[FM20] It was Cambrogi in Wales, but now it's all about aggression in Wales, in England. Bellicosity, pugnacity and belligerence are all excellent words. But Welsh belligerence, in England now.

[Jimbokav1971]

14 hours ago, Nobby_McDonald said:

Fancy not knowing the rules Jimbo.

I did know the rules. I just..... errr...... forgot them! 

[Jimbokav1971]

Nov 2035.

Domestic games.  We've been in really good form in the league. A deserved win against TNS, (that I mentioned in the last update), and then we hit 6 goals twice against Carmarthen and Afan Lido. 

European games. The downside of us smashing it in the league is that we are struggling in Europe. We are not strong enough to fight on 2 fronts. We were ok in Europe, (lost both these games by a single goal), but unfortunately it means that the Group is now really tight and our last game is against 2nd place Fenerbahce. 

Goal-scoring GK Harley (IRL) is finding it tough. Although he has scored 3 penalties and a free-kick, he's also missed 4 penalties. That's quite a lot, but I have found that this is sometimes the case withe a new GK. I expect him to be much more consistent next season. 

[Jimbokav1971]

Youth Intake preview. Dec 2035.

A decent MC? I will take anything decent I can get. 

I'm still not holding my breath though. 

I wonder if I can eke out another upgrade between now and the intake? 

[Jimbokav1971]

Dec 2035.

Domestic games. It's been a really good month in domestic competition. Yeah we dropped points against Carmarthen, but we battered them and hit the woodwork 3 times. Unfortunately I think I left the side too weak that day and we couldn't finish them. For the rest of the month I made the squads a little more balanced and while it meant we weren't smashing teams, we at least performed more consistently. 

European games. Because I made the squad more balanced, we only squeezed past Fenerbahce in the end. I may have stumbled across this tactic, (instead of 1st Team and Reserves), but it's actually serving us well. We finished top of the Group, and not just a Euro Conference Group, but a proper Euro Cup Group. That's an achievement in itself.

Harley (IRL) is up to 6 goals now with 2 more goals this month, (and no misses from the spot this month). 

[Jimbokav1971]

Transfers. Jan 2036. 

I've been looking at players, (particularly TNS players), who are going to be classed HG in Nation, and who I think might be able to make an impact. 

Matteo Berti isn't great, but I'm pretty sure that he will be able to offer us depth in Europe in the coming seasons. He will also be able to act as 1 of our U19 players on the bench in the league from time to time. 

Left wing or left midfield is a problem area for us. Martin Ross will allow us to add some depth as an U19 player and in Europe. 

The prodigal son (34b) Rhydian Hall (IRL) * has returned to the fold. We sold him for £64,000 and had to buy him back for £100,000 but the ace up my sleeve was that TNS had to pay 40% of any profit they made that cut the cost a little. 

While I was there I saw Stewart (ENG) and although it pains me to give TNS any money at all, I couldn't resist it. He looks a hell of a player and has been called by England at U20 level.

[yCymro]

Strap yourselves in ladies and gentleman ... the Euro Adventure has begun.  Top work here, some astute signings also.

[Jimbokav1971]

Possible Transfer. Jan 2036. 

As any regular followers will know, I'm fond of taking advice from my staff, especially the DoF. I regularly sign players that he suggests and every so often even allow him to sign one that I had no previous knowledge of. 

Nzeyurwanda? Never heard of him. 

I've never had a Rwandan player before. 

He's not a right only player, which is good because I have a few of them. He's 6'1" and jumping of 12 and heading of 11. It's interesting that there 3 known attributes and these 3 are heading 11, acceleration 15 and jumping 12. 

I'm expecting that his pace is also good if his acceleration is 15.

His finishing isn't great and might be as low as 7 but composure and off the ball look decent. 

I know that he's not what we would consider a clinical finisher, but if I'm thinking of him as someone who can play in the left hand AF role, then that's the "big" player rather than the "finisher" anyway so maybe this bloke would still work. 

I wonder what his role(duty) info is? 

Not surprisingly, (because my DoF knows that we play with double AF's), he an AF, but interestingly he can also play at ML. (I'm really quite interested now). 

What was his passing, dribbling and crossing like? (ML is a real problem position for us). 

Decent, decent and possibly decent is the answer. 

The next thing to think of is what level is he playing at and how is he performing? 

6 goals in 20 games isn't great, (and there are no assists), but he's playing in League 1 which is decent. 

He's also scored 3 goals in the Leasing.com Cup, (but I have no idea what that is). Turns out it's the EFL Trophy. 

He's 26 years old so how has he done in previous season? 

He didn't ever play for Arsenal but doesn't seem to have fitness issues because he has played a lot of games for Fleetwood. He's never been particularly prolific, (but we've sort of guessed that already), and he wasn't even great when Fleetwood got promoted to League 1 last season. If anything, he is performing better at the higher level this season. 

Fleetwood are sitting 13th in League 1 so that perhaps explains why he isn't scoring more regularly.

The reason I'm giving you all this info is because I'm thinking of gambling and letting my DoF sign him. 

Nobody else is interested in him and the DoF has done a deal for £140,000 plus something else. 

I'm not hugely bothered by what the add-ons are, but let's just have a look. 

