Tag: Football Manager

Der Bär Wird Wieder Brüllen, The Second Season, Part One

“Das Schwierige, was ich jetzt tun kann, das Unmögliche wird sieben bis zehn Werktage dauern…”

Jakob Mueller was tired, and it showed as he walked out of his office, slouched, briefcase hanging haphazardly from his hand, jacket over one shoulder and the knot in his tie down to the second button on his shirt. The board was expecting some sort of miracle, and he had to provide one, legally of course, but the job was proving to be tougher than he thought. Not that he didn’t like a challenge, but at the end of the day, 1+1 still had to equal 2 at some point.

“Jakob!” he heard a voice call out. He turned around, and saw a door open.

“Coach?” he asked. “What are you still doing here?”

“Scouting reports to look over, analysts reports to look over, contracts to look over…I am seeing numbers and charts when I close my eyes, I am not sure that’s a good thing.”

Jakob smiled slightly when Coach finished talking. He liked Nicholas, he was young, but he was very upfront in what he didn’t know, and was willing to listen to you until you showed you had no idea what you were doing. That one Recruitment Analyst lasted all of a week before being shown the door.

“How are Elise and the kids?” Coach asked.

“Missing their Papa, but that is not unusual this time of the year. How is the team looking?”

Coach shrugged. “Losing to Dynamo after thrashing Magdeburg was a gut punch, I am not going to lie. Facing Koln in the First round of the Pokal is a tough ask, but I am optimistic. Not because I have to be, but because I want to be. We have a good chance of staying up I think. I know the guys will fight like hell to stay up. How are things on the financial side?”

“Tight. But if we are careful, we’ll scrape by.”

“Actually I was hoping to talk to you about that,” Coach said.

“The travel budget is maxed out, Coach,” Jakob sighed. “I am out of apostles to rob for you.”

Coach stopped short, then smiled. “My mother used to say that from time to time when things were tight. What if I said I can get us another hundred thousand euros a year for the next few years?”

Jakob stopped slouching, then heard a beeping noise. Coach looked at his wrist and hit a button. “Ach, I didn’t realize it was this late. Elise finds out I kept you here, she’ll thump me at the next Family Day.” You didn’t realize how young Coach Schmidt was until he smiled.

“Come on, I’ll walk you to the door and tell you on the way,”

A few minutes later Jakob was standing in shock, trying to process what Coach had told him. They had walked outside, and Jakob had turned towards the parking lot.

“So the rumors are true,” he said, and Coach nodded in reply.

“It’s either that, or we start robbing banks,” Coach said.

“Well…”Jakob said, and Coach looked at him with an arched eyebrow.

“There some things we can do on the accounting side, but they aren’t things you want to keep doing. At some point you do run out of apostles, and then you’re looking at doing something criminally stupid, or stupidly criminal.”

“Not on our watch, yeah?” Coach replied with a smile, and then Jakobs phone rang.

Sighing as he looked at the screen, the accountant answered it.

“Yes Honey. At the offices still. Yes I know how late-” He stopped talking, because coach had taken the phone out of his hands.

“Frau Mueller, it Coach Schmidt. I am doing well, thanks. Listen, Jakob is here because I kept him here, and I want to apologize for that, I asked him to go thru some financials with me and I lost track of time.” He paused to listen for a moment.

“Well, thats because I don;t have a wife half as good as you at home to help-” He paused for a moment and looked at Jakob. “Your second cousin, eh? Well, tempting though it is I am married to my job to much at the moment to inflict my sort of lifestlye on someone who deserves more.” He smiled, then laughed, and walked back over to Jakob.

“He’s getting in the car right now, I promise. Tell Lukas and Markus I am sorry for keeping their Papa so late, and I will make it up to them the next Family Day, OK? Bye now.” Hanging up, he put the phone back into Jakob’s shirt pocket.

“We’ll talk more tomorrow. Go home to your family,” He said with a smile.

“Sure. Make sure you tell Elsa about this, she finds out last-“

“Ja, Ja, hell to pay, I know, I know. Home Jakob.’ Coach made a shooing motion with his hands, and went back inside. Jakob stared at his retreating back for a minute, then turned and began his walk to the car park.

The club finances weren’t the best when I took over. Promotion, while unexpected, means a stronger league, better money, and I think a couple of years in the 3. Liga could be good for us, let us build a foundation for future success, because right now, we don’t have the finances for it:

The 2.4 million Euro expenditure is the club putting in underground heating. Why they chose to do that, I am not sure, because they stadium we are in is on the wrong side of “Run Down” if I am being honest. I didn’t think we were going to be busy in the transfer market, because

Everybody going full time means our payroll is definitely going up, and we have to be careful who we pay for and what.

We are still a bit understaffed for my tastes, but at this point I am not going to complain. The people I have are OK< and if I am being honest, if I were to let them all go there’s no guarantee the people I could hire in their place would be any better for the same price.

We received €752K for TV rights, which helped out, frankly anything extra is nice at this point.

The 3. Liga rules are pretty straightforward:

The League prediction looks good for us as well:

Until you realize Borussia Dortmund II, BMG II and Freiburg II can’t be promoted, which means the teams below them can certainly be demoted, and that’s what the pundits think is going to happen to us this season. And Dynamo Dresden are the odds on favorites to get promoted…grrr.

The transfer window was pretty quiet. I did a lot of scouting, but more than one player who was willing to talk contracts had some outrageous demands. Why someone thinks I am going to pay €400K a year for their services in 3. Liga is a bit beyond me, but then again I just play FM…

Transfer wise, we did some good business I think. I was really looking to strengthen our defensive backs, and I think I did pretty well:

Max Weiß, Keeper

Kevin Sommer was a good Keeper for us last season, I can’t deny that. But if we want a fighting chance of staying up, of staying out of the relegation battle, we needed someone better. I spent a decent amount of time looking at Free Agent Keepers and the few I thought were good wanted to much money. The transfer listed Keeper’s I looked at either wanted too much money, or didn’t want to come to the club. The loan listed keepers I looked at, well, their teams wanted upwards of €150K a month in fee’s, and that’s before I paid 80% of their salary as well. Then I lucked out and found Weiß listed for loan from KSC. No monthly fee’s, I just had to cover part of his salary, and instantly upgraded our keeper position. He’s quite good for this level of football, and that what I am looking for.

Robin Fuhrmann, Tim Meyer, Tim Kircher, Defender’s

Depth and rotation, two things that are hard to come by in the lower leagues. One thing I am slowly resigning myself to is that at this point, having one good player backed up by several average player’s isn’t going to be an option everywhere, at this point I am working on having a couple of good above average players at some positions, players who I feel comfortable rotating knowing the drop off between them skills wise is minimal at best. Furhman is a good example of this, he has the most upside of the three I brought in, and is a solid player now, and with playing time and training will grow into a good player. At what position I have no idea at the moment, for now it’s D(C), but the fact he can play wingback on either side is a plus.

I’ve high hopes for Meyer. At 18 years old he’s already quite good for this level of football, and if his Off the Ball and Bravery improve, he can be very good. As it stands right now, his ball control, crossing, and passing and quickness make him the starting WB(L), but his lack of marking and composure could hurt us sometimes.

Kirchner is what I call a “Lunch Pail” type of player. He doesn’t excel in any one area, he’s average/above average in most others, and he doesn’t have a real weakness in his game. Sure, he has some low attributes, but nothing horrible. He has a job to do, he knows what it is, and he’s going to do it to the best of his ability, and not a lot more beyond that. I brought him in because he was on a free, he can play anywhere on the right (for the most part) and I don’t have to worry about him making too many mistakes when he is playing. I also know the chances of him doing something extraordinary or out of the blue are going to be rare as well, and sometimes that’s all your looking for.

Shalva Ogbaidze, Andreas Hirtlreiter, Attacking Midfielder’s

Geurts and Breitfeld are decent attacking mids, but I didn’t have a lot behind them, so I was looking to do what I could to shore this area up.

Hirtlreiter isn’t the strongest, nor the bravest, but he’s quick, agile, has above average off the ball and technique, and above average flair as well. I brought him on board because he can play AM(R) and ST, and M(C) in a pinch, and while I wouldn’t comfortable with him being a full time starter at any of those positions (a few areas would have to come up a bit for that) coming off the bench on a rotation basis to spell Breitfeld is a good fit for him.

Shalva Ogbaidze is a slightly older, slightly better version of Hirtlreiter, but will be coming of the bench and starting more at ST than anywhere else. Not the strongest, but with good quickness, agility, first touch, passing finishing and flair, he’s got enough to do a job up top.

Tobias had taken one look at the weather forecast and declared he wasn’t going to watch the team get beat in the rain, so they ended up at the bar with about a hundred other fans. The game itself had been a muddy, messy affair, and FC Köln’s quality was proven that as the extra time whistle blew, they could outrun the Dynamo attackers, but they couldn’t break the lower line of engagement and back four. Reher, Siebeck, Schulz and Pollasch had been above average defensively, but Weiß had the stadium, the fans at the bar, and Sasha in particular, gushing over his performance. Köln has pressed all game, 34 shots, 17 on target, but after Demorovic had scored in the 20th minutes, he had been an impenetrable wall. Covered in mud, he was clapping and yelling, directing the defense, who were listening well. The only person more animated than Weiß was Coach, who had been warned on more than one occasion to stay in his area, and had ventured out more than enough times for the ref to finally take him aside and threaten him with a Yellow. A smile and a clap on the referee’s shoulder, Schmidt had promised he would stay in the area, and did a pretty credible job.

The bar held it’s collective breath Sebastian Andersson stepped up to the spot, approached the ball and kicked it high and left. A short second later, the ball hit Weiß’s outstretched hand, and everyone was yelling and screaming. Siebeck stepped up to the ball, the clubs most reliable penalty taker, and struck it hard, almost in the exact same spot as Andersson had, but a bit higher. Jonas Urbig, all 188cm of him, got just enough of a hand on it to misdirect it, where it also went wide left. The crowd groaned, Tobias sighed loudly, Sasha said something about Siebecks mother before the beer Ulrich handed her got her to quiet down.

Demirovic’s shot went in, Zogjani equalized, and Eric Martel stepped up. He took his time, ran forward…and tapped the ball as softly as you pleased right down the middle, where a standing Weiß caught it neatly and looked at him, and expression that in no uncertain terms said “What the F**K was that?” The camera panned to Coach Jaissle, who was seen yelling something similar before the camera panned away. A couple of minutes later, Geurts stepped up and struck it hard left, Urbig guessed wrong, and the ball hit the back of the net.

Dynamo had just beaten Köln in the First Round of the DFB-Pokal.

A half hour later the bar was still celebrating, singing, laughing, and watching the highlights. The initial interviews had been formalities, Coach Schmidt congratulating his players for their efforts, most of all his keepers, who had been awarded Man of the Match for his efforts between the sticks. Some player interviews had followed, Siebeck thanking the rest of the squad for the team picking him up after his miss, and then the formal interview afterwards in the press room. Most of the interview was the usual banal stuff, the interesting bit of news came at the end.

“How far can the team go coach?”

“As far as they can. If it’s the next round, it’s the next round, if its the final its the final. No matter what happens I am proud of them, of their efforts on the field.”

“Coach, rumor has it you signed another player today, who couldn’t play in today’s game because of registration issues, can you talk about that?”

“Yes, I can, we have an agreement with FC Bayern, they have agreed to send Justin Janitzek to us on a loan until the end of the season. Once he clears the medical screening in Bayern, the remainder of the paperwork will be filed tonight, and Justin will arrive here tomorrow.”

“Our defense just got that much better!” Hans said, finishing his beer.

“He’s not bad,” said Tobias, looking at his own beer. For Tobias, that was high praise. The rest of the bar had started talking as well, loud enough that the reporters question had been missed.

