Any clubs outside the big five leagues in Europe thread

[Ewan0404]

I was going to an update in January but I forgot as I was getting too engrossed in this save tbh, so here is an update at the split.

For those who don't know about Scottish football each team plays each other three times and then after 33 matches the league splits in two and each team plays the other 5 teams in their group one more time to take the total matched played to 38.

This is how we are doing at the split:

We won't be breaking the Old Firm this season but on course for a potential 3rd place finish will set us up well for the future.

In January I made three signings:

Sam Johnson

Sam was signed on a free transfer to add some competition for places up front and I feel his speed is something lacking from our other strikers.

Stephen O'Donnell

We 'stole' Stephen on a free transfer from Motherwell in January as his contract was up in January, a great signing who is better than the current right back options we have.

Anthony Gordon

Anthony was signed on a 6 month loan to give us a rotation option for a number of positions up front and in the midfield.

Outs

We let quite a few bodies leave in January as they just weren't getting enough game time.

 

Now we head into the split and this is how our remaining five fixtures have been drawn:

And of course we get both Celtic and Rangers away from home 

[Ewan0404]

Here we have a lowdown of how we fared this season:

We have a lot of work to do over the next few years to try and close the gap to the Glasgow clubs here.

Scottish Cup

Unfortunately we were battered in the cup semi final.

Scottish League Cup

Another semi final loss to Rangers.

Moments to Remember

Our first game in Europe was a massive success, sadly as seen in a previous post the Europa League campaign did not last long.

Best 11

Stats

Sadly we appear to have massively underperformed in expected goals conceded and points.

Edited February 3, 2021 by Ewan0404

[smplfc123]

@Ewan0404 Your posts about Aberdeen have inspired me to join you at Pittodrie!

The long term aim is also to try and break the dominance of the top 2. The short term aim for this season is realistically to make sure we end up in a European spot and put the foundations in place for a successful long term save.

I've started with transfers off, which is made even harder by the fact that all 3 Strikers start off injured and my start date has thrown me in to the game 5 days before the season opener against Rangers.

Really excited about this save, so thanks again for the inspiration!

[Ewan0404]

2 minutes ago, smplfc123 said:

@Ewan0404 Your posts about Aberdeen have inspired me to join you at Pittodrie!

The long term aim is also to try and break the dominance of the top 2. The short term aim for this season is realistically to make sure we end up in a European spot and put the foundations in place for a successful long term save.

I've started with transfers off, which is made even harder by the fact that all 3 Strikers start off injured and my start date has thrown me in to the game 5 days before the season opener against Rangers.

Really excited about this save, so thanks again for the inspiration!

I look forward to seeing how you get on. Yeah I brought in Bodvarsson on loan due to having no strikers available in the beginning. 

[smplfc123]

I'm not going to post game by game updates, but having been in the job for just 5 days and with no fit natural striker, I had to post this result:

 

What a start to the season and the save! Having gone 1-0 down to an early Morelos strike, we battled back and equalised with 77 minutes on the clock through 17 year old sub Hanratty. Then, with the game in to time added on, Hoban rises highest to glance home a header from a corner, securing all 3 points in the season opener!

I'm not expecting (and almost don't want) to get anywhere near Celtic and Rangers this season, due to our small squad, much less quality, my 1 star reputation and much lower financial capabilities, but it's great to see that on our day, we can give them a game.

[Ewan0404]

1 hour ago, smplfc123 said:

I'm not going to post game by game updates, but having been in the job for just 5 days and with no fit natural striker, I had to post this result:

 

What a start to the season and the save! Having gone 1-0 down to an early Morelos strike, we battled back and equalised with 77 minutes on the clock through 17 year old sub Hanratty. Then, with the game in to time added on, Hoban rises highest to glance home a header from a corner, securing all 3 points in the season opener!

I'm not expecting (and almost don't want) to get anywhere near Celtic and Rangers this season, due to our small squad, much less quality, my 1 star reputation and much lower financial capabilities, but it's great to see that on our day, we can give them a game.

Good first win. What does your tactic look like? 

I'm about to start season 2 and we used a 433 or 4231 most of the time. 

Edited February 4, 2021 by Ewan0404

[smplfc123]

26 minutes ago, Ewan0404 said:

Good first win. What does your tactic look like? 

I'm about to start season 2 and we used a 433 or 4231 most of the time. 

I'm probably going to switch between the 4-4-1-1 I used in the opening game and a 4-3-3 (DM Wide) whilst working out who I want here long term.

Definitely going to try and build a midfield around Ferguson.

[Ewan0404]

48 minutes ago, smplfc123 said:

I'm probably going to switch between the 4-4-1-1 I used in the opening game and a 4-3-3 (DM Wide) whilst working out who I want here long term.

Definitely going to try and build a midfield around Ferguson.

I'm putting up my transfer update soon but sadly Ferguson has gone. 

[Ewan0404]

Season 2 Transfers

Out

MacIver, Hanratty and Campbell were all moved out because put simply they were surplus to requirements.

West Ham came in for Ferguson with 12 hours left of the window which was annoying as he had already played 10 games for us this season between the league and Europa Conference qualifying rounds, scoring 6 goals and assisting 4 in that time. He wanted to move on and I couldn't begrudge him a move for that money.

In

Overall we signed nine players for a grand total of £1.2 million which is a steal to be fair.

Ross McCrorie was here on loan last season and there was already a transfer pre-arranged for £350,000 which again is a steal.

Tom McIntyre was brought in from Reading on a free transfer, he will fill in at both centre back and left back throughout the season.

