The FM20 Youth Academy Challenge

[thomas_e]

What a player we have in Drazen Surbek. After spending two years developing in the U19's, he went on loan to 2nd division side RNK Split last season. 20 goals in 29 games gave him a spot in the first team and what a player he is. He's a natural striker, but I want to develop a functioning 4-2-3-1 (going away from 4-4-2 the last few years) and we have a couple of other talented young strikers in the academy. Club legend Kristijan Juric is getting old and we needed to replace him on the right wing. No good right wingers made Surbek the obvious choice. A 7 month injury on Juric in august made it even clearer.. 

What a start to the season he's had! 16 goals in 21 games, and I think 19 of them when playing as a winger on support duty! I would have played him on attacking duty, but I think the ME really favors an ACM/AP on attack duty (i might be wrong) at this point. A game changer for us, even though the start of the season have been a mixed bag. Competing in Europe and domestically is though when your bench is depressing! 

But I don't think it will last. January is only a couple of months away and Arsenal, Chelsea, FC Porto, Man Utd, AC Milan and Tottenham are all interested.  Unfortunately he has a release clause of £10,750,000 and I believe it will be met already this season. This will be our third big sale in a couple of years. The money is good, but I would rather keep him. 

I'm also posting a picture of Matko Dukadjin, the other youngsters that went straight from loan last season to the first eleven this year. He has been really good at AMC! 

 

[Sheyra]

Curious if anyone has seen this behavior before. Just signed one of my 17 year old youngsters to a new contract that will start at the end of this season (I'm still in preseason so that's a ways away), and bizarrely ever since then I keep getting 'offers' for the player worth $0 from various teams every so often. It's ultimately harmless since they're worthless offers but I don't recall seeing this sort of thing in previous editions of the game so I was just wondering if it's just some weird bug on my install or if other people are seeing it too.

[filipefm20]

2023/2024 End of season report

Ended in mid table again, 9th place this time. This season was really similar to the last one. Best regen players were Aydin (once again) and De Boeck.

[OlivierL]

16 hours ago, darren1983 said:

Sorry, not been around much these past couple of days but yeah a loan in as part of a deal isn't allowed but obviously in this case it wasn't something you could do anything about, when it's forced on you then yeah - can't use them.

Ok thanks , i've send him to the reserves.

[thomas_e]

8 hours ago, Sheyra said:

Curious if anyone has seen this behavior before. Just signed one of my 17 year old youngsters to a new contract that will start at the end of this season (I'm still in preseason so that's a ways away), and bizarrely ever since then I keep getting 'offers' for the player worth $0 from various teams every so often. It's ultimately harmless since they're worthless offers but I don't recall seeing this sort of thing in previous editions of the game so I was just wondering if it's just some weird bug on my install or if other people are seeing it too.

Don't think its a bug. I've been getting those myself. 

[vikeologist]

Vikeologist's Palermo 2026/27 End of Season Report

We started the season quite well, and after 10 or so matches we were much closer to Europe qualification than the relegation zone, but then our form went to pieces. We drifted closer and closer to danger.

Luckily 3 points away from danger was as close as we got. We picked up enough points to be safe with 2 matches to spare, eventually finishing a creditable 13^th. It’s not hard to pinpoint why we struggled. We conceded 91 goals in 38 matches.

On the positive side, being in the top division certainly brings in the cash. I can afford to give my players everything they ask for contract-wise, (other than release clauses). As of this season, money is no longer a concern.

We’re continuing to improve our already pretty good facilities.

Currently

Training – Excellent (being improved)

Data Analysis Basic (being improved)

Youth Facilities -Great (being improved)

Junior Coaching – Exceptional

Youth Recruitment – Exceptional

We’ve held on to all our top players. Really the squad is too big and I should be selling more players. A couple of my top players do have release clauses, which I dare say at some point will be met. A few youth players who played a lot of first team football will be leaving at the end of the season because they’re so far down the depth chart now.

Top Goalscorer – A A Morabito - 13

Our best player. He has a release clause of £6.5 million, so I expect he’ll be snapped up during the summer.

Highest Average Rating (minimum 10 matches played) – A A Morabito – 7.17

Only 3 players had a >7 average. It was a rough season.

Man of The Match – Francesco Galati YP3f – 3

Most Valuable Player – A A Morabito

Usually I’d choose my goalie, but, you know, 91 goals conceded. It wasn’t his fault. My central defence is the weak spot.

 

Season	Division		Position	Notes										
20/21	C/C			8th		Eliminated in 2nd round of promotion playoffs.
21/22	C/C			8th		Eliminated in 3rd round of playoffs
22/23	C/C			2nd		Eliminated in Quarterfinals of playoffs.
23/24	C/C			1st		Won league and Super C Cup easily.
24/25	B			4th		Lost in playoffs S/F
25/26	B			2nd		W7 D1 of last 8 matches. Automatic promotion.
26/27	A			13th		Flirted with relegation, but it never got inside our pants.