“He’s not costing us anything,” Coach Schmidt said with a smile, “Because in addition to signing him this afternoon, we also signed an agreement to become a lower league affiliate for FC Bayern.”

“WHAT DID HE SAY!” Sasha yelled, loud enough that everyone in the bar who didn’t know her turned to look at her.

“He said they signed an agreement with Bayern to become an affiliate,” Tobias said.

“I heard that!” Sasha yelled back at him.

“Then why did you ask…never mind,” Tobias sighed again, and looked at his mug of beer.

“Bayern. We’re an affiliate for Bayern,” Sasha all but spat.

“Looks like it,” Ulrich replied.

“Could be worse,” Hans said, only to dodge out of the way when Sasha turned around on him.

“How?” she asked. Sasha hated Bayern with a passion. There was only one team she hated more in all of Germany.

“Could have been a Hertha affiliate…”

Sasha took a deep breath, as if she was preparing to argue, then sighed and nodded.

“Yeah, you aer right. Get us another beer please?”

Eine Kugel ausgewichen?

Janitzek is an instant upgrade for us at Defender, tall, above average in most every category that matters, I am really hoping he will add to an already strong part of the squad.

I know this season we aren’t going to be able to run and gun our way thru the league, there are too many quality teams we are competing against, but if we can stay close to a net positive goal differential, and draw some of the teams we are supposed to lose to, I’ll count a non relegation finish a success.

I am worried about the team financials though…

Next up, a look at the season, how we are handling scouting, and trying to build for the future.

Thanks for reading!

FM Jellico

Der Bär Wird Wieder Brüllen, The First Season Ends

“Where’s Tobias?” Ulrich asked.

“He said he wasn’t coming. The last time he came to a game because we convinced him to, we lost to Cottbus,” Joachim said. “He thinks if he’s here in person the team will lose again…”

“I have a hard time figuring him out,” Hans said to noone in particular.

“He’s weird. He’s not going to change,” Sasha said.

“Do you want him to change?”

“Will that mean he stops buying the occasional round?” she replied.

Sportforum Hohenschönhausen wasn’t all that full, maybe 4500 people, but the Bayern Fan Club had shown up in decent strength, 1500 boisterous fans at the other end of the stadium.

“What do you think?” Hans asked, leaning over to Ulrich.

“It’s like Coach said, If they give it their best, he’ll be happy with the result either way. They’re on a win streak, they’re playing well.”

A whistle was blown, and the teams headed off the field, to get ready for the game.

They were all hoarse. On Paper, and when compared one on one really, Bayern’s II squad was faster, more athletic, but if they were anything else, it was overconfident. Poor passes, bad decisions, the only thing loder than the fans at times seemed to be Coach Demichelis as he yelled and gestured at his player.

Amar Suljić’s goal in the 12th minute was a thing of beauty, as was the long pass that let him split the defenders and tap it in over the keeper, but the Wanner had scored for Bayern II two minutes apart in the 66th and 68th minutes. What enthusiasm the Dynamo fans had went flat, as Bayern sat back, invited the attack, and foiled every Dynamo attack.

“I can’t watch” Sasha moaned, burying her head in Ulrich’s arm. The game was well into extra time, with maybe a minute left. The team had given their all, but Bayern’s quality had come thru the last twenty minutes of the match, as every BFC Dynamo attack was frustrated.

Bayern chose that moment to try and put Dynamo on the backfoot, but a bad pass allowed Reher to get the ball, and after a few seconds of back and forth between Sommer and the defenders, Klump ended up with the ball. The roar of the crowd got louder, as Klump dropped the ball of to Ekailie, who then after a brief moment passed it to Schulz, who drove forward into two defenders. Pavlovic dispossessed him, and everyone started to groan when his short pass to Harold was intercepted by Klump, who flicked the ball backwards, turned around, and at the line lofted a ball towards Suljic, who was fighting to break thru two defenders…

The post taketh, but sometimes it giveth as well…

They charged into the bar, cheering and chanting, happier with a draw than they had been in recent memory.

“That was amazing!” Ulrich said for what had to have been the hundredth time since they left the stadium.

“We know!” Sasha replied. “We were there too!”

“You think we have a chance?”

“Of winning? I like our chances now more than I did two hours ago…” said Hans.

Five days later, Stadion an der Grünwalder Straße was rocking. Literally, the stands were swaying back and forth under the Dynamo faithfuls feet as they screamed and cheered the entire match. Although outnumbered by the Bayern fans, a travesty Ulrich had mentioned enough times that Sasha had threatened him with violence if he didn’t shut up about it, they had given their all. Hans had yelled himself to near death apparently, the coughing fit he had after Suljić’s 19th minute goal came back after Zvonarenk had scored for Bayern three minutes later. A Beck goal right before the end of the half had sent the crowd into a frenzy.

All the Dynamo fans, and the announcers, were surprised when the team came out on the front foot. While not as aggressive pushing the ball up the field as they had been the first half, defensively speaking they were stepping up more, crowding the Bayern players more and forcing them to make mistakes. Bayern did have a couple of chances, but they were rushed, and the Dynamo defense was holding strong.

In the 84th minute, taking advantage of a misplay by a Bayern defender, the team surged forward, and a brilliant effort by Klump was denied by an even better effort from Schenk, who deflected the ball out of bounds. Gathering the ball up, Klump went to the corner as the rest of the squad sorted itself out, and after a few seconds, lofted the ball towards the back.

The only thing louder than the referee’s whistle was Sasha yelling “THAT’S A PENALTY, YOU AREN’T BLIND, CALL IT!”

Referee Michels pointed to the spot, the Bayern fans groaned…

Sometimes the FM Gods are on Your Side

Promoted.

To 3. Liga.

In our first season.

Well…crap. I wasn’t expecting this, but I wasn’t going to sabotage it either.

The board did what they could with regards to the wage bill and the transfer budget:

And while those numbers look OK, there’s this to take into consideration as well:

I am not going to say no to that, it just means I have to renegotiate all my players contracts, and since the ones I want to keep just won themselves promotion, it could be difficult to meet some of their wage demands.

Financially speaking, I think we did quite well, considering we were a Regionalliga team:

PLAYER PERFORMANCES

This pretty much says it all:

Beck and Suljic with 76 goals between them?

Geurts with 11 goals, 16 assists; Pollasch with 17 assists? I am pretty sure I could play this season over again 10 times and not get anywhere near those numbers

It was a really close competition in the League though as we almost played our way out of 1st Place:

But, our numbers more than speak for themselves:

The success of the season went the boards head as well, because they decided to spend some money I am not sure we have:

Which leaves our finances looking like this:

3. Liga awaits. We’re a pro Squad now, with not a lot of money, a smart bet would put us down as relegation candidates. Because of the finances this year I haven’t been able to scout like I have wanted to, and we may not have enough in next years budget to scout extensively either, which means we are going to have to get….creative with the scouting. And the accounting.

There was a polite knock on the door.

“Enter!” Nicholas called out, and a second later Frau Gerstner opened the door.

“Christian would like to speak with you?” she asked, her face telling him “No” would not be an appropriate answer.

“Of course,” he replied with a smile, and a few seconds later Beck stepped in, and sat in one of the chairs across from the desk.

“And how is my Northeast Player of the Year?” Nikki asked with a smile. Beck smiled in return, but it didn’t reach his eyes.

“I’m retiring coach,” he said with a sigh. “I am going to make it official tomorrow, but I wanted to let you know in person.”

“Are you sure?”

“The mind is willing, but the body…” Beck gestured towards his legs. “Besides, I don’t think I will ever have a season close to what we had this last one, especially going up a level. And I would rather go on top as a player who scored 36 goals, won a Pokal and promotion, than a guy who spent the last seasons of his career on the bench in the 3.Liga. And I can’t go down to a lower level, there’s just no money in it. No, it’s time.”

Nikki nodded, sitting back in his chair.

“Plans for the future?” he asked.

“I’ve though about coaching,” Beck replied with a smile, which Nikki returned with a smile of his own, then stood up, and stuck his hand out.

“This is going to sound trite,” he said, as Beck stood and grasped his hand, “But it’s true. You’ve been a fabulous asset to the club. We would not be where we are today without the example you set on the field the past two seasons. You ever need a job, call me and I’ll help.”

“Thanks Coach.” A firm shake of the hand, a nod, and Beck turned and left the office, shutting the door behind him.

Thanks for reading!

FM_Jellico

Der Bär Wird Wieder Brüllen, The First Season Review

Wie weit können uns zwei 34-jährige Beine bringen?

I don’t know what it is with the saves I’ve picked this season. They have all been interesting teams, they have all been fun to play, but they all have one thing in common: The finances are…suboptimal. I knew this when I was looking at BFC Dynamo and it’s background, but stil:

If those are OK finances, then I’ll take it, because I’d hate to see the alternative.

PAYROLL ISSUES

This is something I think a lot of managers will overlook when they get to a club. They’ll look at the roster, look at the transfer budget, look at the coaching, and the “Mutually Terminate” the contract of every coach/scout/Manager/Director that doesn’t meet their standards.

Then, 1 of 3 things will happen when you go to hire new staff. The new staff members who are better than your old staff members aren’t going to sign with you because:

  • Your Club Reputation isn’t good enough, or
  • If you club reputation is good enough you can’t afford their salary
  • Which result in you spending 10 minutes terminating the contracts of everyone, then spending eight hours finding replacements who are no better than the ones you fired, and in some cases more expensive salary wise.

I had a bit of wiggle room. As a Semi-Pro team, I didn’t need a huge scouting budget, in fact, I took it to the league only level. My Chief Scout is going to look at the next opponent, and I’ll hire another scout to look at those player who crop up in the market.

We are also up against it with the team payroll, and with no transfer budget, the only way we are lowering that is selling players, and unfortunately the Regionalliga is not exactly a “Seller’s Market.”

Ein fliegender Start

“They can’t keep this up,” Tobias said around a mouthful of food.

“Why are you such a pessimist?” Sasha asked, glaring at him. The bar was quieter now that most of the rowdier folks had left. They had claimed their table in the back, and were going over the details of the game against Erfurt.

“It’s not pessimism, it’s realism. Beck had 23 goals for us last season. He’s got 12 in 9 already. He can’t keep that up.”

“Suljić can pick up the slack,” Hans said.

Tobias sighed and sat back, finishing the bite of food he had taken before he started speaking. “He’s had 15 goals in 3 seasons at Schweinfurt . There’s a reason they let him go.”

“He’s got 11 now,” Sasha said. “He’s beaten Chemnitz, they made Cottbus earn that victory. These guys are playing harder than I have seen them play the past few seasons. They keep winning the way they are, I don’t care who’s scoring.”

“How far you think they’ll go in the Landspokal?” Klaus asked.

“Not that far,” sighed Tobias. Hans grabbed Sasha around the waist as she leaned over the table to smack him. Tobias didn’t move, he was used to such outbursts by now.

The only loss was to a very good Cottbus team. Chemnitz, Lokomotiva Leipzig, Carl Zeiss Jena and Cottbus are all former Oberliga teams, so there’s history there. And as a club we want to make history by getting promoted to the Bundesliga before they do.

I really wish I could take all the credit for the wins, but I would be lying. I literally set the team for the game, hit start, make a tweak every once and awhile, make substitutions when required, and let the game run it’s course. I am not of a meddler tactically, being in the school of “If it’s working well Tinkering is only going to make it worse”, and it’s a lesson I have learned well. But to say I was surprised at the teams performance would be an understatement, it wasn’t that we were winning games, it’s that we were doing so by large margins for the most part. The game against Erfurt though, that hurt:

I wasn’t too upset about Beck missing the penalty kick, the keeper made a very nice save. The two extra time goals though, the last of which came on a stupid penalty…Reher somehow jumping up in the scrum during a corner kick and getting a hand on the ball for the penalty.

