FM21: Unia Janikowo - This Year Is Our Year

[Rikulec]

This could be good.

[Rikulec]

As per usual, we picked up some awards at the end of the year. I didn't win Manager of the Year this time though.

[Bitner]

Far too easy by now. MOnster.

Cheers,
Bitner 

[Rikulec]

2 hours ago, Bitner said:

Far too easy by now. MOnster.

Cheers,
Bitner 

In the league, yes. The second half of the season is still going to be interesting though, we've lost important players in the winter transfer window.

[Rikulec]

Jakub Słota's Management Career - January 2034 - Unia Janikowo

Friendlies

Transfers

We got absolutely pillaged, unfortunately we got hurt by release clauses again. We lost our starting defenders in Gordic, Romic, and Stankov, a starting striker in Penicka, and the incredibly talented Zatwarnicki, who's probably going to be worth ten times the fee Juventus paid. Of course I've already found some replacements, but they won't be here until February.

Edited March 2, 2021 by Rikulec

[Rikulec]

I got a new long-term contract with a nice raise as well.

[Rikulec]

Jakub Słota's Management Career - February 2034 - Unia Janikowo

PKO BP Ekstraklasa

Late goals against Legia and ŁKS cost us four points.

Transfers

Plenty of big money moves, including a new record fee paid.

Wojciech Wichtowski - I want to have the finest Polish talent here at the club and Wichtowski has been labelled as a wonderkid shortly after joining.

Marcin Michalak - a rotation option for the midfield for now, hopefully something more in the future.

Eldar Hodzic - a short term solution for one of the centre back slots.

Piotr Dziedzic - I hope my scouts were right about his potential.

Dmitry Sidorov - our first ever player from Russia. He should be very difficult to get past.

Karol Piecuch - he has a chance to sneak into the starting XI ahead of Hodzic.

We also promoted Krzysztof Samek from the youth team.

Edited March 2, 2021 by Rikulec

[Rikulec]

Jakub Słota's Management Career - March 2034 - Unia Janikowo

PKO BP Ekstraklasa

We're definitely not such a ruthless terror machine anymore.

Puchar Polski

A free kick from the edge of the box sends us through to the semis.

Youth Intake

Some nice depth in there. We also got a player from Georgia, which is interesting. I'm not too convinced about quality though. Traczyk looks good at first glance, but apparently he can't play without a guide dog.

Norbert Suchomski

Marian Traczyk

Hubert Panczyk

Mateusz Mazur

Patryk Dawid

[Rikulec]

Jakub Słota's Management Career - April 2034 - Unia Janikowo

PKO BP Ekstraklasa

Considering Legia's meltdown, I think this is our easiest and most comfortable league win so far.

Puchar Polski

The luck of the shoot-out paves our way into the final, where we're going to face Jagiellonia.

[Rikulec]

And so we become the first team in history to win it six times in a row.

[Rikulec]

Here we are, ahead of what's only our third appearance in the Polish Cup final. On paper it should be clear to everyone that we're the favourites here. However, there's probably some reason behind us doing relatively bad in this competition. Despite our domination in the league we haven't been able to win it since that famous victory back when we were battling it out in the I Liga, only reaching the final once more after that. There's still plenty of history to write here: it's a great chance for our first ever domestic clean sweep. Let's do this!

[Rikulec]

Our road to the final wasn't the easiest one imaginable. While the first three rounds were relatively straightforward, the other two games turned out to be really close. After all, we did face the only team in the country who are able to stand up to us and give us a damn tough game every time we face each other. One could probably assume that we've already overcome the biggest difficulties, but let's not forget that Jagiellonia were the first team to beat us in the league this season, giving us a proper shock at their stadium. We won in our last encounter in the league just three weeks ago, but still - we have to be wary.

Our opponents were even more reliant on luck than ourselves, winning not one but two penalty shoot-outs. Apart from a lower league side Mazur Ełk, they generally faced teams of similar quality to theirs and came out on top after close, hard-fought battles. There shouldn't be anything for us to be afraid of... right?

Na nich!

[Rikulec]

A few significant absences in our squad: most worryingly, our goalkeeper Milenkovic is out with a pulled thigh muscle. Marian Kiss and Adrian Skorłutowski also miss out because of injuries.

[Rikulec]

Well, I think it's safe to say this is not shaping up to be a very dramatic affair. We're absolutely flying at half time, Jagiellonia don't look like they're going to threaten us at all.

[Rikulec]

We added on some more bookings instead of goals, but it doesn't really matter, does it?

[Rikulec]

About time.

[Rikulec]

Jakub Słota's Management Career - May 2034 - Unia Janikowo

PKO BP Ekstraklasa

Not the most spectacular end to the season, but two wins are two wins.