 

 

 

 

Edited December 19, 2019 by vikeologist

[Fastbasher]

2038/39 Annecy FC season review - French League 2

The League

With so many players being sold in recent seasons, I decided to try to build up a new wave of young players and it almost cost us dearly. As the season closed out, we were dragged into a relegation battle but had just enough to get by. There were some pleasing performances from the young players and this looks like a good thing in the longer term. We also tried using two strikers in an attempt to score more goals. In past seasons I've mostly played 4-1-4-1 or 4-1-5-0.

 

The Players

After 10 consecutive seasons as top scorer, Alaa Saibi had to make way for Cyrille Rostand YP33g who scored 14 goals. One more than Saibi.

The toughest decision was replacing our record appearance holder, Abdalhadi Amara in goal. Apart from low self belief, Fabien Dumont YP38b, looks to be a decent long term replacement. With more consistency from him in goal, we should be capable of a much better league position.

 

Transfers

Magnin was sold by my chairman, Barreau and Fekir were poached for compensation only, the rest were squad players sold by me with the hope of a big future payoff.

 

[Fastbasher]

Our chairman seems determined for us not to get promoted.

At the end of the midseason transfer window, we are sitting in 3rd place and in great form, but have a very small squad.......

Our new boy wonder is topping the scoring charts and looking good to break our club league scoring record for one season......

So with no need for more money, he decides to sell our best midfielder who my staff say is already a good Ligue 1 player.

Why not sell Bryan as well?

 

We have two other half decent central midfielders, but I cant help feeling this is the end of a promotion challenge.

 

[ATW]

FC Rot-Weiß Erfurt 2021/22

 

The winter break has come.  Most of the youths mentioned further up have been moved to the II team, while a couple others are not old enough to play in either the senior side or II side.  In the league it has been very meh, although sitting in 15th of the media prediction (500/1 to win the league - next worst was 22/1).  I am currently sitting 14th, 3 points clear of relegation. 

 

Youth intake is looking not too bad for this level -

[jstu9]

Koninklijke Voetbal Klub Tienen-Hageland - Belgian First Amateur Division - 2030/31 Season

PROMOTED!

Wow, what a season! We started off our typical pretty good. 5-2-2 after 9 matches though falling in the 5th rd in the Cup on penalties. I was fiddling around with tactics starting with my typical attacking 4123DM Wide tactic I've been using for several seasons. Then I tried a 442 cautious/balanced. We were doing pretty well but we were in our typical 3rd/4th area. So as I have read on the forums, the gegenpress type tactics seem to do well, I went all out, attacking, high lines, high pressing. And we clicked. Finished the rest of the season 16-3-2 then going 4-2-0 in the promotion playoffs. So 20-5-2, finishing the season with a 21 match unbeaten streak. We won promotion with 3 matches to spare and I played my youngsters in the final 3 matches.

The youth pulls have some potential though most of their personalities are awful. There are some possibilities but they have a ways to go.

I seem to have a pretty standard lineup. However, I continually look at my youth players to see if any are good enough to start playing. Dries Van Campenhout (27c) hadn't played much before this season but won Young Player of the League this season after appearing in 31 league games, 34 total.  Thomas Vos (29k) and Cesar Andre (29c) played a good amount and about a dozen youngsters got a couple games in at the end of the season. But breaking into the team now is alot harder than 5-6 years ago.

Felicien Brasseur and Kim Paquet continue to take the accolades. Brasseur is the all-time leading scorer for us now, though Gert Verbeeck and Aron Cornelis are just a goal or two behind. Paquet took the team's player of the season.

I won manager of the year for the 3rd time (The first was my first season, the 2nd when we got promoted to pro League B the first time). And my U21 Assistant Coach got hired as Head Coach for Olympic Club Charleroi. Jonas Bogaerts was a player when i took over the club appearing 34 times with 5 goals, and when he retired I hired him as a coach. So good luck to him! (I think he is a real player - yep, just looked him up, he is). He is my all-time oldest player and oldest goalscorer (back in 2023 and 2021 respectively).

We improved both the training and youth facilities with our windfall and they are both scheduled to be improved again, to finish in October. Our money is slowly going down so I have to be careful with it. It says we only have $6.5M left but that doesn't seem right.

Now to see if we can stay up in Pro League B. I'm sure it will be tough. We struggled mightily when we were there several years ago, but hopefully the core of our team has gotten better and we can stay.

[Fastbasher]

2039/40 Annecy FC season review - French League 2

The League

Our form did drop off a bit after the chairman sold our best midfielder, but we managed to hold on to a record high 5th place and a playoff spot.

