“Custer had a plan too…”
Usually when do a more Youth Oriented save, I am at a club I am building up, there’s a decent amount of solid to good older players that will carry us forward, as as my youth progress from raw 15 and 16 year olds to 18 and 19 year olds with potential, they go out on loan or if they are good enough, they go onto the 1st Squad bench.
Here at Timişoara, I don’t have that luxury. While the older players I have are OK, there aren’t enough of them to carry the team forward, which means any youngster with potential not only gets first team playing time, they go right into the Senior Squad. There they not only get the playing time they need, they develop, and some have turned into players who are quite good. Like Darius Niculcea.
He’s easily the first good player we’ve had come thru the Youth Intakes, his first season as a part time starter he had 24(2) stars, with 1 goal, 3 assists, and 1 POM. Last season as the full time starter he 3 goals, 6 assists, and 1 POM, and both years he was selected to the Romanian U21 Squad.
So of course 5 games into the season Napoli offered 400K for him, I didn’t have a release clause on his contract, and he signed with the Italian club. They did offer him on loan back, and I accepted.
That’s how I am going to approach this going forward. If a club comes after one of my players, I am not going to ask for a loan back as part of the deal, but if they offer it to me, I’ll consider it. In this case Nicucea is the best D(R) I have, so I accepted it, an he went on to have 1 goal and 12 assists with us before leaving.
TRANSFER’S
Ursan, Păunescu, and Chivu are all Youth Players that I didn’t think were worth a grade, meaning 2 star potential or less. The fee’s for Ursan and Păunescu are based on future performances, and I doubt I will see them.
Zamfir (pan flute not included) was part of the Youth Intake the year before I took over, a defensive player who could play all 3 positions on the back line. He was decidedly average in all of them, and as a result did not get a lot of playing time. For whatever reason, Dinamo Bucureşti made an offer for him in the Spring Transfer window, and after debating whether or not to file a bug report, I took it. Who am I to stand in the way of a club making a bad financial decision? I’ve my own bad decisions to make. Chindia Târgoviște is a Liga II team, and to be honest if they are spending €100K on a middling winger like William Popoviciu, they aren’t getting promoted anytime soon IMO.
We are starting at least 4, and possibly5 players from the the ’25 Youth Intake. As I mentioned above, I don’t have the luxury of sitting them in the U19’s and waiting for them to develop, so they’re going to be starting. Yes, it’s Boys v Men, but it build character.
That’s the slogan for the next few years: Construiește caracterul!
The goal is to avoid relegation. Acts of God aside, we aren’t finishing above midtable anytime soon, but avoiding relegation is an achievable goal. The question is how close to relegation are we going to be. My mantra has always been I am ‘mostly’ ok with losing, as long as we keep it close. I don’t know how long I can keep repeating that though.
There’s no middle ground. We’re either losing close, usually, or winning. The lack of draws is concerning. The low point was losing to a Liga II side in Hermannstadt in the Cupa României First Stage on penalties. Răzvan Matiş missed a PK in the 20th minute, then scored in the 117th to put as ahead, but the defense fell apart and they scored in the 120th…and then three of my guys missed their PK’s.
The first half opf the season was painful, but there were a couple of bright spots. Marius Marinescu started the season on two and a half stars, and at the midpoint he was up to Four. Along with 8 goals and 3 assists. Vasile Mihăescu, from the ’26 Intake, is starting at DM, and he’s improving, which is good. Goran Simedru, from the ’25 Intake, is also having a solid season at D(C).
As down as I was about some of our performances, at the half way point were were in 12th place with 16 points, and our goal differential was -6. One of the things in our favor was that both Gloria Buzău and Oţelul Galaţi have won 2 and 1 games respectively.
