The FM21 Youth Academy Challenge

[Padders]

37 minutes ago, OlivierL said:

Your last two years aren't correct in your list '2012/2013'  

I'm waiting for u to win the pl !

Ah! Thanks for spotting that

[OlivierL]

2 hours ago, Brentmeister said:

I'll keep an eye on it, thanks for the heads up.

@OlivierL were they save ending bugs? I wouldn't want to get 3/4 seasons deep only to have to quit again.

The youth setup costs were high but if u get into europe, u'll be fine  i didn't had the patience .

Season tickets stayed '25' the whole time, not sure if this is still a problem ?

[Brentmeister]

That bug is unfortunately still there for Belenenses, 35k per month on the youth set up and only 5 season ticket holders!

Back to the drawing board I go. I've lost 2 days to bugs and crashes

[AlwaysNalah]

The Worst Intake of all time - good lord . End of Season 10 in Blansko holding on for dear life at the foot of the table - and this is my reinforcements lol

[djsterry]

31 minutes ago, AlwaysNalah said:

The Worst Intake of all time - good lord . End of Season 10 in Blansko holding on for dear life at the foot of the table - and this is my reinforcements lol

Unlucky🤪 had very poor myself so far

[holidaysong]

FC United of Manchester ; season 2037/38

League Table ; Squad ; Starting 11 ; Transfers ; Youth Candidates

We're back baby!

We absolutely smashed League One with a record 112 points and made it a double by lifting the EFL Trophy. A great way to bounce back into the Championship after last year's relegation.

Off the field developments included;

• the board were up to their old tricks, selling two of my most promising central midfielders at the beginning of the season for a combined €18m
• I got my worst youth intake to date
• I requested and was granted an under 23 side
• I have youth and training facilities both in the process of being maxed out up to state of the art
• After downgrading following relegation, I have gotten my youth level back to a 1 rating

And finally, as an aside I have 3 players going to the 2038 World Cup, with another 3 alumni also going. 6 players who came through our academy going to the World Cup finals.

[AlwaysNalah]

10 Seasons in - no win in 12 - SACKED. The most painful sacking of my FM years

 

[Marazola]

U16's cannot play in Israel, so I have to wait one year before I can play my intake players  

[djsterry]

2 minutes ago, Marazola said:

U16's cannot play in Israel, so I have to wait one year before I can play my intake players  

They have to be 17 in Germany to play, I want to chuck them in straight away 

[hyrule_king]

 

Also on another note, I have 4 of my 1st YP Intake players in my first team now.

Edited February 24, 2021 by hyrule_king

[keeper#1]

The ping pong balls continue to bounce our way.

[Marazola]

Here goes, another intake.

A step up from last year, which was pretty good as well.

And the 2 best talents

[Marazola]

Season 2 finished

[Marazola]

Maor Krispin (was in my first intake for those who remember) is developing faster than any player I've ever had on FM. Madness. Shame he doesn't want to stay and his contract is over at the end of the year.

[Marazola]

18 minutes ago, Marazola said:

Maor Krispin (was in my first intake for those who remember) is developing faster than any player I've ever had on FM. Madness. Shame he doesn't want to stay and his contract is over at the end of the year.

Update, he's at 4.5 stars now. He was at 1.5 only 3 months ago. Crazy.

[Marazola]

Intake time.

They just keep getting better.

I got 2 absolute studs for this level.

The whole intake is full of quality but these 2 guys are insane.

[Marazola]

Just finished the season. Victor Mare retired so we lost 30 goals with that. As a result we were weak in attack and struggled to be as effective with less shots as we were in the past.

We finished 12th. Zion Tsemach tried to fill in Mare's shoes and did an OK job I think.

Edited February 25, 2021 by Marazola

[hyrule_king]

4 games to stay up but i think this might be the end of hornchurch and the start of a new team. Really enjoyed the save but this is ridiculously hard.

[XaW]

       

De Treffers - Season 2031/32 Review

Table | Squad | Transfers | Finances

Another strong season from us, even if we finished a few spots below what we did last season. It's all about stabilising the team at this level and making sure to improve the facilities and give us the best chance of getting in youth players that can take us forward. So while I hope we can continue the fight for higher spots going forward, I'm happy being at this level currently. When we finished in 8th we qualified for the European playoff, and in the Semi final we faced Vitesse, the team who finished in 5th. In the home leg we crushed them 5-1 and I were quite please and expectant of going past them that I put out a weakened side in the return leg due to some high fatigue in my players. That turned out to be a VERY bad idea, as we got crushed and lost 6-0! I think that's one of my worst turn arounds in FM ever. So we got knocked out due to that.

