jmarchand Posted January 15, 2021 Share Posted January 15, 2021 Season 4 - 2024-2025 | Dubrovnik goes to Europe Squad | Transfers When writing this recap, I hesitated between this title and Fixture congestion is not fake news, you'll quickly see why. Last season, in our first season in the Croatian First League, we finished 4th against all odds and qualified for the EURO Cup II. Not the greatest and most prestigious of European Cups, but since we only get 1 Champions League spot and 3 EC2 spots in Croatia, and that Dinamo is a monster of a team at the moment, we'll have to do with that until we can raise the standing of the league enough... The summer was rather quiet, signing 3 players for the first team (more on that later). We were mostly sharpening our knives for European football... EURO CUP II Going into this, I had absolutely zero idea of the level of play relative to the strength of our squad. On one hand, I figured that Croatian football was better than Albanian or Moldovan leagues, but then, GOSK Dubrovnik was just a bunch of part-timers not so long ago... The other Croatian sides with us were Hajduk and Osijek. The qualifying rounds are split in two, there's the League Path and the Champions Path. Champions path is the league winners from smaller nations and League path is people like us, being runner up or more in their leagues, like us. We jumped in directly in the Second Qualifying Round (out of 4). We were first drawn agains AS Aris Salonika, from the Greek Super League. I had no idea what to expect, but a 3-2 win at home comforted us that we weren't too far from that level. On the return leg in Greece, the guys played brillantly to a 2-0 win, in which we dominated. Onwards! In the Third Qualifying round, we were set up agains AaB, from Denmark Superliga. Starting away, we were super clinical and got 5 goals out of 11 shots. Playing out of the wing, with Paetur Joensson Petersen with a hat trick. On the return, we lost 1-3, but that was enough to see us through. It was getting a bit harder as we go along... Onwards! In the Fourth Qualifying round, we were drawn against MSK Zilnia from Slovakia, starting away first. Leon Sipos was on fire in the first leg, with 4 goals! The guys held their own with a 1-0 win on the return leg. With that, we were qualified to the Group Stage! wow! A quick note on fixture congestion: that made 9 matches in the month of August and 11 in 5 weeks, if we count the last week of July. I was trying to be mindful rotate as much as possible, but there was only so much that I was able to do. I neglected that a bit also last year in our first European run... Let that serve as a bit of warning to anyone who reaches that stage... We were drawn in Group E along with Galatasaray, Wolfsberger AC and Red Star Belgrade. At this point, my mindset is that I'm going to maybe scrape a few results, finish 3rd or 4th, be proud of the guys and call it a day. Turns out that we did a bit more than scrape a few results...! We won both our matches against Wolfberger AC (in close but convincing matches), drew one and lost one against Red Star and Galatasaray. The defeats were quite no contests (0-3 in Istanbul and a solid 1-3 defeat at home against Red Star). Still, by some miracle, we were through our group! Onwards again! In the First Knockout Round, we were drawn against Fehérvar FC, from Hungary, who got in the competition by virtue of finishing 3rd in their EURO Cup group. This ultimately proved to be too much for us, losing 1-3 Away and tying 2-2 on the return leg at home. Fixture congestion part II: At that point, I was almost happy to lose and be out of the competition. Our guys were tired, getting injured and our league performance was suffering. Other quick notes on this European Run: Prize money was nice: Around 2M€ for playing in the group stage, 150 k€ for playing in the First Knockout Round. Our finances like it very much. Our Lapad stadium was too small for the standard of the Group Stage, where a 8000 seater was the minimum. So we played our home matches in Poojud (Hajduk's stadium), a nice 34448-seat stadium. It was almost filled when we met Galatasaray and attracted 23000 people when we played against Wolfsberger and Red Star. The gate receipts for these three games were thus close to 175 k€, which is not insignificant for a club of our stature. Hajduk made it all the way to the semi final, losing on away goals against PSV, who ultimately were beaten by PSV in the final. With 14 goals, Leon Sipos is the top scorer in the competition!! It's actually a new EURO Cup II record. Objective #3: Make a somewhat good showing in Europe: Passed! League Performance As mentioned, due to the amount of games that we played, we had to rotate and, in many cases could not really do it without sacrificing lots of quality, as we really didn't have the depth required to do that amount of rotation and still keep a good figure in the First League... It started pretty horrendously (apart from a spectacular 2-0 win at Dinamo!) and we dropped all the way to 8th place in the league at some point. After the Christmas break was the worst moth ever. Once we were knocked out of Europe, turns out the form came back gradually and we were able to mount a couple of credible wins. We rallied enough to climb to 4th place just surpassing HNK Gorica on the very last day of the season, with a 4-0 dismantling of Osijek. Breathing a sigh of relief, we were going to EURO Cup once again...! This year, it was much less of a clear cut between the top 5 teams and the bottom 5, with the newly promoted Cibalia really doesn't have what it needed to make the step up. Even playing with a much rotated squad, I felt confident against them...! Dinamo still clinched the title with 6-7 games remaining. Damn they're much stronger than the rest. Objective #4: Qualify for Europe again: Check! (but barely) Cup Performance Again, with all that's going on, I'm not quite paying attention to the Croatian Cup, with its sweet 0€ prize money. A fully rotated squad was knocked out in the Second Round, after meeting the expectations from the board. Notable performances - Transfers Leon Sipos - ST - 30 goals - 7.13 avg. rating After a terrific season last year, there was much pressure on Sipos to repeat. It was a year in two fold for him. He absolutely ripped it in the EURO Cup II, with 14 goals and 2 assists in 13 games. In the league, a somewhat deception with 15 goals, most of them actually scored after Christmas, when the team picked up form again. Got him to sign a contract which gets rid of his Release Clause, he's now worth 525k€, a nice jump this year. Patrick Caculovic - AML - 9 goals, 10 assists - 7.05 avg. - Left winger of choice, everpresent and progressing nicely since last year. Also took a 10-fold increase in value and is due for a contract renewal so I can remove his Release clause which currently sits at 400 k€. Now has a firm 4.5 starts potential rating, he'll do well until someone comes with the big bucks to take it off our hands. Ivan Nagy - AMC/MC - After the first half of the season, when we made some progress in the European scene, he started to get interest from Italian clubs Roma and Milan. Eventually, Milan came to us with a quite lowball offer, which I eventually raised to his 1.7 M€ release clause. I kinda wish I would have kept him for longer, but 1.7 M€ for a player who played two half-seasons for us and came on a free transfer ain't a bad return on investment. In the end, Ivan was "transformed" into better Youth and Training facilities. Good luck Ivan, may you have a long and successful career (and not stand in our way of the Champions League). Paetur Joensson Petersen - AMR, MC - 11 goals, 8 assists, 6.95 avg. rating - Still has under-par stats, he won't progress much at this point and will get surpassed by some new guys coming in, but he still held his ground in the rotation. Came in with the big goal when it mattered, including 8 in Europe. I like him and I'd hate to see him regress or fall out of favour. Tino Laus - AMC - 4 goals, 9 assists - A loanee from Hajduk with us from day 1 in this challenge, which has been renewed for yet another year. Now at 23 he's still improving and is a regular starter in our squad. Fun fact, he played 117 appearances for us and 7 for Hajduk II, who are paying his salary for the past 4 years... New Signings! One of the objectives in the pre-season was to bolster the defence, so two new faces came in for that, one being worth mentioning here, the other Zvonimir Katalinic, fell a bit out of favour in the second half of the season. Luka Marin - DL - 22k€ - 1 goal, 5 assists, 6.88 avg. rating | he plugged a hole in the left side of the defence, where Tony Zile was no longer able to follow. Played well, but I don't think he'll grow much. He is however quite versatile and covered for Caculovic at AML when he was injured. Leon Krekovic - AMR - 8 goals, 2 assists, 6.98 avg.rating - Came in as an option to rotate with Paetur, was looking quite good on paper, but he was injured more often than not. In the end, he is more of the Inside Forward role and came through with a couple of nice goals, but I wish he would be better at passing and crossing to feed the other, the real Leon. David Luis - DL - 3 goals, 2 assists - My