In the playoff quarterfinal we took an early 1-0 lead against Reims. Unfortunately they mounted a comeback and we eventually got knocked out 1-2 in a very short playoff effort.

 

The Players

A new star has risen through our ranks in Bryan Pham Ba YP39a who became our record goalscorer in a single season with 30 goals, our player of the season, made the league 2 team of the season and won the League 2 top scorer award.

Boris Amblard YP36b also had a great season with 10 goals and 10 assists from the right wing.

Unfortunately most of our top players are refusing to sign contract extensions. They say we don't have good enough players. Presumably talking about each other. We may only have 1 or 2 promotion attempts left before yet another rebuild.

 

Transfers

Benali and Malungu were two key players sold by the chairman.

 

Infrastructure is fantastic now. We just need a new chairman who will keep hold of the decent players we have coming through.

 

 

[Fastbasher]

It's a shame we couldn't keep hold of this star.

 

But the +50% of profit sell on clause pays off big time.

[jstu9]

63%

I am 27 of 43 on penalties of my current players. If I were to bet on it, I would have guessed 40-45%, it is amazing how many penalties we miss every year. I wonder if it would be a good strategy to have someone train on penalties just for this reason.

[Brother Ben]

@jstu9 I love the fact that your top assist maker is (by your lettering) the 9th best player in that particular intake, just shows that you never can tell which youth players will make it which is the beauty of this challenge

Congrats on promotion by the way 

[Fastbasher]

1 minute ago, Brother Ben said:

@jstu9 I love the fact that your top assist maker is (by your lettering) the 9th best player in that particular intake, just shows that you never can tell which youth players will make it which is the beauty of this challenge

Congrats on promotion by the way 

His second top scorer was 8th best in the intake of that year as well.

[jstu9]

13 minutes ago, Brother Ben said:

@jstu9 I love the fact that your top assist maker is (by your lettering) the 9th best player in that particular intake, just shows that you never can tell which youth players will make it which is the beauty of this challenge

Congrats on promotion by the way 

 

11 minutes ago, Fastbasher said:

His second top scorer was 8th best in the intake of that year as well.

Just looked up the youth report from 2024. Kim Paquet didn't look anything special. 1 star CA, 2.5 gold/3.5 black PA. 24a, 24c, 24e, and of course 24i are still with the team. 24a is Alan Hoffmann who has played alot but never lived up to my expectations. 24c is Achiel Braun who has been my backup keeper for years. But 24e is Raf Heremans who has been a starting central defender for years. So my 24e and 24i were the best of the bunch.

My 2nd leading scorer was Gert Verbeeck (21h), who came in on my 2021 youth pull. He was a 1.5 CA, 2.5 gold/3.5 black PA. Again, nothing too special. 21a, 21d, 21e and 21h still play (along with 21g as a backup).

Then I have 25h, Arthur Buelens. But that was a really good intake. Buelens was 2 stars CA, 3.5 gold/4.5 black PA. That intake included my starters at right back and striker.

What is interesting are all the b's and c's and d's that I don't even recognize their name they were so inconsequential.

[vikeologist]

1 hour ago, jstu9 said:

63%

I am 27 of 43 on penalties of my current players. If I were to bet on it, I would have guessed 40-45%, it is amazing how many penalties we miss every year. I wonder if it would be a good strategy to have someone train on penalties just for this reason.

I recon I have at least 3 of my guys on specialist penalty training. Mind you, that's at least partly because we don't have anybody great at them. I'm sure our conversion rate is better than yours, but I remember the ones we missed.

[Fastbasher]

I hate games like this. 4-0 up at 64mins, still 4-2 up at 93mins and only a point to show for it.

 

[keeper#1]

2020-21 Foggia Calcio Season in Review

Table -- Fixtures 1 -- Fixtures 2 -- Fixtures 3 -- Cup Fixtures -- Stats -- Finances -- Transfers

 

A very respectable 9th place finish for the newly promoted Foggia in the Serie C/C.  This was good enough to reach the lengthy and complex Serie C promotion playoff tournament.  We quickly exited in the first round losing, 3-0, to Palermo.  The finances are in great shape to the large amount of sponsorship income (over three million euros per season) we bring in.  This allowed us to upgrade both the youth and training facilities in the offseason and upgrade the junior coaching to help the youth academy continue to improve.  Personally, I was able to obtain my Italy C Coaching License and, over the summer, I will earn my Italy B Coaching License.

Player of the Year: DM Manilo de Masi - de Masi may not have scored many goals and added many assists but did a lot of things which helped out our weak center back pairing keep games close with his 92% win rate on tackles and helped the transition game with a 89% pass completion rate.

Youth Intake

On the whole, it was a solid intake with many players who could help the senior team in the coming years.

