The FM21 Youth Academy Challenge

[toshimitzou1]

1 hour ago, XaW said:

I'm still sticking with my customary 4-4-2 hoofball

Have you considered the viability of this style of play in a 4222 Wide? I think a wide target man and secundo volante could really thrive in this approach. It is something I am looking to deploy if a talented, hard working all - rounder comes through the youth ranks.

[XaW]

Just now, toshimitzou1 said:

Have you considered the viability of this style of play in a 4222 Wide? I think a wide target man and secundo volante could really thrive in this approach. It is something I am looking to deploy if a talented, hard working all - rounder comes through the youth ranks.

I've been toying with the idea, but I'm not a very good tactician (without losing A LOT!), so whenever I have something that sort of works, I tend to not change the basis. So perhaps I'll make it my future test tactic, but a wide target man? I really need to get one of them in a future intake to do so! None of my wingers have more than 8 in jumping reach!

[toshimitzou1]

2 minutes ago, XaW said:

I really need to get one of them in a future intake to do so

LOL. Yes, I employed the WTM because I have 3 x players who came in my early intakes whom are more than competent. Keep in mind, the best WTM tend to be retrained CF's,  or FB,s. 

5 minutes ago, XaW said:

I tend to not change the basis

Could not agree more.

 

5 minutes ago, XaW said:

So perhaps I'll make it my future test tactic

I'm no master tactician either, but pretty competent when it comes to setting up defensively solid tactics. If you want to collaborate at any point let me know.

[JAwtunes]

3 hours ago, darren1983 said:

If any of you just starting in England now finish this before me there I'm gonna very upset  

This translates into "complete it before me and you're not getting on the HoF!"

[darren1983]

11 minutes ago, JAwtunes said:

This translates into "complete it before me and you're not getting on the HoF!"

It's more "finish before me and someone else can run the thread next year"  

I'm saying all this, and without wanting to jinx it, I might be on the verge of a very special season currently....

[vikeologist]

1 minute ago, darren1983 said:

It's more "finish before me and someone else can run the thread next year"  

I'm saying all this, and without wanting to jinx it, I might be on the verge of a very special season currently....

I feel you. When you run a thread there's a definite set of mixed feelings when your challenge is getting lots of posts from people getting through the same challenge you're doing at ten times the speed.

And this challenge for me is slow going, but at the same time it can all end very quickly. Hope the latter is about to happen to you. Regardless of when you and all the newcomers complete in England, it's a safe bet I'll be behind all of you.

[XaW]

11 minutes ago, vikeologist said:

And this challenge for me is slow going, but at the same time it can all end very quickly.

It really is. One intake can change so many things fast. So it's a bit like a stair with long steps. You stay there for a while, but suddenly you get an intake and take a step or two fast before it's back to going slowly again.

[vikeologist]

10 minutes ago, XaW said:

It really is. One intake can change so many things fast. So it's a bit like a stair with long steps. You stay there for a while, but suddenly you get an intake and take a step or two fast before it's back to going slowly again.

When i did what was then the South American small to big club challenge, i toiled getting seemingly nowhere for ages, and then in the space of about 3 seasons was promoted to the top league and won the league and Libertadores straight away. I was a bit disappointed actually. That last season was a bit like the last season of Game of Thrones where everything finishes in a rather quick and  unsatisfactory manner. Or is that my sex life?.

Edited July 29, 2021 by vikeologist

[Cheez3y]

GSS Panionios - Season 2024/25

Media Prediction  // Transfers + Released

Still only 11th in the predicitions, but the odds are looking good.

Also we did a slight clean out of the youth team.

 

Upgrades/Downgrades/Misc

Coaching Badge: Cont. B -> Cont. A

Job Interview: Panathinaikos (GRE 1)

If currently working on the Pro Licence.

Also its nice to get an offer from one of the biggest team in Greece.

 

Kypello Ellados

Games

We got into the 6th round around. This time we pulled the big one.

We got roughly 200k from the games against Olympiacos.

 

Super League 2 - Regular Season

Games

idk what happend over the summer with this team.

Its like playing a complete different team.

Zero losses, the team always managed to get draw.

 

Super League 2 - Championship Group

Games

idk what to say.

Undefeaded into the Super League!

I decided to finally get an analyst.

This shows exactly how the season went.

 

Looking at the finances, hopefully we made the jump at the right time.

This season it didnt felt like a one man show from Ektoras.

He still scored 21 goals, but he also got 8 assists.

Im pretty impressed by our CB duo in Vandebulcke and Aravidis.

 

Top 5 Regens

Triantafyllos only played in the U19 this season.

He will gettin unleashed next season.

Edited July 29, 2021 by Cheez3y

[darren1983]

1 hour ago, vikeologist said:

I feel you. When you run a thread there's a definite set of mixed feelings when your challenge is getting lots of posts from people getting through the same challenge you're doing at ten times the speed.

And this challenge for me is slow going, but at the same time it can all end very quickly. Hope the latter is about to happen to you. Regardless of when you and all the newcomers complete in England, it's a safe bet I'll be behind all of you.

I think it's just the fact I've never completed this despite trying it for years. This current save feels the most likely and this current season might be my best ever on this challenge but am now worried I'm going to do a Leverkusen and mess it all up now  

[hyrule_king]

4 hours ago, hyrule_king said:

Nice work so far @XaW

Don't get my hopes up with all that yellow lettering 

Hoping they are good with this fairly good HOYD

Intake Update, Best Player 

 

On another note this Youth is improving nicely.

