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Thread: Football Manager 2022

  1. #501
    Senior Member Jimmy Floyd's Avatar
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    The board want second round, which is the same as their expectation was for the African Nations, so they're on the wacky baccy. If I got that I'd be delighted, even some good performances and a heartbreaking exit would be OK. Really I'm just here for having qualified to it and hopefully can qualify for a few more with different teams.

  2. #502
    Senior Member Manc's Avatar
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    I'd be amazed if you didn't get out of the group.

  3. #503
    Senior Member Adramelch's Avatar
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    The problem with groups like his is that you don't have the traditional big team to clean out everybody else, nor do you have the traditional punching bag of sorts. It's one of those "anyone can finish first or last" type of groups.
    Last edited by Adramelch; 22-11-2021 at 08:39 AM.

  4. #504
    Senior Member Serj's Avatar
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    2023/24 Season Review

    Third season is done, and the less said about it, the better. I thought this would be the year to push for a top-half finish, maybe even a spot in the playoffs. Instead we finished 17th.



    This was the first season in which I could actually afford to offer non-insulting wages to players, and after conceding 56 two seasons in a row, first priority was shoring up the defence. So I raided the German leagues for freebies.

    Toggle Spoiler


    I bought/loaned others, but those three, while nothing special, were the clearest improvement to the starting line-up. Only Gruev performed consistently though, and while I did concede nine fewer than the previous seasons, my defence still looked far from settled at the end of the season.

    What made the defensive problems worse was the fact that I basically stopped scoring for large parts of the season. Boyd Reith, the right wing-back I've been trying to build up as one of the main providers, struggled with injuries throughout, and his form has declined to the point where basically my entire coaching staff wants me to sell him.



    None of the other attacking players stepped up, not even Raebiger, an almost-wonderkided I loaned from Leipzig to serve as playmaker.



    So, fittingly, it's Gruev, the ball-winning midfielder who ends up as player of the season. The xG table reckons I should count myself unlucky, but to be honest, most of the performances looked massively underwhelming, so I can't complain too much.



    I'll give it another year to challenge for the playoffs. Otherwise I'll be off to another country for a fresh start with probably an entirely different tactical approach.

  5. #505
    Senior Member Jimmy Floyd's Avatar
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    What is that league like? Is it like a League 1/2 pace merchant festival? I can't see how that kid doesn't go well otherwise.

  6. #506
    Senior Member Serj's Avatar
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    It seems that way. The highest rated players are usually pacy wingers and/or the defenders that lump the ball towards them. As evidenced by this year's two highest rated players in the league:

    Toggle Spoiler


    Maybe I'm overcomplicating things by trying to involve overlapping wing-backs and midfield creators.

  7. #507
    Senior Member Jimmy Floyd's Avatar
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    I've definitely found over the years that below a certain level, you just need loads of pace up front and physical specimens at the back. The ability to pick a pass doesn't mean much when, as you say, some neanderthal can bypass the defence by lumping it over for the pace merchants. It stops working once you get to a higher level and the tempo is higher. That's when technical quality tells.

    Might not be the same in all countries, but I bet it's like that in Holland.

  8. #508
    Fuck like you cook.
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    Season 10

    Borussia Dortmund - 2031/2032

    After bidding farewell to Tottenham and English football, it was time to hit the ground running in Germany. The Bundesliga had been won by Bayern Munich every season since Dortmund last claimed the title in 2011/12 but the club had quality in the squad, highlighted by the fact that they had finished runners up no fewer than eleven times during Bayern's dominance however RB Leipzig had overtaken them in recent seasons and that's where I came in.

    I wasn't the only arrival, of course. We had to ensure we brought in some additional talent too but it was tougher than expected as we struggled to get rid of a lot of hangers on, this was evident by just £27.5M being brought in as the offers fell far below our valuation so we decided to stick instead of twist.

    We did bring in a wonderkid though, our only signing of the season as it happens but one I had clocked last season whilst with Spurs.

    Welcome Jose de Jesus Cuadros.



    He hasn't improved massively since the summer (picture taken end of season) but he did net 14 league goals in 28 games whilst assisting eleven. Overall he had a career best of 29 goals, 22 assists in 45 games. £8.5M was a steal from Cruz Azul who themselves snapped him up for just £1.3M from rivals Atlas. He's going to improve for sure and has already claimed the Golden Boy award as well as the 2031/32 NxGn one. Newcomer of the season too which probably means sod all but definitely my go to guy for the next two years.

    Down to business though.

    Season Summary

    We expected Bayern to be our main rivals and at the start of the campaign assumed we'd be needing to match their results on a weekly basis but it just never happened. RB Leipzig were our direct rivals for the title, a title we weren't given much hope of claiming at the start of the season. Bayern found themselves drawing left, right and centre, ultimately finishing 3rd in a disappointing season for them but one that probably helped us establish ourselves once again.

