worried at the lack of real star potential here as we have some amazing AML's. I still don't think he's going to be special but I do think he'll be pretty good.
https://i.imgur.com/Fy6aIi6.png
I think he's going to be absolutely bonkers and I hate that I have to wait 3 years (well 2 now) before I can use him.
https://i.imgur.com/6ZjbMzi.png
I hope I can find a loan deal for him next year (it's proving hard to find homes for the foreigners at other clubs) as he needs game time. Could be amazing.
Also, sadly this breaks the RB streak :(
Transfers Out:
Only two out the door this year:
https://i.imgur.com/ndElPuw.png
A backup goalkeeper who was never going to cut it here. £325k.
https://i.imgur.com/bcGObhF.png
I wanted to keep him as he's a natural RB/AML but the guy was constantly moaning and I decided to give another of the RB's a chance. £30m was a hefty fee for him too.
League:
https://i.imgur.com/wtlSYmT.png
https://i.imgur.com/RDysYha.png
https://i.imgur.com/9I5Dd8J.png
I thought we were going to win every game but sadly we got FM'd in a few. 6 in a row now.
Cups:
https://i.imgur.com/u1fs0s9.png
The second 11 are now far too good for this level.
Champions League:
https://i.imgur.com/RCZk8Rr.png
I'm not sure why we struggled so much against Astana in qualifying as I sent out pretty much the first 11 but like in most of our European games this year we conceded a lot from small xG's for our opponents.
The group went well and we were minutes from taking the top spot as we were beating 10 man Chelsea in the final game (who had dropped points against Besiktas) but then my best CB decided to be an idiot:
https://i.imgur.com/jgYZBXY.png
He had gotten the ball from Chelsea's striker and then for some reason decided to attempt a backheel to my keeper. It was incredibly weak and didn't reach the keeper which gave the Chelsea striker an easy ball to run onto and round the keeper. I was seething.
https://i.imgur.com/WdVDN2V.png
We played really well and their two goals came from corners other than that they weren't in the game at all. It was disappointing to come away with only a draw.
https://i.imgur.com/RKEw1rb.png
We battered them and I thought we had fucked it when we gave away the penalty. Thankfully it was put well wide and then my LB (who fucked us last year against Bayern) got redemption by sending us through to face Chelsea.
https://i.imgur.com/glrYeNm.png
We should have won so to go home down 3-1 was a real shitter.
https://i.imgur.com/F3NMYfZ.png
I'm still angry at this. To concede two from an xG of 1.1 is awful and we were all over them especially after their second as we threw the kitchen sink at them. We really should have won over the two legs but at least we've finally won a Champions League knockout game.
Squad:
https://i.imgur.com/n3PUyQI.png
Nusret and Josemi got their Polish papers this year and they were big for the team. Also, despite Mariusz's goal record I'm thinking of moving him on.
https://i.imgur.com/Kq862Yl.png
As you can see he barely plays for me in Europe these days so he's just bullying small Polish teams. Also thinking of selling the old man of the group in Smolinski as a non-Pole is about to get his papers who is not far behind him in current ability despite only being 19.
I'm going to Poland myself on Thursday so I'm going to try and knock out another season and hopefully have my first Champions League won.
Nigeria Update:
Qualifiers:
https://i.imgur.com/ks1AiFY.png
https://i.imgur.com/EyDc4oZ.png
Team clicked really nicely really early.
World Cup 2038:
https://i.imgur.com/EXgrPNn.png
Through in second as we had the same GD against Russia but they beat Saudi Arabia 3-1 to our 2-.
Second Round:
https://i.imgur.com/b93JtP0.png
We were shit as a lot of the starters were tired so we were lucky to grab the winner late.
Third Round:
https://i.imgur.com/xQIEg9G.png
A little better but another tight game in which we easily could have lost.
Quarter-Final:
https://i.imgur.com/VZOhoM5.png
Their keeper was MOTM and we really should have put them away :( Guess we used up our lucky in the previous rounds.
https://i.ibb.co/Lzjvgg5/dfd.png
:drool:
What year are you in? That is indeed glorious.Quote:
Originally Posted by SincereTheRebel
Im in 2042 at the moment. I'm still waiting on a GOD like English regen striker to appear so I can buy him at any cost and have 10 years as my number 9. Still waiting...Quote:
Originally Posted by Sir Andy Mahowry
:sherlock:Quote:
Originally Posted by SincereTheRebel
https://i.ibb.co/bKxxz01/fdgfg.png
England's got a goal machine. He's Ahmed Kamel and he's gonna score.
A very fitting name considering the new ownership too. He'll fit right in.
Ahmed Kamels running through
You know he's gonna skill you
You deny our business deals
And we will fucking kill you.
Armoured Camel :cool:
Anyone got some decent plug n plays? CBA building proper tactics myself this edition...
I was having some success with Vujevic's tactics, with some slight changes to suit my players. However, after a massive slump in form, I switch to this 442 and it's hlped massively.Quote:
Originally Posted by The Merse
Vujevic: https://fm-base.co.uk/threads/vujevi...tactic.174569/
442: https://fm-base.co.uk/threads/442-v-...-goals.177840/
Cheers chap!Quote:
Originally Posted by John Arne
2032/33, if I don't do it now I have to retire on sheer principle alone
https://i.imgur.com/meWwPYh.png
Brighton having a lovely old time.
C'mon Villa.
I've just started playing for the first time in about 5 years and the fm22.2 shaolin 433 v2.fmf from the above link is absolutely broken come my 4th season. Won the treble with Leipzig in my 3rd year using that formation but mixing it up against better opposition. Start of the 4th season has seen me win 5-1, 3-0, 7-0, 8-0 and 4-0 so far.Quote:
Originally Posted by wullie
Szoboslzai, Adeyemi, Gravenberch, Mudryk and Gabriel Menino are all ridiculously good. Bayern have beaten me 80% of the time but seem to absolutely throw multiple games a season whereas I just beat everyone else fairly easily. They also keep funding me buy paying over the odds for half my team and then not playing them. 4 years in and they still have the same team as they do at the start of the game playing every week minus Gnabry for Mbappe and Saelemaelers for Pavard. Lewandowski still scoring 35 in the league aged 35
Toggle Spoiler
Looking forward to these beasts. It's probably common knowledge but the following from Reddit has made finding and getting newgens for cheaper much easier. Bit of a slog going through them all but worth it.
Whenever new youth intakes start coming in sign them before they sign pre-contracts with the club they are at. To do that go to "World" menu. It's the one that looks like a globe on the top right hand corner of your screen. Choose the continent you want and click on "transfers". You will be taken to another page where you will see another pop down that says "All Transfers". Click on it. Then select "Youth Intake". You should then be able to see all the players that joined club youth teams that month. Clubs usually offer them contract about 2-3 days after they join so if you see a player with seemingly good attributes, you can offer him a contract, then scout him later. If he doesn't turn out to be that good, then you can withdraw the offer. You might still pay the 3-4 million but it will be staggered into clauses, some of which you might never fulfiL
https://i.imgur.com/3q6pNAS.png
https://i.imgur.com/LDOyvKm.png
SEETHING doesn't even cover it.
I hate Man United so much in this save, they are our kryptonite and it seems no matter how good we are they'll always fuck us up.
A quick update on where I am with things with my current (now old) save with Wolves/journeyman. It got a bit too easy in the end as I spent a few seasons with Wolves and built up probably the best squad in Europe. Man United were still a threat but we were generally dominant, including three Premier League titles out of four, and we'd likely have gone on to win more.
https://i.ibb.co/Z2r36XF/End-of-season-table.png
https://i.ibb.co/M6mX2g4/End-of-season-competitions.png
https://i.ibb.co/LScTWJh/End-of-season-squad.png
This is where things more or less wrapped up by 2034. My career path was as follows: East Fife > Blyth Spartans > Millwall > Brentford > Wolves. I don't think I've missed anyone out there. It was fun, but to be honest I'd be wanting to move on to FM22 (this was still 21) and get accustomed to the data hub and new ME, so that's what I did.
---------
After playing around a little bit with Huddersfield to get used to the game, I went straight into one of the official challenges over at SI forums - the FM Youth Academy challenge. The idea is to take a club previously unplayable on the game as far as you can, i.e. if it's an English club to the Premier League and Champions League titles. You can't sign anyone, and must rely solely on your youth intakes. A fair challenge, then.
The idea is that you holiday for a season and take over one of the promoted sides into the bottom league of your choice, however as I've downloaded the English lower league database, I felt I could go straight in with a team below the National League North/South.
https://i.ibb.co/LRh31Hn/Club-badge.png
Taunton Town are a club in the Southern League Premier South. I've had the pleasure of seeing them at Wembley in an FA Vase final 20+ years ago, so The Peacocks seemed a reasonable choice.
https://i.ibb.co/xfgCXx6/Club-info-screen.png
Interestingly, I've also seen one of their rivals, Tiverton Town, play at Wembley, so it was a close run thing, but in the end I think maybe the kit swayed it.
https://i.ibb.co/qBGJKG5/Squad-screen.png
https://i.ibb.co/tqw874V/Squad-start-of-season.png
Looking at the squad screens, you'll see I've made a few adjustments to the most important attributes. As I'm sure most of you are aware, acceleration and pace remain the most important attributes generally, with dribbling still very high. There have been some adjustments meaning that stamina (in particular) and work rate also now factor in quite heavily. With that in mind, you can see my key players are likely to be Jared Lewington and Lee Lucas. Player wise, we've no depth so I've had to promote a number of 16-year-olds to the first team squad, and we're very light on full backs, and defenders in general. Midfield and attack we're a little more blessed, but not to the point we're I'm going to be able to do lots of rotation, so there will be a heavy reliance on around 13-14 players.
-----
Creating my tactic. I found a very useful guide over on the SI forums for this. I'll number the steps to make it easier.
1.Choose your mentality. The recommendation is you focus on cautious, balanced or positive. The more extreme attacking and defending mentalities should be more situational, unless you have a particularly extraordinary team relative to your league. Consider your predictions and comparisons here. Our predictions didn't help at all: our media prediction was 2nd, our season preview predicted a mid-table finish, yet the board were simply aiming to avoid relegation. The squad comparison screens gave me a much better idea, and I took from them that our squad was slightly below average for the league - a bottom half side. It's always useful to flick between the squads in your league with your chosen filters on as that gives you a good idea too. With all that in mind, I opted for a BALANCED mentality.
2.You need to identify a defensive style. Build your tactic from the back. Check your defenders' pace, acceleration, marking and anticipation to decide on your defensive line. Again, customised squad screens are great here. Our defenders are pretty steady overall, so I kept the defensive line at STANDARD. I like this as it's my go-to choice anyway - I don't mind having higher one if we're going to really pressurise our opponents and keep a compact shape, but it's risky and you need the right defenders.
3.Line of engagement. Check your attacker and attacking midfields' work rate, pace, acceleration, aggression, bravery. Fortunately, I was confident enough here to opt for a MUCH HIGHER line of engagement - again, my usual go-to.
4.Pressing intensity. Similar to above but with strength and tackling taken into consideration, I felt we could go with a MORE OFTEN trigger press. Not overly extreme, but definitely along the Gegenpress lines.
5.Next, pick your defensive shape/formation. My favourite shape is 4-3-3 with a DM, however my next would a version of a 3-4-3, so I'm open here. We don't have enough cover to play three at the back, so a back four was quickly established. I like to have a back three option against two striker oppositions, but that's for the future.
6.The flanks. Full backs and wingers are the natural choice/imperative in a back four system, so this was pretty clear cut. More so by the fact we actually have some decent wide attackers, and a little bit of depth. As we're playing quite a high pressing game, it makes more sense to have the wide attackers in the attacking midfield strata rather than the central midfield one.
7.Up front. A slight dilemma here, as we have a star striker and another decent option. A lone striker is my preferred method, and that still suits our options.
8.Fill in the middle. We're left with a 3 man midfield. We've got options in each strata, but no real depth. Really, we have a decent defensive midfielder, an excellent defensive/central midfielder, and an attacking midfielder. So it how to get the best out of those three. A single pivot was obvious, but an asymmetrical formation seemed likely too.
9.Roles and duties. A sweeper keeper needs certain attributes, and mine is just about okay. On a balanced mentality, a sweeper keeper on defend is logical.
10.Defensive duties. You need three in a balanced setup. The two central defenders are a given, and usually the DM is the most obvious choice. You want it to be your most offensively limited player, in terms of physicality or technically (as in he will lose the ball easily), which isn't necessarily the case here, but there's not much in it between the DM and full backs, so to keep the balance and allow both full backs to support, this made sense.
11.Attacking duties. These should be the most capable going forward - your best attacking players. This may seem obvious, but I'm not sure it really is. In the past, if I've had a top class creative midfielder, I would have naturally put him in some sort of support duty. Apparently, it's better to have him on attack as he'll then become a more prominent player. Firstly, identify your best goal-scorer, who should be put on attack in a goal-scoring role such as shadow striker, advanced forward, inside forward etc. Then, identify your most creative player. Initially, I was going to play Lee Lucas as a defensive midfielder, but after reading this guide it became obvious that he should have a more attacking role in the central midfield area, with him being probably my best player. Then you should identify an attacker who can penetrate from a different area of the pitch. I kind of had this luxury, but for my main tactic I had to compromise a bit here.
12.Support duties. Everyone else, basically. So you have your most limited/defensive players on defend, your three best attack-minded players on attack, and the others supporting. This should provide the best balance. You need to try to make sure all five horizontal channels are filled as best as possible with people not getting in each other's way, but that's a whole separate discussion.
13.Attacking instructions. You could go into great detail here, but ultimately it's about the type of football you want to play, and the players you have at your disposal. Automatic choices for me are to play out of defence, work ball into box, usually low crosses and as high a tempo as you think your players can realistically manage.
14.Transition instructions. Regroup or counter-press (or neither). Look for aggression, teamwork, tackling, speed, bravery, work rate, stamina and make a decision. If you are going to counter-press, ensure you have cover with those defensive duties outlined earlier. Hold shape or counter. Look at pace and off the ball movement in particular for your attacking players.
That's pretty much the basic guide I followed. I also know what works and what doesn't with the ME, and it's something I can't really ignore either With all that in mind, I came up with this:
https://i.ibb.co/fNwhqCh/Tactic-screen.png
https://i.ibb.co/9vf5dcz/Tactic-screen-2.png
https://i.ibb.co/86WFjPH/Tactic-screen-3.png
There's no huge differences, although I'd class two as a 4-3-3 and one as a 4-2-3-1. The only difference between my 4-3-3s is that one has a central midfielder on attack with the wide player supporting, and the other has a box to box with the wide player attacking. The 4-2-3-1 might be slightly more solid and it allows Lucas to drive forward from deeper.
Following with interest. This may be of use.
Pogon Siedlce & France 2038/39 Season Update:
Transfers Out:
https://i.imgur.com/2cBsgGj.png
4 big deals in Javi, Mariusz Duraj, Smolinski and Kalinowski. Javi was just a sub option who was constantly complaining (he was also one of our own) with the other three being regular starters. Or they were but were getting phased out of the team by younger players and I decided to cash in.
Transfers In:
https://i.imgur.com/oqL5kHq.png
https://i.imgur.com/QPJv74D.png
I think this guy is going to be incredible. He went on loan to Slask this year and scored 11 league goals from 24 starts and added another 10 in 4 cup games.
https://i.imgur.com/tNxGGPf.png
An absolute steal and I've already made profit as Legia paid me £60k to take him on loan where he played incredibly well.
https://i.imgur.com/1CCmRfW.png
No loan for him so he stayed in the second team where he was ok.
https://i.imgur.com/HjsGoHU.png
Not sure why his determination took a hit, he had a few injuries but nothing major. He scored 14 goals for the second team and played very well for them.
https://i.imgur.com/V8IkaEM.png
Another who had to settle for games with the second team but again he did well.
League:
https://i.imgur.com/tAXUFMo.png
https://i.imgur.com/O2zfJBp.png
https://i.imgur.com/4qc3Qa1.png
Not sure what the fuck happened in that Widzew game. At 6-0 I made subs and went for a piss and to eat something and I came back to Widzew having been torn to shreds. xG was 5.68 and we only had 21 shots on target.
Cups:
https://i.imgur.com/1FUZ0xX.png
Playing our second team in the cup final :cool: They had an easy run to the final other than the first round (Wisla Krakow) but it was great to play them, just a shame we battered them so badly as I wanted to see the forriners show their quality.
The second team also ended up doing something the first team was unable to do which is win the I Liga becoming only the second reserve team to do it. The other time it happened was 2023/24 when Legia II stopped us from winning it.
https://i.imgur.com/J4YC89Q.png
Europe:
https://i.imgur.com/nW1DVmh.png
https://i.imgur.com/jY04AmQ.png
Our first time as second seeds and we got arguably our hardest ever group and I was worried that we'd end up having to settle for third. Beating the holders Madrid both times is easily our best moment thus far in the competition.
https://i.imgur.com/P7XQG4Z.png
https://i.imgur.com/pOZdBrP.png
Unfortunately we were drawn against our old foes (they're now 8-0 against us with a goal difference of thirty seven) and despite looking like the better team across both legs we got fucked up.
It's annoying as we had been making real waves lately in the Champions League and I thought we had a shot this year.
Squads:
https://i.imgur.com/d2do0Ma.png
I'm relatively happy with the first team. RB remains a problem though and the strikers blow hot and cold a lot. It might be time to unleash Nusret fully as he keeps banging in goals when he does get minutes.
https://i.imgur.com/tBntM3E.png
The second squad is heaving with forriners waiting to collect their Polish papers and in the next season we should see Cicevski, Ascacibar, Galat and Barilari (who I'm most excited about as he should solve the RB problem) get their passports.
France:
After the World Cup with Nigeria I had my pick of various nations and I decided to go with France as they have some players that I had been wanting to manage.
https://i.imgur.com/eEXuKus.png
https://i.imgur.com/Opv0cPG.png
In my save it still appears that the HOME NATIONS are over powered. I'd love some international silverware soon and I'm also hoping that I can re-gain my job with the Polish national team (currently managed by Andrea Pirlo) as I'd like to win something with them too.
Thanks Manc, I've used Passion4FM quite a bit in the past.
One thing I do need to remember is to actually play my youngsters a bit to aid their development. None of them are particularly good at the moment, but there's an attacking midfielder who isn't bad and a left winger with potential. And since my update above, I've had two first team wingers pick up long term injuries.
100% here for Peacocks chat. I’m Taunton born and bred and I can’t wait for next season for all the away games in London and for FM23.
Have they been promoted in real life then? I was going to have a look.
Here's my HOYD and two most promising teenagers.
https://i.ibb.co/dkpQwRp/HOYD.png
https://i.ibb.co/KDcnSX6/Jack-Clifton.png
https://i.ibb.co/2h2JgvL/Ross-Warwick.png
The youth development bloke is the only person I've brought in. I didn't have much to work with, but he has a fairly sporting personality, is great with working with youngsters and his second preferred formation is what I'm hopefully after long term.
Yes, they're NLS next season.
Half-time update. Things are looking good in the league.
https://i.ibb.co/Y8TXrrS/Halfway-table.png
Some excellent performers:
https://i.ibb.co/YXFV0Gq/Halfway-squad.png
https://i.ibb.co/1zHfGBw/Halfway-schedule-league.png
https://i.ibb.co/7gQrxcC/Halfway-schedule-FA-Cup.png
As you can see, our league form is good but so is our FA Cup progress. We've made it to the second round proper and we'll play League 2 Walsall shortly. They're three leagues above us so it'll be quite the test. We beat National League South high flyers Dartford and Ebsfleet, which bodes well for next season if we manage promotion.