 

Edited July 29, 2021 by hyrule_king

[Proffa]

Dorchester Town - Season 32/33

Transfers - League Table

Been a while since my last update. I didn't have time to focus on FM2021, had some other things going on.

The prediction was 7th, we were 3rd. It was a great season. Before the season I had sold all the whining players and luckily we didn't have any big injuries. We did the best we could at the league and won both cups. Challenge wise cups don't matter of course and we didn't win the league, didn't play in Europe either. But we were so consistent throughout the season that it was a joy to watch the team play. In the league we conceaded only 23 goals. I micromanaged most games: we played mainly a "balanced 433 DM Wide" and sometimes a "cautious counter-attacking 433 DM Wide". We even managed to place higher than Everton, who for some reason are very good in this save.

We won Chelsea in Carabao Cup final and Liverpool in FA Cup final.

Intake preview / Actual intake had two very good players: Aaron Potter and Paul Powell. Powell is one of the best young players I have received so far. I released the rest.

Next season we have our second chance in the Champions League, hoping to make it through the group stage this time.

 

Season  Div      Pos     Most l.goals            Most l.assists            TF          YF           JC          YR          Av.Att    Finances        
21/22     VNLS   1st       Emile Ngoy (45)       Daniel Delve (21)       Avg        Basic      Adeq+   Adeq+   468         123K

22/23     VNL     1st       Emile Ngoy (45)       Daniel Delve (19)       Avg        Basic      Adeq     Adeq      663         20K

23/24     L2        1st       Emile Ngoy (22)       Jon Scorey (11)           Avg        B.Avg+   Good+  Avg+       1194       342K

24/25     L1        4th      Max Geddes (20)     Charles Amuzu (11)   Good+  Adeq+    Excel+   Excel+    2344       7M        

25/26     L1        1st       Max Geddes (21)     Jamie Wotton (15)     Excel++ Good++ Excep+  Excep+  2676       5,4M

26/27     CH       5th      Max Geddes (27)     Toby Snodin (15)       SotA++  Excel++  Excep    Excep    4998       13M

27/28     CH       3rd      Max Geddes (38)     T. Kwiecien (13)         SotA      SotA++   Excep    Excep    4998        57M

28/29     PL        5th      Max Geddes (27)     Will Penfold (7)          SotA      SotA       Excep    Excep    17427      140M

29/30     PL        10th    Max Geddes (20)     Will Penfold (9)          SotA      SotA       Excep    Excep    16216      220M

30/31     PL        7th      Max Geddes (16)     P. Rodriguez (8)         SotA      SotA       Excep    Excep    14536      300M

31/32     PL        8th      Max Geddes (26)     T. Kwiecien (8)           SotA      SotA       Excep    Excep    18114      410M

32/33     PL        3rd      Max Geddes (24)     Owen Winsor (7)       SotA      SotA       Excep    Excep    20276      690M

33/34     PL        ???

[fish18ish]

34 minutes ago, Proffa said:

Dorchester Town - Season 32/33

Transfers - League Table

Been a while since my last update. I didn't have time to focus on FM2021, had some other things going on.

The prediction was 7th, we were 3rd. It was a great season. Before the season I had sold all the whining players and luckily we didn't have any big injuries. We did the best we could at the league and won both cups. Challenge wise cups don't matter of course and we didn't win the league, didn't play in Europe either. But we were so consistent throughout the season that it was a joy to watch the team play. In the league we conceaded only 23 goals. I micromanaged most games: we played mainly a "balanced 433 DM Wide" and sometimes a "cautious counter-attacking 433 DM Wide". We even managed to place higher than Everton, who for some reason are very good in this save.

We won Chelsea in Carabao Cup final and Liverpool in FA Cup final.

Intake preview / Actual intake had two very good players: Aaron Potter and Paul Powell. Powell is one of the best young players I have received so far. I released the rest.

Next season we have our second chance in the Champions League, hoping to make it through the group stage this time.

 

Season  Div      Pos     Most l.goals            Most l.assists            TF          YF           JC          YR          Av.Att    Finances        
21/22     VNLS   1st       Emile Ngoy (45)       Daniel Delve (21)       Avg        Basic      Adeq+   Adeq+   468         123K

22/23     VNL     1st       Emile Ngoy (45)       Daniel Delve (19)       Avg        Basic      Adeq     Adeq      663         20K

23/24     L2        1st       Emile Ngoy (22)       Jon Scorey (11)           Avg        B.Avg+   Good+  Avg+       1194       342K

24/25     L1        4th      Max Geddes (20)     Charles Amuzu (11)   Good+  Adeq+    Excel+   Excel+    2344       7M        

25/26     L1        1st       Max Geddes (21)     Jamie Wotton (15)     Excel++ Good++ Excep+  Excep+  2676       5,4M

26/27     CH       5th      Max Geddes (27)     Toby Snodin (15)       SotA++  Excel++  Excep    Excep    4998       13M

27/28     CH       3rd      Max Geddes (38)     T. Kwiecien (13)         SotA      SotA++   Excep    Excep    4998        57M

28/29     PL        5th      Max Geddes (27)     Will Penfold (7)          SotA      SotA       Excep    Excep    17427      140M

29/30     PL        10th    Max Geddes (20)     Will Penfold (9)          SotA      SotA       Excep    Excep    16216      220M

30/31     PL        7th      Max Geddes (16)     P. Rodriguez (8)         SotA      SotA       Excep    Excep    14536      300M

31/32     PL        8th      Max Geddes (26)     T. Kwiecien (8)           SotA      SotA       Excep    Excep    18114      410M

32/33     PL        3rd      Max Geddes (24)     Owen Winsor (7)       SotA      SotA       Excep    Excep    20276      690M

33/34     PL        ???

