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The FM21 Youth Academy Challenge


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6 minutes ago, JLAB said:

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Would he make it into your team any time soon?

Well, I think he'd be a starter for us, really.  This is my best midfielder currently.

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15 hours ago, Armeniar said:

 

 

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Our youth network has been firmly expanded over the past months. Arendal & Dender for example have great youth facilities. Bring in those foreign talents! :cool:

Never had outside of Europe :(

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55 minutes ago, vikeologist said:

Wouldn't normally tempt fate like this or provide a mid-season update, but 

After  finally gaining promotion last season after 17 years, I predicted that it wouldn't take another 17 to achieve the next one.

Looks as though I was right.

What is happening?

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Got a nice gap there as well

Godd luck, hope the dreaded losing spell doesn't happen and if it does not for too long

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End of Season Review

Season 2024/25

Friar Lane & Epworth

Image result for friar lane & epworth fc logo

League Table - We were neck and neck with St. Helens Town all season before we slipped up and had to settle for second place.

League Fixtures 1 & 2 - Two losses in March proved to be key as we fell away from a promotion challenge.

F. A. Cup - A decent enough cup run as we made it through to the second qualifying round before being well beaten away to AFC Blackpool, who play in the tier above.

F. A. Vase - A fantastic cup run as we made it through seven rounds before losing at home to Corinthian, despite being two nil up at half time.

East Midlands Counties League Cup - A comfortable competition saw the club reach the final and play promotion rivals St. Helens Town where we got the better of them this time, winning our first cup.

Pre Season Friendlies - With fifteen games played and only three defeats, it was a satisfying pre season.

Squad - This squad is far too good for this level.

Squad Dynamics - Exceptional as expected.

Transfers In - None.

Transfers Out - Just the one departure, as I allowed Ted Sweeney, who was the only player at the club when I joined, to leave on a free transfer.

Youth Candidates - An exceptional intake, with left back Jake Hickey YP25O63 being the best player in this group.

Finances - We are still in the black though we did lose a small amount this season.

Key Players

Chris Moore YP23L28 - A disappointing season from our best midfielder.

Mahmoud Best-Noble YP23P32 - Another barnstorming season from the forward, scoring 59 goals in 55 appearances.  He has now scored 117 goals in his career, in only 100 games.

Michael Buron YP24C35 - A decent enough campaign from the versatile midfielder, though he is capable of so much more.

Lorenzo Price YP23I25 - A breakout year from the youngster, who can play on either the left wing or up front.

Louis Bainbridge YP23F22 - The right back is the best player at the club.

Next Season

It simply must be promotion.

Personal Coaching Data

Season     Reputation            Qualifications    Att   Def   Fit   GkD   GkH   GkS   Tac   Tec   Men   WWY   Ada   Det   PlK   YoK   LoD   MaM   Mot
------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
At start   Minimal   (0.25*)     None                1     1     1     1     1     1     1     1     1     4     1     1     1     4     1     1     1
2021/22    Minimal = (0.25*) =   National C ↑        2 ↑   2 ↑   2 ↑   1 =   1 =   1 =   2 ↑   2 ↑   2 ↑   4 =   1 =   2 ↑   2 ↑   4 =   4 ↑   2 ↑   3 ↑
2022/23    Minimal = (0.50*) ↑   National A ↑↑       7 ↑   6 ↑   3 ↑   2 ↑   1 =   1 =   7 ↑   6 ↑   7 ↑   4 =   1 =   6 ↑   6 ↑   8 ↑  13 ↑   7 ↑   7 ↑
2023/24    Minimal = (0.75*) ↑   Continental B ↑↑   10 ↑   9 ↑   6 ↑   2 =   1 =   1 =   9 ↑   9 ↑  10 ↑   4 =   1 =   8 ↑   8 ↑   9 ↑  19 ↑  10 ↑  10 ↑
2024/25    Minimal = (0.50*) ↓   Continental B =    10 =   9 =   6 =   2 =   1 =   1 =   9 =   9 =  10 =   4 =   1 =   8 =   8 =   9 =  19 =  10 =  10 =

Club Facilities

Season     Training Facilities  Youth Facilities  Youth Level  Corporate Facilities  Junior Coaching  Youth Recruitment  Club Reputation
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
At Start   Poor                 Poor                   0       Basic                 Basic            Limited            Local   (0.50*)
2021/22    Poor =               Poor =                 0 =     Basic =               Fairly basic ↑   Basic ↑            Local = (0.50*) =
2022/23    Poor =               Poor =                 0 =     Basic =               Average ↑        Fairly basic ↑     Local = (0.50*) =
2023/24    Poor =               Poor =                 0 =     Basic =               Adequate ↑       Fairly basic =     Local = (0.50*) =
2024/25    Poor =               Poor =                 0 =     Basic =               Good ↑           Adequate ↑         Local = (0.50*) =

Season Record

Season     Played     Won     Drawn     Lost     Goals For     Goals Against     Goal Difference     Win Percentage
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
2021/22      29        9         6       14          55              53                  +2              31.03%
2022/23      30       20         4        6          87              55                 +32              66.67% ↑
2023/24      45       29         7        9         145              75                 +70              64.44% ↓
2024/25      55       42         6        7         161              72                 +89              76.36% ↑