Lass die guten Zeiten ruhen

“I swear by all that is holy Tobias, you even try to pour water on my mood I am going to kick your teeth in!” Sasha barely came up to his chest, but the finger she wagged in front of his face had a pretty wicked looking nail on it, and he had the good sense to be quiet.

“You said they couldn’t keep it up after Babelsburg, then it was doom and gloom after Hertha II, then when we lost to the idiots from Leipzig I couldn’t tell if you were more upset we lost, or happy we finally did. What gives?”

“You mean other than spending the night in lockup because you started a fight with the Leipzig Ultras.” He sighed as he took his seat, and motioned to the barmaid, who nodded and smiled at him.

“Whoa whoa whoa whoa whoa,” Hans said, putting his own beer down hard enough to make it spill some. “She did not not start anything with those Ultras. She congratulated them for a good win and a well played game.”

“And what did I get for being nice? Insults. Verdammte sächsische Idioten. Thanks Elise,” Sascha smiled at the barmaid, who brought a whole tray of drinks out.

“Well, to be fair, you did say you hoped they liked third place,” Hans said.

“To be fair they said I’d come in fourth place in a three lady beauty contest,” Sascha replied.

“You called him a Hasslehoff wannabe.”

“He called me a whore!”

“You said his mom counted with her hoof!”

“Can you prove she doesn’t? Besides, I reimbursed you for the fines.”

“You should have been there with us.”

“Look, I have always maintained that if there is trouble, I don’t have too run fast to get out of it, I just have to run faster than you…”

For a job well done, so far, we were rewarded:

It’s not a bad deal really, but even I am starting to channel my “Inner Tobias” and am wondering when the wheels may fall off, or slow down. For the moment, it’s a three team race to the top, and we have our work cut out for us.

The one blemish in a remarkable run of games was the Leipzig game. 3/4’s of the team decided that this game would be the one they wanted to take of, and Beck’s legs can only take the team so far, it’s up to the other players to help as well, and this game, they didn’t. It was the first time I yelled at the all season. They responded quite well.

Our Youth Intake preview was quite promising as well. Yes you have to take this with a huge gran of salt considering where we our, our facilities, and the level of competition, but this is not a bad preview:

Newgens at bad facilities may appear better than they actually are…

Neues Jahr, gleiche Ergebnisse

Cottbus is the one team we cannot shake. And the one team we cannot beat apparently. Also teams from Leipzig have been giving us trouble as well, but for the most part the teams has been performing very well. I don’t want to say we are on cruise control, one slip up and we find ourselves behind Cottbus looking for a playoff spot, but I remain confident in the guys. They’ve taken us this far.

The Youth Intake

The preview was actually not too far of the mark, we have a decent youth intake, ands a couple of them have some potential as well.

Mirza Hamzic

Our best prospect, an already “Above Average” player in many areas: Pace, Fitness, Technique, Flair, Finishing. Sure, he has some holes in his game, but there is plenty of time to improve them, and his Resolute personality and 16 Determination will go a long way in getting those lower numbers up. The game says he’s a winger, I am going to retrain him as a Striker.

Sabri Özen

He’s got potential. The question is how am I going to get him the playing time to improve, and if I do get him the playing time, how much is his unambitious personality going to affect those improvements. As much as there are some things to like, the Reflexes, Decision making, Handling, Agility and Fitness, everything else is way too low, and most likely won’t improve without some luck. Which is about par for the course for a lot of newgens at this level.

Shawn Ott

I think Ott could be better than advertised. His aggression worries me, as does his strength, but with those Fitness, Determination, Dribbling, Technique, Passing, Flair and Finishing attributes (which if they don’t go up are still very good for this level of football), he will be a very solid player in the years to come, and if the opportunities work out for him, he could be better in the long run than Hamzic.

Eine Trophäe in der ersten Saison heben

The Berliner Landespokal is a regional competition, in this case the region being the city of Berlin, with the Berlin Football Association running it. There’s no money for winning it, instead you get a spot in the following years DFB-Pokal. While it’s possible, likely really, you are going to be a minnow in the first round, the appearance money is 183K, which is not an insignificant sum for a team that wins. And if you do make it to the Second Round, the money there is another 366K.

The good news is, we kept up our winning ways, and made it to the Landespokal final.

VSG Altglienicke on paper was not a team as strong as we were, but they caught us at the right time, tired, coming of some niggling injuries, and they had lost in the finals the two previous years, and we definitely putting their best feet forward. We however, played out game, and despite Pollasch going down with an injury in the 43rd minute, a Suljić goal in the 33rd minute, and a great keep away defense ensured we won, and put a new trophy in the display case.

Quietschende Pennerzeit

The last two games of the season were key. Cottbus was well within reach off us, Lok Leipzig had fallen behind Four points was what we needed to ensure a first place finish in the League, and we got it, by beating the aforementioned Saxons 4-0 in the final game of the season. It was off to the playoffs.

The bar was crowded, to the point Hans was questioning whether or not the fire marshal stop by and force a few people out. It was loud, it was raucous, songs were sung, beers were spilled, everyone was having a good time.

Hans saw Tobias force his way thru the crowd, work had kept him late and he couldn’t make the game, but as he sat down between Hans and Ulrich, the look on his face didn’t change. He was dejected.

“Someone kick your dog, Tobias?” Ulrich asked, passing him a beer. Tobias looked at it briefly, then drank it all in one chug, wiping his mouth.

“Last of the Regionalliga games was played today.”

“We know,” said Sasha, her words a bit slurred.

“We’re playing Bayern II in the final.” Tobias said, sitting back and slouching.

“Bayern II?” Sasha all but shouted. Tobias nodded.

“Wanner, Ranos, Demirican, Pavlovic, Buchmann, Schenk,” Tobias replied. “That Bayern II Squad.”

“Well, Scheisse,” Ulrich said to noone in particular.

“Yeah,” Tobias said.

Coming up in a couple of days, the result of the Promotion Playoff, a look back at the season and some of the players who made it possible, awards, statistics, and plans for the offseason. If you don’t see it in a couple of days, feel free to remind me about it on twitter.

Der Bär Wird Wieder Brüllen

Prolouge

From 1979 to 1988, Bayern Munich won the Bundesliga 5 times, and in the other 5 years never fell below 4th. And impressive win streak thats been superceded in recent years by an impressive run starting in 1998, when they have won the League 18 times. In 2022, they won the Bundesliga for the 10th time in a row. It was a spectacular accomplishment.

But they weren’t the first German team to do that…

In Berlin, in the borough of Lichtenburg, the quarter of Alt-Hohenschönhausen is home to Berliner FC Dynamo. Playing in the DDR-Oberliga, Berliner FC won their League 10 times in a row, with a core group of players that not only led them to local success, but European success as well. In the 1979-80 European Cup, they went all the way to the quarterfinals, becoming the first German team to beat an English team in England, when they beat Brian Clough and Nottingham Forest 1-0. With a stellar Youth system, bringing in players such as Bernd Schulz, Frank Rohde, and Christan Backs, and a solid core of verteran players, they reached the quarter finals of the European Cup again in 1982, losing to Aston Villa. In the 1983-1984 season, their loss to FC Karl MArx Stadt broke a 36 game winning streak, and again made it to the quarter finals of the European Cup before losing to Roma. A bit of trivia for those of you out there, each team Berliner lost to went on to win the Cup. In the 1984-1985 season they scored 90 goals, but some of their wins were not without controversey.

The DFV conducted a review in the 1984-1985 season and found the club was given fewer yellow cards, and other non call led to the conclusion that they had gained at least 8 points in 26 matches to to clear referee errors on the pitch. While the East German Stasi support of the club was well know, and there were flgrant instances of referee bias in favor of the club, such as the game against SCG Dynamo Dresden in the FDGB Pokal, there is no evidence that the referees were ordered (or bribed) to favor the Berlin club. In fact complaints against the bias club received led to the General Secretary of East Germany getting involved directly, and while several people were removed from their positions, they did little to assuage a lot of the publics beliefs of what was going on. Players and coaches on many teams believed that the Berlin club didn’t need any of the help they had received, because an excellent youth system, and solid player moves such as Thomas Doll from Hansa Rostock, ensured the quality of their sqaud was better than the teams they faced. The culmination of the clubs run was a last day win against FC Vorwarts Frankfurt that clinched the League on goal difference.

The Fall of the Berlin Wall meant changes for every East German club, but BFC Dynamo was among the hardest hit. The disbandment of the Stasi meant the club lost one of its main sponsors, and the East German Ministry of the Interior said it would support the club until the end of the 1989-1990 season and that was it. In an attempt to distance itself from it’s former sponsor, they rebranded as FC Berlin, but players leaving for greener pastures meant the team lacked the solid foundation and cohesiveness it had relied on during the 80’s. After finishing in 11th place and losing in the 2. Bundesliga playoff, FC Berlin was relegated to the the NOFFV-Oberliga, but despite dominating the 1991-1992 season, they again missed promotion to the 2. Bundesliga, and the last of their former players left. Depending on who you ask and what you use for sources, the entire roster of FC Berlin changed over twice in the three years since the Wall fell.

Despite making millions on playere transfer in the early 90’s, and competing in the Regionaliga Norst, the team was losing money and sponsers. Relegation to the Regonalliga was followed by insolvency proceedings, and it was found that the club was at least 7 million DM in debt. Supporters started fundrasing, former players came back to help, and a new presidum would take control of the team in 2002. After two years of close calls, with Team President Mike Peters funding the club directly, the club was promoted back to the Oberliga, and more importanlt, the insovlvency proceedings against it were settled.

The next few years were close run, as the club bounced between the Regionalliga and Oberliga while struggling to stay solvent. On more than one occassion one of the clubs main sponsers had to step into save it, and during the latter half of the 00’s the clubs financial situation improved.

The club rebranded itself as BFC Dynamo, and in 2009 adopted its new crest. In 2010 the club starting climbing back up the standings, winning promotion to the Regionalliga in 2014, and winning several Berliner Cups the following years, and despite some financial struggles put together some good sqauds, one of which missed out promotion to the 3. Liga at the end of the 2022 season on goal difference, which led to the dismissal of Coach Bennbenneck.

At the start of the 2022-2023 season, the club finds itself struggling. Its vaunted youth system is no longer in place, and while the squad has some good players on it, they are aging. The team is semi-professional, doesn’t have great finances, and promtion to the 3. Liga is tough, finish first in the Regionaliga gives that team a place in the playoffs, which you have to win in order to be prmoted. In addition, the clubs stadium is aging, and the finances are such that making the repairs required or building a new one is just not possible now.

Meanwhile, Hansa Rostock is in the 2. Bundesliga, and has a decent chance of finishing top half. SC Dynamo Dresden is in 3. Liga, having recently been relegated.

Into this situation step Nicholas Schmidt. The Berlin native and once promising Hertha Berlin youth midfielder left the game after the death of his father in 2014, and returned to the game as a junior coach with Hertha Berlin a year later, becoming a youth coach in 2018 before taking a coaching role with 1. FC Kaiserslautern II in 2020. While not the Supporters club first choice, he obviously made an impression on Club President Norbert Uhling to hire him.

