FM23 - Regional Save in Germany, only signing players from Saxony-Anhalt

[ToMexico!!]

2027/28 Season Review

We came out of the mid-season break all guns blazing with wins over Bayern II, league leaders Dormund II and Aachen, we kepy things going into February with wins over Unterhaching and Ingolstadt but along with draws against Dresden and Magdeburg. March saw us extend our unbeaten run by a further three games, in April we beat 1860 Munich before Cottbuss ended our streak which stood at 13 games without a loss. By that point we had cemented ourselves in 2nd place behind a runaway Dortmund II side. 

Two further wins over Burghausen and then Werder II meant it was only a matter of time before an announcement was made. We could have sealed promotion at RW Essen but the mid-tabled side beat us comfortably 2-0 at theirs. Results went our way though and...

Something I felt that was coming from the past few seasons but wasn't completely expected. We still had two games to play, we beat Chemnitzer and then drew with Osnabruck. 

So, we managed to finish in 2nd place behind Dortmund II (who can't be promoted) and ahead of Chemnitz in 3rd. Magdeburg sneaked a play-off spot in 4th place and will play Saarbrucken. 85 goals scored is another increase season-on-season (78 last season) but we still conceded far too many with 57 (which was six more than last season). 

We competed the in the DFB Pokal for the first time too, We beat Bundesliga 2 side Saarbrucken 3-1 in the first round and then lost to Bochum in extra time in the 2nd Round. Pakying in the competition gave us £475k in prize money and around £350k extra in gate receipts. 

Julius Hoffmann top scored with 21 goals but it was Leon Damer who stood out for me, his 13 goals and 22 assists were key to our progress and form this season. Just one other player reached double figures for goals and that was Richard Meier with 11. Youth promotee Sainey Mboob had a good season at right full back, scoring five times and producing four assists. 

 

Financially we're still in the red but I hope promotion will trigger better sponsorship deals to be completed as we have three due to end this season. Even if we are relegated next season which I think is a given at this point in time we will receive a minimum of £6.9m so all we have to do is get through this next season. 

[Pedrike2021]

Congrats, dude? Will the step up in quality be to big for you, or are you gonna survive comfortably?

[ToMexico!!]

23 minutes ago, Pedrike2021 said:

Congrats, dude? Will the step up in quality be to big for you, or are you gonna survive comfortably?

Thanks!! I think the gulf in quality will be too big and I don't envisage us staying up at the moment. We have money left in the budget but can't attract the quality of player to improve enough. 

[ToMexico!!]

Poached - July 2028

 

[DaneBramage]

Nicely done, congrats. That prize money at the next tier will be a big help.

[Carambau]

Congrats! Good luck for next season !

[keeper#1]

Congrats on promotion!

[Cheez3y]

Grats on the promotion.

[ToMexico!!]

2 hours ago, DaneBramage said:

Nicely done, congrats. That prize money at the next tier will be a big help.

Thanks, it will, I mean to get nearly £7m if we finish bottom will help massively. I need to improve both training and youth facilities once each to get back to how we started. 

2 hours ago, Carambau said:

Congrats! Good luck for next season !

1 hour ago, keeper#1 said:

Congrats on promotion!

1 hour ago, Cheez3y said:

Grats on the promotion.

Thanks all!!

[ToMexico!!]

Pokal 1st Round Draw - July 2028

Cricket score incoming. 

[ToMexico!!]

33 minutes ago, ToMexico!! said:

Pokal 1st Round Draw - July 2028

Cricket score incoming. 

Pokal 1st Round - Aug 2028

Happy with the result to be honest, we managed to score a goal at least. 

[Hootieleece]

cousins?

[ToMexico!!]

Transfers - Summer 2028

Three players in and all three on loan. 

I mentioned Abraham Coulibaly when he was at RB Leipzig but he left to join St Pauli on a free, he wasn't interested in joining us then. He can play all across the front three which helps with rotation. Morris Schroter was next in on loan from Hansa Rostock, the 33 year old can also cover multiple positions like RB, RW and MC. I then opted for Martin Ibold as another body in for the bench from Osnabruck, he offers some cover in midfield. 