Overall Career Record

After Season   Played     Won     Drawn     Lost     Goals For     Goals Against     Goal Difference     Win Percentage     Time At Club
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
2021/22          29        9         6       14          55              53                  +2              31.03%             302 days
2022/23          59       29        10       20         142             108                 +34              49.15% ↑           667 days
2023/24         104       58        17       29         287             183                +104              55.77% ↑         1,037 days
2024/25         159      100        23       36         448             255                +193              62.89% ↑         1,426 days

Trophy Haul

Season     Competition Won
--------------------------
2022/23    Leicestershire Senior League Premier Division
2024/25    East Midlands Counties League Cup

Trophy Cabinet

League Titles
-------------
1 x Leicestershire Senior League Premier Division (2022/23)

Cup Competition Victories
-------------------------
1 x East Midlands Counties League Cup (2024/25)

 Career Overview

Season     Champions League    Europa League    Europa Conference League             League                                          Position     F.A. Cup                    League Cup        Achievements
------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
2021/22           N/a               N/a                    N/a                       Leicestershire Senior League Premier Division     11th         N/a                          N/a            First round of Leicestershire Senior League Cup.
2022/23           N/a               N/a                    N/a                       Leicestershire Senior League Premier Division      1st ↑       N/a                          N/a            Quarter final of Leicestershire Senior League Cup.
2023/24           N/a               N/a                    N/a                       East Midlands Counties League                      3rd ↑       N/a                          N/a            Fourth round of F. A. Vase.  First round of East Midlands Counties League Cup.
2024/25           N/a               N/a                    N/a                       East Midlands Counties League                      2nd ↑     Second qualifying round        N/a            Quarter final of F. A. Vase.  East Midlands Counties League Cup winners.

Record Number of Appearances (Players From The Academy Only)

Season     Player                    Cumulative Number of Appearances
---------------------------------------------------------------------
2021/22    Lucky Eze YP22F6                          3
2022/23    Abbas Ismail YP22B2                      31
2023/24    Anthony Lovatt YP22A1                    72
           Abbas Ismail YP22B2                      72
2024/25    Abbas Ismail YP22B2                     126

Record Goal Scorer (Players From The Academy Only)

Season     Player                          Cumulative Number of Goals
---------------------------------------------------------------------
2021/22    Lucky Eze YP22F6                             5
2022/23    Kane Senior YP22D4                          23
2023/24    Mahmoud Best-Noble YP23P32                  58
2024/25    Mahmoud Best-Noble YP23P32                 117

Record Number of Assists (Players From The Academy Only)

Season     Player                        Cumulative Number of Assists
---------------------------------------------------------------------
2021/22    Gary Davison YP22J10                        2
2022/23    Gary Davison YP22J10                       10
2023/24    Brenton Beckford YP23M29                   22
2024/25    Mahmoud Best-Noble YP23P32                 29

Record Number of Clean Sheets (Players From The Academy Only)

Season     Player                    Cumulative Number of Clean Sheets
----------------------------------------------------------------------
2021/22    Daniel Thern YP22M13                       1
2022/23    Daniel Thern YP22M13                       3
2023/24    Dave Clayton YP23A17                      14
2024/25    Dave Clayton YP23A17                      26

 

 

 

 

Edited by DazRTaylor
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On 15/02/2021 at 21:44, XaW said:

So since I now take it slower and tactical, let's talk tactics. I have never had my old 4-5-1/4-3-3 to work on FM21, so this is my real attempt at it.

My first attempt on the left and the new one on the right.

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So, I've done some role changes, but the general idea is quite similar. I want the left full back to be the width on the left and have the AML tuck inside. One of my main issues in my first try was that the striker was too isolated, so I've changed the AMR into an Inside Winger to have him come a bit closer. I've also had the most attacking midfielder change into a Mezzala to allow him to move into the channels and work with the IW. The other central midfielder I changed into a Carrilero, simply because the Ball Winning Midfielder seems to be too passive on the ball. So making him a Carrilero I hope to get him more involved.

The first friendly (against lower league opponents) went well as we won 5-0. The opening goal came after the WB-R made a run forward into space vacated by the IW and found the MEZ in a pull back. The MEZ then squared the ball to the CAR who scored from 14 meters out. The 2nd goal came from the AMR after he stayed central following the 2nd ball win by the AML from a corner. The 3rd was a direct free kick and the 4th was a corner headed into the bottom corner. The final goal was from a recycled ball to the HB who found the CAR in space, he passed it to the AML who found the bottom corner from about the edge of the box.

So only the first and the last goal was by design, and the other two was from set pieces or after a set piece. Still, it was our first ever try at the tactic, so I'm happy there seems to be some promise in the new edition yet. Now to get through the friendlies and see how it works against the teams in the league!

Bit late to this as not been around much this week but just saw this and wanted to throw in my two cents as I play the same formation (and have done for about 3 or 4 versions now) and what I have is this:
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It's pretty much Gegenpress but it's that same team instructions I think I've used for a while now, there are some tweaks but not many. The main one is player roles. The DM will sometimes be a DLP if I have the right player and the AP changes from AP to Mez to CM (always on attack) again depending on the player I have. I've mixed the wide options a bit more this year but have just gone back to IF's as they seem to give me the best results and I like to have the full backs on slightly different roles, I dunno why but it's something I've always done :D 

Oh the BPD is only because that's Bortloltti's best role and seems to help us control the game a bit more but when he's out it's 2 standard CBs which works just as well.