I think I'm going to do this. 

Now let's have a look at him after he's arrived and see if my gamble has been successful. 

I like him. His strength could be better and obviously finishing is an issue, but what my eyes are drawn to are the PPM's. 

• Knocks ball past opponent fits well with acceleration 15, pace 14 and dribbling 14.
• Cuts inside from both wings seems to fit well with his poor crossing, but also especially with my idea to occasionally play him wide-left. 
• I don't like the places shots PPM, especially when twinned with his poor finishing. I would much prefer he had the shoots with power PPM for example. 
• His off the off the ball and passing attributes look great and make me think he's more suited to ML than SC, but I really don't like his workrate. 

I've just set his training and had to decide what I was going to do and have just set him as an Inverted winger at ML.

[Jimbokav1971]

Jan 2036.

Domestic games. Really decent month again. 18 goals in 4 games with only 1 conceded and 5 goals scored by our GK. 

Harley (IRL) has been on fine from this month. 

 

[Jimbokav1971]

Feb 2036.

Domestic games. We'd won 14 games on the bounce before TNS beat us. It meant that we equalled our existing record of consecutive wins, but didn't beat it. Harley (IRL) scored from the spot to make it 12 for the season, but also missed one early in the Barry Town game that we only eventually won in the 94th minute. We're still 2 points ahead of TNS despite the defeat but we play them once more, in the penultimate league game of the season. Ideally I would like to be in a position whereby we will still win the league even if we lose, although I;m not sure quite how realistic that is as they are still in Europe in March again. 

Euro Cup. We finished top of the Group stage, but I have just received this message. 

My initial reaction was that we have been unlucky be draw Inter in the 1st Knockout Round, but then I realised that this is actually the draw for the 2nd Knockout Round.  I wasn't expecting that. It seems like the 2nd placed teams in each Group play the 3rd placed teams in the Champions League Groups, with the winners of each Group skipping the 1st Knockout Round and going straight through to the 2nd Knockout Round. I'm guessing that's mirroring real life, but it's honestly not something I was aware of. It's possible that it changed to this once the Euro Conference started, (which obviously hasn't started yet in real life).

Either way, we will play Inter in the 2nd Knockout Round of the Euro Cup, (which is the furthest we have progressed in European competition to date in this save). 

 

[Jimbokav1971]

19 hours ago, Jimbokav1971 said:

Youth Intake preview. Dec 2035.

A decent MC? I will take anything decent I can get. 

I'm still not holding my breath though. 

I wonder if I can eke out another upgrade between now and the intake? 

Youth Intake day. Mar 2036. 

I had quite high hopes for this intake because I have managed to force through a few upgrades in recent years. In addition to that, I had managed to get Junior Coaching up to level 17 and Youth Recruitment to level 15. I don't think it unreasonable to expect that I was due a good intake in these circumstances. 

The problem is that while this is how it used to work, there is far more onus placed on Youth Facilities and Training Facilities in terms of the quality of players coming through, and these are still at very modest levels. 

This is what's proving a problem, (because these are obviously far more expensive to upgrade), and it's only in the last 18 months or so that we have had cash to spend on these types of upgrade. Added to which, the board were not keen on spending cash at all when we first started to have a few quid in the bank. 

As a result, we have just had another bang average intake. 

Squad by PPA. 3x 3.5 player and 1x 3.0 players is not a good start. 

Squad by PA. 1x player at >100 PA, 1x player at >90 PA and 1x player at >80 PA is actually progress of sorts. Last season for example we have 5x players at >70 PA but nobody else at >50 PA.

Squad by CA. What used to happen is that Youth Coaching used to be the driver in this area, (and that's still how my mind works), but the truth, (at least according to SI, and it seems to be backed up here), is that all 4 areas influence both CA and PA equally. I might have made the cheap upgrades in terms of coaching and recruitment, but we are still lacking in the physical facilities and this is having a significant detrimental impact on the quality of players coming through.

We have been over-performing hugely in terms of European performances, (with a couple of  seasons the exceptions), but for this save to continue an upwards trend I need to start getting HG at club players of the ability to impact on the Senior side. 

I know that @Makoto Nakamurahas been frustrated by a few bugs and I'm the same. The current one is that players who should be classed as HGN (Homegrown in Nation), are not showing as such, even if I specifically go out and buy them with that reason in mind. I recently signed 4 players from TNS. 3 of them should have been HGN when they arrived and for whatever reason they just weren't. We're performing miracles in Europe at the moment, but it feels like we are having to do it with 1 hand tied behind our back. I've never had to play more than 1 season in any save where I wasn't able to register an almost full compliment of players in Europe. This season I was again restricted to 19 of the 25 slots, 2 of whom were GK's. So that means 17 outfield players. It's just not doable. I need to start getting players coming through. Even average players. The likes of (36c) Eddie Harley (ENG) and (36b) Leo Bale should be plenty good enough for at least supporting squad roles, (so we are getting there, IF we can get them to their potential). 

So while there are 2 and possibly even 3 players who might have the PA to get to a level that we want, with our facilities that's far from a done deal. 

With that in mind I have again gone back to the board and asked for upgrades. 

Until they are complete though, this is how our Facilities look. 