How did you manage back to back to back promotions early on with the original players? 

[hyrule_king]

Season 2 Review

A very inconsistent season with glimpses of brilliance from the main team. The first set of youth Intake haven't really pushed into the first team as of yet but that was as I expected. 

 

Season

League

Position

Cup

Europe

Top Scorer

Top Assists

Best Average Rating

Training Facilities

Junior Coaching

Youth Facilities

Youth Recruitment

Avg. Attendance

Season Tickets

Transfer Budget

Wage Budget

21/22

CDEP

7th

2nd

-

Rodrigo Pinto - 11

Tomas Martins - 5

Janu Silva - 7.06

Basic

Fairly Basic

Basic

Basic

611

315

£1,090,000.00

£24,468.00

22/23

CDEP

7th

2nd

-

Claudio Carvalho - 7

Claudio Carvalho - 6

Ivo Dias - 7.07

Basic

Fairly Basic

Basic

Fairly Basic

957

328

£968,000.00

£24,420.00

Youth Squad

 

 

[toshimitzou1]

This time last season I was second from bottom. Things are looking promising. I really need some monies though!

[Padders]

7 hours ago, darren1983 said:

I think it's just the fact I've never completed this despite trying it for years. This current save feels the most likely and this current season might be my best ever on this challenge but am now worried I'm going to do a Leverkusen and mess it all up now  

First time I completed it last year and without Covid and lockdown there was no chance I would have done it!!  (As you know from the number of years it took!)

To be honest though, that is what this challenge is all about. It should take decades to turn a club around and just play youth players.

Yes understand it’s a computer game but in reality you are never going to take a non league side to PL and CL glory in 10/20/30 years playing just youth players

That is part of the fun for me and that is why you see me go sooooooo deep and invest the time into my saves (Covid, lockdown and working from home has been able me to do so).

[XaW]

Folkestone Invicta - Season 2023/24 (Season 3) Review - Vanarama National League South (6th tier)

Table | Squad | Transfers | Finances

This season was a slight improvement to the last few ones. It also included more youth players than before, and the ones we got the first season have started to really push out a few of the original players now. The emergence of Ryan Doyle 23f, have pushed the striker roles a bit towards a target man, due to his height and jumping, but making him one do make him more of a focal point than I actually want. So I'm still switching around to try to get the best balance. He didn't get too often on the scoresheet, but it's a work in progress. At least he makes sure to take a lot of attention away from our top scorer David Smith. In addition, Oliver Hudson 23c have become a main part of the squad, but as a right back for now. So the team is coming along nicely and we've started to build a base for the coming seasons. For the one we just finished though, we did quite well. We hovered around just outside the playoff spots for the most of the season. When we went on a good run, we just got inside, but during less good runs we slipped down. So finishing in a very decent 9th place is more than satisfying for now.

In the FA Cup we beat Beaconsfield, Concord Rangers, and Bognor Regis Town before losing to Wealdstone in the 1st round.

In the FA Trophy we beat Oxford City before we lost to Basingstoke Town in the 3rd round.

Less action off the pitch this time, but I did manage to get an improvement on academy training to take it from Average to Adequate.

Youth

Not bad, but after the fantastic one last season, I had hoped for a bit more. Still, some nice talents here.

Brandon Thorpe 24a is an interesting player. I don't play with an AM, but does make it a possibility.

U18 team:

They didn't play in any league system.

In the FA Youth Cup they lost to Yate in the 1st qualifying round.

Statistics:

Spoiler

Some nice variety to the intake and we added Bosnia Herzegovina, Denmark, Kenya, France, and the Ivory Coast to the list.

Trophy cabinet:

None

[libbyshuss]

2033/34 - Season 13

National League - 3rd

Season Summary

The good form from last season continued and took us to the play-offs

League - We started as well as we finished last season and after 10 games or so were first. We were in a three horse race and at christmas it was still really tight, only 3 points separating the top 3. Then January came and we didn't win a game. We rallied a little in  February but the form we'd shon before christmas totally deserted us and in the last 20 league games, we only won 5. It was enough to keep us in the play-offs although I wasn't confident, we were in such random form. So it proved - the play-off semi-final was against Guiisely at home, in what would have been a routine home win before christmas. It was a close fought 3-3 draw and it went to penalties, which we lost. But still, a huge improvement again on the season before

FA Cup - Whoops. Right in the middle of our good league run we had a home tie against south shields in round 1. They beat us 2-1!

Players

I threw new striker Mitchell Wilsmer 33A straight into the first team. 16 or not, on paper he was easily our best striker. He started unbelievably well. His first 12 games returned 11 goals and 7 assists! He couldn't keep it up though, i think he only got 4 more assists all season, but whenever I had to rest him it showed. And I had to rest him a fair bit, he's only 16 years old.