I think that's it for me :D 

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2 hours ago, Zdnap_ said:

Hello everyone,

I'm new here and decided to start the challenge. Sorry if I ask questions that have already been answered, but the thread is kind of long and I'm only on page 23 (fast-reading)
I started with Sportfreunde Lotte, just wanted to see how it goes, but I got caught up in it so I intend to properly finish the challenge (or get fired). And I have some questions :

  • I've seen two people getting promoted or purposely avoiding promotion in 3. Bundesliga. I also got promoted, though not as easily. Is it normal that it is so easy ? Should I have also avoided promotion in my first season ?
  • My board decided to build a new stadium because our old one was not enough for 2. Bundesliga. We are now 12M in debt. How do you handle this situation ? Continue as normal ?
  • I am kind of "abusing" long throw-ins (I'm actually abusing them IRL too, and have more actual assists with my hands than my feet :idiot: Technically challenged hunting dog here :idiot:). Is it frowned upon / forbidden in this challenge ? Are there other unsaid rules ? (That are actually in the game I mean, not reloading - though I did it once to not break the rules, one of my intake that I offered a contract really late accepted after the trial/youth candidate period ended which resulted in a transfer. I reloaded and did not offer him a contract...)
  • I went without staff in my first season except a physio. Is it better to have bad staff or no one at all ? Am I my own HoYD ? (had no intake preview but an average intake with average/decent personalities)
  • Is it advised to rename player with those Year/Ranking names ? (I kinda like the "real" name or nicknames)
  • Is it okay to use the "real" faces regen facepack that comes from a youtuber whose name is close to Australia and that I have no idea if it is alright to quote here ?
  • I usually put everyone in Senior Squad (mentoring), make them available for U19 or II, and have 0 II/U19 staff. Is it still alright in this version in the game ? Do U19 staff have any impact on intake ?
     

And here comes my first season review (the proper formatting will have to come through trial and errors - I hope those pictures thingies will work - Please forgive the weird inconsistent cropping, I play windowed on either 1080 or UHD screen) :


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Season 2021/2022

 

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Game options :

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Manager options :

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Starting profile :

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Joining a team with basically no ambition and destined to struggle against relegation for a first experience, I didn't expect much, but i was destined to be proved wrong. Only 18 registerable players, plus one that reached the proper age midseason. None of them very good, but one canadian international. Never underestimate canadian intenational. Not even when they lose against the mighty Curacao and get kicked out of of the WC qualifiers...

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The season was bound to be nonsensical anyway, somehow Russia went all the way to the Euro final. But they had no chance against the great Norway, the undefeatable European superpower (I guess they are way too many awesome managers in Norway, developing batch after batch of local players ? :D )

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No one with a decent level wanted to joined my staff,  except some pretty (mostly cheap and good) physio. So no staff, no evaluation for me. My team is bad anyway, why train them ? And why scout someone ? Let's just get the finances going !

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So I went and decided to play tough (well, very attacking tough, but then had to adjust because of terrible defence, and attacking with low block - from gegenpress to fluid counter attack without knowing).
Tough with Inverted Wingbacks and Defensive Wingers. Awesome speedy fullbacks, and genius inverted wingers are awesome. But a half decent DM retrained at IWB beats an average FB anytime. At least I think so in FM. And I had loads of DMs and only one proper FB (had to use the other one as DC). That was the makeshiftest defence I have ever seen :seagull:

In the end it's as predicted, we were terrible at passing, no good at heading, tacking a lot but mostly into emptyness, but quite adept at fouling (no red cards though I think)

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And yet, despite a rocky start and some adjustments, we managed to actually go for the promotion battle (that took some miracles, but we were kind of letal in front of the goal) . Bayern II collapsed after Armindo Sieb joined the first team, but that was after they crushed our rivals for promotion. We were on a roll in the second part of the season, while Dresden collapsed (really thought that Regensburg was our opponent for promotion, and even them were 8 points above us after we reached 5th spot - I thought that 94th DFK goal for 4-3 against them could be the turning point of the season). We nearly managed to choke by losing our second to last game aginst a lower table team, but we got the last game. Somehow...
And then we had to play against SpVgg Greuther Fürth for the playoff. With our best player in a international game in the first leg and some youth that barely qualified to replace him for his first senior game. And then he played with him for his second, and actually scored. A long shot on the post with the exterior of his foot. Our man of the match scoring the away goal qualifying us for promotion ! :applause:

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We are the green line :

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In the end we had the second most goals in the league (and the best goalscorer - the heroic Exaucé Andzouana - who gained a portrait picture for second season), and the second worst  defence too.
My backup goalkeeper was barely edged out of the team of the year, despite his 2 starts and 2 subs (in the outfield...). By a 5 acceleration 17 year old center back...

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I had no youth preview. I guess I did not do my job as HoYD properly. And I also didn't rate them on a star ranking, so no rating. But thankfully my Personal Assistant, Lisa Perrot, knew about them and I could follow her recommandation and sign some of them.
Of course, Lisa Gehrke did a wonderful job with the injuries, and Luisa also did as a press officer. Why would I not trust Lisa Perrot with the whole future of the club ?

