mjaferrie Posted October 19, 2016 Share Posted October 19, 2016 A few weeks ago I stumbled across the Youth Academy Challenge in FM16 and subsequently Makoto Nakamura's "San Marino - The Ultimate Challenge!" save and was super eager to try it out for myself - so here we go in FM17 with my first posts here! I've holidayed through the first season in Sweden and ended up at IFK Trelleborg in Sweden, who have been promoted into the Second Division South Göteland. They've never won any silverware, so I'm going to see if I can change that and hopefully discover a few Henrik Larssons along the way.Club Founded - 1910Status - Semi-ProfessionalReputation - Below AverageNickname - NoneFinances - OkayEstimated Value - £375kClub Legends, Icons, Favoured Personnel - NoneRivals - Trelleborgs FFOwner Status - Loves the ClubMedia Prediction - 12th (of 14) We start out playing our home games at the 10,000 seater Vångavallen and have below average training facilities and basic youth facilities. We also have fairly basic junior coaching and a basic youth recruitment network. There are no players in our U21 or U19 teams at the beginning of the save, and we've been served up with this in the first team: Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
mjaferrie Posted October 19, 2016 Author Share Posted October 19, 2016 So how about the manager? Mikko Laivanen is a Finnish/Swedish manager born in Helsinki, Finland. He's a former Sunday League player with no coaching badges, sure he probably thought IFK Trelleborgs were a world-beating ice hockey team... His favourite teams are IFK Helsingfors who play in the Finnish Veikkausliiga, and Celtic as he saw a Teemu Pukki shirt hanging in a bar in Helsinki (true story! ). Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
mjaferrie Posted October 19, 2016 Author Share Posted October 19, 2016 Here are our best players: Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
mjaferrie Posted October 19, 2016 Author Share Posted October 19, 2016 As this is a youth save, I won't be signing any players. Just noticed that IFK Trelleborgs aren't allowed to sign any non-EU players though. Anyone know if this is team specific (like something from your board), a division rule, or where is it coming from? A hard Brexit might limit the number of Brits making it in the 4th tier of Swedish football... Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
mjaferrie Posted October 19, 2016 Author Share Posted October 19, 2016 Emil Mårtensson will be out for 5-6 weeks with a pulled hamstring in pre-season. Off to a good start... Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
mjaferrie Posted October 19, 2016 Author Share Posted October 19, 2016 A mixed bag in preseason, but fairly happy with this Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
mjaferrie Posted October 19, 2016 Author Share Posted October 19, 2016 So through the preseason I've pretty much settled on two tactics - a wide 4-1-2-3 when we're playing away from home and an attacking, narrow 4-4-2 diamond at home. We definitely need an attacking midfielder in the intake to fill the slot in the diamond, for now I have a striker or winger playing out of position there. Aims for the season? Our squad has a grand total of 14 players, so I'd like to wait and get a couple of intakes in before trying to push for promotion. So it's survival this time round (and keeping the job!). Our financial situation is pretty poor, but having a look at the cup there is no prize money listed in the rules. I think the best we can hope for is scraping through the qualifying rounds to the group stage and try and get some gate money. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
mjaferrie Posted October 19, 2016 Author Share Posted October 19, 2016 Our best striker Fisnik Shala has just been ruled out for 3 months with a torn groin muscle in training after only the first two games of the season. They were a 1-1 draw at home to Kvarnby IK and an amazing 4-2 away to Nosaby IF where Shala scored twice. With an average rating of 9.0, he's going to be missed... Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
mjaferrie Posted October 19, 2016 Author Share Posted October 19, 2016 A great start to the season saw us up in 3rd place for a few games, but reality started to sink in and before our 4-1 win over IFK Hässleholm we were down in 10th position. Our top scorers are Xhemajli with 4 in 10 games and Jovanovic with 3 from 6. Shala is still out for 2-5 weeks, hopefully the Hässleholm game can kickstart a bit of form and with our top striker returning soon we should climb up the table. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
mjaferrie Posted October 19, 2016 Author Share Posted October 19, 2016 A bit of form indeed! And Shala marked his return with a goal in a 5-2 demolition away to 2nd placed Nybro! We're back up to 4th place, halfway through the season. Xhemajli is now up to 7 goals for the season and Jovanovic on 5. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
mjaferrie Posted October 19, 2016 Author Share Posted October 19, 2016 I just realised Xhemajli wasn't one of the top 5 players at the start of the season, so here's a wee look at his stats. 2.5* CA and PA. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
mjaferrie Posted October 19, 2016 Author Share Posted October 19, 2016 Interestingly, we haven't been drawn in the first round of the cup... EDIT: Nor the second, does anyone know anything about this? There are Division 2 and lower division teams in the first couple of rounds so I wonder if this is a bug? Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