Looking at a few select pass maps, you can see how we've incorporated the 2-3-2-3/2-3-5 shape quickly and effectively.
https://i.ibb.co/Zf965YF/Pass-map-1.png
https://i.ibb.co/wh3x7rT/Pass-map-2.png
https://i.ibb.co/Z6XQ23Q/Pass-map-3.png
Finally, another young lad who has broken through in recent games (and a cracking name to boot). I should also mention that I'm using the Southern League Cup as a chance to play as many teenagers as possible, and the five that started round 1 have seen us through.
https://i.ibb.co/fD9g1Mf/Ronnie-Fowler.png
Apologies for the lack of updates but it's been a heck of a week for one reason or another.
https://i.ibb.co/rZKVfM0/End-of-season-table.png
We're up! A lack of squad depth made it a little uncomfortable at times, but being able to concentrate on the league and not too many injuries second half of the season meant we were able to ride out any blips.
https://i.ibb.co/Pz9LPbh/End-of-season-schedule.png
https://i.ibb.co/HHWzry9/End-of-season-squad.png
Unsurprisingly, my star men (Foulston, Lewington, Lucas, and to an extent Adelsbury and Grimes), experienced players running through our spine, saw us home. Some of my 17-year-olds such as Warwick and Clifton got to see a fair bit of first team action, and next season as they turn 18 that will be vital for their development.
https://i.ibb.co/dMnL1Vw/Finances-and-reputation.png
We sold 82 shirts and our reputation has increased from half a star to one star (as has my own reputation).
https://i.ibb.co/z5ZDyGm/Youth-intake-1.png
https://i.ibb.co/4KdcNwT/Youth-intake-2.png
We've got our youth intake, and it's promising enough with many of them being offered contracts. Filipe Afonso and Emmanuel Adjei probably stand out but there's a bit of everything in there. I'll update you soon on how our first team squad looks but in brief, we've no established keepers and barely any full backs, so watch this space.
Felipe Afonso :drool:
https://i.ibb.co/QCMpzTZ/Filipe-Afonso.png
There's the boy. He's remaining in my under 18s for now though.
https://i.ibb.co/Fwt2r3g/Season-preview.png
Scary.
https://i.ibb.co/SsyDNSG/Tactic-start-of-season.png
A couple of slight tweaks to my tactic:
-Mentality dropped to cautious
-DM moved up to support to negate the cautious mentality
-line of engagements dropped down to 'higher'
That's it for now, all taking into account the step up in level and lack of options in a couple of defensive areas.
Here we go...
https://i.imgur.com/wox33PJ.png
Mbappe in the mud :drool:
We’ve got a couple of Portuguese restaurants and several peri peri joints in Taunton these days so Filipe will be just fine.
My 5th season with Llanelli is done, and we managed a top 3 finish for the 3rd year in a row, and with our highest points total so far. Unfortunately we bottled 2nd on the last day, conceding an 89th minute penalty to draw 1-1, and with TNS losing the Welsh Cup final on penalties, we had to go through the European Playoff. Thankfully we managed it with a couple of routine wins and confirmed our place in the Conference League for a 3rd season.
https://i.postimg.cc/CKrwp0t0/25-26-table.png
Don't be fooled by the 6 point gap, TNS are still as dominant as ever - they clinched the title with 4 games to spare before playing their reserves and losing the next 3. We managed to actually beat them twice this year, but losing 3 out of our 4 games with Bangor really hindered us.
Our Conference League run was impressive - we started with a fairly routine 2-0 aggregate win over HB of the Faroes, before being drawn against WSG Tirol, a professional Austrian team who had received significant investment and were paying a small fortune for a number of internationals in their squad. We were beaten 4-2 away (and we were lucky to get 2), and at half-time in the 2nd leg, they led 1-0 and the dream seemed to be over. But somehow we burst back into the tie with 3 2nd-half goals before the local boy Gwion James thumped in a winning penalty in extra time, sealing an incredible 6-5 aggregate win. The 3rd qualifying round against Cherno more Varna was somewhat of an anti-climax as they controlled possession in both legs and thoroughly deserved to progress, but our exploits earned us approximately £850k through the prize money and gate receipts.
https://i.postimg.cc/3wxLHP4C/conf-league-3.png
And this is the group of players that did the job for us this season:
https://i.postimg.cc/KcWrK1KT/25-26.png
Our loanees were a step up in quality this season, and we've already agreed deals to bring Brümmer, Carey, Johns and Martins back for another season. Remi Bourigeaud was snapped up by Metz for £20k and they allowed us to loan him back for the season but ultimately, he was disappointing and ended up sitting on the bench for the majority of the year. We also brought in Matt Everitt and Danilo Orsi-Dadomo on free transfers throughout the season, and while Everitt has taken some time to gel with the team and tactic, Orsi-Dadomo was immediately influential with 9 goals in 11 games, ensuring we remained unbeaten throughout and had a really strong end to the season during the Championship Stage.
Finally, Gwion James. Our very own youth prospect just continues to improve and consistently perform, winning the Young Player of the Year award for the division and constantly chipping in with important goals and assists. But unfortunately, he only has a year left on his contract, and is refusing to enter talks, claiming that we don't have the quality in the squad (which is probably true). TNS have already been sniffing around and I'd be sick if I lost him to the current dominant force in Welsh football.
With the funds generated from our European run, I was able to push through some training facility upgrades and we FINALLY turned professional at the end of the season, which will hopefully really help with our fitness levels and development throughout the squads. I've managed to get most of the first team onto full time contracts whilst keeping wages fairly reasonable. Hopefully as the season goes on we can persuade James to sign a full-time contract - I'd be willing to break the wage structure to keep him here. Left-back is the main priority in the summer transfer window, and we already have a couple of centre-back options joining. Lastly, bad news from the Conference League 1st qualifying round draw - we've been given BATE Borisov, probably one of the strongest clubs to be drawn against and it'll be very tough to progress. A single round appearance is still good for £300k or so, but I'd love more to really improve the coaching and scouting available to us. Fingers crossed for another magical European night at Parc y Scarlets...
Im giving him one season at Newcastle, and then im spending my whole budget on the cunt.Quote:
Originally Posted by SincereTheRebel
Toggle Spoiler
A quick update as we've reached the end of the regular season:
https://i.ibb.co/dkLnK7w/End-of-seas...ular-table.png
Better than expected. I'm genuinely not expecting or really fussed about going up; I'm more concerned with gradually blooding our youngsters, some of whom are now establishing themselves as first teamers.
:
A quick look at the youth intake for next season:
https://i.ibb.co/VC1zg4W/Youth-intake-preview.png
https://i.ibb.co/DCdB6qc/Youth-intake.png
I'll go into more detail later but it isn't overly promising. I'm more concerned with last year's lot now reaching 18 and the importance of giving them more game time to aid their development.
https://i.ibb.co/hWFfycS/Main-tactic.png
https://i.ibb.co/CbMWH3Q/Youth-tactic.png
You can see a slight tweak between my first XI and youth XI tactic. You'll also notice the lack of real options at full back means when the young ones play there I'm more or less being forced to play them on a defensive duty.
I'll give a more detailed update after the play-offs.
https://i.ibb.co/L1KXXQF/Play-off-first-round.png
https://i.ibb.co/rFgcNj5/Play-off-semi-final.png
Alas, it wasn't meant to be. Billericay are stronger than us so no real surprise.
https://i.ibb.co/d5BQnFV/Schedule-first-half.png
https://i.ibb.co/Yfj2z3T/Schedule-second-half.png
https://i.ibb.co/FnC2Z5q/Squad-average-rating.png
In terms of the squad, clearly Jay Foulston, Jared Lewington and Lee Lucas remain our key players. Foulston is only 22 and as long as we can keep hold of him, he'll help keep our defense solid with the teenagers around him. Lewington and Lucas are now both late twenties/pushing 30 so won't necessarily be in our long term plans, however they remain key for now. They're great pros and leaders for the others.
You might also notice I've made some amendments to the squad screen, including resetting the attribute threshold colours, so now it's the oranges we're looking out for in terms of good players at this level.
https://i.ibb.co/4Kftr5H/Players-Foulston.png
https://i.ibb.co/YpD5cbr/Players-Lucas.png
https://i.ibb.co/vmW4D0W/Players-Lewington.png
https://i.ibb.co/tMPKdRf/Players-Clifton.png
Clifton is my main breakthrough player. I have to play him as an attacking midfielder rather than a shadow striker, but he's good creatively and we'll possibly build our team around him in the future.
https://i.ibb.co/J3RmyGt/Players-Fowler.png
Fowler is quicker and more direct than Clifton, and when he plays as shadow striker the latter drops into central midfield.
https://i.ibb.co/8zsYgz7/Players-Logan.png
Logan had some game time and will eventually replace Adelsbury in defensive midfield, although we do have a lad called Sibanda who I am eyeing up as a potential deeper-lying playmaker in the future.
https://i.ibb.co/y5cwb72/Players-Jallow.png
Our first-choice keeper through necessity.
https://i.ibb.co/1ZjkGdR/Under-18s.png
Not a lot to go on with my under-18s, but we'll see. Xavier Slack is good in the air and Scott Webber has pace.
I'm having a bit of a problem with Taunton. I lost two of my promising youngsters (Fowler and Sibanda) with seemingly nothing I could really do. We then lost our assistant manager. That would be okay if the young players were developing, but they're not really. Even the 18 year-olds that are regularly playing aren't really getting any better. All I can really see happening at the moment is I continue with my three or four star players as they gradually get older, and the young players become integrated into the side without really improving things. I can't increase the youth level or improve the training or youth facilities, and the board won't entertain the idea of turning professional.
That's all fair enough as it's Taunton and they're a part-time outfit with limited resources, but I'm in danger of just stagnating. The season is going okay in general and I'm seen as being untouchable, but I'm not really sure what the end game is. I've been linked with a couple of league sides and I'm considering changing tact slightly. It'll still be a youth academy challenge with no signings, but perhaps I'll need to move clubs at some point in order to progress things.
https://i.ibb.co/RCjdcBQ/Season-preview.png
...
https://i.ibb.co/DwPzXK5/Fowler-departs.png
https://i.ibb.co/28F75Ms/Sibanda-departs.png
These were the two players we lost early in the season, shorty followed by our assistant manager.
...
However, in much more positive news...
https://i.ibb.co/CH1rFtj/Youth-intake-preview.png
https://i.ibb.co/wL9cZWV/Youth-intake.png
https://i.ibb.co/9VjBmz0/Under-18s.png
A much more positive youth intake has left some grounds for optimism.
https://i.ibb.co/fkqW1rH/Player-Hickinson.png
https://i.ibb.co/3YR7p6H/Player-Fanning.png
https://i.ibb.co/RC7XBYj/Player-Torniainen.png
Hickinson is comfortably the best player to come through the youth setup since I joined and will go straight into the first team squad, and Fanning is a promising keeper (essential). Torniainen is a wild card but has plenty of pace.
https://i.ibb.co/kMk8QV2/End-of-season-table.png
We were very inconsistent this season and I had to do a lot of tweaks to the shape and personnel. It turned out our other young keeper was much better than the lad I'd had in the first team squad from the very beginning, so he shored things up. Also, I had to bite the bullet and do away with inverted wing backs as they just weren't working: not only are our full backs poor offensively, we ended up conceding a lot from crosses so I opted for regular full backs and inverted wingers towards the end of the season. This seemed to help our shape and it's an approach I'll probably use at the start of next season.
https://i.ibb.co/C6ZnDvk/End-of-season-schedule-1.png
https://i.ibb.co/PQFx5gq/End-of-season-schedule-2.png
https://i.ibb.co/th0tWDJ/End-of-season-squad.png
The usual suspects were the best performers, however Clifton has now firmly established himself as key member, despite his attributes not improving much.
https://i.ibb.co/rdYH09Y/Player-Clifton.png
And the next gen for a bit of fun...
https://i.ibb.co/2sD0qhp/NXGN-24.png
San Félix have hit the jackpot.
Pogon Siedlce 2039/40 Season Update:
Transfers In:
https://i.imgur.com/wvMux7X.png
https://i.imgur.com/fIfbb5S.png
He's a natural DM but he can play at CB, RB and CM. I have no idea why I ended up giving him such a fat wage as the deal was done a few seasons ago and we had to wait until he was 18 to join us.
https://i.imgur.com/COPTmh0.png
I couldn't say no considering how cheap he was. He's done well for the second team so far but for some reason the manager has been playing him at RB.
https://i.imgur.com/AfWjsVb.png
Most of the time he's played at AMR for us and he's done fairly well. I think he could be a real talent.
https://i.imgur.com/EyiWGwE.png
I think he could be our next great Polish CM.
https://i.imgur.com/LfSdWFu.png
I'm buying too many wingers but the game just seems to keep producing bangers in that area.
https://i.imgur.com/OUTYS40.png
We have an absolute beast at LB right now but fuck all depth there.
https://i.imgur.com/qhQHLnf.png
I think he's great but I don't think he's going to end up getting to his potential unless we can sort him out a loan deal to a Polish club next year.
Transfers Out:
https://i.imgur.com/7TVEhyf.png
https://i.imgur.com/iwfu0ou.png
This guy was the only meaningful transfer out. He was produced by us and I think he looks pretty good but his potential is seemingly quite low, had it been 4 stars I'd have kept him around.
League:
https://i.imgur.com/7BJ7Tx5.png
https://i.imgur.com/128LMrO.png
https://i.imgur.com/UkYXMQz.png
Our first invincible season and we're currently on a 63 game streak without losing. We set records for most points, most wins and most goals (145). Wisla also set a record for most points finishing second in large thanks to one of our players:
https://i.imgur.com/Z30ochz.png
We sent him on loan there this year and he ended up as the league's top scorer (only because we rotate so much) with 26 in 32.
Cups:
https://i.imgur.com/zsoMd8C.png
Europe:
https://i.imgur.com/xDZKQ0A.png
A shaky start to the campaign and we needed to avoid defeat to Lazio in the final game to go through which we thankfully did.
https://i.imgur.com/kJPj5gG.png
https://i.imgur.com/xWDVKb3.png
In the group stage this guy only scored 3 goals. This was due to some rotation and me playing him at AMR as an IF at times. In the knockouts he went batshit though.
Against Barca he scored all 4 of our goals, he also got one against PSG and another against United to help us through to the final.
https://i.imgur.com/ySZKg5N.png
Another 3 from Stanczyk but it wasn't enough. We dominated them especially in the first half:
https://i.imgur.com/sih1V8Z.png
And I thought we had it when Topalovic made it 4-2 in the 86th minute. Lemmens decided that wasn't the case though and he grabbed two late to send it to extra time. In ET they were far better than us but when we scored I thought it would be enough but this dickhead popped up again
https://i.imgur.com/IsTg5ru.png
The player I hate more than any other across all my FM saves. When penalties came around I feared for the worst as we only had 4 players with a penalty taking attribute of 10 or higher, this fear became reality:
https://i.imgur.com/oXJTTJB.png
Annoyingly too Nusret came to me a few days before angry that he wasn't starting enough games and he hit it right at the keeper. When Fournier had his penalty saved by Pahor I thought maybe we were going to win after all but then Ascacibar stepped up, a man who has only had a Polish passport for a few months and he smashed the ball out of the stadium.
I'm absolutely devastated.
Squad:
https://i.imgur.com/JNikbvV.png
I have the Euros with France in a bit but I need some time after that CL final.
Mahow, can't you spoiler that stuff?
No, fuck off.Quote:
Originally Posted by Bam
Shut up you fat slag.
Euro 2040:
Group Stage:
We drew Holland, Croatia and Bulgaria. We won all three games 3-1 against Holland, 1-0 against Croatia and 2-0 against Bulgaria:
Knockouts:
https://i.imgur.com/EPepb1O.png
https://i.imgur.com/P6YguLS.png
Against my old team who fired me after doing shit at the last Euros. I instantly resigned after the game as I wasn't keeping the job at all.
I've decided I'm taking a break from International football unless the Poland job comes up again. I did think it might come up after this as the Italian job was avilable and I thought Pirlo (managing Poland) would apply and get it but that didn't happen.
My Taunton adventure is over. I think I mentioned it the other week, but too much fun was being sucked out of the game with not enough reward to make it worthy. The Youth Academy Challenge is a great idea, but when you're a part-time side punching above their weight yet I can't turn professional, do anything meaningful in training and the board won't/can't even contemplate upgrading training facilities, youth facilities or youth recruitment levels, then it all becomes a bit...pointless.
I was doing okay again in my third or fourth season (mid-table despite predicting bottom), but all that was happening was my best players remained my best players, but they were getting a year older. I had one good youngster from the beginning who had made himself a first-teamer, and he'd improved certain attributes through individual training, but regressed in others. I looked at the screenshots comparing him at 17 and 19 years old and he wasn't really any better overall. The same for Afonso (the Portuguese striker). I had one good youth player from the latest intake who had made himself a first-teamer, but it was only going to be the same story. My best hope was that I'd get one youngster through each season and after five or six years they'd make up most of my first team, as the older players retired or left. Then we'd have (at best) a competitive National League South team. It just didn't seem worth the time and effort.
On the flip side, I do like the theory, it just needs to be at the right club, so I decided I'd keep going and hopefully find a more suitable club. What I like most about it is really getting to know your small squad of players, and tying to eke out the best of them. I was being linked with League 2 jobs by this stage and had three interview - Leyton Orient, Northampton and Morecambe (I think). Northampton offered me the job, so I moved on.
https://i.ibb.co/dMRXnVh/Northampton-squad.png
https://i.ibb.co/Gvrrbbc/Northampton...mid-season.png
That's the current table, as I forgot to take a screenshot when I arrived, but here's my results so far:
https://i.ibb.co/XXqTNyV/Northampton-schedule.png
I tried something a little bit different for me - a 4-2-3-1, supposedly a Mourinho-inspired tactic. It was one I downloaded as I was doing a bit of experimenting.
https://i.ibb.co/PGqm9Mq/Northampton-tactic.png
It seemed okay at first, but then we took two absolute batterings away from home and I quickly remembered when I'm so fond of the 4-3-3 with a DM. In the Cheltenham game, they had an attacking midfielder behind two strikers, and the AM had free reign whilst our centre backs marked their strikers. In fairness, I played all my back-ups too so it wasn't just down to the tactic. The squad are absolutely shattered and we're playing twice a week, and so far that's probably been the biggest challenge.
So I reverted back to the tried and trusted, and created my own 4-3-3 from scratch. I've created two home and two away and will happily go into detail on why I've settled on these roles and duties if anyone is interested.
https://i.ibb.co/VByJrnt/Northampton-tactic-1.png
https://i.ibb.co/QXw8C4P/Northampton-tactic-2.png
In brief, it's a mixture of playing my favourite shape, trying to get some verticality into the side, trying to gradually train the players up to become better technically and also knowing what works well within the game in general. My ultimate goal is to play some kind of total football which is not really possible for a lower league side, but it's something to work towards. On that note, my other save, which is my own version of the Ultimate Challenge, has Sporting playing this version of Johan Cruyff's 3-4-3 diamond:
https://i.ibb.co/bHtsR96/Total-Football-tactic.png
Absolutely great fun, but not for the faint hearted. Also not my tactic. You need to be one of the better teams in your league and you need all round good footballers, so it's something I'm going to look to emulate on a more manageable level at an average club over time.
https://i.ibb.co/GHxwmr1/Benfica.png
If I wanted to make TTH on FM23 would you lot bother filling in the template?
Got back into this during El Covid strike 3. Lucca is lol
https://i.gyazo.com/f475260e95b2af1b...c8fc892d5a.png
Pogon Siedlce 2040/41 Season Update:
Transfers In:
https://i.imgur.com/885YZQB.png
Our only signing this year at £525k, I don't think he's going to be anything special but he was cheap and I thought I'd take a punt.
Transfers Out:
https://i.imgur.com/9VtuDDC.png
Three big transfers left the team, here they are:
https://i.imgur.com/3qfsYx0.png
I had thought about selling him for a couple of seasons but I kept putting it off as I do like him a lot, however he only had 2 years left on his contract and I didn't think I'd be able to make him happy enough to sign a new contract.
https://i.imgur.com/3CcnGpM.png
Signed him from Man United for £425k and he never really kicked on so I decided to sell him, I was stunned to get so much.
https://i.imgur.com/7ZlptKw.png
I loved Nusret but he has massively pissed me off lately. He missed some good chances in the Champions League final last year and he missed his penalty, in a Champions League group game he missed this chance:
https://i.imgur.com/6ic1694.png
And I decided I had enough. We also have a 50% next sale clause on him so we're going to make a lot more I feel.