first Brazilian! Signed a bit on a whim (for free) when he was offered by his agent and while I was struggling with injury issues with Caculovic at AML. Stepped in nicely, but wanted to have someone to help him settle in the country. Which lead me on a search for Brazilians who played in Croatia before and found Patrick (DC)! He played much of his football at Osijek, then moved to Serbia, where I found him. He found a good place in the central defence where his contribution was much needed. The media weren't sure about him at first, thought I overpayed (and I think I did a bit too), but it allowed David Luis to get settled at the same time, so it's not too bad of a deal... Objectives 1 and 2: Find good DL and DC: Check! Finally, Marin Kuzminski (MC - 4 goals, 1 assist in 20 games), Signed him from Osijek, a bit as a replacement for Ivan Nagy. At 23 years old, he has still lots of room to improve and will come strengthen our midfield. Fun fact, I had signed him starting next year (his contract wasn't renewed at Osijek), but then I paid 90€ to have him transfer right away. He came in big in the last game against his former team and helped us much for the win. Youth Intake/Progression I no longer get Golden Generations, most likely because I improved my first team and the youngsters that come in no longer look like Lionel Messi at 15 years old compared to them. Here is a look at the one(s) knocking at the gates of the first team. Luka Rajic - AMC. At 18, played mostly with the First Team, acting as a replacement. Scored once and has slightly improved over the last year. He'll likely see a bit more time next year too, unless I have a great offer for loan from a Second League team, we'll see! Awards - Expectedly, not much this year. Leon Sipos: EC2 Golden Boot award (14 goals) EC2 Squad of the Season Finances With the European money and with the sale of Nagy, we're in the black for now, with a 5.2 M€ balance. Let's see Objective 4: Not to lose as much money: Check! Goals for next season: - Find a good partner for Leon Sipos. I'd love to move to be able to put 2 strikers in front, served me well last year and it was super fun to play with that. - Qualify for EURO Cup II Group Stages again - Qualify for Europe again, ideally before the last match of the year... Other News Croatia moved up to 11th position in the European nation coefficients table. As a consequence, we have one more Champions League place for 2026/27! So instead of 1 team in the CL and 3 teams in the EURO Cup II, we get 2 teams in the CL, 1 in the EURO Cup and 2 in the EURO Cup II. Our run in the cup and Hajduk's are certainly direct contributors of this, we were the 5th best nation to perform in European competitions this year! Croatian First League gained 4 places and is now ranked 14th best competition. Last I looked our stadium expansion plan was for a 4000 seater, which would allow us to continue playing in Poljud on the European matches. Best of both worlds! Season Progress Season | League | Position (media pred) | Croatian Cup | Europe | Euro Position | Avg. Att | ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- 21/22 | 2nd | 7th (18th) | First Round | N/A | N/A | 302 | 22/23 | 2nd | 1st (18th) - PROM | First Round | N/A | N/A | 342 | 23/24 | 1st | 4th (10th) | Semi Final | N/A | N/A | 817 | 24/25 | 1st | 4th (9th) | Second Round | EC2 - 1st KO | 271 | 5012 | Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Andy Sava Posted January 15, 2021 Share Posted January 15, 2021 (edited) Hello everyone! After a failed attempt in FM20 due to me getting frustrated with the game, i decided to give FM21 a go and start the challeng. I will go to Germany again, holidaying right now. Will be back after i chose a team. Edited January 15, 2021 by Andy Sava Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
DrPoods Posted January 15, 2021 Share Posted January 15, 2021 Good luck! Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
jmarchand Posted January 15, 2021 Share Posted January 15, 2021 Good luck @Britrock with Lusitania, looks like a fun club to manage! Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Thebaker Posted January 15, 2021 Share Posted January 15, 2021 15 hours ago, aldojags said: First time, in all my time playing FM20 & FM21, that I have been told I have a golden generation. I had a great save in FM20 where I wound up at Real Madrid for about 6 years, all the best facilities, high profile HOYD with amazing stats, and I got sod all in terms of good youngsters through But its strange to call it a golden generation, then pick it apart. Youth intakes are crap in FM21 so far! How does this summary even begin to make sense? Reveal hidden contents Golden generation seems to a common summary this year, it may not amount to a great deal although it has picked out at least 1 player. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Thebaker Posted January 15, 2021 Share Posted January 15, 2021 @jmarchand Good season in europe, looks like you need to add greater squad depth to compete in europe and the league at the start of the season to make more progress. Or start later in europe Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Thebaker Posted January 15, 2021 Share Posted January 15, 2021 Table | Squad | Transfers Started the season as the only semi-pro club in the league and with odds of 400-1 (the next worse team was 35-1). Sadly it proved accurate as the team was overpowered in most of the matches especially in defence, ending the season with 8 games without a win and a 0-8 loss at home in the last game. Entered the swedish cup in the 2nd rd and were well beaten 2-5 by D1N Akropolis which was a disappointment as the team had won the previous 2 league games. Finances were the only good thing in the season as this league has prize money - 415K for last place. Most of the transfers did not work out although Campos was ok and Zingmark did well in goal. Jasheri found the step up too much and retired at the end of the season, Arnesson did well alongside Cengic. Season League Position Swedish Cup Europe Top Scorer Attendance Training Youth Junior Youth Rec Notes 2021 2nd Div SS 5th Not entered N/A Jashari (15) 193 Basic Poor Fairly Basic Basic 2022 2nd Div SS 2nd Not entered N/A Jashari (23) 207 Basic Poor Fairly Basic Basic Promoted 2023 1st Div South 12th Not entered N/A Arnesson (19) 187 Basic Poor Fairly Basic Basic 2024 1st Div South 9th 1st Rd N/A Arnesson (16) 202 Basic Poor Fairly Basic Basic 2025 1st Div South 1st 2nd Rd N/A Arnesson (25) 245 Basic Poor Fairly Basic Basic Promoted 2026 1st Div Elite 16th 2nd Rd N/A Arnesson (16) 377 Basic Poor Fairly Basic Basic Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
jmarchand Posted January 15, 2021 Share Posted January 15, 2021 48 minutes ago, Thebaker said: @jmarchand Good season in europe, looks like you need to add greater squad depth to compete in europe and the league at the start of the season to make more progress. Or start later in europe Thanks! Agreed that we'll need greater squad depth, I'm working on that this year. Starting later in the European competition is a long-term goal, as this can really only be achieved by raising the profile of the Croatian leagues as a whole, which Hajduk help do quite a bit this year...! As long as we finish 3rd or 4th, we're bound to have these long european campaigns. Finishing higher in the table means beating Hajduk and Dinamo on a regular basis, which is an achievement in itself... @Biscotti, do you remember on the top of your head after how many seasons NK Krk was competing with these two in last year's challenge? Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
rlipscombe Posted January 15, 2021 Author Share Posted January 15, 2021 some great progress and good to see some more familiar faces popping by again too. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Biscotti Posted January 15, 2021 Share Posted January 15, 2021 @jmarchand The first season I felt like I was "on their level" was season 12, which was my 8th season in the division. That said, I didn't have anything like the early success you've had, so you should cut that time considerably with how you've started. That season was also the first time I won the league as well, though. 1 Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
aldojags Posted January 15, 2021 Share Posted January 15, 2021 I'm having a frustrating 2nd season at Spartak Pleven. Still in Bulgarian 2nd tier, have runs of wins followed by runs of draws, I have made it Bulgarian cup semi final too, I look good against top tier sides, but I cannot seem to score goals, or when I do, i concede a ton and end up drawing 2-2 3-3 etc. But I think I've had about 6 1-1 draws this season! Also been eventful in that we had rival consortiums bidding to take over the club, one made it clear I'd be replaced, but thankfully the other one won the bidding, and I got a new contract! 10 games to I'm in automatic play off places, but I know I will give it away. Just dont have the cutting edge or killer instinct, something missing... My cypriot striker on loan has been a star so far. Will update you at seasons end, but I think I'll be in a bad mood if this keeps up!! Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