In the TOTO KNVB Beker we beat Vitesse before losing to FC Volendam in the 2nd round.

We had our first ever run in Europe, and the Europa Conference League this season. We beat Progrès Niederkorn of Luxembourg, Odd of Norway and FC Midtjylland of Denmark to reach the group stage. There we drew Lausanne-Sport of Switzerland, Shakhtyor Soligorsk of Belarus and Marseille of France. We did well and finished in 2nd place behind Marseille.

The in the knockout round we beat FC Famalicão of Portugal, Dynamo Kyiv of Ukraine, Marseille of France (rematch!) and Moreirense of Portugal to reach the final. Here we beat Arsenal 2-0 to claim a trophy on our first European adventure! Quite surprising, and I'd like to give a big hand to our goalkeeper Harry van den Bergh 25c, who was the man of the match in the final with a very strong 8.5 rating and shut Arsenal out to let us win it. This means we are going into the Europa League next season, even if we missed out from the league!

More goalkeepers... but a good preview still.

Ehnm, the intakes are getting poorer, but I think that's due to our players developing well and being harder to match up against. This was quite a poor intake, really and even the personalities were quite poor.

I don't like his unambitious personality, but he is still a good defensive talent. Very tall for a 15 year old!

Statistics:

Spoiler

More diversity as we added Germany, Portugal and Romania to the list. I think I'm going to have to split up the lists below soon, there's too many birth cities!

[Marazola]

Nice little Europa Conference campaign there @XaW, and regarding your best intake, look similar to what I'm getting so I see what you mean by poorer intakes!

[XaW]

34 minutes ago, Marazola said:

Nice little Europa Conference campaign there @XaW, and regarding your best intake, look similar to what I'm getting so I see what you mean by poorer intakes!

Thanks! It was a nice run, and I got a bit lucky with a few draws before I had counted on losing to Arsenal before my goalkeeper had his epic day at work.

Yeah, the intakes are closely linked to squad quality, so getting poorer intakes can mean you have a strong team. I still hope to get in better players, but getting wonderkids aren't that common...

[XaW]

We have started the process of building a new stadium! Not much info yet though.

[Brentmeister]

Are there any issues with managing in Scotland? Keen to start again but don't want to waste more time

[Sn00gle]

     

       
Garbarnia Kraków - Intake 2033/34
Witch such preview with first time "golden generation" information I knew that this will be good.


Best intake in FM21 ever!

Looking for more hehe!

 

 

 

Spoiler

 

[Padders]

Season Review 2113/14

Another boring mid table finish

Lost to Liverpool to Semi Final of Carbao Cup 1-2

Awful youth intake

[Sn00gle]

Not good my top prospect on the aim...


Wtih my -2 ml in bank I bet my board will accept any low money for this dude

PS. Worth to mention its first time in 13 seasons that foreign club is interested in my player.

Edited February 25, 2021 by Sn00gle

[keeper#1]

5 hours ago, hyrule_king said:

4 games to stay up but i think this might be the end of hornchurch and the start of a new team. Really enjoyed the save but this is ridiculously hard.

I'm looking to spending a decade, at least, the Vanarama North/South and National leagues.  I'll get into the professional game someday.

[DazRTaylor]

3 hours ago, Brentmeister said:

Are there any issues with managing in Scotland? Keen to start again but don't want to waste more time

Depends on who you take over at.  Kelty Hearts, no issues.  East Kilbride - major issues in season one.  You are not in the League Cup, now do you get a youth intake in year one.  Holidaying for two seasons normally sorts this out.

[JLAB]

We had a youth intake preview. I was expecting a centre-back. I didn't end up with that centre-back I was promised.

[vikeologist]

Vikeologist's 19th Folkestone Intake Report (and 15th Intake Review)

A good intake, I guess, but nobody that immediately excites me.

Also, now we’re professional, signing these players is a lot more expensive.

Shaun Clarke 19a – A right winger, and I could promote him straight to the sub’s bench as my backup in that position, so he could be useful.

Andy Blackwell 19b – Another central defender who I feel is too short.

 

YP15 Review

Kwesi Nuhu-Accam 15a – Our starting left back, and has been pretty much since he appeared. One of our best players. I am tempted to move him to central defence, but maybe I’ve left it too late.