Raffaele Matacena 21A: Left back isn't a position of need for us but Matacena is someone that we train and either sell or if he is vastly superior to the players currently in the senior team at left back, we can sell those players to make room for Matacena.

Cristiano Marino 21B: Marino does come into a position of need, center forward.  Cannas was our leading goalscorer with 13 goals but he disappeared for long stretches of time and we didn't have anybody who could come in and score while Cannas was trying to regain his form.  Marino, now, gives us that option.

Silvestro Persano 21C: Persano enters the team as a player who doesn't have a position in our current formation.  He's primarily an attacking midfielder.  He's going to be re-trained to play the left attacking position.  Could be another player to sell for profit if the right offer comes in.

Claudio Pellegrini 21D: Pellegrini is one of three center midfielders from this youth intake.  He is the best of them and could be the first one to reach the senior team as early as next season.

Antonello Montanga 21E: Montanga is the second of our midfield trio to come through this season.  He enters the club a notch below Pellegrini and doesn't have as high a ceiling as him as well but could be a very serviceable center midfielder for us going forward.

[OlivierL]

IR Reykjavik - Season 2023 - review

Table- Squad - Finances - Transfers - Youth intake

Happy with what we achieved in Europe and the cup(s) . The league performane was average.. After the cup final , we lost our best player (Olason ) to Hammerby , the board accepted an average offer .

Pepsideild:

Strange season with a lot of draws.  Being competitive in the other competitions is an excuse.

Fixtures

Bikarkeppni Karla:

Lost the final after penalties. so no European football for us next season.

 

Deildabikar :

 

Europa Conference league:

We did a good job and kicked Lech Pozan out. We gained a lot of money (+- 300k) ,

 

Best players :  Santos - Porsteinsson - Sigurgeirsson(libero)

Next season :

I lost Olason and will loose my second best (left footed) player Ludviksson ( he won't sign a new contract). No good prospects knocking on the door from the first team so it will be hard to finish in the top half .

I'll be happy if i stay up.

 

 

 

Edited December 21, 2019 by OlivierL

[SpS_Zen]

Season 4 2023/2024

 

In VNLS, i never was in danger, or close to the play-offs. I spent most of the season around the 14th place. I noticed i have significantly better results away than at home. This may come from the field dimensions. I will make it longer for the next season, as most of my occasions came from long balls. Also, this is the first season i wasn't forced to make tactics adjustment during the year. My squad still lack quality, but has a lot more depth now. I have around 60 players in the club right now...As @jstu9 noticed, it is not always the best potentials who become the best players, so i try to keep an eye on everyone. 

Good runs in both cups. 2 unexpected wins against higher division teams (VNL and League 1 team) in FA Cup, bringing a lot of money to the club. And a disapointing defeat against a lowest division team in FA Trophy. Overall a great season that bringed around 200k and allowed us to improve youth recruitment. Unfortunately, 150k is not enough to improve our training center or youth facilities.

Youth intake looks good. A full back seems to be the most promising one, i am not sure yet at which position i will train him.

Next season goal: Focus the cups

[Fastbasher]

2040/41 Annecy FC season review - French Ligue 2

The League

It was another strong season. We spent all season in the top 5 and at one point it looked like we might even have a chance of automatic promotion or even a title. Eventually we finished 5th and had another chance at the promotion playoffs.

This year we went one step further than last year. After beating AJ Auxerre 3-2 in the quarterfinal, we then had another close game in the semifinal against FCSM. We eventually lost 2-3 when they scored an 89th minute winner.

With a full strength team we could match anyone in Ligue 2. Unfortunately we do not have a lot of depth, so with injuries, suspensions and international call-ups we suffer.

 

The Players

Bryan Phan Ba YP39a was again the top scorer in both our team and Ligue 2 with 34 goals. He is 'evens' favourite with the bookies to do it a 3rd time as well. 

Raphael Bour YP39b was brought into the first team as Bryan's strike partner and contributed 13 goals and 5 assists. With these two up top, the future looks bright.

Julien Aubert YP28c had the most assists in Ligue 2.

Anthony Simon YP41a is the top prospect from this years intake and looks very promising.

 

Transfers

Finally a season where the chairman didn't sell anyone. The results showed on the field with a good shot at promotion. I hope he learns from it.

 

 

[Fastbasher]

Nooooooooo!!!!!!!!!!!! You fool!!!!!!!!!

I didn't even get the option to protest.

 

Good Boy. 

 

It will be a huge relief when this transfer window closes. He's scored 6 goals in his first 5 games of the season. On track for a third straight Ligue 2 top scorer award.

[Diego D10S]

                                                                

                                                                                                                Season 2026 / 2027

                                                                                  League Table           Youth Intake         Transfer History

 

11th in Serie A and another short report from me. I'm stuck where I belong in the middle of the table as my team is pretty mediocre at the moment.