He's developing well though. The worst thing about his excellent start was I had no opportunities to discipline him and get that work rate/determination up!

The first choice XI this season is probably the oldest average age for a team I've used. The youth players that come in for games here and there aren't really impressing yet

Luke Heale 28A is still a legend but only has 1 year left on his contract. His wage demands are well above what I can afford so he might be the next to go. His undertudy has been out on loan the past two seasons and his CA is now identical to Heale so I have a ready replacement. To be fair, I have about 5. The number of 4 star PA keepers I have is nuts. 

Wayne Waldron 23A now has 508 career appearances! Not because he's any good, but because anyone better ends up getting poached! He routinelt gets rubbish ratings but I have so few options in centre mid he gets played by default. For 508 games!

It's still not a XI I feel totally confident in

Max Ryan is being released at 35. 320 goals is the target for any new players coming through!

Youth

But maybe in a few years?  I love having ridiculously good youth facilities for my level. Look at this preview:-

Another golden generation! The left midfielder is a bit disappointing as I don't use them, but it's the price I pay for a proffessional HoYD.

The intake was crazy good for my level

If I'm being picky, the positions and personalities aren't ideal. But 5 four star prospects is nuts at this stage. A Ugandan striker as back up for Willsmer is very welcome. A slack MC? Can't be worse than Wayne Waldren, surely? And another keeper, the best of the lot, because he's called Dick Sherlock!

Finances and Improvements

So before the season started I got these two messages:-

 

It meant we had 2.6m in the bank so I immediately went to the board with my cap out and.....

But it's going to be completed before it's even begun!!!! Ummm......

Honestly, I'm doing so much better off the field than I am on it in this save! As long as I keep making small improvements though I'll keep the spirit of Padders alive and grind on!

 

Career

Edited July 30, 2021 by libbyshuss

[Cheez3y]

Hello top division.

Triantafyllos is insane.

Edited July 30, 2021 by Cheez3y

[Cheez3y]

Well thats new for me.

I promised him to sell him in the summer, but nobody wanted him. I even offered him out for 0.

So he is goes in the U19 with endurance training and double intensity.

 

 

EDIT

Puh...

I take that, better then nothing.

Edited July 30, 2021 by Cheez3y

[Proffa]

20 hours ago, fish18ish said:

How did you manage back to back to back promotions early on with the original players? 

When I started with Dorchester, I think I had only one "original" player, Emile Ngoy who was a decent striker. He scored lots of goals as a lone striker (although 10-15 goals came from penalties each season).

Rest of the players were computer generated I think. I had two very good DCs (Robbie King, Geoff Askew) with high jumping (over 15) and also a good DMC (Lewis Moon) for my favorite tactic 433 dm wide. I even got messages “Needs better challenges“ for these three players. I had not received a message like that before In FM. I was able to keep the players for three seasons total before their contracts ran out and they didn't want to sign new ones. Luckily, by that time I had some youth players to cover them.

Having those three good defensive players was key to doing so well at the start. I would post screenshots but I think they have all retired already.

[The7Striker]

Well, let see how this goes

 

[darren1983]

Season 2044/45 South Shields Season Review - Premier League

 

League -  Ok so I know I teased this a little but we won the league! I'm not too sure how though. Going into the season I felt we could get top 4 as Man City (league winners 4 times in the last 6 seasons including the last 3) Man Utd, Chelsea and Norwhich (won the other 2 titles City didn't) all changed managers (in fact Utd and Chelsea changed again during the season and City again at the end of the season) We started the season with home wins over Utd and Chelsea (with a narrow win away at Southampton in between) and we spent the first half of the season near the top. After 16 games we beat Sheff Utd away and hit top spot and we stayed there (aside from 1 game day where we lost at home to Bournemouth) for the rest of the season. I think the emergence of a proper DM in Kris Kalthoeber 41A really helped as we had the best defence in the entire league. Didn't score many but when you don't concede there's alway a chance to nick a goal. We scored a lot of goals in the final 10 mins of games which is proof of this. The way the fixture's fell meant we played most of our rivals at the start of the season (when they were under new managers) or at the end of the season when they were in later rounds of cups so either rotated or were tired. 2 of our 5 defeats came in the final 3 games (home to Liverpool and away to Arsenal) after the title was won. This feels huge, I've never before won the league in this challenge! 

Europa League - I used the cups to play fringe players and players coming back from injury in an attempt to keep key players fit for, at the start, a top 4 push and in later rounds for the title challenge. Explains why PSV battered us in the 1/4 finals but was a good run and gave some game time to some very promising young players who will be part of the team next season

FA Cup - we have a real hoodoo about 1/4 finals of this cup, we've got to this stage 5 or 6 times now and never got past it. This time the game was bewteen massive league games away at Spurs and Man City so was a near fully rotated 11

League Cup - made it to the semis for the first time ever which is great from our back ups

Transfers - actually managed to sell some deadwood in Jan for decent cash which was nice

Squad - The legends! Couple area's of concern are at CB where our key man is 31 now and no one coming through has really taken their chance to step up at, also up top Campbell did get 20+ goals this season but only 14 in the league and think he's on the down turn now, need one of one young strikers to step up soon

Youth Intake - again not a great one but OK, really want to change my DoF but can't find anyone better right now

Larry Coleman 45A - Needs some work but his fundamental's that I look for in a GK (Agilty, reflexes, handling & command of area) are all a very good starting point)
Christopher Robson 45B - always nice to have a both sided full back