James Howes 15b – A goalie with next to no current ability. Currently on loan to our Ithsmian Premier feeder club. Will cut him loose soon.

Kurt Morris 15c – Starting central defender, like Kwesi since he appeared. The reason that Kwesi was played at left back instead of in the centre. He’s not as good as Kwesi, but he’s fine.

Jason Stevenson 15e – A striker currently on loan to a Vanarama North side. He’s scored 2 goals in 39 starts there, so, not great.

[keeper#1]

Farnborough January 1, 2028 Update

Trying to find the right balance between offense and defense.  We've improved the offense while sacrificing some defense.  We still have games when we are very very bad but those are becoming fewer and fewer.

Settling into our normal position of solidly lower-mid table.  Not really flirting with relegation but not really pushing for a playoff spot either.  So, I've put a lot of emphasis on cups to improve our finances.  This has paid off with a 3rd round FA Cup road trips to Liverpool and Chelsea in back-to-back years.  This has allowed us to upgrade our youth program.

Not a great graph especially defensively but I'm focused on the offensive improvements to the shots per game and goals per game.  Our xG per game is above 1.00 for the first time in a long time.

Almanac

Lots of new faces here most specifically on the goals chart as Ellis Sewell 26E moved into 2nd place while Big E 23E, Zak Neal 24G and Ashlee Crittenden make their debut.  Jamie Loft 26F has been a good presence at the center forward position.

Our finances before the Chelsea match

Our finances after the Chelsea match.

Around another 800,000 pound pay day.  And where did that money go?

[Flashman\'s School Days]

Wuhan Three Towns - Season Review 2031

Manager Attributes - Characteristics

Transfers - Fixtures 1 - Fixtures 2

China Super League - 14th

Well we managed to survive our first season back in the Super League and with exactly the same record as last time we were promoted, however, this time we only had one original player so I feel like it's a more satisfying achievement.  We scored less but also conceded less than that season, in fact we managed to concede a lot less this season than any of our previous seasons at this level which is pleasing.  The only problem is that we scored so few goals, even less than when we finished dead last.

After a disappointing start without a win in the first seven games we suddenly won 4 games in a row which is our best run at this level and was much needed because we then went another 12 games without a win, slowly sinking down the table week after week and only picking up two victories in 17 games.  Fortunately for us they were both against the teams that finished directly below us and with 3 games to go Henan had to win at least two games whilst hoping that we didn't pick up any points, luckily though they had to play two of the best teams in the league, despite that though we went and won our last two games of the season to make the gap look very healthy.

Squad

No real changes to the squad this season, just a few back up players added and nobody important sold or released.  Li Weijie 27c was our top goalscorer, however, his 12 goals is a little misleading because he scored 4 in one game against a third tier side in the cup.  So in fact he only managed 7 league goals which unfortunately was still the highest. 

Peng Sitong 23e was our best outfield performer playing well in defence and also using his 6'6" frame to cause havoc at set pieces, contributing 5 goals and being our third top scorer.

Yusup-Ali won his third goalkeeper of the year award in the super league and did it getting his most clean sheets in a season at this level, the only player to achieve over a & average rating.

Zhuang Cong 26f became more of a first team regular as a left back despite being more suited to being a centre back but this was because we are very weak in that area.  He's come from nowhere to be a really good player for us, improving loads of the past couple of years.

Youth

Not too bad of an intake this season, the preview mentioned that there was a goalkeeper worth keeping our eye on so I was dreading having another keeper as the top prospect, fortunately the top prospect is a central midfielder which is a position we are crying out for.  Our midfield pairing both came through in my first intake and nobody else has managed to make any impression in that position since then.

Li Xiaoyu 31a is the pick of the bunch

Finances

Our finances continued getting worse this season despite a similar wage bill, more sponsorship money and higher attendances.  They slashed my wage budget early in the season from £60k to £39k and that's what it'll be again for next season, if that wasn't bad enough we also had a message from the board that it was imperative we stayed in the league because we are close to going into administration.  I'm not sure what staying in the league will do to stop that as at the moment it seems like an inevitability, I've never been at a club on any FM where I've gone into administration so it should be interesting to experience.  We've got a lot of players up on contracts at the end of this season so it could all go to hell.

Next Season

Another season like this but maybe with a few more wins, helping us to increase the club rep and hopefully that is only a positive, trying to overcome the financial aspect of this save has been the most challenging aspect as it feels like the club is swimming very much against the current.

[Orion_]

When you're doing this challenge is there any reason for having more than 1 scout for having scout reports for your next opposition?