“Nikki?” His father called out. The house was mostly quiet, except for the beeping of the medical devices.
“I’m here Papa,” he replied, grasping his fathers hand. Those hands had been large once, and strong, a builders hands. His father used to say how proud he was of the fact the 3rd best thing he had ever done as a builder was to help tear down the Wall in 1989.
His father coughed, and asked for water, which was provided to him via a glass his son held.
“Can I ask you a sentimental question son?”
Nicholas Schmidt blinked, hard enough he thought his father might have noticed.
“What is you’re favorite memory of us?”
“Playing football with you in the park Papa,” he replied honestly.
“Which time?”
“All of the times Papa. You would come home from work, check my homework, and we would make dinner than go to the park and kick the ball around. You showed me how the game was played, you gave me a love for the game, a passion for the game-“
“I took you away from it by getting sick.”
“No, Papa, you didn’t. I love the game, I will always love it, but I love you more.”
His father gripped his hand briefly, and the room was quiet, save for the beeps.
“I’m sorry I didn’t take you to more games,” his father said.
“You were working Papa.”
“Not always…” was the reply, and Nicholas sat up.
“In the closet, on the top shelf, behind the suitcase,” his fathers voice was quiet, but firm. Nicholas went to the closet, now empty of clothes, but found the box he was told to find.
He opened it up at his fathers direction, and saw the scrapbooks.
“The top one,” his father said, coughing again.
Nicholas opened it up, and saw two tickets, for a game between Berliner FC Dynamo and Carl Zeiss Jena, dated 1977.
“I met your mother at that game,” his father smiled. “She arrived with another young boy, but we left together.” Nicholas had fleeting memories of his mother, who had passed away when he was not yet four.
“We couldn’t afford to go to a lot of games, but we would gather with friends and listen, and other times we would be by ourselves and listen.” As his father talked he flipped thru the book, pulling out old tickets, yellowed newspaper articles, gameday pamphlets.
“She was a huge fan of the club, and I became one as well. I first kissed her at a match, when we beat Dresden. At least that was my excuse for kissing her, but in my defense, she didn’t object at the time.” He heard his dad chuckle, then cough.
“After we married, we couldn’t go to as many games as we liked, what with my travelling for work, but she would write me letters.”
Nicholas set the first book on the nightstand, and pulled out the second. Inside were more tickets and pamphlets, and letters. Neat, precise handwriting, going into great detail about the game she had watched. From the way she wrote, she either took notes as she watched the game, or wrote the letter immediately when she arrived back at their apartment.
Putting the second book down, he saw there were two more in the box.
“You never told me this before Papa,” he said softly.
“The Wall fell, things got tough. Money, work, the team fell on hard times as well, all the eastern teams did. Plus there was the clubs history, it didn’t set to well with a lot of people, but she watched loyally until we couldn’t afford to buy tickets. Then the club rebranded, all the players left…”
Nicholas listened as his father talked about the club after the Wall came down, as he read newspaper articles about their 7th consecutive league win, their 8th, their ninth. A letter from his mom, who wasn’t in the best seat in the house but saw Reich’s header go into the net for the win, and reading her description of the crowds reaction he felt as if he were there.
He opened the last book, flipping thru the pages, and stopped on the last one. It was a photo of the family. His dad with his arm around his moms shoulder, as she held a small boy who was clearly unhappy to be there.
“Nikki?” his father asked, noticing his sons silence.
“A photo Papa, all of us at a game.”
He saw his dad smile.
“That was a good day. The team didn’t win, but we had a good time.” Papa was silent for a moment. “It was the last game we went to as a family, Marie became ill a few months later.”
And eighteen months after that gone, to cancer. Nicholas flipped thru the books a few more times, then set it down and picked up one of the ones he had set down previously, and found himself reading newspaper articles from the early 80’s, when the club was winning everything.
“Nikki?”
“Yes Papa.”
“Do you love the game?”
“Yes, Papa.”
“Then I want you to stay involved with in in some way. Playing, coaching, both, it does not matter. You stay involved. It does not have to be a career, but stay involved. You love it, don’t let me be the reason you walked away from it, OK?”
Nikki smiled, and wiped a tear away from his eye.
“Can you read me a letter?” his father asked after a few moments.
“Of course Papa,” he replied, and with care, he lifted one of the letters from the book, and began to read. Tens of letters later he was reading softly, his mother was furious at the loss to FC Karl Marx Stadt, which had broken the clubs 36 league match winning streak. She wrote with emotion, her handwriting became a little sloppier usually when she was mad, and he read it as best he could. He didn’t remember his moms voice, but his dad had smiled earlier when she railed against a player from Hansa Rostock who’s two footed lunge could have hurt Backs quite seriously, and while he could not speak in her voice, her tone was unmistakable.
He looked up from reading to ask his father a question, when he realized there wasn’t any beeping from the machine anymore. Setting the letter back in between the pages, closing the book and setting it back in the box, he stood up, and with a careful hand brushed back the thinning hair from his father forehead and kissed it. Albert Schmidt had never been a demonstrative man, but Nicholas had known he was loved, and the way his mom wrote he knew his father had been loved as well. He leaned down next to his fathers ear.
“Go with God, Papa. When you see Mama, tell her I love her and miss her, and when I see you both again, I will be bearing a trophy with BFC Dynamo’s name on it. The Bear will Roar again, I promise you both. I love you. Thank You for everything.”
He kissed his fathers cheek one last time, then left the room to call the hospice nurse.

10 “Smaller” Clubs for Youth Oriented Saves

Youth Oriented Saves and Youth Only saves are quite popular in Football Manager, and as with all Football Manager saves depending on the team you choose, your Youth save is going to be Easy (Chelsea, Barcelona, Sporting, Ajax) or Hard.

Several things affect a clubs Youth Intake:

  • The Club’s Youth Recruitment, which is how far away from the club a player could be pulled in from.
  • The Club’s Youth Facilities, which are separate training facilities for the Youth Team
  • The Club’s Academy Coaching, who are coaches you can’t hire.
  • The Club’s Country’s Youth Rating, the higher the more likely it is to generate good youth players
  • Your Head of Youth Development. There’s a bit to unpack with this. A HOYD with a high Scouting PA will better identify players with potential. The formation he favors will affect what positions he tries to recruit for, and last but not least, his personality will affect the youngsters brought in. The more “positive” a HOYD directors personality (Professional, Determined, Driven, Fairly Determined, etc) the more likely the youth players he brings in will also have a positive personality.

Some club’s have Youth Development Philosophy, that is they try and recruit the best young players they can to their Youth Academies, develop them so they are ready to make appearances for the Senior Squad before they are 21, and are then moved onto “Bigger Clubs” for profit. Dinamo Zagreb in Croatia, Altinordu in Turkey, and PSV are good examples of this. Other Clubs choose to develop within, and keep the players they develop. The best example of this is Barcelona and their La Masia Academy.

Following are ten clubs (and a bonus club) that in my opinion are good challenges for a Youth Oriented Save. They aren’t from the biggest Leagues, and they may not be the “Best” teams in the league they play in, but they are all capable of winning them. Eventually. While they do not possess the best in every Youth related category, they have the capability to produce some very good youth players, making a youth save with these clubs a challenge, but not an impossible one, and there are a variety of stories to build around each one as well.

1. Lech Poznan (Polish Ekstraklasa)

Lech Poznan had had somewhat of a renaissance starting in the 2010’s, winning the League in 2010, 2015, and in 2022. They were knocked out of the Champions League this year in the First Qualifying Round by Qarabag, and look to compete for a European spot again this year. Youth wise, they possess the following in terms of Facilities and Recruitment:

  • Training Facilities: Great
  • Youth Facilities: Great
  • Junior Coaching: Good
  • Youth Recruitment: Exceptional

In addition, the club is financially secure, has a philosophy of wanting to sign U23 players, and is in my opinion actually helped by the Ekstraklasa League which stipulate that U22 domestic players must play 3000 minutes of match play or the club will be fines 317K Euro’s, which when you consider that winning 1st place nets you only 1.44M Euro’s can be quite the penalty. However, this is offset by a League rule that will award the top 5 clubs 127K-634K Euro’s based on U21 minutes played, and by International appearances any player on the squad makes. Can you fill all 41,620 seats in Lech’s stadium, and lead the best Youth Prospects in Poland to an Ekstraklasa Victory, and beyond?

2. Hibernian (Scottish Premiership)

Hibernian haven’t won the League since 1952, but they did win the Scottish Cup as recently as 2015. The clubs current philosophy is geared towards a Youth Oriented save, they want to sign players under the age of 21 to develop, they want to develop players within their system, and they want to maintain the quality of youth system they have, and it is a very good system. Facilities and Recruitment wise, Hibernian has:

  • Training Facilities: Excellent
  • Youth Facilities: Excellent
  • Junior Coaching: Excellent
  • Youth Recruitment: Excellent

Hibernian has three things going against it: Celtic, Rangers, and League Work Permit rules that make it very hard to sign talented foreign youth players to sign for the club. While the Leagues payout is not big, 1.19M to 3.56M Euro’s, the club’s finances are in Okay condition, and qualifying for any European competition is additional prize money for the coffers, which currently means finishing 5th or higher when the season ends. Can a Scottish Youth Movement beat the Old Firm? Play Hibernian and find out.

3. Basel (Swiss Super League)

In my opinion Basel is one of the more interesting “Bigger” clubs to try and do a Youth Oriented Save with. From a historical point of view, Basel has won the League 20 times, the last in 2017, and has finished 2nd four times in the last five years. The League itself is a top 20 League, with clubs like Grasshopper, Zurich, and St. Gallen all being very competitive. Under the hood though, things get a little bit…strange.

If you win the Swiss Super League you receive 3.69M Euro’s in prize money, which covers slightly more than half of the 6M Euro annual rent Basel is paying the city for using St. Jakob Park. I am almost positive that fee is not a typo. Despite that discrepancy, the clubs finances are in good shape, and Facilities and Recruitment wise they possess:

  • Training Facilities: Excellent
  • Youth Facilities: Excellent
  • Junior Coaching: Excellent
  • Youth Recruitment: Exceptional

Staying in the black financially means not only winning, but winning in European competitions as well. The question is can you do that with a team of Youth Players and fending off the likes of Zurich, Grasshoppers and others for those European places?

4. MŠK Žilina (Slovak Super Liga)

Žilina have won the Super Liga 7 times since 2000, and while the league itself may not be the biggest, the region is well known for turning out quality players. Like most leagues in a country the size of Slovakia, winning does not pay out bigly, only 115K Euro’s. That said the League itself is strong enough that finishing 3rd or higher guarantees European Football, and 4th thru 7th place participate in a round robin format in which the winner also qualifies for European Football, and while the club is OK financially speaking, any success in European competitions would be helpful. Facilities and Recruitment wise, MŠK Žilina has:

  • Training Facilities: Great
  • Youth Facilities: Great
  • Junior Coaching: Good
  • Youth Recruitment: Excellent

While that setup alone is good enough to guarantee Žilina will see some quality potential comes thru its doors, the one advantage the team has over its local rivals is its direct affiliation with MŠK Žilina Africa Football Club. The Ghanaian club is a direct affiliate, giving the Slovakian club an additional leg up when it comes to recruiting talent. Benson Anang is the best example of this, the Ghanaian International started for the club in Accra, then moved to Žilina in 2018 and has been a solid defender for the team since. With those facilities, the countries love of Football (over 400K players registered) and a pipeline to some potentially great Africa Talent, can you take a Youth Oriented team to the top?

5. NK Lokomotiva Zagreb

For the longest time after World War Two Lokomotiva bounced around Croatia’s lower leagues. Then in 2007, they had back to back to back promotions to the top flight of Croatian Football, the First Football League. After finishing in 2nd place in the 2012-2013 season, they have finished between 4th and 6th place in each the following seasons. Teams like Dinamo, Hadjuk Split and Osijeck have long dominated the region, even when playing as part of the Yugoslav First League, and for Lokomotiva to now be competing with them year in and out is quite the accomplishment. Additionally, Croatia’s standing in world football is such that the top 4 teams in the 10 team League qualify for European Football, so the opportunity for extra income is certainly there. The club has a policy of signing U23 players, and the League itself does not have any onerous work permit rules, other than a 6 non EU player limit, and the matchday squad having at least 6 players trained by a Croatian club. Facilities and Recruitment wise, NK Lokomotiva has:

  • Training Facilities: Good
  • Youth Facilities: Good
  • Junior Coaching: Excellent
  • Youth Recruitment: Good

At first glance those may not look great, but when you consider that the club is financially stable, and good Youth Recruitment covers Croatia, Serbia, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Slovenia, Italy, Austria, Hungary and Italy, the quality of Youth players they are going to bring in is very high. With a good HOYD, and judicious investment, good recruits at Lokomotiva can become great young players at Lokomotiva, and you can use them to dethrone Dinamo and Hadjuk before selling them off to bigger clubs and reinvesting that money again.