mjaferrie Posted October 19, 2016 Author Share Posted October 19, 2016 20 league games in, and form has started to dip again. 6 games to go and we're in 6th place with 31 points, 9 behind 1st placed FC Rosengård. Automatic promotion isn't yet mathematically impossible, but it's looking pretty unlikely at this stage. There have been a couple of stages this season where it looked like we might actually pull it off, so I think with some youth reinforcements we might manage it next season. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
mjaferrie Posted October 19, 2016 Author Share Posted October 19, 2016 Our first youth intake day! Couple of good prospects, no attacking midfielder which I was hoping for but Bergh is 'awkward' in that position and will get better with some training and game time. Fairly happy with this! Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
mjaferrie Posted October 19, 2016 Author Share Posted October 19, 2016 An awful end to the season sees us finish up in 9th place. Some of the regens got game time at the end of the season, which is a positive, but this was our worst form all season. Still no clue about the cup - we weren't in either of the qualifying rounds and the group stage draw isn't for another couple of months, so let's see. Season Review and Expectations! Well, although we crashed and burned at the end, I don't think we're far off a promotion bid. We had some pretty good results, but crucially we only managed to get 9 points from a possible 30 against the top 5 teams. Having a bit more depth in the squad for next time round can only help and we should be able to get at least a top 4 finish. Our top scorers for the season were Xhemajli with 8 and Shala and Jovonovic with 6 apiece. I'd like to see some improvement here for next season, single figures is pretty poor. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
mjaferrie Posted October 19, 2016 Author Share Posted October 19, 2016 Alright! (Also, nice touch that the personal assistant is also Finnish) Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
mjaferrie Posted October 20, 2016 Author Share Posted October 20, 2016 At the start of season 2018, our club value has gone down to £300k and the media are still predicting us to finish in 12th place. Let's see about that... Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
mjaferrie Posted October 20, 2016 Author Share Posted October 20, 2016 Not again.... Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
mjaferrie Posted October 20, 2016 Author Share Posted October 20, 2016 Preseason was pretty awful, 5 wins and 2 draws from 15 games. Our hopes of finishing in the top 4 might be dealt a harsh dose of reality pretty soon... Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
clarkehwbu Posted October 20, 2016 Share Posted October 20, 2016 Will follow this one as I'm a fan of Youth Only saves. Can I suggest possibly doing them as updates in one post maybe as a monthly, quarterly or yearly, so that it's easier to follow? Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jintro Posted October 20, 2016 Share Posted October 20, 2016 I'm also following this one, but don't you think it would be better suited in the Career Updates forum. This part of the forums isn't really used for single save-threads. Also, please stop by the 2017 challenge thread with a yearly update, it's great for interacting with managers who are facing the same challenge. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
mjaferrie Posted October 20, 2016 Author Share Posted October 20, 2016 5 hours ago, clarkehwbu said: Will follow this one as I'm a fan of Youth Only saves. Can I suggest possibly doing them as updates in one post maybe as a monthly, quarterly or yearly, so that it's easier to follow? Quarterly or yearly is a good idea, it'll make it a bit easier to stick with posting as well! 5 hours ago, Jintro said: I'm also following this one, but don't you think it would be better suited in the Career Updates forum. This part of the forums isn't really used for single save-threads. Also, please stop by the 2017 challenge thread with a yearly update, it's great for interacting with managers who are facing the same challenge. Is there an easy way I can shift the thread over to another part of the forum without starting over? Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jintro Posted October 20, 2016 Share Posted October 20, 2016 2 minutes ago, mjaferrie said: Is there an easy way I can shift the thread over to another part of the forum without starting over? I'm guessing sending a message to one of the moderators should do the trick. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