We haven't done enough in the window to strengthen enough to stay in Bundesliga 2, relegation is almost a foregone conclusion even at this early stage of the season. 

[ToMexico!!]

7 minutes ago, Hootieleece said:

cousins?

Cousins?

[ToMexico!!]

Manager's Future? - Nov 2028

Didn't expect this so soon, I was backed into a corner to ask for another month to improve performances. 

But this is how the board feel in the club vision... we're not expected to definately stay up, just make an attempt to avoid relegation. 

[ToMexico!!]

Youth Intake Preview - Dec 2028

A slightly better preview and another apparent golden generation. 

[Hootieleece]

21 hours ago, ToMexico!! said:

Youth Intake Review - April 2028

It remained an excellent intake and a golden generation. 

Two elite talents in Aboubacar Sow and Mohamed Sow. The latter Sow has more to him and looks like he could feature and unfortunately, they are not brothers. 

Full Intake | Map 1 | Map 2  

I was wondering if they were cousins, when you said they weren't brothers......

 

Also congratulations on your Promotion!

I'm sure you could probably use an extra CB and CM in your intake. Strikers seem to be a thing in intakes.....maybe retrain one?

Edited November 1, 2022 by Hootieleece
added words I forgot

[ToMexico!!]

12 minutes ago, Hootieleece said:

I was wondering if they were cousins, when you said they weren't brothers......

 

Also congratulations on your Promotion!

I'm sure you could probably use an extra CB and CM in your intake. Strikers seem to be a thing in intakes.....maybe retrain one?

Ah yes, I forgot about them, one of them has Senegal as a second nationality and the other is Guinean but maybe. 

Thanks, been tough going so far. 

I could use any decent sort of player really, the quality hasn't been too good at all but thats to be expected. 

[ToMexico!!]

Mid Season - Dec 2028

I would say break but it doesn't seem the players have gone on a break, yet but it is boxing day in game now. 

As expected, we've struggled but I'm ok with that, like I said I didn't expect us to stay up with our constraints but what I don't want to happen is the board sack me because we get relegated (if that happens) especially when they only want us to attempt to survive, I think by finishing 17th thats an attempt. If we were doing a Chemnitz I would expect to be sacked like they have with their manager already this season. 

What is funny though is that we've been offered job interviews at Bundelsiga side Holsten Kiel, who were 17th but must see the job I'm doing with Hallescher is potentially good enough for them. 

Anyway, our three wins have come against the other three clubs in table segment above, all of our four draws have come away from home against Karlsruher, Saarbrucken, Hansa Rostock and Heidenheim. We've conceded more goals than Chemnitz with 32 v their 31 but we've scored 20 goals compared to their seven. Those 20 scored are also more than seven other sides in the league. 

I will try and look at ways to bring a few more players in to help try and stay up/not get me sacked. 

[ToMexico!!]

A Win - Jan 2029

First game back from the break and we win an away game to Paderborn who were in 14th place. We remain in 17th but now level on points with 16th placed Kaiserslautern, we face them next. 

Edited November 1, 2022 by ToMexico!!

[ToMexico!!]

Repreive - Feb 2029

We've done enought to ward the board off and remain in the role as manager of this club. 

[ToMexico!!]

Youth Intake Review - April 2029

It remains an excellent intake/golden generation. 

Two elite talents which are both left wingers. Peter Nyirenda & Abdelkarim Laib

Full Intake | Map 1 | Map 2

Overall, this intake is rubbish. 

[ToMexico!!]

Poached Update - April 2029

The first player to be poached has come through at Saarbrucken. Heinz Arnold, he's eligible for the challenge having been poached but he also hails from the region. 

[ToMexico!!]

2028/29 Season Review

Form straight after the break picked up, the rest seemed to do some good as we went on a seven game unbeaten run through January and February, that saw us rise up the table to the heady heights of 14th before we had a tough run of fixtures which saw us not win until the last game of the season against Karlsruher. However, our good work at the beginning of the year saw us settle in 16th place and avoid automatic relegation. We received the below prize money. 