Another name coming in for free was that of Josh Bowler from Everton, I am delighted to bring in such a versatile player to help strengthen our play in the final third.

We signed Jason Cummings on a free transfer to be our second choice striker this season.

Another attacking player and another free transfer through the door in the form of Rodel Richards.

David Bates has returned to Scotland and has been signed for £700,000 from Hamburg.

The next three players to come in were all signed on deadline day after the sale of Ferguson to West Ham. These were Alex Pritchard, Scott Allan and Henri Lansbury. Allan cost us £190,000 from Hibernian while the other two were both signed on free transfers.

Overall I am delighted with our summer business and feel we can really close the gap to Celtic and Rangers this season. Time will tell.

Finances

After the sale of Ferguson this is how our bank balance is looking at the moment.

[Jogo Bonito]

@Ewan0404Good transfer business to compensate for the loss of Ferguson. I almost signed him for Reading but cancelled it. McIntyre was a steal on a free transfer.

@smplfc123Good luck with The Dons too. 

I assume Scottish clubs have the same issue as English ones with signing EU players after Brexit? 

[Ewan0404]

@Jogo Bonito Thank you, I am hoping they can all play there part this season.

Yeah we have the same issues regarding Brexit but also I wanted to sign a mainly Scottish/British squad.

[Jogo Bonito]

3 minutes ago, Ewan0404 said:

@Jogo Bonito Thank you, I am hoping they can all play there part this season.

Yeah we have the same issues regarding Brexit but also I wanted to sign a mainly Scottish/British squad.

I like that kind of squad myself (have tried it a few times in Scotland with Rangers).

[smplfc123]

Thanks @Jogo Bonito. What saves have you got going on at the moment that I can catch up with? I've not been over to the EFL thread for a while!

And some excellent business there @Ewan0404! Mcintrye is someone I've got my eye on as I too am looking to increase the amount of Scottish players in the squad!

 

[Jogo Bonito]

1 hour ago, smplfc123 said:

Thanks @Jogo Bonito. What saves have you got going on at the moment that I can catch up with? I've not been over to the EFL thread for a while!

And some excellent business there @Ewan0404! Mcintrye is someone I've got my eye on as I too am looking to increase the amount of Scottish players in the squad!

 

I've got Reading (season 2 - PL) and York (season 1 - VNN) in progress having done one season with AGF Aarhus, Denmark (in here). There might be a European one soon - need the sunshine!

McIntyre is a great young defender, do grab him if you get the chance.

[Ewan0404]

January of season 2. I am starting to get recognised for my mediocre work in Aberdeen 

[smplfc123]

(Apologies for pinching this picture @Ewan0404)

So with us getting to the end of 2020, I thought now would be a good time to do my first proper update.

Having been inspired by @Ewan0404to take over from Derek McInnes at Pittodrie, my aim for the season was to make sure we finish in a European spot (top 5), give it a go in the cups and work on putting foundations in place to help make this club a genuine competitor for the top 2. I turned transfers off and gave myself just a local reputation to make the challenge that little bit harder.

I've brought in a playing style that I'm going to stick by, combining a confidence in playing out from the back, but not keeping the ball just to increase our possession stats. The aim is to be ruthless in attack when we can be, but recycle and go again if we fail. 

This is how we fared in Europe:

I don't think I could have been much happier with our efforts in the qualifiers. Yes we lost, but even the most optimistic Aberdeen fan will tell you we never really stood a chance of making the group stages. Our loanee striker Marley Watkins scored in the first 3 rounds, giving us some impressive wins and when Ojo thundered in a strike after just 11 minutes at the San Siro, we began to dream. Unfortunately, Milan's quality eventually shone through and it was heart break in Italy for my boys.

In the league, we've done, probably as expected. We've had some good games and some bad games but have stayed fairly consistent against the rest of the league throughout:

 
 

As you can see we are 10 points clear in the European spots (albeit Hibs have a game in hand) but are 12 points behind the old firm. Our 5 losses have come at the hands of Celtic, Rangers, Hibs, Livingston and annoyingly, Hamilton, who seem to be my bogey team as I could only manage a draw against the Accies in our second meeting. 

We are through to the Betfred Cup Semi Final having secured consecutive 1-0 wins over Kilmarnock and Livingston respectively, however we now face the daunting task of Celtic at Hampden Park. It's St Mirren vs St Johnstone in the other semi final, so the cup really is there for the taking if we can spring a surprise on the boys in green.

Hopefully we can get a favourable draw in the Scottish Cup when that's made in a few weeks time. 

Player-wise, we've managed to pick quite a steady team. Logan, Hernandez, Ojo, Hoban and Leigh have all averaged over 7 so far, with Edmondson, McCrorrie, Lewis, Hayes and Ferguson just under.

As for transfers, I've already started to ship out those that don't fit my long term plans. Curtis Main will be joining Lincoln in a few days time for £26k, with Cerny heading back to the Czech Republic for £12k. Ash Taylor and Micky Devlin are likely to follow, although I may keep one of them as cover for the rest of the season. Unfortunately the one sour note is Niall McGinn. We did all we could to stop him signing a pre-contract, however Jeonbuk in South Korea were offering him wages we couldn't get anywhere near. We still have him until the end of the season at least.

In terms of incomings, Edmondson's loan has been extended until the end of the season and I'm looking to do the same for Marley Watkins. 

