The FM21 Youth Academy Challenge

[VillaSmith]

Not updated for the 2028-29 season yet, but thought I'd skip forward to something annoying that just happened to me. After sending a couple GKs out on loan, one of them, Bob Pollock [27G], had made really good progress at Yeovil in VNS, to the point that I'd made the decision to recall him and finally replace Myles Boney with a youth player, and then on the 23rd of December, 8 days before recalling him, I get the below...

 

 

What's even worse is that the other GKs that have also progressed well and I might have recalled instead, they don't have recall options in their loans. The wait for an Academy GK in the first team continues.

[libbyshuss]

Belgium

2021/22 - Season 1

Eerste Nationale (3rd tier)

Season Summary

A good solid first season, definitely something to build on anyway

League - It's a tiny league, only 15 teams so it's over before you know it. Much more preferable than the slogs I went through in Brazil and England. Anyway, we started good, had a blip, found a tactic that suited us went on a really good run and almost squeaked into the play-offs!

The winners were Brugge B team. They have million pound plus players in their team, it's not fair!

Cup - Had me worried. Before the league even started we had to play an under-9 girls team in the fourth round and got beat. I was really worried I'd be looking at a 28 game losing league season but then I remembered that for some reason I just can't get anywhere in cups in this challenge. Annoying, as I could do with the money a game against someone big could bring in

Players

So, it was a relatively small squad I took over. only about 15 players, but 6 of them were strikers. A narrow 4-3-3 seemed the obvious choice but I was sick to death of it after that Hitchin save. I was stuck with it for years! So I experimented with both a 4231 and a 433DMwide as I'd been missing my wingers. They were both ok, but the 4231 seemed to work a lot better so I went with that. The only issue came with injuries or suspension. Whatever the position, a striker had to play there.

 

Youth

Being short of a few players I needed a nice intake to fill out the squad. Luckily the facilities were pretty good to start with so I just had to find a HoYD that was half decent. I found one with fairly proffesional personality, which was a bonus!

So, the first preview looked ok. No golden generation but that really doesn't mean much anyway

and the intake?

 

Those 4 stars look nice but realistically they'll be a couple of seasons off starting. Look at my best prospects and you'll see how low their work rate and determination is. Lots of fining to do! Looking at my sandals? that's a fine!

 

Finances and Upgrades

So here's the main issue. I'm losing loads of money despite my wage bill being half of what the board have allowed. They won't improve anything, not even a coaching course for me! So I need money from somewhere!

Career

 

[VillaSmith]

Season 8 - 2028/29 - Sky Bet League Two

League Table - Fixtures 1/Fixtures 2/Fixtures 3 - Squad 1/Squad 2 - Best XI - Transfers

League - An absolutely unbelievable season that I was totally not expecting, especially after my dodgy start. 11 points from the first 11 games, we struggled to adjust to life without Njoku, Bengue and Miller, and I feared we were heading back to the National League, with Hogg looking to be the only bright spot. Then a couple good results snowballed in to an amazing run with just 1 loss in 15 (20 all comps), including a 10 game unbeaten run (15 all comps) which put me in the playoffs and had me thinking I'd be returning this year, but then as the season drew to a close, I put together some more good form and those around me fell away, and I managed to nab top spot on the last day! Only one day all season I was in 1st, just lucky for me it was the last day  Hogg was magnificent this season, reminiscent of Gilchrist in my first season when I expected nearly every chance he got to be a goal. I was worried I might feel the absence of Miller up front, but Hogg filled that hole and then some, ending up as Player of the Year and Top Goalscorer, he was 2 goals shy in all comps of his combined goals with Miller last season, and smashed the Academy Goals record. Hopefully next season we can stick around in League One, but it could be a struggle as I feel we may start to be hitting too far above our weight soon.

Cups - A good FA Cup run, but unfortunately not a money spinning run as Sunderland attracted an awful crowd, as usual. It was a fun ride to the 3rd round though, as the first two rounds came right in the middle of my real purple patch and I ended up absolutely spanking Shrewsbury and Huddersfield, the 6-2 v Huddersfield being particularly impressive as they are in League One and have at least one player on higher wages than my entire squad put together! Still, tying my furthest run felt good. The EFL Cup was disappointing again, losing to eventual title rivals Mansfield, but perhaps getting that distraction out of the way early on helped in the end. Then in the EFL Trophy I managed to reach the Quarter Final, tying my furthest run in these 3 tier trophies, going out to Championship-bound Bolton 2-1, which wasn't too bad since I ended up playing a fairly rotated side. Hopefully I can push on even further in these comps next year.

Finances - Whilst the sales in the summer helped beef up the bank balance, upgrading the Youth Facilities ended up taking a heavy hit, so I perhaps should've held off on those upgrades. Not been able to upgrade anything else, but our Youth Category was upgraded to Category 2, which I'm not sure I wanted really. It will definitely help bring players through, but I can't really afford £1.6m per year right now. To try put us into a more stable position, I did end up agreeing to sell Martyn Taylor for a club record fee, £400k upfront and £2.1m over installments, plus a sell on fee. Like with my transfers last season, I've arranged for them to go through at the end of the year in the hopes that Taylor staying can help me stay up, but it should be enough next summer to keep us going. I may have to look to make some more sales soon though, or hope Sofokleous picks up some major interest from the big boys in the Premier League. He's currently worth about £45m, I can't wait for that windfall! I did also discovere this season another potential revenue stream that I had failed to consider before, and that is cultivating managers on my backroom staff. I signed Phil Jagielka as a coach back in 2024, and this season he ended up taking the Exeter City job, which landed me about £75k, and then this summer, my Under 18s coach Adam Blakeman left to become Brentford's Under 18s manager, which got me another £60k! I've since been scouring the staff search for coaches with any interest in management to fill out my backroom staff, which'll hopefully net me £100k+ per year.

 

Youth Intake

Graeme Penman [29A] - Reece White [29B] - Steve Morris [29C] - Jung Dong-Woo [29D] - Evan Briers [29E] - Adam Batch [29F] - Fred Talbot [29G]

At first I thought this wasn't a great intake, as I'd been spoilt so far with some fantastic ones, but it's still pretty good. I think I definitely need to start integrating Penman, as he looks a good candidate to replace James Bell [26D] who keeps angling for a move, and Reece White is another really good looking GK coming through, it looks to be between him, Glenn Dunn [28E] and Bob Pollock [27G] as the future #1 for me. The rest look like they could be at least good squad players for me, and I'm excited to get a decent Korean player in Jung! Whether that will translate into any extra revenue remains to be seen, but I like having these wide ranging nationalities coming through my youth system!

[VillaSmith]

And there's the added sales I thought I may need to do this season

Had negotiated a decent deal with Southampton which included percentage of next sale rather than just profit and it would've gone through in the summer, but it was only for about £6m and my board accepted this offer, as well as one from Tottenham, over my head. However, whilst I would have liked to have kept Farley until the summer, I can't really sniff at £7.25m rising to £10.75m. Hopefully this allows me to stabilise for a bit financially.

[OlivierL]

54 minutes ago, libbyshuss said:

Belgium

2021/22 - Season 1

Eerste Nationale (3rd tier)

Season Summary

A good solid first season, definitely something to build on anyway

League - It's a tiny league, only 15 teams so it's over before you know it. Much more preferable than the slogs I went through in Brazil and England. Anyway, we started good, had a blip, found a tactic that suited us went on a really good run and almost squeaked into the play-offs!

The winners were Brugge B team. They have million pound plus players in their team, it's not fair!