Puchar Polski

[Rikulec]

Jakub Słota's Management Career - Season Review - 2033/34 - Unia Janikowo

PKO BP Ekstraklasa

Results (Jul-Dec) - Results (Feb-May)

Competition Performance: Winners

On one hand, we got one point more than last season, scored one more goal, and generally did slightly better on paper. Legia also didn't really push us this time round, allowing us to finish a whooping 19 points above them. And yet, I can't help but feel slightly underwhelmed - we were absolutely unreal in the first part of the season, conceding twice and getting an unbelievable 17 clean sheets in 18 games only to follow it up by conceding 15 in the next 16. We're probably never going to repeat the kind of run we went on, the feeling of absolute invincibility was incredible.

Puchar Polski

Competition Performance: Winners

We finally broke what was starting to feel like a curse.

Superpuchar

Competition Performance: Winners

A dramatic win kicked off our season.

Champions League

Competition Performance: Group Stage

We did well in the qualifiers again, but the group stage draw was brutal. I still feel we could have got third though.

Squad

It's still the best squad in the league by far, but we have to be aiming higher now and I'm incredibly frustrated to have lost almost all of our backline. The replacements are simply not as good.

Transfers - Finances

I don't want to talk about the transfer window, I'm absolutely pissed. The winter sales set us back, undoing one or two seasons' worth of work.

We did make a slight profit.

Player of the Season

1st - Sasa Milenkovic - I think it's high time I properly appreciated our goalkeeper. Our defensive performance in the first half of the season will go down in history and he was the main man behind them. Of course, back then he had a top class back four in front of him, but there were instances where he had to step in and he was always there to make a wonder save when needed.

2nd - Patryk Morys - our only starting defender whose release clause wasn't ridiculously low and who didn't kick up a fuss about leaving despite attracting some interest from abroad. He didn't play as many league games as you'd expect because of our squad rotation system. He remained a key player for us in Europe though and he was always there to put in a classy performance domestically whenever needed.

3rd - Maros Gasparik - he took a while to get started, but he was probably our best player in the second part of the season, earning a starting XI spot ahead of Coric, who had a slightly disappointing campaign.

Next Season

We definitely need to do better in Europe. I still can't quite get over the way this season went for us, the next one is all about getting back on the right track.

[Bitner]

As i said. Far too easy on home soil. 

Sadly i can't follow as much as i want, as i'm back on coaching duties (in csgo)

Cheers,
Bitner 

[Rikulec]

1 hour ago, Bitner said:

As i said. Far too easy on home soil. 

Sadly i can't follow as much as i want, as i'm back on coaching duties (in csgo)

Cheers,
Bitner 

My coaching duties kinda keep getting in the way of playing as well. Cheers mate.

[Rikulec]

A couple of awards following a successful domestic season.

[Rikulec]

The new stadium project has gone through. It's not named after me even though I'm a club legend, but we'll get there.

[Rikulec]

A decent season for Jr in the fifth tier. It would be nice if he could get his team promoted.

[Rikulec]

Apologies for my recent inactivity. I have quite a lot of stuff going on at the moment, and on top of that I haven't really felt like playing FM. There aren't going to be more updates this week as I'm actually going to spend a few days at Legia, observing and learning about their academy. I hope you're all well, see you again soon.

[Northernpilgrim]

1 hour ago, Rikulec said:

Apologies for my recent inactivity. I have quite a lot of stuff going on at the moment, and on top of that I haven't really felt like playing FM. There aren't going to be more updates this week as I'm actually going to spend a few days at Legia, observing and learning about their academy. I hope you're all well, see you again soon.

Enjoy the trip to Legia. You should only play and post for yourself anyway. If it's not doing it for you at the moment, no worries. We'll still be following your career when you return

[Rikulec]

On 09/03/2021 at 15:56, Northernpilgrim said:

Enjoy the trip to Legia. You should only play and post for yourself anyway. If it's not doing it for you at the moment, no worries. We'll still be following your career when you return

I've just come back and I have to say I absolutely loved it. They're building a great academy and they have some players with a lot of potential. Oh, and I also got a certificate signed by a true legend.

[Rikulec]

We're back with some bad news. This season wasn't only a setback for us, but also for the country.

[Rikulec]

Jakub Słota's Management Career - Season Preview - 2034/35 - Unia Janikowo

Board Expectations:

PKO BP Ekstraklasa: Win it
Puchar Polski: Final
Superpuchar: Win it
Champions League: Playoff Round

My Expectations:

PKO BP Ekstraklasa: Go unbeaten.
Puchar Polski: Not important.
Superpuchar: Not important.
Champions League: A 3rd placed finish in the group stage is the minimum.