Feel I could fight for a place higher up on the table but the way down to relegation spot is also short.

 

Youth intake was very good, getting some exiting prospects : Gennaro Pidepalumbo , Alberto Cicala , Andrea Tacconi and Eugenio Andreani

Hoping for that special attacker next time  

 

GL ALL !!  

                                                               

 

[OrToDaRy282]

The Adventures of Romy Pernika, a young female Bulgarian football manager.

Minyor Pernik (Bulgaria) Season 1: 2020-2021

League Table - Youth Intake & Best Prospects - Transfer History

This young female wants to show female managers can be a thing.  Pernik born and raised, even named after the city, she took the chance of becoming Pernik's manager.
Minyor Pernik is a very small Bulgarian football club with a decent fanbase. They're crazy in love with the club and the city, just like Romy.

She had one of the best debuts ever, getting promoted with a 4141DM through the season. However, the whole town of Pernik fears this promotion came way to early.
The board wants her to play defensive football with a focus on set pieces, so that's what she'll do.
Dinkov, one of the new prospects had already his debut, and what kind of a debut...!

Best player of the season:

Season	Division		Position	Notes										
20/21	Vtora Liga		4th		Promotion through playoffs. Manager of the season. 

 

[Kazushi80]

S.S.D. Latina Calcio 1932

Season 9 // Serie B

Squad // League Table (14th) // Transfers

 

 

Instead of the usual update just a quick season review, because I am on holiday the next 3 weeks and don't have the time, yet and after that I won't remember enough for an update in detail.

 

We made it into the first round of the italian cup for the first time and earned more than 600k because of that. Can finally improve something. And we are planning to build a new stadium.

 

League was solid, youth intake is okay. Santi Tacconi (09A) is the best one. Since we are not using a left mid at the moment, I'll retrain him as a right back (a position where we only have one player with potential at the moment).

 

Next update we'll be mid january at the earliest. Happy holidays and a good start to the next year to everyone.

 

Through The Seasons

Season

Division

League Pos.

Playoffs

Coppa Italia

Coppa Italia di Serie C

Europe

Squad

Key Player

Best Goalscorer

Intake

Best New Prospect

Team Of The Season

Miscellaneous

2020/2021

Serie C Girone C

16th

-

-

Group Stage, 2nd

-

Squad

Salvatore Ciulla

Federico Cardella - 6

Intake

Carlo Di Mambro (01A)

4-3-2-1

National C Licence

2021/2022

Serie C Girone C

9th

1st Round

1st Qual. Round

2nd Round

-

Squad

Luigi Fontana

Luigi Fontana - 13

Intake

Alessandro Colella (02A)

4-4-2

National B Licence, National A Licence, Youth and training facilities upgraded, Youth recruitment upgraded

2022/2023

Serie C Girone C

12th

-

-

Qtr Final

-

Squad

Fabio Fiori

Luigi Fontana - 15

Intake

Emanuele Esposito (03A)

4-4-2

Continental C Licence, Continental B Licence

2023/2024

Serie C Girone B

15th

-

2nd Qual. Round

2nd Round

-

Squad

Fabio Fiori

Fabio Fiori - 16

Intake

Angelo Polverini (04A)

4-4-2

Continental A Licence

2024/2025

Serie C Girone C

11th

1st Round

4th Qual. Round

1st Round

-

Squad

Emanuele Esposito (03A)

Fabio Fiori - 16

Intake

Mario Mone (05A)

4-4-2

Continental Pro Licence, Training facilities downgraded

2025/2026

Serie C Girone C

4th

Winner

-

Group Stage, 2nd

-

Squad

Fabio Fiori

Fabio Fiori - 24

Intake

-

4-4-2

Promotion to Serie B

2026/2027

Serie B

13th

-

3rd Qual. Round

-

-

Squad

Francesco Indelicato (03B)

Fabio Fiori - 20

Intake

Giuseppe Romani (07A)

3-4-3

2027/2028

Serie B

13th

-

3rd Qual. Round

-

-

Squad

Maurizio Cenci

Mario Mone (05A) - 18

Intake

Giulio Bizzaglia (08A)

3-4-3

Youth recruitment upgraded, Shared training facilites

2028/2029

Serie B

14th

-

First Round

-

-

Squad

Mario Mone (05A)

Mario Mone (05A - 17

Intake

Santi Tacconi (09A)

4-3-3

Improved Junior Coaching, Data Analysis facilities upgraded

 

The Facilites
Year	Training	Data Analysis	Youth	Junior	Youth R.
Start	Below Average	Poor	Basic	Fairly Basic	Average
2021	Below Average	Poor	Basic	Fairly Basic	Average
2022	Adequate	Poor	Below Average	Fairly Basic	Adequate
2023	Adequate	Poor	Below Average	Fairly Basic	Adequate
2024	Adequate	Poor	Below Average	Fairly Basic	Adequate
2025	Below Average	Poor	Below Average	Fairly Basic	Adequate
2026	Below Average	Poor	Below Average	Fairly Basic	Adequate
2027	Below Average	Poor	Below Average	Fairly Basic	Adequate
2028	Good (Shared)	Poor	Below Average	Fairly Basic	Good
2029	Good (Shared)	Basic	Below Average	Below Average	Good

[Deicide]

Whats the best way to go about scouting opposition players when you're doing this challenge? Do most of you only rely on scouting opposition reports or do you go and scout the whole league when possible?