I would assume that only TNS have the financial clout to rival our Facilities, (although I will check just in case), and here is the TNS setup. 

Wow.  I wasn't expecting that. TNS have really been pumping the money into their infrastructure and while we are still a few upgrades ahead both in terms of Coaching and Recruitment, their actual Facilities blow our out of the water. 

This next graphic comes from my Nordicland thread and came directly from Seb. 

There are a few things that we need to consider too. We know that fact that Youth Facilities and Training Facilities are holding us back in terms of the quality of players being produced, but there is also 1 other thing that we have to consider in this save that we don't have to consider elsewhere. 

The Youth Rating of a Nation is static I think. (I'm sure it is). So that means the quality of Welsh players produced, (on average), each season is set. Some seasons will be better than others and yes there will be Giggs, Hughes, Rush, Bale, Speed, Bellamy, Charles, Ramsey & Big Nev, but overall the standard will be more Robbie Savage than Robbie Fowler.  

Let's look at these players though and see where they came from in real life. 

Giggs. Actually started at Man City, (according to Wiki so must be true), before moving on to Man Utd. 
Mark Hughes. Came through Academy at Man Utd. 
Ian Rush. Started at Chester, (although not sure if it was as a Youth Player). 
Gareth Bale. Started at Cardiff Civil Service before being poached by Southampton. (We know all about poaching in this thread). 
Gary Speed. Came through the Academy at Leeds. 
Craig Bellamy. Came through the Academy at Bristol Rovers. 
John Charles. Was poached from Swansea Town by Leeds Utd. 
Aaron Ramsey. came through the Academy at Cardiff. 
Neville Southall. Played for a number of Welsh Junior clubs at Youth level. 
Robbie Savage.  Came through the Academy at Man Utd. 
Dean Saunders. Came through the Academy at Swansea. 
John Hartson. Signed to Luton on the YTS scheme, (but his Dad played for Afan Lido). 

It's quite possible that I have missed some high profile names, but these are the names of Welsh players that come to mind most easily. Only 2 of them actually came through the Academies at Welsh clubs, and both of those at clubs playing in England. Big Nev was a bit of an exception in all respects. 

So let's see what the Welsh National looks like in FM.

Welsh Senior Squad in 2036.

The 1st thing to point out is that there is not a single player playing at a Welsh club. I don't mean playing in Wales. I mean not even at Cardiff, Swansea or Wrexham, (although Lazio, New York, Krasnador, Rangers and Borussia Monchengladbach do feature. 

Let's see which club each player came through at. 

Liverpool 2
Boreham Wood
Man Utd 4
Swansea 3
Cardiff 2
Norwich
Brighton
Man City 2
Blackburn
Leeds
Spurs
Rochdale
Southampton
Portsmouth
Swindon.

So this shows us where the players have been coming through at, but doesn't really take into account the enormous strides that both ourselves and TNS have made since the start of the save.

The problem here is that the normal rules don't really apply in terms of where a player might be generated when he is Welsh, (or as is probably the case with many of the above, Welsh as a 2nd Nationality). 

Normally speaking, the Welsh club with the best facilities will get the best players, (that's a very sweeping statement but I am just talking in very general terms here), but what happens when a club like Cardiff or Swansea are playing in the English Championship? Do they get a "bonus" based on the high reputation of the league they are playing in, or is it a level playing field at the 1st point in terms of facilities, and only then goes to reputation after that? 

It would be interesting if @Seb Wassellhas a comment on this. I know it's probably not a very common question. 

Just for the record, here are the facilities at the English/Welsh clubs. 

Cardiff. Damn, that's pretty impressive. 

Swansea. And this is too. Both these clubs have been regular fixtures in the Championship by the way. 

Wrexham. Currently playing in the Conference. 

Newport County. Currently playing in League 2.

I was considering comparing the intakes that we and TNS are getting to those of Wrexham and Newport Co, but they are obviously getting more English players because they are playing in the English structure. TNS possibly balance that out by actually being in England, (but obviously in the Welsh structure), where as we are just Welsh/Welsh. If I had to ignore English players produced at Welsh clubs then I would also have to ignore English players produced here and as we have discussed they are often our better players. 

Wales. National Youth rating. 71.

Wales. Game importance. 

England. National Youth rating. 120

England. Game importance. 

I can't find the "game importance" info in the Editor. I just don't know my way around well enough to find it.

That being said, I found this on passion4FM.com although it's from FM19 I think. 

https://gyazo.com/13fb831745e63caaf9d33f7843d5901f

[Jimbokav1971]

Euro Cup. Quarter Finals and Semi-Finals. Mar 2036.

We skipped the 1st Knockout Round, (I think because we won the Group), and we are currently between legs against Inter. 

The draw for both the Quarter Finals and Semi Finals have just been made. 

Quarter-Finals. 

If we get past Inter,  then we will play either Young Boys or Southampton. I would say Young Boys are the weakest team left in the competition, (other than ourselves of course), so that can't have gone any better, (but they obviously have to beat Southampton over 2 legs 1st. 

Semi-Finals. 

It seems completely ridiculous that we are still in the competition while these draws are being made. I know we got a bye in the 1st Knockout Round, but we are still here!!!!  Once we beat Inter and then.... (actually......Young Boys beat Southampton 3-1 in the 1st leg so you never know....), beat Young Boys, we will just have to see off one of Monaco, Sporting Lisbon, Benfica or Sevilla to get into our 1st European Final. 