Budgets:

Transfer: £33,401,506
Wage: £252,766 (currently spending £148,685)
Balance: £53,351,770

[Rikulec]

Jakub Słota's Management Career - Pre-Season - 2034/35 - Unia Janikowo

Friendlies

Transfers

Yes, we sold Skorłutowski. I felt that this was the best moment to do it, him being 29 and having a rather disappointing season behind him. It definitely was tough, but that's what football management is.

Adam Urbaniak - the fans are going crazy about his potential and I also feel he could become a great player.

Kuba Świątek - Skorłutowski gets replaced with an exciting 17-year-old. This also means we get two very talented, young Polish wingers in him and Wichtowski.

Todor Milanov - we needed another central midfielder and I think he was a bargain for the price we paid.

Bartosz Szumski has been promoted from the youth team.

[karanhsingh]

I just caught up with this, fantastic work. And it is good to hear about your visit to the Legia academy as well. 

I may have missed it, but what is the furthest you have gotten in Europe so far?

[Rikulec]

59 minutes ago, karanhsingh said:

I just caught up with this, fantastic work. And it is good to hear about your visit to the Legia academy as well. 

I may have missed it, but what is the furthest you have gotten in Europe so far?

Great to hear you've enjoyed the read! In Europe, we made the Conference League quarter final once and the Europa League last 16 a couple of times. We've yet to make it through the Champions League group stage.

[Rikulec]

Guys, I have some bad news to share. I've encountered a game-breaking bug where other teams don't register their players for the league. For whatever reason it affects those teams with varying strength: for example, the newly-promoted Bełchatów side haven't registered anyone and are playing youngsters while Śląsk have registered their squad just fine. Until I find a fix to that, the save is being put on hold.

[Gizmo7]

8 hours ago, Rikulec said:

Guys, I have some bad news to share. I've encountered a game-breaking bug where other teams don't register their players for the league. For whatever reason it affects those teams with varying strength: for example, the newly-promoted Bełchatów side haven't registered anyone and are playing youngsters while Śląsk have registered their squad just fine. Until I find a fix to that, the save is being put on hold.

Ahh nooo! That sucks

Is this a known bug? Have you had a look around the bugs forums?

[Rikulec]

2 hours ago, Gizmo7 said:

Ahh nooo! That sucks

Is this a known bug? Have you had a look around the bugs forums?

I have, there doesn't seem to be an established solution. I'm using an edited database, which could be the source of the problem.

[Maniek312]

Hey Rikulec,

Gotta say I enjoyed reading through your updates very much! Congrats on the certificate - CM 01/02 legend (if I recall correctly) Marcin Harasimowicz signing on it is an added bonus sorry to hear about the bug - has that happened for the first time? Seems odd that it would occur after so many seasons into the game.

Additionally, one question - would you mind showing your backroom staff? The trouble I have when doing my customary long-term Legia save is luring good coaches to come, as my board keeps refusing to increase staff wages and it's bordering on idiotic at times - in FM20 I sold a striker to Liverpool for 70 mil EUR and yet the highest wage I could offer to a coach was 5k per month..

[Rikulec]

1 hour ago, Maniek312 said:

Hey Rikulec,

Gotta say I enjoyed reading through your updates very much! Congrats on the certificate - CM 01/02 legend (if I recall correctly) Marcin Harasimowicz signing on it is an added bonus sorry to hear about the bug - has that happened for the first time? Seems odd that it would occur after so many seasons into the game.

Additionally, one question - would you mind showing your backroom staff? The trouble I have when doing my customary long-term Legia save is luring good coaches to come, as my board keeps refusing to increase staff wages and it's bordering on idiotic at times - in FM20 I sold a striker to Liverpool for 70 mil EUR and yet the highest wage I could offer to a coach was 5k per month..

Cheers mate! You're right, Harasimowicz is famous for his 200 PA on CM 01/02, he's also well aware of that. It's also the first time I got hit with this bug, nothing I've tried seems to work. It sure is odd, but not unheard of for it to occur so late into the save.

You can see my coaching staff here: https://imgur.com/a/XTFircc The highest wage I can offer is £1,7K per week at the moment.

[Rikulec]

Unfortunately I still haven't been able to fix the bug. While this save remains on hold, I've started a new one to keep going in the meantime: Back to the Roots.

[Bitner]

Sadface.

Cheers,
Bitner 

 

[Rikulec]

43 minutes ago, Bitner said:

Sadface.

Cheers,
Bitner 

 

Just as I felt we were about to recover after a poor season as well.