    What's more, our 104 league goals was a new Bundesliga record.



    Beast mode.

    It wasn't to be the only record we claimed as a few club records were also beaten. 85 points was a new club record, 27 wins was a new club record and obviously, the goals for column ensured we beat our previous total. Not sure what it was initially but I'll take it.

    Of course it wasn't to be our only success, in fact our first competitive game under my reign resulted in silverware as we defeated the long time champions Bayern in the Supercup, I think it is the equivalent of the Community Shield but still, nice to add to the CV as always.



    It didn't stop there.

    Last season Dortmund won the DFB-Pokal and whilst I wasn't too fussed if we challenged or retained, we did get to keep it with a solid run through to the final.



    What the image doesn't tell you though is Monchengladbach took the lead in the 89th minute to lead 3-2. Cuadros levelled a minute later but when Matthew Gibbins landed the sucker punch in injury time, the Olympiastadion Berlin went absolutely mental. Those are the moments you remember.

    A domestic clean sweep, technically. It's a shame there is no third cup as a third domestic treble in a third country would have made great reading.

    Not so much with where we head next.

    Europe.

    The group stage was a doddle minus the hiccup against Italian side Atalanta.



    I desperately wanted this competition having lost each European final in my career to date.

    The knockout rounds saw us line up against the heavyweights of Europe, at least historically (kinda), AC Milan were beaten 6-3 on aggregate, FC Porto arrived in the quarter finals and although we hammered them 5-2 at home, we did take our eye off the ball in the return and were fortunate to come away with a 4-3 win. Gibbins and Paulo Leal scoring in the 85th and 87th minute. We'd have still made it but I wasn't a fan of what I saw.

    Then.....revenge time.



    Oh yes. Brighton if anyone recalls knocked me and Tottenham out of the same competition at the same stage last season despite winning the first leg 4-0, the Seagulls were unfortunate not to qualify for the knockout rounds of the Champions League having on the tournament last season but their 2-0 away defeat to Lyon proved too costly as they finished 3rd in a group containing the French side, fellow Germans Wolfsburg and Spanish giants, Barcelona.

    They did return to Spain in the quarter finals, dumping out Atletico Madrid which was a surprise, Dwight McNeil's away goal in the first leg wasn't really needed as they raced into a 2-0 lead in the return. Brighton actually finished the league season in 6th place, just three points off 4th and only seven off eventual champions Man United.

    But this wasn't about the Premier League, this was about me knocking the twats out after ruining what would have been a perfect season last year.

    The first leg saw my emotionally drained lads battle hard, it had been a gruelling season considering and one with a lot of players moaning about not getting the minutes they wanted, I couldn't help that as I had a clear objective of obtaining Champions League football but I felt we'd done enough in the first leg. No way Brighton would do us over again.



    But....

    But....

    They bloody did. For a second season running my march to a European final was stopped by such a small club, the holders of the competition who would go on to face Liverpool in the finale.



    Painful isn't even the word. I just didn't expect it but we were actually second best throughout. William grabbing himself the match ball and his goalscoring exploits wouldn't stop there as he grabbed the second in the final as they once again won the Europa League, this time stopping Manchester City from entering the Champions League proper. Gutted. Absolutely gutted.

    On a slightly more positive note, coming first in the Bundesliga gives us a cool £102M which was nice, I don't know how much we'll get to spend but there will be a whole host of changing in the summer as we need to reduce the squad, off load those in the Dortmund II side who aren't going to make it and probably do the same with the U19's and just keep those who are going to make a difference. I'll see my contract out here for sure, two more years to go unless a supposed giant arrives in and offers an interview. I really do need some European success though, it just doesn't feel right that I am getting shafted no matter how good we are domestically, it was the same with Rangers, the same with Tottenham and evidently the same now with Dortmund.

    I just don't know why other than rotten luck. Except maybe with Rangers as Arsenal were far too good for us.

    Just to keep things up to date, Cuadros wasn't our top goal scorer, that honour went to Arjan Dema who like everyone else bar Jose was at the club prior to my arrival. He scored 37 times in 40(3) games, Araujo as next in line with 23 in 34(13) and then Steve Klein with 20 in 38, all newgens but with just two advanced forward spots, I had to try squeeze them in on the wings which still gave a decent return but I can't help think I'm missing out on something. I don't want to deviate from my current set up as its served me well throughout the career. Perhaps its time to do away with the inverted wingbacks, I really don't know.

    So there we have it. Now 47 years old with six league wins to ones name and nine cups, next season will see me hit 500 career games and that'll definitely arrive in Germany and I anticipate at least another twenty years left in the game. I haven't a clear path at this point other than to now try and take the league titles in each of the major nations, perhaps ending things slowly with taking over a club in the lower reaches of England and building them up as a final dynasty.

    But yeah, did I mention I was gutted? Fucking Brighton. Fuck yourselves hard and fast.