[Jimbokav1971]

Mar 2036.

Domestic games. 

European games. 

Inter away. 

 

 

Inter home. 

I can't tell you how gutted I am. 

Had we not got so close. 
Had we not had a chance of Young Boys in the Quarters, (actually Southampton came back from 3-1 down away to progress). 
had we not had a chance to win it in the 90. 
That's even with just 19 players to pick from and 3 defenders injured for the 2nd leg. 

 

[Jimbokav1971]

Carmarthen have a new Manager. Apr 2036.

So that's me, Ryan Giggs, Harry Kane and Fiete Arp. 

[Jimbokav1971]

Welsh clubs in Europe. 2035/36.

TNS. Another phenomenal season from TNS. 

Carmarthen. I know Djurgardens are decent, but it's still frustrating that they keep crashing out so early. 

Barry Town. Again, not really pulling their weight here. 

[Seb Wassell]

11 hours ago, Jimbokav1971 said:

Normally speaking, the Welsh club with the best facilities will get the best players, (that's a very sweeping statement but I am just talking in very general terms here), but what happens when a club like Cardiff or Swansea are playing in the English Championship? Do they get a "bonus" based on the high reputation of the league they are playing in, or is it a level playing field at the 1st point in terms of facilities, and only then goes to reputation after that? 

It would be interesting if @Seb Wassellhas a comment on this. I know it's probably not a very common question. 

Generally speaking, and assuming I am understanding what you are asking, youth comes from the nation the club is based in. This does not mean every youth player will be of that nationality (and second nationality is a separate thing here), but it will be driven by that nation. See San Marino (and the challenge).

[Jimbokav1971]

11 hours ago, Seb Wassell said:

Generally speaking, and assuming I am understanding what you are asking, youth comes from the nation the club is based in. This does not mean every youth player will be of that nationality (and second nationality is a separate thing here), but it will be driven by that nation. See San Marino (and the challenge).

Hi @Seb WassellThanks for the reply. Really appreciate it. If you are not really busy, do you mind if I clarify something though please?

When you say "based in", you don't mean the League structure they are in, you mean they Country they are in don't you? 

When I look at Cardiff for example, then although they are obviously playing in the English structure, they are still very much a Welsh side. 

When I look at the players at Cardiff though, (remember that I'm in 2036), the players are showing as being "based in" England rather than Wales. 

So with that in mind, when you say "youth comes from the Nation the club is based in", would you mind clarifying please? 

Are the likes of Cardiff, Swansea etc "based in" England or Wales? 

What about TNS who are English playing in Wales? The club has it's "Nation" set as England, but the players are showing as being "based in" Wales. I'm confused. 

I'm guessing that what you mean is that the Welsh clubs in England will be classed as Welsh, and the English club in Wales will be classed as English. 

That would fit in with the problems that I'm encountering with signing players from TNS who are not classed as Homegrown at Nation when they arrive, despite the fact that they came through the Youth Intake at TNS. 

The game seems to think that they have been produced by an English club, (because they are not classed as Homegrown at Nation in Wales), so the whole thing is confusing. 

This following player was NOT classed as Homegrown in Welsh Nation after I signed him. I specifically signed him because I have only 19 of 25 players registered for European competition because of this. 

I think that what you mean is that the Welsh clubs are "Welsh" for the purposes of Youth production and that's the end of it. So where my plan was to topple TNS in terms of the best Youth Academy in the Country, the reality is that they are not even in the Country and the clubs I am competing against for the best Newgens are Cardiff, Swansea, Newport Co, Wrexham & Merthyr?

Cardiff. 

Swansea. 

Ton Pentre. I know we are still way behind both Cardiff and Swansea, but we have actually made great strides and my "plan" is to surpass their level of facilities. 

Newport Co. 

Wrexham. 

Merthyr. 

I think it reasonable when I think about it, that despite the Welsh clubs playing in England, we are still competing against them for the brightest Welsh talent being produced each season. 

That being said, how do I "compete" with TNS then who are effectively taking players from a different pool? 

With the above in mind, when I look at the players that have been brought in via the TNS Youth Intake in recent years, here are the Nationalities. 

TNS intake 2035/36.

Welsh/English.
Welsh/English.

TNS intake 2034/35.

Welsh/French.
English.

TNS intake 2033/34.

Welsh/English.
Welsh/English.

TNS intake 2032/33.

English. 
English.

TNS intake 2031/32.

English.
English/Irish.
English.

TNS intake 2030/31.

Unknown. 
English/N.Irish.

TNS intake 2029/30.

English.
English.
English.

5 out of the last 6 players that they have signed after coming through their intake have been Welsh as a 1st Nationality. How are we competing against them if they are not in Wales? The whole thing is really confusing. 

[Edit]

And if I may be so bold Seb, I have another question that I have been meaning to ask you/someone. 