League:
https://i.imgur.com/LCFvyXI.png
https://i.imgur.com/3wZthpL.png
https://i.imgur.com/j4ylWUf.png
Two invincible seasons in a row now and we're on a 97 game unbeaten streak.
Cups:
https://i.imgur.com/exGiKfb.png
Easy enough, just a shame we pumped our second team as I had hoped they'd put up more of a fight.
Champions League:
https://i.imgur.com/asQbvXW.png
We finished second in the group, we only needed a point against Lorient but we kept missing good chances (see Nusret) and we lost an easy game. However we got an easy tie in the next round before being drawn against our old nemesis.
I thought THE CURSE was done as we beat them last year but it's back.
https://i.imgur.com/lZ2BQDb.png
We were all over them before the red card and even then we were controlling the game until they got a jammy equaliser with the last kick of the game.
https://i.imgur.com/g5aX3ag.png
We dominated them again but we missed good chances and they did not.
Angry to have been dumped out so early after getting to the final and being a minute away from winning last year. Poland are moving up to 6th in coefficients now though so a second Polish side join us in the groups along with another getting the chance to qualify.
Squad:
https://i.imgur.com/rdgNw97.png
Nino Blazic has turned into an absolute don:
https://i.imgur.com/mmxZdo8.png
He splits his time between CM and ST (where he has gotten more minutes since Nusret left) and he performs incredibly in both positions. I think the team as a whole is really well rounded and I don't think we have many holes.
An absolute god tier finisher would be the only thing we're missing.
How are the other Polish sides faring in Europe?
The year just gone Wisla lost in the Champions League qualifying stages and ended up in a Europa League group with Napoli, Villarreal and Ludogrets where they finished 4th.
Legia finished third in their Europa league group with Southampton, PAOK and Viktoria Plzen. They then beat Sporting (6-5 on aggregate having lost the first leg 5-3) in the first knockout in the Conference but then lost 3-2 to Besiktas in the next round.
Rakow lost to Dynamo Kyiv in their Conference qualifier.
Pogon beat Kalmar but then lost to Cluj in their qualifiers.
Wisla did really well in the previous two seasons though. In 38/39 they got to the Europa League second knockout round (losing to AC Milan but they did beat Leverkusen). They were originally in the Champions League and finished third in a group of Man United, Barcelona and Atalanta.
In 39/40 Wisla lost to Lyon in the last qualifying round of the Champions League but they then got all the way to the Quarter final of the Europa League losing to Lazio.
Anyone ever had any experience with this bloke? I'm on FM Touch '21 still but I've never seen a scout give a 100 before.
https://i.imgur.com/AENxpYr.png
He's not a newgen.
Never used him before but I've seen some YouTubers talk about and use him. Meant to be shit hot.
I've parked my Northampton/Youth Academy challenge for now as I was doing some tactic testing with Norwich and realised I wanted to do a proper save with them. I'm planning on it being my 'Ultimate Challenge' save, where you need to try and win the top division and main cup in ten different leagues (plus a certain amount of Champions League or equivalent wins). I've loaded the ten main European leagues so that'll be my aim.
I quickly settled on the below tactics:
https://i.ibb.co/s6HCwtW/4-3-3-false-nines.png
https://i.ibb.co/NpjJh18/4-3-3-inside-forwards.png
The top one is quite overpowering as anyone who has played three strikers may know. The team instructions are pretty set in stone bar a couple, as is the mentality which I'll explain. Initially I was playing with wing backs on attack and it was devastating, however there was a pretty repetitive cycle of the wing backs getting to the byline, firing in crosses and my attackers or midfielders piling onto the end of them. I made a few switches to turn it into a much more possession based tactic, with wing backs on support without taking more risks or dribbling more, ball playing defenders becoming central defenders taking fewer risks and not dribbling, and all the risky passing and dribbling left up to the mezzalas and forwards. The attacking mentality means that even the defensive triangle all have a balanced mentality, allowing for much more fluidity in the play. It works fantastically.
Also, the two slightly different shapes allow for pretty much any type of player. When creating 4-3-3s I've often struggled to place advanced playmaker types, however they can now be trained up as False Nines and they are great at roaming around that attacking midfield strata, linking play and joining attacks. They can even play as mezzalas if necessary as they're quite creative too, but I still see them more as runners. The second shape allows for inside forwards or inverted wingers to flourish, and if we had any out and out wingers who needed to play they could easily be accommodated, shifting the wing back to an inverted role. Defensive midfielders could be ball winners, roaming playmakers or deep-lying playmakers with just small tweaks.
https://i.ibb.co/3r09nqS/End-of-season-table.png
https://i.ibb.co/M5LQKHF/End-of-season-squad.png
https://i.ibb.co/R3mQT6L/Adam-Idah.png
We were expected to do well so winning the league wasn't surprising, but it was done at a canter. I'm trying to now build around my younger players for the Premier League and early signs are that we won't have too many problems. The biggest issue comes with the first shape against bigger sides, particularly those with attacking full backs as we get overloaded as you can imagine, and concede a fair few. I'll need to switch to the second shape at times and also shift to a positive mentality.
After what must be about 8 years I finally bought a new laptop and it runs FM like shit off a shovel, so FM22 has been purchased.
Played a couple of saves so far - an Inter and Milan one with a mate online (which works very well I have to say) and dabbled with Newcastle last night until fifteen players in my squad decided to ask to leave on loan as we were approaching the January transfer window. Note to self to change their squad statuses the next time I try that.
But the game I really wanted to do will start tonight, which is with Norwich, my hometown club. I thought about targets, winning the league, champions league etc. But in the end I decided on one thing and therefore the target for this game will be to bring Kylian Mbappe to East Anglia. I suspect I'll have to accomplish a fair bit on the way to do it, or just still be in the Premier League fifteen seasons in...
Good stuff. Looking forward to the updates.
Phwoar
That "work through" wank must be the default go to when something is said on Twitter people don't like.
Full mid-season update coming at some point, but in the meantime:
https://i.postimg.cc/3N6nHmNp/Liverpool.jpg
:chief:
Norwich 2021/22 - Mid Season Update
The Objectives
So rocking up in East Anglia we were met by Delia Smith, who set these objectives for the length of my conetract:
https://i.postimg.cc/bwMYJczk/Objectives.jpg
Which I guess means we can get the club relegated and perhaps still keep the job. Still, with the experience of taking Oxford City down in FM21 still lingering, I'd really rather avoid that so the aim this season will just be to stay up.
The Finances
£20m in the bank and Norwich's lack of spending, well...ever, really hits home when you look at the debt situation:
https://i.postimg.cc/zXD8JX1V/Loans.jpg
A net debt of £7m is fapworthy stuff and the £250k payable a month won't even touch the sides of that delicious tv money should we remain the Premier League (or keep yo-yoing).
The Tactics
Looking at the squad we had some hard working central midfielders, decent wing back types and some pacey wingers, so with that in mind I decided to go with this formation:
https://i.postimg.cc/zGT2LTN7/Tactics.jpg
We have a second variant, which is exactly the same bar the mentality, which gets pulled back to very defensive. That'll be used for when we're trying to see a game out and whenever we're playing one of the big six, be it home or away.
The players
In terms of our better players, from those we actually own, the best and most promising two are these lads, who I like the look of a lot.
https://i.postimg.cc/Y2nCVmJd/Aarons.jpg
https://i.postimg.cc/TPfxhRzy/Omo.jpg
We also have Billy Gilmour on loan from Chelsea who could be great for us.
Transfers
Normally I turn first window transfers off, but given I'm coming to the FM22 party very late (and at a time when Norwich aren't even in the Premier League anymore) it didn't feel quite so dirty to leave them on, which armed us with a £10.7m WARCHEST and about £50k p/w on the wage budget to play with. After sending my scouts off to focus exclusively on players with superb potential and them giving me nothing in time, these two were brought in via the player search:
https://i.postimg.cc/TP3RCdCz/Sepulveda.jpg
Brings some much needed pace to our high backline and an absolute bargain both in cost (£2.8m from Chivas) and his pitiful wages. We also have an optional three year extension on him, which will probably be pointless as he'll be upset with the Frank Butcher he's getting a week long before then.
https://i.postimg.cc/Gmhw1MGY/Bastoni.jpg
£2.7m from Spezia also seemed an absolute steal.
Also looked at some loans, but we already have a few so decided that was enough to take us into the season, which has gone far better than expected.
Results
https://i.postimg.cc/tRSF5JDj/Fixtures.jpg
So many highlights in what has been an incredible start to the season, but the win at Anfield has to be the best. They absolutely battered us but we took our two chances and secured the three points.
The Table
https://i.postimg.cc/L8dYC11r/Table.jpg
It'd be pretty hard to get relegated from here, which was all I was really hoping to avoid when the season started, but if we could somehow sneak the spot in the Conference League that would be amazing.
The January window is fast approaching and I need to get some non playing dissenters out of the squad before seeing who I can get to join the PROJECT on a free in the summer.
Mbappe watch
Is Kylian Mbappe interested in joining Norwich?
Toggle Spoiler
To be fair to Miles, that is a good tweet - because it makes people focus him saying that he dated an 18yr old, whilst ignoring that other stuff he said about if being ok for an 18yr bloke to date a 15yr old girl... it's all pretty weird from Miles.Quote:
Originally Posted by Lofty
The deleted tweets...
https://gyazo.com/b419ef6db8823eeed43b8f8d219556aa.jpeg
Once you’ve found a player style you like, make sure to add yourself to my FM23 TTH team.Quote:
Originally Posted by Yevrah
And everyone else reading this. :thbup:
Norwich Season 1 2021/22 March Update
As we approach the business end of the season we've been on a fantastic run which sees us through to the FA Cup semi-final and 8th place in the league:
https://i.postimg.cc/1XYGgYpC/Results.jpg
FA Cup semi-finals are:
Brighton vs Arsenal
Leeds vs Norwich
And having come this far I'd be disappointed if we don't make Europe in one way or another.
https://i.postimg.cc/PrW6VdQT/Table.jpg
Can qualification through the league go as far down as 8th depending on winners of the cups and where they finish? Liverpool won the Carabao.
Oh and these two have just come through my academy:
https://i.postimg.cc/T3mT4LHh/Youth-1.jpg
https://i.postimg.cc/V6hTw4Jw/Youth-2.jpg
:drool:
Yevrah, I'm in my fourth season with Norwich and Mbappe has six months on his contract and is running it down. I'm in the Champions League so he wouldn't be the most ridiculous target, however I've no real intention of giving someone probably five times what anyone else earns. Man City look most likely.
Appreciate he'll cost a fortune, but I fear he'd be missing out if he doesn't get a chance to experience the waterways and beaches of East Anglia.
https://i.postimg.cc/MT2hnMXC/Results.jpg
We lost the cup semi-final to Leeds which looked like season over, but a ridiculous victory at Old Trafford has us back in the hunt in the league.
https://i.postimg.cc/L62gzNrX/table.jpg
Not really sure what the permutations with Arsenal playing Leeds in the cup final mean, but the game at Elland Road will be huge.
Every time I open this thread I feel inadequate. Bonkers effort.
Injuries and our generally poor squad took their toll in the run in and we lost away at Leeds, which I really thought was it, but a 1-0 win at Everton where we were battered, gives us some hope going into the final game.
https://i.postimg.cc/VkJ2sQz0/Table.jpg
Although when we look at the fixtures not much hope:
https://i.postimg.cc/Y9Rdfbpw/Fixtures.jpg
Close but no cigar.
https://i.postimg.cc/fLQxtXmQ/Table.jpg
We drew with Chelsea, as did Man Utd with West Ham but that was all academic as Spurs saw Burnely off.
Still, very pleased with an outstanding season and hopefully we get a decent budget in the window. Top priority is a Premier League calibre striker, or at least a player that could become one.
Delia I could kiss you.
https://i.postimg.cc/1Rqjdhyv/Delia.jpg
That'll do very nicely. Nearly £500k to play with on wages I think once the free transfers and a couple of other already agreed signings land.
Love it Yev. Have you scoped out the summer picks up?
In the past two weeks I have loaded up FM, picked three different teams, got through 2 days and closed it. The urge dies when I think about how much shit I need to "set up"
I've got six signings finalised already and a shit load of scout reports and searches to do. There are another couple of players I already have on the list that I think are definite buys, but just want to make sure I'm not missing out on other players by going for them.
It's definitely a pain in the arse to get going, but after a couple of false starts I think I've managed to get it down now and once you get through all that wank it seems a genuinely good game.
It's a great game but you need so much free time to get anything out of it.
I've said it before and I'll say it again, the mobile version is great. You can blast through a season in an evening.
I'm just gutted they've sacked off Touch. I clung onto Touch '17 for about four years, and now I'm in Touch '21 purgatory. I really hope Touch comes back for 2023 because the below, I'm afraid, is abominable game design.
https://i.imgur.com/jMyMBU5.png
https://i.imgur.com/EbJofKl.png
How did it get to this?
Because they always equate more features = better game
I had a great time with Touch on ipad but I think they have binned it off now and it is mobile or nothing? The problem for me is I want a middle ground: I want the full fat database to deep dive into unearthing gems but stripped back admin tosh.Quote:
Originally Posted by Boydy
Here's something I learnt recently, despite playing since CM97/98.
Height is completely irrelevant for outfield players (not sure about keepers).
It's all about jumping reach and heading.
A 4 foot defender with 20 for jumping reach will outjump a 6ft attacker with 5. Seems like such a bizarre thing to omit by FM.
Height used to be built into Jumping in old editions. Peter Crouch, for example, would have 20 for Jumping even though he was no gazelle.
Then at some point in the FM era (the first one maybe? I don't know, I still play 01/02) they added height and weight as attributes and made jumping a raw value, which is fine, but like you say they never seemed to incorporate that in the match engine.
https://i.postimg.cc/mkCnwPGC/Table.jpg
Difficult second season syndrome is real.
Got to the end of the normal season with Jihlava in the Czech top league, meaning we qualify for the Championship Group, whatever that is.
https://i.imgur.com/ZXmtGd5.png
I think I've fucked this Norwich save. Results are spiralling out of control, players keep getting sent off and goal droughts are everywhere. So annoying.
Where’s it gone wrong, Yev?
Too many new players?
How are the squad dynamics and social groups?
I can only assume I brought in too many players and we did get a bit carried away I will admit, with 12 arriving over the summer. It's irretrievably fucked now so that'll be another note to self. :D
Happens to us all. Dynamics us becoming much more important. Also, be sure to treat well respected players well.
I thought I'd kept enough of the old guard around but obviously not. The downturn was absolutely brutal and the board went from A-ing me to a D. Should I also never sign anyone where they have a scout report that says "has a streak that bends the rules". Tousart and Choudary both did and would not stop getting sent off, four times between them in 10 games.
I assume you’ve changed tactics? The game will often go through a spell of not letting you win until you do.
I changed a few things yeah, but the morale in the squad is so fucked now I think I did it after the point of no return.
Get Delia in for the team talks.
Tell everyone there conduct is good, or however its worded?
Praise anyone who has decent form over the last five games or played well in their last game. Praise anyone who has been training well. Anything over about 8, but don't quote me on that number.
Do the same for criticism - poor form, poor last game or poor training. Anything 6.5 or below. In fact fine them a week's wages for the poor game - it might improve their determination and work rate.
Got to get moral up, and you need to do it consistently.
Do you have to do that in every game every week to give yourself an edge when it comes to morale? If so, fuck me, it might as well be called Anxiety Manager 22.
Try to keep on top of it if you can, and obviously it's better to be proactive than reactive.
Go into the dynamics and happiness, and see what can be done. Game time, contract situations etc. particularly those team leaders and highly influential players. It might seem like a chore but you'll get used to it and get on top of it fairly quickly. Mentoring is good too - I tend to stick to positions: defence, midfield, attack, left and right.
Also, make sure your squad statuses are accurate as you don't want players not getting what has been agreed. On that subject, I use the following guidelines:
30% of wage budget on star/important players
30% on regular starters
30% on squad players
10% backup and youth prospects
Try to have around four star players, seven or eight regular starters, and around ten or so squad players. That will allow you to keep on top of your wages as well as anything moral and happiness based. It'll also make you see quickly who is either over earning or needs a different squad status.
They're all small things that can be managed quite easily, but ignore them and things can spiral out of control.
I add 'notes' to players all the time as reminders for things that need sorting later - usually at the end of the season. I even add them when I see someone who is a consistently good/bad trainer, or if someone works really well in a certain role or with a partner. I add them for young players who I think could develop into first teamers, or if I just need to keep an eye on a situation.
Really useful stuff this Scouse, thanks very much. The tactics were fine as we finished 9th in the first season, but clearly I suck at the micro management side. My Newcastle save was ballsed up for similar reasons.
You going to continue with the save? Could be quite the journey to get relegated and then try to get out of the Championship.
I paused it earlier as if I'd continued the board were going to fire me, which may well be inevitable at this point, so in short, not sure.
Is that not the whole thing for years with FM though? Whatever tactics work for you will suddenly not work for you. It’s built into the game that you have to do a big change to tactics once this happens - another stupid ‘hammer instead of a tweezers’ thing they built into the game.Quote:
Originally Posted by Yevrah
Yea, that's what I was getting at. I took Blackburn to a Europa League final one year and got sacked the next for flirting with relegation using the exact same tactic. Once it stops working, it's done.
Don't just hammer the same tactic regardless or it will come back to bite you at some point. I don't know your exact players Yev, but if you're still playing a wide 4-3-3 is there any way you can move your wingers inside and turn them into false 9s? Creative attack minded players with flair and vision can be trained into false 9s and it's the best way of getting the best out of those types of players in my experience.
You'll need wing backs on at least support duty and you'll have to sacrifice a bit in wide areas. To compensate that your central midfielders could be turned into Carrileros or Mezzalas. Make sure your players compliment each other vertically rather than horizontally.
You can go back to it once you've used another for a while, but generally I agree with this and what Giggles was saying.Quote:
Originally Posted by Browning
I think the problem I have with the save is that the players are all miserable, the board is annoyed and we're Norwich, coming back from it will be very hard and given how long the game takes to play anyway, there's no chance I'm going through a 46 game Championship season with FM23 so close to release.
If you're after any inspiration..
22/23 - first season back in the Premier League.
https://i.ibb.co/C2T8W0R/Table.png
https://i.ibb.co/L6BFQZJ/Squad.png
...
23/24
https://i.ibb.co/B2nt4Qq/League-table.png
https://i.ibb.co/y47vmsm/Record-high-finish.png
https://i.ibb.co/3dJ0mL8/Dream-team.png
https://i.ibb.co/khwd0M6/Europa-League.png
https://i.ibb.co/8Xbczs8/Squad.png
A more than satisfactory end to the second season back, culminating in major honours and Champions League qualification. We're light years behind Liverpool though, and with my aim of this save being to win the top ten European leagues, I'm not sure whether my first 'success' will be with Norwich.
I'm a little way into 24/25 now and fyi I've sold Sargeant (Real Madrid), Dowell (PSG) and Rashica (Leicester) plus a few others and for the first time I would say this is very much 'my' team, with only Omibamadele, Idah and Tzolis preceding my arrival. We've expanded the stadium, and both youth and training facilities are 4 and a half stars.
I also use data as well when comparing players and searching for new ones, and I'll share the data screen I created. I have separate ones for different positions, but this is the overview.
https://i.ibb.co/QQHR808/Squad-data.png
Impressive set up you've got there Scouse and clearly paying dividends. Selling Sargeant and Dowell to Real Madrid and PSG respectively has blown my mind. :D
I do have a question. On scouting, what dictates which players appear on the cards list you see vs 'Scouted' in the players tab?