Cup - Had me worried. Before the league even started we had to play an under-9 girls team in the fourth round and got beat. I was really worried I'd be looking at a 28 game losing league season but then I remembered that for some reason I just can't get anywhere in cups in this challenge. Annoying, as I could do with the money a game against someone big could bring in

Players

So, it was a relatively small squad I took over. only about 15 players, but 6 of them were strikers. A narrow 4-3-3 seemed the obvious choice but I was sick to death of it after that Hitchin save. I was stuck with it for years! So I experimented with both a 4231 and a 433DMwide as I'd been missing my wingers. They were both ok, but the 4231 seemed to work a lot better so I went with that. The only issue came with injuries or suspension. Whatever the position, a striker had to play there.

 

Youth

Being short of a few players I needed a nice intake to fill out the squad. Luckily the facilities were pretty good to start with so I just had to find a HoYD that was half decent. I found one with fairly proffesional personality, which was a bonus!

So, the first preview looked ok. No golden generation but that really doesn't mean much anyway

and the intake?

 

Those 4 stars look nice but realistically they'll be a couple of seasons off starting. Look at my best prospects and you'll see how low their work rate and determination is. Lots of fining to do! Looking at my sandals? that's a fine!

 

Finances and Upgrades

So here's the main issue. I'm losing loads of money despite my wage bill being half of what the board have allowed. They won't improve anything, not even a coaching course for me! So I need money from somewhere!

Career

 

That is one of the issues in nations like Belgium. Check my Aalst and Berchem (youth setup costs) attempt in this topic  

 

[libbyshuss]

11 minutes ago, OlivierL said:

That is one of the issues in nations like Belgium. Check my Aalst and Berchem (youth setup costs) attempt in this topic  

 

I will do. I get the feeling money will be harder to come by in Belgium than it was in England!

[libbyshuss]

44 minutes ago, VillaSmith said:

I signed Phil Jagielka as a coach back in 2024, and this season he ended up taking the Exeter City job, which landed me about £75k, and then this summer, my Under 18s coach Adam Blakeman left to become Brentford's Under 18s manager, which got me another £60k!

I love it when that happens! I try to sign my backroom staff to big long contracts just for that reason! they nearly always end up sacked in 6 months anyway!

[OlivierL]

1 minute ago, libbyshuss said:

I will do. I get the feeling money will be harder to come by in Belgium than it was in England!

Idd , in England you have the chance to get some good money with good cup draws.. in Belgium the chances are lower (you should get shared gate receipts in cups ).

 

 

[libbyshuss]

Just now, OlivierL said:

in England you have the chance to get some good money with good cup draws

I got a million when I was drawn away at Manchester United which is crazy money at those lower levels. It was brilliant.

[Sn00gle]

 

Odra Wodzisław - 2022/23

Squad - League - Finances - Transfers 

After 10 matches I already know that I won't fight for promotion. Disappoiting after so good first season and almost no change in tactic and squad. After yt prieview I was thinking it will be the same as last time but honesly that was very decent intake. Malec 02b is very nice DC which will fit in after we lose one of my main DC's. Mierzwiński 02a in other hand looks not bad and have nice personality compare to whole intake!! What is this even?. All my staff have a nice personalities... Anyway it will be hard to get some minutes for him as main winger Tarka is on spot. Konczkowski 02d look's decend but again character... Kuźma 01a from first intake got some minutes and he is developing mostly in mental. Grabara 01f didn't change hes personality and he is not developing at all sadly. One more guy from first intake steps in Buczek 01e was changed from right wing into carrilero as noone wants to loan him so got as well some minutes. Well overall we got upper table so should be happy but... you konw how it is  I think my save is bugged tho. For some reasons I have feeling my save is bugged and not everything works like it should LOL. Okocimski is a magic team for Polish save now they have Armenian GK in my save (in 2 seasons in) this is crazy for foreign players in this challenge.

 

 

Spoiler

 

 

 
 

Edited September 6, 2021 by Sn00gle

[hyrule_king]

No Idea how i managed this.

Switched to 424 at the end of the season and won 3 of my last 4, drawing to the top team in the league 2-2 in the last game.

Best Ever Eleven

He is on course to be the best Intake I have had on this save.

Edited September 3, 2021 by hyrule_king

[Padders]

Season #99 - 2120/21

Its being coming!

Joke a of season!

Relegated!

Cycle of awful intakes (happens every 10-15 years or so) and simply not good enough

Back to League 1 we go............................................

Then board announce stadium expansion  

Edited September 3, 2021 by Padders

[toshimitzou1]

Coming towards the end of the season. Here is a status update:

• We have to overturn a 0-1 deficit against Sevilla in the Champions League 2nd round knockout Second Leg - at home we have a real chance.
• For the first time we are in the latter stages of the domestic cup, home and away to our bogey team PAOK in the Semi-Finals.
• Going into the ten fixture League Championship Play - Off group we are fourth 5th but only 7 points from the summit! Aris have been punching above their weight but it is AEK that look the favourites. Last season we pipped them in what was a record low points total to win the league for the first time. This season, they are the only one of the top three without cup distractions. Unless we take points off of them, I cannot see the title being feasible.

End of season priorities in order of importance:

1. Win first domestic cup.
2. Secure top three finish
3. Overturn CL Knockout deficit.

With AEK having no cup football as a distraction, the league seems out of reach. As such, I will be fielding a second XI for all league games prior to a domestic or continental cup fixture with the hope of bringing home silverware for the third consecutive season.

 

Priority 3: Failed.

We could not overturn the 1-0 deficit, but we did not let ourselves down:

 

Unfortunately it was quite a dismal end to the season. We could not progress past PAOK in the semi-finals of the domestic cup, losing on the away goals rule.

Furthermore, by attempting to focus on cup success and juggling the demands of three competitions we suffered in the league, finishing fifth! We really struggled in the final 10 league games, really a continuation of our poor form that started when we lost our first choice RM to a broken leg. It is no surprise that upon his return in the final 3 games, our form picked up again. With his absence, we were playing RB's at RM for the entire second half of the season and the championship play-off games.

On the positive side, our fifth placed finish does enter us directly into the group stage of the EURO Cup, a competition which should satisfy the ambitions of the majority of the playing squad.

Thoughts on youth academy challenge: 

• Injuries: It can be very difficult to adjust to injuries to key players. In hindsight, with the injury to my RM and a lack of either cover or retrainable players, I should have made a change to my tactical approach. My refusal to adapt has cost us dear this season and is something I am looking to avoid. I intend to reformulate my roles and duties and possibly the formation to ensure that, where I have chosen a role intended to stretch the opposition (Winger, SV, AF etc.), I have at least three viable options able to play that role.
• Squad Depth: When competing on more than one front, unless I can be sure that our squad has a realistic chance of cup success, all effort should be focused on league games to ensure on-going club stability.
• Consistency: As my younger players become more known to our coaches, reports have revealed that many of them are 'inconsistent' performers. Whilst having two or three 'inconsistent' players in the First XI may not be too problematic - I realise now that eight of my First XI have this drawback; without high Physical attributes that can negate this hinderance, my overall team performances have certainly suffered. Going forwards, I am going to be placing more emphasis on Consistency before choosing to implement a youth player as a key component of any future tactical plans.

Time to start planning for next season.

 

Edited September 4, 2021 by toshimitzou1
All objectives failed

[libbyshuss]

9 hours ago, Padders said:

Its being coming!

Joke a of season!

Relegated!

how were you ever going to replace sean carey?

How many career goals did he get in the end? he was insane!