aldojags Posted January 16, 2021 Share Posted January 16, 2021 So my "golden generation" has arrived...meh Really decent looking keeper, like the look of him Vasilev looks not bad - he'd be better than a few of my current starters in a few years time Lkewise Balinov And this one could feature from the bench at times Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
jmarchand Posted January 16, 2021 Share Posted January 16, 2021 In FM21, getting a Golden Generation is like unwrapping clothes at Christmas when you’re 9: the exciting feeling of unwrapping the gift soon changes to deception when you look what’s inside the box. 3 Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
rlipscombe Posted January 16, 2021 Author Share Posted January 16, 2021 9 hours ago, jmarchand said: In FM21, getting a Golden Generation is like unwrapping clothes at Christmas when you’re 9: the exciting feeling of unwrapping the gift soon changes to deception when you look what’s inside the box. ha ha ha ha!!! Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Biscotti Posted January 16, 2021 Share Posted January 16, 2021 Francisco | Sestao River Club | Spain | 2028/29 (Season 8) Competitions | Transfers | Youth Intake | Fixtures Part 1 & Part 2 | New Records/PotS | Finances We lacked a lot of consistency this season, and were especially poor at the start of the season due to a pile-up of injuries. At one point I simultaneously had both my starting centre-mids and both my starting strikers out. It was hard going. We recovered well enough, but could never quite get back into touch with the promotion chasers. In terms of the xG/xPts table, we should have finished second, which says a lot about how much that early season hurt us. The finances have now reached a point where I feel we need to either go up or make sales this season, although the board haven't yet cut my wage or transfer budgets to account for it. For the second year running, we were knocked out of the cup by Barcelona, and again we didn't look entirely out of the game. Kevin López (affectionately known as K-Lo) had a fantastic season and smashed the 2nd Division Pro B goalscoring record, as well as our own club record for League Goals in a Season. Javier Sanz took over as team captain this season, but a hip injury that kept him out for 3 months meant a replacement had to come in and his place is now threatened. Luis Carlos Alcázar was the pick of our defenders, predominantly playing as the left-most centre-back, and his aerial dominance was really important both at the back and also going forward as well. Youth Update YP2a - Javier Sanz - As above, he's definitely a key man in the squad now, but I have talent hot on his heels who may well surpass him very soon. YP4b - Rufino Esparza - His contribution wasn't quite up there with K-Lo, but considering he missed 9 weeks of the season through injury I'm still very happy with it. Some bigger clubs have been sniffing around him, but a big release clause is currently helping me greatly. YP4d - Jesús María Telletxea - Shared wing-back duties about 50/50 this season, but actually was the team's leading assist-maker, so I intend to hand him the reins as starter for that role next season. YP6b - Ibon Santamaria - Stepped in to initially fill the hole left by Sanz's injury while I looked for a replacement, but showed himself to be ready for the opportunity and so a replacement was no longer needed. It wouldn't surprise me if I'm preferring him over Sanz by Christmas. YP8 - Asier Rodríguez - Very lean picking this year. Asier was the best looking of them, but the truth is I can't see him reaching a first team level. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
aldojags Posted January 16, 2021 Share Posted January 16, 2021 @BiscottiK-Lo looks the part, imagine he had reasonable physicals he'd be worth millions! Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
aldojags Posted January 16, 2021 Share Posted January 16, 2021 (edited) I'm in automatic promotion places, 4 games to go, with the 2 teams immediately behind me at home next! Gna be a close one!! Spoiler If i finish 3rd I get in the play offs, i'd play 3rd bottom from Prem, way ive played the premier teams in the cup all season I'd fancy it, but rather go up automatically! Edit: it appears to have cut Ludogorets 2nd team from the gtraphic but they are 4th, they cant win promotion due to being a 2nd team, but i have them to play soon! I'm going to bottle it, i know it! Edited January 16, 2021 by aldojags Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Biscotti Posted January 16, 2021 Share Posted January 16, 2021 4 hours ago, aldojags said: @BiscottiK-Lo looks the part, imagine he had reasonable physicals he'd be worth millions! Absolutely. He can't beat anyone for pace, and he'll never physically duel with a defender, but his off the ball, finishing and composure means he still gets opportunities and he's pretty good at converting them. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
aldojags Posted January 17, 2021 Share Posted January 17, 2021 Spartak Pleven win promotion to the Bulgarian top flight! Memorable finish to the season saw us finish in the 2nd automatic promotion zone, and we're going to the big league baby! League table and fixtures toward end of season - great run near end of season was enough to pull away and secure promotion Had a great cup run too, getting to the semi finals, only losing 5-3 on aggregate to eventual winners, CSKA Sofia. But I beat some premier league teams and didn't look out my depth in the semi final, and CSKA finished 3rd in premier league this year. Finances - so I don't think you get a penny prize money in this league. I reckon money will be the issue with long term success, Ludogorets in the premier legue throw lots of money about, I dont see how I close that gap, but I'll give it a good go! Best line up (yeh I know, too many loanees!) Accolades Manager profile Player of the season - Louka, Cypriot striker who I played as a target man, simply put, would not have been anywhere near the promotion spots without him. Have him on loan from Ludogorets, tried extending it for next year, but parent club dont want him back at us! Another great loanee Arhangelov, who I have managed to extend for next year My captain, Bastunov, and best player. Up and down the right wing all game every week, he is our only team leader listed on the heirarchy also, my most important player. Pleased with the signing of this young Macedonian midfielder in January, who gave us a lift when we needed it. Adyarski was back on loan, and I've extended his loan into next year, so that will be 3 season in a row with us, he's a stud for us, never lets us down Have few transfers lined up for the summer, most of them boring squad players on the cheap, but I am really excited by this young Bosnian striker, who I think could do some serious damage SO overall, I am delighted to win promotion in my 2nd season, it's all about survival next year, if the cup run is anything to go by, I am quietly confident I'll keep us out of danger, but recruitment will be pivotal in the summer, mostly in the loan market, which ive used and abused so far to push us on a bit. Board just want to battle bravely, so anything above bottom they'll likely be pleased with! 14 teams in Bulgarian top league, bottom 2 go down, 3rd bottom in relegation play off, so I need to finish 11th or better to avoid all that.... Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Thebaker Posted January 17, 2021 Share Posted January 17, 2021 @aldojags good season there. Is bulgaria one of those leagues where a couple of teams dominate and its hard to win the league but not too tricky to finish mid table. The step up might also lead to a lot of better players being willing to join. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
aldojags Posted January 17, 2021 Share Posted January 17, 2021 2 hours ago, Thebaker said: @aldojags good season there. Is bulgaria one of those leagues where a couple of teams dominate and its hard to win the league but not too tricky to finish mid table. The step up might also lead to a lot of better players being willing to join. Ludogorets have won the league like 10 times in a row or something, but it was a close run thing this year, they only finished a point or 2 above Levski Sofia and CSKA Sofia, all around the 60 point mark. So they dont look like they absolutely dominate. But my best player this year was a loanee who’ll never get a game for them, so the gulf is huge. They made it into the champions league group stage this season too, so financially they are just streets ahead of everyone else. but yes the promotion has definitely saw an improvement in the players recommended to me now, and we are allowed 3 non eu players in match day squad instead of 1 as was this year, so opens up more options for squad Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
rlipscombe Posted January 17, 2021 Author Share Posted January 17, 2021 well done on promotion @aldojags. don't be apologetic about loanees - it's the only way to progress in the lower leagues when you have no reputation and limited finances. Good luck next season. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