[Fastbasher]

1 hour ago, Deicide said:

Whats the best way to go about scouting opposition players when you're doing this challenge? Do most of you only rely on scouting opposition reports or do you go and scout the whole league when possible?

Just scouting opposition reports for me.

I also add some of my top former players to a shortlist and scout them when the attributes start moving to a range. This is just because I'm interested in how far they develop.

[Fastbasher]

2041/42 Annecy FC season review - French Ligue 2

The League

After ten seasons in Ligue 2 and two attempts at promotion playoffs, we successfully avoided them by going up in style with a league title. The last three season have seen great success, mostly on the back of goals from Bryan Pham Ba YP39a. This promotion never would have happened if he'd accepted the offer from Milan on deadline day of the transfer window. The margin of victory was comfortable, but could have been huge if we didn't lose to Montpellier in the third to last game of the season.

In the cup we had our first win against a Ligue 1 team, beating FC Metz 2-1 away in the 10th round. We did lose 0-3 to Olympique de Marseille in the 11th round. But them and PSG are currently the two big teams in France in my game.

If we are to survive next season, we will be looking for a few more scalps at FC Metz's level.

 

The Players

Bryan Pham Ba YP39a continues to go from strength to strength. He was the Ligue 2 top scorer for the third consecutive season and also won the Ligue 2 player of the season. He won the European under 19s championship with France and also picked up the top scorer award in that event with 6 goals. It will be interesting to see how far he can go in Ligue 1 and how long he will stay with us. He has two years left on contract and is not prepared to sign an extension at present. Hopefully that changes if we can stay in Ligue 1.

Boris Amblard YP36b once again had a great season with 11 goals and 17 assists to be a key contributor to our success.

Baba Fall YP42a is the best of this year's youth intake and looks like a great replacement for Bour.

Our goalkeeper Fabien Dumont is also a key player. He only has one year left on his contract and will not negotiate a new one. We have no adequate backup, so this could be a real problem going forward.

 

Transfers

The chairman sold Bour and Simon against my wishes. But at least we managed to keep hold of Bryan Pham Ba who really is the star of our team.

[ATW]

FC Rot-Weiß Erfurt 2021/22

 

Another season has come to a close, and it was a nail biter this time, only confirming safety with 1 game left to go.  As I have not been sacked yet, it means it's the furthest I have gone in this challenge! 

2021/22

League Table

Transfers

Board Announcement 1 - improvement to our Youth Scouting.

Review -

 

Youth Players of Note 2020 - 2021 intakes

Philip Berbeg (20A) - Made over 20 appearances for the club, winning Young Player of the Year.  

Eduard Danzer (20B) - Made a couple of appearances for the II side, nothing much more to note.  Moved to Senior side for 22/23

Reinhold Perry (21A) - Under 19's player moved to the II for 22/23

Michael Pommer (21B) - Under 19's star and moved to the Senior Side for 22/23

Sebastian Zimmermann (21C) - Under 19 player moved to II's in the final few months of last season.  Will be in II for 22/23

Roger Gonzalez (21D) - Started in the Under 19's, moved to the IIs and ended in the Senior Side, where he featured a handful of times.  Will be in the Senior Side for 22/23

Matti Dreier (21E) - Same pathway as Gonzalez. 

 

Youth Intake and Youth Players of Note 2022

Intake

Danny-Gunther Schmidt (22A)

Sandro Durrast (22B)

Leon Menzel (22C)

Rolf Kohler (22D)

 

 

 

 

 

[ATW]

1 hour ago, ATW said:

FC Rot-Weiß Erfurt 2021/22

 

Another season has come to a close, and it was a nail biter this time, only confirming safety with 1 game left to go.  As I have not been sacked yet, it means it's the furthest I have gone in this challenge!

And it comes to end in the 22/23 season, sitting 17th after 18 games

[Fastbasher]

And the awards keep coming for Bryan Pham Ba.......

World Under 21 Footballer of the year, European Golden Boy and 3rd in French Player of the year. 

[ATW]

And I am back in the game!  I'm going home to Scotland, taking over Kelty Hearts.