[XaW]

FC Amberg - Season 2025/26 (Season 5) Review - Bayernliga Nord

Table | Squad | Transfers | Finances

A bit of a drop off this season after we almost got promoted last season. The start of the season were just poor, and we we looked to finish in a mid-table position for a long while. Towards the end we did manage a bit of a resurgence to climb up a bit and made the position look decent at least. Looking at our xPts we should have finished higher than we did though, so there's a fair bit of poor luck this season, as well as individual errors. Our young Greek striker Ierotheos Goulsouzidis 24h has had a bit of a breakthrough season and his development from that has been amazing. Our objectively best player Philipp Gaiser 23i, also have started to deliver a bit more than he has the previous seasons.

In the Bayerische Pokal we beat Dachau, Türkspor Augsberg, Seligenporten, and Rain before we lost to Illertissen in the quarter final. 

No club developments this season, unfortunately. However, since we share facilities with Greuther Fürth, they seems to have improved theirs, so my facilities are suddenly better. I don't mind!

Youth

Much better than last season. Some very good talents, with good personalities as well.

,

Quite a fascinating player, with versatility and talent. Not sure what I want to lead him towards, but he should be useful.

Statistics:

Spoiler

A few new countries added to the list in Cameroon, Kosovo, and Poland. Interestingly, I also got in a German player who is born in Latvia, but without Latvian citizenship. So perhaps i should add Latvia to the list!

Trophy cabinet:

German Landesliga Bavaria/Staffel Central - 2021/22

[VillaSmith]

Just got to the end of the 29-30 season (will post an update soon) and was greeted with this from my board.

Nothing concrete yet on the details, but on the facilities page it says we're searching for a site for a 11225 seater stadium  Not sure we'll be able to fill that out, but it will give me more scope to grow, and hopefully by the time it's built I'll be able to get attendances closer to that capacity.

Not what I would've been asking for just yet, but very happy with it

 

[shaunvamos]

 

 

 

If there was a season to be disappointed, it was this one. We underachieved massively, in xG, xPts and XPos. According to our analysts we should've finished 8th, and while I don't think we were as good as that, we should've secured our safety much sooner. I think we need to be a little more aggressive in attack, and hopefully that will translate to us being a little more clinical. But the trend upwards is on the horizon. I really hope it starts next season, as we need good performances so we can improve our finances.

 

Youth Intake

 

 

 

Rudy Brighenti 4A*  -  Cesare Bisignano 4B  -  Ivan Saccon 4C

 

 

A 4th straight golden generation, with a Senegalese guy in there to break up the Italian monotony. Looks could be deceiving though, as none of these guys are even good enough for the U20 side. But that could be a sign of our depth (I hope). Brighenti is definitely the star though, especially with that personality.

 

Best XI

 

Daniele Santoro  -  Antonio Lukanovic  -  Edoardo Girardi

 

 

 

The development of the academy products is slowly beginning to show, with our back 3 completely made up of them. Sola's development saw him rewarded with a first team spot at the back end of the season, as did Carmelo Ferrari. Add that to our overall skyrocketing and next season surely will be a much happier one.

 

Record Breakers

 

 

Transfers

We lose our first academy product, as well as Angeli leaving as the board went over my head. But that was a good price for him anyway.
 

 

Progress
 

 

[VillaSmith]

Season 9 - 2029/30 - Sky Bet League One

League Table - Fixtures 1/Fixtures 2/Fixtures 3 - Squad 1/Squad 2 - Best XI - Transfers 1/Transfers 2

League - A good, solid season for my first year in League One. I started off a mixed August, but then we hit some superb form and I was even dreaming of possible Championship football next year, until we ran out of steam and slowly slid down to mid table. 14th is still a magnificent season though, so I can't complain, and many players adapted  fantastically to the higher level, with Hogg and Sullivan being the standouts. I'm hoping this can be a a platform to build from, but I'm not hopeful for next season, as along with the departures of Farley and Taylor that I've already mentioned, I've decided to let Riddell go after we fell out and he started acting up, and Sullivan won't renew his contract with only 2 years left on his current one, so I may need to cash in now on him. Plus Wilson, Bell and Peate are now attracting interest, but hopefully their longer contracts mean I can keep them a bit longer whilst the younger players develop. All in all, it's shaping up to be a difficult year next season.

Cups - A first round exit this year after a replay against Colchester which was disappointing, even more so that I lost again to them the following game in the league. In the EFL trophy we walked the group, even with some heavy rotation, but were unfortunate to go out on pens to Doncaster in the 2nd Round. I had hoped we might make a good push this year, but luck wasn't with us. However we had a much better showing in the EFL Cup, getting to the 3rd round for the first time, in part due to a favourable draw facing two League Two sides that we beat fairly easily, but then succumbed to penalties against Luton after a game we were much the better side in, only to concede a 90+1 minute equaliser  We just couldn't take our chances in the second half to extend our lead from 3-2, and we just couldn't handle the pressure of the shootout. Still, I'm proud to have gotten so far and given a Championship side a good game.

Finances - After a couple of financially shaky seasons, we're back in the black! Farley's sale was huge for us, and we have another £1m due from the sale in the summer, along with around £850k from Taylor and Riddell's moves. The strong position allowed me to upgrade the Training Facilities up to Average now, and is probably partly why the board took the decision to build a new stadium. I calculated that outgoings have now totalled just over £13m, with £3.75m of that still to come in plus any potential bonuses, so we're looking really healthy financially now. I won't look to spend too much on facilities over the next few years and just look to build up a healthy balance, but I'm still happy with where we're at.

 

Youth Intake

Ben Clayton [30A] - Emmanuel Bennett [30B] - Adam Laing [30C] - Evan Banjamin [30D] - Jack MacKenzie [30E] - Todd Duncan [30F] - Ryan Fraser [30G]

Another very good intake, and what I'm most excited about is that this group actually has quite a good set of personalities! They're aren't fantastic, but it beats having a bunch of top prospects with Fickle or Unambitious. I do think I'll have to work on a few of these players, as they may need to adapt to my formation or look to be better prosepcts elsewhere on the pitch, but I'm very happy with this cohort. Bennett and Clayton came along just in time as I needed a new LM after Riddell left, and Duncan could provide cover at RM. Plus a couple decent CBs through, so hopefully Laing and MacKenzie may step up soon to fill the void left by Taylor and potentially Sullivan.

 

And finally, I've been keeping a close eye on players I've sold with a shortlist I keep scouted. If I'm not going to be buying players, may as well keep my scouts busy doing something. But I noticed that Sofokleous, who is probably West Ham's best player now, signed a new contract earlier this year, and will you look at that...

 

EDIT - Forgot to add in some sad news from this season

Gilchrist retired at the end of the season, and didn't even take up coaching so I could keep him around. Top scorer for the club with 227 goals (even more in all comps but forgot to check before his retirement) and has scored at every level and in every season, this year he became my oldest scorer at 35yrs 12d, an absolutely amazing player and servant for the club.

Goodbye Legend

 

Edited September 4, 2021 by VillaSmith

[_JHTB_]

CSA Steaua Buceresti

Season 6 – Casa Liga I

Table1 -- Table2 -- Transfers -- Squad

Season Update

The top league is not really a fun place to be for us, probably good in terms of competition reputation for player development but we’re often playing backs against the wall, or a long run of poor form hurting morale which means when we do play well we still only draw the games. I also lost count of the number of long range screamers that cost us points late on in games.

In spite of this, we technically had as good a season as our first time up at this level, 35 points in the regular season and a decent enough attempt in the relegation group seeing us secure our safety from even the relegation playoffs before the last game.

Squad

This season saw me convert a defensive midfielder into a centre back as Marius Berezanu 5 from last seasons intake was improving a lot in the under 19s but I didn’t really have a first team spot available other than defense. He’s not unsuited to the position so I’m happy enough to give him a bit of versatility.