iseemonsters1 Posted January 17, 2021 Share Posted January 17, 2021 @aldojags - congrats on hitting the big time! I also don't think there's anything wrong with loan players - it's just part of the game! You might even find that you can get some higher quality loanees now that you're in the top flight. @Biscotti - looks like you made a good recovery from a tough start there. Seems like without the injury pile up you might have been in the promotion spots? If so that hopefully bodes well for the coming season (unless you're unlucky with injuries again I suppose!). @Thebaker - shame about not quite being able to bridge the gap to the next division, but you've still made a lot of progress overall and that 415k prize money must surely put you in a decent position for an immediate return next season? Are the board being patient or are they upset about the relegation? Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
iseemonsters1 Posted January 17, 2021 Share Posted January 17, 2021 C.A. Bella Vista 2023 Season Summary Uruguayan Primera Division Primera Division - 5th - Table | Past Positions (Apertura - 6th | Intermedio Group B - 5th | Clausura - 5th) So before I get into the ins and outs of the season, first a quick note about competition structure in the Uruguayan top flight because it's somewhat complex. The final overall league table is made up of 3 different stages - like many South American leagues, there is an Opening Stage championship, where everybody plays each other once, and a Closing Stage championship, where everybody plays each other again (obviously with the home/away reversed). But Uruguay also sneaks a third stage in between the Opening and Closing, called the Intermedio, where the teams are split into two groups, with 1st, 3rd, 5th, 7th etc. in Group A and 2nd, 4th, 6th, 8th etc. in Group B. All the games from all three stages are added together to form the final Overall league table. So, whoever comes top of that final overall table when everything is added up must be the Champion and the three teams at the bottom get relegated, right? Well, no. To deal with the mid-season Intermedio tournament first - the matches played count towards the overall table as I said, but also the teams that come top of each group play each other in the Intermedio final - whoever wins that is guaranteed a place in the Copa Sudamericana, no matter where they end up in the overall table (so you could have an awful season except for 8 games in the middle where you play well and you'd end up in a continental competition). Then, to crown the overall champion, first the winners of the Opening and Closing stages face off against each other - the winner of that match then plays the winner of the overall table to decide the actual champion. If (as is often the case) the winner of the Opening or Closing stage is also the Overall table winner, then you can often see teams getting two bites at the apple here - they lose the Opening vs Closing playoff but then play again against the same team in the final playoff. And of course, if any of those Champions playoffs would involve a team playing itself, then there is no match and they are just the winners - i.e. if you win both the Opening and Closing stages, you are just the champion, there's no need for a playoff against say the second place team. Makes sense? No? Fair enough! Finally, it's also worth noting that the relegation places are determined not by the Overall table but by average points over the past two seasons - so you can get some surprising relegations of teams fairly high in the table (e.g. Wanderers finished 10th this season but were still relegated). So, with all that said, how did we fare in our first season in the top flight? Well, pretty well actually. As I said at the end of last season, I was fairly confident we had enough about us to stay up, but we were even a little better than that, never really threatened with relegation - though we never really looked like we would get much higher than the 5th place we ended up in. Our strength was mostly in holding our own against the teams around us and below us consistently, as we were easily outplayed by the top teams like Nacional and Defensor Sporting every time we came up against them, showing that there is still a pretty big gap to bridge there (Penarol, normally a fixture amongst the big teams, had a bit of a disappointing season and we did actually manage to pull off a win against them). Funnily enough our worst performances were in the Intermedio section of the season, where we ended up 5th out of our group of 8 teams - as opposed to the much more impressive 5th out of 16 in the overall table. Squad & Transfers - Squad | Transfers As expected, we weren't able to make any huge moves in the transfer market, so I mainly concentrated on trying to strengthen our midfield with some quality youngsters, and with our scouting range extended to all of South America we brought in Paraguayan youngster Jorge Daniel Correa and Chilean U-23 Axel Magana, who proved a quality midfield partnership. Mauro Mareco continued to be one of our better players (though obviously wasn't able to hit the same heights he did in the Segunda Division), while Gonzalo Gadea emerged surprisingly as not just our top scorer but the top scorer in the whole Primera Division - Gadea was actually one of the players already at the club when I took over, who failed to really impress in the Segunda Division but somehow emerged as a decent Primera Division striker this season. I wasn't expecting it at all but he just kept on delivering so I just kept on playing him! In terms of other signings, Hernan Silveira was a 17 year old full back signed as one for the future (or maybe cover if injuries became a serious issue). My other signing, Lucas Graneri, was a bit of a disappointment - he was highly rated by my scouts and Penarol have a pretty good pedigree in terms of training up players, but he just never really looked up to playing at top flight level and ended up being a backup option rather than the rock at the center of defense I was hoping for. One other transfer of note was in the opposite direction - Fernando Vega, who was highlighted as the best player to come out of my first youth intake was sold out from under me by the chairman for £41.5k (up to £75k with add-ons). Once Penarol came in for him, I knew it was going to be hard to keep him at the club, but I was trying to push the offer much higher than that - especially since I really didn't want to sell him before he ever got to make an appearance for the club. But the Chairman decided the offer was too good to refuse and off he went. Finances - Summary I'm still doing my part with the finances - while our wage bill has inevitably gone up a bit with promotion to the top flight, we're still at only about 40% of our budget - about £7.5k p/w on a budget of nearly £18k. But despite much higher TV money at £325k and much higher gate receipts at £317k than last season, we still find ourselves in a worse position than we were at the end of last season, £230k in debt. Also no news at all on the promised new stadium, and no sign of the board injecting some cash to cover the losses as they did last season. I'm hoping that we can keep the wage budge relatively stable for next season and maybe continued good performance on the pitch will boost sponsorship and gate money to the point where we're not operating at such a loss. Player of the Season - Gonzalo Gadea (30 (1) APPS - 19 GLS - 1 AST - 7.03 AV RAT) Young Player of the Season - Facundo Parada (37 APPS - 4 GLS - 0 ASTS - 6.97 AV RAT) Top Goalscorer - Gonzalo Gadea (30 (1) APPS - 19 GLS - 1 AST - 7.03 AV RAT) Next Season I haven't yet gotten to the point where I've been told this for sure, but I'm fairly confident our performance this season should have gotten us a place in at least the Copa Sudamericana. Uruguay gets 4 places in the Copa Libertadores and 4 places in the Copa Sudamericana, and while how those places are awarded is still not 100% clear to me, I can't see how the 5th place team wouldn't get one of those spots. With our financial situation, I don't anticipate making any big moves in the transfer market again, so focus will definitely be on keeping this group of players together and more or less repeating what we did this season, with the added bonus presumably of a bit of a continental adventure (and maybe that can help us with our finances too). Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Thebaker Posted January 17, 2021 Share Posted January 17, 2021 1 hour ago, iseemonsters1 said: @aldojags - congrats on hitting the big time! I also don't think there's anything wrong with loan players - it's just part of the game! You might even find that you can get some higher quality loanees now that you're in the top flight. @Biscotti - looks like you made a good recovery from a tough start there. Seems like without the injury pile up you might have been in the promotion spots? If so that hopefully bodes well for the coming season (unless you're unlucky with injuries again I suppose!). @Thebaker - shame about not quite being able to bridge the gap to the next division, but you've still made a lot of progress overall and that 415k prize money must surely put you in a decent position for an immediate return next season? Are the board being patient or are they upset about the relegation? I'm 1 and a half seasons on from that, board only wanted midtable for the next season in the league below which i just about managed (not a good season), but i'm in no danger of being fired. The club rep was still below teams 2 or even 3 divisions below so it was a huge over achievement, my wages were a 10th of the next nearest team in the league. The board were not fussed by the relegation, most of the promoted teams seem to get relegated again. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