Career Overview

Season		League		Position	Youth Recruitment	Youth Coaching		Notes & Achievements 

2021/22		VNLN		5th 		Adequate		Adequate		First coaching badge
2022/23		VNLN		2nd 		Adequate		Good			Promoted via playoffs, FA Trophy runners up
2023/24		VNL		16th 		Average			Excellent 		2nd coaching badge
2024/25		VNL		12th 		Average			Excellent		3rd coaching badge
2025/26		VNL		6th 		Average			Excellent		Promotion via playoffs
2026/27		League Two	1st 		Good			Exceptional		Promotion as champions
2027/28		League One	11th 		Good			Exceptional
2028/29		League One	14th 		Good			Exceptional
2029/30		League One	7th 		Good			Exceptional
2030/31		League One	1st 		Good 			Exceptional		Promoted as champions. Completed all coaching badges
2031/32		Championship	18th 		Excellent		Exceptional
2032/33		Championship	8th 		Excellent		Exceptional
2033/34		Championship	7th 		Excellent		Exceptional		Training ground upgrade, Academy up level 3, new ground announced
2034/35		Championship	6th 		Excellent		Exceptional		Lost in playoff semi finals
2035/36		Championship	9th 		Excellent		Exceptional 
2036/37		Championship	11th 		Excellent		Exceptional		Moved into new stadium
2037/38		Championship	3rd 		Excellent		Exceptional		Promotion via playoffs
2038/39		Premier League	16th 		Excellent		Exceptional		Youth Academy rating from level 3 to level 2
2039/40		Premier League	7th		Excellent		Exceptional 
2040/41		Premier League	5th 		Excellent		Exceptional		Youth Academy now Cat 1
2041/42		Premier League	14th 		Excellent		Exceptional
2042/43		Premier League	8th 		Excellent		Exceptional
2043/44		Premier League	5th 		Excellent		Exceptional		Qualified for Europa League
2044/45		Premier League	1st 		Excellent		Exceptional		Premier League winners! 

 

[Cheez3y]

We definitely need a keeper in the future, so why not now.

[XaW]

Step one done there, @darren1983, congrats! Now for the easy part!

[Cheez3y]

32 minutes ago, XaW said:

Step one done there, @darren1983, congrats! Now for the easy part!

In my opinion is winning the PL harded.

Overall I think England is one of the hardest ones.

[XaW]

 

Folkestone Invicta - Season 2024/25 (Season 4) Review - Vanarama National League South (6th tier)

Table | Squad | Transfers | Finances

Wow, what a season it was, but not in a good way. We have been unbelievably unlucky this season, especially defensively. The team is starting to look better, with more and more youngsters filling out the ranks, but that comes with a cost. Young players make more mistakes, and screws up more, and in general do dumb things that lead to goals against. But this season was exceptionally so. We finished in a respectably 12th place, but our expected position was 8th. And the reason we fell short is not the goals, we scored slightly more than our xG. However, xGa showed we should have conceded 59 goals, but we overshot it by a massive 26 goals! And it felt like it throughout the season. We conceded just about every shot against, and I can't even blame our goalkeeper. There were worldies scored against us just about every week, and I felt helpless to stop it. I really hope we can get things running again, now after the intake. We got in a striker, that I will show later, who scored an amazing 12 goals in the 8 matches after his appearance. Unfortunately, the wolves have already started to circle around him, and he won't even talk contracts, so I might lose him after only a few matches! If we can keep him, though, next season could be amazing.

In the FA Cup we beat Chichester, Met Police, Woking, and King's Lynn Town before we lost to Barnsley in the 2nd round. 

In the FA Trophy we beat Hendon before losing to Kingstonian in the 3rd round.

I also managed to finish the Continental C licence, but so far not been able to get any more. I also managed to get academy training increased from Adequate to Good, and youth recruitment from Adequate to Good as well. Still no luck improving the youth rating, but we continue to work on it.

Youth

From the preview I was excited for a Faroese youngster, but this intake is crazy good, and another player clearly stole the show!

I almost wet myself when I saw how good Luca Bristow 25a was! He also scored 12 in 8 from he came through, but QPR are looking at him, and I only got him to sign a youth contract, so I might lose him before I even have him!

U18 team:

They didn't play in any league system.

In the FA Youth Cup they beat Halesowen Town, Tonbridge Angles, and Hampton & Richmond before losing to Swindon Town in the 1st round.

Statistics:

Spoiler

A nicely spread out intake and we added Faroe Island, St. Kitts & Nevis, and Northern Ireland to the list. And also that English guy who was born in Austria, makes them appear on the map, but not as a country on the list.

Trophy cabinet:

None

[toshimitzou1]

Look at the state of this!

That is what I call a pile of sh*t. With four games remaining I lose four of my first XI for three of those fixtures, the second against my title rivals Apollon, which I duly lost 2-3.

Just one result from the final two remaining games to reach the play-off against a Superleague 1 team, albeit with a very weak right flank. I sh*t you not, In a tactic that employs a WTM (Laurent 2023), to lose him, the supporting FB (Magakis) and the Anchorman (Laskaris) in one swoop has left a bitter taste in my mouth. 

Bring on the end-of-season.

[XaW]

Gah! FFS! 

[toshimitzou1]

5 minutes ago, XaW said:

Gah! FFS! 