The Scouted tab seems to have everyone, but it seems a bit random what shows on the cards.
Oh and another one, when I'm praising/bollocking players for their showing in training, how do I do that? I know the option to praise the top performer comes through the news item in the inbox, but how do I do the rest of them?
If it helps, I utilised Sargent as a false 9 and Dowell as a mezzala attack, both on the left centre. They complimented each other well.Quote:
Originally Posted by Yevrah
Click on a player and then 'discuss' I think it's called. You can then praise and warn as you see fit.Quote:
Originally Posted by Yevrah
You can only discipline a player for a poor performance that is 6.5 or less. When doing the code of conduct at the start of the season, I have all the first two columns as fine 1 weeks wages, and the second two columns as fine 2 weeks wages. Your manager's level of discipline will be up at 20 in no time and you'll be a strict disciplinarian.
Cheers Scouse, the option to praise wasn't there yet as I'd started a new game.
FM22 is free on Prime Gaming in Sept
Great spot.Quote:
Originally Posted by Raoul Duke
Melilla Season 1 2021/22 - Pre Season Intro
Welcome to Melilla, a coastal city in Northern Africa, population 86,384.
https://i.postimg.cc/13B9VVQX/Map.jpg
https://i.postimg.cc/Dw9cs0PV/vista-...-la-ciudad.jpg
And home to UD Melilla, who play here:
https://i.postimg.cc/8CnfW0S7/Stadium.jpg
The city also has a massive fence, which stretches 11km and is 6m high.
https://i.postimg.cc/7ZwKQfTg/melilla.jpg
Apologies in advance to anyone who already knew this (I didn't until yesterday), but the reason for the fence is that while Melilla is located in Africa, it's actually an autonomous city of Spain, which also means that Unión Deportiva Melilla, while based in the continent of Africa, play professionally in the fourth tier of the Spanish football pyramid.
https://i.postimg.cc/PrsHJzBT/16492.png
The board want mid-table, but we have a very good striker and central midfielder for this level, along with some defenders who look half decent so I'm aiming for the playoffs, which would be top 5. I've had a look and the promotion system in the Spanish third and fourth tiers looks utterly incomprehensible, so unless anyone knows how the hell it works we'll be learning together as we go on that one.
We have no money, well £25k in the bank, but we're spending £25k a week on wages (which is over budget by £2k p/w) so I doubt that will last long. Due to the financial and wage situation I can only offer wages of £220 a week to both prospective signings and anyone already at the club, which is a bit of a bugger, but in the case of the latter a nightmare as all but two of my players have contracts beyond June 2022.
Oh and we have this guy, who on name alone should be enough to spear an African themed assault through the tiers of the Spanish pyramid:
https://i.postimg.cc/zX8JpFpp/Ali.jpg
Game on and I'd love this one to last.
Melilla Season 1 2021/22 - Mid Season Update
Unsurprisingly only having a wage budget of £220k did hamstring somewhat in the market, but I managed to get two players in on free transfers, one of which would feature in the first team due to the gaps we had in the squad in midfield.
Also employed some staff, including this legend.
https://i.postimg.cc/7P5JJWkF/Mid-Season-Geremi.jpg
Onto the finances and the situation is absolutely horrific, with this the state going into January:
https://i.postimg.cc/rwPvssNX/Mid-Season-Finances.jpg
We're currently hemorrhaging £100k a month of losses, so I'm pretty sure we'll be £1m in the red come the end of the season and no idea how we recover any of it.
Still, on the plus side we are absolutely smashing the league:
https://i.postimg.cc/FFTGNqxw/Mid-Season-Table.jpg
Target is now to hold on and go up automatically.
Melilla Season 1 2021/22 - End of Season Update
Our great start just kept on going and we secured top spot with five games to go to take us to the 3rd tier of Spanish football.
https://i.postimg.cc/pT2JwY8R/League-Table.jpg
With that the board gave us a new wage budget, a £12k increase on the current level, which meant we could actually renew some contracts.
https://i.postimg.cc/QNzcmr6X/Budgets.jpg
Our finances however are still absolutely fucked.
https://i.postimg.cc/m2MVFDbx/Finances.jpg
Plan for the summer is to keep about 11/12 of the players I have if I can, let the rest go and bring in 6/7 youngsters to supplement the first 11. If we're ever going to get out of this debt we need to find one who can command a decent transfer fee.
Youth intake was pretty good, with two players good enough for the first team squad, including this one.
https://i.postimg.cc/Ghc9vgRc/Youth-GK.jpg
:cool:
Melilla Season 2 2022/23 - Mid Season Update
So the summer window came and the plan worked perfectly, with all the players I wanted to secure on new contracts the rest left and it enabled me to make six signings and a couple on loan.
The board wanted mid-table which seemed a bit steep, but on closer inspection there's little difference in quality in the sides in the third tier vs. that of the fourth apart from one key distinction, the B teams and we'd have to deal with Villarreal's, Real Madrid's and Barcelona's.
Still, with the dynamics in the club purring (thanks Scouse) I was reasonably hopeful of a top five spot and the playoffs with it. This proved well founded as we had a very good first half of the season:
https://i.postimg.cc/B6L9LVJQ/Fixtures.jpg
Barcelona B are bastards and the other two B teams are a nightmare to play, but the other sides are pretty manageable. A nice win in the cup over La Liga 2 side Tenerife as well.
Table looks like this:
https://i.postimg.cc/yN2p5Yzs/Table.jpg
We don't have enough in the tank to overhaul the bastards, but a playoff spot in the first season would be lovely and if we avoid the B teams I'd fancy my chances.
The finances are still fucked but the board did do this
https://i.postimg.cc/1XXgqPfV/Running-Costs.jpg
So we're now only £1.3m in debt.
That takes the save up to date and with a fair wind should be able to complete the season tonight. Ending the bank holiday weekend with a place in La Liga 2 would be cracking.
Oh and I'll whack some of HEROES that have taken us this far up soon.
https://i.postimg.cc/zG42VX26/1-Romero.jpg
Club captain and Melilla stalwart, clocking up over 250 games in his ten years here.
https://i.postimg.cc/rstKyjDv/2-Devine.jpg
Brought in over the summer on a free having been released by Man Utd. Cracking wing back for this level but always fucking injured.
https://i.postimg.cc/mg3V2NMz/3.jpg
Picked up on a free in the first summer window he's developing really well and owns the ball winning midfield spot in the side. Always nails it in training. I think I love him.
https://i.postimg.cc/Pq9MS3n7/4.jpg
Goalscoring and assisting monster threat from midfield, his output has reduced a bit in the third tier, but still one of the first names on the team sheet and another who was here before I arrived.
https://i.postimg.cc/NFfLmtPv/5.jpg
Former Bayern youth product we picked up this summer. Normally starts as an IF, but can do a job at striker as well. 13 goals in 18 games this season so far.
https://i.postimg.cc/8k9VhDYd/6.jpg
Signed just before I joined and has weighed in with 37 in 52 for me so far.
Playing as Derby and got Dane Scarlett for relatively cheap early on. Anyway he had a £150 buy out in his contract which after a load of pissing about with low ball offers City activated. I went straight out and got Moukoko from Dourtmund for £40m which I think is smart business.
But my poxy board have now pocketed the £150m, not given me 1 pence of it. Shambles.
24/25:
https://i.ibb.co/R7BvdFW/Table.png
https://i.ibb.co/m4Z0Vp3/Schedule.png
https://i.ibb.co/W2TXcZS/Squad.png
A disappointing season in the end in many ways, dropping to 6th after finishing runners-up last season. I was well and truly found out at the end of the season, which will serve as a wake-up call as I was on auto-pilot. Still, Champions League semi-finals wasn't too shabby before the inevitable defeat to Liverpool.
As I say, that end of season prompted me to have a re-think and I spent a bit of time coming up with three or four different tactics - a centrally solid gegenpress, a basic vertical tiki-taka, a three at the back patient possession and a couple of diamond efforts as they suit(ed) my players.
I signed Aaron Ramsdale and Dominic Calvert-Lewin...
https://i.ibb.co/C0BDbcC/Calvert-Lewin.png
https://i.ibb.co/H45j2N2/Ramsdale.png
...and decided this would probably be my final season with Norwich. As two experienced, elite level (but realistic) players for my Norwich team, they felt like the missing pieces to the jigsaw. I could carry on managing Norwich and maybe in five years' time or so finally have enough to win the league, but that isn't really the purpose of this save. If I want to win ten league titles and ten domestic cups in ten different countries, then I'll need to think about moving on. Norwich are now a four-star continental side, and with my reputation now at three and a half stars, my stock is high enough to get a 'bigger' job. As I say I would have waited until the end of the season, but in the back of my mind I knew a job may come up around November time that appealed, and that's what has happened. I'm only interested in either four-star teams with a bigger budget, or four and a half star teams that can improve my reputation, and that's one came up.
I haven't actually accepted the job yet as I'm just about to load the game back up (does anyone else save and quit whenever they get a job offer?) so updates to follow...
Melilla Season 2 2022/23 - End of Season Update
Season done and it was a good one that turned a bit bizarre.
https://i.postimg.cc/HnngrTPn/Table.jpg
We made the playoffs fairly comfortably, but were pipped for second by Real Madrid's reserve side on the final day, which, well, I didn't really know what that meant as there are two groups at this level and looking at the previous season's playoffs I could get anyone from my group or the other. Anyway, the game said my playoff semi was in 9 days but couldn't yet tell me who we'd got.
9 days came and went and nothing happened, there was no sign of the third tier Spanish league playoffs. Another week went by and still nothing. Finally the game advised me that I would play Bilbao B on the 28th June in the semi-final and face Castilla or someone else in the final if we made it, but no idea when. Which was potentially a bit of a problem as I had 11 players with expiring contracts on that 30th June, none of which I could renew due to our awful financial situation.
Playoff Semi-Final
Toggle Spoiler
Yev with the cliffhangers :drool:
Melilla Season 2 2022/23 - Third Tier Playoff Final
So having clinched a MASSIVE draw come victory against Bilbao B in the semi-finals our reward was Real Madrid Castilla in the final three days later. My players were fucked having just played 120 minutes, to make matters worse Madrid's semi was inexplicably over a week ago and to make matters even worse I had 11 contracts expiring a day before the final.
Contract expiry day came and went and unbelievably we only lost two players, the rest were on month to month contracts and would be available for the final. That was the only good news however, as everyone was still knackered and we were facing a side that in one player (Reiner) had an estimated transfer value ten times that of my entire squad. On top of that they had Nakai, Iglesias, Gutierrez, the list just went on.
So the question is, do miracles happen?
Toggle Spoiler
Melilla Season 3 - 2023/24 - The Finances
If this game ends up being a long term and successful one it's nice to look back at how poor we once were and at this moment in time, still are. After the playoff loss the board increased the wage budget to £42k p/w, which is lovely, but we couldn't afford to pay the £35k p/w we had previously, so unless they fancy putting their hands in their pockets (which to be fair they've become accustomed to doing) we've no chance of getting out of this debt shitfest until we either a) go up to at least La Liga 2 or b) sell a gem for some cash. Problem with b is that I don't really have any, but no matter. My good standing has led them to finally accepting my request for an affiliate and if we hit the motherload of Barca or Real that would be lovely, but it won't be in time for this window. Mainly because I forgot to ask before it closed. :moop:
I'll go through the better season 3 summer signings later, but in the meantime, this is why we are £1m in debt:
https://i.postimg.cc/PxQPHt97/Finances.jpg
We simply can't afford to run wages as such a high percentage of our turnover and I'm not sure why the board are letting us - Player wages alone were 95% of all income in the first season and 45% in the second, but that includes £1.7m the board invested to keep us afloat (it's just under 80% excluding it), without that I'm guessing the administrators would have been called in.
As above, I either need to find good players to develop and sell (not a sniff from anyone so far of any note) or go up at least one division but probably two. Life in the basement tiers of the Spanish pyramid is simply not sustainable.
:drool:
Congratulations on promotion.
Scouting every single player they have now in the run up to the January window. :drool:
Juanmi Counago has earned his paella tonight :cool:
Very well timed too as this has just happened.
https://i.postimg.cc/85XGvHXT/Budget.jpg
Which given the state of our finances is fair enough, but we're now £6k p/w overspent.
Melilla Season 3 - 2023/24 - Mid Season Update
The summer window was a very busy one with 7 players released (including Ali Ali Al-Lal, quite sad about that one) and 9 new arrivals. Highlights below:
https://i.postimg.cc/g030FkbF/1-Iliev.jpg
Released by Inter he looks good enough for the first team already and is only 19. Big things expected.
https://i.postimg.cc/DfrYJVnv/2-Canno.jpg
Former Liverpool youth player who isn't quite ready for the first team, but any sort of development could see him smashing the shit in this league.
https://i.postimg.cc/zf3GvShN/3-Aguilar.jpg
Bar the youth intake, Aguilar becomes my first newgen signing. 4 and a half star potential and already a cracking dribbler, he could be one to watch.
https://i.postimg.cc/tJFhfHRB/4-Vitek.jpg
Released by Man Utd, we snapped up this mountain of Czech Linden to become our first choice keeper.
https://i.postimg.cc/rmrn83Fr/5-Bueno.jpg
And saved the most exciting until last. Thought we'd lost out on the Wolves reject when a host of Championship clubs came in for him, with the lad initially rejecting joining the PROJECT (even on four grand a week) in favour of Watford. However, Brexit came to the rescue and he was denied a work permit, leaving him high and dry and only Melilla interested, this time for two grand a week.
3 star ability, four star potential and on a two year contract with an optional further three. Oh and a £2.5m release clause too. I think this may be the first actual proper player we've signed, with a properly robust deal too. Lovely stuff.
It was also time to freshen up the backroom team, making a couple of signings that people had apparently heard of.
https://i.postimg.cc/gjDtLR9y/Davids.jpg
No idea who he is, but he has amazing hair and the deal was done.
https://i.postimg.cc/0NsXkxB1/Aguero.jpg
Same with whoever this is, but he spoke Spanish and that will do nicely.
As we now had an actual squad, with 23 players in total, albeit a fair few of them not ready for the first team and with club atmosphere high and fresh from a third place finish, I was hopeful of winning the league this time round, especially with none of the obscene B teams in it. We started excellently then it all fell to shit a bit as we pissed about settling on a first X1.
https://i.postimg.cc/fyKTrHdG/Results.jpg
Form has been much better of late and we haven't lost in the league since October, albeit there are a few too many shitty draws in there. Leaving the table at the halfway stage like so.
https://i.postimg.cc/XNZR11fd/Table.jpg
I'm not quite sure when the board revised their expectations to a playoff spot, but they have and we did come under a bit of pressure during the bad run. Still, with Barca B and Real Madrid whatever gone, this league is absolute bilge. As an example, Hercules were slumming it with us in the fourth tier in the first season and have led it for much of the season so far. All in all, if we don't win it, particularly now having hit a bit of form and with the motherload of all affiliates secured, I'll be annoyed. Which reminds me, I've got a plane to catch to Barcelona. :cool:
The trip to Barcelona turned out to be full of sick/the most disappointing turn of events in all of human history.
I could only find one player Barcelona were happy to let play in the third tier (Demir) and for some reason Barca wanted eight grand a week in contribution for him. If I get to La Liga 2 it should be happy days, but until then we're on our own.
As we head into May with six games to go we're in the hunt to win the title, but still need to claw back some points.
https://i.postimg.cc/FHy5PzJ2/Table.jpg
What perhaps might tip things in our favour is that our last six games are pretty kind:
https://i.postimg.cc/BnKDR9SW/Fixtures.jpg
Is FM quicker these days or are you just smashing the back end off this?
Smashing the back end off it, although it runs pretty quick on this new laptop, which helps.
https://i.postimg.cc/433wSv47/Table.jpg
Three fairly comfortable wins, but Villarreal will just not drop points - with winners in the 88th and 89th minutes in their last two matches. :moop:
Playoffs secured. With 3 games to go (and as they have a better record against us) they'll need to draw twice or lose a game, even if we win all three for us to take it.
https://i.postimg.cc/pLjqbVKx/Results.jpg
La Nucia you absolute heroes.
It's now in our own hands.
https://i.postimg.cc/mgW79YFf/Table.jpg
Shitting it. Getting out of this division would be huge.
Game 37
https://i.postimg.cc/6QM0CMZb/Game-37.jpg
We hit the woodwork four times and had a 94th minute winner ruled out. I felt sick.
Somehow though Betis did us a favour and although Hercules won we're still top by virtue of the head to head.
https://i.postimg.cc/WbdQzJBP/Table.jpg
All goes down to the final day. A three way shit off to get out of this hell hole.
https://i.postimg.cc/rs0QV5Kn/Fixtures.jpg
Ok, I fucking hate B teams.
https://i.postimg.cc/ZKwLy7h9/Table.jpg
Playoffs again. If they're in June this time it'd be nice.
Pique in the mud.
I've got a nice little save brewing with Kaiserslautern. The epitome of a fallen giant.
I had a good look at them before choosing Melilla, looks like a cracking game to do. Germany has fuck all restrictions as well.Quote:
Originally Posted by Manc
Melilla Season 3 - 2023/24 - Third Tier Playoff Semi-Final
https://i.postimg.cc/RZVXs3BD/Semi.jpg
No idea where to start with this one. Facing yet another B team in a crucial game Aimar was running rings round us and scored a ridiculous goal to take the lead, we equalised but having conceded again I really thought we'd lost it until club legend (well he should be) Hernandez equalised on 89:55. Knowing holding on in extra time would be enough (due to Spanish rules) I thought I'm fucked if I'm making the same mistake as I did in the last league game and when ex Liverpool youth Cannonier scored his first goal for the club there were Garygasms all over the shop.
Racing in the final (yep, another B team), but we did finish higher in the league so a draw in 120 minutes will be enough.
Melilla Season 3 - 2023/24 - Third Tier Playoff Final
Toggle Spoiler
First season in the top flight finished.
https://i.imgur.com/T8KKMU8.png
Toggle Spoiler
Melilla Season 4 - 2024/25 - La Liga 2 Mid Season Update
Money Stuff
With promotion secured the board immediately updated our budgets.
https://i.postimg.cc/hPNsNPb0/Budgets.jpg
A modest increase, but our first ever actual transfer budget!
This then happened, which I count as one of the greatest surprises I've ever had in CM/FM.
https://i.postimg.cc/KjkL5BVh/TV-Rights.jpg
:cool:
Even if we spend all of that wage budget we'll only hit £2.9m, which I think means that our finances are finally sorted. It'll take a while as the money drip feeds throughout the season, but I'm reasonably confident we'll be in the black come the end of the season, for the first time since the save started.
Transfers
With the playoffs played at a reasonable time this year and that budget announced immediately afterwards we could actually renew contracts before they expired. Nonetheless it was time to let some more shite go and two players left the club. 7 players joined on a free (putting us in a position to loan some of the younger ones out) and one player was signed to join when he turns 18 in two years - Potentially the best player this club has ever witnessed and by an absolute mile. Some of the better ones joining:
https://i.postimg.cc/x8Bmp5N3/1-Mus.jpg
Released by Liverpool, and snapped up by the fenced city. Looks pretty promising even if he does have a few horrific stats in key areas.
https://i.postimg.cc/y88Jh2GC/2-Djalo.jpg
Let go by Benfica and fits perfectly into the attacking cm role in our side.
https://i.postimg.cc/RCTVPXKS/3-Marvel.jpg
Deemed not good enough for Real Madrid, the quite excellently named Marvel becomes the second African player in our squad.
https://i.postimg.cc/m2FpL6jR/4-De-La.jpg
Another player released by Madrid, tried to get him in on loan last season so figured I may as well sign him this.
https://i.postimg.cc/kXzHmdd7/5-Abda.jpg
And then there's this chap, who with stats like that at 16 and 5 star potential looks like he could be an absolute world beater. Only downside is he doesn't join for two more seasons so is sat in my U-19 squad on trial until then.