The New Year got off to a good start, as we did not lose until we played a very good FC Argeş squad, and our last loss before the League split was against last years winner Universitatea Craiova
Our Youth Intakes Are Officially Manic…
They are calling it a ‘Golden Generation.’ I’m thinking it’s 14 Karat Gold…
This is a screenshot of the best Youth Intake players to come thru this season:
- 3 Unambitious
- 1 Unsporting
- 1 Low Determination
- 1 Fairly Loyal
- 1 Balanced
- 2 Fairly Professional
This from a HOYD who is Professional. Next years had better be better than this…
Marin Neague is a pest of a winger, in that he’s all of 5′ 2″ and 100 pounds, but Physically speaking is good…except for the Strength. And Work Rate, and Balance. His Attacking and Possession skills are also average, but this is a good foundation to build from, assuming his Unsporting self wants to improve.
Paul Koszma is already pretty good on the Physical and Defending categories, and his Technique is also decent as well, but again, her Personality is going to be the biggest impediment to reaching his potential.
Adrian Vasiliu is our 3rd (or 4th if you count the year I wasn’t here) 5 star potential Keeper. I do not know how much longer Rareş Murariu is going to be the starter, he made some noise about wanting to leave in the January window, but Adrian will be in the race to become the 1st Choice keeper. Of course, of the 5 Youth Keepers I have, 3 are Unambitious…
And I somehow missed 4 and 5 when nicknaming them…I’ll figure out a format, eventually.
Dan Secreteanu can play the left side of the pitch, but I think I am going to make him a D(L), maybe a wingback, as his attributes are already average in those areas. If his strength comes up, and some others as well, he could be a solid contributor for us.
Ilie Formagiu, 6’4″ 170 pounds at 15 YEARS OLD Ilie Formagiu, will start playing next year. Off the bench, unless he just bodies someone out of the way. Physically and Defending wise, he’s Average, but his Good Work Rate and Jumping, and his Excellent Bravery, should be an asset in Set Pieces. I think he has the best potential out of everyone who came in this Intake, now it’s up to me to not screw him up.
Dan Popescu…I am not sure what to think of him. Good Agility, Endurance, Quickness and Determination, average Possession skills, he has the potential to be a solid winger for us. But again, that personality…
I really want to like Armin Caraiman. They have him as a Target Forward, and from a Physical point of view, I can see that. His Attacking and Possession Attributes though…but in his defense, his personality is going to be an asset. If his Positioning and Concentration Improve, he might be a better DLP…
Lucian Ilie already had Good Technique, Fitness and Work Rate, but I am not sure how he would fare on the attack as a Mezzala. The good news is that Attribute wise, his is ‘Meh’ at every position except Roaming Playmaker, where he’s “Bleg!’ We will have to see where is in a couple of years…
Marian Tudor has the making of a solid DLF already, with Good Composure, Flair, Finishing and Technique. Aggressive as well, but I can’t help shake the feeling that what we see is pretty much what we are going to get. This is one time I wish I were wrong, but I am a fan of players with Determination, and the one thing we can stay about him is that he’s not…
Paul Freanţ could be a solid AM(C) if his physicals improve, if they don’t he will most likely be an M(C) in a CM/DLP sort of role. The problem is that’s a crowded position for us, and if he doesn’t stand out right away he might not get the playing time early.
Thats going to be an ongoing theme with the save going forward, with a lot of depth, some of it potentially quality depth, in some roles, finding who is the best performer is going to be hard.
But I didn’t choose this sort of save because it’s Easy. I chose it because I thought it was going to be easy…
We did more than enough to avoid relegation. Marinescu looks like the real deal, he’s been too consistent this year for me to believe otherwise, and we had some very solid performances across the board.
Matis had a solid season for us, but several teams are interested in him, and keeping him might be a detriment to the younger players in his position. Răzvan Teodorescu gives me hope that all my ‘Unambitious’ personality trait players will improve and be good, if not great for this level, of contributors
Oh, and the board has plans of it’s own as well it seems:
We beat the odds again, and I believe we have the makings of several quality younger players ready to step up and take over the next couple of year. The climb to the top is going to have some ups and downs, and a lot of plateaus as well, but I believe we are definitely on the way up. It’s going to be a slow process though, but one I am looking forward too.
I hope you all are looking forward to it as well, thanks for reading!
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