I hate those youth contracts. 

[darren1983]

2 hours ago, XaW said:

Step one done there, @darren1983, congrats! Now for the easy part!

Only need a little luck in a game or 2 fluke a Champions League - here's hoping it's this season. A nice one and done  

2 hours ago, Cheez3y said:

In my opinion is winning the PL harded.

Overall I think England is one of the hardest ones.

I can attest to this - it's a real grind 

[Winski]

FC Viktoria 1889 Berlin
End of season review 2021/2022
League Table | Competitions overview | Finances | Facilities | Transfers | Youth intake | Manager profile | Club overview

 

Wow. What a season this was! We are promoted to the 2. Bundesliga in our very first season!! Just like I did before with BFC Dynamo. From the start of the season we were one of the top flyers in the competition. We didn't play in the DFB-Pokal for some reason. So we only had to play competition matches.
With a 3rd place, behind champion Kaiserslautern and Bayern II (who can't get promoted), we are going up. Fantastic!

Our finances are terrible. With more then € 1M debt, things aren't looking great. But the money in 2. Bundesliga is good, so hopefully we can finish high enough for some nice money. Because of our financial situation, I couldn't upgrade any of our facilities.
I did bag my first coaching licence, National C. And I'm now studying for National B.

Man of the season is, without any doubt, Christopher Theisen. This man scored 27 goals in 3. Liga, which was almost a league record. He also had 15 assists. What a player! Also Falcão had a great season, with 22 goals and 13 assists.

Our youth team also did very well, and promoted to the German Youth Championship:

Youth intake
My HoYD Stefan Karow gave me this preview:

And this was the intake:

Not a great intake, but hey, it's the first intake. And we didn't upgrade anything this season. So I won't complain. Most promising players are:

 

[toshimitzou1]

Justified!!! No need for Play-Offs, rival bottled it!

It is going to take a real slog to stay up. I am, however optimistic, the WTM role is proving effective and I have two players coming through the ranks capable of playing the role.

Laurent 2022 is my starter and is is a real destructor - weighing in with a combined 15 goals and assists in 21 games is a stellar return. In addition, he is the fulcrum of both the build up play and acts as an out ball when under pressure. One key point, he performs better when the central striker is also a decent Target Manesque player. Marku 2022 is a perfect of example of this - pacey enough to get in behind but also physically capable of contesting aerial duels. 

As can be seen, in my tactical set-up almost conversley, it is more important for the WTM to have a good First Touch and the central striker to be possess aerial prowess.

Superleague 1, prepare for the WTM!!

[Padders]

3 hours ago, XaW said:

Gah! FFS! 

Devastating!

[Padders]

Brilliant @darren1983

[libbyshuss]

11 hours ago, XaW said:

I almost wet myself when I saw how good Luca Bristow 25a was!

oh wow, he looks amazing for that level! good luck holding on to him!

 

edit: d'oh, that'll teach me to reply before reading on! I hate youth conttracts, lost around 10 players to them so far. Nowhere near as good as Bristow though... 

Edited July 31, 2021 by libbyshuss

[ATW]

Season 1 - Half Way Point Update

 

This is the most difficult youth challenge I have done insofar as the development side goes, as it turns out the Club doesn't have an U18/21/23 or Reserves, instead they have an affiliate status with FC Rapperswil-Jona U18/GC, who I can send players to willy-nilly as long as they are under 18.  The problem is, so can any other club in the Country, and a few of my players are being passed over for others from other clubs (saying that, we have also used this to our advantage as you will see with the "transfers out").  Will see what the youth intake brings and the end of the season, maybe the board will offer me my own youth team (some teams in Switzerland seem to have a mix of both)

 

The Cup

Was asked to get to the third round of the cup, and I did so.  Going out to St Gallan in front of a full house, 2850 spectators - 2000 of which were St Gallan fans 

The League

This has really been a mixed bag, but I am at the half way point pretty happy where we are.  Positive is, one of the two defeats Lugano has come up against has been against us, where we beat them at home 1-0.  

Summer Transfer History

[ATW]

Youth Intake - Meh

 

[XaW]

9 hours ago, Padders said:

Devastating!

I know!

2 hours ago, libbyshuss said:

oh wow, he looks amazing for that level! good luck holding on to him!

edit: d'oh, that'll teach me to reply before reading on! I hate youth conttracts, lost around 10 players to them so far. Nowhere near as good as Bristow though... 

Yeah, I was so giddy I didn't manage to give him a real contract initially. So in retrospect I could have kept him, but I doubt for a long time. As soon he got offers, I knew he was lost, so I tried to offer him out for less now (£9k is nothing), but 50% sell on, but he went with one of the youth contract ones instead. Quite pissed at that really.

[ATW]

The Okay - How I have Missed the YAC Update!

 

So this happened... 

...which led to this...

 

 

I will be back when I decide what league to do next 

[XaW]

Ouch! Welcome to the club for sackings, @ATW! There's a lot of us in here!

[ATW]

Spain!  

C.D. Palencia Cristo Atlético

 

The Club

 

Manager

[vikeologist]

Vikeologist's 34th Folkestone Intake Report and 30th Intake Review 

Honestly not the intake I was hoping for, or needed. I need a mountain of a good central defender, or a central defender or someone who can actually head the ball, and all I got was another central midfielder, but it’s not terrible. I mean, my top guy, Kôji Sano 34a – A central midfielder from Japan, might actually turn out to be a star, even though he’s unlikely to feature in the first team soon.