The 1 confirmed transfer is the free signing of Hasan Ozkan. He was able to join up with the squad in December and has impressed in the games he's played so far. He's got all round decent stats in the right places for me to grow him as a CB next to Hoban, with plenty of room to grow :

So that's how it stands at Pittodrie at the moment and I think overall, I'm fairly happy.

We're on course to hit every target we've set, even exceeding the board's targets in both the Euro and Betfred Cups.

Really hoping we can stay strong in the second half of the season and then look to see how we can get creative in the summer window.

Up The Dons!

Edited February 8, 2021 by smplfc123

[smplfc123]

END OF SEASON REVIEW 2020/2021

So I left you at the end of 2020, out of Europe, in the Semi-final of the Betfred Cup, awaiting a fixture in the Scottish Cup and sitting 3rd in the league.

"Tell us about the cup runs first" I hear you say. Okay, why not start this update off with disappointment. 

It's so frustrating isn't it. I had ties in the cups against Celtic, St Mirren and St Johnstone and the only one I turned up for was the Semi-Final against Celtic!

We were superb in that game, which did little to calm the war of words between me and Neil Lennon who struggled to accept defeat. However, having gone out of the Scottish Cup at the first hurdle against St Johnstone, all of my attention turned to 28/02/2021, our chance of getting our hands on some silverware in the first season. Not only were the Old Firm surprisingly absent from Hampden, but our opponents were bottom of the Premiership at the time. What more could I ask for?

Unfortunately, I think I'd already thought I'd won it, which transpired on to the pitch. What didn't help was that a week before the final, Joe Lewis sustained an injury that would see him miss 3 months of the season and our back up was 6-month free signing Ben Alnwick who hadn't put his gloves on for us at all before this game. St Mirren set up in a 4-1-4-1 in an aim to nullify our attack and it worked, with them scoring a scrappy set piece winner in the 89th minute to take home the trophy. I was distraught. 

Unfortunately, that sucker-punch in February derailed our season a little:

We really struggled to cope with the loss of Joe Lewis. Ok you could argue 3 of the 6 defeats after his injury came against the old firm, but it was the manner of the defeats against 3rd place rivals Kilmarnock that made me realise just how thin on quality our squad really is.

Thankfully, Big Joe was fit for action again before our crunch tie with Motherwell, oh and look, a clean sheet and 3 points, what a coincidence?! A final day victory over Ross County meant that we ended up finishing the season like this:

Strangely. I'm really happy with this. We finished as high as could be expected, but having drawn or lost 21 games, there's plenty of room for improvement!

I'm not one who loves to clear a squad out at the first chance, but there will be quite a few outgoings as some players really don't have the quality to challenge for places. Really looking forward to see who I can bring in and how we can improve on this season!

Up The Dons!

[Jogo Bonito]

A respectable 3rd but no magic of the cup. That's probably about par for the first season.

Good luck with the summer transfer window, I'm sure you will improve your squad satisfactorily. Did you not jump on board the chance to sign players from English clubs in the winter window on 'approach to sign' deals for 21/22?

[smplfc123]

54 minutes ago, Jogo Bonito said:

A respectable 3rd but no magic of the cup. That's probably about par for the first season.

Good luck with the summer transfer window, I'm sure you will improve your squad satisfactorily. Did you not jump on board the chance to sign players from English clubs in the winter window on 'approach to sign' deals for 21/22?

Thanks pal.

I had a few on my shortlist, but with money being tight, there was no one that I really wanted to commit to without giving my players a chance first. For example, I've retrained Hernandez to play RM and he's been excellent there, so thankfully I didn't spend a lot of my wages on a RM. The only one I activeley chased was George Long who was happy to come in and play back-up to Joe Lewis, however, after agreeing a reasonable contract, Hull decided it was time to trigger his extension-clause 

I now have a squad of 16 and I normally like it to be around the 25 mark, enough players for 2 for each position with a few utility players. I've got a £1.1m transfer budget and £22k in the wage budget to play with and we're needing a striker, 2 AM's, 2 wingers, a back up CB and a back up GK. Time to get inventive in the transfer market!

[Geordieboy52]

I've just started the financial crisis challenge with Anderlecht, I figured it would just mirror the current situation.

[Geordieboy52]

Also, I have noticed some top drawer newgens coming from Partick - anyone has success with them?

 

[Ewan0404]

22 hours ago, smplfc123 said:

Thanks pal.

I had a few on my shortlist, but with money being tight, there was no one that I really wanted to commit to without giving my players a chance first. For example, I've retrained Hernandez to play RM and he's been excellent there, so thankfully I didn't spend a lot of my wages on a RM. The only one I activeley chased was George Long who was happy to come in and play back-up to Joe Lewis, however, after agreeing a reasonable contract, Hull decided it was time to trigger his extension-clause 

I now have a squad of 16 and I normally like it to be around the 25 mark, enough players for 2 for each position with a few utility players. I've got a £1.1m transfer budget and £22k in the wage budget to play with and we're needing a striker, 2 AM's, 2 wingers, a back up CB and a back up GK. Time to get inventive in the transfer market!

There's a lot of good free players to get for Aberdeen before season 2.

[Ronaldo Beckham]

1 hour ago, Geordieboy52 said:

I've just started the financial crisis challenge with Anderlecht, I figured it would just mirror the current situation.

It doesn't take long to get out of the financial mess they are in with smart signings and selling your players for maximum amounts like I did.

Check the first couple of pages as I had an Anderlecht save when I started this thread. Maybe it will help you.

[smplfc123]

On 11/02/2021 at 09:59, Ewan0404 said:

There's a lot of good free players to get for Aberdeen before season 2.