 Dumitriu Iancu 3 has had to be a bit patient to get a full run in the side upfront, even this season he hadn’t started as first choice, but by the end he’d cemented his position with 12 league goals I’m hopefully he can build on this next time round.

In more of a sour news side Alin Barbu 4 has lost faith in my management as I had the audacity to criticise his form or training or something and really threw his teddy out the pram, so I demoted him back to the under 19s. He’s a good player so I’m hopefully I can try and win him round (I do have a 3 year option on his contract too so plenty time to sort it).

I’m also now at a bit of a quandary for the goalkeeper position, I have the original keeper from the start of the save, but also 2 or 3 youth players vying for the position and I’m unsure what to do, so I’m wondering what you would do?

Horia Iancu: Been a good goalkeeper for us for years, and in fact has been our player of the season in each of our last 3 top flight seasons, but this was his worst season.

Spoiler

Sebastian Sapunaru 3: Arguably on par with Iancu attribute wise, but in the few games he’s played he’s not been great, plus at 5’11 he’s not the tallest for goalkeepers.

Spoiler

Sorin Petrache 2: My coaches rate him as our best keeper, but I’m not convinced, he doesn’t have the best reflexes or one on ones.

Spoiler

 

Youth

Back to a golden generation prediction, we were expecting a winger and a midfielder, with most other positions not much hope for.

As ever, we got a lot of youngsters with good potential according to our HoYD, but again this is probably due to not the greatest overall strength of first team yet.

General Overview

As covered previously we got a takeover before the season, but really it didn’t change all too much for the club on the day to day. We did manage to start our last coaching course at least. This season we didn’t get TV revenue, I think it starts the second season in the top flight, so relegation really cost us 2 seasons ago. Due to the lack of TV revenue, financially we are not in a good place which could force my hand in terms of selling players this summer.

Next season, I suspect it will be a similar season to this, hopefully we can continue the squads development and make us stronger for it. I think this summer I’m going to try and get a new HoYD in, the current one hasn’t done awfully, but could do with better personalities in the main, though we did get ok ones this season.

Story So Far

[hyrule_king]

@Padders99 seasons. :o

How slow is the game running? 

[XaW]

8 minutes ago, hyrule_king said:

@Padders99 seasons. :o

How slow is the game running? 

I think he finished it after about 250 seasons in FM20! The madman!

[DazRTaylor]

55 minutes ago, hyrule_king said:

@Padders99 seasons. :o

How slow is the game running? 

Pfff he has just started.  Give him a few months and he will beat 250.

[DazRTaylor]

I go again in Scotland.  I have been forced to holiday for two seasons to address the bug.

Club Introduction

East Kilbride

The Manager

This is me.

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

Club Facilities

Season     Training Facilities  Youth Facilities  Corporate Facilities  Junior Coaching  Youth Recruitment  Club Reputation
---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
At Start   Adequate             Adequate          Adequate              Adequate         Adequate           Regional   (1.50*)

Season Record

Season     Played     Won     Drawn     Lost     Goals For     Goals Against     Goal Difference
------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Overall Career Record

After Season   Played     Won     Drawn     Lost     Goals For     Goals Against     Goal Difference     Time At Club
---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Transfer Sale Record

Date               Player                    Position               Club Sold To                 Country                   Transfer Fee
---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Trophy Haul

Season     Competition Won
--------------------------

Trophy Cabinet

League Titles
-------------



Cup Competition Victories
-------------------------

Career Overview

Season     Champions League     Europa League          League                             Position     Scottish Cup                    Betfred Cup        Achievements
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Record Number of Appearances (Players From The Academy Only)

Season     Player                    Cumulative Number of Appearances
---------------------------------------------------------------------

Record Goal Scorer (Players From The Academy Only)

Season     Player                          Cumulative Number of Goals
---------------------------------------------------------------------

Record Number of Assists (Players From The Academy Only)

Season     Player                        Cumulative Number of Assists
---------------------------------------------------------------------

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

Season     Player                    Cumulative Number of Clean Sheets
----------------------------------------------------------------------

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

[JAwtunes]

Season 8 (2027/28) Review

On the pitch

First team:

 

Spoiler

Most appearances

 

Domestic: A really good season.  We were dominant in the eague and managed our highest point haul to date,  The cup was again not a priority and we crashed out in the second round.  The board were not impressed.

Spoiler

Cup

Europe: Not too bad.  We made it to the group stage of the Europa League for the third successive season but managed to pick up just 3 points in our group and finished bottom.

Spoiler

Champions League

Europa League

 

Off the pitch

Youth intake: Described by the HoYD as an excellent group of players in the preview

Spoiler

Players:

Spoiler

Top players

 

Spoiler

Top of 2028 intake

 

SUMMARY

Around the world (Euro28 = ; Copa America 2028 = ; UCL = PSG; CL = A Mineiro; Balon d'Or = A Ciobanu(1))

Spoiler

UEFA Euro Italia 28

tbc

Copa America Brazil 28

tbc

UEFA Champions League

Copa Libertadores (nice to see Colo-Colo make it to the semi final)

Balon d'Or (first newgen to pick up the award)

 

 

Edited September 4, 2021 by JAwtunes

[Padders]

3 hours ago, hyrule_king said:

@Padders99 seasons. :o

How slow is the game running? 

Yeah can be slow in between games at times

File save is 330mb now

[Padders]

2 hours ago, DazRTaylor said:

Pfff he has just started.  Give him a few months and he will beat 250.

Running out of time for that I think

Two and a bit months until FM22. So around 75 days? 

Tend to do a season in a day and with life a bit more normal I will be out doing things so that won't be happening. Going back to the office more in October as well

Starting to run out of time and with relegation to L1 just that definitely doesn't help.

[libbyshuss]

Belgium

2022/23 - season 2

Eerste Nationale (3rd tier)

Season Summary

Quite an exciting season really!

League - I kept the same team pretty much as last season and kept to an attacking 4231 as it seemed to suit us so well. It really paid off as well. At one point we went on a 13 game unbeaten run, although that did segue into a 5 match winless run. But although we were never close to catching the Club Brugge B team we were always in the play-off positions and qualified quite easily

 

One of the reasons I wanted to play in Belgium is I love their play-off system. It's slightly bonkers but works really well. All 4 of us took our points into a little 4 team mimi-league where we play each other home and away again. We did really well, winning 2 and drawing 2 of our first 5 to mean we went into the final game with the table like this:-

See, it's really exciting! Everybody had something to play for! Final days results were......

 

which meant we missed out on promotion at the very final hurdle by a point! D'oh!!!!!

Cup - much better showing from us, getting through to the 6th round where the big boys join us.  We got paired with Mouscron of the top league but we got to play home due to being in a lower league, which really minimises the potential for a big payout. So we lost 3-1 and made about 10k for our troubles.....

Players

Pretty much the same team and tactics as last season. It suits them well. I reckon this side has about 1 season left before I'll need to start integrating some of the newgens into the team

Annoyingly they still have pretty low determination and work rate. Turns out they don't liek being fined by a manager with no reputation to speak off. I spent most of the season like this with them:-

 

Youth

So, another preview with no mention of a golden generation... but lots of green writing which is always nice to see

The intake was ok but still a lot of work to be done on peronalities and determination/work rate

Best potentials now look quite healthy with a couple rated two star ability already. They're not quite ready yet though, but the squad size is so small I have to play a couple here and there. 6.5 ratings... I need those determination and work rates in the green!