  9. #509
    Senior Member Manc's Avatar
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    Screen of Rafael William please.

  10. #510
    Senior Member Adramelch's Avatar
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    Get the fuck in.

    We had the easiest possible draw with Faroan champions NSI (20-0 on aggregate), followed by the worst possible draw you'll ever see in the second qualifying round as we were drawn against Zenit (5-3 on aggregate), then back to the easiest possible draw against KuPS (8-5) and then a quite easy draw against Ludogorets (5-1). We are going to get absolutely demolished :


  11. #511
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    Quote Originally Posted by Manc View Post
    Screen of Rafael William please.


    If you're interested:

    He signed for Brighton in the summer for £12.25M and scored 16 league goals in 31 games, this was boosted to 32 goals overall during the campaign in 49(1) games. It was a career best for him but he did grab 20 in 40 two years ago too with former club Gremio who signed him from Palmeiras in 2026 for £1.5M.

    Landmarks include the most recent breaking of Brighton's most goals scored in a season with the above total, last year he broke Gremio's and the Copa Sudamericana records for most goals in a goal (4). He made his Brazil debut this season too against Colombia, scoring a few weeks later against Paraguay, 3 goals in 5 games for the senior squad, just one appearance for the U20's. Honours include Brighton's double this year, the Europa League and the FA Cup and two random competitions with the U20's which is interesting because he only featured in one of them.

    Media opinion is he has 'taken to international football like a duck to water'.

    My opinion is both he and manager Graham Potter can go fuck 'emselves.

    With regards to Potter, I suppose if you give a man time...

    Toggle Spoiler

  12. #512
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    Quote Originally Posted by Adramelch View Post


    Get the fuck in.

    We had the easiest possible draw with Faroan champions NSI (20-0 on aggregate), followed by the worst possible draw you'll ever see in the second qualifying round as we were drawn against Zenit (5-3 on aggregate), then back to the easiest possible draw against KuPS (8-5) and then a quite easy draw against Ludogorets (5-1). We are going to get absolutely demolished :

    -25 in the against column for certain.

    Great result against Zenit though. What are the finances looking like having made it to the group stage?

    What's the plan long term?

  13. #513
    Senior Member Adramelch's Avatar
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    We have 7m in the bank, but I've gone and upgraded both training and youth facilities twice and we are in the process of building a new stadium, all of which cost about 15m, so the club is very wealthy really.

    I think I might just move once this season is done. Reaching the CL proper must be the best I can hope for in Latvia (unless I stay here for like 10 seasons or more), and it is a bit tiresome to be playing the same (significantly inferior) teams at least 4 times per season.

  14. #514
    heavy like led Dark Soldier's Avatar
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    Man marking Opposition DCs with Striker MCs is absolute lol. Game has no idea what's going on. That 5221 wingerless and strikerless is just steamrolling teams and rarely conceding, despite being on V.Attacking


  15. #515
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    Quote Originally Posted by Adramelch View Post
    We have 7m in the bank, but I've gone and upgraded both training and youth facilities twice and we are in the process of building a new stadium, all of which cost about 15m, so the club is very wealthy really.

    I think I might just move once this season is done. Reaching the CL proper must be the best I can hope for in Latvia (unless I stay here for like 10 seasons or more), and it is a bit tiresome to be playing the same (significantly inferior) teams at least 4 times per season.
    I'm reluctant to put money into the facilities when I know I'm not sticking around at a club, especially given the values of players on this version, I don't want to be fleeced by anyone but you really have to put in some work at the moment to get a good deal. I say good deal, I'm not spending £40-60M on a player I don't deem to be top tier so I have to shop around more than I care to.

    Totally get the tiresomeness of the smaller divisions, its why I struggle playing in Wales despite wanting to boost the division, same clubs, too small a league and its all a bit same old, same old at times. Probably the reason I only lasted a season with Rangers too for that matter.

    Do you have any potential moves in mind? Moving to Latvia to a different country is all well and good but I'm trying to be realistic on my current save with my next jobs, just managing in Lativa makes me struggle what a decent step up would be. Poland or Russia would be the only two that spring to mind but that's because I think they are relatively close in distance.

  16. #516
    Senior Member Adramelch's Avatar
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    I don't think I've ever seen such odds in FM.

    I only ever upgraded our facilities because we had more money than we could use really. In terms of a next step, I am thinking Scandinavia, Russia, Ukraine, Turkey and Greece all sound reasonable, but my preference would definitely be Scandinavia. I am not in a hurry in any case (I've only been at RFS for 1.5 seasons and Daugavpils 1 season before that), so I'll just wait for something interesting to show up.

  17. #517
    Senior Member Jimmy Floyd's Avatar
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    Senegal - World Cup 2022 (Qatar)

    Here was the basic XI with which we set out to start the tournament. In Mané's absence, in came Cagliari utility forward Keita Baldé.