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Finances were super fine. No transfers, no staff, how could they be bad ? Well, they ended up new-stadium bad... How will we managed that in the next season ? Well, there are now decent prospects so there will be coaching staff.
But we'll make Sportfreunde Lotte great again !
Errrrrr except they were never great, were they ?
Plus "SportFreunde" making the most fouls in the game ?
Well, whatever, we will continue developing this awesome club using only our youth academy !

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I will try and answer these as best I can for you mate:

I've seen two people getting promoted or purposely avoiding promotion in 3. Bundesliga. I also got promoted, though not as easily. Is it normal that it is so easy ? Should I have also avoided promotion in my first season ? I personally never avoid a promotion, take it when you can, if it comes early then good I say

My board decided to build a new stadium because our old one was not enough for 2. Bundesliga. We are now 12M in debt. How do you handle this situation ? Continue as normal ? Yeah just carry on as normal really, just one of those things that happens at times, maybe push in the cups but probably won't help a great deal. Big worry here would be that any real promising players you get through will probably be sold off to clear any debt

I am kind of "abusing" long throw-ins (I'm actually abusing them IRL too, and have more actual assists with my hands than my feet  Technically challenged hunting dog here ). Is it frowned upon / forbidden in this challenge ? Are there other unsaid rules ? (That are actually in the game I mean, not reloading - though I did it once to not break the rules, one of my intake that I offered a contract really late accepted after the trial/youth candidate period ended which resulted in a transfer. I reloaded and did not offer him a contract...) Nah no rule really, I spend a lot of time of corners and throw ins myself. My view is that anything that can help is fair game (unless there is a clear exploit like there was with corners a few FMs ago) 

I went without staff in my first season except a physio. Is it better to have bad staff or no one at all ? Am I my own HoYD ? (had no intake preview but an average intake with average/decent personalities) I'd say having some staff, even bad ones, are better than none. If your only choice is bad ones I'd probably go with ones that have a good personality at least and if you can ones that fit you tactic - for the coaches at least

Is it advised to rename player with those Year/Ranking names ? (I kinda like the "real" name or nicknames) You don't have to tag your players like that no, can do it any way you like, it's just something we encourage here to help people reading to keep up with the progress of players

Is it okay to use the "real" faces regen facepack that comes from a youtuber whose name is close to Australia and that I have no idea if it is alright to quote here ? I assume you mean Zealand and yeah that's fine, it's the facepack I am using this year as I think it's great and adds such depth to this challenge

I usually put everyone in Senior Squad (mentoring), make them available for U19 or II, and have 0 II/U19 staff. Is it still alright in this version in the game ? Do U19 staff have any impact on intake ? Whatever way you want to train your players is up to you. I don't know if the U19 coaches have any impact on the initial intake but I may be wrong, I still try and have a full compliment of coaches with good personalities in the U19s but that's just a personal preference for me as I tend to keep them in the U19 squad till they're too old for it or they're ready for the first team

Anyway, hope some of that helps and welcome to the challenge - be warned though as this can become a very addictive way of playing the game :D 

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12 hours ago, Padders said:

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Season Review 2105/06

A slightly better season, spending most of it mid table

I have a new wonderkid, first one for a while, Liam Archer who got 25 assists in his first full season. According to my sheet, that's the highest ever in a season

Youth intake really poor again!

Luca Crepaldi still going at 33 years old with another 30 goals

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Fair play to you for doing 85 seasons.

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On 16/02/2021 at 18:51, JAwtunes said:

Really pleased with last seasons intake.  This guy came through the academy 3 months ago.  He is already a starter in our team, and u21 international and is being watched by the Poland manager.  Oh, and he has 3 goals in 6 league games from CB too.

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I am now having to reject £5m+ offers for this chap and he's only been in the game for about 5 months. 

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Meanwhile, Legia have had a tycoon takeover and have gone full meta and are hoarding South American wonderkids.

Spoiler

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2 hours ago, JAwtunes said:

I am now having to reject £5m+ offers for this chap and he's only been in the game for about 5 months. 

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Meanwhile, Legia have had a tycoon takeover and have gone full meta and are hoarding South American wonderkids.

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That CB is ridiculous for 16!!

 

Unfortunate for you with Legia, but I haven't seen a tycoon takeover in FM, don't think Ive ever had one happen to me either!

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Club Atlético Sarmiento de Resistencia - 2023/24 season review

Considering we were 1,000-1 at the start of the season and the media had us nailed on for bottom of the table, we fairly comfortably survived. In the first part of the season we ended in the relegation places, but in the Relegation Group we avoided the bottom 6 by a fairly comfortable 6 points in the end. Guillermo Sanchez was again the star of the show, banging in 22 goals this year. With the change in formation from a 442 to a 4141, Angel Cardenas 21a became the first of my youths to nail down a starting spot. He played in 38 games at DM, starting the vast majority of those, and had an ok season averaging 6.65 with 3 goals and 4 assists. Not fantastic but not terrible. Quite a few of the other youth players made substantial contributions - Eduardo Larrain 21c made 27 subsititute appearances with 9 starts, Ezequiel Visconti 22d made 10 starts, Ruben Rojas 22b made 9 starts and even Johan Canete 23a jumped straight into the first team with 4 starts and 6 appearances from the bench. I even had to tag a player from the 22 intake who has come on leaps and bounds, Elias Bobadilla 22e is now the 5th player from that intake with a tag. He's my new backup to Sanchez, although Sanchez has been pretty bulletproof so far. Finances are still in the tank, but I'm trimming about £11k off the wage bill at the end of the season with a fair bit of dead wood leaving the club. Hopefully that will help us to stabilise a little!