I have had 20 players poached from my Academy in this save. That's not as bad as it sounds because we are in 2036 after all, but as our facilities/coaching/recruitment improve, (and seemingly the level of player we produce also improves), the poaching has occurred far more often. I am currently waiting for no less than 8 players who have been poached, to come through the intake at the clubs who poached them. I was under the impression that they should come through at the intake following the poaching, but this isn't happening and on some occasions it's the 3rd intake that eventually sees them promoted, (although more commonly the 2nd intake). Is this working as intended? 

A perfect example of this is Alex Hall who was poached by Spurs in May 2034 but still hasn't come through the intake at Spurs. There are 7 poached players behind him in the queue to come through the intake at their new clubs. 

Edited April 23, 2020 by Jimbokav1971

[Lanvigator]

Based on some testing I've done in previous FM's the 'based in' option within the pre-game editor is the primary driver behind intake nationality.

 

An example was where I dropped a French side into the Welsh leagues on FM15, changed their 'based in' option on the editor to France, but their 'nation' and 'continental cup' I changed to Wales. I also made sure the stadium was in France, not Wales.

In this case the club produced almost exclusively French regens for years, and certainly not any English.

 

FM20 seems more ambiguous however, and there are a lot more multinational regens in intakes regardless. That being said they are generally still from nations geographically close, so I think if I ran the French test again they would still get very few (if any) Welsh players due to the distance between them.

What I have found is that if a team is based in a capital city, or certainly more multicultural area (such as Cardiff or London for example), the intakes will have a vastly different number of nationalities. I tested with a Cardiff based side on @Rainbowz level 7 DB and almost 50% of the players coming through were English (with inflated PA due to England's youth rating) whereas at a rural Welsh side at the same level the players were almost exclusively Welsh.

 

What I will say for that is it seems the location of the stadium is the main driver along with the 'based in' option, for how many foreign regens coming through. If the stadium is either in a large, multicultural city (Cardiff) or close to or even over a border (TNS) it will have a poignant effect on the intake nationality.

 

There are hard coded exceptions to this, such as the new San Marino team in this years database who will only produce Italian regens no matter how you manipulate the database. Croatia Berlin are another example.

 

 

 

[Jimbokav1971]

Apr 2036. 

Domestic games. We conceded a 96th min goal against Barry Town which lost our 2 point advantage over TNS, but we were able to turn them over in the 2nd last game of the season to secure the title with a game to spare. 

 

[Jimbokav1971]

11 hours ago, Seb Wassell said:

Generally speaking, and assuming I am understanding what you are asking, youth comes from the nation the club is based in. This does not mean every youth player will be of that nationality (and second nationality is a separate thing here), but it will be driven by that nation. See San Marino (and the challenge).

 

1 hour ago, Lanvigator said:

There are hard coded exceptions to this, such as the new San Marino team in this years database who will only produce Italian regens no matter how you manipulate the database. Croatia Berlin are another example.

I haven't looked at San Marino in FM20 and I wasn't aware of this.

I don't understand why it would be changed from what it was, to hard-coded to produce Italian newgens only. That doesn't make sense to me. What is the difference between a Sammarinese team playing in Italy and a Welsh club playing in England or an English club playing in Wales? A Welsh/English side can produce Welsh and English players and an English/Welsh club can produce Welsh and English players, but a Sammarinese/Italian club can only produce Italians? 

[Lanvigator]

15 minutes ago, Jimbokav1971 said:

 

I haven't looked at San Marino in FM20 and I wasn't aware of this.

I don't understand why it would be changed from what it was, to hard-coded to produce Italian newgens only. That doesn't make sense to me. What is the difference between a Sammarinese team playing in Italy and a Welsh club playing in England or an English club playing in Wales? A Welsh/English side can produce Welsh and English players and an English/Welsh club can produce Welsh and English players, but a Sammarinese/Italian club can only produce Italians? 

There's more info on the San Marino challenge thread including an answer from the researcher involved, but from what I could tell the jist of it is the old San Marino (San Marino Calcio) that were based in Seravelle are now defunct and have been replaced by a new team (SM Calittica I believe without checking) that don't actually play in San Marino any more but still carry the nations name.

 

The researcher says that he'd looked into the youth system of this new club and he found that very few (if any) of the academy players within the set up are Sammarinese. That being said it does seem odd that this club in particular was singled out for hard coding above all others. Even adjusting the base nation and stadium location still doesn't produce regens from San Marino, whereas if you changed the base nation at any other Italian club they would.

[Jimbokav1971]

May 2036.

Domestic games. 

Apart from being a free-kick, is a winning GK goal, in extra time, in a Cup Final, against TNS, just about the best way to win a match? 

Trophy cabinet. 

[Jimbokav1971]

4 minutes ago, Lanvigator said:

There's more info on the San Marino challenge thread including an answer from the researcher involved, but from what I could tell the jist of it is the old San Marino (San Marino Calcio) that were based in Seravelle are now defunct and have been replaced by a new team (SM Calittica I believe without checking) that don't actually play in San Marino any more but still carry the nations name.

The researcher says that he'd looked into the youth system of this new club and he found that very few (if any) of the academy players within the set up are Sammarinese. That being said it does seem odd that this club in particular was singled out for hard coding above all others. Even adjusting the base nation and stadium location still doesn't produce regens from San Marino, whereas if you changed the base nation at any other Italian club they would.

If they are not playing in San Marino though, isn't it reasonable to expect that they don't get Sammarinese players through very often? 