    First up (after a 1-1 draw between Portugal and Scotland) was South Korea, from whom we were obviously going to need some kind of positive result, but whose Son-Hwang forward axis worried me. That proved a legitimate worry as they battered the shit out of us for the first half hour of the tournament. At one point Koulibaly had to make a miraculous goal line clearance. Speaking of miracles, we got through that 0-0 and then our first effort on goal went in - Sarr crossed brilliantly for Baldé, Mané's inadequate replacement, to put us in front. Shortly after that he got crocked too and so the next man in was Mbaye Niang from Bordeaux. At half time we were 1-0 up but had already had to make two subs due to injuries. This told as the game went on and Korea's deadly duo finally struck twelve minutes from time, Son squaring for Hwang to sweep home. Thankfully this was as bad as it got as we were out on our feet and were staring down the barrel of a defeat. 1-1 was more than we deserved and kept us alive.



    Next up were the Scots, who played 3-5-2 with the main threat being the wing backs Robertson and Patterson on either side. As in the first game we were put under extreme early pressure, with regular balls into the box from the above. Our lucky break was that they had decided to field Oli McBurnie up front, which meant that three glorious headed chances were spurned in the first 20 minutes. We were a little more threatening on the break as the half went on but Scotland looked much more dangerous as we went in 0-0 at the interval. On 54 minutes it all changed: Idrissa Gueye launched one over the top, Boulaye Dia gave Hendry the slip, rounded Gordon and slotted home. From there we managed to shut the game down reasonably easily; the Scots huffed and puffed and had lots of attempts on goal, but didn't have the quality to get past Mendy or the monstrous Kalidou Koulibaly. Tournament football is about taking your chances...



    Korea drew 1-1 with Portugal, which meant we topped the group with a game (vs Portugal) to go. Despite this we were still almost certainly going to need something from the game against Portugal if we wanted to qualify. If we lost to the Portuguese, we would be out unless Korea / Scotland drew with each other or we somehow fluked it over Scotland on goals scored.

    In between times, Brazil managed to be knocked out of the tournament after just two games, with a 4-0 demolition by Italy and then this, which must be one of the biggest upsets in World Cup history:



    Back to us and we had to face the Portuguese in Al-Khor. Fernando Santos was going with a front three of Ronaldo, Joao Felix and Bernardo Silva, with Bruno Fernandes behind, but they had all been pretty wank in the first two games, drawing both 1-1. Yet again I set up cautiously looking to rely on our defence, battle in midfield and ping them with balls in behind. We started better than in the other two games, and in the opening exchanges had little to worry about. On 30 minutes that changed as a harmless ball into the box drew a penalty decision, confirmed by VAR, for some kind of pulling. Bruno Fernandes stroked it home. 1-0 Portugal and at the same time, Korea went 1-0 up against Scotland which would put us out.

    Half time came and went, we were playing well but finding it hard to make clear chances. I brought some fresh legs on and then Scotland equalised. We were going through again. Portugal sat back a bit and we seized the initiative in the game. Wagué was getting forward a lot from full back and on 70 minutes he served up a cross for substitute Diallo, whose thunderous header was miraculously clawed away Banks-style by Rui Patricio. Then disaster struck, as in the other game the Koreans collapsed like a house of cards, going 3-1 down to the Scots. Suddenly we needed to score. We sent men forward but couldn't create that clear cut chance, and then in the 88th minute Bruno Fernandes thrashed in an unstoppable 25 yarder to break our hearts once and for all.





    Foiled by an unholy triple threat of Bruno Fernandes, Korea and Scotland, none of it was to be. 1st place in the group would have earned a tie vs DR Congo, who had knocked out Uruguay. Second place would have seen us face Haaland's Norway. Here's how the rest of it played out.



    Grrr, that really should have been us getting pumped 6-0 by Italy in the semi-final. Portugal once again showed their utter cunt status by bowing out to the mighty doctors in the round of 16, and Nigeria went on a proper run (they had even beaten England earlier to top their group).

    I think we did miss Mané quite badly but also just picked up too many injuries and yellow cards; Nampalys Mendy was suspended from the Portugal game which was quite a big miss in terms of solidity. Ultimately though it was a really hard, gnarly group with no gimme win, in which we got massively unlucky with other results. Which is almost an exact copy of what happened to Senegal in 2018, actually.

    My final record with Senegal: Played 24, Won 18, Drawn 4, Lost 2. Won the African Nations (2022). World Cup group stage exit.

  18. #518
    Fuck like you cook.
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    Quote Originally Posted by Manc View Post
    Screen of Aosman please, Jimmy.
    That's a mental result (Brazil/Syria) but equally a pretty shitty way to exit the competition in the manner in which you have.