The league table:

Spoiler

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The Relegation Group

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The squad

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Transfers

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Elias Bobadilla 22e

Spoiler

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One of my domestic rivals had a tycoon takeover as well after they got relegated to a non-playable league, but they were a weak team and the tycoon withdrew his funding 8 years after his takeover. They spent £250K in one season, but got relegated straight back down anyway, with them needing 5 more seasons to get promoted again, at which the tycoon withdrew his funding. So one could say that this tycoon wasn't impressed that his takeover only got one promotion.

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I thought I should say that now that the Argentine 2nd division is back into one league and not split into two groups I had both the end of season review and the end of season team meeting, so I reckon there is something bugged with divisions that are split into multiple groups (like Portugal and Argentina are). I raised a thread on the bug forums and provided my save game a while back, but if anyone else has their own save game that might be able to help the guys at SI feel free to post it in here:

 

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Wuhan Three Towns - Season 2030 Review

Manager Attributes - Characteristics

Transfers - Fixtures 1 - Fixtures 2

China League One - 2nd (promoted)

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Wow!  What an unexpected season that ended with a final day climb into the second promotion spot.  The season began with two defeats in our first three league matches, one on the opening day to the eventual champions, but from there we went on an unbelievable run until the halfway stage where we sat top of the table.  Unfortunately after the two week mid season break we went on a run of five games without a win and only one win in seven which quickly burst my bubble.  Despite this we managed to hang onto the coattails of the leading pack and still had an outside shot at promotion but needing to beat Changchun in the penultimate game and then win our last match whilst hoping that Chang'an lost.  Luckily for me they had a final day fixture against league winners DL Pro and with us beating Meizhou we went up on a superior goal difference as our head to head record was equal.

Squad

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I think the squad was helped this season by being almost unchanged for the third season running, so potentially playing as a cohesive unit.  The only downside to this is that we aren't producing players that anybody is really interested in signing but more on that in the finances.  After having an injury hit year last season Yu Hao 23b came back into his own with the second highest goal contributions from right wing, Guo Qi 22h also got his best return on goals and goal contributions.  Him along with his central midfield partner Ma Jian'gang 22f are leading the way for appearances by regens, on 216.

The highlight for me though is Li Weijie 27c who was joint top goalscorer in the league and the first player to score over 20 in a season for five years.  The one thing I really want him to improve on though is his pace which after an initial boost from individual training seems to have plateaued.

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Youth Intake

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Unfortunately this was described as "a poor crop of players" and they weren't lying.  I think I've had 4 or 5 goalkeepers as the best prospect in intakes and I'm still using the goalkeeper that was at the club from the beginning but aside from that there are a lot of unambitious players with low determination coming through despite my HOYD being Driven.  Saying that he has produced three Model Citizens but I am thinking of trying out somebody else to see what sort of players someone else can produce, although I am limited to who I can get because most want more money than I am able to offer.

Only really worth showing the top of the class Peng Qinggao 30a

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Finances

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After quite a few seasons being kept afloat by selling our best talent for a decent amount of money we've seen that dry up almost completely with hardly any interest in any of our players.  It's quite concerning as at one point a lot of the players were sought after and I've raised a total of £17.5M since I've been at the club but the past three years have seen the bottom fall out of that strategy.  A whopping £4M lost this season which includes £1M for players bonus on league position, I'm not sure why but it always seems to be a really ludicrous sum of money even though prize money for the league finish is £65k.  I am working under the current wage budget so I had a quick whip around signing everyone up to contracts for as long as possible without promotion wage rises, so at least if the board start cutting that I will be able to limp along with this squad for a couple more seasons.

At the turn of the year I got the message that two of our former players who I had sold with 50% next sale clauses had been released so that was also disheartening, especially as they both joined teams within a month of being released.  I now have only one player that has a next sale clause and he hasn't played a single game for 18 months so I can't imagine that will do me any good.

I'm not quite sure what the solution is as we have a really small wage bill so there seems very little I can do except hope that we get some decent sponsorship now we are back in the super league as the sponsors we have now are down to £350k from a height of £600k which is in the bottom half of League One sides.  The next side above me has £1.1M sponsorship income and DL Pro who won the league are raking in a ridiculous £87M.

Next Season

My aim is to try and not lose every game but it would be amazing if we could survive a few seasons in the Super League as I think it might be the only way that we could improve the standing of the club and maybe get at least one upgrade of anything.

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End of Season Review

Season 2025/26

Friar Lane & Epworth

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League Table - We dominated the season from start to finish and won the league by a huge twenty three points.