It doesn't seem right that they NEVER get another Nationality through though. That seems wrong. They should be just like other Italian clubs who get a range of Nationalities through. 

This confuses matters though. 

Even then though, wouldn't we expect an occasional Sammarinese player through the intakes there? To be honest I would expect Rimini to be the same. It's no different to expecting Chester to get some Welsh players through their intakes and if I look, here is what I find. 

Chester. 

2035/36 intake. 

English x4.
Welsh/Irish.
Scottish.

2034/35 intake. 

English x5.
Scottish.

2033/34 intake. 

Cypriot/English.
English/Irish x3.
Welsh.
English.

2032/33 intake. 

English x2. 
English/St Lucian.
Unknown x2.
German/English.
Cameroonian/English

2031/32 intake. 

English x3.
Angolan/English.
English/Irish.

2030/31 intake. 

Unknown x2.
French/English.
English/Welsh.
Bermudan/Englsih.
English.

Isn't this something that seems to be working pretty well. Why change it for Cattolica SM? 

[Jimbokav1971]

Poached. May 2036.

[Jimbokav1971]

Facilities. May 2036. 

We are already in the process of upgrading both the Youth Facilities and the Training Facilities, but I have also persuaded the board to make the following improvements. 

While we have cash in the bank and we have just won the double and also had a great season in Europe, I think it's pretty hard for them to say no, (even though they tried). 

[Jimbokav1971]

End of Season update. May 2036. 

Final League Table. We just missed breaking the 100-goal mark. TNS were winning the league with approx mid-50's goals scored earlier in the save and they have never scored more than 73 goals in a season.

Squad by Appearances. 

Overall Best XI. 

Awards/Team of the Season/Stats.

 

 

Budgets for next season. 

A wage budget of £125k and we are currently spending £76k.

Finances. 

Commercial Summary. 

Young Player of the Year. 

Goal of the Season. 

Manager of the Year. 

Team of the Season. 

Records.

[Jimbokav1971]

Rankings. Jun 2036. 

While any progress is good, I have a feeling that this beings with it it's own problems. For the last few years we have been seeded for the 1st 2 rounds meaning that progress is relatively easy, (at least until the 3rd Qualifying Round). Now that we are not joining until the 2nd Qualifying Round, we can't exactly be seeded can we? 

I think that the reality is that this will make it harder initially, but easier in the long-run. It was only 2033 that we crashed out in the 1st Qualifying Round to Aluminij of Slovenia. 

[rodesire]

So close to two UCL spots!

Also congratulations on a domestic double, seems like TNS reign of terror is coming to an end.

[Jimbokav1971]

Reputation. Jun 2036. 

I usually merge this post with the previous one, but this season I thought it deserved a post of it's own due to the significance. 

In fact, considering how TNS have been doing in Europe and the fact that the league went almost to the wire and they lost in the Cup Final, (and won the Nat MG Cup), I think it's a little harsh that we have jumped above them. 

Each season I just show the "National" reputation sides, but with us popping from 2.0 rep stars to 2.5 stars I have noticed this. 

So now it would seem that the "National" benchmark is 2.5 stars and all the other clubs are just "Regional". 

I wonder can I add Cardiff, Swansea, Newport Co, Wrexham and Merthyr to the list.......

I can't find it, but I was sure I had all clubs listed by reputation originally. Can't work out where though. 

[Adonalsium]

Oh, this is some save. Who have been some of the Welsh national team mainstays so far in your save? I'd imagine the likes of Dylan Levitt probably made it in long-term.

[Jimbokav1971]

6 minutes ago, rodesire said:

So close to two UCL spots!

Also congratulations on a domestic double, seems like TNS reign of terror is coming to an end.

I think the TNS battle is far from over. 

This season went right to the wire. We won the Welsh Cup Final against them in extra time and they won the other Cup. They are also smashing it in Europe. I hope that the rivalry grows and continues. Speaking of which they are not listed as a "competitive rivalry". 

[Jimbokav1971]

On 19/04/2020 at 20:44, Jimbokav1971 said:

TV Rights. Jun 2035.

2032. £83,020
2033. £100,000
2034. £120,000
2035. £143,000

TV Rights. Jun 2036.

2032. £83,020
2033. £100,000 (+ £17k)
2034. £120,000 (+ £20k)
2035. £143,000 (+ £23k)
2036. £168,000 (+ £25k)

I was hoping that the size of increase each year might jump, but it appears as if it is increasing at a pretty stable rate. If you look at how the league has developed, this seems quite a paltry increase. 

[rodesire]

Just now, Jimbokav1971 said:

TV Rights. Jun 2036.

2032. £83,020
2033. £100,000 (+ £17k)
2034. £120,000 (+ £20k)
2035. £143,000 (+ £23k)
2036. £168,000 (+ £25k)

I was hoping that the size of increase each year might jump, but it appears as if it is increasing at a pretty stable rate. If you look at how the league has developed, this seems quite a paltry increase. 

To be a bit of a devil's advocate, let's analyse the numbers a bit

83->100 is a 20% increase

100->120 is a 20% increase

120->143 is a 19% increase

143->168 is a 17.4% increase

That's pretty steady increase.  If you can maintain 20% increase for another 5 years, that's 400-450k TV deal which is getting somewhere.