    Who did France have in the group stage as that run to winning the final is pure heavyweight nations. Have Scotland got many decent players? I ask because they seemed to have a bit of a golden generation on my save (2032) with some top newgens looking very tasty, my former striker Munro amongst them and current all time Scottish scorer but he's not even their best player. I was surprised to see them 51st in the world rankings given they have qualified for two Euro's and the World Cup in the game but as it turns out the last four years have been pretty tragic so perhaps the Golden Generation was merely the Scottish version of England's so called one.

    What's next, Jimmy? Stick with it or move on?

  19. #519
    Senior Member Jimmy Floyd's Avatar
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    I'm only in 2022 so they have a very familiar generation.

    I'll be moving on now, to Europe.

  20. #520
    Senior Member Offshore Toon's Avatar
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    I've downloaded the demo to see if I can be bothered to get back into FM.

    I don't think I've played any version for maybe 8 years and I'm not particularly enjoying a lot of the additional stuff. Will the game penalise me for fobbing off a lot of shit (press conferences, players meetings etc.) to assistants?

  21. #521
    Senior Member Jimmy Floyd's Avatar
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    Not that I've noticed. The delegate button is your friend.

  22. #522
    Senior Member Adramelch's Avatar
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    Yeah just delegate away. You will on occasion be "forced" to talk to unhappy players but that's about it. I'd say all the media stuff is completely optional (can't say I have noticed any differences between handling it myself and delegating it to the assman), while other stuff like training schedules etc do have an impact, but not in a "make or break" sense by any means.

  23. #523
    Bookie P_3's Avatar
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    I hate two things:

    1. Managers moaning about me playing their loaned players in a different position with a different role to what was initially agreed. I'm sorry I use the DM you sent me, in CM. I feel the fact he's playing week in and week out should count for something, right? Thankfully I can just ignore the old codger.

    2. Players handing in transfer requests because of broken "promises" to play them in a particular role. Same as above really, you've been smashing it as a box to box midfielder and we've just been promoted, why would you care that my "promise" to play you as an advanced play maker has been broken. Look at the bigger picture you numpty.

  24. #524
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    Quote Originally Posted by P_3 View Post
    I hate two things:

    1. Managers moaning about me playing their loaned players in a different position with a different role to what was initially agreed. I'm sorry I use the DM you sent me, in CM. I feel the fact he's playing week in and week out should count for something, right? Thankfully I can just ignore the old codger.

    2. Players handing in transfer requests because of broken "promises" to play them in a particular role. Same as above really, you've been smashing it as a box to box midfielder and we've just been promoted, why would you care that my "promise" to play you as an advanced play maker has been broken. Look at the bigger picture you numpty.
    I've been getting both of these on my 1860 Munich save.

    Every two weeks or so I get the Anderlecht manager moaning that I'm playing Kana at centre back instead of in midfield. I tell him he should be happy that he's playing and that it doesn't matter where he plays, he agrees and then moans again a fortnight later. This has been going on for nearly 18 months and I've extended the loan twice in that time so he can't be that unhappy about it.

    I've also been playing with two cm's, one as a box to box midfielder and one as a carrilero. We won the league at a canter (we were favourites anyway) and got promoted but the player who plays the carrilero role is furious and wants to leave the club because he wants to play box to box.

  25. #525
    Man(c) of the People igor_balis's Avatar
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    I think it's a great example of something that has some basis in reality, but because it's been put in as a #FEATURE, they feel like they have to implement it in a heavy handed and unrealistic way. They probably think it's a waste to program something that only comes up occasionally.

  26. #526
    Senior Member Adramelch's Avatar
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    Season 2026 Update



    Not much to say here really, is there? We finished with the same amount of points as last season while scoring more goals (134 to last season's 99) and conceding fewer (10 to last season's 20). Even through that, we managed to lose a game against Liepaja (the only team to have beaten us domestically during my tenure) and draw another two. Not that it matters of course. This time around our domestic success was complete as we also won the cup with 17 goals scored and none conceded in 4 games. As for Europe, I've already talked about it in previous posts, but in short, we beat NSI (Faroe), Zenit (Russia), KuPS (Finland) and Ludogorets (Bulgaria) to qualify for the group stage of the Champions League, where we were drawn against Barcelona, Bayern and Ajax. Unfortunately, I found out that "joining at the end of the season" meant as soon as the league is done, so courtesy of me having agreed to join another club, I only got to play 4 out of the 6 group games. These were a 5-2 loss in the Netherlands, where we were 2-1 up at half-time but were playing with 10 men since the 40th minute, a 4-0 loss in Germany, a goalless draw at home against Barca and another 5-2 loss, this time in Spain, where we again had a player sent-off in the 60th minute (we were losing 2-1 at the time). So all in all, I reckon we did pretty good for our stature and I actually fancied us to grab a win in the home game against Ajax, but alas I won't be there to witness that game.