6. Hapoel Be’er Sheva (Israeli Premier League)

Be’er Sheva returned to the top of the Israeli Premier League in 2015, winning back back to back titles, and also became a constant presence in European competitions as well, with their 2016-17 campaign being a highlight. After beat Sheriff Tiraspol and Olympiacos, they lost to Celtic and fell to the Europa League. In the Group stage they beat Inter twice, drew with Southampton twice, and lost to Sparta Prague twice, eventually losing to Beşiktaş. All that European football comes in handy, because the payout for winning the Israeli Prem doesn’t cover the 325K a year Be’er Sheva is paying in stadium rent. What they have done with a lot of those winnings is reinvest it into the club, which has:

  • Training Facilities: Great
  • Youth Facilities: Excellent
  • Junior Coaching: Good
  • Youth Recruitment: Excellent

The club has Okay finances, and the League rules are interesting in that in order to foster playing local players, squads that register 5 or fewer players receive a payout at the end of the season. U19 players are also automatically eligible for play in all matches, which works very well with a club that wants to sign/develop young players and then sell them for a profit.

7. FCV Farul Constanţa (Romanian First League)

Romanian Football legend Gheorge Hagi founded FC Viitorul Constanța in 2009, and after spending the next three seasons in the lower leagues of Romanian Football, were promoted to the top flight. They finished 5th in 2016, qualifying for European football, and won Liga I in 2017. Hagi had set up an excellent Academy after founding the club, and many players who won the League in 2017 were graduates, in fact the teams average age of 22.2 years were the youngest champions in Europe that year. However, in 2021 Hagi and Ciprian Marica, the owner of Farul Constanța, announced that they were merging. Viittorul disappeared in the process, Faul took their spot in Liga I, the team was rebranded as FCV Farul Constanţa, and the only things left of Hagi’s original club were the grounds the team played on, and the academy and youth system, and what a system it is:

  • Training Facilities: Great
  • Youth Facilities: Excellent
  • Junior Coaching: Good
  • Youth Recruitment: Exceptional

The team is financially secure, which bodes well for them because Liga I does not pay out a lot of money, only 138K for winning the league. Additionally, Romania’s stature in the game has fallen to where the league only gets 3 European positions, so developing and selling players for profit is one way FCV Farul can stay solvent. But what if you didn’t sell them internationally, but to other clubs in Romania? Could you build the nation, and the club, and achieve Europeans success again?

8. Danubio Fútbol Club (Uruguayan Primera Division Group A)

Founded by Bulgarian brothers and named after the second longest river in Europe, Danubio has had some success in Uruguay, winning the league 4 times, but what they are known for is developing talent. In a League that also has the likes of Peñarol and Nacional in it, Danubio has developed no less than 16 players who have made at least 50 appearances with the club and/or 30 with the National team. In a 16 team division, finishing 8th or above will get you Continental Football, and while the various Copa’s may not pay as much as their European ‘Cousins’ do, and with a league rule that sets a 3 foreign player limit in the playing eleven, developing and keeping quality youth players will go a long way to the club’s financial stability. Danubio would be a great club to build a story around because not only do they have fierce rivalries with Nacional and Peñarol, and that the Clasico de los Chicos Derby with Defensor Sporting is very competitive, but the clubs priority is to sign Youth players, and to develop and maintain the best Youth System in all of Uruguay. To help them do that they have:

  • Training Facilities: Adequate
  • Youth Facilities: Average
  • Junior Coaching: Excellent
  • Youth Recruitment: Exceptional

Much like Lokomotiva above, while Adequate and Average are not the best, investment in those areas will have immediate payoffs as Uruguay has one of the highest Reputations in the game, as well as a very good Youth rating. Can you find the talent, develop it, and dethrone Peñarol and Nacional?

9. Suwon Samsung Bluewings (Hana 1Q K League)

Baseball used to be the most popular sport in South Korea, until the 2002 World Cup, when as a Co-Host Country South Korea made it all the way to the Semi Finals before losing to Germany. Prior to that electrifying run, players such as Cha Bum-Kun had represented their country very well in Europeans competitions, but after 2002 players such as Park Ji-Sung, Ahn Jung-Hwan, Lee Young-Pyo started playing with top European teams, and today players such as Hwang Hee-Chan and Son Heung-min lead a new wave of talented South Korean players in top flight Leagues. More than a few of them started their careers at Suwon Samsung Bluewings. A Club that has had some past success, winning the domestic League 4 times, the Korean FA Cup 4 times, and the Asian Club Championship twice, Suwon has fallen off a bit since clubs like FC Seoul and Jeonbuk Hyunadai have started winning on a regular basis. That said, Suwon still has some very good facilities and coaching:

  • Training Facilities: Good
  • Youth Facilities: Excellent
  • Junior Coaching: Good
  • Youth Recruitment: Good

Financially secure, and with South Korea having one of the higher youth rating in the game, Suwon Samsung Bluewings has a great opportunity to find and develop the next generation of great South Korean footballers. The question is, can it hold onto them to achieve domestic and Asian success, or will they leave for bigger clubs in foreign leagues?

10. Stabæk (Norwegian First Division)

Of all the clubs in this list, Stabæk has some of the best youth facilities and coaching, Norway has one of the better reputations in the game, and their Youth Rating is very good as well, having produced several world class players over the years. Despite that, due to financial difficulties in the 2010’s, the club has bounced back and forth between the top two divisions, and in 2023 they were promoted out of the 2nd tier and back into the Eliteserien, the top Tier of Norwegian Football. For the moment they are financially OK, but they do have some issues, such as their stadium not being in the best shape. Facilities and coaching wise Stabæk has:

  • Training Facilities: Great
  • Youth Facilities: Excellent
  • Junior Coaching: Excellent
  • Youth Recruitment: Exceptional

Another issue facing them is that the Eliteserien has some very good teams in it, Italian Giant slayers Bodø/Glimt, Rosenborg, Viking, Molde, and Vålerenga are all quit capable of winning the League, and more often than not all five teams are competing for one of the top four spots that guarantees European football. Playing Stabæk and getting them to the top of the Norwegian League, and potentially to the top of Europe with primarily homegrown talent is going to be a long save, but success will be worth it in my opinion.

The Bonus Challenge/Club: Retrô Futebol Clube Brasil

Founded in 2016 by a businessman in Pernambuco, Brazil, Retrô FC’s mission is to remove children and adolescents from vulnerability, giving them a place to learn, develop, and grow through organized football. In less than six years they’ve achieved promotion and in 2022 (well, December of 2021) they start in Group C of the Brazilian Fourth Division. You’ll have to download a database to play them, I suggest Riddler’s Brazilian League download from Steam. Playing in the 46,154 seat Arena de Perambuco stadium, Retrô FC has the following facilities:

  • Training Facilities: Good
  • Youth Facilities: Great
  • Junior Coaching: Adequate
  • Youth Recruitment: Above Average

Nicknamed Fênix, Retrô FC is looking to sign players under the age of 23, grow the clubs reputation, and maintain a top 2 finish in the Division. Promotion out of the Division is difficult, and could take some time. But consider the challenge: You are coaching a club who’s main goal is to find and develop Brazilian youth players, some of the best players in the world. Can you find them, develop them, and more importantly keep them long enough to climb your way up the ladder, into the Campeonato Brasileiro Série A? Can you beat the likes of Palmerias, Santos, Corinthians and Flamengo, and win the Copa Libertadores as well?

Derrubando Os Três Grandes: Santa Clara, an FM 23 Story, The End :-(

Unfortunately, due to an electrics issues on my end, the Santa Clara save has come to an end.

Over the New Years holiday, I spent an inordinate amount of time cleaning up my computer and my external hard drives, trying to get all the files for all the games and programs I have into some semblance of order. Now I have one dedicated to games other than FM, one dedicated to other programs, and I have one dedicated to everything FM, and about a week ago, it died. No idea why, it’s less than a year old, it just stopped working. Took it to my local shop, they said “It’s dead Jim,” but he thought he could recover the data.

The somewhat good news is that he could recover most of the data, the bad news is none of the files he recovered will open for me. The save file I have for the game loads half way and crashes to desktop. All the notes I had typed up for each season that I use to help compile the recap as well as the screenshots I took are gone as well.

And its frustrating, because although I just finished up Season 5 in Santa Clara, I had just finished playing thru season 10, and as a result of the hard drive crashing, I’ve lost 5 seasons worth of saves, notes and screenshots. The one save file I do have left is from the beginning of season 9, so what I thought I would do is just take screenshots of the seasons, the transfers, the schedules, maybe look at where some players ended up and to see how close we came to toppling the Big 3 of Portuguese Football.

The 2027/2028 Season

Firstly, GIMN has released the dark version of his Musterman Skin, and I love and will be using it from this point forward, and the screenshots are from that. You can fins it on the SI Skinning forum or any of the FM fan sites.

Transfer wise, this was the first season when I knew my scouting had paid off:

Barcelona came after Şirahman Kudaş and had no problems paying his release fee. Eintracht Frankfurt making a move for Terceros was unexpected, but we got very good money for him. The bad news was we were still getting just 10% of the transfer revenue, and the pot was never that deep to begin with.

Seasonwise, we did very well:

Our European group was very tough, but beating AEK, Rosenborg, and CSKA Sofia while drawing with Nantes and FC Rapid saw us go thru to the latter stages. Domestically we were beating the teams we were supposed to be beating for the most part, but losses the Belenenses and Casa Pia were bothersome.

In the Spring, beating Brugge and Roma was very nice, but Fulham thrashed us in the round of 16. We made it to the Cup final, where we were thrashed by Benfica, but we ended the season in 5th place again.

Player wise Ibrahim Machorro, my young Mexican International I wanted to be a back up, he started most of the games for us and did very well. But consecutive top 6 finishes in the Premier League and a deep run in European football did two things for us: Put us on the Map, and put us on the Map.

The 2028/2029 Season

The Summer transfer window was quiet. The January transfer window we made a bit of a splash when Paulo Bernardo went to Milan for 18.25M. for someone we picked up on a free thats good business:

Schedule wise, we got off to a very good start. The highlight of the season wasn’t just doing well in the League phase, it was drawing with Benfica right before Christmas.

One of the things I aim for over the course of a season is that I do not want to rely on one or two players for all off our offensive output, and as you can see in the screenshot below, we did a very good job of spreading the wealth around:

I didn’t take St. Pat’s seriously, and it almost cost us, but from Mid September on we hit our stride, not losing any games across all the competitions. Now, maybe out Conference League group wasn’t the strongest, and yeah it took a 95th minute goal to beat Genk, but we beat them, and went into January with high expectations.

Seven games in February, one game every four days, saw us stumble into March. Lyon is definately a better team than we are, and it showed in our Round of 16 matches against them. Coming back to beat Vizela in the Cup was an accomplishment, but we still got drilled by Porto in the final. Against the Big 3 this season, across all competitions we went 0-2 and 5…however going undefeated in April and May in League play meant when Sporting stumbled at the end of the season:

We eked out a 3rd Place Finish, and Champions League football.