League Fixtures 1 & 2 - We won our first twelve league games before losing twice in a row.  We only lost one further game throughout the league campaign as we were clearly the best side in the division.

F. A. Cup - A disaster.  Despite dominating the game, we lost away to Clapton at the first hurdle, which is the extra preliminary round.

F. A. Vase - We made it through to the first round proper before being beaten at home by East Thurrock United in a game we really should of won.

East Midlands Counties League Cup - We made the final again where we played Teversal.  

Pre Season Friendlies - We played fourtenn games and only lost twice, both against much higher division clubs, so a very pleasing pre season.

Squad - We have quite a strong squad for this low down.

Squad Dynamics - After such a successful season, I couldn't ask for more.

Transfers In - None.

Transfers Out 1 & 2 - I had a clear out of young players who are not good enough and wanted to leave.

Youth Candidates - My best intake to date with right back Charlie Kearns YP26B66 being a clear star.

Finances - We have slipped into the red as the lack of any major cup run denied the club some much needed income.

Key Players

Lorenzo Price YP23I25 - Another very strong season from the left winger, who once again managed double digits for both goals and assists.

Tom Taylor YP25E53 - A return of 51 goals in 46 appearances is a highly satisfying first campaign as the main striker.

Orri Rúnarsson YP25G55 - The Icelandic right winger was so good, he kept his place for the majority of the season.

Kyle Joseph YP24E37 - Our best defender was a rock at centre back.

Dean McMurray YP25H56 - Playing in defensive midfield, the youngster is arguably our best and most important player.

Next Season

Another promotion challenge is the aim.

Personal Coaching Data

Season     Reputation            Qualifications    Att   Def   Fit   GkD   GkH   GkS   Tac   Tec   Men   WWY   Ada   Det   PlK   YoK   LoD   MaM   Mot
------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
At start   Minimal   (0.25*)     None                1     1     1     1     1     1     1     1     1     4     1     1     1     4     1     1     1
2021/22    Minimal = (0.25*) =   National C ↑        2 ↑   2 ↑   2 ↑   1 =   1 =   1 =   2 ↑   2 ↑   2 ↑   4 =   1 =   2 ↑   2 ↑   4 =   4 ↑   2 ↑   3 ↑
2022/23    Minimal = (0.50*) ↑   National A ↑↑       7 ↑   6 ↑   3 ↑   2 ↑   1 =   1 =   7 ↑   6 ↑   7 ↑   4 =   1 =   6 ↑   6 ↑   8 ↑  13 ↑   7 ↑   7 ↑
2023/24    Minimal = (0.75*) ↑   Continental B ↑↑   10 ↑   9 ↑   6 ↑   2 =   1 =   1 =   9 ↑   9 ↑  10 ↑   4 =   1 =   8 ↑   8 ↑   9 ↑  19 ↑  10 ↑  10 ↑
2024/25    Minimal = (0.50*) ↓   Continental B =    10 =   9 =   6 =   2 =   1 =   1 =   9 =   9 =  10 =   4 =   1 =   8 =   8 =   9 =  19 =  10 =  10 =
2025/26    Minimal = (0.75*) ↑   Continental A ↑    10 =   9 =   6 =   2 =   1 =   1 =  10 ↑  10 ↑  10 =   4 =   1 =   8 =   9 ↑   9 =  20 ↑  11 ↑  13 ↑

Club Facilities

Season     Training Facilities  Youth Facilities  Youth Level  Corporate Facilities  Junior Coaching  Youth Recruitment  Club Reputation
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
At Start   Poor                 Poor                   0       Basic                 Basic            Limited            Local   (0.50*)
2021/22    Poor =               Poor =                 0 =     Basic =               Fairly basic ↑   Basic ↑            Local = (0.50*) =
2022/23    Poor =               Poor =                 0 =     Basic =               Average ↑        Fairly basic ↑     Local = (0.50*) =
2023/24    Poor =               Poor =                 0 =     Basic =               Adequate ↑       Fairly basic =     Local = (0.50*) =
2024/25    Poor =               Poor =                 0 =     Basic =               Good ↑           Adequate ↑         Local = (0.50*) =
2025/26    Poor =               Poor =                 0 =     Basic =               Good =           Adequate =         Local = (0.50*) =

Season Record

Season     Played     Won     Drawn     Lost     Goals For     Goals Against     Goal Difference     Win Percentage
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
2021/22      29        9         6       14          55              53                  +2              31.03%
2022/23      30       20         4        6          87              55                 +32              66.67% ↑
2023/24      45       29         7        9         145              75                 +70              64.44% ↓
2024/25      55       42         6        7         161              72                 +89              76.36% ↑
2025/26      47       40         2        5         144              40                +104              85.11% ↑

Overall Career Record

After Season   Played     Won     Drawn     Lost     Goals For     Goals Against     Goal Difference     Win Percentage     Time At Club
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
2021/22          29        9         6       14          55              53                  +2              31.03%             302 days
2022/23          59       29        10       20         142             108                 +34              49.15% ↑           667 days
2023/24         104       58        17       29         287             183                +104              55.77% ↑         1,037 days
2024/25         159      100        23       36         448             255                +193              62.89% ↑         1,426 days
2025/26         206      140        25       41         592             295                +297              67.96% ↑         1,790 days