We got a chance to stay in the Bundesliga 2 via the relegation/promotion play-off against Braunschweig...

Unfortunately, we were unable to do so, losing both legs to be relegated back to 3.Liga. 

The seaosn was a struggle for many of the players who were 3. Liga quality at best, Leon Damer was the player of the season for us though, he scored 10 goals and made 10 assists and was the only player to finish with an above seven average rating. Julius Hoffmann and the on loan Abraham Coulibaly who claimed the Bundesliga 2 U19 Player of the Season both also notched 10 goals apiece. Beyond those three the next highest was four for two players. 

Our problem was stopping the goals, we don't play a defensive formation by any stretch, attack is the best form of defence in my eyes, certainly when the players you have are not good enough to be defensive. We scored 50 goals which was joint second highest in  the league but we conceded 68 goals which was the most in the league and only one more than the cut adrift Chemnitz. 

Before the prize money windfall, we were nearly £3m in the red. The board have rewarded us with a transfer budget of £765k which we need to spend as the quality has dropped considerably along with lack of depth and an ageing squad. Realsitically we need to sign a new CB, LB, CM, LW and at least one ST for the first team alone with adding depth. We also need to look at improving the training and youth facilities to get them back to their original state when we started the save. 

[Deisler26]

Oof, that's an ending for you

[ToMexico!!]

Pokal 1st Round Draw - July 2029

We managed to beat Augsburg once last season, we could have a chance of doing so again. 

[ToMexico!!]

2 minutes ago, Deisler26 said:

Oof, that's an ending for you

An expected ending in all honesty and I think we will be better for it. A season or two back in 3. Liga to give the younger players time to develop and then try our hand in the second tier again. Hopefully. 

[ToMexico!!]

Poached - August 2029

[Hootieleece]

If you could have kept those CB's you might have had enough to stay up!

 

[ToMexico!!]

Transfers - Summer 2029

We used the transfer budget we were given as wisely as we could to bring in some younger, high potential players. 

Four players joined as soon as the window opened. Louis Ebongue was set for release at RB Leipzig by the German giants in April but having ran out of scouting budget we didn't see until June, luckily no one else made an offer and we snapped up the young CB. We then plumped for Clement Udeh from Hamburg, the youngster was born in Bismark, I don't see him as either an out and out striker nor a right-winger but he offers cover for both positions. I then enquired about making the Coulibaly loan permenant, they came back wanting £500k but we managed to settle for £300k rising to £350k, a good deal for a player who scored 10 times last season in Bundesliga 2. Last to join on the 1st July was Yared Melaku, the young Ethiopian right back joins from non-league side Carl Zeiss Jena for £100k, he will work in rotation with Mboob. 

We then signed Oliver Michael on a free transfer, the young left back was released by Hoffenheim in the summer and when I looked at him before he was on over £3k per week there, we managed to sign him on £800 p/w. Towards the end of July we dropped £100k on Philipp Wutzke, another young player who we signed from Karlsruher, he will be back up for right-wing. Last to join was another player we had on loan last season in Morris Schroter, the 34 year old signs on a 1-year deal and offers cover for RB, RW and CM. 

[ToMexico!!]

6 minutes ago, Hootieleece said:

If you could have kept those CB's you might have had enough to stay up!

 

I'm not so sure, a combination of poor quality across the board, an attacking(ish) formation and reluctancy to alter the tactic was probably our downfall. We've signed some good young defenders this season which should grow with the club. 

[ToMexico!!]

Facilities Upgrade - Sept 2029

After an initial failure to convince the board to improve the training facilities, they agree second time round. 

[ToMexico!!]

International Call-Ups - October 2029

With some many newgens coming through with African second nationality, more and more players are getting called up to African squads. 

At the moment we're ok with the amount of call ups but it could become and problem in the future, whether games will get called off due to call ups at this level or not is yet to be seen. Below are our international players; 

• Yared Melaku - 5 caps for Ethiopia
• James Dzingai - 33 caps and 3 goals for Zimbabwe
• Clement Udeh - 16 Cap and 5 goals for Nigeria U20s
• Sainey Mboob - 2 Caps for Gambia
• Abiola Pototou - 19 Cap and 1 Goal for Benin
• Oyay Kenyi - 6 Caps and 2 Goals for South Sudan
• Ferdinand Freichmann - Capped for Egypt U23s

[ToMexico!!]