The 2029/2030 Season

Our transfer and payroll budgets were growing, but not by much, and we were still only getting 10% of the outgoing revenue. Even before the season ended we had some big teams coming after our standout players, and I triied as best I could to prepare for that in the Summer window. I was partially successful.

I was prepared to lose Gaspar, his performances over the last two seasons had been stellar, he made a name for himself as one of the best young DM’s in the game, and last season across all competitions he 40 appearances, 5 goals, 4 assists, 5POM’s and a 7.57 rating. Teams starting making offers for him before the season ended, but noone met his release clause until Arsenal did. I was also prepared to lose Machorro, last season across all competitions he allowed 52 in 50 games, had 21 shutouts, 2 POM’s and a 7.14 rating. Magnus Jorgenson was a young keeper with very good attributes who wanted out of Silkeborg, and getting him for 9.75M was a good deal. However, none of the teams after Machorro came anywhere close to his release fee, until the January transfer window when West Ham made a huge offer for him, and of to Blighty he went. In his defense though West Ham has become a Top 7 team though…

The season was a mixed bag, and while we played some teams well, we lost to others I don’t think we should have lost too:

Our European Group was tough, Juve, Tottenham, Barcelona, Real Madrid, Hoffenheim, Marseilles, Rennes, Ludogorets…we beat Ludogorets and Rennes, drew with Hoffenheim, and lost to the others. I could take some small comfort in that of the losses, we really only got blown out by Madrid, but we were bottom (or near bottom of the group) and didn’t qualify for the next round.

The New Year started off well, but the wheels fell off in February and March. We made it to the Cup Final again, but again were thrashed by Benfica. This year though, we had some success against the Big 3, going 2-1-5, beating Sporting and Porto in League play.

Somehow, and I am not sure how exactly, we did enough to finish in 3rd Place again:

I did play thru the 2030/2031 season, but do not have a save for it, the last good save I have is the 29/30 season, and I played up to the 32/33 season before screwing myself over when reorganizing things.

On the whole though, this was a very fun save. 29/30 was a tipping point year for us, as I recall we started beating the big 3 more often, but the highest we were finishing was 3rd. Some of the youngsters I brought in panned out really well, others didn’t, but we were making progress and I was quite happy with it, in another 3-4 years time I feel comfortable saying we would have been challenging for the League.

The other takeaway from this save is that I had fun doing it, and I think doing a blog save while I am also doing a Youtube save has been quite the experience, so in another week or so I will be starting up another save here on the blog. The problem is I have so many ideas for teams, I don’t know which one to do, I’ll probably just put them in a hat and let my better half decide.

Thanks for reading, and I hope you all come back for the next story here on my blog!

FM Jellico

Derrubando Os Três Grandes: Santa Clara, an FM 23 Story, Part 6

Our 5th Season at Santa Clara is proving to be what I think is the first big step we needed to take in order to stay at the top of the Portuguese Premier League. Qualifying for European football last season was part of that first step, this seasons transfer window was the other, in my opinion anyways.

First though, I had to fend off the other suitors. Taking a financially struggling down on it’s luck club back to the top flight and into European football in four seasons will undoubtedly raise a lot of eyebrows, and clubs have started enquiring about my services. The offer from Borussia M’gladbach I rejected rights away, as I have no desire to jump from one league where I am fighting the giants to another. A week later Atheletic Bilbao came calling, and although they have the financial support and ability to compete, fighting Barca and Real for the top spots isn’t any easier than where am I at now, especially when you are limited to signing only Basque players, so I turned down both offers and got back to scouting.

The Transfer Window

This window went like most of my transfers window do: According to plan, until the bottom drops out and you are scrambling. The first unexpected out was Joaquin Jara. The M(C)/DM had a solid season with us last year, but Eupen cam calling and he really wanted to leave, so I let him leave. Kılıç Arslan Kuruçelik leaving was unexpected to say the least. One of the two Turkish youngsters I picked up on a free after Trabzonspor let both go, I was expecting him to get a lot of first team playing time. With us, and not AS Roma. But the Serie A Italian club came calling, and out the door he went, because I didn’t have a minimum release fee on him.

What I was not expecting was Gabriel Batista leaving for Brentford with about three hours left in the transfer window. I am not sure why he was so eager to leave, he was a solid player for us, a team leader, but I suppose when a team that has trhe potential to finish in the top 5 of the ECL comes calling, you leave…to be honest it doesn’t make a lot of sense to me either, but it just meant I had to play someone a bit earlier than I wanted to.

The January transfer windows went as expected, Augsburg had wanted Dmitirovic in the fall, but could not meet his minimum release clause, and to his credit, Bojan was OK when I said “This is what you agreed to, I am not letting you go for a Euro less.” And so when Augsburg came calling again in January, I had no issues letting him leave. Cymbron was a young striker who didn’t have Premier League potential, and Malmo was willing to pay more for him than anyone else.

I did a ton of offseason scouting, and it paid off in numerous ways. I signed 10 players, spent 10.75M total, and got at least two very good/great superstars out of my efforts:

I realize scouting doesn’t appeal to as lot of players out there, and that’s fine, there are saves where I don’t invest as much into it as I am doing with this save, but when it pays off, it really pays off.

Manu Bueno could never break into the Sevilla B team. He had several very good seasons on their C and B squads, but did not resign with the club, leaving on a free. The former Spanish Youth International had a few offers, but he chose to come here.

I had a plan for Ibrahim Machorro. I saw his name pop up on a Screenflow result. A 19 year old keeper starting for his countries senior squad can mean different things depending on the country. If he was from a smaller nation, you might took a glance and thats it. But when that nation is Mexico, currently ranked 13th in the world, and he’s keeping a healthy Raul Gudinio and Carlos Acevedo on the bench? That warrants a closer look, and when the midtable team he is on isn’t asking for a Kings Ransom in transfer fees, if you have it you pay it. And I did, setting a record for fee’s paid. He’s maybe at best a year or two away from being better than Batista, so I was going to play him in the cup games and maybe a few spot starts. Instead he became the teams first team keeper four weeks into the season. How did he do? Read on to find out. 🙂

Kaine Kessler Hayden is a former Aston Villa youth player who has bounced around League One and the Championship. Is he first team all the time playing ability? No. Is he a solid player of the bench and occasional spot starter? Yes, and his position versatility makes him even better value in my book.

Alessandro Fontarossa comes to us from Fiorentina on loan, a very dependable D(C) that I am looking to get a lot of playing time out of.

Former Vfl Wolfsburg left back Kevin Paredes signed on a free. The American International isn’t the tallest or heaviest, and he’s not a fan of big games, but for the formation we play in, his skillset and Playing Style really suit us. I doubt he will get a lot of goals, but I can see double digit assists in his future.

Stefano Della Riva comes to us from Verona on loan. A very solid M(C)/DM midfielder whose skillset fits our team very well, I would love to pick up his option, but I doubt I will see that sort of money (20.5 Million) anytime soon.

Žiga Laci is a depth purpose signing more than anything else. AEK wanted very little for him in terms of salary and playing time, he agreed to be a fringe player, and I plan on using him as a substitute more often than not, but we be comfortable if he were to start more than a few games at D(C).

I could talk about Gašper Lukač for ages. How I just happened to glance up at a screenflow result from an U19 international comp and saw his pass % completion was head and shoulders above everyone else, how my first look at him showed me a 19 year old player whose minimum number in six attribute categories was 13, how when I fully scouted him I about fell out of my chair, and how when Gorica said they only wanted 1M for him I did fall out of my chair, and kept saving the game every five minutes until he was actually here. I don’t know how long I can keep him, but while he’s here I am expecting great things from the kid. And those of you who have read https://fmjellico.com/2022/12/06/verjemi-mi-brat-to-imam/ will know those expectations have been met.

Nelson Delossa comes to us on loan from Borussia Mönchengladbach, with injuries and scheduling issues, my midfield was getting a bit, and needed some help. Delossa was a very solid pickup, doing as well as I expected him too.

The same issues I was having in my midfield also happened at the AM position, and Đorđe Petrović came in on loan to help provide some cover. A very good youth player, the Serbian had several flashes of potential, but his clause was too much for us to pick him up at the end of the season. He strikes me as one of those players who is going to have a very long and respectful career.

The Season

Preseason started the 1st of July. European Qualification started the 23rd of July, when the squad was still in flux, I was making moves while trying to prepare the squad for the possibility of playing a lot of games at the beginning of the season. My fears were realized when we played 11 (!) games from the 23rd of July to the 30th of August across all competitions. My expectations were exceeded when we won 10 of those games:

Stjarnan, or Ungmennafélagið Stjarnan as it is known in Iceland, was a squad I did not want to take lightly, hell none of the squads we faced in the Qualifying Rounds were teams I wanted to take lightly. FC Twente beat a very good AZ and SC Cambur teams to take a Qualifying Spot, and Vojvodina is one of the better squads in Serbia not named Red Star, and none of those teams should or could be taken lightly. I found a squad balance early, I have more than enough depth at lot of positions that the drop off between starter and substitute was not the great (which can be a bad thing in some cases), and it allowed me to set up a rotation that was pretty effective. Sure, some players had off games, but I also don’t think it’s a coincidence that after we lost our first game of the season away at Braga, we had a 14 day vacation due to international games, and when we picked up our seasons again, we went on one heck of a winning streak.

My main goal in the League phase was to not lose a game. Draws were nice, wins were preferable, but losing…we were going to do our best to avoid it. And we did a very good job. The change from last season to this season was one of familiarity I think. Players familiarity with each other, with the tactic, with their role within the tactic, and the fact that despite the outs we had, there were still a lot of starters left meant we had a solid foundation in place, it was building something on top of that foundation that was going to be the challenge. The previous season, by the end of December, in just League and Cup games we had drawn 7 games and lost 3. This season those numbers were 3 draws and 3 losses, and only one of the losses was a blowout. And to be honest, the loss against Sporting could have been a draw, because they were a man down for 60 minutes of the game, we just could not capitalize.

We went into the New Year on a high note, in 3rd place, with only Benfica and Porto ahead of us. And we kept the momentum going, beating Leiria to go into the Cup Semi Final, and a sneakily good Hapopl Be-er Sheva team in the League First Knock Out Round.

March was when it started to fall apart. A 3-0 loss to Sporting was no unexpected, and while our 1st Leg victory against Club Brugge in the Round of 16 was nice, Brugge had an off game, 10 of their starters were rated 6.6 or less. We had a chance in the second leg, being a goal down until the 61st minute, when Magnus Bech Riisnæs went off with a second Yellow. Brugge scored in the 71st minute, knocking us out.

By all accounts, it was a great run in the Conference League. It enhanced our reputation quite a bit, enhanced my reputation quite a bit, and showed the footballing world that Santa Clara had some very good players playing in the Azores.

Then the wheels fell off.

We stopped scoring. We stopped defending. We went from 3rd place to 6th place, and it looked like we were going to miss out on European Football again, when we pulled out a 4-2 victory against Maritomo and ended the season in 3rd place.

3rd Place is Europa League Football, and given that Benfica ran away with the league in an “Invincible” season, and Braga was 10 point’s behind them, that it took a last day victory for us to even finish 3rd is galling. Not that we ever had a shot at second place, but still, had we lost, yes we would have been in 6th place and been in the Conference because Benfica won the Cup, but it still feels like we threw something away.

Financially we were doing a lot better. Our competition Prize money was way up due to ue European Run, but for some reason our broadcast revenue was down?

And to give you an idea of what we are facing when it comes to beating Benfica:

So yeah, it could be awhile…

Budget wise, despite our decent season the numbers are still pretty low: 12.12 p/a in salary, and 7.24M in transfer budget. Annoyingly, I still only get 10% of the transfer revenue…I’ve asked to have it increased and have been rebuffed each time.