Results
https://i.postimg.cc/MKSDbKxM/Results.jpg
Overall very happy with that but there have been 2/3 times when it looked like we were massively out of our depth. I've also had to be hard with the handful of players that are still here from the start, in that they mostly just aren't good enough for this level, including fan favourite striker Iker Hernandez. Which is a shame, but nothing gets in the way of THE PROJECT.
All of that leaves the table like so at the halfway stage:
https://i.postimg.cc/PqYJ4hdJ/Table.jpg
I don't think we've got enough in the tank to make the playoffs as we just don't score enough goals, but 10 or so more points to secure survival and I'd be delighted. The Barca affiliate deal continues to be the most disappointing thing ever, but there are a few very promising looking kids from Premier League clubs interested in joining on loan, so if I can get any with no wage contribution I may well go down that road.
Oh and the £1,300 minimum per week wage in order to be able to even register anyone in this league is an absolute ball ache. There should be a news item advising you of it in flashing lights as soon as you get promoted.
The club that came to my attention and eventually prised me away from Norwich were...
https://i.ibb.co/tH0VWw2/Club-info.png
Atletico Madrid feel like a natural progression from where I was with Norwich. As I mentioned in the last post, I wasn't winning the league any time soon with the Canaries, and had pretty decided it was time to move on. Atletico are a 4-and-a-half-star club with a worldwide reputation, and a club that, whilst not the best in their league, should be challenging for the title. So a perfect fit in many ways. Rater frustratingly, the Man United job become available shortly afterwards, and being the same level of reputation as Atletico, I probably could have got that. Instead, it went to Alfred Schreuder, who is the same level as me (now four-star rep). If you're interested, Pochettino went to Norwich which is a great coup, and a step up from me in terms of reputation.
https://i.ibb.co/1LRTz70/Club-vision.png
My aim is simply to win the Spanish League and Copa Del Rey as quickly as possible, and then probably move on. With that in mind, I'm not massively focussed on youth, although I naturally try to sign young players anyway, and with it being part of the vision it's definitely something I'll look into. Set pieces and high tempo football is easy, and even though I generally set up quite expansively, we have a cracking defence and big reputation so I don't envisage the defensive part of the vision being an issue. The main problem is direct football, but I'll look into it.
https://i.ibb.co/RpmyfbQ/Squad-November.png
This is the squad when I arrived. It's pretty unbalanced, with no natural left-footed left back, three natural right backs, two of whom can play inverted on the left, and only one natural wide attacker.
https://i.ibb.co/HtqJFw0/Lemar.png
This being him. The thing is, he's fantastic. He's already played for me as a left-winger, attacking left back, shadow striker and inverted right winger. We have Rodrigo De Paul who is naturally a central player but can also play wide, and that's more or less it. We also only have one natural striker and he's average. There's the fantastically versatile Marcos Llorente, but I don't like giving him a position as he's required to fill in anywhere we happen to be short, then we've got some excellent but ageing central midfielders and a strong core of centre backs.
With all that in mind, I ended up creating/trialling around six different shapes. The narrow 4-3-3 I predominantly used at Norwich is out the window, but it did leave us exposed when we were the underdog so it might not be the worst thing.
https://i.ibb.co/hKDcP4y/4-3-3-false-nine.png
https://i.ibb.co/mX6bFXL/4-4-2-diamond.png
https://i.ibb.co/VBddvc9/2-3-2-3-wide.png
https://i.ibb.co/JBLT6Vt/3-4-2-1.png
The traditional 4-3-3 at the top is my go-to as it's my favourite formation and we have the players, just about. It just means an asymmetrical shape with an inverted wing back and winger on the left, and an orthodox wing back and inside forward/inverted winger on the right. The diamond accommodates our lack of wide options, the three at the back gives more game time to the plethora of centre backs (and will be used against good sides who play two up top), and the 2-3-2-3 is something I'm aspiring towards in the future.
https://i.ibb.co/CzYYj4j/Schedule.png
I've been in a couple of months and these are the results. Bayern were too strong and the Barcelona game was a glorified friendly.
https://i.ibb.co/yhjjzz4/Hudson-Odoi.png
https://i.ibb.co/h8VvYdz/Traore.png
My signings. Both training to be false 9s to give me that option in the future, and Hudson-Odoi was a cheap option to provide cover on the wings too.
I'll have some decisions to make at the end of the season. There are some ageing but high quality players on massive money which you may have seen earlier.
Marcos Llorente - £425,000
Thomas Lemar - £325,000
Saul - £300,000
Jan Oblak - £250,000
Rodrigo De Paul - £240,000
Koke - £220,000
Nobody at Norwich was on much over £100,000, though the wage budget is double at Atletico. Oblak, Koke and Saul have already kicked up a fuss about a player I wasn't playing...there will be some big decisions in the summer.
That 3-4-2-1 shape is aesthetically pleasing. I'm sporting a 5-2-2-1 which hurts my eyes and brain.
I'm honestly gutted that Marvel has a low leadership stat. He'll never be captain now :moop:Quote:
Originally Posted by Yevrah
It is sad, I find leadership on a good player a very hard combination to find.
In other news I've hit salary cap problems. Well I say problems, problems caused by a really annoying implementation of it.
Melilla Season 4 - 2024/25 - La Liga 2 End of Season Update
https://i.postimg.cc/T1gTRNJQ/League-Table.jpg
First season in La Liga 2 done and we finished a very creditable 7th. I'd have been happy with anything more than staying up so pretty pleased with that. It should offer a platform to build on....but more on that later.
https://i.postimg.cc/RZHZSRvW/Budgets.jpg
We finished the season in the black due to the tv money and budgets were increased again, which was nice.
https://i.postimg.cc/R01fF9vJ/TV-Rights.jpg
TV money for next season has also gone up, so I guess to some degree it's based on where we finish.
This is the P&L for four years in, it's taken four seasons to get out of short term debt, but we've done it:
https://i.postimg.cc/kgdC7dGb/Finances.jpg
£7.3m income is light years ahead of previous seasons (even if we deduct the £0.6m of investments), so finally, we are a viable commercial operation, with a £1.8m profit. :chief:
I've started playing CM03/04 again recently. An absolute classic.:cool:
Is that the one where a CAM scored 120 goals a season? :D
The DIABLO tactic :drool:
Melilla Season 5 - 2024/25 - La Liga 2 Summer Window Update
Right strap yourselves in as a fuck ton happened here, some very good, some good, some bad and some downright annoying. I blame myself, Miles and the Spanish FA for the downright annoying stuff, probably in equal measure.
Players Out
After a 7th placed finish in La Liga 2 some clubs of almost repute had started to court our players. As usual we released some players (three to be precise) and another load went out on loan. Annoyingly I had to do the latter myself as Edger Davids went rogue and started accepting stupid offers. But, the absolute motherload was hit when we sold two players (or at least I thought it was, more on that later). The two in question?
First up was Bueno, who started agitating for a move.
https://i.postimg.cc/JhjvKTLC/Bueno-Transfer.jpg
I didn't want to sell him but we have another very good left back and the opportunity to finally get an actual transfer budget was too good to turn down. Granada stopped short of activating his £2.5m release clause, but £1.8m in cash money and 50% of next sale will do very nicely. But the best was yet to come...
https://i.postimg.cc/XJRghWc2/Djalo-Transfer.jpg
Porto came in for him and seemed very keen to negotiate forever, but having secured a £2.8m offer from them I pushed it one step too far and they withdrew. Djalo was pissed and I needed to decide if that was worth risking the dressing room harmony or whether it was worth actively trying to cash in. I decided on the latter and offered him out for his £10m release clause. A couple of shit bids from no mark clubs arrived, but with them also came another form Porto. £5m up front and still negotiable. I asked for 50% of next sale and the £5m and the deal was agreed. That then gave us over £4m to spend on players, I was in dreamland (but that would be short lived, more on that later). First off and while things were still looking very rosey I spent some money on these three:
https://i.postimg.cc/ydMwTwJK/Player-1.jpg
£350k from Serbia.
https://i.postimg.cc/XNDZnLRb/Player-2.jpg
£275k in from Real Madrid.
https://i.postimg.cc/kgyRPC9j/Player-3.jpg
£1.1m minimum fee release from division rivals Badajoz.
I also decided to press the flesh on the loans and a few came in as well, plus I still had £2m to spend and the plan was to finally get a very good striker with it. Well, that was the plan until I noticed something...
In order to complete the two highest paid transfers above I had to syphon some transfer budget into wages. No problem I thought, we have shit loads of cash and transfer space, so we did it and ended up increasing the wage spend to £80k per week, which was all covered by the increased salary budget.
I then pissed about registering the players ahead of time as I wanted to make sure how much squad space I had left to use etc. and that was when I noticed it. Having gone to click confirm the squad registration would not complete and I was presented with a box saying I was over the salary cap. On closer inspection we were well over it. £80k p/w vs. £57k allowed and I hadn't even bought the striker yet. Fuhuhuck. Four things sprang to mind here:
1) I'm an idiot. It is there in the squad registration screen but for some reason I hadn't mentally acknowledged it, even though I submitted a squad last season. My defence is that we were so far underspent in previous seasons it just didn't register.
2) What the fuck are SI doing? In a game that is weighed down with the minutiae of absolutely everything, the only place that makes tangible reference to this salary cap number is the squad registration window and even then it's buried between how many goalkeepers, outfield players, non-EU and kids you're allowed. Moreover, there's absolutely no reference to how it's calculated, when it is calculated, when it changes and how I can influence it. It's just a single number.
3) I get salary caps. I mean I think they're anti-competitive, but whatever if you want one to guard against financial mismanagement of clubs by cowboys and you think the collateral damage it does elsewhere is worth it then that's your call Spanish FA, but if you're going to introduce one why do you also run a fucking minimum wage policy, of £1,300 a week, in the second fucking tier? If I want a squad of 25 players for the season (which isn't a short one at 10 months and 42 games in length) that's nearly 60% of my cap taken up by the minimum wage. Now I know that's only my wage cap and other clubs will be higher, but it strikes me that both a salary cap and a minimum wage just fucks small clubs.
4) On the point of when it changes, I'm guessing it didn't take into account my player sales and if it didn't that will be accounted for next season, which means the damn thing will be up and down like a whore's drawers. Worse still, if it's based on retrospective revenues is my cap for the first season in La Liga proper (should we get there) going to based on what we earnt while in La Liga 2?
Anyway, back to the here and now I was left with having to cut £23k a week out of my squad. I tried loaning out new arrivals but that just annoyed them as they'd been promised prominent roles in the squad, so the only recourse left to me was get rid of all of the older players and all the loans and go and find loans that would be free (but utterly bizarrely the loaning club would need to be paying them at least £1,300 a week). So that is what happened. We now have a squad with only 20 players in it, 3 of which are on loan and annoyed that they're not playing where I said they would be as I had to lie to them to get them for nothing. The whole process has left a £2m transfer budget doing nothing, 4 players on loan I can't play, nuked the harmony in my dressing room, reduced the average age of said first team squad to about 12 and upset Sean Dyche.
Season Expectations
42 games of misery, 50 Team Bonding sessions, 50 community outreach programmes, RSI from missing the praise option in the discuss tree for the nth time and hopefully, at the end of it all, survival.
Can you not activate a lever? :D
Season eines is coming to a close in Germany and I'm bricking it.
Activate a lever?
Bartha style.
Oh I see. I could, but I really want to take a fenced city on the continent of Africa to the European Champions League.
Quote:
Originally Posted by Yevrah
That's the one.Quote:
Originally Posted by Danny
I prefer to create my own tactics on this version so staying away from the Diablo tactic. I'm not averse to signing the likes of Oskarsson and Braathen and other greats from this version but I do like to sign different players on each save.
Melilla Season 5 - 2024/25 - La Liga 2 Mid Season Update
https://i.postimg.cc/Wb36wjqc/Results.jpg
https://i.postimg.cc/wjNNwB6Z/Table.jpg
To get the save up to date we've reached the halfway point in season 5 and it's mostly panned out as I feared. Got the dressing room back under control which is a bonus, but results have been far too bitty and that thing keeps happening that let's you know something is fundamentally wrong, strikers and forwards keep missing like mother fuckers apart from when they're offside when they hammer them home with consummate ease. I think in this case the fundamental problem is the squad is full of kids, which I might be able to get away with if they were World beaters, but they're not. So with that in mind David Oliver (a newgen on loan from Fulham who was using up £3,200 of the wage cap) has been sent to the under 19s and this chap has been brought in for £70k from Villarreal B.
https://i.postimg.cc/sxBx1nxq/Arana.jpg
I've also let a midfielder go so that's £1,300 more I have to get another one in so I'll be going for someone with experience. This season's a write off, but if we can build for next and make a push to go up then it wouldn't be a total disaster.
https://i.postimg.cc/8zmZs5ML/Messi.jpg
I've just seen that my scout has found the Israeli Messi.
Salary caps are tied to revenue, so you need to increase that as much a possible. Ask the board for a senior affiliate to generate income, and summer tours etc., It's a ball ache and something a manager shouldn't be doing, but every little helps.
Completely get that, but the game should be telling me what revenue is included, what isn't and what period the calculation relates to. It's one thing to have it handled in a piss poor way in the MLS (which is still inexcusable), but this is one of the major leagues it's now in and the information available to you with which to influence it is non-existent.Quote:
Originally Posted by John Arne
Deep into season five and we've hit a rich vein of form to put us in a great position to achieve a playoff spot this season, which I really didn't think was possible.
https://i.postimg.cc/7htN66BH/Results.jpg
The Arana signing has worked wonderfully and even though he hasn't scored in the last five games he's been assisting and Gonzalez has stepped up massively.
https://i.postimg.cc/pXqdmjYY/Table.jpg
Ten games to go.
I'm glad to get through the first season with Atletico so I can start implementing things properly. I always forget that these transitional seasons where you take over around November/December time can be very frustrating.
https://i.ibb.co/PzQNw6d/End-of-season-table.png
I was shocked that we managed to put up a title challenge considering how far behind we already were in October. Turns out my league record was won 24, drew 2, lost 0 which I genuinely had no idea about until I checked at the end.
https://i.ibb.co/bb6f4nF/End-of-seas...ule-part-1.png
https://i.ibb.co/mtMzB7H/End-of-seas...ule-part-2.png
Some positive results here, and we also beat Barcelona on a couple of occasions.
https://i.ibb.co/9cQVs92/3-0-Real-Madrid.png
https://i.ibb.co/RchzSW9/9-0-Valencia.png
And the squad:
https://i.ibb.co/YX8Wbdw/End-of-season-squad.png
I'll need to have a close look at who I might want to offload. However, everything above suggests we should challenge for the title next season and I really want those 30+ player like Koke, Oblak, Saul, De Paul, Lemar, Gimenez, Llorente etc. to be a part of it. Most of them are still top class players, many of them are Atletico legends and I don't really want to be the person that breaks them all up, especially if we can win the league. Some of the wages are extortionate, but they're a great influence on the younger players and their development seems a lot better than at Norwich (plus they're much better in the first place).
I need a striker, possibly a left footed left back and we'll be more or less set I reckon.
I'd try to win the league with the likes of Koke, Saul, Lemar etc. and if you win the league, move them on and have a clear out.
https://i.postimg.cc/g2zBdmRr/Table.jpg
Two games to go and we have a chance of automatic promotion. Real Sporting are in terrible form, Albacete and Rayo Vallecano not so much. We have two favourable games at home to finish the season but as well as the points gap our record against the teams around us is not good. I'll need to check exactly how not good if we're still in the hunt for the second spot in the final game.
It would be Really Sporting of them to throw it and let you get promoted.
Ill get my coat.
We won our penultimate game but they weren't Sporting, winning 3-0 in theirs to leave a 3 point gap, which we can't bridge due to the head to head. Playoff time again.
https://i.postimg.cc/85MDdSTd/Table.jpg
https://i.postimg.cc/Yqb7z8BP/Playoffs.jpg
It's on! Two legs for everything.
https://seeklogo.com/images/1/1fc-ka...eklogo.com.gif
Kaiserslautern - 2021/22
The expectation was clear. Push for the title, and failing that achieve promotion to the second division. The top two spots would go up automatically, whilst the third place team would enter into a two legged playoff with the third worst 2. Liga side. Adding to the realism factor, I turned off the summer window and blissfully ignored the free market. The squad inherited was flexible, but it was clear our strength lay in the middle of the park and thus the 5-2-2-1 was born. A conventional back five screened by a double pivot combined with a front three containing a goalscorer, a runner and pure creator. Think early years Pochettino.
Onto the campaign itself and after showing absolutely nothing in our first two league games, the season was ignited as we upset the odds in the Pokal and eliminated Felix Magath's Hertha Berlin side on penalties. Our run in the Cup was short lived as we fell to Wolfsburg in the second round, but both games showed me we could mix it with teams of a much higher quality. Heading through autumn, the wins all too often became draws and we arrived at the winter break in the clinches of a title race. Osnabruck (me either) were leading the way on 40 points, Eintracht Braunschweig sat in second with 39 points and Kaiserslautern in third on 38. With the likes of Mannheim & Duisburg not far behind it had all the potential to get very messy.
To reinforce our title bid, the board boosted the coffers with £175,000. In an ideal world I would have recruited a new goalkeeper and a battle hardened centre back. Unfortunately the market was lacking quality and I didn't want to disrupt the Feng Shui of the group (this definitely wouldn't come back to haunt me). Initially staggering our of the blocks come the restart, we soon warmed up and began to hit a nice flow. Daniel Hanslik couldn't stop scoring (he would finish the season with 21) and my concerns regarding the defence were a long distant memory. We weren't the only team hitting our stride as the season wore on. Duisburg had begun to pile the pressure at the top of the table, whilst 1860 had flown up the league into playoff contention. Four points from Osnabruck and Duisburg and promotion was looking comfortable. Our run in was kind and many in the media had begun to tip us for the title.
The beginning of the end. The start of the "comfortable" run in began with an away trip to Wurzburger Kickers and we tasted defeat for the first time since January (fuck you Mike). A 1-1 home draw with Saarbrücken was quickly followed by a 0-0 in Wiesbaden. The rot was temporarily stopped as we tore through Dortmund II 3-0, but then drew for the fourteenth occasion in Koln. With one game to spare we were sat in the playoff spot. Osnabruck had wrapped up the title in the previous week and so it came down to four with three of us tied on 68 points. A high scoring victory and we would likely pip Duisburg to automatic promotion. Three points would guarantee us top three, whilst a draw would need other results to go our way. We of course bottled it (as did 1860) and a 0-0 draw saw Braunschweig grab third. Gutted.
One win from the final six games was hard to stomach and I feared the chop however, the board backed me and we go again.
https://i.postimg.cc/LsBMQMqm/Playoffs.jpg
We're in the final. The last four minutes of that semi-final were hell, the game made me watch all of them. :D
Our first full house as well!
https://i.postimg.cc/GmMcbRLz/Attendence.jpgpost image
Come on, Yev. Post the final.
https://i.postimg.cc/kgsRbD9m/Playoffs.jpg
:cool:
That was absolutely exhausting to watch.
The highlights went on forever and having punched the air when Musialowski gave us a 3-1 lead, I've rarely felt more deflated than when they went straight down the other end and pulled one back. The thought of losing this on away goals was too much.
But we held on and now to see what fuckwittery happens with the salary cap.
Great achievement. But you’re gonna get bummed in La Liga without massive investment, surely?
From what I remember, the big challenge now is minimum wage.
https://i.postimg.cc/4dqWRBFB/Budgets.jpg
I think that's smaller than what I had to work with at Eibar all those years ago and isn't even confirmed until I see the salary cap for the new season. It still says £57k, but I'm guessing that'll be updated when we hit July.