It's a striker I'm struggling to find. Well, I've found quite a few that I think have potential to be gems, but none of them can get work permits and signing a striker within the UK with any potential costs a fortune! It might have to be a case of brining Edmondson back from loan. 

To be honest, I think I've probably gone sideways in this window and not really forward in terms of improving the squad. More a case of very similar abilities for the new players come in compared to the ones that have gone out. 

I have managed to bring 1 player in that should find the league fairly easy with his technical ability, it's just whether he can be bothered to produce that'll be the main issue! Will post an update when the window is closed!

[Geordieboy52]

@Ronaldo Beckham getting out was pretty easy, staying out is tough due to the payments on the loans.

[Ronaldo Beckham]

7 minutes ago, Geordieboy52 said:

@Ronaldo Beckham getting out was pretty easy, staying out is tough due to the payments on the loans.

Yeah that is why you got to buy sensibly. You need to buy players to sell on for a profit and make the most of your Youth System. Scout Africa, Eastern Europe and negotiate transfers wisely. Always make sure you got a % of profit on any decent player you sell.

I really enjoyed managing Anderlecht cos of the financial constraints.

 

[Geordieboy52]

On 13/02/2021 at 18:28, Ronaldo Beckham said:

Yeah that is why you got to buy sensibly. You need to buy players to sell on for a profit and make the most of your Youth System. Scout Africa, Eastern Europe and negotiate transfers wisely. Always make sure you got a % of profit on any decent player you sell.

I really enjoyed managing Anderlecht cos of the financial constraints.

 

Yeah - I managed to cut a lot of wages. Basically anyone over 12k per week other than Dimana and a  centre midfielder who I cannot remember at the minute got filled (double barrelled iirc) A lot of my younger players got the nod and I went from there, Kana and Sardella have been brilliant. I got an amazing LW in first youth intake and he went straight in. Every player I brought in was on a free and was £6k p/w or less. I turned around a few players from free to a couple of million from August to January. Finished season 2 (2nd both seasons), may need to cash in on one of my prizes assets: Verschaeren or Dimana soon, probably the latter because I managed to get Arezo as his contract expired.

Edited February 14, 2021 by Geordieboy52

[smplfc123]

2021/2022 - Early Season Update

With us now in to the international break at the start of October, I thought now would be a good time to provide an update on the summer transfer window and our start to the season so far.

The transfer window was a fairly long one, in which I spent hours mulling over who would be the right fit for my team going forward. First of all, let's have a look at the players that left Pittodrie in the summer:

OUTS:

With Curtis Main, Mikey Devlin and Tomas Cerny all leaving in January, the rebuild was already underway. In the summer, Ryan Hedges was sold to newly-promoted Hearts for £325k and Bruce Anderson moved to Angers for an initial £200k with potential add-ons. Niall McGinn had a pre-contract agreement to move to South Korea, whilst Ash Taylor, Ben Alnwick and Scott Wright were all released on a free. This left quite a few spots to fill in my squad.

INS:

Ross McCrorrie - £350k from Rangers - This transfer was already arranged for the lad who spent last season on loan for us and it's an absolute bargain. 
Jack Hendry - £170k from Celtic - The 26 year old never really made it at Celtic and should provide good back up to my starting CB's.
Chris McGuire - £62k from Sunderland - The 32 year old has returned to where it all started for him. He's still got the technical ability to make a difference at this level and will be more consistent than the likes of Scott Wright.
Scott Fraser - Free Transfer - I managed to persuade the midfielder not to sign a new contract with MK Dons and come back up north. Good cover for the squad.
Louis Fortin - Free Transfer - I was very surprised to see the 19 year old not being tied down to a long contract by Standard and I pounced at the opportunity to bring him in as understudy for Lewis.
Greg Kiltie - Free Transfer - The utility attacker was released by Kilmarnock and was brought in as a back up option to my wide players.
Ryan Edmondson - Loan from Leeds - After not settling on who to bring in as the main man  up front, I felt it was easier and safer to bring back the youngster from Leeds. 
Zakaria Labyad - Loan from Ajax - The star signing! With the Moroccan only on £4k p/w, I jumped at the chance for the attacking midfielder to come in and fill the creative boots of Niall McGinn. Yes he hasn't got the teamwork and work rate that I demand from the rest of my squad, but I'm hoping he has the quality to help us overturn the 21 draws/defeats from last season.

So with me not finding the right fits for certain areas, I've called up Jack McKenzie, Calvin Ramsay and Kevin Hanratty from the youth set up to provide 3rd choice back up in their positions. 

So here's how we've gone in the league so far:

With Europe going on around our league games too, I'm fairly happy with our 4 wins, 3 draws and 1 loss from the first 8 games, which sees us sitting 3rd, behind Motherwell and Celtic. The Rangers game was a blow as we were excellent but were pegged back by a last minute equaliser!

Europe.......

WE DID IT! A very impressive 2 leg-victory over Trabzonspor remarkably meant that we made the group stages! As you can see, that's as far as the excitement is going to go as we were drawn a very tough group. We held our own against Wolves until super sub Fabio Silva bagged 2 very late goals. We also held out Braga for a while, but the their quality told in the end. I just hope we can somehow get a point on the board so that we have something to hold on to.

The early draw for the Betfred Cup pitted us against Celtic, which unfortunately meant an early exit.

The plan for the rest of the season now is to try and get a point on the board in Europe, maintain our position in the league and hopefully progress in the Scottish Cup. 

UP THE DONS!