    Some of them stats are ridiculous. We scored 193 and conceded 33 goals in 52 games across all competitions. 43 of our goals came from set-pieces, mainly through our defenders, which is a bit bonkers and sort of feels a bit unfair, but I think the results are skewed a lot from playing in an inferior league, so the jury is still out on that. Our front three accounted for 133 of our goals, with Friesenbichler scoring almost half of that (albeit 18 of his goals were from penalties). But once again, the one player that stole the show and showed that he's way above everyone else in this league was O'Connor. 54 assists in a season is definitely the highest I've ever seen, but, of course, a decent chunk of that came from set pieces. Still, just the sheer amount of PotM awards speaks volumes about his quality.

    As I said earlier, I'd already pre-agreed to move at the end of the season and it's a move I am excited about:



    A quite big club and a fairly big jump in reputation compared to RFS (2.5->3.5 stars), but I was already at 3 stars when they came knocking so I reckon it makes sense, especially given the fact that I'd gotten us into the Champions League proper. The club finds itself in a fairly dire situation as they were knocked out of the Europa Conference League by Red Star and they sit 9th in the league, which is way below the media prediction of 3rd:



    I am expected to get us top 4 somehow, which will be challenging, but at least I have a WARCHEST™ to strengthen the squad in January. I haven't managed in Russia in ages (I'd say last time was like FM12 or something), so it's a nice change of pace in that regard.
    Last edited by Adramelch; 23-11-2021 at 05:13 PM.

  27. #527
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    13 games in and scored 54 goals! (One was a 11-0 win over 9men Palace) Isak has 20 in 11 apps

    Won the title last year, signing Isak and Lewis Cook on loan from Bournemouth haha (Played alot of games for me) Won the title with 97pts 1st season, but have really kicked on this season.

    Only really bought Isak and Bastoni for my 1st team. Oh and loaned in Alberto (What a player for me on FM20) On the TL £60mill, decided just to loan him for £1mill pm as 29 yrs old

  28. #528
    Senior Member Jimmy Floyd's Avatar
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    Krasnodar should be a good stepping stone, although I see CL places seem to be down to one so that makes life slightly more difficult.

  29. #529
    Senior Member Adramelch's Avatar
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    Would be more annoying in another league but I reckon we don't need the CL money and it's not like I am here to stay forever. Just any European action will do nicely to be honest.

  30. #530
    Pretty Much Amazing Mike's Avatar
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    Top work @Adramelch zoomed ahead of me!

  31. #531
    Senior Member Lofty's Avatar
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    Had another annoying December collapse with my Barrow save and seemingly unable to sign any players to improve my squad aside from absolute shite despite having £100k to play with has soured me.

    I am going to give my German save idea a go but if it turns out to be 21 Touch being gash I'll rollback to 20 Touch as I got mega mileage out of an Oldham save with it.

  32. #532
    Senior Member Jimmy Floyd's Avatar
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    So after Senegal's heartbreaking group stage exit, a number of international jobs became available and I applied for the lot. I was offered a vast number of them - possibly too many, really, although I guess my Afcon success had boosted my reputation a bit. But in the interests of a journeyman save I took the strongest-powered job with the clearest short-term goals. It was Belgium.

    Bob Martinez had been sent packing after their quarter-final exit to the French. Romelu Lukaku and Eden Hazard - aged 29 and 31 respectively - had followed him out of the door, retiring from international football at the end of the tournament. My task was very clear. Belgium need to win a major title before the last of the Golden Generation have gone, but we also need to gradually transition away from yer De Bruynes and yer Hazards and introduce younger players for the future. I arrive right at the point of the changing of the guard.

    This being a journeyman save, I am not thinking too far ahead: it may be that this will be the country I take to the next World Cup in North America, but we'll just have to see won't we. First of all the job in front of us is to qualify for Euro 2024, which is to be held in the well-known teutonic nation of Germany. As top seeds we have a very negotiable group, albeit one which should give us the odd game to think about along the way:



    First of all I had to construct a new side. Lukaku and Hazard have gone; so have Vertonghen, Vermaelen, while Alderweireld and Witsel are still available for selection but well past their best and will be 36 apiece at the next Euros, so they are out of my plans. Almost the last man standing is Kevin De Bruyne, who at 31 still has a lot left to give at least in this coming tournament cycle. Thibaut Courtois is still good in goal, too, but aside from them, I have to build a new side that can maintain Belgium's place at the top table (we were ranked 2 when I took over).

    The first thing that slotted immediately into place in my mind was a Tielemans-Lokonga midfield axis, behind De Bruyne. I then had to weigh up a formation that would fit as many of the country's top talents as possible. So many - Carrasco, Doku, Saelemaekers, Januzaj - are wide men, while up front we were severely lacking after Lukaku's premature retirement. It felt a bit like being Portugal circa 2000.