[Jimbokav1971]

2 minutes ago, Adonalsium said:

Oh, this is some save. Who have been some of the Welsh national team mainstays so far in your save? I'd imagine the likes of Dylan Levitt probably made it in long-term.

Wales National team update. 

I've been putting this update off until there was some connection with the National Team, but might as well do it now. 

Wales are doing really well at the moment and certainly seem to be on the up. 

[Jimbokav1971]

26 minutes ago, rodesire said:

To be a bit of a devil's advocate, let's analyse the numbers a bit

83->100 is a 20% increase

100->120 is a 20% increase

120->143 is a 19% increase

143->168 is a 17.4% increase

That's pretty steady increase.  If you can maintain 20% increase for another 5 years, that's 400-450k TV deal which is getting somewhere.

Yeah, but it's already starting to drop. If it went 20, 20, 19, 17.4 then the next is going to be something like 15.8 at best and then 14.2 the next time. I guess we will just have to see how it goes. 

[Jimbokav1971]

Champions League registration. Jul 2036. 

We were able to register 19 players over the last couple of seasons. 

This season we have lost 1 spot and can only register 18 players because I let someone leave. 

Things are in the pipeline to improve the situation, but the players I've brought in are still under 21 so don't need to be registered. 

[Jimbokav1971]

Transfer scheming. Jul 2036. 

Anderson (BEL) * has been with us for a couple of seasons and although he had a decent season last year, he was always a player who was purchased with a view to being sold on for a profit. He's a 5.0 PA player so I don't really want to lose him, (and if he stays then he will become HG at club), but I think the time has come to move him on. He had a £500,000 minimum fee release clause in his contract and I have already tried and failed to renegotiate it so when clubs started coming in for him I thought I would let him go. 

Premier League Watford came in with a £450,000 offer him, (which is what I had set his asking price at for this very reason), so I negotiated the deal and they agreed to this. 

I needed him to stay for 1 more season because he is U21 and doesn't need to be registered for the Champions League, so I have also got him back on on loan for another season. The player wants to leave, (but will come back), we make a nice profit and get 25% of re-sale value too. Seems like a good deal to me. 

We also get a friendly, but while our stadium is so small it's really more habit than for any financial gain. (We played TNS in a friendly in pre-season and earned about £850 out of it). 

[Jimbokav1971]

Player Poached. Aug 2036.

[Jimbokav1971]

Another player Poached. Aug 2036. 

We've now had a total of 23 players poached in this save.
8 of them have gone to Premier League teams. 
11 have been poached recently enough that they haven't yet come through the poaching clubs Academy. 

[Jimbokav1971]

Champions League Qualifying. Aug 2036. 

This is a BIG deal. That's a LOT of money. 

Edited April 23, 2020 by Jimbokav1971

[Jimbokav1971]

Champions league Group. Aug 2036.

[Jimbokav1971]

Jul & Aug 2036. 

Pre-season. We've been poor at the start of recent seasons so I have upped the number of friendlies to try and rush the match fitness. There is an increased risk of injury, but we can't start pre-season any earlier so we don't really have a choice if we want to be ready to go sooner rather than later. 

Domestic games. We haven't lost either of our opening league games which is a significant improvement, but we did crash out of the Nat MG Cup. We were playing in Europe both before and after the Cup game so we were weakened, and we also had quite a few out with short-term knocks, so certainly in respect of this game the tactic of rushing to match fitness hasn't really worked. 

European games. We've been in really good form all the way to the Group Stage here. No result was ever really in doubt and even the away game in Vienna which saw us have less than 40% possession saw us really hammer them with our directness. 

I'm going to show you 1 player each month and after scoring 4 goals against Fehervar, this month's player is Big Ben (ENG) 6'7". He's really not that good, but he's very effective at the set-pieces stuff we have him doing. He really shouldn't be playing in the Champions League Group Stages though. 

Edited April 23, 2020 by Jimbokav1971

[Jimbokav1971]

Sep 2036. 

Domestic games. We're not firing on all cylinders yet, but we're still winning. 3 games were won by a single goal and 2 of them with winners in 88th and 95th minute.

European games. It's a hell of a start to life in the Champions League. £2.32M per win is a hell of an incentive not to just take the Group Stage cash and play the kids in the games. 

Money. £2.32M is a lot of money for winning just 1 game when you consider that we only got about £5.5M for playing in the Euro League Group Stage last season, (and that seemed like a lot of money then).

Records. 

Harley (IRL) is this month's player. He scored 14 goals last season but missed quite a few early on. I was hoping that he would be better this season but it's just not happening for him. He's got 2 goals and 3 assists this season, but he has also missed 3 penalties already so he should be on 5 goals. If he keeps missing I'm going to flog him. I turned down a bid of £500,000 for him in pre-season and I've got a better back-up than I had last season so happy to let him go. 

[rodesire]

Holy hell, you're crushing it big time!

[Jimbokav1971]

3 minutes ago, rodesire said:

Holy hell, you're crushing it big time!

Getting to the Champions League Group Stages is immense for our finances. 

