[FM20] FC Köln

[judyislife]

After easing myself into this year's game with Manchester United and struggling hard against Liverpool and City, I decided to switch to something more relaxing. My plans were a mid table club in Italy or Germany and Koln caught my eye and I already have a soft spot for them after having done another pretty nice career on my first FM - 2010 with Podolski tearing the Bundesliga apart.

The expectations are pretty reasonable - avoiding relegation. Shouldn't be too hard as despite having no money to improve the squad (~half a milion for transfers and nothing for salaries) it already looks like a comfortably mid table one.

Main Players

Jonas Hector - Our captain and easily first choice for a left back.

 

 

Timo Horn - A product of the academy and wouldn't look out of place even in a team fighting for the title so he's likely to remain first choice for many years. Possibly our best player overall.

 

 

Dominick Drexler - The creative spark in midfield. Schalke were sniffing around him the whole summer but thankfully he wasn't too bothered by it.

 

 

Ellyes Skhiri - The other driving force in the middle. A fantastic well rounded midfielder.

 

 

While decent, there were still areas I wanted to improve in the squad and that meant selling first. 3 strikers left us - Jhon Cordoba (8.5M to Milan), Simon Terodde (2.4M to Wolfsburg) and Anthony Modeste (1.8M to Krasnodar). They were all among the highest earners and weren't going to be in first choice contention so it was an easy area to make some money from. Kingsley Schindler (4.3M to Frankfurt) also left. He was one of three right wingers none of which is expected to be a starter.

Now for the new additions.

 

Renato Santos (5.25M from Malaga) - I really needed someone for that right wing and he seemed like the perfect man. He's also a great corner taker which is something we don't have many of.

 

 

Arnor Sigurdsson (4.7M from CSKA Moscow) - A young attacking midfielder than I'm planning to retrain as a striker as I need a rotation option up front. I had to accept a 35 million release clause in his contract as his demands were pushing against our wage limits but I honestly wouldn't be too bothered if someone jumps on him with such an offer.

 

 

Antoine Conte (1.5M from Beitar Jerusalem) - Needed a 4th CB option and with the money from sales drying up he was the best I could find. He can also cover on the right back and doesn't have any glaring weaknesses so I'm happy with him.

 

 

The friendlies went quite well and we even managed to defeat Roma. In our first official match we faced Lubek for the cup and eliminated them with no difficulties. In the Bundesliga we were facing a tough start - away match against Wolfsburg. We did lose which wasn't a huge surprise. The surprise came in our next fixture though when we defeated Dortmund at home. Then we got another 3 points against Freiburg after a penalty in 94th minute (but having conceded a 2:0 lead so it was justice in my eyes  ). Next up are Gladbach and Bayern so we can't catch a breath but so far the start is more than promising.

 

 

[judyislife]

We're halfway through the season and things are going really smoothly so far. We got 28 points out of our 17 matches and that puts us in 7th place.

 

 

 

Our summer addition Renato Santos is our best and most consistent player so far and is also first in the Bundesliga in terms of chances created with 19 (second being Rifet Kapic with 13).

 

 

No one else really managed to stand out but 17 year old Jan Thielmann and 18 year old Noah Katterbach are featuring here and there and are progressing very well.

 

 

 

In early December I got a message about the upcoming youth intake and it looks promising - "This is a terrific group of players coming through and has the potential to be a real golden generation for the club".

 

 

I haven't looked into new additions for the upcoming transfer window as I have less than two million availabe, no free wage budget and the balance is already in the red but I might sell someone as I overestimated a little bit the number of players I'd need for the season considering we're not playing in Europe.

[Jimbokav1971]

A "hard" save can be ok, but something that just "flows" and is nice and relaxing can be great. 

A Golden Generation 1st time out. Nice. 

[judyislife]

Season is over and we'll be playing European football next year after securing the sixth spot. A win in the last day would have even landed us in 4th place. Bayern won the title but Dortmund interestingly struggled hard and ended up right behind us. We got eliminated in the cup's third round by Hamburger but I don't really mind that with how well our league season went.

 

 

 

And the two people mainly responsible for the great finish are our two attacking summer siginings - Renato Santos and Arnor Sigurdsson. Renato continued providing great performances from the right and remained the best player in the league in terms of chances created - 34, next being Frankfurt's Filip Costic with 26. Sigurdsson, after taking time to settle into his new striker role and struggling for the first half of the season, really finished on a high. After the Bundesliga resumed in 2020 he quickly displaced Uth and scored 14 goals in his 16 appearances, ending up with a total of 17, only two less than the Bundesliga's top goalscorer Timo Werner and with better goal to minute ratio (123 vs 139 for Werner and 133 for Haaland in comparison). What an absolute relevation these two turned out to be, we got them for a little bit less than 10 million euro and they ended up among the league's best performing attackers in their first season.