There’s always next year, I guess.

The annoying thing is that a poached player I hadn’t seen the notification for has turned up at Sporting Lisbon, and he’s a central defender, though not particularly tall.

YP30 Review

Here’s (some of) what I said at the time.

 

Quote

 

It doesn’t look like a great intake, but still sort of useful.

Beyond Fletcher 30a, there doesn’t seem to be many promising players, but time will tell. Paul Humphreys 30b has a high opinion of himself based on his salary demands, so let’s see if he can back that up.

 

Paul Fletcher 30a – I’ve complained above, and probably in every intake and end of season report, about how I need a central defender, but Fletcher, although optimally a right back, was almost equally adept in the centre and at 185 cm he’s not a midget. He should have been the end of our problems, but four years on he still can’t command a starting place despite our 2 starters being at best mediocre. He has started 16 matches this season because he is right behind the starers who occasionally get injured or suspended. He  might still make it, but is still only rated 2.5 stars. He came in as unambitious with a determination of 4, and now he has a det of 14 but is light-hearted, and this might be the key to his lack of development, but again, it’s not a lost cause yet.

Paul Humphreys 30b is a striker who backed up his crazy salary demands by scoring for fun in the youth teams, but has never produced the goods when handed a few chances in the first team. Last season I sent him on loan to League 2 Oldham, and he scored only 12 goals in 43 starts, and has probably been overtaken by a younger and better 4^th string striker. Still has more than 2 years left on his contract though, so I might send him on loan again next season and see if he does any better.

Harry Richards 30c – Has grabbed the starting right winger place this season, but a younger player seems to have more ability if less potential.

 

[hyrule_king]

Season 3 Review

Yet again a very inconsistent season , however, I am seeing an improvement in the youth players which is all i really need to care about during this save. The player ratings/ goals and assists have improved as I have stuck with one tactic through thick and thin times. 

Youth Squad, I will be bringing through the second lot of youth intakes in too the main squad this forthcoming season

Star of the recent Intake:

Current Squad:

Biggest Improvement from 1st Youth Intake have been the following players:

 

Edited July 31, 2021 by hyrule_king

[the_hdk]

Polonia Warsaw - Season 5

League

League Stats / Transfers / Best 11

 

 

Yep! We won the league! what an ending to the season. TBH I gave up on it around game 27-28 when we lost 2 in a row. But somehow both Lechia gave it just away! they ware leading the league from round 20 till 31! And Also Jagiellonia gave it away! They lea dteh league in 33rd round, they had 2 points more than us and lechia...all they needed was a draw...but they lost...and so did Lechia...and we won...in an amazing game that we normally lose. What a season. It was very fun...6 teams ware fighting till the end for the championship (only 2 points difference between #1 and #5). Slask was fighting along but they lost too many games at the end. So First Polonia Warsaw championship since year 2000!

Weird thing, our season wasn't even that remarkble. Past two seasons we ware better but we just had a few 1-0 wins that normally ended in a draw or a loss. WYSZKOWSKI was also injured for most of March. He scored only 16 goals. HALUCH was our MVP, especially after STREJLAU got picked up the by the chinese in winter break. (1,8 mln sale. dude went from 3k p/m salary to 140k p/m). ROJEK our goaly had a decent season, but it will be his last...but more on that later. STURUA (our only foreign regen) is our first A-International. He picked up 2 caps for GEORGIA and scored once. WLODARCZYK (back from loans) was retrained to a left back and took the spot from PAZIO who will be retiring at the end of the season. and PRZYGODA our regen from last year became a first 11 player due to lack of generally good players in our midfield.

We did horrible in the cup, lost in 1st Round again, this time to Slask Wroclaw. We did well in europe. We managed to win in qualies againt Valur (ICE), Galatasaray (TUR) and best game of the seaosn against much stronger Zenit (RUS). In group phase we passed as second behind Kobenhavn (DEN) in front of APOEL (CYP) and Trencin (SVA). In knockout rounds we beat Partizan Belgrade (SER) and than got destroyed by Club Brugge (BEL). Overall it was a great run.

Sale of Strejlau. Our biggest transfer! Shortly after I invested the money in better youth center.

 

We finally have some foreign affiliates. Slovakian and Lithuanian teams!. I'm really hoping I can choose as 5th a Nigerian team! Let's see if I can get some foreign youngsters in finally.

 

Youth

Predicted Youth intake

What an intake! Look at that goaly! LUSIUSZ. 4 star abilitty at spawn! tahts AMAZING. I've never seen that. He's off teh bat...at 15...better than my current goaly ROJAK. And my whole team just got degraded by halve a star. I'm in love.
He also starred in the last 8 games of teh season and did really well. He debuted for us at 16 years and 3 days!. New DONNARUMMA? Or better said...new DUDEK? new TOMASZEWSKI?

Just look at him. Handling 15! Only problem...he seems to be ambitious...so let's hope I can keep him till he's 23 or so. I have a feelign this will be the new #1 of Poland.

 

Stats. no foreign.

 

[libbyshuss]

2034/35 - Season 14

National League

Season Summary

An up and down season that ended with another play-off defeat.