I'm alright on that I think, well bar the Egyptian who is joining us at 18 who I now can't play until he renews. My biggest concern is the salary cap.Quote:
Originally Posted by Jimmy Floyd
I would certainly expect so. There is however a parachute payment of £11.5m which is more than we've ever earnt in a year before, so even if we go down it should still allow us to continue building.Quote:
Originally Posted by 7om
It goes up to 3.5k per week. I took Zaragoza up and found it a nightmare.Quote:
Originally Posted by Yevrah
£2,500 per week. I have a lot of first team squad players below that, but I'll just renew them or get loans in on frees. The horrific experience at the beginning of this season in LaLiga 2 at least meant I was properly prepared for it.Quote:
Originally Posted by Jimmy Floyd
But as on the last page, even if my cap is £120k p/w having to spend £2.5k of that per player as a minimum is a joke for a club of this stature.
The other thing I remember from the Eibar game was that despite SI claiming otherwise TV deals in La Liga were not dynamic, so I was stuck with the same shit deal even when I was winning the CL with them. I really hope they've fixed that.
The Eibar save. :drool:
Messi to Melilla?
I'm not going to be at Atletico long term so I'd really like to try and win it with the oldies. As soon as I win La Liga and the Copa Del Rey I'll be moving on, and in my head I'm hoping that will be a couple of full seasons.Quote:
Originally Posted by Dave.
Melilla Season 6 - 2025/26 - La Liga Pre Season Update
Finances
Just finished the hardest yet somehow most enjoyable transfer window I can remember on CM/FM. Barely anyone of repute was interested in joining us and if any club in any of the top leagues came in for a player I was after, that was it, we weren't getting them. Despite this we've made six signings and kept to the £6m or so I had to spend after moving some into the wage budget, which is now £186k. Finances update to the end of last season below:
https://i.postimg.cc/Cx8BXKpy/Finances.jpg
Try as I might I can't tie 70% of the income in that (the supposed wage cap for La Liga according to sources on the internets) to the wage cap below that we now have:
https://i.postimg.cc/63Myn2nZ/Salary-Cap.jpg
But as long as it stays at a figure we couldn't possibly hope to spend I'm ok with that.
https://i.postimg.cc/5NY6Qt0H/TV-Rights.jpg
TV rights landed which was very pleasing, but the board are being seriously prudent - only allowing us to spend less than £10m on wages this season when we're getting £34m in TV money alone, but I guess if we do somehow stay up they'll release the purse strings a bit.
We also have an issue with the stadium:
https://i.postimg.cc/DwQf14Kz/Regulations.jpg
But two year's grace means that's a potential problem for future me, as this year is all about staying up.
Transfers
Shipped out a load of loans, but no major moves out yet, leaving these magnificent six as those joining to keep the fenced city in Spain's top flight:
https://i.postimg.cc/NFwByQPX/1-Alves.jpg
£1.6m from Lommel, his estimated value shot up when the fixture list was announced and we were officially confirmed as a La Liga team. I entered the transfer window without a right back I could play due to the minimum wage nonsense, so this guy will probably be first choice.
https://i.postimg.cc/cJZRc3gk/2-Mengi.jpg
Released by Man Utd and became our highest earner and at the time he signed, by a country mile. I feel I need to train that knocks ball past opponent trait out of him, but Sergio Aguero disagrees.
https://i.postimg.cc/cLd7RY89/3-Pabai.jpg
Released by SPAL, will be back up to the Belgian.
https://i.postimg.cc/5NSL20kw/4-Trip.jpg
Another released player from Italy snapped up by us, will probably be first choice eventually.
https://i.postimg.cc/d1GDNHb8/5-Gordon.jpg
Fresh legs to come on and run around a lot when we're knackered, which I suspect we will be by 65/70 minutes of almost every game.
https://i.postimg.cc/W1QNRm6S/6-Uld.jpg
I thought long and hard about this guy becoming our record signing but in the end I pushed the button. Rationale being that until I did we had absolutely nothing in this squad that every single other side in La Liga couldn't equal or best. Now though, the only side in La Liga that can boast a 20 jumping and 18 heading Latvian beast is Melilla.
That leaves £141k in the transfer budget and a few grand on the wages to spend, but unless I get an agent offer that fits that allowance and is too good to turn down on deadline day, that's it, business for this window done.
We start the league with a game against also newly promoted Real Sporting Gijon. A win would be lovely.
https://i.postimg.cc/dQGX9b05/Wages.jpg
The size of the task is clear...
Melilla Season 6 - 2025/26 - La Liga Mid Season Update
So with the squad assembled we stepped into the unknown and on the whole it's gone incredibly well:
https://i.postimg.cc/pT2DRpgS/Results.jpg
The start of the season scared the hell out of me as while we were playing very well we just weren't taking our chances and we went into the horrible run of games against Barca, Real and Sevilla without a win and with me fully expecting us to be rock bottom at the end of it. Barca was close but we lost fairly, Real we managed to hang on having scored and Sevilla was a magnificent performance to give us our first win. We then went on an incredible run winning five in a row to put some serious daylight in between us and the bottom three.
The new signings have all bedded in well (although I now have a fair few issues with playing time unhappiness which is annoying and I need to sort) and Uldrikis and Alves are amazing. The former is an utter menace and the perfect antidote to when you're having one of those games where you can't score and Alves looks genuinely class as he bombs it up and down the right side.
The cup loss was annoying as I rotated heavily and ill discipline led to us only having nine players on the pitch by the end of it, but on the plus side that's only the league to focus on now and at the 17 game mark we're in contention for Europe.
https://i.postimg.cc/gjt5v9VY/Table.jpg
Beyond my wildest dreams stuff, but even at this point first target is now getting the couple more wins or so we need to keep us up and then we'll see where we are. The revenue is flowing and we're in rude financial health with nearly £20m in the bank and making a healthy profit each month - I'm pretty sure if we do stay up the board will release the purse strings a bit and we'll get a decent budget next season. All in all, I love these players and I love this club.
Making light work of the league. How are you setting up tactically?
Like so:
https://i.postimg.cc/FH4Vsrk0/Tactics.jpg
Variant one is the same but on Positive mentality, which I'll use a lot more when we have the players good enough to be favourites. Problem will come when tactic 1 and 2 get sussed out and I have to temporarily move to tactic 3, which is far too attacking for me at this level currently. Hopefully that's next season's problem though.
Melilla Season 6 - 2025/26 - La Liga End of Season Update
https://i.postimg.cc/CLhBSV8Q/Table.jpg
A fantastic 8th place finish in the end, perhaps should have been higher though as we had a shocking April:
https://i.postimg.cc/FK3s0PcS/Results.jpg
Some really great performances in there, particularly from the massive Latvian, who finished with 20 goals in the league.
In other news the board have released the purse strings.
https://i.postimg.cc/0QtgSmtm/Budgets.jpg
Might not look like it from first glance due to the transfer budget being the same, but the wage budget increase is monstrous, at about two and a half times what we had for our first top flight season.
Although there is some bad news, we're not in Africa anymore...
https://i.postimg.cc/Y257zNrf/Move.jpg
But the board do plan to rectify that:
https://i.postimg.cc/2SJ715F6/New-Stadium.jpg
I imagine you're getting plenty of crosses in?
I'm managing Livorno in the 5th tier of Italy. I had a load of massively overpaid gimps that I've had transfer listed and on the unwanted list since the summer, and a couple of them have stopped talking to me because I failed my promise of selling them, despite them both having had about 20 offers each accepted for them that they then turned down the contract for. Love FM.
Am indeed, a shit load of the massive Latvian's goals were headers.Quote:
Originally Posted by ScousePig
How are you getting through these seasons so quickly? Commentary only / instant result?
Key highlights only.
Melilla Season 7 - 2026/27 - La Liga Mid Season Update
Finances
P&L update below.
https://i.postimg.cc/3NgwhnyM/P-L.jpg
A 40 fold revenue increase from the first season to the last. :drool:
Having reached January and now having £36m in the bank (which makes us the 32nd richest club in the World), but only having a remaining transfer budget of £2.5m it was time to update the horrific facilities we're working with. Starting with training, we'll have a £400k investment completed by the start of next season, but this is the current state of play:
https://i.postimg.cc/gjdxnCbc/Facilities.jpg
Peppered with stuff relating to the stadium we're using while our new one gets built (still no actual news on that yet), but either way, we have awful facilities and that won't do.
Transfers
With a £475k wage budget a lot of players wanted new contracts and while I reviewed a few I've managed to fend a lot of without upsetting club harmony. These players joined:
https://i.postimg.cc/sgFgxFYk/1-Gerassi.jpg
Very excited about this one. £3.1m minimum fee release clause from Maccabi Tel-Aviv, big things are expected from the kosher Messi. Sadly he appears to be a bit injury prone so far - he was injured when he joined us and has since spent another two months out.
https://i.postimg.cc/wjTg76tb/2-Nwac.jpg
Another minimum fee release, £900k from Kano Pillars.
https://i.postimg.cc/Y2GRgVLr/3-Jung.jpg
St. Pauli youth product snapped up on a free transfer.
https://i.postimg.cc/W1HtM9kV/4-Lato.jpg
With Tripaldelli leaving for Watford for his £4m release clause I needed a left back and this chap was the best I could get.
https://i.postimg.cc/xd2hFQH3/5-Sule.jpg
Needed a left winger and when this FIFA22 legend became available from Brest for £1.4m it was a no brainer.
Results
https://i.postimg.cc/bwN3GvQM/Results.jpg
An amazing start to the season with five wins had me dreaming of a title challenge, but it's been much tougher since. Clear evidence of tactics cracking meant I had to move to the alternative one which is far more attacking with two strikers and wins have been hard to come by. We nearly got a very undeserved win against Madrid to finish off the year but they equalised in the 95th minute, leaving the table like so.
https://i.postimg.cc/0yP2DTQh/Table.jpg
Europe is the target as we need to get that club rep up quite badly.
Melilla Season 7 - 2026/27 - La Liga RUN IN Update
Heading into April and we're in a good run of form, but first we broke our transfer record in January:
https://i.postimg.cc/TYPVVgvf/Samson.jpg
£7m from FC Midtjylland, looks like he could be absolute mustard, although I fucked up by putting him in a mentoring group with Cisse who has 18 Determination vs. what was Samson's 20. :moop:
https://i.postimg.cc/pTwdmNvm/Results.jpg
Some tough games remaining so closing the gap on Sociedad may be too much to ask but if we don't get some form of Europe at this point it'll be a real shame.
https://i.postimg.cc/J0YPNQTH/Table.jpg
https://i.postimg.cc/5yB6JJ0S/Results.jpg
Some annoying draws have undermined the push for a Champions League spot somewhat and if ever we needed our first win against RealBarca, it's now.
https://i.postimg.cc/g2krCfP3/Table.jpg
Jasper Samson has started so well mind.
https://i.postimg.cc/hj2v2sXK/Results.jpg
Madrid absolutely humped us, but in yet another episode of it's the hope that kills you Sociedad dropped points at home to Villarreal so it will go to the final day for a spot in the Champions League.
https://i.postimg.cc/gJhdZK3M/Table.jpg
Due to the head to head we have to win and Sociedad have to lose and I think it's worth a minimum of £20m to either team for whoever makes it.
Shame atletico won’t go down. Might have been nice to shop at!
Pogon Siedlce 2041/42 Season:
Transfers In:
https://i.imgur.com/8B9gxhH.png
£475k from Legia. He had more stars showing when I first scouted him and he hasn't been amazing in the third division. Seems like a bust.
https://i.imgur.com/DErHn7Q.png
£975k from Sassuolo, his value has shot up and he did really well for the second team in the first division. He's played almost all his games at RB despite being a natural AMR.
https://i.imgur.com/oAsMeXz.png
£5m from Lechia, he's done really well in the second team and he looks brilliant. He could be a Worldie.
Transfers Out:
https://i.imgur.com/PpZNmL7.png
https://i.imgur.com/czWg3kW.png
Constantly moaning and we had better options now.
https://i.imgur.com/BzgOaLV.png
Fuck knows how we got so much money for him as he's barely progressed since I first signed him.
https://i.imgur.com/Xeis6bq.png
I regret selling him, he was never more than a squad option for us but he always played well when called upon. Sadly we had too many options in his position and I thought I'd do the right thing and let him go to a club who would play him as a starter.
https://i.imgur.com/HU5n22j.png
Always fucking moaning and never being good enough to take a starting spot I gladly took Bournemouth's money.
League:
https://i.imgur.com/uVClqdb.png
I believe that's my first ever perfect season. We scored 152 conceding just 9 goals (most of which came in the final 2 months).
https://i.imgur.com/cVnvOII.png
https://i.imgur.com/VmYfu34.png
The 16 goal win after the winter break was a real highlight. We're currently on a 52 game winning streak and we haven't lost in 131 matches.
Also, winning all the games allowed me another first. I won every single Manager of the Months:
https://i.imgur.com/3Duhe8t.png
Cups:
https://i.imgur.com/r0lzHlS.png
No problems.
Club World Cup:
https://i.imgur.com/3Sl6Tjv.png
We also won our two other group games (which are listed as last season), it was nice to avenge the CL final defeat against Man City a couple of seasons ago.
Europe:
https://i.imgur.com/MeIvJOv.png
Our easiest group thus far and we walked it.
First Knockout Round:
https://i.imgur.com/kR3LIx8.png
Absolutely destroyed them and they were lucky to only be 3 down heading into the second leg.
https://i.imgur.com/pZuiNLm.png
They were lucky that this match was so close but we really relaxed when Kucharski scored our 4th.
Quarter Final:
https://i.imgur.com/zosaKMV.png
Nervy first leg and I thought when they equalised we'd end up losing the tie.
https://i.imgur.com/XCZjCzx.png
That feeling went into overdrive when they took the lead but we dug deep and managed to get the goals we needed to go through. Awaiting us our save game nemesis United.
Semi Final:
https://i.imgur.com/VNwXCaZ.png
We played well but a 2-0 lead flattered us. This was only the third time we had beaten them, the other two times happened two seasons ago at this stage of the competition where we fucked the final with minutes to go.
https://i.imgur.com/mtMLkZS.png
I thought we'd smash them when Kern scored early and then we earned a penalty but Blazic smashed it wide. After that it was all them and we couldn't do anything, thankfully our keeper kept us in it and we got a set piece goal late to seal it and to keep our unbeaten season alive.
I thought we were going to see a repeat of two seasons ago as Man City won their first leg 2-0 but Leipzig had other ideas:
https://i.imgur.com/hWvLz7V.png
Strangely we've never met in the save so I had no idea what to expect.
Final:
Toggle Spoiler
Squad:
https://i.imgur.com/h71iAeS.png
Mani Alderman with the boosted stats from playing a lot of league games although he did well in Europe playing 5(6) matches scoring 2 (both in the knockouts) and grabbing 3 assists. This team is special, we went unbeaten this season with us winning every single match other than drawing the first leg against Chelsea and the second against Man United.
The Future:
Well firstly I've decided to take the Belgian job (having been rejected by Poland) for the upcoming World Cup in what will hopefully be a great ending. The reason I chose Belgium? This lad:
https://i.imgur.com/8S2BlG0.png
Bonkers.
As for Pogon Siedlce I think I'm done. I think what I will do is resign and holiday for 1/2 seasons and see what the AI does with argubaly the best team in the world plus they'll have a £300m WARCHEST to piss about with and then I'll go and resume the England pyramid challenge I started when I became angry with The Chairman and needed some time away.
I have left the new manager with some parting gifts too:
https://i.imgur.com/En0vXth.png
Seems I forgot to scout him but when I saw him whilst looking through youth teams after intake day I knew I needed to grab him. I don't think he'll be amazing but I like hoarding youth, £165k.
https://i.imgur.com/aeX7UGf.png
£26.5m and he'll be the highest transfer we've spent (assuming the new manager doesn't break it instantly), my scouts think he'll be special.
https://i.imgur.com/6z6atMt.png
£3.8m and I've had this lad signed on a pre-contract for 2 seasons. He looks nutty.
https://i.imgur.com/HCniS63.png
Speaking of nutty. Fulham had a price range of £57m-80m on him but I signed him via a contract and they're only getting a maximum compensation of £2.8m with 30% profit (IIRC). He looks insane.
https://seeklogo.com/images/1/1fc-ka...eklogo.com.gif
Kaiserslautern - 2022/23
Recruitment
There are several routes when it comes to recruitment you can take through FM when lower down the leagues. One is to abuse the loan system and bring in the stars of the future albeit briefly. A second option is to pluck for experienced names and hope for an Indian summer. Whilst the third option involves scouring the market in great detail and wasting hours of your life. I of course went the latter route.
The board once again backed our title bid with a reasonable £1.75m. The first and probably best bit of business came in Dortmund as we plucked Richmond Tachie & Immanuel Pherai from the Borussia scrap pile. Despite his ability to miss open goals, Tachie (23) became crucial to our campaign and netted an impressive 23 times. Pherai (21) equally produced with 14 assists and 5 goals of his own. Elsewhere in attack 6'8" Aaron Seydel (26) joined from Darmstadt as a solid plan b option from the bench, along with Marc Stendera (26) from Ingolstadt who'll most likely be remembered for missing three consecutive penalties (he netted the fourth). The most important signing however arrived in central defence as we picked up Schlotterbeck (not that one) from Freiburg. His performances provided the team with stability and he would go on to become club captain. When the window closed our wage budget was a whopping £40k over budget. Not good.
March Madness
On to the football and we flew out of the blocks. The new additions had hit the ground running and the Fritz-Walter was rocking. By the time Qatar rolled around we had a nine point lead, a lead which then extended to ten points come the winter break. The lead became even wider after play resumed reaching it's peak at a whopping fifteen. The title was coming to Kaiserslautern, but then March arrived. A rare 1-0 defeat in Hallescher brought an end to our winning streak and was compounded a week later as we fell to Zwickau 3-2 in a ding dong battle. Then arrived back to back 1-0 defeats to Erzgebirge Aue & Dynamo Dresden, both of whom had closed the gap at the top significantly. With morale low and a few star names hitting horrid patches of form, I switched up the eleven and sure enough the title push was back on track as we won our next four fixtures. Crucial.
Losing only one of our final eight games, the 3. Liga was ours and more importantly Kaiserslautern were back in the second tier of German football after a five year absence. Looking ahead to the 2. Liga, it may not be as challenging as previous renditions as Werder Bremen, HSV & Schalke all now ply their trade in the Bundesliga. We shall see.
----------
Cracking save Mahow. What next?
Resuming this save is next.Quote:
Originally Posted by Sir Andy Mahowry
Plan is to try and get to the Prem before FM23.
https://i.imgur.com/D8tbjK7.png
That is sickening.
Wanna make the scroll bar on this page any smaller Mahow? :D
World Cup 2042:
Group Stage:
https://i.imgur.com/kPVBzQl.png
No problems here as you'd expect.
Second Round:
https://i.imgur.com/jAMW2D2.png
Probably should have rotated a bit more for this game as it was always going to be easy and stamina was a bit of a problem later.
Third Round:
https://i.imgur.com/aDlDBWm.png
It was a bit nervy when Mercier got sent off but we played well and saw it out.
Quarter-Final:
https://i.imgur.com/d9ZxX2g.png
I thought we were done when England went 2 up as our players were tired , thankfully our front two of Lemmens and Ceyssens had too much quality.
Semi-Final:
https://i.imgur.com/osaPX0p.png
Never in doubt, it was nice to face a side I managed in FM19 IIRC.
Final:
https://i.imgur.com/uJvSzLM.png
We dominated them throughout but our finishing which had been our strength throughout but we thankfully got a goal and it was done.