 

Profile

Information

Facilities

Squad

 

[ATW]

Kelty Hearts 2020/21 Half Way Update

 

Small update, and I have to say it is going well.  Although being out off all 3 cup competitions, I made the standard the board hoped.  Meanwhile the League is looking rather good, but won't count my chickens yet as it is me after all.

Youth Intake is looking meh again. 

[keeper#1]

Nice work on finally reaching Ligue 1, @Fastbasher

[Fastbasher]

1 minute ago, keeper#1 said:

Nice work on finally reaching Ligue 1, @Fastbasher

Cheers. Things are going quite well too. At the halfway stage we're in 12th place and Bryan Pham Ba is 3rd in the scoring charts. Although someway off Andreas Boecki at runaway leaders Olympique Marseille.

[Fastbasher]

Ligue 1 has VAR involved in decisions. First time I've seen them in FM.

[andershs]

Belfast Celtic FC (N. Ireland)
Season 2 - 2021/22

 I keep posting in the wrong, general Youth Challenge thread. I really think I need to reset my browser favorites... 

Fantastic season all in all. We won the league (and gained promotion), and our first year intake was nicely integrated into the first team.
On the transfer front, Curtis Hassan left us. He did not accept my contract offer, but at 30 with half a star in potential ability and very few, short substitutions, it will not be a loss.

League (Results 1, Results 2, Cups) - For the second year in a row, not much to tell about the cups. We started the league reasonably well, and at least much better than last year. During mid season, we slowly improved and reached the top of the league. From december and onwards we did not lose, drawing 5 and winning 6 matches. Moyola Park did put pressure on us in the run in, but a relatively secure 2-0 victory in the head to head tie helped us secure the league title and automatic promotion. Fantastic. I stood by my simple 4-4-2 and it served us well.

Team - Our only goalkeeper, Martin Harrison from the first year intake did a really good job, and is already at 18 one of the best players in the club and developing really well. In midfield Darren Lavery was a first choice option, and Darren Stuart was once again our top goalscorer with 17 league goals in 22 matches. Impressive.

Facilities - I took advantage of our strong league campaign and pressured the board to accept further Junior Coaching and Youth Recruitment upgrades even though our finances are decreasing. 
They are now both Adequate. This is very acceptable for our current level and gives us a good, solid base of decently gifted players to build upon in the coming years. Moreover, our squad is now numerically bolstered.

Finances - The finances did not deteriorate as quickly as I expected. They are still in the black, but getting closer to 0. With this years intake upgrades this is not as big a worry as it might would have been.

Youth Intake - Another 'Golden Generation'. We received two goalkeepers this year, but they are not as good as Harrison. At least we now have decent backup on this position. I am hoping that Paul Mulgrew can improve and claim a spot in our midfield. I also have high hopes for our new striker Alan O'Hanlon and full back David Harris. Ethan Logue looks like a better central defender than last years candidates and Graeme Macauley will hopefully do well at right wing.

Goal for next season: Avoid relegation. Keep hold of our promising young players.

Edited December 22, 2019 by andershs

[ATW]

5 hours ago, ATW said:

Kelty Hearts 2020/21

Promotion!!!!!!!!!!!!  We won the League 1 Promotion playoff, first beating League 1 side East Fife, then taking out Stenhousemuir who had the better of me in the league campaign. 

The League

Transfers - with a further player due to leave

Youth Intake (for some reason it wasn't in my Development List, so here is my Reserve Squad (all the Youths)

 

Youth Players to Watch 2021

Chris Barlow (21A)

Kieran Courts (21B)

George Macgregor (21C)

 

[keeper#1]

Foggia 2021-22 Midseason Update

Quick hits for our mid-season update

[Fastbasher]

2042/43 Annecy FC season review - French Ligue 1

The League

After 20pts and 12th place in the first half of the season I managed to get several key players to sign long term contracts. Unfortunately they all wanted relegation release clauses. In the second half of the season I was getting really worried when we only got 13pts and fell very close to the relegation spots, finishing in 17th.

We had the 5th highest 'goals for' and the worst 'goals against'. Our attack is fine, we just need to fix the defense somehow.

The Player Overview screen shows some interesting things. We had plenty of players in the 'top 4' of categories, but not always for good reasons.

Bryan Pham Ba YP39a was second top scorer with 19 goals. Well behind three time World Player of the Year and Golden Ball winner Andreas Boeckl who set a Ligue 1 record with 48 goals. Although they both had a similar ratio of shots to goals. Baba Fall YP42a came 5th in scoring with 16 goals.

Jonathan Marques YP31e had the most yellow cards (20), but also made the most tackles per game in Ligue 1 by a considerable margin with 9.3.

Pham Ba was also caught offside the most time (74). It was pleasing to see our centrebacks Magne and Girard in the top 4 for both interceptions and key headers.

What was not so good to see was so many of our players in the top 4 of yellow and red cards. There was only 1 game in the second half of the season where I had my first choice starting 11 available. The results showed.