[Ronaldo Beckham]

32 minutes ago, smplfc123 said:

2021/2022 - Early Season Update

With us now in to the international break at the start of October, I thought now would be a good time to provide an update on the summer transfer window and our start to the season so far.

The transfer window was a fairly long one, in which I spent hours mulling over who would be the right fit for my team going forward. First of all, let's have a look at the players that left Pittodrie in the summer:

OUTS:

With Curtis Main, Mikey Devlin and Tomas Cerny all leaving in January, the rebuild was already underway. In the summer, Ryan Hedges was sold to newly-promoted Hearts for £325k and Bruce Anderson moved to Angers for an initial £200k with potential add-ons. Niall McGinn had a pre-contract agreement to move to South Korea, whilst Ash Taylor, Ben Alnwick and Scott Wright were all released on a free. This left quite a few spots to fill in my squad.

INS:

Ross McCrorrie - £350k from Rangers - This transfer was already arranged for the lad who spent last season on loan for us and it's an absolute bargain. 
Jack Hendry - £170k from Celtic - The 26 year old never really made it at Celtic and should provide good back up to my starting CB's.
Chris McGuire - £62k from Sunderland - The 32 year old has returned to where it all started for him. He's still got the technical ability to make a difference at this level and will be more consistent than the likes of Scott Wright.
Scott Fraser - Free Transfer - I managed to persuade the midfielder not to sign a new contract with MK Dons and come back up north. Good cover for the squad.
Louis Fortin - Free Transfer - I was very surprised to see the 19 year old not being tied down to a long contract by Standard and I pounced at the opportunity to bring him in as understudy for Lewis.
Greg Kiltie - Free Transfer - The utility attacker was released by Kilmarnock and was brought in as a back up option to my wide players.
Ryan Edmondson - Loan from Leeds - After not settling on who to bring in as the main man  up front, I felt it was easier and safer to bring back the youngster from Leeds. 
Zakaria Labyad - Loan from Ajax - The star signing! With the Moroccan only on £4k p/w, I jumped at the chance for the attacking midfielder to come in and fill the creative boots of Niall McGinn. Yes he hasn't got the teamwork and work rate that I demand from the rest of my squad, but I'm hoping he has the quality to help us overturn the 21 draws/defeats from last season.

So with me not finding the right fits for certain areas, I've called up Jack McKenzie, Calvin Ramsay and Kevin Hanratty from the youth set up to provide 3rd choice back up in their positions. 

So here's how we've gone in the league so far:

With Europe going on around our league games too, I'm fairly happy with our 4 wins, 3 draws and 1 loss from the first 8 games, which sees us sitting 3rd, behind Motherwell and Celtic. The Rangers game was a blow as we were excellent but were pegged back by a last minute equaliser!

Europe.......

WE DID IT! A very impressive 2 leg-victory over Trabzonspor remarkably meant that we made the group stages! As you can see, that's as far as the excitement is going to go as we were drawn a very tough group. We held our own against Wolves until super sub Fabio Silva bagged 2 very late goals. We also held out Braga for a while, but the their quality told in the end. I just hope we can somehow get a point on the board so that we have something to hold on to.

The early draw for the Betfred Cup pitted us against Celtic, which unfortunately meant an early exit.

The plan for the rest of the season now is to try and get a point on the board in Europe, maintain our position in the league and hopefully progress in the Scottish Cup. 

UP THE DONS!

Well done with Aberdeen mate. You are building something special there.

Scott Fraser was awesome for me in my FM2020 Burton Albion save.

[Ewan0404]

@smplfc123 great start to the season. Shame about your Europa League group though. 

[smplfc123]

Mid Season Update 2021/2022

So with the winter break under way and 2021 coming to an end, I thought now would be a good time to give another update. As our fate was all but sealed when the draw was made, I'll give the European update first:

Ok so we finished bottom, but in truth, the away game against Wolves was the only game that went the way I expected, a thrashing! I'll always remember our heroic night in Rome and I'm glad we managed to get another point on the board at home to Braga, ending the tournament on 4 points. To me it shows that if we can get in to the group stages again next year, with a slightly more favourable draw and with a stronger squad, we won't be far off competing for 2nd or 3rd in the group. 

As for the league, well we took a bit of a hit as the injuries started to pile up with all the fixtures:

A winless October was compounded by our worst performance in our first game of November away to St Mirren. Thankfully, a 3-1 win over Hamilton sparked a turnaround (barring the Kilmarnock result) which saw us win 5 of our next 8 games, taking 17 points from 24. This means the table looks like this as the year ends:

The gap to the top 2 is typically quite big, but Rangers are looking a lot more vulnerable this season since Gerrard left for Newcastle, as our 1-0 victory showed.

My main battle is with Motherwell who just keep on picking up points. I'm hoping to bring in 1 or 2 quality additions in January and with the distractions of Europe now gone, I'm hoping we'll have too much and retain our 3rd place.

 

Up The Dons!

[smplfc123]

END OF SEASON UPDATE 2021/2022

So the aims for this season were to better last season in as many ways as possible to ensure that progress is being made. Last season we finished 3rd in the league on 59 points, reached the final of the domestic cup and got knocked out of the Europa League in the final qualifying round.

This season:

Well I'll start with Europe as it's already been covered in my previous post. After a fantastic two-legged win over Trabzonspor, we made the group stages of the Europa League. Unfortunately that's where our journey ended as we were handed a tough group alongside Wolves, Lazio and Braga. Despite this we managed to give a decent showing and ended the group on 4 points, just behind 3rd place Braga. It took it's toll on some players, but the income generated was a big boost for the clubs finances.