aldojags Posted January 17, 2021 Share Posted January 17, 2021 @iseemonsters1like the look of thay forward. And genuinely, your explanation of the league set up...my head hurts! 😂👍 Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
jmarchand Posted January 17, 2021 Share Posted January 17, 2021 4 hours ago, iseemonsters1 said: So before I get into the ins and outs of the season, first a quick note about competition structure in the Uruguayan top flight because it's somewhat complex. And this is why I'm super glad that this challenge is expanding to South America this year. Good luck going forward and keep up with the very high quality write-up! Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
iseemonsters1 Posted January 18, 2021 Share Posted January 18, 2021 @Thebaker - good to hear! Too often in the past I feel like you could overachieve by getting promoted a little early and then when you were relegated back to what was probably your true level, the board would overreact. Hopefully you've got enough resources from that one season in the higher division to provide a good base to eventually getting back there in a more sustainable way? @aldojags - I know! I think I've more or less got a handle on it, but things still surprise me e.g. the Closing stage championship was decided by yet another playoff - instead of using Goal Difference, if teams finish level on points in the top two places, apparently they play each other to decide who finishes top. Goodness knows what happens if more than two teams finish level on points at the top! @jmarchand - thanks! FM games in South America I always feel offer something a little bit different from the European leagues so it's always fun to explore (though I do obviously also love a good European save too)! 1 Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
rlipscombe Posted January 18, 2021 Author Share Posted January 18, 2021 @iseemonsters1 - your explanation of the Uruguayan top flight has made my tumour damaged brain hurt!!! Sounds like fun though.... Do you get any inclination on how you are doing overall whilst playing the individual stages or does it comes as a surprise when you finish? Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
jmarchand Posted January 19, 2021 Share Posted January 19, 2021 Conclusion from this match, we're as good as 10-men-Dinamo. Still have ways to go. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
iseemonsters1 Posted January 19, 2021 Share Posted January 19, 2021 C.A. Bella Vista 2024 Season Summary Uruguayan Primera Division Primera Division - 2nd - Table | Past Positions (Apertura - 2nd | Intermedio Group B - 4th | Clausura - 2nd) A really impressive season here, as we pushed the country's dominant team, Nacional, all the way to the wire. We actually went down to defeat against Nacional in only the second game of the season, on February 25th - but after that we didn't lose again until August 4th, a run that included 17 unbeaten league games. By the time we encountered our second loss of the season, we had already finished second in the Opening Stage Championship, with just that win over us the only reason that Nacional topped the table by 3 points. For some reason, we tend to have our worst spell of the season during the Intermedio tournament, and we ended up 4th in Group B (though only 1 point off 2nd and 3 points of top), losing two of our seven games, against Liverpool (not that one, the Montevideo version) and Defensor Sporting. During the Closing Stage championship, we once again went down to defeat in the second game, once again against Nacional, but then went on another unbeaten run of 13 games that stretched to the end of the season. With about 5 games to go Nacional stumbled, losing 1-0 against mid-table Plaza Colonia, and we went top of the Closing Stage table by 1 point, and top of the Overall table on goal difference - and it looked for a moment like we might be able to pull off the most unlikely of feats and qualify for the Champions Playoff. But we just couldn't quite close things out in the last few games, drawing 1-1 against a tough Defensor Sporting side, then only beating bottom of the league Progreso 1-0 to allow Nacional to retake the goal difference advantage, and then finally drawing 1-1 at home on the final day to River Plate (not that one, the Montevideo version) to let Nacional win the Closing Stage by 2 points and the Overall Table by 3 points. That meant that Nacional won the Opening, Closing, and Overall stages so were the automatic champions, and we had to settle for 2nd place. But honestly that's a really excellent result, guaranteeing us Copa Libertadores football next year. All we needed to do this year was to get something out of one of our games against Nacional and we would have topped at least one of the stages, so really it was about as close as it was possible to get - and hopefully we can go just that little bit better next time around. Copa Sudamericana - Group E - 2nd Of course this season also saw our first foray into continental competition, and here as well we dramatically exceeded expectations. Entering during the Preliminary Round, we were drawn against River Plate (nope, still not that one - the Montevideo version again) - but we were able to overcome them fairly easily to go through to the Group Stage. We were drawn in what seemed a fairly tough group, alongside Sportivo Luqueno of Paraguay, Barcelona (nope, not that one - the Ecuadorian version), and the undoubted giants in the group, Brazilian side Fluminense. Only one team qualifies from each group in the Copa Sudamericana, so we were really up against it, with Fluminense and Barcelona both undoubtedly bigger sides than us. We started things off on a great foot though with a 5-0 win at home against Sportivo Luqueno, and followed that up with a good 2-1 win over Barcelona. Next up was our toughest game, an away trip to Fluminense, but we came away with an impressive 2-2 draw. In the reverse fixture, we managed to hold them to another draw, this time 0-0, and somehow we were going in to the last two games level on points AND goal difference and having avoided defeat against the biggest team in the group. Away to Barcelona, we managed to scrape a 1-0 victory, but Fluminense beat Sportivo Luqueno 4-1 which meant we needed to do something special in the final game to overcome the goal difference advantage (barring an unlikely Fluminense slip up). In the end we could only manage another 1-0 win against Luqueno, and Fluminense won 3-0 against Barcelona, extending their goal difference advantage and ensuring that we would be eliminated from the competition despite having not lost a game. Still, an excellent introduction to continental football and another solid platform to build on. Squad & Transfers - Squad | Transfers Once again, we started the season in some considerable debt, but theoretically we did have plenty of room in the wage budget. I didn't want to put us in even greater financial jeopardy though, so I released several players on free transfers in order to sign two players that I hoped would be absolutely key and not impact the wage bill. First up was attacking midfielder Martin Amondarain, a young Uruguayan prospect that I'd had my eye on for more than 6 months. I was hoping to swap the direct counter attacking style I'd used for the past couple of seasons with a bit more of an expansive style, and moving from a defensive 4-3-3 to a more attacking 4-2-3-1 by swapping a DM for an AM was going to be key - the only trouble being I didn't have any quality at that position having not played anyone there for the past couple of seasons. Amondarain had the flair, vision, and passing skills I needed for the position, and he delivered a pretty good season for an 18 year old, with 9 goals and 7 assists from 40 games, as well as playing in the Olympics for Uruguay. The second signing was Julio Acosta, a right winger from the Argentine lower leagues. I had been getting by with some at best mediocre players on the right side of my attack, but my highest rated youth prospect was right winger Junior Cranchi, so really I was just looking for a bit of a stop gap until he was old enough to make an impact. Acosta however proved to be something of a revelation, finishing Primera Division top scorer with 20 goals in 34 games in the league from the wing. Other top performers were Jorge Daniel Correa, the Paraguayan midfielder who came on leaps and bounds this year - he's started to think about moving to a bigger club, but I managed to keep him happy by promising to sell him if we got a decent offer of at least £1.1m for him. Last season's top scorer Gonzalo Gadea was still our main striker, managing 15 in 