[Marazola]

Intake. Disappointing in comparison to the last 2 we got.

This was the best guy we got.

[Marazola]

4th season done.

Disappointing year after our hot start. Just went on far too many losing streaks and got big injuries to key players. 

In some bad news though...

And now the season information.

 

[TheGreatTraveler]

All that money I have been throwing at the facilities seems to have finally had an effect, best intake in years! 7 (!) 5 star potential players, naturally including yet another keeper, and even one 2.5 star player!

[Marazola]

Update on Maor Krispin: he let his contract run out almost 2 years ago, but he decided to stay on a month to month contract which I've never seen from unhappy players before on FM.

It's been almost 2 years of trying to convince him, but nobody came in for him and he FINALLY decided to renew  

[Marazola]

Next season's intake.

Comfortably the worst intake we've had.

No one really to get excited about, but I may be able to get something out of this guy:

[Marazola]

Next season is done.

Finished 8th, back to where we belong.

[Cheez3y]

11 hours ago, Orion_ said:

When you're doing this challenge is there any reason for having more than 1 scout for having scout reports for your next opposition?

Keep track on players out on loan (the matchreport thingy)

And maybe keep track of old players for your joy.

 

I had 3 or max 4, after the finances where good.

[Cheez3y]

 

I wish nobody to get relegated (maybe Dortmund ;)), but this would be the dream next year.

Cape Town Spurs fka Ajax Cape Town.

 

[vikeologist]

12 hours ago, Orion_ said:

When you're doing this challenge is there any reason for having more than 1 scout for having scout reports for your next opposition?

Your performance analyst, if you have one, can do that.

I think there are other potential reasons for scouts. Personality. Scouting range. If you're really short of coaches you can have your scout doing a secondary job, and it doesn't count against your totals, although don't expect much with them doing 2 jobs.

[Orion_]

30 minutes ago, vikeologist said:

Scouting range.

I've never considered scouts to contribute towards my youth intake.

I see your point but if we consider only scouts as doing their main job do they bring anything to the table when you play Youth Academy Challenge since you don't buy or loan in any players at all?

[djsterry]

8 minutes ago, Orion_ said:

I've never considered scouts to contribute towards my youth intake.

I see your point but if we consider only scouts as doing their main job do they bring anything to the table when you play Youth Academy Challenge since you don't buy or loan in any players at all?

One of my scouts came with a full knowledge of Greece and I've had Greek prospects in my last couple of intakes

[Marazola]

Just now, djsterry said:

One of my scouts came with a full knowledge of Greece and I've had Greek prospects in my last couple of intakes

Scouting knowledge is where you get foreign regens.

In an old custom Y/O I did I got Brazilian scouting knowledge from managing the NT and I got Brazilian regens in Lesotho.

That's how it works I'd imagine.

[vikeologist]

8 minutes ago, Orion_ said:

I've never considered scouts to contribute towards my youth intake.

I see your point but if we consider only scouts as doing their main job do they bring anything to the table when you play Youth Academy Challenge since you don't buy or loan in any players at all?

I mean, I have a chief scout, but he's not bringing anything to the table now that I have enough U18 coaches. 

I sometimes have them, along with DoFootball for the personalities, which I accept might not make any difference, which is why I don't hire any unless something wonderful is staring me in the face.

[vikeologist]

3 minutes ago, Marazola said:

Scouting knowledge is where you get foreign regens.

In an old custom Y/O I did I got Brazilian scouting knowledge from managing the NT and I got Brazilian regens in Lesotho.

That's how it works I'd imagine.

But apart from variety, do they actually improve the youth recruitment. Are the intakes actually better?

My intakes are very diverse, but my Chief Scout is Ivorian, and I'm not sure I've ever had an Ivorian come through, but obviously scouting range is a bonus, albeit a fairly small one I'd think. But once you have money, there's no harm hiring scouts.

[Marazola]

Just now, vikeologist said:

But apart from variety, do they actually improve the youth recruitment. Are the intakes actually better?

My intakes are very diverse, but my Chief Scout is Ivorian, and I'm not sure I've ever had an Ivorian come through, but obviously scouting range is a bonus, albeit a fairly small one I'd think. But once you have money, there's no harm hiring scouts.

They may or may not be. I don't have any hard proof. All I will say is I got a few above average Brazilians in Lesotho.

[vikeologist]

2 minutes ago, Marazola said:

They may or may not be. I don't have any hard proof. All I will say is I got a few above average Brazilians in Lesotho.