Squad:
https://i.imgur.com/QJ8AwWG.png
Also, Lemmens finished second in the golden boot and was instrumental in winning it for us. He was once an enemy of mine:
https://i.imgur.com/HgTdRuO.png
and whilst I can never forget I can forgive. Leo, we're cool.
https://i.imgur.com/DziUYqT.png
Tree:
https://i.imgur.com/LM8Eaee.png
Career Stats:
https://i.imgur.com/KLXLVmW.png
That win percentage. :drool:
Pogon Siedlce: The SIMMED YEAR:
The early favourite to replace me was Marko Arnautovic, I'd like to think I marched into the boardroom and said no fucking chance. Regardless of how it went down, Arnautovic took the Leeds job. The other favourite was Anthony Briancon but he decided to take the French national job. So in came Sergio Alvarez:
https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikiped...gioAlvarez.jpg
He currently plays for Eibar where he retired in my save in 2027 before taking on Manager jobs at Extremadura (great name), Getafe, Marseille, Sheffield United, Celtic and Hoffeinheim before taking the big Siedlce job.
https://i.imgur.com/lexkGuc.png
Obviously he won the league (and cups) easily. However the team only scored 112 goals to our 152 and conceded 10 to our 9, he ruined my team.
Europe:
https://i.imgur.com/1XUPMLu.png
Not only did he fuck the final but he also lost our undefeated streak which was just 10 days away from hitting 2 years.
In terms of transfer he had a £300m WARCHEST and he sold £150m worth of my youngsters, all of which were sold far too cheapily. Did he spend? Did he fuck, he bought a 32 year old French backup Goalkeeper.
Clearly I am better than Sergio Alvarez. Although the cunt did have a 92% win percentage which is annoying.
Pogon Siedlce The Simmed Year 2: Electric Boogaloo:
https://i.imgur.com/vLViHWZ.png
Simple again with wins in all domestic games yet again which leaves the club record looking like:
https://i.imgur.com/GDKfXjm.png
The date right now is 29th May 2044, the last time we drew a game was the 30th November 2040 and our last loss was 21st August 2038. Lol.
In Europe how did Sergio Alvarez fare:
https://i.imgur.com/35XQKez.png
Badly and I'm stunned he survived to live the tale and is still considered very secure. The club were asking for semi-finals the year I left and I know the year after they wanted finals from now on.
Did he spend? Yes, he actually spent £237m but this was spread on 7 players with the biggest fee spent being £48m on Omar Rachedi who barely played (only 8 starts for him) in a position, CM, where the club is still stacked.
He also sold £297m worth of talent which leaves the club balance still at £375m.
Here's the squad:
https://i.imgur.com/ZurG9te.png
It's a shame my PC isn't a lot quicker or I had a second PC as I'd like to sim another 10+ years but we will leave it here.
Dobranoc Siedlce.
Melilla Season 7 - 2027/28 - End of Season Update and Season 8 Summer Window
So our chances of 4th went down to the final day, but they were pretty slim. As it turned out we didn't even do what we needed to so Europa League it is:
https://i.postimg.cc/jqZcZZ21/Final-Day.jpg
Finances and Facilities
https://i.postimg.cc/sXnW9Hm9/Budgets.jpg
The 5th placed finish gave us our biggest budget to date, but the best news was this:
https://i.postimg.cc/5N85QVT8/New-Stadium.jpg
Football is coming back to Africa! (In 2031).
Transfers
https://i.postimg.cc/Xqf8W60K/1-Garcia.jpg
Wouldn't normally touch a player with that determination but at £500k from Peru and with bucketloads of potential I figured it was worth the risk.
https://i.postimg.cc/66Pw4sn6/2-Saulo.jpg
Can't currently play this chap due to foreigner restrictions so out on loan he went, but at £2.5m from Atletico Mineiro he seemed like a bit of a bargain.
https://i.postimg.cc/J756Sj7f/3-Lewis.jpg
Out of favour at Man City another bargain at £1.2m.
https://i.postimg.cc/SNj6V9n7/4-Small.jpg
On loan from Southampton with a future fee clause of £16m, which I won't be opting to exercise as he is always fucking injured.
https://i.postimg.cc/V5ykj2Sh/5-Kwaartal.jpg
£4.2m from Pec Zwolle.
I have a couple of first team players who're spoiling for a move and won't extend their contracts which expire in 2030 so it might be time to cash in as I need some more weight in the transfer market to push on at this point I feel.
I wonder where they plucked 33,000 from.
Does seem a bit high, we've been averaging 13,000 at Almeria, but then our fans do need to take a boat to get there.
Awesome effort @Sir Andy Mahowry.
Which database edit you using for the other save?
I believe it's called "England Realistic".
Melilla Season 8 - 2028/29 - Mid Season Update
https://i.postimg.cc/3wTpbC7V/Results.jpg
Bar an absolutely horrific spell in September we've been pretty on it all season and Champions League qualification now looks a realistic target.
https://i.postimg.cc/5yTQ58nP/Table.jpg
We're in the last 64 of the Spanish Cup against some wine makers and 2nd place in our Europa League group sees us play a loaded Monaco in the last 16 of that tournament.
Beta is no more.
https://www.footballmanager.com/game...l-manager-2023
In news I wasn't expecting they're doing a 2023 version, it's on PS5 this time which might tempt me to switch if only for match highlights that aren't in stop motion.
I had £11.23 in my steam account from selling those trading cards (who buys those?!) so just preordered for less than £25. Cool.Quote:
Originally Posted by wullie
Another reminder to join the TTH team if you haven’t already.
I might actually play Touch via Apple Arcade on my iPad this year. Pretty cool to have access basically for nothing.
Glad Touch is back in a more playable format.
What's the consensus when it comes to player development? Is it best to farm them out on loan where they'll get minutes or keep them in house and focus on mentoring and training.
Touch :cool:
For me at Melilla and my awful facilities it definitely seemed better loaning them, but I’d be curious to hear the thoughts of others.Quote:
Originally Posted by Manc
Melilla Season 8 - 2028/29 - THE RUN IN
In the light of the very sad news this evening I thought long and hard about postponing the Melilla save, but probably unlike real football this show will continue.
https://i.postimg.cc/rmqsXcvx/Results.jpg
This is what's happened since January and in a nutshell, we suffered with all the games. With players knackered left right and centre we had little chance against 3rd place in their Champions League group Monaco and the relentless Valencia while also trying to push for the top four. Still, now we're out of all that we have ten games to go and this is how the league sits:
https://i.postimg.cc/9QFjh0MW/Table.jpg
Two points to claw back but on the plus side and for the first time since I've started checking this stuff we have a better record vs. Valencia over the two games against them that we've already played, so two points is all we need.
Then, in what might be the biggest thing to happen to this club, this chap is the subject of a straight up cash money bid of £42m from Man Utd.
https://i.postimg.cc/G2jQdL9C/Alves.jpg
His contract expires in just over a year and he wants to move to a bigger club and with that sort of money (hopefully combined with CL football) it might be the catalyst we need to push on and establish ourselves as the number three club in Spain.
And it is done...
https://i.postimg.cc/HsNdQKCw/Qualified.jpg
:cool:
https://gyazo.com/68394aca340eb574aafa4be2e892d08c.jpegQuote:
Originally Posted by Yevrah
Have Atletico Madrid re-appointed Ron Atkinson, or what?
Simeone left in 2022 for Man Utd and while Vivas had a decent stint for 3 or 4 years it's all gone to absolute shite after that.
https://i.postimg.cc/Y0Xqt4JY/Atletico.jpg
They've still got some amazing players, including Joao Felix, so I would love them to finally go down.
Melilla Season 9 - 2029/30 - Summer Window Update
Fresh from a 4th place finish and our first Champions League qualification, Joao Alves departed for Man Utd for £42m and in addition Jerry Lewis (who we'd only signed 12 months ago) also left for £8.25m. I didn't want to lose him but as the season wore on it became clear that he, and there's really only one way to put this, was a cunt. Some English clubs were interested and did make bids, but in a petty act of revenge for all his moaning and fuckwittery I rejected all of those and sent him to Tijuana in Mexico instead. Have fun in that footballing graveyard!
This also happened with the tv money too.
https://i.postimg.cc/FKfsqpRj/TV-Rights.jpg
Which is about £5m more than previous seasons, suggesting that LaLiga tv money might finally be dynamic.
Despite over £50m coming and CL qualification the board still only gave us £37m to spend in the window, which is prudent as fuck but still represents nearly four times as much as we've ever had to spend in a window before. In came:
https://i.postimg.cc/hvMBhQvD/1-Ven.jpg
£7.25m from Genoa. We had him on loan a couple of years ago so he already speaks fluent Spanish and goes in as first choice at right back. Nowhere near as good going forward as Alves but much better defensively.
https://i.postimg.cc/Dz1R84p9/2-Bessa.jpg
At £13.5m from Sporting Lisbon, Bessa becomes our record signing. Probably good enough for the first team now, but I'll rotate him with Toni Lato who still has a fair bit to offer.
https://i.postimg.cc/L4G7BTdc/3-Gila.jpg
I tried to buy Gila last season but he opted for Betis instead. 12 months later and £6.75m I finally have a player with exceptional leadership, who goes straight in as captain.
https://i.postimg.cc/9QgyZLKT/4-Hernandez.jpg
Very excited about this one. £4.7m from River Plate, his estimated value increased tenfold as soon as we signed him. Out on loan for this season due to the 3 forriner limit and because I'd rather he played a shitload of football, but big things expected within a year or two.
And finally on the player movements front, a moment please for Jose Antonio Gonzalez.
https://i.postimg.cc/2yXC2BDH/5-Gonz.jpg
Gonzalez was the last original Melilla player we had left and with his contract up and his stats frankly far too shit for this level it was time to let the club captain of eight years go.
https://i.postimg.cc/50Rrr5XF/Career.jpg
He's seen it all since the start and never once let us down, playing an instrumental role in getting us out of the basement of Spanish football and then again when we made LaLiga. Legend, well Icon according to the club info screen.
I've played a few league games, but I'll update those when we reach the winter break. But until I do, the Champions League Group Stage draw has also been made:
https://i.postimg.cc/vZn6xG7R/CL-Draw.jpg
A horrible group, but I guess to be expected given our coefficient is awful and we were 4th seeds. It's imperative we somehow finish at least 3rd in this group to get that up.
Melilla Season 9 - 2029/30 - Mid Season Update
https://i.postimg.cc/Qt7GG7mF/Results.jpg
Horrible. Just horrible. Things were going fairly well to start then I rotated the entire first team against Leganes to rest players for the game away at Sporting. We were humped and then slid into the worst run of form I've seen in this game so far.
https://i.postimg.cc/3rZfy9kK/Table.jpg
Mid-table and out of Europe altogether. Might take a break from this save for a bit, feels like it's needed.
Started my second season with livorno, newly promoted to serie D, pissed out of my head last night when I got home. You'd think I'd have learnt by now. Wonky 3-5-2 has us, league favourites, on one point from 9. Nice one, drunk Igor.
I have a question...
Is there a way I can change a setting to force matches in certain competitions to appear when I hit continue? For example the World Cup.
Isn't that in the screen flow settings?
Thanks Clunge, that is it!
I couldn't remember what it was called and swear it didn't used to be in preferences.
I usually have the World Cup and European Championships on a screen flow every two days during the competitions, just so that they don't bypass me competely.
...
In the absence of a Melilla update, I'll jump in with my Atletico update. If you remember, I'd decided to give the experienced heads a crack at the title, as there were many fan favourites still playing there and I felt they could probably get some silverware.
https://i.ibb.co/QfMvLWS/Competitions.png
And there it is. A clean sweep (of important trophies) and it's mission accomplished in Spain.
https://i.ibb.co/BZvGqX2/League-Table.png
The only real challenge was going to be whether we could oust two dominating sides - I never doubted we'd get a lot of points, but Real Madrid and Barcelona can be pretty unstoppable too. Indeed, Real went the whole season unbeaten before losing their last two after we'd secured the league.
https://i.ibb.co/Z8ydh3v/Schedule-league-1.png
https://i.ibb.co/P6mm3HL/Schedule-league-2.png
https://i.ibb.co/nQsqSg9/3-0-Liverpool.png
This felt like quite a pivotal moment as Liverpool were completely dominant in Europe, and we swatted them aside in this match. At some point during the season, Klopp was given his marching orders and Steven Gerrard took over an ageing side.
https://i.ibb.co/dLDJkR7/Copa-Del-Rey.png
https://i.ibb.co/LpCnJmX/Schedule-Copa-Del-Rey.png
Winning the Copa Del Rey was lovely as the cups can be tricky, and as you know my goal is to win the league and cup in each of the top leagues in Europe.
https://i.ibb.co/31NtJYj/Champions-League-history.png
https://i.ibb.co/KsQm2rQ/Champions-League.png
https://i.ibb.co/5rLB9yL/Champions-League-winners.png
https://i.ibb.co/VNPDZ8V/Schedule-Champions-League.png
Lovely.
Some records:
https://i.ibb.co/1Znnddj/Average-rating-record.png
https://i.ibb.co/XStVS0w/Clean-sheet-record.png
https://i.ibb.co/5LZPk0Z/La-Liga-record.png
https://i.ibb.co/jRVhJnf/Record-44-unbeaten.png
Lots of records broken, and below is my main man Thomas Lemar, and my one signing of the season. It was a mixed bag from Kaio Jorge, who is on about a par with my only other striker who was already at the club.
https://i.ibb.co/rGQnGw8/Lemar.png
https://i.ibb.co/fCM7pTW/Jorge.png
...
Now for the negatives and the future. I need to improve how I handle older players and their contracts. After deciding to keep hold of a number of 30+ players to have a crack at the title, I'm now losing many of them. Marcos Llorente, Rodrigo De Paul, Timothy Castagne, Jose Gimenez and Ivo Grbic are all leaving on a free transfer. Koke is 34 and wants about £250k a week so he might be going too. Long story short, the squad will need an overhaul which leaves me in a bit of a dilemma. As I've completed what I set out to in Spain, the natural inclination is to move on. However, I don't want to feel like I'm leaving them in the shit, so I'm tempted to stick it out another season and begin some kind of rebuild. Also, there are no appealing jobs open at the moment anyway.
What I don't particularly want is to get to November, something come up and me leaving mid-season again. Watch this space...
Kaiserslautern - 2023/24
https://seeklogo.com/images/1/1fc-ka...eklogo.com.gif
Back-to-Back
I had a sense the 2. Liga would be lacking quality given how stacked the Bundesliga was, but it never crossed my mine that we'd be capable of promotion let alone lifting the title. Not only did we win our second title in two seasons, we did so at a canter finishing an impressive nine points ahead of second placed Dusseldorf. Promotion ensured we were only the ninth team in German football history to advance from the third tier to the promised land in consecutive seasons. Remarkable. Perhaps more notable is how long we spent at the summit of the table with the only real wobble arriving after the winter break. With ten games to spare both Nurnberg & Hansa Rostock began to breath down our necks, but ultimately both sides struggled to keep pace and we earned promotion with three games to spare. We would be crowned champions the very next week and I can only assume the celebrations got out of hand as we were dismantled the following Saturday 5-0 away in Bielefeld.
The Runners and Riders
Credit must go to the board who backed me financially with a £6.5m transfer budget and £70k increase in the weekly wage budget, albeit with the aim of staying in the division. The recruitment philosophy hadn't wavered as once again we were looking at home grown talents who ideally still had plenty of room for improvement. Munich was the first stop as we secured bosman deals for Nicolas Kuhn (formerly of Ajax) & complete unknown Jamie Lawrence. At just 20 years of age Lawrence would become the best defender in the league, and despite a slow start Kuhn would grow into the role of a shadow striker and earned a contract extension in the process. Another player poached from the Bayern academy was central midfielder Torben Rhein who had very little involvement, but is very much one to watch. Sticking with the middle of the pitch and next up was Jens Castrop. Half German, half Korean, my scouts were incredibly keen for me to sign this player and it's worked out very well so far playing every minute of every game. He is the perfect 6 in a midfield that has a lot of moving parts. Bolstering the ranks were Felix Udokhai from Augsburg & Ansgar Knauff from Dortmund for a combined £1.8m. Steal. Last but not least is our new No1 Christian Fruchtl (also from Bayern) who looked unbeatable at times and really took the team to the next level.
With the scouting operation now in full flow, alongside those listed above we began to go fishing in the newgen/regen (which one is it?) market with some success. The ultimate idea being to have a pipeline of talent on hand when inevitably our first team players are poached by the giants of European football.
Ain't no party like a Kaiserslautern party
Just a quick word for the fans who I have largely ignored in these write ups. In the third tier we were averaging around 19,000 per home game (we are massive), which last season jumped up to a whopping 27,000 or so. In the one home game I have played in the top flight thus far, the Fritz-Walter Stadion was almost sold out as we hit 47,846, a figure which puts us right in amongst the likes of Frankfurt, Koln & Gladbach. Financially in the long term at least this should give us a a big advantage over a lot of lower established Bundesliga teams, but we first we had to stay in the division.
Melilla Season 9 - 2029/30 - End of Season Update
After a bit of a break we're back to finish off our 9th season at Melilla. The first half of the season was a bit shit as we crashed out of Europe in our debut Champions League season (admittedly from a tough group), but the second half was much better:
https://i.postimg.cc/d1s7PxX6/Results.jpg
We seem to cope much better with only one game a week and secured our second trip to the Champions League. It's vital we at least finish third in the group to get that coefficient up which is still dogshit and sees us outside the top 100 ranked teams in Europe.
https://i.postimg.cc/Vk9LfFXV/Table.jpg
Other thing to note is what Jurgen Klopp is doing at Real, which is frankly ridiculous. I can't ever recall seeing a CPU managed team be that dominant in the league.
Nearly forgot that in the January window we did some business. This chap (whinging fuck) left for Benfica for £40m:
https://i.postimg.cc/fRHWSRgc/Novakovic.jpg
And we brought in another winger for £13.25m minimum release from Brazil.
https://i.postimg.cc/YqdBbyfk/Bugrao.jpg
Onto the summer window in advance of our 10th season.
6 points dropped across an entire season. +112 goal difference too :p
Who is spanking in all of these goals for them?
This fucker.
https://i.postimg.cc/qv0wLRtS/Nino.jpg
38 in 37 league games last season.
Melilla Season 10 - 2030/31 - Summer Window
Season ended and budgets were set as follows:
https://i.postimg.cc/d0BfSr9y/Transfer-Budgets.jpg
Before I did any transfers I wanted to finally sort my staff out, looking for at least 4.5 stars in every training category, which we achieved. Out went Edgar Davids, Aguero and a few others. As a result we needed a new assistant manager and there was only one man for the job.
Toggle Spoiler
We also brought this guy in as our first Head of Youth Development:
https://i.postimg.cc/wxhwWhTT/Ros.jpg
Transfers In
Only 3 signings this summer:
https://i.postimg.cc/KzhnLHT7/1-Bats.jpg
£3.5m from Olympiakos.
https://i.postimg.cc/Xvd5VkPr/2-Bra.jpg
£750k from Cosenza.
https://i.postimg.cc/02hrbJDD/3-Bits.jpg
£10.5m from relegated Schalke.
Results
https://i.postimg.cc/5tgxqHYP/Results.jpg
Three things to mention here.
On the plus side this is our first season in Europe where our league form hasn't gone to shit while playing in it, suggesting we might finally have the squad depth to cope.
On the downside we were awful in Europe, losing home and away to Rangers and with our only points picked up in the win over Lazio. Disastrous stuff for the coefficient and genuinely pissed me off.
The Elche game was a disgrace.
https://i.postimg.cc/FFyQjdM0/Table.jpg
Klopp is still Klopping but we genuinely could be in with a chance of our first ever second place finish, or at least third place, which would still be our best. With the window approaching I need a better goalkeeper and a target man to replace Uldrikis whose rapidly declining physicals are beginning to cause a problem, but (the European aberration aside) it genuinely feels like we're getting close to having a team that could challenge for the title, especially if/when Klopp retires.
Real problems at the bottom of the league.
Melilla Season 10 - 2030/31 - End of Season Update
Starting with the January window we had our busiest one yet:
https://i.postimg.cc/6pmn8hR9/Transfer-Window.jpg
Revilla joined on an 18 month loan originally but our record sale, Daniel Jimenez allowed us to set up the transfer for Revilla for £15.25m when his loan ends. Uldrikis was an icon of the club but at 33 it was time for him to part ways, leaving behind him a legacy of 85 La Liga goals in 133 games.