mjaferrie Posted October 20, 2016 Author Share Posted October 20, 2016 40 minutes ago, Jintro said: I'm guessing sending a message to one of the moderators should do the trick. Nice one mate, thanks. And for clarkehwbu, I might settle on biannual updates - we're halfway through the second season, in 3rd place and only 2 points off the top spot. Shala has 8 goals from 11 games which already equals last season's best so we're doing better from an attacking sense, but we're mostly just managing to scrape through games by 1 goal. A couple of 4-1 wins in our last 3 games is better, but I think I'm going to have a tweak at the tactics and try and get firing a bit more. So far our most used youth prospect from last season's intake is Kristofer Bergh, with 4 games in CM and 4 as a striker. He's now improved to accomplished in an AMC position, but I've been almost exclusively using the 4-1-2-3 this season so no ACM in the tactics. His stats are not bad at all for this level though!Mid Season review: We're on target for our top 4 finish this season, but with us only being 2 points off the top I might go for it and try and get promoted this year. We've had some excellent performances so far with 6 of our players having an average rating of over 7.2. Interestingly though Jovanovic, who was our joint 2nd scorer last season, is at the bottom of the pile with a 6.75 rating and only 1 assist. I'm going to start an Excel table to keep tabs on our progress season by season, a copycat of some other saves on here, let me know if there are some specific things you'd like to see year on year! Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jintro Posted October 20, 2016 Share Posted October 20, 2016 You're certainly flying through. From what I can remember from a save in FM08, that division can be a hell to get out of. Really like the look of Berg, could be an impact player in this division and the one above if he develops like he should. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jimbokav1971 Posted October 20, 2016 Share Posted October 20, 2016 22 hours ago, mjaferrie said: Interestingly, we haven't been drawn in the first round of the cup... EDIT: Nor the second, does anyone know anything about this? There are Division 2 and lower division teams in the first couple of rounds so I wonder if this is a bug? I think I might have an idea because I have experienced something similar in Germany. Because you spent the last season in the league lower, you won't have automatically qualified for this seasons Cup, and whoever was relegated will play instead, (because they were a league team). With regards to why other "lower league" clubs have been allowed to enter but you haven't, then it is down to regional invitation. The top region is Stockholm and they are allowed to enter 10 of..... what's looks to be hundreds of clubs. The 2nd region is Skane and that's where Trelleborgs is and they are allowed to invite 9 of...... 376 clubs actually. (Wiki is your friend). I would guess that you will play in the Cup next season automatically so just enjoy it this season. Good luck. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jimbokav1971 Posted October 20, 2016 Share Posted October 20, 2016 On 19/10/2016 at 19:18, mjaferrie said: As this is a youth save, I won't be signing any players. Just noticed that IFK Trelleborgs aren't allowed to sign any non-EU players though. Anyone know if this is team specific (like something from your board), a division rule, or where is it coming from? A hard Brexit might limit the number of Brits making it in the 4th tier of Swedish football... I'm not positive but I would hazard a guess that this is a league specific rule that will be relaxed slightly once you get promoted. [Edit] Why don't you find out and educate us. Click on the league table, hover over overview, scroll down to "Rules" and left click. Then read and come back and tell us all about it. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Bedese Posted October 20, 2016 Share Posted October 20, 2016 Good luck! I'd recommend posting screenshots of the better players on youth intake day as well as the overall intake so we get a feel for the squad a bit more Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jimbokav1971 Posted October 20, 2016 Share Posted October 20, 2016 21 hours ago, mjaferrie said: Our first youth intake day! Couple of good prospects, no attacking midfielder which I was hoping for but Bergh is 'awkward' in that position and will get better with some training and game time. Fairly happy with this! That's a good intake. Would be good to see personality types and Nationalities/2nd Nationalities in future intakes if possible, together with a profile pic of the best player of the intake. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
mjaferrie Posted October 20, 2016 Author Share Posted October 20, 2016 3 hours ago, Jimbokav1971 said: I think I might have an idea because I have experienced something similar in Germany. Because you spent the last season in the league lower, you won't have automatically qualified for this seasons Cup, and whoever was relegated will play instead, (because they were a league team). With regards to why other "lower league" clubs have been allowed to enter but you haven't, then it is down to regional invitation. The top region is Stockholm and they are allowed to enter 10 of..... what's looks to be hundreds of clubs. The 2nd region is Skane and that's where Trelleborgs is and they are allowed to invite 9 of...... 376 clubs actually. (Wiki is your friend). I would guess that you will play in the Cup next season automatically so just enjoy it this season. Good luck. That would make sense aye, in the second season we haven't been drawn in the first round either so let's see what happens. There's still no money in it anyway so no big deal 3 hours ago, Jimbokav1971 said: I'm not positive but I would hazard a guess that this is a league specific rule that will be relaxed slightly once you get promoted. [Edit] Why don't you find out and educate us. Click on the league table, hover over overview, scroll down to "Rules" and left click. Then read and come back and tell us all about it. 