After defeat in the Betfred Cup Final to St Mirren last season and an early exit from the Scottish Cup at the hands of St Johnstone, my aim was try and go one better and bring one of the trophies back to Pittodrie. Here's how we fared:

WE DID IT!!!!! An early exit in the Betfred Cup at the hands of Celtic seemed to reverse my luck in the Scottish Cup. With all due respect, St Johnstone were our toughest draw on paper, with us managing to avoid the likes of Rangers, Celtic, Hibs, Motherwell etc. Despite that, we managed to make hard work of the so called easier ties, but nevertheless, we ran out winners against Hamilton at Hampden Park. That first trophy delighted the board and fans and has raised my reputation up to a mighty 2 stars! 

So last but not least, The Premiership. Again our aim was to finish on a higher points total than last season and to cut the gap down between us and the old firm, which had stood at 33 points and 36 points to 2nd and 1st respectively.

Despite our awful finish to the season and Motherwell thankfully bottling their chances at 3rd, we managed to retain that position whilst finishing 3 points better off than last season. We put ourselves near enough level on points with last seasons total with about 6 games to go, but the arduous season caught up with us and we finished terribly in the league. However, we have managed to cut the gap down on 2nd place at least, so with all things considered with the extra games in Europe and the Cup Run towards the end of the season, I'm delighted with the progress.

After selling Sam Cosgrove for £250k in January, I activated Lawrence Shankland's £600k relegation clause, however the Scot has failed to impress since moving, scoring just 4 goals in 18 starts. Luckily, my £150k signing, Kion Etete from Spurs stepped up the plate, with the youngster netting 7 goals in 10 appearances to help loanee Edmondson.  The only bit of business in January was to bring in another Scot, Robbie Deas at CB from ICT to replace outgoing Andy Considine.

Ronald Hernandez, now with a full season under his belt at RM, won our player of the season. He was outstanding.

Now I'm at a bit of a crossroads. My contract expires this summer and for now, I've rejected an approach from the club to extend as they're only offering me a 1 year deal. I need to consider how I can realistically progress this team further. Can we go further in Europe? Can we break in to the top 2? Can we bring home another Cup? I'm going to have a long look around and then make my decision.

Edited February 17, 2021 by smplfc123

[Ewan0404]

25 minutes ago, smplfc123 said:

END OF SEASON UPDATE 2021/2022

So the aims for this season were to better last season in as many ways as possible to ensure that progress is being made. Last season we finished 3rd in the league on 59 points, reached the final of the domestic cup and got knocked out of the Europa League in the final qualifying round.

This season:

Well I'll start with Europe as it's already been covered in my previous post. After a fantastic two-legged win over Trabzonspor, we made the group stages of the Europa League. Unfortunately that's where our journey ended as we were handed a tough group alongside Wolves, Lazio and Braga. Despite this we managed to give a decent showing and ended the group on 4 points, just behind 3rd place Braga. It took it's toll on some players, but the income generated was a big boost for the clubs finances.

After defeat in the Betfred Cup Final to St Mirren last season and an early exit from the Scottish Cup at the hands of St Johnstone, my aim was try and go one better and bring one of the trophies back to Pittodrie. Here's how we fared:

WE DID IT!!!!! An earl exit in the Betfred Cup at the hands of Celtic seemed to reverse my luck in the Scottish Cup. With all due respect, St Johnstone were our toughest draw on paper, with us managing to avoid the likes of Rangers, Celtic, Hibs, Motherwell etc. Despite that, we managed to make hard work of the so called easier ties, but nevertheless, we ran out winners against Hamilton at Hampden Park. That first trophy delighted the board and fans and has raised my reputation up to a mighty 2 stars! 

So last but not least, The Premiership. Again our aim was to finish on a higher points total than last season and to cut the gap down between us and the old firm, which had stood at 33 points and 36 points to 2nd and 1st respectively.

Despite our awful finish to the season and Motherwell thankfully bottling their chances at 3rd, we managed to retain that position whilst finishing 3 points better off than last season. We put ourselves near enough level on points with last seasons total with about 6 games to go, but the arduous season caught up with us and we finished terribly in the league. However, we have managed to cut the gap down on 2nd place at least, so with all things considered with the extra games in Europe and the Cup Run towards the end of the season, I'm delighted with the progress.

After selling Sam Cosgrove for £250k in January, I activated Lawrence Shankland's £600k relegation clause, however the Scot has failed to impress since moving, scoring just 4 goals in 18 starts. Luckily, my £150k sigining, Kion Etete from Spurs stepped up the plate, with the youngster netting 7 goals in 10 appearances to help loanee Edmondson.  The only bit of business in January was to bring in another Scot, Robbie Deas at CB from ICT to replace outgoing Andy Considine.

Ronald Hernandez, now with a full season under his belt at RM, won our player of the season. He was outstanding.

Now I'm at a bit of a crossroads. My contract expires this summer and for now, I've rejected an approach from the club to extend as they're only offering me a 1 year deal. I need to cnsider how I can realistically progress this team further. Can we go further in Europe? Can we break in to the top 2? Can we bring home another Cup? I'm going to have a long look around and then make my decision.

Thats a great season. You had a fairly easy run in the Scottish Cup but you can only play who your drawn against so well done. 

Are there any clubs out there who you could potentially move to in the summer? If not I'd sign a new deal with Aberdeen. 

[smplfc123]

1 hour ago, Ewan0404 said:

Thats a great season. You had a fairly easy run in the Scottish Cup but you can only play who your drawn against so well done. 