 

The Cup brought an interesting run. We beat Ligue 1 teams Toulouse FC and FC Metz in the 10th and 11th round and were then paired against the only Ligue 2 team left in the quarterfinals, Brest. I got my hopes up that we would reach our first Cup semifinal.

Unfortunately we had four first 11 eleven players suspended and two injured, leaving us with only one centreback, three defenders in total and a squad of 13 for the game. We got thumped 2-6. Brest gave a good account of themselves in the semi, losing on penalties to PSG after a 2-2 draw.

 

The Players

Bryan Pham Ba YP39a top scored again with 26 goals in all competitions. He made the step up in Ligue 1 like a natural. If it wasn't for the superfreak Boeckl being in Ligue one, he would have won another top ligue scorer award.

Jean Magne YP38c was the best of our defenders, he also won the European Under 21 Championship with France (after this screenshot).

Yoan Renard YP43a looks the best of a fairly poor youth intake.

Our reserve keeper Faiz Chamité YP37g has only played 1 game for us in 7 seasons. He has 10 caps for Comoros and is now going to an African Cup of Nations tournament with them in the summer. A weird case of playing more for your country than your club.

 

Transfers

No one lost from the first 11 and none of them sold against my will. A good season of transfers.

 

 

 

[Mediocre_Jake]

I decided to manage in a country I had never tried before, Denmark. After a couple of save reloads, I spotted Allerød Fodbold Klub. They already have excellent youth recruitment and excellent academy coaching. This is a massive advantage to the start of this journey.

Let's hope I don't get fired within the first 3 months.

[thomas_e]

@Fastbasher, whats going with Marseille! 

[xilere]

There's one thing I didn't get by reading the first post. Let's say there's a 25 year old player on the team when you first take over it. Can you play him in the first season? Can you offer him contracts? That's not technically a transfer so...

Edited December 23, 2019 by xilere

[Brother Ben]

4 minutes ago, xilere said:

There's one thing I didn't get by reading the first post. Let's say there's a 25 year old player on the team when you first take over it. Can you play him in the first season? Can you offer him contracts? That's not technically a transfer so...

Yes, you can keep and offer to extend contracts of all players initially at the club

[xilere]

11 minutes ago, Brother Ben said:

Yes, you can keep and offer to extend contracts of all players initially at the club

Hey brother ben thanks for getting back to me. Maybe you can clarify the next questions?

There are 3 things (which your club has control over) affecting the quality of newgens: Youth Recruitment /Youth Facilities /Junior Coaching

1. Junior coaching IS NOT about the coaches you hire for your U18 team. It just functions like a building - not being dependent on staff. Is that right?

2. What's more or less the optimal way to upgrade them in order?

Edited December 23, 2019 by xilere

[Winski]

For some reason I did not have fun anymore with my East Kilbirde-save. So I decided to start a new save. I will go back to the place where I had lots of success(and fun!) in the past with FM17:

Íþróttafélag Reykjavíkur (IR).

Since I had so much fun with them in FM17, I really wanted to play with them again some day. I felt that the time was right. I am still not sure if I will really stop playing with East Kilbride, but for now I am really happy to start with IR.

I had to reload a couple of times to get them promoted.

They've got quite a small group of players, but some of them are really talented. Look at this guy:

For this level, he really is an exeptional talent.

There was almost no staff, so I had to sign a lot of staff-members. You might know one of them:

He's not a great coach, but hey, Arjen Robben at IR, how fun is that?!

Next post will be when the first season is finished.

 

[OlivierL]

1 hour ago, Winski said:

 

They've got quite a small group of players, but some of them are really talented. Look at this guy:

For this level, he really is an exeptional talent.
 

 

Real followers of this topic , should know the guy you are mentioning , he is my star striker in season 5   Good luck !

 

[Brother Ben]

1 hour ago, xilere said:

Hey brother ben thanks for getting back to me. Maybe you can clarify the next questions?

There are 3 things (which your club has control over) affecting the quality of newgens: Youth Recruitment /Youth Facilities /Junior Coaching

1. Junior coaching IS NOT about the coaches you hire for your U18 team. It just functions like a building - not being dependent on staff. Is that right?

2. What's more or less the optimal way to upgrade them in order?

1.  Junior coaching is unseen, it's what happens before the youth intake (is my understanding)

2.  Not entirely sure, but i'm guessing there are folks here who will

[Fastbasher]

5 hours ago, thomas_e said:

@Fastbasher, whats going with Marseille! 

 

They are simply amazing. 34 wins, 3 draws, 1 loss. 96 goals scored, 12 conceded in a season. It helps to have the superstar striker of his generation in their team.

 

When I started this save I wondered how I would ever get past PSG and their unlimited resources. But an AI team beat me to it.