Trophy Haul

Season     Competition Won
--------------------------
2022/23    Leicestershire Senior League Premier Division
2024/25    East Midlands Counties League Cup
2025/26    East Midlands Counties League
2025/26    East Midlands Counties League Cup

Trophy Cabinet

League Titles
-------------
1 x East Midlands Counties League (2025/26)
1 x Leicestershire Senior League Premier Division (2022/23)

Cup Competition Victories
-------------------------
2 x East Midlands Counties League Cup (2024/25, 2025/26)

 Career Overview

Season     Champions League    Europa League    Europa Conference League             League                                          Position     F.A. Cup                    League Cup        Achievements
------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
2021/22           N/a               N/a                    N/a                       Leicestershire Senior League Premier Division     11th         N/a                          N/a            First round of Leicestershire Senior League Cup.
2022/23           N/a               N/a                    N/a                       Leicestershire Senior League Premier Division      1st ↑       N/a                          N/a            Promoted as champions.  Quarter final of Leicestershire Senior League Cup.
2023/24           N/a               N/a                    N/a                       East Midlands Counties League                      3rd ↑       N/a                          N/a            Fourth round of F. A. Vase.  First round of East Midlands Counties League Cup.
2024/25           N/a               N/a                    N/a                       East Midlands Counties League                      2nd ↑     Second qualifying round        N/a            Quarter final of F. A. Vase.  East Midlands Counties League Cup winners.
2025/26           N/a               N/a                    N/a                       East Midlands Counties League                      1st ↑     Extra preliminary round        N/a            Promoted as champions.  First round of F. A. Vase.  East Midlands Counties League Cup winners.

Record Number of Appearances (Players From The Academy Only)

Season     Player                    Cumulative Number of Appearances
---------------------------------------------------------------------
2021/22    Lucky Eze YP22F6                          3
2022/23    Abbas Ismail YP22B2                      31
2023/24    Anthony Lovatt YP22A1                    72
           Abbas Ismail YP22B2                      72
2024/25    Abbas Ismail YP22B2                     126
2025/26    Abbas Ismail YP22B2                     171

Record Goal Scorer (Players From The Academy Only)

Season     Player                          Cumulative Number of Goals
---------------------------------------------------------------------
2021/22    Lucky Eze YP22F6                             5
2022/23    Kane Senior YP22D4                          23
2023/24    Mahmoud Best-Noble YP23P32                  58
2024/25    Mahmoud Best-Noble YP23P32                 117
2025/26    Mahmoud Best-Noble YP23P32                 129

Record Number of Assists (Players From The Academy Only)

Season     Player                        Cumulative Number of Assists
---------------------------------------------------------------------
2021/22    Gary Davison YP22J10                        2
2022/23    Gary Davison YP22J10                       10
2023/24    Brenton Beckford YP23M29                   22
2024/25    Mahmoud Best-Noble YP23P32                 29
2025/26    Lorenzo Price YP23I25                      40

Record Number of Clean Sheets (Players From The Academy Only)

Season     Player                    Cumulative Number of Clean Sheets
----------------------------------------------------------------------
2021/22    Daniel Thern YP22M13                       1
2022/23    Daniel Thern YP22M13                       3
2023/24    Dave Clayton YP23A17                      14
2024/25    Dave Clayton YP23A17                      26
2025/26    Dave Clayton YP23A17                      48

 

 

 

 

Edited by DazRTaylor
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Vikeologist's 18th Folkestone Intake Report (and 14th Intake Review)

See the source image

The thing I hate about the later arrival of intakes is that they come right at the end of the season when potentially things are hotting up nicely.

Such is the case with this one, arriving at it does immediately before the most important match of our season, if not the entire history of our club.

So, my immediate reaction to the intake is, who gives a stuff? I’m sure they’re all decent coves and all that, but really one has other matters on one’s mind at the moment.

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Still, at first sight, most of them seem decent enough, I suppose. Only to be expected given our improvement in facilities. The boards have proved to be particularly amenable in improving our Youth Coaching which is now deemed excellent.

Probably no superstars here, but good depth. Not sure anyone’s going to make any appearances in the first time in the immediate future.

Spoiler

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Adewale Ede 18a – Using him on the left wing seems the best option, but he’s unlikely to displace our starter who only arrived a year ago. May well end up a backup for his entire time with us. Could make him a central midfielder, which would give him twice the opportunities, but he might get stuck on the depth chart there as well.

 

Spoiler

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Tom Newell 18b – Even more professional, and a leader, but can only play one position (DR) which counts against using him as a sub while I can only have 5.

 

YP14 Review

Pete Everitt 14a – Seems to have won the starting right back slot this season. It took him more than 3 years but he’s developing very well and is now a key part of our team.

Oliver Coxall 14b – Maybe he’s supposed to be a striker, but I needed a right winger. Like Everitt, he’s developing well and is nearing the end of his second season as a starter.

All our other YP14s have left us apart from Mark Wright YP, who is rubbish, but has a Resolute personality, so sticks around to mentor the kids. If and when we turn Pro, presumably he’ll have to go.

Basically 2 excellent starters, and none of the others wasted my time with temporary pretences of usefulness, so a fantastic intake.