'Why don't you find out and educate us', haha, nae mincing of words Jimbo I had a look in the division rules, I hadn't even thought of that at all at the beginning of the save, and you're right enough - I stand stupid... No teams in any of Sweden's second division can sign non-EU players. At First Division, FD Elite and Premier Division levels there is no rule. 3 hours ago, Jupjamie said: Good luck! I'd recommend posting screenshots of the better players on youth intake day as well as the overall intake so we get a feel for the squad a bit more 3 hours ago, Jimbokav1971 said: That's a good intake. Would be good to see personality types and Nationalities/2nd Nationalities in future intakes if possible, together with a profile pic of the best player of the intake. Thanks for the feedback! I'll get on that in the future - so far our squad is a bit of a mix nationality-wise. Everyone is Swedish first, then we have 3 Albanian, 2 Montegro, and 1 each of Greek, Bosnian and Serbian 2nd nationality. Interesting that they're all Balkan - I know there is a lot of Balkan immigration to the Nordic countries but I do actually live in Helsinki IRL and I wouldn't say they're a huge majority coming to the Nordic countries, anyone know anything about this in game? Or am I going to get another "let me google that for you" answer from Jimbo here Updates are going to be pretty slow for the next 2-3 days, but from Monday I should be on the ball again. For now, this is what I have in the season-stats (yellow = no change, green = improvement, red = totaldisastersackmenow... Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
mjaferrie Posted October 20, 2016 Author Share Posted October 20, 2016 Haven't been drawn in the 2nd round of the cup this season either, hmm... Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
mjaferrie Posted October 21, 2016 Author Share Posted October 21, 2016 We unearthed a monster! Our second youth intake and we're greeted with this: Actually a pretty poor intake overall, but Wihlborg more than makes up for it. Our current first team CBs are 33 and 35 so this is a position we were needing reinforcement in. We got an AMC in this time, but i don't think Östlind is going to be getting much if any game time - YP2j and YP2k can also play in that position. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
clarkehwbu Posted October 21, 2016 Share Posted October 21, 2016 Wow, Wihlborg looks amazing, you'll struggle to keep hold of him though! Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
mjaferrie Posted October 21, 2016 Author Share Posted October 21, 2016 For reference, here's our HOYD. He has a Fairly Sporting personality - at the moment he's the best I can get. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
mjaferrie Posted October 21, 2016 Author Share Posted October 21, 2016 6 minutes ago, clarkehwbu said: Wow, Wihlborg looks amazing, you'll struggle to keep hold of him though! Intake 2nd September, transfer window opens 15th November... Odds on me keeping him longer than 2 months? Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
mjaferrie Posted October 21, 2016 Author Share Posted October 21, 2016 Straight into the squad, and gets a 7.5 rating and man of the match. Definitely not getting to hang on to this one! EDIT: 2nd game, 7.8, man of the match... Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
mjaferrie Posted October 21, 2016 Author Share Posted October 21, 2016 This is the situation going into the last game of the season, which we're playing against Tomelilla IF who are bottom of the table on 19 points. The bottom 2 teams are relegated, so both of us need the three points from this game to have any chance of going up or staying up... Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Bedese Posted October 21, 2016 Share Posted October 21, 2016 Good luck against Tomelilla! Wihlborg is unreal, but he probably won't stick around for long Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
mjaferrie Posted October 21, 2016 Author Share Posted October 21, 2016 We've only gone and done it! Went 2-1 down and I was sure that was it over for the season. Fredrik Jönsson gave us a bit of hope before half time but we just couldn't get the decisive goal in the second half. The game finished 2-2 and I was expecting to see in the inbox that we'd dropped down to the playoffs (a point at least secured 2nd place) but FC Höllviken drew at home to 12th placed Bromölla IF giving us the title and an amazing end to the season!Season Review Totally unexpected promotion in only our second season is amazing, but also a bit of a daunting prospect for the next year given a lack of any real depth in the squad. Our top scorer this year was unsurprisingly Fisnik Shala with 14 goals from 24 games - which is an improvement on last season's 8 but I'd still prefer to have a bit more threat up front and some more decisive scorelines. We got through most of our games with 1-0, 1-1, 2-1 kind of results. So far only 6 of our youth prospects have been getting regular gametime, so that's definitely something I'd like to get up next season as well, 5 of our squad are 30+ so retirements are beckoning and places will have to be filled. Aims for next season? Survive. Just survive, if it's by 1 goal difference I don't care More game time for our youth prospects and a tweak at the tactics will hopefully produce some bigger results. Some good news! Luckily we're semi-pro, so I'm able to offer part time contracts, and Wihlborg has agreed to sign a new contract when he turns 17 on 31/7/2019, so we have him for at least another 8 months. I can't see us holding on to him in the summer transfer window, but at least we'll get the start of the season out the way and hopefully get a replacement in the next intake. We weren't drawn in the first rounds of the cup again this season, and the group stage draw is in a couple of months, otherwise I don't know what's happening there. Hopefully with us going up the league next year we'll get a spot in the cup. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