Players in:
https://i.postimg.cc/YqxJBvFN/1-Ruiz.jpg
https://i.postimg.cc/LsGW3LdS/2-Fernandez.jpg
https://i.postimg.cc/FRcBWzmL/3-Revilla.jpg
Results
https://i.postimg.cc/4N8B1Vt0/Results.jpg
Revilla was a cracking success, with 16 goals in 19 games and while we had a bit of a limp finish the final day of the season win saw us finish in an all time high of 3rd.
https://i.postimg.cc/26mQYShv/Table.jpg
So from where are we pre-ordering FM23 cheapest? I can see it for £30.99 (Steam) via CDKeys, can anyone do better than that?
@Baz
Hopefully won’t get stung for it at all if it’s on Apple Arcade.
I wast planning on getting 2023 as I am cool with 2022, but I think i will run it on console.Quote:
Originally Posted by wullie
Console fm sounds like the worst thing ever
I've lived it back when they put one of them on the 360. Very clumsy but you can do it.
I agree, but im prepared to give it a go.Quote:
Originally Posted by igor_balis
Surely any modern console can take a bluetooth keyboard.
Melilla Season 11 - 2031/32 - Season Review
Full season update this time, having hammered through the whole thing before being arsed to post an update. It was pretty crap overall, but did have three things that made it bearable.
First one was we are finally back in (the continent of) Africa!
https://i.postimg.cc/q7hLhwZH/22nd-October-2031.jpg
Here's how the facilities now look, we're starting to smell like a proper club.
https://i.postimg.cc/DzkW6cwT/Facilities.jpg
And talking of proper club, with over £100m in the bank the club have seriously released the purse strings.
https://i.postimg.cc/cJWxrxmR/Budgets.jpg
Key Transfers
https://i.postimg.cc/tgv4ftXJ/1-Vander.jpg
£6.5m from Brugge, he played the season as back up left back.
https://i.postimg.cc/RVm4gbcG/2-Kovacic.jpg
£13m from Rapid Vienna, played a fair few games.
https://i.postimg.cc/15y1GVQj/3-Espinola.jpg
Joined on a free, spent the season on loan at Toledo.
https://i.postimg.cc/jjHh42KM/4-Tana.jpg
At £300k he looks like an absolute bargain and his value has shot up while he's been ripping it up at Rayo Vallecano.
And then in the January window I brought in these two:
https://i.postimg.cc/y6QyPw4C/5-Stopa.jpg
Been tracking him for a couple of seasons after he made the German U-19 team at 16 years old and when he finally became interested snapped him up for £10m from Stuttgart. Couldn't get him out on loan but he got 3 goals in the league coming off the bench.
https://i.postimg.cc/9MNwdH4x/6-Zabala.jpg
£2.7m from Sociedad. Couldn't get him out on loan either, but he did ok in the few appearances he made.
Results
https://i.postimg.cc/pTxHXsPq/CL.jpg
After crashing out of the CL in 4th place in each of the two previous seasons we really needed a decent showing to get that coefficient up and we finally got one. In fact, we were 30 seconds away from making the knockout rounds against Juve when the ref blew for a push in the box to send us into the Europa League. Gutting, but another chance to boost the coefficient.
https://i.postimg.cc/LXr08XkR/Europa.jpg
Which we did until we ran into Spurs in shocking form and in an injury crisis. Still, I'll take Europe as the second decent thing this season. A look at the coefficient table suggests we should now be in the top 50 come the next season.
https://i.postimg.cc/1Xrc15Jv/Table.jpg
A decent season turned shite in the last few months and we limped to 6th. However and due to Spain losing its place in the top 4 European Leagues (Melilla playing no small part in that..) that means we qualify for the Europa Conference League and I'll take that as the third decent thing this season as it's an excellent chance to get us further up those European rankings.
Next Season
We need to push on and win something, so if we can't do that in the Europa Conference League this season I'll view that as a disappointment. I have some decent squad depth now and some cracking youngsters, but need to be spending the funds this window on players who'll increase the first team quality. Priority number 1 is a new keeper as Vitek, as good as he's been for 326 games, is not the man to take us any further.
Nice to see Oviedo flirting with the big leagues.
Ashington Town 2021/22 Season Update:
League:
https://i.imgur.com/hpyv44i.png
https://i.imgur.com/VFcbe9S.png
Shocking start but we managed to turn the corner in February and after the Newcastle Benfield game we were top on goal difference. Then we fucked it up against Consett.
In the final game we had to win and we needed Billingham Town (who were top) to lose as well as West Auckland Town failing to win. Billingham were losing and West Auckland were drawing while we were winning. It was looking good and then in the 79th minute West Auckland scored to take the league from us.
https://i.imgur.com/3i9CDq9.png
Playoffs:
Spoiler in the above image but oh well.
https://i.imgur.com/f9cc3Sr.png
In the semi-final we enacted revenge on Consett.
https://i.imgur.com/t9N8hiN.png
Sadly in the final we completely fucked it.
Cups:
https://i.imgur.com/mQKMhpm.png
Board were happy with the FA Cup showing (they didn't care about the competition) and the Northern League where they wanted us to make the quarters. They were not happy with us failing in the FA Vase though as they wanted us to reach the fifth round.
Squad:
https://i.imgur.com/H1VO1g5.png
We've done a lot of wheeling and dealing (I'm a fucking football manager) and we needed to. The squad could not score and for a long time our top goalscorer was our best CB Aziakonou (sadly he left in March for Blyth Spartans) and the signings of Lewis Martin and Darren Brannigan helped massively.
I've got a lot of shit in the squad as I was hoovering up any talent early in scouting reports in the hopes of getting them ahead of other teams and most of the time it didn't work out as they were a lot worse than the initial report. Playing with hidden attributes isn't easy.
Not sure if I'll stay or jump ship to another team yet.
Melilla Season 12 - 2032/33 - Mid Season Update
Into our 12th season and the monies just keep getting better.
https://i.postimg.cc/FsC6TDMq/TV-Rights.jpg
Which led to our biggest budget yet:
https://i.postimg.cc/VvVFWHJW/Budgets.jpg
Tried to buy a couple of first teamers but lost out to Man City so settled on the following three players to join.
https://i.postimg.cc/FsXgbqsG/1-opoku.jpg
Always on the look out for African players due to the situation the club are in and this absolute bargain at £50k from King Faisal is the latest to join.
https://i.postimg.cc/2ykjrr72/2-Jackson.jpg
Released by Barca and snapped up by us.
https://i.postimg.cc/Nf2SFZC4/3-Cesar.jpg
Really wanted a quality keeper but sadly this chap was the best we could get at £9m from Palmeiras. He has a fair bit of potential according to our chancer HoYD but he's hardly what I imagined I'd end up with.
So with the pre-season transfers done I settled down for the new season and was very surprised when this happened.
Toggle Spoiler
Naturally we jumped at the chance. :drool:
Results
https://i.postimg.cc/59QqcJRf/Europe.jpg
The Conference league has been great fun so far as it seems no matter who I play from our squad, we win. It's also doing wonders for the co-efficient and already has us close to the top 30 looking at next season's rankings :cool:
https://i.postimg.cc/q7gQz3j3/League-results.jpg
Our league form has been blighted with inconsistency, which is very annoying as for the first time in ages Real Madrid are having a shocker by their standards.
https://i.postimg.cc/wB08dL3R/Table.jpg
Still, with only a 5 point gap to bridge I'm not ruling us out yet. So desperately want a trophy this season.
England
With a World Cup in two years time it was up to the Nations League to fill the calendar for the rest of this year.
https://i.postimg.cc/7P1cvScH/England.jpg
The loss to Italy was ridiculous, but nonetheless we topped the group by 5 points and will play either Ukraine, France or Portugal in next summer's semi-finals.
Do you get any special dispensation to sign African players at all?
Enjoying the updates, hope you look nice in your new waistcoat
I don't think I do specifically but La Liga in general does in that so many of the nations in Africa count as EU, for reasons.
https://i.postimg.cc/HLDnhtmT/skyspo...sn-5428777.jpg
Toggle Spoiler
Woof.
A shame as he looks quality, but you just can't turn down money like that.
I did think long and hard about it as 12 seasons in players that good are so few and far between, let alone ones that will join Melilla, but he had a £120m fee release clause and while he did have four years left on his deal he's been moaning about joining a bigger club for 12-18 months now.
Newcastle was perfect as if he's as good as he thinks he is then I should taste that sweet 50% sell on fee at some point too.
A quick update on my Ultimate Challenge, and the big news is...Atletico are no more. As I said in my last update, something might come along mid-season, and that something was Arsenal. Struggling in the Premier League (relatively), they were the perfect club to move on to. Obviously I've not yet won the league or cup in England, and Arsenal have great potential despite not winning the league for a couple of decades plus.
I was meaning to share my youngsters at Atletico, not least to show that the future is bright under new manager Jurgen Klopp.
https://i.ibb.co/h1x84BW/Abdoulayi.png
https://i.ibb.co/PDrZq91/Jalo.png
https://i.ibb.co/jWqKRFQ/Rago.png
https://i.ibb.co/DCqjytD/Ocmoneck.png
https://i.ibb.co/hKszPyw/Rentero.png
When I left Atletico:
https://i.ibb.co/BG9p3Kv/League-table-December.png
We were absolutely flying, pretty much everything had clicked into place and Kaio Jorge was banging them in for fun.
https://i.ibb.co/yqykjNZ/Squad-December.png
Finally, shortly after leaving...and just look who he fought off in the 2nd and 3rd.
https://i.ibb.co/mbszc3y/Lemar-Balon-D-or.png
...
The Arsenal squad, which on paper is probably slightly stronger than Atletico, but they're pretty comparable:
https://i.ibb.co/PC2MR0T/Arsenal-squad-December.png
https://i.ibb.co/dfW8RqW/League-tabl...er-Arsenal.png
Things started off pretty easy with Arsenal - I created a number of 4-3-3s that catered for (for example) Saka as a wing back, inverted winger and winger, Odegaard as a roaming playmaker, central midfielder and false nine, and other subtle changes. Not too dissimilar to how I was playing at Atletico (below), just the odd tweak here and there.
https://i.ibb.co/YB7yyzw/Tactic-4-3-3.png
https://i.ibb.co/P1yZMJH/Schedule.png
Then I decided it was going to become too easy and possibly too boring, so I changed tact (around about where those two draws are). Despite being dominant results wise, we've never really dominated in terms of possession or passes completed, and the matches aren't always easy on the eye. So I decided to add a new challenge, at least for now - as well as winning the league and domestic cup, I must also come top of the possession and passes completed tables. This meant a complete change in team style.
https://i.ibb.co/HhdMKCG/Tactic-possession.png
It's a bit of a work in progress, and at the moment I'm tweaking mentality and tempo depending on the fixture.
...
Finally, Hansi Flick is now in charge of my first club Norwich, and I thought I'd share this little nugget as they came up when I was still with Atletico and they bought one of my players...
https://i.ibb.co/3RPJ0dG/Mellila.png
Top work Scouse. I've been lurking and keeping up on your progress. This situation raises a point I've always wondered. Assuming Atletico go on to win the league, do you get any credit?
Or is it literally just whoever is in charge when the news item of the league win pops up?
Well I've just won the league cup with Arsenal and taken the credit, so presumably it's whoever is in charge. I won't personally count anything unless I've had a full season with the club.
Fuck me, the work permits aren’t half a shambles when you’re an English team, eh? Trying to sell or buy foreign youngsters (heh) is literally impossible
Melilla Season 12 - 2032/33 - Window and Jan-Mar Update
With Kosher Messi leaving the club I was torn as to what to do with the funds and in the end I think I may have panicked a bit. SMASHING our transfer record by signing this chap from Man City for £75m.
https://i.postimg.cc/zBbRcBqM/1-Serrano.jpg
We lose a fair bit in creativity but hopefully make up for that with his attacking ability and the fact he's left footed. He's got a fair bit of potential left according to my scouts and staff so I've whacked him on AMR and shooting training. To hopefully help with the creativity we've lost we also signed this guy for a bargain £4.6m from Hajduk:
https://i.postimg.cc/nrN2Pg8K/2-Maruzin.jpg
Annoyingly he thinks he's a left wing back so will need to be retrained, but if that's a success we'd have two cracking wing backs and a pretty solid and well rounded first 11.
https://i.postimg.cc/qBK1tB2j/3-Cher.jpg
Last signing of the window for £1.6m from Ponferradina in the Spanish basement and straight out on loan. Hopefully one for the future.
Results
https://i.postimg.cc/SRRWLhsQ/Results.jpg
Pretty solid stuff and finally a win over Barca or Real in the league. Madrid (until that game) had hit their stride, so think we have too much to make up to take the title, but a second place finish would be lovely.
https://i.postimg.cc/cCtv44C3/Table.jpg
Really though, the hopes of our first trophy since the Spanish Fourth tier win, 11 years ago, rest on the Europa Conference League.
https://i.postimg.cc/3Jgggnrv/Europe.jpg
I fancy our chances up to the final, where we'll no doubt get Lazio if we make it and they're legitimately challenging for Serie A as I type.
Oh and:
https://i.postimg.cc/T1xPGjzz/Spain.jpg
:harold:
That's Galatasaray taken care of:
https://i.postimg.cc/6p0kHkfJ/Europe.jpg
Nice up next.
And Nice taken care of.
https://i.postimg.cc/SsNWpt5M/Europe.jpg
Quite unbelievable we only won that tie 3-2, we were all over them for 180 minutes. Lazio up next in our first European final. I'm shitting it.
https://i.postimg.cc/cLLgC8hp/Stadium.jpg
Fewer than 4,000 seats and that's the rest of the Kosher Messi money gone. I wouldn't have bothered begging them for an increase if I'd known it'd be that shit.
Absolutely gutted.
https://i.postimg.cc/CKNFWwWw/Europe.jpg
The own goal we conceded for the equaliser having dominated was ludicrous.
An all time high of second place in the league though.
https://i.postimg.cc/MKQzz7hP/League.jpg
And the wage budget just keeps rising.
https://i.postimg.cc/J0BC48dD/Budgets.jpg
England up next with Kylian Mbappe's France in the semi-final of the Nations League. He has 141 goals in 183 caps.
I just started a new game on Championship Manager 01/02 with mega-loaded Rushden & Diamonds.
Loving the speed and lack of fuckery (press conferences, player interactions) and the simplicity of training, tactics and playing the game.
Update to follow this evening, I'm sure.
You know, you can delegate those jobs you're not interested in.
Yeah, I know :D I just like to complain.Quote:
Originally Posted by ScousePig
EDIT: Also, CM0102 has Bambang Pamungkas, so.
Well, it's been a decent start, but I struggled to actually sign some players. Approached the usual CM0102 legends; Kerr (went to Villa), Tsigalko (flat out refused), Lunden (refused), Young-soo (refused), Bakirciouglu (refused).
So, despite having tonnes of money for Division 2 (tier 4) I was worried I wouldn't actually sign anyone. Fortunately, I have used one of the CM0102 tools and removed the Work Permit regs so was able to sign some Asian beauts...
Legendary Thai striker Kiatisuk "Zico" Senamuang (free) and Indonesia goal machine Bambang Pamungkas (£625k). Then, I started to panic and bid for about 20 defenders, with Taribo West joining on a free, Alpay (£2.8m) deciding to leave Villa to join me and CM0102 stalwart Fred Risk joining from Goteborg (£2.8m).
Spent £6.25, recouped peanuts in some players sales, and still have £13.25 to spend.
Tactically, we are all over the place. Started with my old favourite of 4-3-1-2 but struggled to keep clean sheets, so switched to 5-3-2, then of course we couldn't score. Still experimenting quite a lot.
A decent start to the season, but we struggle to string 3 decent performances together. The existing squad we inherited was, and is, utter bilge.
Transfers
https://gyazo.com/a2f1313380a261834a225de0b5446f3e.jpeg
The Squad
https://gyazo.com/0b8e28b86a6c4a0c1b7d9f81fdbda827.jpeg
The Players
https://gyazo.com/256e0d0e0bea6f2069928ad55f798dc3.jpeg
https://gyazo.com/5581717b6690af1afdc4fce691a7f2f9.jpeg
https://gyazo.com/fcc1a2104824a02bc68c67afc7be3a3a.jpeg
https://gyazo.com/8f10aab141cc75f8b86b0f10f2f6353c.jpeg
The Table
https://gyazo.com/e278ce250d4a21036852fa2b5536a146.jpeg
The Finances
https://gyazo.com/dda40604d1eeb4eba4b43160fbc4f8a8.jpeg
Whoa why is it widescreen
For some reason, windowed mode is way too small, so I use full screen mode.
Go on the champman0102 forums and you can download something called Nick's Patcher which (amongst a million other things) brings the windowed resolution into the 21st century. I play windowed in 1280xwhatever.
Also, Alpay? You brave man. Risp and West. :cool:
Yeah, used his patcher, but for some reason it still does some weird ass sizing. Thanks though!Quote:
Originally Posted by Ben
I've been reading this Football Manager guide/book by someone called Cleon, which I've found interesting. In one of the sections he talks about different playing styles and the key attributes for each. I decided to create some new squad screens with the relevant attributes and came up with five different ways of playing: defensive, fluid counter attack, gegenpress, tiki taka and attacking. I spent a bit of time looking at each player in the Arsenal squad and ended up with five different tactical styles. They're all versions of a 4-3-3 but all quite different.
https://i.ibb.co/ncgZW7R/Tactic-4-3-...-attacking.png
https://i.ibb.co/myDdvPq/Tactic-4-3-3-gegenpress.png
https://i.ibb.co/k1wNX8q/Tactic-4-3-3-tiki-taka.png
https://i.ibb.co/twRW232/Tactic-4-3-3-defensive.png
https://i.ibb.co/MPd8QLS/4-3-3-fluid-counter-attack.png
It's allowed me to look much more closely at the real strengths of the team as a whole, and individual players. In short, unsurprisingly we're very well suited to the more attacking options, in particular the standard attacking option, which is a bit of hybrid gegenpress/possession style. But this allows me to easily adapt if necessary, and manage the squad better in terms of both rotation and intensity. Here's a couple of examples of it in action:
https://i.ibb.co/gwQnMQq/4-1-vs-Spurs.png
https://i.ibb.co/rHtwLtZ/4-3-3-assym...domination.png
As mentioned earlier, we won the League Cup, but that was it for this season. We came really close to the league title though, pushing Chelsea all the way to the end. Considering where we were in December, that's pretty good progress.
https://i.ibb.co/pRV5jqt/End-of-season-table.png
We also lost to Chelsea in the Champions League final, knocking out former team and current holders Atletico in the first place. I'm not planning on making many signings as the squad is pretty well balanced, I'm just going to use the extensive scouting options to try and get some youngsters in. I've promoted a couple of 19/20 year-olds but they're no more than decent.
In other (former club) news, Jurgen Klopp ballsed Atletico's league campaign up and finished 3rd, before jumping ship to Juventus where Guardiola left to join Newcastle. Hansi Flick guided Norwich to 16th but won the FA Cup with them, and Harry Kane has surpassed Alan Shearer's 260 league goals record.
Started unemployed and then took over Southampton in March, they were 19th with 20 points. Had a good run of form to end very comfortable
https://i.imgur.com/SA1rNY1.png
Then it got weird as the form continued into the second season and didn't actually stop
https://i.imgur.com/OtgwtW5.png
Blimey, what tactic do you use?
The 4231 version in the post here https://fm-base.co.uk/threads/stephe...3#post-2556538
It's not really felt like it was overpowered before so it must be a happy coincidence that it suits Southampton, apart from replacing the goalkeeper it's basically the same first team that got Ralph Hasselhoof sacked.
So I just won a game 7-0:
https://i.imgur.com/9Aepi9p.png
The weird thing? My keeper (Rutter) had 3 assists.
https://i.imgur.com/FvAD5eT.png
He's now got 4 in the league.
It is pretty windy down there.