    I settled on a 3-4-2-1 formation, with a very attacking bent, hoping that this will take us through this group and into the Euros with fresh vigour as a side. The back three are all relative newcomers but, crucially, all physically adept and good on the ball. The two key men are the wide players and I have loads of options for these roles, whether it be the more defensive-minded variety like Meunier, or the flying attackers like Carrasco and Doku. With no good striker, and the 4-winger option not too tempting, I found myself with a 'spare man' - this spot I awarded to Charles De Ketalaere but could be moved to anyone suitable. Up front, I was looking for someone to get on the end of all those crosses, and to bring those behind him into play. The Giroud role, if you like. I searched through Belgium's available talent and no one stood out... so into the squad went Benteke, Batshuayi and Origi in the hope that one of the useless bastards would come good at some point.


  33. #533
    Senior Member wullie's Avatar
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    Coventry City 2022/23

    In the first season I started with a great win and then lost a lot. An inconsistent first half of the season gave way to a great second half which saw me reach the playoffs but rue the first half that should have put me closer to the top.

    This season I started with a great win and then lost a lot



    An inconsistent first half of the season



    gave way to a great second half which saw etc etc





    One change is that I finished one place better (and eight better than the lefty liberal MSM predicted) and Barnsley were too far away to send me packing again




    Another problem I wanted to address was a lack of wingers which forced me to play strikers out wide. I addressed it by completely ignoring it and hoping it'd work, with Matt Godden only able to play up front I kept him there which worked well





    In the playoffs I beat Luton 4-2 away in the first leg and then almost immediately blew it by going 2-0 down in the second leg before a bizarre second half, although this surely makes absolutely no sense





    West Brom were waiting in the final and over the two seasons it was fairly level apart from another Matt Godden masterclass




    He scored the opener at our second home before West Brom equalised late. Nearly everyone on the pitch stumbled through injury time on fumes alone before penalties which is always bad news.

    BUT NOT FOR ME





    Czechbook well and truly opened!





    Here are the heroes who will go down in Coventry City folklore while also being hastily replaced as I've overachieved and no more than a handful at best could survive in the top flight. Pose for your statues on the way to Reading and Bristol City, lads


  34. #534
    Isn't he banned? Baz's Avatar
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    Desperate times...



    ...call for desperate measures:



    And here's what the assman thinks of our team going into the first game after the transfer window closed:



    We must start picking up points soon, surely? Maybe I should sign Matt Godden.
    I'm a twit

  35. #535
    Isn't he banned? Baz's Avatar
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    Quote Originally Posted by Baz View Post
    Can’t buy a win, relegation is definitely on the cards and now the fans are calling me out for not changing things. I feel like Ole, except he didn’t literally just get the team predicted 13th promoted as top goalscorers. Idiots.
    Okay, I admit this was a nice touch:



    I'm a twit

  36. #536
    Bookie Sir Andy Mahowry's Avatar
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    Mini update from me.

    Just lost my first match of the season:



    Only had one player who is in my first eleven (two at a push as Fall who got sent off is arguably in there too) and I even played a 16 year old with 2 star potential just so I could rest some players. Annoying as we were in complete control until Djibril decided to go in with a two foot challenge absolutely needlessly.





    First decent youth prospect I've created in a while. He looks alright but the trait (which will be getting trained away) and strength are pretty worrying.
    Last edited by Sir Andy Mahowry; 24-11-2021 at 12:07 AM.

  37. #537
    Man(c) of the People igor_balis's Avatar
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    Quote Originally Posted by Baz View Post
    Desperate times...



    ...call for desperate measures:



    And here's what the assman thinks of our team going into the first game after the transfer window closed:



    We must start picking up points soon, surely? Maybe I should sign Matt Godden.
    Overlaps down left and right with defensive fullbacks is certainly an interesting approach. Have you just picked the best players then put them on the role they had the highest stars for?

  38. #538
    Isn't he banned? Baz's Avatar
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    That's exactly what I did.
    I'm a twit

  39. #539
    Senior Member Serj's Avatar
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    2024/25 Mid-Season Update

    So I'm a stubborn bastard, and instead of really overhauling my tactics I decided to see if I can tweak them a bit to make them work. Up went the mentality, down went the tempo to make it possible for advancing players from further back to break through the lines before the passes are played, and I added a few individual instructions to make players behave the way I want them to - most importantly I'm encouraging my inside forward to shoot more, since scoring from range seems a distinct possibility in this version and his long shots rating is 16.



    On the transfer front, there were no significant highlights. I've decided to replace my German goalie since I wasn't happy with his performances. His replacement doesn't look much of an improvement, but his Handling and mental attributes are better, and so far, he seems much more reliable.



    More important was probably a new left-back, since the previous starter basically had only pace and nothing else. In came an experienced Surinamese player with a fantastic name:



    Initially I didn't want to sign him because of his meh defensive attributes, but the physical ones seem to make up for it and he has been very solid so far.

    Which brings me to the overall performance: What a turnaround it's been. After a somewhat shaky start the squad turned into prime mid-2000s Chelsea, limiting the opposition to at most three shots on target per game, scoring one or two and seeing out matches without much fuss.