 

 

 

We were about 20 million in the red towards the end of the season but after getting the 64 million finishing price for our 6th place, finances are looking healthy once again. A few first team players will be back from loan (ones that were already out when I took over) - Frederik Sorensen, Lasse Sobiech, James Horn (with optional fee of 3.5 million), Vincent Koziello, Salih Ozcan, Louis Schaub (with optional fee of 3 million) as well as a really talanted 19 years old defender Yann-Aurel Bisseck who is probably the only one I'm actually excited about adding in to the team. The squad is already the size I'm looking for so hopefully they will bring us some money from sales. On the other hand I will be losing Mark Uth who started as my main striker but thankfully was displaced by Sigurdsson so not a huge blow. Elvis Rexhbecaj has another year on his loan deal but I will probably send him back to Wolfsburg.

 

 

 

In the summer I'll probably be looking into strengthening the midfield and that left side of the attack as it pales in comparison with what Santos and Sigurdsson produce from the right and center. For the defense there are already two new additions secured on a free but I'll show them with the others after the transfer window.

Next update will be the transfer window + a more detailed overview of the squad.

18 hours ago, Jimbokav1971 said:

A "hard" save can be ok, but something that just "flows" and is nice and relaxing can be great. 

A Golden Generation 1st time out. Nice. 

Sadly it seems like bad judgement from my Head of Youth guy. The new boys are less promising than what we already had at the club. 

[judyislife]

With the squad being quite large because of players returning from loans, I really needed to trim it down. And it happened, a total of 11 players left the first team. Sadly, because of our reputation still being quite low despite playing in Europe, their value was pathetic and their sales only generated 34.5 million.

I was given about 14 million to spend from what I remember + 100% of sales and about 300k/week for wages.

As for incoming transfers, 6 new players joined the first team and 1 the U19s for a total of 22.5 million.

 

 

The screenshots for San Jose, Calabresi and Voglsammer are a little bit newer as I lost the old ones by mistake.

 

Mikel San Jose (Athletic Bilbao - Free) - A fantastic defender, also decent on the ball and with good mentality. Can play in front of the defense as well.

 

Arturo Calabresi (Bologna - Free) - Another solid option for the back. His concentration is a little concerning but his defensive ability compared to what I had available before more than makes up for it. He can also do a decent job as a right back. 

 

Markus Schubert (Schalke - 2.2M) - I needed a decent second choice GK and he seemed the perfect choice, being young, cheap and home grown.

 

Jose Juan Macias (Deportivo Guadalajara - 11.75M) - Was fortunate to find him when the media linked him with us and immediately decided that he's the one to complement Sigurdsson and Santos up front.

 

Thiago Almada (Velez - 6.5M) - The one to replace Drexler as the creative spark in midfield. Already looks fantastic and is only 19.

 

Andreas Voglsammer (Arminia Bielefeld - 675K) - Wanted another option for the striker spot and with his work rate and physicality he does bring something different compared to Sigurdsson.

 

Fisnik Asllani (Union Berlin - 1.5M) - The kid looks decent and has some potential. 

 

The excitement was sky high at the start of the season and then it all came crashing down. We didn't win in the first 5 Bundesliga games, losing 4 of them. In the middle of all that we also got eliminated by Standard from Europa League before even reaching the group stage after a 94th minute goal. Then a little bit later got eliminated in the cup as well by Darmstadt who are fighting relegation in the second Bundesliga. It really felt surreal. We did recover somewhat until the winter break but are still mostly crap. We're somehow 8th with 22 points. The Bundesliga is so much fun, at this point I'm convinced you can be in the relegation zone halfway through the season and then be in the title race by the end of it.  

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Edited July 4, 2020 by judyislife

[judyislife]

Finished a real nightmare of a season, definitely one to forget.  We ended up 9th which to be fair is higher than predicted (11th) and barely enough for what I promised the board (top half) but obviously I was aiming higher after last year. Not to mention the embarrassing cup performance.

 

 

 

I even got the sack talk after the 0-3 rival defeat against Gladbach. The board weren't having any of my excuses about difficult fixture list and wanted improvements in next month. Win, loss and two draws was apparently enough, thankfully. Against Dortmund they got the lead in 84th minute, at this point I was convinced I was gone. And in 89th Jose Juan Macias (who is having an otherwise disaster of a season considering my expectations for him) got us the draw and probably saved my job as the result showed up in the notable highlights list and got us the 9th spot at the time (exactly the promised top half) on goal difference with two teams behind us with same amount of points. Immediately after it they told me they were pleased with me keeping my promise for improvements.

Around the same time the team also came to me unhappy about underachievement in the league. The player who did bring it up was Renato Santos which absolutely broke my heart as I loved him so much. What broke my heart even more was seeing the empty "support the manager" graph in the conversation.  Unlike the board, I got them on my side with the initial talk after telling them I can turn it around with their help. I still don't think I'll be able to keep Renato Santos next year after that though.