33 games in all competitions, a totally reasonable return, though towards the end of the season I started to introduce Jonathan Priore to the side in his place. Priore is another highly rated youth prospect that I want to see if I can make a mainstay of the team - but he wasn't allowed to make his debut for us until he turned professional on his 17th birthday in October. Finances - Summary Once again we kept the wage budget well under control, spending just under £8k of our £17k budget. But this season we managed to finish well into the black, with £659k in the bank, thanks largely to the £1m in prize money we managed to bring in from our Copa Sudamericana exploits (plus the accompanying gate receipts) - you can pretty clearly see the moment when we reached the group stage on the graph in the link! On average we're running at a £40k per month loss at the moment, so hopefully that prize money can keep us above water for at least another season no matter what - though really I'm hoping that we can supplement it with next season's Copa Libertadores money and really start to get somewhere. In new stadium news, I noticed that the relevant info was on the club's Facilities page - as of now we're still "searching for site", so we're at exactly the same stage we were 2 years ago. In addition, worryingly the planned capacity is just 1,876 - since our average attendance this season was 8,021 (thanks in part to playing some of our biggest games in the Estadio Centenario - home to the Uruguayan national team), that seems very much on the low side. Hopefully if and when things really get moving they rethink that decision. Player of the Season - Julio Acosta (41 (1) APPS - 20 GLS - 11 ASTS - 7.20 AV RAT) Young Player of the Season - Julio Acosta (41 (1) APPS - 20 GLS - 11 ASTS - 7.20 AV RAT) Top Goalscorer - Julio Acosta (41 (1) APPS - 20 GLS - 11 ASTS - 7.20 AV RAT) Next Season We came so close to a fairytale win this season, it's hard not to hope that we can just go a little bit better next year and pull off a championship. Honestly though we would be totally satisfied with another good showing in the top four to qualify for the Copa Libertadores again - and if we can make it to the group stage of the Copa Libertadores this season and pull in the £2.3m in prize money that would entail, we'd really be starting to get in a good financial situation and could begin to think about making some serious improvements to the team. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Thebaker Posted January 19, 2021 Share Posted January 19, 2021 @iseemonsters1 Thats a good season, i assume sudamericana is below libertadores in terms of prestige. Acosta looks good but i'm still surprised he was your top scorer from AMR. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Thebaker Posted January 19, 2021 Share Posted January 19, 2021 2027 Table | Transfers | Squad This was a poor season were the team could not defend or create chances. A late surge took the team to midtable. Went out in the swedish cup to D1 elite Falkenbergs 1-5 at home. Played rivals Sylvia for the 1st time and had a record attendance of 734. Finances went down and the board gave away a potential premier player for almost nothing with no clauses. I had signed him after trawling the European u21 squads. They also sold Wallin to a team a div below but he turned them down. Moore was the best player but there wasn't much competition. 2028 Table | Transfers | Squad Started the season well and with 9 games to go was 7 points clear, but a run of 5 defeats in 7 led to a 3 way battle for promotion. Won the last 2 games but finished 2nd on GD. In the playoff match drew 0-0 at home with 10 men before drawing the away leg 3-3 to get promotion on away goals. In the swedish cup the team beat D1 elite winners AFC Eskilstuna 1-0 at home to make the group stages which are next season. Finances carried on creeping down so it was a surprise that the board allowed my first affiliate club and increases to junior coaching and youth recruitment. Moore was ok this season but was out of the team by the end of the season but i brought him back for the away playoff leg and he scored a hatrick. Arnesson returned to scoring ways but seems more inconstant and probably needs replacing. Campos also had a good season when he got on as injuries played a part. Season League Position Swedish Cup Europe Top Scorer Attendance Training Youth Junior Youth Rec Notes 2021 2nd Div SS 5th Not entered N/A Jashari (15) 193 Basic Poor Fairly Basic Basic 2022 2nd Div SS 2nd Not entered N/A Jashari (23) 207 Basic Poor Fairly Basic Basic Promoted 2023 1st Div South 12th Not entered N/A Arnesson (19) 187 Basic Poor Fairly Basic Basic 2024 1st Div South 9th 1st Rd N/A Arnesson (16) 202 Basic Poor Fairly Basic Basic 2025 1st Div South 1st 2nd Rd N/A Arnesson (25) 245 Basic Poor Fairly Basic Basic Promoted 2026 1st Div Elite 16th 2nd Rd N/A Arnesson (16) 377 Basic Poor Fairly Basic Basic 2027 1st Div North 10th 2nd Rd N/A Arnesson , Moore (12) 302 Basic Poor Fairly Basic Basic 2028 1st Div North 2nd Group st N/A Arnesson (24) 434 Basic Poor Average Fairly Basic Promoted via playoff Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
aldojags Posted January 19, 2021 Share Posted January 19, 2021 @Thebakerthe trawling the u21 squads used to be a favourite of mine, remember in older games like championship manager 01/02 i used to just sit and go through every player in those squads when i was a lower league manager and find plenty gems 😂 the good old days! now im a bit okder with less time i rarely sign anyone thats not put in my lap from a scout or DoF. Are u guys the same? I dont really find player search all that helpful! Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Thebaker Posted January 19, 2021 Share Posted January 19, 2021 14 minutes ago, aldojags said: @Thebakerthe trawling the u21 squads used to be a favourite of mine, remember in older games like championship manager 01/02 i used to just sit and go through every player in those squads when i was a lower league manager and find plenty gems 😂 the good old days! now im a bit okder with less time i rarely sign anyone thats not put in my lap from a scout or DoF. Are u guys the same? I dont really find player search all that helpful! I'm only offering trials to unattached players which isn't that many except for Bosnia which has 15 u-21 and u-19's (none of whom have ever had a club), almost all of the players have turned me down. i don't find scouts that useful for searches as they seem to find players that are not good enough, they are there to get a opinion on players i find! DOF can find good players but all too often make offers for players that are not useful for your team or overpay for them. Player search i find useful Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Biscotti Posted January 19, 2021 Share Posted January 19, 2021 A little preview of my current season: Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
gb2003 Posted January 20, 2021 Share Posted January 20, 2021 Last year I took Palermo and reached the First Division. Now I'm going back to the roots to RW Essen because next year they're maybe in 3.Liga. Maybe the last time to take the team for the challenge. It was also the only time I finished the challenge :). Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Andy Sava Posted January 20, 2021 Share Posted January 20, 2021 (edited) FC Memmingen - Career Preview Intro Founded in 1907, FC Memmingen are a professional German club recently promoted to the 3.Liga. The club enjoyed probably their best spell of success during the 2010s when they won the German 5th tier and finished 2nd once. FC Memmingen play the home games at Voith-Arena, a 15000 seats stadium in the city Heidenheim. Domestic League History | Andy Sava Profile | Club Profile | Squad Edited January 20, 2021 by Andy Sava Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
rlipscombe Posted January 20, 2021 Author Share Posted January 20, 2021 some great progress and good to see people starting the challenge still. Getting REALLY itchy feet about trying it now though still trying to make some sort of progress with Sheffield Wednesday right now. Keep it going and i might have to mothball my Wednesday save for a bit.... Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
aldojags Posted January 20, 2021 Share Posted January 20, 2021 @Biscottithe analytics stuff like that, can u use it in anyway or is it just to look at? When i got into bulgarian prem recently i hired a head performance analyst and something else maybe the recruitment analyst, what do i get them to do!? Like in staff responsibility i cant see anything id obviously assign to them. @gb2003and @Andy Savawelcome to the fold! Germany is a country ive always wanted to attempt, in fm20 in my journeyman save i wound up at real madrid and the quality of the german regens i was signing was unbelievable, always fancied it, maybe nxt year! @rlipscombecmon man, you know it makes sense, your wednesday save will still be there waiting on you, don’t you want to take a european minnow to glory!? This thread is a bit busier these days so it’s a good time to start the challenge! Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