There’s talks of a takeover, which the current chairman keeps trashing, and while the offseason news seems to be swinging back and forth between ok and bleh, there was this:

Trabzonspor has to be kicking themselves right about now…

There was also these instances of good news:

And while I can’t prove our run to the Round of 16 was responsible for all the points gained, I know we played a role in this:

Squad wise, I am quite happy with most everyone. I mean honestly, if you aren’t mad at at least one player, you aren’t doing your job right in my opinion.

For a young keeper who was supposed to get just some spot starts, Machorro had a very good season. Angel Bazan did what was expected, and I was pleasantly surprised by both Alessandro Fontanarosa and Stefano Dalla Riva, who had very good stints for us. Miguel Terceros was the best all around player, his 16 goals and 10 assists put him on everybody’s radar it seems. The tactic I play requires a very good DM, and Şirahman Kudaş was perfect for it. At the end of the season he was really starting to get noticed, so I was able to resign him to a new contract that had a 20.5M release clause. I wanted to go higher but his agent said no. Blas Armoa also had a very good season, and as you can see from the number of games players had off the bench, I did a decent job of rotating everyone in and out for the most part.

Against the Big Three this season, were we horrible. 0-4 against Benfica, with a – 8 goal differential.; against Sporting we went 1-2, beating them in the League Cup Group Stage once; and against Porto we went 0-2 with a -5 goal difference.

You will notice I didn’t mention the Youth Intake. It was nothing special, although during the year we did convince the board to improve the training and Youth Facilities.

All in all, a very good season, European Football awaits us again, but I fear this offseason is going to be a lot busier than I want it to be, and because of the financial restrictions we have, I am not sure we are going to come out even, let alone ahead of where we are now.

But that’ s a worry for tomorrow, today it’s the beach:

Derrubando Os Três Grandes: Santa Clara, an FM 23 Story, Part 5

The First of Many Steps

Last season we finished solidly midtable, which was to be expected. Also expected, unfortunately, was the fact that my board is as parsimonious as ever and refuses to allow me to have more than 10% of the transfer budget, which means for the time being we are looking for players who can contribute while not costing us to much. We also needed to strengthen our youth squad and get some depth, even if that depth wasn’t necessarily “Deep”. Our goal this season was two fold

  • Finish in the Upper Half of the table
  • Try and sign players who could help us achieve that while providing us the bedrock to build our future successes on.

I think we did that, but holy frick was the offseason long. But I think it was worth it. In total we brought in 22 players this year, 21 of them in the summer transfer window alone. Conversely, 13 player went out in the summer, and 7 in the January transfer window. Granted, some of the outs were on loan, but many were players who while good enough to keep us midtable, weren’t good enough to bring us forward, and so out they went. And, in somewhat of a surprise, we actually banked a €2M profit.

I am not going to show all the players we brought in, frankly more than a few were just bodies for the U19’s and 23’s to practice against, but I will show you the ones who contributed, and because these are end of seasons screenshots, you can see how well they did.

How much of this is moving people just to move them?

Şirahman Kudaş and Kılıç Arslan Kuruçelik my scouts found in Turkey last season. Both are capped at the U21 level, and both played for Trabzonspor, who inexplicably let both of them go on frees. I signed them at the end of last season, but they could not play until this season. Both have potential, but as you can see, Kudas stepped in and had a fine season at Center Mid.

Magnus Bech Riisnæs is a center mid from Vålerenga, a squad with enough quality and depth they let him test the market. At 800K he was the right price, and he also had a fine season.

Miguel Terceros came in to player winger, and he had a great season, easily one of the best pickups we had.

Gerrit van den Berk was primarily a bench player, but I think he has a good future in front of him, and will contricute nicely of the defensive back line next season

Rafa Marín was on loan from Real Madrid, and was a solid presence at the back.

Rafael Camacho I brought in to be a jack of all trades at the attacking midfielders positions, and his versatility as a super sub caught they eye of a few teams, including Vålerenga, who is is moving to.

Blas Armoa is a Paraguyan International, who had lost his spot at Sportivo Luqueño, and came to us with the promise of First Team playing time, and as you can see, he did a finer job for us.

Ollie Smith wants to be a winger, but I made the loan player from Man City our striker, and he responded with a 7.21 rating and 23 goals. As much as I would like to keep him though, we just can’t afford him, a line which I fear has becomes this saves motif…

Dylan Lennon did a capable job as a spot starter, but I think we may have better options now…

Lasse Madsen played when Ollie Smith couldn’t, and although his form looks nice, you can definately t4ell during the games when Ollie Smith is on the field, and when Lasse Madsen is.

Joaquín Jara did a fine job for us at the DM position, but his form really fell off near the end of the season.

André Álvarez Pérez had a fine season as part of the Defensive Center back rotation.

Angel Bazán was out lone January transfer window pickup, a Peruvian international who didn’t get a lot of games, but with Smith going back to City next season, and Lasse not being any better (on paper anyways), the opportunity is there for Angel to grab the position and make it his own.

The Season

Our primary goal this season was to try and avoid injuries, to do well in the Cup, and to win the games we were supposed to win, win most of the game were were supposed to draw, and lose close. For the most part, we suceeded.

Not the best start to the season…

This season, Benfica, brought in €151M in players, Verratti for €18.25M, Davinson Sanchez foe €21.5M, Jonathon David for €48.5M, and Manor Solomon for €50M. And to facilitate that they sold €247M of players. Meanwhile my budget was at about 6M, so yeah…it could be a problem. And it was, as Benfica thrashed us 7-2. The rest of the beginning of the season went as expected, although Sporting needed and 86th minute goal to win, only losing by 1 to them is an accomplishment, if only a small one.

Small Steps

Beating Boavista was nice, but drawing with Porto was a bit frustrating as they were a man down the last 30 minutes of the game and we couldn’t capitalize. Draws against Vitoria and Braga were OK, as long as we aren’t losing points it’s all good, but Porto showed their quality when they beat us 4-2 in the Cup Group.

Into the New Year on some good news

I don’t know that losing to Porto threw some sort of switch to get the team to buckle down and come together as a squad, but not losing ion the next 8 games was quite the accomplishment. Yes, it took extras time to beat Varzim in the Cup, but we came back to draw against Famalicão and Casa Pia. The year also ended on a high note for me, as I was voted coach of the year, and I turned down interviews from Lyon and Sassuolo.

A Great Start to the New Year

Sixteen games between losses is quite the achievement no matter what level of football you are at, and we were tied with Benfica until the 73rd minute, when the broke ahead and scored 2 more. But I think they days of us rolling over and giving up are soon to be behind us. Am I upset that some of these draws weren’t wins? Sure, who wouldn’t be? But I am very happy they were not losses.

Ending on a High Note

The fact our only two losses at the end of the season were to Porto and Sporting Speak volumes as to how far we have come in a short amount of time. The number of draws however tell me we still have quite the distance to go, but as a result of our late season push and not losing the last of our 4 games:

Top 5!

We qualified for the European Conference League. Sure, we might crash out early, but still, it European Football.

A Solid Foundation

Gabriel Batista was stellar between the sticks for us. He’s not getting younger, and I doubt he will improve much, but a lot of the draws we had were due to him.

Rafa Marin and Ollie Smith did exactly what I expected them to do when I brought them in on loan, but it was Terceros who had the surprising season, with 12 assists. Rakip had a solid season as well, but I have younger players with higher potential waiting in the wings, so he will be moving on. Dimitrovic had a good seasons as AM(L), but he is starting to attract a lot of attention, and I am not sure how long he will be in Santa Clara Red. And as you can see, we have a lot of young potential on the squad, the question is can we not only develop it, but keep it for any amount of time to improve the club? That remains to be seen, but I know the job is going to be a lot harder because not only is the board still saddling us with just 10% of the transfer revenue, our budget for next season is just 4.02M, and our payroll isn’t much higher. It will be quite some time before were moving and selling players like Benfica and Sporting…

Financially speaking, were are on solid ground. However, we lost a ton of TV revenue money this season, and I am hoping a decent performance in the European games can make up for that next season. I was able to improve the facilities, but in July we got a welcome piece of news:

Every Little Bit Helps…

So, the season had come to a close, I was scouting my tail of in preparation for the next season, when this piece of news came across my desk:

If this screws up my transfer window in any way…


Derrubando Os Três Grandes: Santa Clara, an FM 23 Story, Part 4

Our form is…Confusing at times.

I think it is safe to say we over performed last season. A 5th Place finish was well above expectations, but part of me is left wondering what sort of form we are going to fall back to this year: Scrappy fighters clawing draws from teams we should be losing too and wins from teams we should be drawing to? Is the European Stage going to be too bright for the squad, sending us back to the beach for an early vacation? It doesn’t help that our finances are…well, odd. I still only get 10% of any transfers, and despite the fact we are in a good place financially, the board seems reticent to actually spend any of it right away. Part of that I can under stand, and while I am reasonably sure I wouldn’t put the club into penury, at the same time it’s a little more than galling to see the balance we have and the boards lack of desire in putting some of it to good use.

The Loan Market is still broken (This was pre patch, it’s less broken now), and while we had some money to spend, we either couldn’t afford the salaries of the players willing to transfer in, or we couldn’t afford their transfer fee’s. And we lost out on more than one player because our club rep isn’t good enough to beat out similar clubs in different leagues.

That meant we spent an inordinate amount of time scouting free agents, and holding out until deadline day to get a deal or three.

I, like a numpty, was so involved with the save I forgot to take screenshots as I signed them, so the screenshots here are from later in the season, and you can see how good they were/weren’t.

You spend a lot of time looking for ways to not spend a lot of money in some saves…

Raul Asencio is a versatile attacking player, capable of both wings and the striker position. The worst thing I can say about him is that he’s not a defender, but considering what and where he plays, that’s not a problem.

Andre Castro I brought in a defensive depth. Sure at 36 he’s old, but per club rules he only signed a 12 month contract. Sure, he’s not as physically gifted as he used to be, but his technical’s are good enough to make up for any shortcomings he might have, and as you can see, he did a good job for us this season before retiring.

Libasse Ngom I brought on as depth at striker. The scouts say he’s a good Premier player, and I think he can do a job off the bench for us. That said, while there isn’t anything outstandingly bad about him, part of me can’t help think that he’s one of those “looks like Tarzan, plays like Jane” sort of players. He had a great career in Senegal, 39 goals in 68 games, but Portugal is a step up.

Eddie Roper comes from the Portland Timbers Academy. There are some things to like, his teamwork, his positioning, the fact he stays back at all times, but he does have holes in his game: vision, off the ball, and apparently an injury worry as well. But he’s young enough that I think with some playing time and training, he can be a solid contributor.

Lala I brought in because he can play the backline and he has potential, but he could also be lost in the shuffle.

Justin DeGrange is one of those intriguing youth players who comes across as one of two things:

  • A youth player who with training, game time and coaching will develop into a very good player
  • A player who is already at or close to his potential.

Hope for A, prepare for B.

Joseph Kwabena I think could be a very good player in the future. I brought him on as wingback depth, but can also see him getting time up top as an attacking mid. His passing skills and quickness are already above average, and I think he could be a player who tops out in the 140 Ability range.

Mateus Ludke comes in as our new WB( R). I am hoping he can be part of a rotation, he’s the primary option this year, and while we aren’t going to be able to exercise the optional contract clause for him,

Victor Boniface comes to us on loan from Union SG. He’s an intriguing player, but I think the injury woes are new to him this year. Not sure I am a fan of the “attempt’s overhead kicks” playing style, but I believe he is good enough to stand in the box and occupy a couple of defenders. Part of me would like to purchase him, but Union is asking for close to 10M for him, and I don’t see the board giving us that sort of money anytime soon.