 

Career

 

Edited September 4, 2021 by libbyshuss

[vikeologist]

Vikeologist's 2057/58 Folkestone Season Report

Promoted to the Premier League for the second time in our history, the aim was to avoid the first season relegation of last time.

We started badly, but then improved a lot and were within touching distance of European qualification midway through the season. Our form did eventually fall off, but e were always safe and some of our late season losses were due to giving our prospects a run out.

 

Spoiler

Obviously, having survived, I want more next season, but I can’t complain with how this one has gone.

Team

Spoiler

 

Top Goalscorer – Dave Jackson 21b - 24

Last season’s top scorer Dominic Riley suffered a bad injury near the start of the season, and I’m not sure he’s the player he was before.

That left veteran Jackson, and his 24 goal tally was solid enough.

He’s 32 now, but with Riley’s set back is ostensibly our best striker. However a young striker scored 13 goals in 14 league starts so even though he’s supposed to only be my 4^th best striker, we do have a selection battle on our hands.

Highest Average Rating (minimum 10 matches played) – Harrison Potter-Rusoke 33b – 7.16

This is the young striker in question. I’m not sure he has the potential to be a superstar, but I don’t necessarily need him to improve. I just need him to keep doing this for the next 10 or so years.

 

Man of The Match – Dave Jackson 21b – 8

 

Most Valuable Player– Mohamed Kargbo 33a

Goals, average ratings, man of the match. None of that matters. Kargbo is our best player by a mile.

He wants to leave, but he has 5 years left on his contract. I will admit that his average rating of 6.65 was awful, so I have to consider the possibility that his unhappiness is killing his form. He’s a left winger and didn’t get many assists or goals, but he’s never had great match ratings.

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

Could Dave Jackson on 663 appearances approach this record? I’ve said before how ironic it would be for a striker to beat the record for appearances, but not the all-time goals one.

 

Most Goals (Regens) – Michael Morgan 9a – 463

Dave Jackson has 400 goals now.

 

Barry Ramsay 29k (Son) Update

I sent him on loan to a new French affiliate, and he was progressing well there until a bad injury that kept him out for 4 months. Still, he’s getting lots of playing time at a club with good facilities, albeit as a 175cm tall central defender, so I’ll send him back there next season.

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 
40/41	League 1		11th		Pushing for promotion most of the season		Jack Collett 13a 
41/42	League 1		5th		Lost in playoffs semifinal				Michael Morgan 9a 
42/43	League 1		8th		Losing streak, winning streak and then injuries		Kevin Spencer 17d
43/44	League 1		7th		One place outside playoffs.				Kevin Spencer 17d
44/45	League 1		12th		Outside playoffs all season. New stadium.		Pete Larkin 18d
45/46	League 1		2nd		Promoted last day of the season. 			Dave Jackson 21b 
46/47	Championship		20th		Plummetted near to relegation zone			Dave Jackson 21b 
47/48	Championship		15th		Terrible start but mid table safety after that.		Steven 'Shamrock' Larkin 21d 
48/49	Championship		14th		Good start but dropped away from playoffs.		Liam Carter 25d 
49/50	Championship		15th		Boring & disappointing season				Dave Jackson 21b 
50/51	Championship		4th		Promoted through playoffs.				Ross Gethins 22c
51/52	Premier League		20th		Won once in 2nd half of season and relegated.		Dave Jackson 21b
52/53	Championship		8th		Typical second half of the season collapse.		Dave Jackson 21b 
53/54	Championship		7th		Missed out on playoffs in final match injury time	Dan Jones 27e
54/55	Championship		7th		Missed playoffs on final day for 3rd season in a row.	Dave Jackson 21b
55/56	Championship		7th		Missed playoffs on final day for 4th season in a row.	Alex Taylor 21e
56/57	Championship		2nd		Promoted on final day of the season. 			Mohamed Kargbo 33a
57/58	Premier League		13th		Never in relegaton danger.				Mohamed Kargbo 33a

 

[OlivierL]

Youth intake preview - Class 2027

Looks good ! 

[hyrule_king]

 

 

Edited September 5, 2021 by hyrule_king

[Padders]

13 hours ago, libbyshuss said:

how were you ever going to replace sean carey?

How many career goals did he get in the end? he was insane!

Yeah he retired 

808 league goals in 869 games

Not sure you can see career goals after they have retired

[hyrule_king]

Highest Increase in stats for Last Year

Highest Overall Increase in Stats

High Hopes

 

[thomas_e]

Rimini Calcio FC

Youth Intake 2032

A very good youth intake. No crazy stand out player, but tons of potential and its rare to see so many 5 star potential players when you play in the Serie A. 

With solid improvements to our youth/training facilities I hope we can get the most out of these players! 

 

               

[shaunvamos]

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Unbelievably, we're going up! We underperformed again in the league, as our analysts thought we'd be 3rd, but our class really began to shine the further we got into the promotion playoff. Are we ready for the Serie B? God no, but if we can beat the teams we were promoted with and maybe scrape a result or two against some other teams we could survive. 

 

Youth Intake

 

 

 

Massimo Orofino 5A  -  Ivan Tolio 5B  -  Mattia Tortelli 5C*

 

 

We seem to be some sort of El Dorado here, a 5th straight golden generation! That being said, we appear to be slowing down a bit in terms of quality. Everyone is still getting signed, but it remains to be seen how good these guys will be.

 

Best XI

 

Antonio Lukanovic  -  Carmelo Ferrari 2F*  -  Daniele Santoro

 

 

 

Not too different from last season in terms of personnel, but at least we're still improving.

 

Record Breakers

 

 

Transfers

 

 

Progress
 

 

[thomas_e]

Rimini Calcio FC

Season Summary 2031 - 2032

On paper this was a huge season for us. Only our second season in the Serie A and we finished 9th place. We took big steps and managed to improve in most areas. We are moving into a new stadium this summer and we got two improvements to our training/youth facilities.

On the other hand, we finished the season terribly. If the season only lasted from January until May we probably would have gotten relegated. This makes me nervous about next season and I probably have to take a good look at our tactics. We lost the last four games of the season in awful fashion and we were really tired as well. This also leads me to the question: 

What kind of training schedules do you guys use? Mine are good for development, but we get really fatigued at the end of the season.. 

The goal for next season will once again be to survive. We will probably lose our best player, Simon Kus, on a bosman after next season and our biggest talents are still a couple of years away from contributing in the first team. 

 

Season Summary

          

 

Key Players

          

 

Key Talents

          

 

Edited September 5, 2021 by thomas_e

[hyrule_king]

[JLAB]

ACN Siena 1904 – Season 26 – 2046/47 Season Review

Another season has come and gone. We have yet another mid-table finish where I wonder what could have been if we didn't make as many mistakes as we did. Losing twice to Benevento, losing to Cagliari in the 92nd minute of the game, struggling against SPAL in the league, conceding an equaliser against Bari after having a slow start to the 2nd half comes to mind as moments that cost us European football for the 2nd straight season. We did have to juggle European football with our league schedule and getting to our first ever cup final. In some ways, this season was a success, in other ways, this season was a failure. We just have to pick ourselves up and go again next season.

Speaking of the cup, we were beaten by Juventus in the Coppa Italia final in our first ever appearance in the final after Juventus scored a 93th minute winner. I know that we can get here again, and with luck, we will be lifting the trophy next time.

The end of season form was questionable, but we did managed to beat Inter Milan in the league after beating them in the cup twice, so I know we can beat the bigger teams on our day. Though dropping points to Benevento and Cagliari did not leave me feeling like we did a good job this season after all.