    Due to the odd structure of the league, I'm already qualified for the playoffs due to winning "Phase 1". I'm hoping I can mostly keep this form until then; automatic promotion would be ideal, but is probably not realistic. The last two games were away against Jong Ajax and Breda, and my squad's limitations were pretty evident, I lost 0-4 and 0-3 and barely had a sniff. Hopefully this is not a sign of the wheels coming off.

    Sadly, my long-time target man Jesse Goselink has refused to sign a new contract, which is understandable as he's been chased by top division clubs for months now. If I actually manage to get promoted, I'll probably need a significant upgrade. The search has begun for a budget Klaas-Jan Huntelaar.
    Last edited by Serj; 24-11-2021 at 09:05 AM.

  40. #540
    Senior Member Serj's Avatar
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    As I'd suspected, our form from the first half of the season wasn't sustainable and we finished with a couple of draws and narrow losses.



    We got VVV-Venlo in the playoffs, who, silly name aside, should be the easiest draw. They are also, however, the most in-form team in the league. I therefore tried to get morale up via a team meeting where everybody more or less told me to fuck off. I'm reasonably optimistic to advance to the next round. From then on it will get tricky.

  41. #541
    Senior Member Adramelch's Avatar
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    I've rarely had those team meetings go well for me (and I've tried different approaches) so I just avoid them like the plague.

  42. #542
    Senior Member Jimmy Floyd's Avatar
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    The team meetings (and all player interactions) are just total pot luck as far as I can see.

  43. #543
    Bookie Sir Andy Mahowry's Avatar
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    Yeah they're bullshit.

    In one of my first seasons with Hertha we finished second and I wanted to say we could challenge for the title but the top option was qualify for the Champions League. I told them that and they got angry that I was expecting too much from them.

  44. #544
    Senior Member wullie's Avatar
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    I had the option to hold a team meeting before the playoff final, skipping it is the only reason I got promoted

  45. #545
    Senior Member Serj's Avatar
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    Yeah I should have stayed away from the team meeting. Duly lost the following first leg 2-0 with an absolutely terrible performance in the first half.

    Went on all out attack for the second leg though, and completely blew them away.



    The Second Round against Volendam was a much nervier affair. Most of my players were already knackered beforehand and then my right winger puts in a stupid challenge up the pitch in minute 37 and gets sent off. I'd only selected him as the first choice was wheezing his way to the intensive care unit (at least that's what I'm interpreting the almost drained orange heart symbol as meaning), so I couldn't make a like-for-like switch. I went for an asymmetric ultra-defensive approach after that and somehow only lost 1-0, though I killed my right wing-back in the process who had to cover the entire flank on his own for the remainder of the match.

    For the return leg I again had to rest a couple of regulars, though I decided to field a couple of not-quite fit ones because I was convinced that with them we had the quality to beat Volendam.

    Rightly so, it turns out.



    Stand-in Gibson Yah with his first (and probably last) goal for the club at a crucial moment, and super-sub Ablinger, who I poached from the Austrian Second Division and usually just let chase after long balls at the end of games, with a brilliant volley after a high through ball.

    This sets us up for a playoff final against Excelsior Rotterdam, the only Eredivisie team in the playoffs. The final will be played over two legs, which feels quite old school. Apart from one suspended centre-back I'll have all my regular starters available, so promotion might actually be possible. Whatever happens, this has been quite the brilliant season after almost getting relegated last year.
    Last edited by Serj; 24-11-2021 at 04:11 PM.

  46. #546
    Senior Member Jimmy Floyd's Avatar
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    I'm finding the two games a week fitness levels to be a big thing in this version (especially so in internationals, actually). Quite enjoy that to be honest as it is what real managers moan about the whole time.

    Always a balance between playing fit players and playing good players, which is an enjoyable part of the strategy.

  47. #547
    Senior Member Adramelch's Avatar
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    Quote Originally Posted by Jimmy Floyd View Post
    I'm finding the two games a week fitness levels to be a big thing in this version (especially so in internationals, actually). Quite enjoy that to be honest as it is what real managers moan about the whole time.

    Always a balance between playing fit players and playing good players, which is an enjoyable part of the strategy.
    Yeah it feels a lot more realistic.

  48. #548
    Senior Member wullie's Avatar
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    I don't remember having my first choice team all with the full green circle too many times over the season. Maybe opening day and the first game after international breaks, other than that it's juggling a group of knackered players and hoping nobody will break.

  49. #549
    Senior Member Jimmy Floyd's Avatar
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    A weird thing I've also noticed is all the hearts going full green in the last 5 minutes of some games, is that a bug or 'adrenaline'? I'm guessing the former.

  50. #550
    Isn't he banned? Baz's Avatar
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    If something makes you go in this version, 99% of the time it’s a bug.
    I'm a twit

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