Well, I am going to bring in a new Chief Scout, so any advice from y'all as to what might be useful would be appreciated. Same with Directors of Football. I do all the contracts to keep cpntrol of the purse-strings, so I'm not sure what use they are either (apart from personalities).

[vikeologist]

Vikeologist's 2039/40 Folkestone Season Report

 

So, you're not going to believe this ****.

After 2 straight promotions and becoming a professional club, I was obviously a bit worried about relegation this season.

I didn’t have to worry. We were near the top all season and with 4 matches to go we were placed immediately outside the playoff places, but with 4 really tough final matches.

It did mean of course that our fate was very much in our hands, and after winning the first 3, we had not only secured a playoff spot, but were actually sitting in an automatic promotion spot. All we had to do to hold on to it, and secure a 3^rd straight promotion, was win our final match; against the newly minted league champions.

Reader, we thrashed them. I feared the worst when they scored the opener, but we went on to win 6-1. Won the last 5 matches of the season. An unbelievable third promotion in a row, after spending the first 17 seasons in the same division.

Spoiler

 

Spoiler

 

 

 

 

Top Goalscorer – Jack Collett 13a – 38

Jack reinforced his status as our best striker, but as always Collett and Morgan (with 31 goals) were our only players in double figures.

The reason we fell out of the playoffs late in the season was because the two of them were both injured for almost 2 months at the same time, and their backups aren’t in the same class. I said last year the gap between Morglett and the rest was worrying, and it still is.

 

Highest Average Rating (minimum 10 matches played) – Jack Collett 13a – 7.54

Man of The Match – Jack Collett 13a - 12

 

Most Valuable Player– Jack Collett 13a

 

Most Appearances (Regens) – Jason ‘Nepotism’ Ramsay 1a – 719

I’ll be honest. At one point Trymore Sibanda 2b overtook my nephew, but I rotated Jason back in to ensure he holds a lead of 2 in this department. Not kidding about the nepotism, folks.

Neither player is really much use anymore. Jason is improving as a coach but hasn’t attracted any offers from clubs. (2 other players from his cohort have already managed VNL South sides and been sacked). I may very well offer him a coaching job if I have the vacancies. He's not a bad coach.

Nobody else is anywhere near the top 2 in total appearances. 16. Chris Pope 10b is on 408, but he’s only 25 and our goalie, so could well catch up in about 6 season’s time. However, there’s obviously a possibility that as we improve our facilities, someone might usurp him.

Most Goals (Regens) – Michael Morgan 9a - 288

Our captain is still only 25 as well, and going strong. Also, he takes the penalties.

Season	Division		Position	Notes							MVP										
21/22	VNL South		18th		Steered clear of relegaton thanks to good start.	Callum Davies
22/23	VNL South		16th		Only 2 places better, but a lot more points.		Henry Newcombe
23/24	VNL South		18th		Big step backwards in points.				David Smith
24/25	VNL South		15th		Consistently mediocre.					David Smith
25/26	VNL South		14th		Just outside playoffs for most of the season.		David Smith
26/27	VNL South		16th		Otherwise known as the year 1AD (After Discipline)	Ellis Andrews 2c
27/28	VNL South		19th		Narrowly avoided relegation places all season		David Smith
28/29	VNL South		15th		Tried different tactics. Didn't find a magic bean.	David Smith
29/30	VNL South		7th		Lost playoff semifinal, but a great improvement.	Ellis Andrews 2c
30/31	VNL South		12th		Second half slump into mid-table disappointment		David Smith
31/32	VNL South		7th		Lost in S/F of playoff					Ellis Andrews 2c
32/33	VNL South		9th		Didn't threaten playoffs				Ellis Drake 10a
33/34	VNL South		2nd		Lost last 2 matches of season and 1st playoff game.	Michael Morgan 9a
34/35	VNL South		4th		Knocked out Playoffs 1st round on penalties		Michael Morgan 9a
35/36	VNL South		6th		Knocked out in Playoff semifinal			Michael Morgan 9a
36/37	VNL South		5th		Knocked out in Playoff semifinal			Giorgos Kragiopoulos 11a
37/38	VNL South		1st		Won the league by a mile. 17th time lucky.		Michael Morgan 9a 
38/39	VNL National		1st		Back to back comfortable promotions			Jack Collett 13a 
39/40	League 2		2nd		Won last 5 matches securing automatic promotion.	Jack Collett 13a 

 

Edited February 26, 2021 by vikeologist