Allow me to show you our best player at the team. Vincenzo Deluigi is now considered our best player in the team outright. He's the first player we have ever had to be outright called a "Leading Serie A player", which lets me know that this man will take us to the very top if we get more players of his calibre continuing to come through the youth academy. While we had two wonderkids in two intakes in the form of Fedele Landi and Carlo Musu, both of whom are now leading the lines for Real Madrid, they came to us before we were truly ready for them to arrive at the club. We are now reading for more players like Landi, Musu and Deluigi. We are now truly starting to enter the next level and be amongst the teams that are truly established in Serie A.

[hyrule_king]

[dkouv]

Xerez – Season 8 (2028/29)

Primera RFEF Grupo II We did it! At the start of the season it really didn’t look like we had much chance of promotion. Our form was distinctly mid-table, defence was really leaky, and the relegated teams (Marbella and Fuenlabrada) were in lethal form. 

But we kept scoring goals, and after we managed to tighten up our defence we went on an absolutely fantastic 22-game unbeaten run which saw us clinch promotion with 3 to go! It helped that the other teams were very inconsistent, which took that little bit of pressure of our youngsters. Also kudos to San Fernando for finishing the season with 4 points from 38 games; ouch!

 

Players: They say the spine of the team is key and this was certainly true for us this year, but this spine came from the unlikeliest of places. Sebas 01f - who hardly featured last season - had a great season up front, with 18 goals and 14 assists. At the back, Pedro Javier who I almost released at the end of last season proved a very consistent centre back, and our keeper Flamur Kjaili was someone I only signed for his good personality in the intake - but he has developed very well and was voted the best keeper in the division.

  

Youth intake [preview]: Despite the downgraded facilities, this looks like our best intake for years. Like London buses, after getting no good centre backs for 8 years, this intake’s top 3 prospects are CBs. I'm hoping one of these defenders can develop fast enough to help us survive in La Liga 2 - even though he doesn't have the highest potential, think the best shout for that is Ricardo 08c with his professional personality.

   

Finances / Facilities: We got a new board who brought us back to zero last summer, but after establishing a B team and leaking money throughout the year we’re on -800k and insecure, so the La Liga 2 TV money couldn’t have come at a better time. Still, I’m not sure it’s a good idea to splash out £8.9m on a new stadium, but we did need to upgrade our measly 800-seater ground.

Transfers: letting a few ageing legends go, with our best centre back so far in this save, Lucas Correa, the main departure

Season    |  League               | Pos. |     Europe     |   Best player                   |  Notes
---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
2021/22   | Segunda B Grupo IV.   |  4   |     n/a        |  Lolo Garrido (AMC)             |
2022/23   | Segunda B Grupo IV    |  11  |     n/a        |  Miquel 01d (AMC)               |
2023/24   | Segunda B Grupo IV    |  5   |     n/a        |  Lolo Garrido (AMC)             |
2024/25   | Segunda B Grupo IV    |  3   |     n/a        |  Lucas Correa (DC)              | Lost in playoff final
2025/26   | Segunda B Grupo IV    |  1   |     n/a        |  Javi Gomez (MC)                | Promotion via playoffs
2026/27   | Primera RFEF Grupo II |  6   |     n/a        |  Miquel 01d (AMC)               |
2027/28   | Primera RFEF Grupo II |  3   |     n/a        |  Clement Nwachukwu 05a (AMC/ST) |
2028/29   | Primera RFEF Grupo II |  1   |     n/a        |  Sebas 01f (AMC/ST)             | Promoted

Facilities
----------
Season    |  Coaching     |  Recruitment      | Training Fac.  | Youth Fac.      |  Stadium
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
2021/22   |  Fairly basic |  Fairly basic     | Adequate       |  Adequate       |  800
2022/23   |  Fairly basic |  Fairly basic     | Adequate       |  Adequate       |  800
2023/24   |  Fairly basic |  Adequate         | Adequate       |  Adequate       |  800
2024/25   |  Fairly basic |  Average          | Adequate       |  Adequate       |  800
2025/26   |  Fairly basic |  Average          | Below average  |  Adequate       |  800
2026/27   |  Fairly basic |  Average          | Below average  |  Adequate       |  800
2027/28   |  Fairly basic |  Average          | Below average  |  Below average  |  800
2028/29   |  Fairly basic |  Average          | Below average  |  Below average  |  800

 

[OlivierL]

Thanks...

[Winski]

Our first Wonderkid!!

[libbyshuss]

Belgium

2023/24 - Season 3

Eerste Nationale (3rd tier)

Season Summary

I am loving how quickly you can play a season in lower league Belgium! They race by!

League - the toughest thing for me in this challenge is getting the balance right between your experienced players and you youth prospects and I think I managed to get it just right this year. We started brilliantly, going 12 unbeaten, and went top. We were miles ahead up until the last 5 games of the season where we lost 3. We still managed to finish top but it cut our lead for the promotion play-off right down

So we went into the play-off mini league on 26 points, 4 points ahead of our nearest rivals. We quickly threw that advantage away by losing the first two games but we rallied to finish unbeaten in the last 4 games to take the title on goals scored. Couldn't be closer!

 

Players

Trouble is that the new season will see me having to rely on youth a lot more and they're just not ready in the main. A couple of real breakthroughs this season though

Joren Van den Broeck 22J is the real breakout star. He's a striker that can also play on the wing and is also very quick so I stuck him out there. He scored far better than my striker, so I'm thinking of moving Broeck into the striker role, even though he'll be only 18. It's a tricky choice! He did score 89 goals in 65 youth games last season, so he knows where the goal is.

Mbacke 22G has made some huge improvements but unfortunately was rubbish whenever he played. But he looks worth perservering with so we'll see what happens next season

Youth

My first promise of a golden generation! Lots of green writing as well, which is very nice!

The intake was great as well, with lots of 4 star potentials, which is lovely. six of them! I was so excited I forgot to take a screenshot, but here they are in my prospects list.

My best prospects are now looking really good. They still need a lot of work, and most of them whinge at me when i fine them, but it's looking good for the next few seasons. I'm especially excited by Coppini 24A

 

 

Finances and Upgrades

Worrying. We were losing money hand over fist and really not spending that much. No idea where we're going to get mony from to stop us going bust at this rate, particularly as promotion has brought extra problems

 

Which is all well and good but an extra 1250 seats isn't going to save us!

Career

 

[XaW]

 

FC Amberg - Season 2026/27 (Season 6) Review - Bayernliga Nord

Table | Squad | Transfers | Finances

Finally, we are out of the Oberliga and into the Regionalliga! The next step will be one below the 3. liga, so we are soon into the vanilla leagues! It was a long season, due to the increased league size this season compared to the last ones, but we competed at the top for the whole thing. Würzburger FV did full away at a point and held on to their lead, even if we closed it a bit towards the end. Our main competitor for the playoff spot this season were Großbardorf. They haunted our every step, but we managed to hold them off to go into the playoff. There we faced Eichstätt who had finished 3rd last in the tier above. In the home leg we destroyed them 5-1, so even though we lost 2-1 away it was enough to see us promoted into the 4th tier. A few new players had their breakthrough this season, and the main one must be Peter Gies 24d. He did play a lot last season, but didn't make much waves, but this time he really stepped up, so his development is off the chart! Mario Möller 26a also had a good season as our deeper striker and the link with the midfield. Looking forward to see how things go in the new league next season.

In the Bayerische Pokal we beat Kemten, Ansbach, Eichstätt, and Burghausen before we lost to 1860 München in the quarter final.

Nothing useful in terms of club developments this season. We did have a takeover (Promotion from within), but it didn't make much difference. Financially, we are improving though, as we actually made money this season overall.

Youth

The preview looked horrible, but the actual intake was not bad.