aldojags Posted January 21, 2021 Share Posted January 21, 2021 Had an inconsistent start to life in Bulgarian premiership, started with our hair on fire, won 1st 3, and I was already thinking of challenging for Europe...hahaha well I've been on a poor run, shipping goals for fun, and fallen down to mid table, which I think will be highest we can reasonably achieve... Table Crazy defeat from Levski Sofia - 6-0 down after 40 minutes, I then proceeded to give them a complete hiding for the rest of the match, finished 4-6...weird! Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Biscotti Posted January 22, 2021 Share Posted January 22, 2021 @aldojags personally I find the analytics useful to see how we're performing when compared to other teams in the league. Gives me a better feel for what areas of the team are in need of improvement. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
aldojags Posted January 22, 2021 Share Posted January 22, 2021 56 minutes ago, Biscotti said: @aldojags personally I find the analytics useful to see how we're performing when compared to other teams in the league. Gives me a better feel for what areas of the team are in need of improvement. Yeh i like the comparisons of the defence and attack compared to other teams, i have a leaky defence shipping 3-5 goals now so im gna shut up shop for a few weeks and see if i grind out a win. But getting leathered every week now 7 losses in a row 🥴 Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Britrock Posted January 22, 2021 Share Posted January 22, 2021 (edited) Lusitania Acores 2021/22 season review A pretty solid start to the journey, we ended the first season comfortably mid-table. I started the season playing a 3-4-1-2, but after that slowed down I moved to my favoured 4-2DM-3-1. We reached the heights of second about halfway through the season, but a run of games without a win had us falling down the table. We recovered at the end and finished on a 7 game unbeaten streak which I'm hoping we can take into next season. I'm not entirely sure how we get out of this division though, it looks like 5 divisions of 12 teams are funneled into 2 promotion positions in the Terceira Liga so it's going to be tough sledding. Edited January 22, 2021 by Britrock Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
iseemonsters1 Posted January 22, 2021 Share Posted January 22, 2021 @gb2003 and @Andy Sava - good luck in Germany! Germany and Portugal are two countries I've always fancied doing a small club to big club challenge in, just haven't ever gotten around to it! @Biscotti - I am waiting impatiently for this season report!! It looks very hopeful that we're in for a good one! @aldojags - shame you couldn't keep up that initial pace, but surely any kind of survival is good enough for this season? @Britrock - like you say, pretty solid for a first season! Your squad looks like it's probably fairly decent for this level - do you anticipate making a lot of changes to try to take that step up? Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Britrock Posted January 22, 2021 Share Posted January 22, 2021 51 minutes ago, iseemonsters1 said: @gb2003 and @Andy Sava - good luck in Germany! Germany and Portugal are two countries I've always fancied doing a small club to big club challenge in, just haven't ever gotten around to it! @Biscotti - I am waiting impatiently for this season report!! It looks very hopeful that we're in for a good one! @aldojags - shame you couldn't keep up that initial pace, but surely any kind of survival is good enough for this season? @Britrock - like you say, pretty solid for a first season! Your squad looks like it's probably fairly decent for this level - do you anticipate making a lot of changes to try to take that step up? Thanks, yeah the squad is in constant flux. At this level I see no point getting too attached to anyone as there's always a better player out there. I've already signed a new LB and GK for the new season with a new winger next on my list too. I also get back a CB I signed that spent the whole season out with a broken leg so hopefully those improvements and the better tactical framework from the end of the season will be enough to push me forwards Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
aldojags Posted January 23, 2021 Share Posted January 23, 2021 (edited) @Britrockgood 1st season there, few personnel/tactictal tweaks and you’ll get there. @iseemonsters1Yes survival will do me fine now, just dreamt of bigger things after 3 wins out if 3 to start the season and got a bit carried away. Have stabilised the bleeding a bit now! Im 5 points above relegation play off with about 10-12 games to go, Bulgarian league splits into 3 after 26 games, so if i can put a run together in final 6 games, i could sneak into middle group then not have to worry about it, realy dont want to be in relegation group as its 4 teams playing each other twice, bottom 2 go down, third bottom in a relegation play off, and 4th bottom survives. But would rather avoid that altogether!! Edited January 23, 2021 by aldojags Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
iseemonsters1 Posted January 23, 2021 Share Posted January 23, 2021 C.A. Bella Vista 2025 Season Summary Uruguayan Primera Division Primera Division - 1st - Table | Past Positions (Apertura - 1st | Intermedio Group A - 3rd | Clausura - 1st) A tremendously successful season, as we were crowned champions of Uruguay, breaking Nacional's five year grip on the title. There's no question this win was thoroughly deserved, as we won the Opening Stage by a mile, and the Closing Stage by the skin of our teeth, but there's also no denying that we were helped by Nacional's comparatively poor season. They've been the best team for all this time by some distance, and the fact that they ended up only 9th in the Opening Stage and 3rd in the Closing Stage was really a disappointing campaign for them. In fact, if they had instead had the same points totals as last season, they would have beaten us in the Opening Stage, the Closing Stage, and the Overall Table, and been the undisputed champions again. But still, someone had to take advantage of their slip up and it could easily have been the likes of Penarol or Defensor Sporting. Our title winning run was based on our incredible consistency against the smaller teams - out of the 20 games we played against the bottom half of the table sides, we won 19, while on the other hand we only won 6 of our 17 games against the top half sides - so there is still plenty of room for improvement. After losing the season opening Uruguayan Super Cup to Nacional 1-0, we started the season proper on an absolute tear, winning our first 9 league games to establish ourselves in a commanding position. We took our foot off the gas towards the end of the Opening Stage with 9 points from a possible 18 in the last 6 games, but ended up well ahead of the competition, winning the Opening Stage by 10 points over Penarol and guaranteeing we would be in with a chance of being champions at the end of the season due to the playoff rules. As always, our worst period of the season was in the Intermedio, as we could only take 3rd in a tough group, behind Defensor Sporting and a Nacional side having their best spell of the season. But once the Closing Stage started, we went on another run of 9 wins in a row to give us a 16 point lead in the overall table and a 6 point lead in the Closing Stage. But then the same pattern repeated - we only managed 5 points out of 15 in our next 5 games leaving us only 2 points clear of Penarol in the Closing Stage going in to the final game. We were still 12 points clear in the Overall table and had won the Opening Stage, so we knew we would have at least two bites at the apple in the Championship playoff, but we wanted to put it beyond all doubt by winning the Closing Stage as well. Our last game though was away to 3rd place Defensor Sporting, and we could only manage a draw while Penarol won to bring them level on points, and ahead on goal difference. But this is where one of the quirks of the Uruguayan league came in - we would now potentially face 3 different playoffs in a row against Penarol. First, teams who are tied on points at the top of the table for either the Opening or Closing Stages play each other to determine who comes top (for some reason normal sorting rules like goal difference, goals scored, head to head etc. go out the window). If we lost that, then Penarol would be Closing Stage Champions, and we would play them in the Opening Stage Winners vs Closing Stage Winners playoff. If we lost THAT game, we would then play them yet again as the Overall table winners. A potentially pretty crazy situation! In a hectic finish to the first match though, we scored an 89th minute goal to take the lead, and then Penarol missed a 93rd minute penalty for the equalizer, meaning that we snatched a 1-0 win, were officially named the Closing Stage Champions, and so had a clean sweep of Opening, Closing, and Overall stages and a league winners trophy to put in the cabinet. Copa Libertadores - Quarter Final (lost to Fluminense) | Group C - 1st To add to the domestic excitement, we also had our first chance to compete in South America's premier club competition, entering straight into