Are there any clubs out there who you could potentially move to in the summer? If not I'd sign a new deal with Aberdeen. 

Thanks mate.

At the moment, there's plenty of jobs available that would be a step up for me, but realistically they're not going to take me with a 2 star reputation. 

It may be a case of moving sideways to another club outside of the top 5 leagues, but one with more financial power to help me compete with the top teams in the league, such as Greece or Belgium etc. 

Celtic and Rangers have spent £34m and £32.5m respectively this season, whereas I've managed to squeeze £1.6m out of the club in the transfer market. Bridging the gap is going to take some doing!

How are you getting on?

[Ewan0404]

6 minutes ago, smplfc123 said:

Thanks mate.

At the moment, there's plenty of jobs available that would be a step up for me, but realistically they're not going to take me with a 2 star reputation. 

It may be a case of moving sideways to another club outside of the top 5 leagues, but one with more financial power to help me compete with the top teams in the league, such as Greece or Belgium etc. 

Celtic and Rangers have spent £34m and £32.5m respectively this season, whereas I've managed to squeeze £1.6m out of the club in the transfer market. Bridging the gap is going to take some doing!

How are you getting on?

I haven't played in about a week. I was sitting 3rd in season 2 in February but around 15 points off 2nd.

[smplfc123]

So I got offered the Panathanaikos job, however their dire financial situation ultimately turned me off the role.

I'm torn at the moment as to if I want to carry on with The Dons or to force through a move abroad. 

British players aren't cheap and It feels almost impossible to get a work permit for a player born outside the UK. This is making the transfer market a very tough place to work and we're going to need quality if we want to show progression on our last 2 seasons.

If I'm going to stay, I need to convince myself I'm all in.

[Ewan0404]

1 hour ago, smplfc123 said:

So I got offered the Panathanaikos job, however their dire financial situation ultimately turned me off the role.

I'm torn at the moment as to if I want to carry on with The Dons or to force through a move abroad. 

British players aren't cheap and It feels almost impossible to get a work permit for a player born outside the UK. This is making the transfer market a very tough place to work and we're going to need quality if we want to show progression on our last 2 seasons.

If I'm going to stay, I need to convince myself I'm all in.

I would say give it one more season. In last years fm I convinced myself to have 3 years at a club to really see if you can make an improvement. 

[smplfc123]

So after much deliberation, I've decided to commit my future to Aberdeen, signing a new 3 year contract that'll keep me at Pittodrie until 2025.

To shake things up a little and to keep my attempt at progression with The Dons interesting, I've decided to try out a new formation this season, switching from our 4-4-1-1 to a 4-3-3 (DM Wide) in order to turn those draws in to wins. With Labyad also going elsewhere after his loan spell, I don't really have outstanding choices for CAM, so a switch seemed the best option anyway.

[Ewan0404]

5 minutes ago, smplfc123 said:

So after much deliberation, I've decided to commit my future to Aberdeen, signing a new 3 year contract that'll keep me at Pittodrie until 2025.

To shake things up a little and to keep my attempt at progression with The Dons interesting, I've decided to try out a new formation this season, switching from our 4-4-1-1 to a 4-3-3 (DM Wide) in order to turn those draws in to wins. With Labyad also going elsewhere after his loan spell, I don't really have outstanding choices for CAM, so a switch seemed the best option anyway.

I've had Anthony Gordon on loan since the beginning and he has been phenomenal on the left. Maybe try sign him. 

[Geordieboy52]

I picked up Marcus Dewhurst on a free after his loan in Belgium ran out. Damn he’s good.

[FMunderachiever]

Im falling into the "lets start a billion saves" trap..... but id got Celtic on my mind. Anyones thoughts on this?

Obviously ill win a lot of games at a canter....but its the resurgence of the Gerrard led Rangers that makes me think in a peverse way.... itll actually be a closer title battle than youd face in many leagues.

Obviously the attraction is in the immediate term winning the 10th league title but to really dominate for years to come whilst turning over the squad is attractive. As is doing something in Europe.

 

It seems a hipster thing almost on FM that people always avoid the big teams. But it was just a thought.

[Ewan0404]

1 minute ago, FMunderachiever said:

Im falling into the "lets start a billion saves" trap..... but id got Celtic on my mind. Anyones thoughts on this?

Obviously ill win a lot of games at a canter....but its the resurgence of the Gerrard led Rangers that makes me think in a peverse way.... itll actually be a closer title battle than youd face in many leagues.

Obviously the attraction is in the immediate term winning the 10th league title but to really dominate for years to come whilst turning over the squad is attractive. As is doing something in Europe.

 

It seems a hipster thing almost on FM that people always avoid the big teams. But it was just a thought.

I know what you mean about the starting a billion saves. That's why I'm having a few weeks off and then starting on the winter update when it's out. 

I did a celtic save on fm20. Stayed there 3 seasons and won the treble every year before moving to RB Leipzig. 

Rangers could challenge you for the title this time, especially as the celtic squad isn't as strong as it was a few seasons ago. 

[smplfc123]

1 hour ago, FMunderachiever said:

Im falling into the "lets start a billion saves" trap..... but id got Celtic on my mind. Anyones thoughts on this?

Obviously ill win a lot of games at a canter....but its the resurgence of the Gerrard led Rangers that makes me think in a peverse way.... itll actually be a closer title battle than youd face in many leagues.

Obviously the attraction is in the immediate term winning the 10th league title but to really dominate for years to come whilst turning over the squad is attractive. As is doing something in Europe.