,

A rapid left winger is always a good thing and Eric Mukuna 27a looks to fit that description.

Statistics:

Spoiler

This season we added England and Italy to the ever growing list.

Trophy cabinet:

German Landesliga Bavaria/Staffel Central - 2021/22

[toshimitzou1]

Aigaleo: 2037/2038. Season Review: Struggles, Mistakes and Solutions

Last season's was difficult. We struggled to manage injuries to key players, fell victim to a vein of inconsistency that was becoming more noticeable in younger players now engaged in first team football and ultimately fell victim to overambition that led to us clinging onto fifth place after finishing as champions the previous season. How did this happen, can these failings be addressed and is there immediate hope for a turn-a-round in performance are the questions that I am looking to answer by ruminating on the season past.

Season Results:

Greek Superleague: 5th Place.

Greek Cup: Semi Finals (Defeated on away goals by PAOK).

European Champions League: First Round Knockout stage (lost 1 - 0 on aggreagte to Sevilla).

Now, from a neutral perspective,  this is a relatively successful season. We got further in the Greek cup than ever before, made it out of a tough group in the Champions League and secured Euro Cup football with a fifth placed league finish. How the season was navigated though, tells me a completely different story based on the following observations and conclusions:

• Never before have I had to micro-manage our tactical choices on such a dramatic game - to - game basis. Whilst I was comfortable with the shape of the team, due to injuries, varied strengths of opponents and underperforming individuals, I was consistently making changes to player roles in - game in order to adapt to my opponents. This reactive style of management is something that I embrace, but is also something I want to keep to a minimum as it is more an indication of an ineffective tactic, rather than anything else.
• The tactic I had deployed contained quite a few specialised roles (Secundo Volante, Shadow Striker, Deep Lying Playmaker and to a lesser extent Wing Back Attack,  and Inverted Winger). My hope had been that promising players would continue their development paths and blossom into specialised playing forces, with suitable attribute sets that were comparable to the elite in our division.

The tactic:

But,

This was not the case:

• Player development stalled in the majority of my players whom were assuming the demanding positions (SV, SS and Inverted Winger). Furthermore, with an injury to my only capable RM early in the season, my team was exposed for a lack of squad depth, with only RB's available as immediate replacements - both lacking Pace, minimising the hope I had of stretching the opposition on the right before exploiting any remaining space on the left flank.
• During pre - season and early in the season, (before my RM was injured)the SV, Winger and SS were producing some outstanding numbers, decimating the opposition with deep penetration (runners from deep). This proved, however, to be a portent of how successful the roles and duties could be with the correct personnel, rather than how successful they would be with my current roster of players. In games against opposition which I deemed to be level or inferior, the SS and the SV thrived. However, against any kind of quality opposition their output was limited and minimal. This can be observed with our performances in the Championship Play - Off Group, where the top six play each other twice at the end of the season:

Against the bigger teams, our performances were utter garbage, a theme that was evident earlier in the season and was a consistent throughout.

Youth Academy Challenge and Season End Conclusion:

• 'It is better to have one in the hand than two in the bush'. I.E: I deployed a spread of roles and duties with the assumption that my player's attributes would continue to develop, allowing them to fulfil these roles even against tougher opposition.  I was planning upon their perceived future ability rather than their current ability. In my next choice of roles and duties, I will be paying far more attention to the current ability of our players rather than any variable potential ability as assessed by my coaches.
• Even with competent coaches with high attributes for Judging Player Ability (My guys are 17, 19 and 20) , the predictions can be wildly off the mark. What I am seeing through the duration of the playthrough is that a coach can overestimate the potential of a player who performs well in the first team at a very young age. The end result is players whom develop rapidly until the age of 20ish and then offer almost nothing more. Talk about a recipe for doomed forward planning.
• I  order to facilitate a tactical approach than can utilise a squad of varying current abilities, I need to ensure that where I choose to deploy Pace as a means of stretching the opposition, I have at least two players that can adequately perform the required role and duty.
• Without certainty of a player's true potential ability, I will start to lean more heavily on Player Traits as a means of generating a playstyle within a setup of roles and duties that are more generic, less demanding and more flexible to change if things are affected by injuries, suspensions and player sales. 
• Although the season was a struggle, the shape of the 4411 2DM still performed admirably defensively whilst lacking attacking potency. This is something I am  not looking to abandon (I love a clean sheet) and so I will persist with the 4411 2DM, albeit with reconfiguration of mentality, instructions and roles and duties.
• Before I make any tactical changes, I need to do a wholesale review of my squad's current abilities, strengths and weaknesses, with particular attention given to when and where I can consistently rely upon Pace as an attacking outlet. Even a brief glance at my squad's physical attributes shows me that I have been missing a trick: 5 of my 7 fastest (Pace and Acceleration) players are Full Backs who are already first team quality. That's at least two players on each wing that can effectively stretch play against most opponents we face. Yes, i have used Wing Backs in the season past, but I feel the surrounding roles and duties, team instruction and use of a deep central playmaker (DLP), may have negated their influence. 

1 Hour and half later...

New Tactic: Explanation and Expectations: Less Might Be More

Ok, after a lot of time spent assessing my squad depth, looking at our talents and considering our weaknesses - this is my end product. There are a few central themes that I anticipate should lead to greater consistency of performances:

• Less might be more 1: With fewer In Possession instructions, I have stopped trying to force an overload and instead will allow play to flow more freely.
• Less might be more 2: There are fewer demanding roles requiring less specialism. I have replaced the DLP and SV with twin Defensive midfielders.
• Less might be more 3: Fewer In Transition instruction. With a formation that is bottom heavy with two DM's and Wide Midfielders operating in the Midfield strata rather than the Attacking Midfield strata, implementing Regroup now seems an unnecessary overly safe instruction. The removal of this should allow a squad containing prestigious Work Rate, Determination and Teamwork (League Leaders in all three) to pressure the opportunity as a unit higher up the field, exploiting not just weaker opposition but weaker players within a stronger opponent's First XI.
• Less might be more 4: Too many of my current senior squad are deemed as inconsistent performers in coach reports. Where the difference in current ability is one star or less, I will be using players whom are described as fairly consistent or better in place of inconsistent performers. 
• Less might be more 5: After reviewing the goals we conceded last season I found that we were most at risk when we were in control of the ball at Set Pieces!!! Now, this is nothing new for any team and can occur frequently without careful monitoring. My mistake has been to leave set-piece routines in use that were effective in the division below. After viewing my squad's Set piece delivery attributes I have found that we are DOG TURD (no player higher than 10)! As such I have removed two set piece routines from every type of set play (Throw ins, FKs Direct, Indirect, Wide and Deep and CKs). What remains is a single set play routine for each, instructed to be played short, with the majority of players instructed to stay back or lurk outside the area.
• Squad Management: Before selecting these roles and duties, I have made sure I have the required two player minimum required to play the role to a decent standard. Even if multiple injuries hit, replacement personnel will be able to step in and offer attribute based fulfilment of what I am expecting from the role. I have been retraining players to this effect during the close season.
• Player Traits and attributes will dictate the performance of a chose role. This is pertinent to the DM duo. Even though I have applied no Player Instructions, I expect  Meletiou and Lekkas to perform the roles in quite different ways. Here are their attributes and Player Traits:

Meletio: Plays one - twos and Tries killer balls often are also learned.

Meletiou is my purported golden boy; competent in defence, with the traits and attributes to excel creatively. To - date, I have failed to utilise him effectively.

Lekkas:

As can be seen, Lekkas is a more rounded player, with the potential to get forwards and support attacks an addition to a solid all round defensive skill set. 