Youth Intake Preview - Dec 2029

Oh dear!

[ToMexico!!]

14 hours ago, ToMexico!! said:

Facilities Upgrade - Sept 2029

After an initial failure to convince the board to improve the training facilities, they agree second time round. 

Facility Upgrade Complete - Dec 2029

[ToMexico!!]

Mid-Season Break - Dec 2029

We reach the mid-season break back in the 3. Liga. 

The media expect us to finish way down in 15th place, whilst the board wanted us to avoid back-to-back relegations, the supporters were no better. We spent big in relative terms to bolster the squad with bodies, youth and potential. 

We find ourselves in 2nd place and on course for an immediate return to the Bundesliga 2 with the way things are going. 

Essen are a force but we're sticking with them and Wiesbaden are just behind. We've scored 52 goals in our 21 games so far which is a league high with Essen on 47 the next highest. We have however conceded 31 which is the 8th most in the league, we've even reigned the wing-backs in by changing them to full backs and making one of the CB's purely defend. Our goalkeepers aren't rated all to well, so thats a key position we need to try and improve on but options are limited. 

In terms of the players we do have, Hoffmann leads us for goals with 13 whilst Damer continues to provide for the team with 18 assists but also has nine goals. 

We're down to  in the bank which means a hefty loss so far this season but we have spent £400k on facility improvement and £550k on transfers. 

[ToMexico!!]

Youth Intake Review - April 2030

Awful intake. Not even going to show any of the players, dreadful.

Map 1 | Map 2

 

 

[ToMexico!!]

Poached + Update - April 2030

Another player poached by our rivals. 

Two more players came through at their new clubs this season. Demba Camara and Sebastian Epp are both poor quality players. 

[ToMexico!!]

2029/30 Season Review

Having sat 2nd at the mid-season break we were in good stead to bounce back to Bundesliga 2 at the first time of asking but we have a couple of teams hot on our coat-tails. We resumed after the break with back-to-back losses which gave Essen and Wiesbaden the chance to move away from us. Thankfully form picked up in February with four wins from four including over fierce rivals Magdeburg. Form continued in March but with three wins and a draw, a 3-3 draw against the chasing Kaiserslautern didn't harm our chances of promotion, a loss to Chemnitz did however. In May we had back-to-back losses again, to Essen which essentially crowned them Champions and then to Bayern II. On the final day of the season we needed Wehen Wiesbaden to lose, and we needed a 5 goal swing in the goal difference just to equal their record. 

Wehen lost 2-0 to Chemnitz and we beat Aachen 4-1 to be promoted on goals scored. We finish 2nd behind winners Essen whilst Wehen will be in the play-off against 

We lost to Augsburg on penalties in the Pokal, defender Leon Schmokel had scored in the 89th minute to take to extra time then penalties. 

Julius Hoffmann top scored with 20 goals, which was enough to secure him 4th in the leagues top scoring chart whilst Leon Damer scored 18 in the league to be 6th. Abraham Coulibaly scored 16 and Oyay Kenyi scored 11. Leon Damer made 23 assists, which was a league high, our next highest was seven. 

We've lost so much money this season, okay we spent £550k on new players and £400k on training facility improvements and circa £3m on wages but other than that it was £1.4m on tax, £915k on non-football costs and £650k on "other" which seem excessive. 

 

[ToMexico!!]

Born in Saxony-Anhalt - June 2030

Lets take another look at some of the players that hail from the region. 

The below players are out of reach to us...

• Manual Wintzheimer - out of contract next summer but wages are too high and ability too good for us. 
• Ibrahim Coulibaly - came through at Leipzig but he joined Stuttgart for £300k, wages are way too much for us now. 
• Oliver Ochieng - another who came through at Leipzig, moved to Stuttgart last season for £1.1m.
• Vianney Moundounga - tracked him whilst at Magdeburg but wasn't interested, Juventus signed him for £375k, he would be ideal for us now, we're desperate for a new GK. 
• Charles Gondwe - we could do with a new LW but wages again and we couldn't afford him. 
• Armando Sieb - not sure why his lower value is so low but we can't afford him simple as and he's too good. 