Lino Sousa I brought in to play WB(L). He is one of those “Solid but Unspectacular players that every teams has and needs, and as long as he does a credible job for us this season without making too many mistakes, I’ll be happy.

I needed a backup keeper, Diego Marino was willing to come in and be a backup. At the ends of the day, just another guy, but I am curious about a keeper who “Dwells On the Ball”…how exactly does that happen?

Papa Cheik Diop, the Senegalese International, had left Lyon for Aris in the Greek Superleague, but was not getting any playing time. Aris released him after two seasons, and I think he was happy to come to Santa Clara and be a full time starter. He’s another solid player, one I expect who’s may contributions on the filed will go unnoticed.

On the out’s, I think the only player of consequence was Roberto Valente. He had a good first season with us (32 Apps, 10 goals, 4 assists and a 7.11 rating, but fell off in the second season (18 Apps, 2 goals, 3 Assists and a 6.91 rating). When I went to sign him to a new contract, he wanted star player money, and a highest match clause.

No. No. Hell to the No. I listed him, and Slavia Prague snapped him up for 2.2 Million. For a guy we brought in on a free, I am OK with that.

A Very Good Start

We got the season off on the right foot. A decent preseason, followed by wins against Derry City and Zilinia was very nice. I really thought Real Hispalis had our number, but a good first game at home gave us the 2 goal buffer we needed to see things thru. In fact, our only stumble was against Leiria in the League Cup game, as we had to go to penalties to beat them.

Back to Earth

September reminded me we were still a team with faults. Nacional is not the strongest squad, but they handled us quite easily. Portimonense has a very strong squad, and Porto is of course Porto. In the Europa Conference though I was happy to beat a solid St. Gallen squad, and holding Pogon to a draw was also a good result. Our defense was stout in that match, as Pogon had 22 shots but only 3 on target.

Reverting Back to the Mean

Losing to Benfica, even 5-0, is expected these days. This season they sold 129M in players (Gouveia, Aursnes, Silva, and Enzo Fernandez), but then turned around and spent 101M on Jonathan Burkhardt, Nketiah, Maitland-Niles, Esteve and Lyanco. Holding the to 5 is probably a good job really. Losing to Rio Ave though, in extra time no less, was a gut punch. In European football, wins against Mura and St. Mirren were nice, but Bodo/Glimt (The 6-0 slayers of AS Roma in the real world) absolutely bossed us. That score could have been a lot worse. Beating Radnicki was very nice, and I was looking at going into January on a high note, losing to Porto turned that into maybe a B-Flat…

Mostly Expected Results

For the most part, we were beating the teams we were supposed to be beating, but drawing to relegation bound Ferreira and losing to relegation bound Estoril in back to back games was frustrating. Making it to the Knockout Rounds of the Conference LEague was nice, and we did what we needed to do against St. Gallen, again, but 7 games in 29 days was really starting to take it’s toll on the squad. Niggling injuries kept cropping up, keeping players from performing at their best, and it was only a matter of time before we ran out of steam.

The Seasons Injuries, at least the Major ones…
Times Up…

March and April are months I would like to forget. Making the round of 16 was great, and the money was nice too, but AA Gent showed us how far a gap there is between us and the bigger squads. The second game they played a pretty rotated side, and still had twice as many shots ands shots on target as we did. Sure it took two late goals for them to win, but more important was the fact we couldn’t stop them from scoring two late goals. Benfica crushed us 7-2, and while beating Sporting was a highlight, they played a lot of their 2nd stringers. Three losses took us out of European contention, and although we finished the season strong, and where we were supposed to finish, I will admit to being disappointed.

Mid Table woes…

Our Youth Intake, in GIF Format:

Seriously, it was horrible.

Yes, it was that bad. We didn’t sign any of them. In fact, my two best youth prospects this year were ones I found scouting…

The Good News: A Team of Solid Players. The Bad News: A Team of Solid Players

Raul Ascenio led us with 12 goals, Paulo Henrique had 9 assists. Boniface was underwhelming at best in my opinion, and the one player I had a lot of hope for, Bojan Dmitovic, spent most of the season nursing various injuries (see above). The other issue is that two of our better contributors, Luan and Oscar Barreto, are getting older, and were noticeably different players at the end of the season, while Castro announced his retirement. Oddly enough, I think he had the most well rounded season out of everyone, and when you consider Diop is the only player who had a rating above 7.0, the fact we did as well as we did speaks volumes.

The club still has issues though. FOr the moment, my share of transfers is capped at 10%. They don;t want to spend any money on an affiliate, finaces are tight enough I refused creating a B Squad, and our budget next year is not great:

Believe me, we looked in ALL the couches

The good news is we do have some up and coming youngsters, the club did improve the training and youth facilities, and the money from our European adventures has the club comfortably out of the fear of debt and into a decent semblance of financial security. Why they won’t give me more to spend, I am not sure, but until we are able to start spending money, toppling Os Três Grandes is going to be a bit harder. And I am OK with that. Next season, the aim is European Football again, and I think we have a good chance of getting there.

“Verjemi mi, brat, to imam”

So, with regards to my Santa Clara series, I am a little bit ahead of where I am in the blog. By about two years.

But recently, something happened that I feel compelled to share, if only because I can hear the anger and cry of the players, coaches, fans, announcers, and surrounding region of Moreirense. I imagine them calling for my head, for dishonoring the game, for not playing football the way it was meant to be played, but yet another voice in my head (it’s OK, this one was already here, it’s the ones that show up uninvited you have to worry about) says there are players, coaches, pundits and fans of the game who appreciate what happened on the pitch that night.

So, what exactly did happen?

This happened:

Not Photoshopped, I swear

We lost. Because after 14 minutes in the game I was down 2 players. And for 76 minutes, I tiki-taka’d the hell out of them. In fact, if Paulo Alves doesn’t wake up in the middle of the night on occasion in a cold sweat, I would be surprised. So, how did we do it?

Since I first started playing FM, I have been a 2 striker tactic sort of player. My 4231 always morphs into a 424, or a 343, or a 4312, there’s a 3412 formation I really like as well, but this year, when perusing the SI forums, I cam across this post:

https://community.sigames.com/forums/topic/568403-viktor-maslovs-tactical-principles-predecessor-to-tiki-taka-continued-in-the-teamworkrate-philosophy-twr/

I don’t know a lot about the history of the sport, it’s something I am working on, but I was intrigued by the ideas in the post, and so I decided to use it in my blog save. It has led to some…interesting results, but at the end of the day I am liking it, and may try it in another save or two if I get the chance and don’t have 2 strikers on the squad.

This was what the team looked like at the end of the game

Perez went off on a double yellow, Inocencio came on to replace him and I took off Armoa. Three minutes later, Paredes went off on a straight red, I took Terceros off and Kwarbena came on. Then I pulled the lines back and set the tactic to Defensive.

With the exception of lowering the instances in which we trigger press, I kept the instructions the same:

At half time, we were pretty much stuck on our side of the pitch. But we we moving well, and defending well, the only downside being when we did lose the ball, the home team didn’t have to do much to get into scoring position, but we had obviously flustered them, because all of their shots, except one from inside the box, were missed.

First Half Passing

The Second half, was more of the same

Second Half Passing

Final passing stats at the end of the game for Santa Clara:

Hero of the game: Gašper Lukač. The kicker? The 18 year old Slovenian U21 International only played 76 minutes…

He’s currently 3 star current/ 5 star potential. I love him because not only does he play short simple passes, his decision making, technique, anticipation and first touch offset the lower passing. He’s fast and agile enough to get to where he needs to be, is a solid defender, and he’s not the flashiest, becase he doesn’t need to be. I suspect this game, when he saw Paredes get sent off after a two footed lunge in front of the ref, he set his jaw, and said “Verjemi mi, brat, to imam.”

Having watched the entirety of the game, because how could you not really, he moved around the midfield, received the ball, and almost immediately kicked it to the most reasonably open player. I’ll be honest, I am not sure what Alves was doing, if he sent a player or two to man mark and/or press Lukač they didn’t do their job’s. And some of them are not the most technically gifted either, van den Berk in particular has a pretty low Passing, but he had the second most on the club this match.

The finishing 9

I think this is one of a few games I am going to go back and study, if only to see and learn how the team moved and interacted with each other. Player positioning and how they move the ball hasn’t been at the forefront of my mind when watching games. But this game and a couple of others, plus my desire to get a little more into the weeds on such things, means I will probably be watching this one quite a bit. I’ll get some stuff wrong of course, at the end of the day the glasses just make me look smart.

Like a lot of FM Managers, I have a few favorite players across FM. Viktor Kolarev from FM17, Hans Kremer in FM18, Ryan Bates in FM20, but I can say without a doubt, for FM23, not matter what my later saves bring, I will always imagine…

Do I throw this or not…is the debate I am currently having with myself. Alvares getting sent off on a double yellow 11 minutes in may have been the result of an over eager referee, but the only person to blames for the two feet first hard tackle that left Luis ‘seeing sound and hearing color’ for a few minutes was walking down the tunnel. He apologized as he walked by, but it was hollow. He knew it, I knew it. I also knew the only thing more hollow than his apology was going to be his bank account when I fined him two weeks salary because of it. If I could fine him more, I would. I look at the bottle of water in my hand, flipping it a few times, and decided that it’s just was not worth it. I look off to the side, and see Kwabena still warming up, while Wesley Carvalho, my solid and steady assistant manager looked at me with a shrug and “No idea boss” gaze. I gathered my thoughts, and turned towards the pitch to yell for Magnus to come over. The captain nods but gets pulled aside by the ref for a moment.

I hate parking my car on the street, now I have to park the damned bus and all I have is an econoline van…I am not a happy coach…

“Hej, Trener.”

I look up, it’s Gaspar. I have a hard time pronouncing his name, I wish I knew why, I call him ‘Gaz” but I can tell he’s not a fan of it. I think he has a hard time pronouncing mine as well, because he always says “Hey, Trener.” Hey Coach. Everyone else on the team is ‘bratec’, which means brother, but the way he says it, you know he’s saying ‘Bro.’ Bro, pass it here; Hey Bro, go there.

He standing on the sidelines, looking up into the stands, listening to the catcalls of the crowd as they heap amusement and abusement on us for our current predicament. I really like this kid. It was his performances in the U21 Internationals that convinced me to spend money to scout him, and after getting those reports back signing him was an easy call. Since he has arrived he’s been nothing but outstanding for me. This is his first full year as a starter, and while I expect great things, I also don’t want to put to much to soon on this young mans shoulders.

He looks at the crowd, looks at me, and over at the opposing coach, Alves, who is smirking at us. Gaspar looks back at me, and it takes everything in my power to not step back. I’ve seen that look before, I’ve given it more than a few times in my life, and I’ve been on the receiving end of it more than once as well. It’s the look that says “You have gone and made me mad and now you must pay…” Gaspar looks back over at Paulo, and then hocks an impressive amount of spittle near the man, and looks back at me before Paulo even reacts. Gaspar raises both his hands to me, as if in apology, then says “Hej, trener, verjemi mi, bratec, to imam…”

Kwabena chooses that moment to finish warming up, and runs onto the field, Gaspar a few steps behind him and yelling for Magnus and those closest to him to come over.

Paulo steps outside of his area to get close enough to me without breaking the rules. “O que ele disse, Thierry?” he asks. I flip the water bottle in my hand, and look at the former Portuguese International. I don’t know him all that well, but that smirk he gave me earlier has put him on the wrong side of OK for me, at least for the remaining 76 minutes of the match.

“Ele disse que você fodeu com o Paulo. Pegue uma caneta e um pouco de papel, você está prestes a começar a estudar…” I laugh at him, move back into my area, and motion Wes over to tell him to be prepared to take a lot of notes, because he and the analysts are going to earn their money.