My hope then is that Meletiou will be more of a creative outlet whilst Lekkas will be further forwards in support whilst maintaining the energy to be a defensive bulldog. Furthermore, with fairly rounded skillsets form both players, they should be able to offer creativity or defensive cover as and when the situation requires as dictated by the choice of role and duty (DM-Support).

Again this can be seen in my Shadow Striker: Rokas has the Player Trait Comes deep to get the Ball and this could prove useful in linking his play between two deep set DM's and a pivot based DLF:

Of course I want my Shadow striker to be breaking the lines, but if it were not for the presence of this trait I would have deployed him as an Attacking Midfielder (Support). What I am hoping for instead, is a hard working runner, who can offer a passing option when we are camped by coming away from the line of engagement and still offer penetration by utilising his Stamina, Work Rate and Pace to stretch the opposition if he is not required to come deep.

In summary:

This challenge is one tough cookie! In some ways I am quite pleased at our struggles last season. It has again opened my eyes to the difficulties of the Youth Academy Challenge whilst engaging my penchant for analysis and future planning. Forward planning needs to be a little more cautious with more time given to current ability than potential ability. I am looking forwards to seeing whether my 'Less is more' approach will pay dividends in the coming season.

Time to play!!! Mid season review to follow.

[toshimitzou1]

2 hours ago, libbyshuss said:

Belgium

2023/24 - Season 3

Eerste Nationale (3rd tier)

Season Summary

I am loving how quickly you can play a season in lower league Belgium! They race by!

League - the toughest thing for me in this challenge is getting the balance right between your experienced players and you youth prospects and I think I managed to get it just right this year. We started brilliantly, going 12 unbeaten, and went top. We were miles ahead up until the last 5 games of the season where we lost 3. We still managed to finish top but it cut our lead for the promotion play-off right down

So we went into the play-off mini league on 26 points, 4 points ahead of our nearest rivals. We quickly threw that advantage away by losing the first two games but we rallied to finish unbeaten in the last 4 games to take the title on goals scored. Couldn't be closer!

 

Players

Trouble is that the new season will see me having to rely on youth a lot more and they're just not ready in the main. A couple of real breakthroughs this season though

Joren Van den Broeck 22J is the real breakout star. He's a striker that can also play on the wing and is also very quick so I stuck him out there. He scored far better than my striker, so I'm thinking of moving Broeck into the striker role, even though he'll be only 18. It's a tricky choice! He did score 89 goals in 65 youth games last season, so he knows where the goal is.

Mbacke 22G has made some huge improvements but unfortunately was rubbish whenever he played. But he looks worth perservering with so we'll see what happens next season

Youth

My first promise of a golden generation! Lots of green writing as well, which is very nice!

The intake was great as well, with lots of 4 star potentials, which is lovely. six of them! I was so excited I forgot to take a screenshot, but here they are in my prospects list.

My best prospects are now looking really good. They still need a lot of work, and most of them whinge at me when i fine them, but it's looking good for the next few seasons. I'm especially excited by Coppini 24A

 

 

Finances and Upgrades

Worrying. We were losing money hand over fist and really not spending that much. No idea where we're going to get mony from to stop us going bust at this rate, particularly as promotion has brought extra problems

 

Which is all well and good but an extra 1250 seats isn't going to save us!

Career

 

1

That 15 team format is very similar to my playthrough with Aigaleo in the Greek Superleague. Those fast seasons are fun! 

Financially it also seems very similar to what I was experiencing in Greece as we were developing. Even with minimal wage expenditure and zero recruitment costs, we were losing approx. 200k a season for the first three or four years. However, I continued to fulfil the board requirements of staying within the wage budget and as such, they continued to put in just enough money to keep us afloat. As you probably know, one good sale from a youth prospect pretty much solves the situation indefinitely. I think mine happened around season 5 when we sold a CM for 10million.7

Good to see you're back in the challenge.

[toshimitzou1]

Aigaleo: 2038 - 2039 Mid Season review.  Less is More!

Unequivocal Success!!! We have been a force of nature. The simplification of roles and duties, particularly in the defensive midfield positions, has allowed our player to flourish. In conjunction with a far more secure and simplified approach to set pieces and a less conservative approach to football in transition, we have maintained and improved our defensive solidity whilst finally becoming a potent attacking threat.

Results:

At the half way stage we are sitting pretty at the top, butchering the top teams and securely putting away inferior opposition:

At last we are creating high volume of quality scoring chances and are proving effective at taking them:

 

The DM duo are proving critical, freed from the constraints of specialised tactical roles, Meletiou and Lekkas have indeed assumed roles predicated by their Player traits and are the fulcrum of the success of the team at the mid - way point, alongside a Shadow striker whom has been a revelation with a Winger stretching play on he Right Flank and a Wing back providing a similar threat on the left:

With acres of space between the lines, his Trait to come deep and his work rate and stamina have manifested the hard working runner/penetrator that I envisioned. His output as a quasi - creator has been a boon I was not expecting!:

Furthermore, I am pleased we have been able to achieve this mid season success with a limited reliance on set pieces. Through balls are the order of the day, with the goals distributed evenly through the spine of the team:

Changing the roles from DLP and SV to 2 x DM really has been a revelation. Meltiou is finally performing in accordance with his ability:

My second XI are flourishing accordingly. They have been slower to gel, taking their time to get their act together in the Euro cup, but results have started reflecting improved performances and we can still qualify from our Euro Cup group if we win our final game:

Again, the DM duo are critical and again, I have two contrasting players performing the roles differently, Kottaras the more creative, Daras the 17yo defensive minded all - rounder.

An nod should also go in the direction of the re-implementation of the Wide Playmaker. The role was chosen with two thoughts in mind:

1) I have two players whom can play the position ready to go  and have almost identical player traits (comes deep to get the ball, dictates tempo, and tries killer balls often).

2) By playing the creative LDM next too him, I hoped that rather than being the sides 'primary creator' his presence and willingness to come deep would attract attention, freeing the more creative LDM to tear apart opposition's defenses. The way this has played out in - game has far exceeded my expectations.

Enough for now. I am dying to find out if this 'Less is More' approach can reap rewards at the end of the season and be relied upon in the long - term.

[toshimitzou1]

Aargh. the curse of the youth academy challenge:

1. Develop a player.
2. Allow him to thrive in a suitable tactic.
3. Lose him to a stupid release fee that was a mandatory part of contract negotiations!

My only hope is his relatively low Ambition might convince him to stay. Plus, we are paying him a pretty penny already! 100k a week at 22 year old ain't too shabby.:

And he's gone! That is quite a serious hit to the overall ability my First XI. C'est la vie. 

He instantly now worth 42million. Boooo. Here is his replacement for the foreseeable future:

I would say it could have been worse, but that is not how it seems/feels. That is a large gulf in quality. At least he has left us in a strong position; we are six points clear at the top, although there are effectively 15 games left to play. Let us see if we can ride out the rest of the season:

Edited September 6, 2021 by toshimitzou1

[Sn00gle]

10 hours ago, Winski said:

Our first Wonderkid!!

Do you have somewhere link to that facegenerator? 

[DazRTaylor]

Youth Candidates

Season 2022/23

East Kilbride

The preview was decent enough:

The intake was sensational.  Andy Semple YP23D4 is already a star.

[vikeologist]

On 04/09/2021 at 21:32, Padders said:

Yeah he retired 

808 league goals in 869 games

Not sure you can see career goals after they have retired

Are you sure I cant persuade you to enter Carey in my moribund Records thread? The career goals currently stands at a mere 472 (not that I've ever been able to beat it).