The below players are interested in joining but there's a stumbling block...

• Julian Gattau - I would have him in a heartbeat but wages are the problem, he wants a minimum of £13k per week. 
• Jamal Chahed - we had a big accepted at £150k but he doesn't like us, bloody rivalries. 

The below players are on my list to sign, if we can agree a deal with their current club...

• Andre Markert - can play CM but more suited in CAM which we don't use, if affordable he could be a rotation option for us.
• Bigger Kabangu - a physical CB, would be a starter, its just the cost as we can afford the wages. 

Below is a list of youth players who have come through at clubs in recent times who I would like to sign...

• Jean Dongmo - a GK, a Mercenary at 15 years old. I have made an enquiry.
• Stefan Schafer - not sure what his best position is, has a couple of good PPMs already
• Anas Hamzouai - I want him, I need him in my team, poor physicals but they'll improve with age. 
• Linus Scheimann - I've made an enquiry, if I can tempt him to the better team in SAxony-Anhalt then I will be willing to spend all my budget on him. 

 

We have £200k plus plenty of wiggle room in the wages to sign a player or two.

 

[ToMexico!!]

Poached - July 2030

A second poaching by Saarbrucken. 

[ToMexico!!]

Expectations - July 2030

The Media

The media expect us to finish rock bottom by some distance it seems. Our aim is 16th place again, so we need to be better than two other teams to get the chance to stay in the division via the play-offs. 

The Board

Attempt to stay in Bundesliga 2. 

The Supporters

They don't seem bothered, theres no requirement for the competition this season. 

[Cheez3y]

6 hours ago, ToMexico!! said:

Poached - July 2030

A second poaching by Saarbrucken. 

I feel like the poaching stuff got a slight improvement.

 

Its very very likely that youth players are gettin poached by bigger clubs.

Especially in Eastern Germany its pretty common.

[ToMexico!!]

32 minutes ago, Cheez3y said:

I feel like the poaching stuff got a slight improvement.

 

Its very very likely that youth players are gettin poached by bigger clubs.

Especially in Eastern Germany its pretty common.

The poaching is fine, one of my favourite things in the game, I know the game in the past (not seen it this FM yet) poaches players from other clubs "behind the scenes" I just wish we got a news item like when clubs poach from us. 

We're going to have players poached for the forseeable future, only one player has been poached by a big German club so far, so when the likes of Dortmund, Bayern and Leipzig start poaching we know we're doing the right things off the pitch. 

[ToMexico!!]

Transfers - Summer 2030

Two players joined and it was the two most likely to sign to be honest. 

Andre Markert and Jean Dongmo both from clubs in the same league as us. Andre has played a deeper role than he would probably like and not really excelled but its his debut season and we're not exactly the big fish in a small pond. Dongmo is 15 but he's training with the first team and playing for the U19s and has begun to improve.  

[ToMexico!!]

Youth Intake Preview - Dec 2030

I dont think this will be a great intake. 

[Hootieleece]

I really think you needed Kabangu.

[ToMexico!!]

10 hours ago, Hootieleece said:

I really think you needed Kabangu.

He moved in January to another club for a lot more money than we could afford which is a shame. 

[ToMexico!!]

Youth Intake Review - April 2031

We have elite talents but both DMs, thankfully it looks like they can play elsewhere. 

Alfred Balde has that poor personality/determination combination but will be signed nonetheless. Abdulsalam Al-Mabrouk is not an elite talent. Belarmino Campos is a better option as a talent, if he can improve some of those 8s/9s to double figures he could featue on the left for us. 

Full Intake | Map 1 | Map 2

 

 

 

[ToMexico!!]

Poached Update - April 2031

Dennis Quidzinski is the latest player to have come through at his new parent club after being poached in July 2028. 

I'm looking forward to seeing Nico Wolf come through with his better PA.