I had the option of up-grading quite a few positions during the off-season, but decided against it because I wanted a little continuity in the save. The main thing to consider was that while Big Ben (ENG) 6'7" might be my poorest striker who plays regularly, he is also instrumental to the way we play. I can sign better players than him, but I don't know if these better players will perform as well. Certainly none of the other strikers at the club who have a better CA star rating than him, (there are 6 of them), are able to perform at anywhere near his level. 

[Jimbokav1971]

Oct 2036. 

Domestic games. We're still not in great form. We needed an injury time goal to draw against Barry, a penalty to beat Cardiff Met Uni and we just seem a little flat at the moment. Lots of players are unhappy because they are not in the Champions League squad and others want to be playing every week. Still, we are 8 points clear with 2 games in hand so we can't be doing that badly. 

European games. I'm not sure what we should be expecting at this level. We did ok. They are just so much better than us. We've had the money for the Groups Stage now so my plan is to try and beat Kobenhavn away, (or lose by less than 2 goals), because 3rd is the best would could have hoped for at the start here and it's still in my sights. 

Records. 

James (ENG) * is the player I'm showing you this month. I had him originally down as my Playmaker, (the left of the 2 central midfielders), but the PPM "gets forward wherever possible" really doesn't fit with that because I basically just want him "sitting" and spraying balls about. I might try and get him to unlearn the PPM. 

[Jimbokav1971]

Why do I never score these? 

[Edit]

I'm actually more than a little envious of Bala right now. 1st a bicycle kick of Epic Hugo Sanchezesque proportions, and then I find out that their whole starting XI was homegrown at club. 

Edited April 24, 2020 by Jimbokav1971

[Jimbokav1971]

Facilities. Dec 2036. 

If you don't ask, you don't get. 

"Thanks for upgrading the Youth and Training Facilities. How do you feel about upgrading the Youth and Training Facilities?" 

No. 

"Are you sure bla bla bla"

No.

"Are you really sure bla bla ba?"

No. 

"Are you positive?"

Ok, go on then.  

Yes. Yes I am absolutely determined to turn this into a Youth-based save even if it kills me.   

[Jimbokav1971]

Nov 2036.

Friendlies. I opted to postpone some league games due to International call-ups and instead used the time to play our U19's with the idea that we would hammer them and the squad, (Senior squad), would get a much needed morale boost. I wasn't counting on the U19's scoring 6 goals in 3 games though. 

Domestic games. I sold Anderson (BEL) * and then got him back in on loan for nothing, but the transfer has sort of elevated his position in the squad somehow, (in my mind). He might be at the top of the CA/PA rating lists, but he has never been 1st choice, (or even 2nd choice), and I think my selection has been skewed by the transfer. Webb (ENG) and Povey (ENG) were always rotating on the right hand side AF position and I don't know how I have lost sight of that. I need to get back to that because we are stuttering badly. He started the Afan Lido loss, (Harry Kane is still the Manager there by the way), and that's it, (at least for a while, in the league). Let's go back to what got us here. 

European games.  Job done.  

We beat Kobehavn home and away, finished 3rd and are through to the Knockout Stages of the Euro Cup.

Prior to the Kobenhavn game I spoke to 2 players. I told Cole (GUY) 6'4" that he was going out on loan and 2 minutes after kick-off he had already scored twice. I also criticised Anderson (BEL) * before the game, telling him that I wasn't sure how long he would keep his place if he didn't start scoring, (after 16 hours without a goal). 

I guess these things are in the game for a reason. 

With 2 goals in his last game, Webb (ENG) is the player in the spotlight this month. His history shows that he has scored 52 league goals for us, but he's actually scored a total of 87 goals for us and has been really important in Europe throughout this save. 

[rodesire]

How is Webb not capped?! 

Oh and smashing FCK 7-1 away? Ridonculous

[Jimbokav1971]

1 minute ago, rodesire said:

How is Webb not capped?! 

Oh and smashing FCK 7-1 away? Ridonculous

I haven't looked at how good some of the Welsh National Team are, but I have been doing a lot of scouting and seen some youngsters at Cardiff and Swansea. When I look in a minute, I'm expecting the Welsh striker to be VERY good.......

Karl Johns (WAL) * is good enough to play wherever he wants. 

Rhys Sullivan (WAL) is probably the closest thing they have to an out and out striker. 

I think Alex Driscoll usually plays behind another striker. 

I think that Martyn Jenkins is more of a winger than a striker, but he certainly played up front for Wales in their last game. 

All in all I would say they have been lacking a "proper" top end striker for a while now and are just having to make do. I think Karl Johns (WAL) looks amazing, but he;s not a striker however much I pretend he is, and is far more likely to be suited playing in the hole behind or wide. 

The Welsh Manager has come to see us twice I think, but no Senior Welsh call-ups as yet. I assumed that it wasn't that close, (even when Aitor Karanka the Welsh Manager was at our game), but I actually think that Webb (ENG) might be in with a sniff if he keeps scoring. 

This is the formation that Wales play under Karanka. 

I would consider the Welsh job at a later stage of this save, (I've just checked and I'm English rather than Welsh I'm afraid but Aitor Karanka has been in the job 8 years and he's not Welsh), nut not right now. 

This is phase 1 of the save and I can see possibly Cardiff or Swansea being stage 2, (at some point in the future), but I'm not positive.