the Group Stage thanks to our 2nd place finish in the league last season. Our group was theoretically pretty tough, as we faced Olimpia of Paraguay, Junior of Colombia, and Velez Sarsfield of Argentina. However, in a series of actually incredibly close games, we managed to win our first 5 games to qualify for the 2nd Round at a canter, finally losing our last game away at Junior to ruin our perfect record. In the 2nd Round we were given a relatively kind draw, avoiding the big names from Brazil and Argentina and instead facing Emelec of Ecuador. We were satisfied with a draw and an away goal in the first leg, drawing 1-1 at their place, before snatching a 1-0 win at home to go through to the Quarter Finals. We got a much tougher draw in the shape of Fluminense, - but we did manage to get a couple of draws against them in the group stage of the Copa Sudamericana last season, so nothing was out of the question. We lost the away leg 3-2, but those two away goals and the one goal margin gave us a glimmer of hope we could still make it through, however it was not to be as they beat us 1-0 at home to eliminate us from the competition 4-2 on aggregate. Squad & Transfers - Squad | Transfers The squad was largely unchanged from last season, though again we brought in a couple of key players that really strengthened our team, along with some younger players coming of age, a combination that obviously paid dividends. Maximilano Pereira was an experienced 32 year old defender who ended up making the left back position more or less his own, after being brought in on a free from Danubio, while Adriano Freitas was a perennial backup goalkeeper at Penarol who came in on a free to take over the number one shirt from Santiago Amorin. Probably more important though were the players who were already at the club. Absolutely key amongst them was Jorge Daniel Correa, who was virtually ever present for us this season, as well as establishing himself at 20 years old as a regular Paraguayan international. He's still agitating for a move to a bigger club which is honestly completely understandable - last season I promised to sell him if I got a reasonable bid (set in a meeting with him at £1.1m), but no bid even close to that ever came in. I guess that meant that promise expired, because I had another conversation with him towards the end of this season and have now promised again to sell him if I get a reasonable bid - but now the bid is mutually set at £2.7m. With Chelsea one of the clubs interested in him though, I think there's a pretty good chance that bid might finally materialize. Other key players again were Martin Amondarain and Julio Acosta, both continuing to play well in their second season at the club - though Acosta couldn't keep up with his goalscoring exploits of last season, scoring a decent10 goals from 46 appearances this time around. Instead, the mantle of top scorer was taken by Jonathan Priore, the youth player who I had begun to bring through at the end of last season. This year he became a fixture in the side at 18 and scored 23 goals in 46 appearances in all competitions. Three other players from our youth system made a major impact on our first team this year - Claudio Lemos - a versatile midfielder and Uruguayan U20 international, Alejandro Perez - a quality right back, a fan favorite, and surely a future captain if we hold on to him long enough (hesitate to give him the armband at 18 years old, but he has 19 Teamwork, 18 Work Rate, 15 Leadership, head and shoulders above anyone else on the team), and Roberto Castillo - a decent but not great central defender. Finances - Summary Our financial position has improved drastically thanks to our Copa Libertadores participation, which brought in a massive £4.3m in prize money, along with a huge boost in gate receipts (£2m this season compared to £735k last season). That means that despite running at a monthly loss still, we end the year with £5.3m in the bank - and thanks to our league position we know we will play in the Libertadores group stage next season, guaranteeing at least another £2.3m in prize money. The board have rebuffed my attempts to get them to improve our training facilities and our youth facilities, despite the fact that our training facilities were downgraded this year, which is somewhat disappointing. Nevertheless, I expect to be given a pretty decent budget to work with next season, and think I might look to make some moves in the off season if the right players become available. The board also once again stated that they intended to build a new stadium, despite the fact they haven't made any progress in three years since the last time they mentioned it. However, they do seem to have at least revised their plans to only have a capacity of 1,876 - the new planned capacity is 9,405 which is probably much more sensible. Player of the Season - Alejandro Perez (35 APPS - 0 GLS - 14 ASTS - 7.17 AV RAT) Young Player of the Season - Alejandro Perez (35 APPS - 0 GLS - 14 ASTS - 7.17 AV RAT) Top Goalscorer - Jonathan Priore (45 (1) APPS - 23 GLS - 3 ASTS - 7.06 AV RAT) Next Season We managed to pull off another great season, this time culminating in our first league win. Next season, I expect us to be amongst the title challengers again for sure, but if Nacional return to their regular level after an off season we will certainly be in for a tough fight. I think our defense in particular could use strengthening, as we conceded more goals than I would ideally like, even if our great attacking play kept us winning. Bringing in that Libertadores prize money for another season will hopefully help us to get moving on the new stadium as well as give us the funds and the reputation to attract even higher quality players. One minor annoyance is the board's absolute refusal to negotiate on club vision - they tell me that due to my performance as manager they will give me a good amount of leeway in setting the club vision, but when I want to make just one change from what they proposed - wanting to not play direct football - they refuse to accept it and impose their vision on me. Playing direct football isn't even a big priority for them - its importance is "Favoured" which I think is the lowest possible - so I just can't understand why they're so insistent on it, and why they refuse to accept a change from the manager that has gotten them promoted to and then won the top division. Ultimately, my solution is to just not play direct football no matter whether I have their permission or not. I don't imagine they'll fire me over it, as long as the team is still winning - and if they're not winning, well then on my head be it I guess! 1 Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Biscotti Posted January 23, 2021 Share Posted January 23, 2021 @iseemonsters1 wait no more! Although I'm not sure it's as good as you might have been hoping. Francisco | Sestao River Club | Spain | 2029/30 (Season 9) Competitions | Transfers | Youth Intake | Fixtures Part 1 & Part 2 | New Records/PotS | Finances Anyone who clicked through the links above before reading will have an idea of what this section is going to say, but for those who like a story let's start with some graphics: Completely blitzed it in attack, and this was rewarded with a new record for goals scored in the division. Notable in this is that we sold a first-choice striker in January and we still scored 36 in 19 in the second half of the season which, while good, was a decent amount down on the 50 we scored in the first 19. Next we have exhibit B: Total bottle job. We 100% should have been on for promotion this season but we couldn't hold our nerve when it mattered. On the plus side, our media prediction was 20th, so at least we over-delivered in that regard. So what was the problem? While we were about average in the number of shots we faced, we were letting in far too many for a team that want to be promoted. When you score 86 goals in 38 games, you really need your goal difference to be better than +23. Naturally, the board are delighted with our overperformance, but I'm left very frustrated. I somewhat regret the sale of Rufino Esparza as he was a key man, even though we quite desperately needed the £900k (£1.5m) we were offered. Even with his departure, though, we still had K-Lo and Jon Ros scoring double figures for us. For next season, the priority has to be making us more defensively sound without sacrificing our ability to create chances. I don't think this means wholesale changes to our setup, but it most certainly will need a change to some roles and instructions. I'm probably going to take a week or so off from this save because I was quite pissed off with it by the end of the season. After a bit of a break I'll be back to this with a renewed sense of purpose - we're going up next season or else! No youth update this time, as aside from Rufino there's very little to report on and that's including this year's intake. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
aldojags Posted January 23, 2021 Share Posted January 23, 2021 @Biscottiwe’ve all those seasons, dont worry about it, all part of the journey!! You’ll get there 👍 Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
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