League - we started unbelievably well. 7 wins and 2 draws and a defeat from our opning ten fixtures put us top. And we were great right up until the start of October. We didn't win a game all month, rallied a bit in November and then went the whole of December without winning a game. So by the new year we were mid-table and off the pace. We picked up in the new year and put together some fairly good runs. In the end, 3 victories from our final 3 league games saw us sneak into the play-offs via the back door. And in contrast to last time, we were in form, high on morale and confidence, and looking forward to it.

Well the first round play off game was away to Morecambe, who absolutely destroyed us. We could barely get a touch. We lost 3-1 and it was a relief when it ended. It could have been so much more. Our keeper was the best player with 10 key saves! Ah well, onto next season!

FA Cup - struggled past Chippenham and Chester only to lose to League two Bristol Rovers in the second round. 

Players

I stuck with the same team as last season in the main. Sadly, Mitchell Wilsmer 33A got injured in October, struggled when he returned and was then sold out from under me in the January transfer window to Championship side Sunderland. Weirdly, I wasn't too upset as his replacement, Oscar Owens 32H actually did really well. I didn't notice him in the 2032 intake, hence the H, but he'd done well in the U18s and suddenly had a four star PA. Slightly more comfortable on the wing than up front he still did really well and made Wilsmer's loss easier to take. Other than that, the older players disappointed and it might be time for another drastic overhaul of the first team. Especially in midfield, they suck!

Craig McKenzie is a new intake player, more on him in a bit!

Youth

Another fantasic preview that got me a little excited, but still did'nt prepare me for what was delivered. I'm loving having facilities way too good for my level!

And the intake gave me my best player yet! and even better, a striker!!!! Just what was needed after losing Wilsmer too.

 

But here's the thing. Looking at his attributes and traits he looks way more suited for a DLP, and he wouldnt take too much training to become natural there. I think I'll use him up front for now but I see his future as a centre middie i think, kinda like paul scholes. Well, if I can hold on to him past his 18th birthday that is.....

 

Finances and Improvements

So the board sold Wilsmer for me. Not a bad deal I guess, but still a bit annoying when we didn't really need the money. It wasn't enough for them to allw me any improvements beyond my coaching badges either but what can you do?

Worst thing is you just have to sit and watch these guys waste away in the U23 squads for seasons upon end. I could have made use of you!!!

 

Career

 

 

 

Edited July 31, 2021 by libbyshuss

[XaW]

Folkestone Invicta - Season 2025/26 (Season 5) Review - Vanarama National League South (6th tier)

Table | Squad | Transfers | Finances

Before the season even started we had a big blow to our aspirations, as we lost out on the super talent that got picked off us by Birmingham. So that was quite annoying, but we made due. I continued with the same 4-4-2 still, as it had started to work wonders towards the end of last season. The good run continued into this season as we established ourselves among the top from an early stage. The big dog of the league, Dag & Red, are still professionals at this level, so just about everyone struggled to compete with them, but they didn't manage to leave the rest behind, only get a slight lead. It game them the win eventually, but a lot of us followed suit. Towards the end we had a bit of a bad run, and dropped down a few spots, but still finished in the playoff spots. In the 1st round we faced Bognor Regis Town, and unfortunately, we lost after extra time, so we get to stay here for another season.

In the FA Cup we beat Frome Town and Bowers & Pitsea before we lost to Havant & Waterlooville in the 4th qualifying round.

No new licences, but I managed to get both academy coaching and youth recruited two times, so both are now exceptional and maxed out. That should improve things in the coming seasons.

Youth

This was a really good intake with a lot of good players. If it continues like this, we will have amazing ones in all positions soon enough.

Donte Lee 26c is a very talented Bermudian right back, because why not? He looks very good going forward as well.

U18 team:

They didn't play in any league system.

In the FA Youth Cup they beat Stourbridge, Leatherhead, and Hemel Hempstead Town before losing to Dulwich Hamlet in the 1st round.

Statistics:

Spoiler

An extremely diverse intake, so we added a lot of countries this time. Germany, Cameroon, Bermuda, South Africa, Ghana, Guadeloupe, Belgium, DR Congo, Portugal, Angola, and Iceland all added!

Trophy cabinet:

None

[hyrule_king]

Plenty of Green in there. Looking Hopeful. 

Edited July 31, 2021 by hyrule_king

[The7Striker]

Transfers / Youth Intake

Season 2021 - 2022

 

I knew it was going to be hard but.... the defense is just horrible.

 

 

 

And well....

 

 

I have 2 nations in sight lets see...

Edited July 31, 2021 by The7Striker

[toshimitzou1]

The more I reflect, the more I am enjoying the gameplay consequences of this challenge:

• No need to hire scouts, recruitment analysists etc.
• No endless screen trawling, looking for the next superstar in the scouting screens.
• Quicker game progression due to an absence of transfer market activity.
• Concentrated focus on tactical performance and ways to improve player output based on understanding the implications of tactical changes.
• Heightened sense of tension/reality as club finances cannot be manipulated by exposing gameplay flaws that allow money to be made easily.
• Greater 'relationships' are forged with your digital players.
• A wider sense of being part of a community, with likeminded individuals sharing similar tribulations and successes.

Also, solid start to the season having already played 3 of the top 6. In addition, 6 points have been lost in injury time to - date but that is to be expected with youngsters. I am aiming for a mid-table finish as I expect my players to improve and the surrounding teams to become complacent against me. If it comes to a relegation play-off I would back my boys.