There were some bright sparks in the sea of crap though. Unlike Macias, Thiago Almada absolutely met my expectations and dominated the midfield amazingly considering the team's overall performances. Arnor Sigursson once again ended up among the Bundesliga's top goalscorers.

 

  

 

There will be some changes in the summer. The initial budget is 23 million which is not a lot despite the finances being quite a bit better than this time last year (the balance is at 70+ million). I understand not trusting me with big money after the **** show I offered this season though.  There is a pretty major signing that I paid for before the season's end and receiving the budget as well so part of the transfer job is already completed. I'd love a right winger to replace Santos and either a right back or a centre back (with Calabresi occupying the other spot) so I can finally have a constant back four.

Edited July 4, 2020 by judyislife

[judyislife]

The summer transfer window is over. 3 new players joined the first team and 4 left it.

Rafael Czichos and Florian Kainz were the only two players we got money for, a total of 4 million. Andreas Voglsammer joined Bochum on loan. I like him and he fits the back up striker role perfectly but with no European football we will have match a week for most of the season and someone special joined our attack so there was no space left for him, at least for this year. Salih Ozcan left on a free after refusing to sign a contract without promises about becoming an important part of the first team in the next couple of years. Guess that didn't work that well for him as he still is unemployed.

Now about the more interesting part - the new additions. I broke the club transfer record by paying 17 million for Sebastiano Esposito. He's also the highest earner in the squad with 65k/ week but it was impossible to pass on when I saw him available. Next was Dominique Heintz who joined us from the relegated Freiburg for 3 million. He's the final piece of my defense that I was looking for, hopefully he'll form a good partnership with Mikel San Jose. The last player to join us was Kim Hyun-Soo, a 19 year old regen from South Korea. He's basically replacing Ozcan as a last choice midfielder and if he improves his passing he'd be a pretty decent option to have.

 

  

 

And here is how the squad has changed in these two years. I'll divide it in two posts as the total size limit for files wouldn't allow me include everyone's screenshot.

 

Goalkeepers

Timo Horn is obviously my first choice and among the best keepers in the league. He's had a pre-concern about looking for a bigger club for a few months now though so at some point in the future I may be forced to look for a replacement. Markus Schubert joined us last summer and is doing well when called upon which is all you need from a second choice keeper.

 

 

Defenders

Katterbach, San Jose, Heintz and Calabresi are shaping up to be my first pick back four, one that hast cost us a grand total of 3 million euro.  Then I have Horn, Bisseck and Ehizibue ready to fill in when necessary.

  

  

  

[judyislife]

Midfielders

First pick for the three in the middle is the captain Jonas Hector as a defensive midfielder with Skhiri and the phenomenal Almada in front of him. Next come Verstraete, Schaub and Hyun-Soo.

  

  

 

Forwards

Possibly the most exciting part of the team at this point. All three of Esposito, Sigurdsson and Macias can do well both up front and on the left side so I'm basically going to shuffle them around the two roles. On the right I have Renato Santos who I decided to keep for at least another year after not finding an adequate replacement and Jan Thielmann who I promoted from the youth team immediately after I took over and he's been a reliable sub ever since while progressing decently as a player.

  

 

 

We started way better than last year and demolished Schalke 5:1 at home in the opening day. A 2:2 away draw followed against Hertha that hurt a lot as we conceded penalty and an own goal while missing a bunch of clear cut chances. Again though, the team looked nothing like the mess that it was last year. Then we got another point after a goal-less draw against Frankfurt. Can't share a screenshot currently because of size limit that the screenshots are not reaching anyway. 

[Jimbokav1971]

On 02/07/2020 at 08:35, judyislife said:

After easing myself into this year's game with Manchester United and struggling hard against Liverpool and City, I decided to switch to something more relaxing.

I think a lot of people are becoming more interested in saves that you can ease yourselves into. It's fine with it being a challenge, but there is a lot to be said for having the security that means you are unlikely to be sacked unless you get relegated. Good luck. 

[judyislife]

Finished my third season at the club and it was another underwhelming year.

 

  

 

Eneded up 11th which was where we were predicted to finish and what the board expected but obviously we can't be satisfied with mid table finishes forever. Especially considering our two standout players - Sebastiano Esposito and Thiago Almada.

 

  

 

Esposito became the league top scorer with 25 goals in 26 appearances while adding 6 assissts as well. What an absolute monster of a player. Almada was close to the top players in terms of assissts (12, only 1 behind Thiago and Mukiele) and scored 5 goals, all of which were absolute long range beauties as far as I remember. Those two also ended up having the highest ratings in the Bundesliga.

Almada expressed desire to join a bigger club and I promised him to let him go if someone comes with an 60 million offer for him. Currently he is not wanted by anyone and hopefully this will remain so in future. But we'll really need to start showing some progress in order to keep such players in the team.

Edited July 8, 2020 by judyislife

[judyislife]

I'm playing the game on Microsoft's game pass, it's expiring and I probably won't be renewing it as I can't quite make things work on fm 20. So the career is probably done.