mjaferrie Posted October 21, 2016 Author Share Posted October 21, 2016 Wihlborg is our first player to receive national recognition with a call up to the U19s! And immediately afterwards I receive this. £1000?!?! Eh, naw mate. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
mjaferrie Posted October 21, 2016 Author Share Posted October 21, 2016 Here's an idea of the squad heading into season 3. Our only DR is 36 yr old Melander so I have all the LBs training in that position. Hopefully going to see some more of the YPs break into the squad this season too. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
deltablue Posted October 21, 2016 Share Posted October 21, 2016 That was a narrow squeak. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
mjaferrie Posted October 21, 2016 Author Share Posted October 21, 2016 1 hour ago, deltablue said: That was a narrow squeak. Haha, squeaky bum time right enough! Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jintro Posted October 21, 2016 Share Posted October 21, 2016 Wow great work on the promotion. Also, if you have any spare Whilborgs laying around, please send them my way. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
mjaferrie Posted October 22, 2016 Author Share Posted October 22, 2016 Some stats going into season 3: I was thinking about what to do in the League Rep section and settled on putting both leagues in if I get promoted, and from then on just the league I'm in. Let me know if you have some better ideas or something else you'd like to see! Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
mjaferrie Posted October 22, 2016 Author Share Posted October 22, 2016 Mid Season We're finally in the cup! We've been drawn in the first round away to Laholms FK who are currently playing in the Third Division - on paper this should be easy. In other news, what are they putting in the water here?! You can imagine my reaction to the first 4 games of the season. No! Not excitement and pride at the shift they were putting in! Crippling fear at the thought of going up straight away, being lured into a false sense of security that we could mix it with the big guns before getting hammered 5-1 by our city rivals Trelleborgs FF on their patch (any similarity to real life events is purely coincidental.....) We had been top of the table for the first few games before a poor run of form saw us plummet down to 6th and reality seemed to have kicked in. 3 wins and a draw later however and we're back up to 3rd place with only 1 point separating us from the top spot. Mental season so far! The transfer window has been open for 5 days and we've already had one bid of £1,400 for Wihlborg from Swedish champions Malmö FF, which I've rejected. There is also interest from Östers IF and AFC United, and with only 11 days to go before he signs a professional contract I'm not sure how long I can hold them off. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
TheMakeleleRole Posted October 22, 2016 Share Posted October 22, 2016 Great start. I feel like the game somehow knows when you're doing a youth only challenge, and rewards you with a gem early on! Make sure you get a big sell on % Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
mjaferrie Posted October 22, 2016 Author Share Posted October 22, 2016 5 minutes ago, TheMakeleleRole said: Great start. I feel like the game somehow knows when you're doing a youth only challenge, and rewards you with a gem early on! Make sure you get a big sell on % You certainly don't seem to get that kind of level when you're doing a "normal" save, even when down in the lower leagues. Some good and bad news... Wihlborg turns professional and this happens: I try to offer him a new contract straight away and this happens: But.. but.... we were having so much fun together! Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
mjaferrie Posted October 22, 2016 Author Share Posted October 22, 2016 Through to the 2nd round of the cup with a 3-1 victory over Laholms FK, and we were drawn at home to Sandvikens IF before this happened (which is the first time I've ever experienced or even knew it could happen, in 6 years of playing FM!) Sandvikens IF play one division above us, having been promoted last season as well, and they're currently only 13th out of 16 teams. So I was feeling pretty confident, and accepted the offer (we also need all the cash we can get..) which is probably going to come back and bite us on the arse, but who knows! EDIT: The gamble pays off! We're through to the group stage in our first appearance in the cup which will kick off in February next year (the Swedish cup goes over the 2 seasons). Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
mjaferrie Posted October 22, 2016 Author Share Posted October 22, 2016 Youth Intake Day! Another fantastic intake, with Nyberg and Olausson more than capable replacements for Wihlborg when he inevitably moves on. Also a fantastic replacement for Melander (who is now our AssMan as well as winding down his career as our go to DR) in YP3b. Really happy with this! Here are some screenshots: Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
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