 

It seems a hipster thing almost on FM that people always avoid the big teams. But it was just a thought.

You're right Rangers certainly are serious contenders this time around and in my current Aberdeen save, they won the title in the first season. Celtic fought back to reclaim it in the 2nd, but it's certainly not as easy as it has been the last decade or so.

Holding on to some players might be a challenge, as Edouard, Frimpong, Frimpong, Ajeti and Ajer have all left for elsewhere in Europe. However, it also means you've got a lot of assets that will sell if you want to rebuild.

[Ewan0404]

1 hour ago, smplfc123 said:

You're right Rangers certainly are serious contenders this time around and in my current Aberdeen save, they won the title in the first season. Celtic fought back to reclaim it in the 2nd, but it's certainly not as easy as it has been the last decade or so.

Holding on to some players might be a challenge, as Edouard, Frimpong, Frimpong, Ajeti and Ajer have all left for elsewhere in Europe. However, it also means you've got a lot of assets that will sell if you want to rebuild.

If you wait till the update you won't have Frimpong. 

You starting now or when the patch is out? 

[FMunderachiever]

10 minutes ago, Ewan0404 said:

If you wait till the update you won't have Frimpong. 

You starting now or when the patch is out? 

Ah, i wasnt aware that Celtic had sold Frimpong.

He was their right back i believe?

Im in two minds about the winter update and starting or not, let me explain why.

 

Logically, the winter update means you have a real squad to manage. So if I was to take control of a club and that club had done some business, it doesnt help the realism of the game that I cant use him and hes helping another team.

But......

By the same logic, when I take over a team on the game, I would be taking them over from their position in August, and not their position in January. So on the game in a new save, even though he has been sold and I may want to sell him myself, between August and January I would have been able to pick Frimpong if i wanted to.

 

So im in two minds about this.

 

I think the ideal comprimise might be to start an old database game immediately, but maybe hard code myself that i must sell Frimpong in January (ideally into a league where there will be no direct consequence to me).

 

I think its a great point you raise there.

[smplfc123]

It pains me to say it, but I think my time at Pittodrie has come to an end.

The fact that it took me some time to convince myself to say this summer cost me dearly in the transfer window and along with the board insisting I bought players under the age of 23, I ended up just bringing in player with no clear structure to how it was going to work, unlike the last 2 seasons.

My indecisiveness with where I wanted to take the team tactically has cost us in the league, with us picking up just 1 point from the first 5 games, giving the old firm a 12 point lead already.

It wasn't all doom and gloom. Wins over AEK Larnakas and then Astana in the Europa League qualifiers meant we qualified for the group stage for the 2nd season running, inject another £2m+ in to the clubs finances.  

Overall I'm happy with the job i've done. Consecutive Europa League entries, two 3rd place finishes in the league and a Scottish Cup. The big question now I suppose is, where next? 

 

 

[Ewan0404]

23 minutes ago, FMunderachiever said:

Ah, i wasnt aware that Celtic had sold Frimpong.

He was their right back i believe?

Im in two minds about the winter update and starting or not, let me explain why.

 

Logically, the winter update means you have a real squad to manage. So if I was to take control of a club and that club had done some business, it doesnt help the realism of the game that I cant use him and hes helping another team.

But......

By the same logic, when I take over a team on the game, I would be taking them over from their position in August, and not their position in January. So on the game in a new save, even though he has been sold and I may want to sell him myself, between August and January I would have been able to pick Frimpong if i wanted to.

 

So im in two minds about this.

 

I think the ideal comprimise might be to start an old database game immediately, but maybe hard code myself that i must sell Frimpong in January (ideally into a league where there will be no direct consequence to me).

 

I think its a great point you raise there.

As soon as the winter updates out I always start a new save from there. 

Realistically having Frimpong for 4 months won't make a difference to your save if you were gonna sell him anyway. 

Edit. Also you'd not have Ntcham or Elhamad. But you would have Kenny on loan. 

Edited February 19, 2021 by Ewan0404

[FMunderachiever]

1 hour ago, Ewan0404 said:

As soon as the winter updates out I always start a new save from there. 

Realistically having Frimpong for 4 months won't make a difference to your save if you were gonna sell him anyway. 

Edit. Also you'd not have Ntcham or Elhamad. But you would have Kenny on loan. 

It seems like their squad has significantly changed then, so its best to wait.

Didnt realise they had been so active. Selling Ntcham and bringing in Kenny sounds like super business. Err...not.

[Ewan0404]

2 minutes ago, FMunderachiever said:

It seems like their squad has significantly changed then, so its best to wait.

Didnt realise they had been so active. Selling Ntcham and bringing in Kenny sounds like super business. Err...not.

Ntcham wanted to go, celtic have too many cms so was no big loss. 

Kenny is just a loan from Everton to cover till summer since they sold their 2 RBs at the end of the window haha. 

[luka_zg]

I'm playing with Anderlecht in Belgian 1st division. The club has major debt in the 1st season, paying 7.5mil/month which takes you to 60 milion euros in the red in the end of the 1st season. But I had a tycoon takeover, with UAE investors buying the club and investing 150 milion in the bank and clearing all debts.  Great times ahead!

Also the club has some major youth talents..Verschaeren, Kana, Lokonga, Sardella are superb players in the 1st team already but also there are some great prospects in the academy.

The league rules in Belgian league make you have 6 players trained in Belgium for 3 years before the age of 23 in the match day squad so it's a nice challenge also to develop belgian talent along with my oil money atm.