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So transfer deadline day saw us lose our best defender Gianni Cecchetti to relegation-threatened, Serie A side Torino on a deal that could rise to £4M. I was hoping for more money if I am to be honest with you, but at least we're going to be getting money from the next sale. I hope.

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Though they also tried to get my best playmaker too, and suddenly I'm not so keen on Torino anymore, hoping that they get relegated to Serie B.

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Also, in other news. One of the players that I rejected found his way to Benfica of all places and I'm trying to figure out how he's managed to con the club out of their money. There's no way that he's good enough for Benfica.

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  A small update from our 10th season:

Spoiler

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Suddenly we're in the final of the Conference League, first year of European football... :eek: 

We already outplayed Sporting CP in the group stage, the semi-finals were more exciting after failing to score at home and conceding a red card in Lisbon but fortunately we didn't give anything away. Now on to Everton or Köln in the final!

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 Image result for De Treffers logo

De Treffers - Season 2025/26 Review

Table | Squad | Transfers | Finances

I had to abandon my 4-5-1/4-3-3 this season. I just can't get it to work as want with these players. Though that's part and parcel of this challenge, so I have no objections to it. I'm still going to loop back to it when I get in a (hopefully) stronger set of players sometime in the future. But I had to go back to relying on my old 4-4-2 version that I created for Teie a while back. That tactic still works good, even if I have been tweaking it a bit more than I have done since. So I'm still trying to go down the "slow and steady" route, but perhaps not that slow since I just don't have the players to create what I want tactically yet. Watch that space though, I've not given up yet, just biding my time!

The season started horribly, since I still tried to get the tactic to work, but after a long while of losing, I tried to change back and it just went better. So I stuck with the old 4-4-2 hoofball (sort of) that I know and I believe is a very suitable tactic for an underdog. And I am an underdog in this league, have no doubts about that! Still, this time we were only 3 points behind the playoff, finishing in 14th place. IJsselmeervogels, newly promoted, showed what is likely to happen to newly promoted sides here in the Netherlands as they finished a massive 17 points behind the 2nd last team. That same 2nd last team only finished 10 points behind me... This league is really fun to play in, I must say.

In the TOTO KNVB Beker we beat Harkemase Boys and TOP Oss before losing to major player Feyenoord in the 3rd round.

I did manage to get some improvements done this season. Both facility types were improved and another improvement are in progress. There's also been improvements to both academy coaching and youth recruitment. Hopefully, we will have much improved intakes going forward.

The preview looked promising, and especially some full backs are in much need for us.

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From the actual intake we got in a few promising players, but the most promising one was actually a right winger.

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Donny has loads of speed and flair, but struggle with end product I'd imagine. A poor mans Adama Traoré, if you will.

Statistics:

Spoiler

Curaçao is not a surprise, but nice to have it. Also added in a few more European countries, as well as Morocco.

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13 hours ago, Raffen said:

We've done it again! 

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Got lucky in the 4th qualifying round drawing Hornchurch from Vanarama South who we just about beat. Then drew L2 Stevenage at home, who I was sure would pummel us. But no, we won 2-1 in a completely even match. Then got L1 Oldham away, again figuring a respectable loss would be nice. But no, some heroic set pieces and counters, and a 90th minute corner gave us a 4-4 draw. In the replay we won on penalties after a 1-1 draw, Oldham missing 3 of 3 pens. And we were the best team on the pitch as well. My analyst said they play Catenaccio, so I guess that would explain our possession stats, but still. Their U23 squad should beat us comfortably normally. 

Now if only we didn't struggle so much in the league....

As narcissistic as it is I'll quote myself here to update on the cup match. Lost to Man Utd (obviously), but managed to score a goal on a corner. Ended up 4-1, could prob have been 8-1. Man Utd played 17 and 18 year olds in midfield and forward positions, but proper players in defense. BUT the attendance was 75 000.... seventyfive thousand!... The match netted us over one million euros! After which I promptly asked for improved training and youth facilities, which for a total outlay of 800k was approved without question. I think we're finally starting to get somewhere. I cheekily asked to go pro, but that was a step too far :D.

Improving recruitment seems locked currently, maybe I should ask for improved youth category as well? Or will that increase by itself with better facilities? Anyone know how much impact youth category has in the lower tiers?

Edited by Raffen
Typing too fast to type correctly apparently
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So we found ourselves having another intake with another goalkeeper being considered the best of the bunch. Which is starting to get a little annoying. At least he's pretty tall though.

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The goalkeeper in question is Niccolò Ledda, a young Italian goalkeeper who has some good potential on him. The fact he's only 15 and has the ability to play in the 3rd tier already (apparently), is a nice situation to be in. It would be nice if we had other positions getting as much depth as the goalkeeper position is.

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A winger who my backroom staff thinks can be a Left Wing-Back, but how we train him remains to be seen. Things could be hit or miss with this guy, but what I do know is that he needs work if he is to get into the first team.

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Last player of the bunch, and a player who can be considered a decent attacking midfielder. Is he the absolute best? No, he needs a lot of work, but there is a lot of promise from this guy that I hope we can unlock. 

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The season however, is looking very nice indeed. Not anywhere close to the relegation zone and while the title is out of the question, we've got a chance of snatching a decent final league finish at the end of the year. Overall, a successful season.

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