[FM23] Kosovo

[Jimbokav1971]

Rankings. Jun 2041. 

[Jimbokav1971]

On 15/09/2023 at 17:15, RoguPL said:

Looks like the only ones that ever improved are the teams that played in europe and probably have had a bit of cash. 

Interesting to see Malisheva sell the youth facilities and then establish them again. 
I wonder did the prize money increase now a bit since the reputation of the league got higher ? 
I noticed in my previous save in Poland that it is driven by league reputation I think. 

 

23 hours ago, Jimbokav1971 said:

Yes, Ballkani are significantly richer than everyone else, (other than ourselves), because they got to the Group Stage of the Europa league 3 times in the opening seasons of the save and that gave them an advantage over the competition. Drita are the next biggest, but they don't have anywhere near the money and of course the AI is ignoring the cheaper facility upgrades that we used to get to the tip of the pile. 

I'm guessing Malisheva had significant financial woes early in the save, but recovered quickly. 

There is no prize money for the SuperLeague, (I don't think), but there is some nominal prize money for the Kosovan Cup. The real money in Kosovo, (other than Europe), comes from TV revenue, (which is fluid), and yes I think league rep plays a part in that fluidity, but I don't think it's that alone. I did start to track it when I was in the SuperLeague at the start. 

In 2026 it was £564k. 
In 2031 it was £739k.
In 2032 it was £739k.
In 2040 it was £1.473M.

In my opinion we're largely responsible for the rise, (liked to our rise in rep due to our European performances), but by the same token Ballkani were responsible for the initial rise in the early years for the same reason. 

Jun 2041. 

Money isn't an issue for us now with £152M in the bank, but it's interesting to see that the SuperLeague TV money has risen from £564k in 2026 to £1.9M in 2041. 

[RoguPL]

18 minutes ago, Jimbokav1971 said:

 

Jun 2041. 

Money isn't an issue for us now with £152M in the bank, but it's interesting to see that the SuperLeague TV money has risen from £564k in 2026 to £1.9M in 2041. 

Definitely proves that it is reputation/ranking driven. I doubt though that the amounts would be the same as EPL if you were first with max reputation  

[Jimbokav1971]

Transfers out. Jun 2041. 

(34g) Pettersson (KOS)(SWE) is a decent young GK, but he was down the order for us so it made sense to send him off to another SuperLeague club.

(35m) Muca only made a handful of appearances for us so it made sense to sell him to Drita where he had been on loan previously to help them in Europe. 

(38c) Cela. wasn't good enough for us, but I'm also not sure that he's good enough for Drita. 

(33h) Jeaneret 6'0"(KOS)(SUI)* was down the order for us but will help Prishtina in Europe. 

(38o) Rexhepi (KOS)(ALB) was a strange signing for Ballkani. He's not good enough for them if they want to progress in Europe never mind about closing the gap to us. 

(31g) Hassoun (ISR) * was a really good player for us, but he was no longer even 2nd choice so it was time to move him on for some cash. 

(31j) Lange (GER) was 3rd top goal-scorer in the SuperLeague this season before leaving, and has hit 20 league goals in 3 different seasons but we have better options coming through up front so it made sense to move him on.

[Jimbokav1971]

23 minutes ago, RoguPL said:

Definitely proves that it is reputation/ranking driven. I doubt though that the amounts would be the same as EPL if you were first with max reputation  

Yeah, we knew it was fluid already. Now it's just a question of seeing how much we can increase it. 

[Jimbokav1971]

Squad Depth. Jun 2041. 

GK. 

1st Team. (32g) Kadriu 6'1"
Loan. (38b) Dibra 6'2" (Res) *
Loan. (36b) Shaholli 6'3" *
Loan. (35n) Balla
U19's. (40i) Shala 6'2"
U19's. (41p) Milić. (KOS)(MNE) 5'11"
Sell. (37p) Bull. (USA)(ENG)(Unamb)

DL. We've got a few good options here. 

1st Team. (33d) Jonuz WBL *
2nd Team. (31i) Dedja *
Loan. (37b) Bogdani (L.Det) 5'10" *
U19's. (41d) Hasani (Spirit) *
U19's. (40a) Bjørnerud (KOS)(NOR)WBL*
U19's. (41a) Gudjufi (F.Det) *
Loan. (39b) Osmani (Res) WBL
Sell. (38d) Asani (Pro)
U19's. (40k) Zogaj. 6'4"
Sell. (38m) Bühler. (KOS)(GER)

DR. We've got 1 good DR, 1 average DR and a hot prospect DR. 

1st Team. (35c) Koch (GER) *
2nd Team. (37a) Krasniqi 6'2"
U19's. (41b) Kraja *
Sell. (34e) Asllani WBR
U19's. (41m) Fernex. (KOS)(SUI)

DC. We've got enough DC's to play for the U19's. It's been a while since that happened. 

1st Team DLC. (35b) Pashaj * DC 6'2"
1st Team DC. (31f) Shabani 6'0"
1st Team DRC. (38e) Jaakkola (KOS)(FIN) *

2nd Team DLC. (34f) Ademi 6'0" (Perfect)
2nd Team DC. (33j) Sulejmani 6'5" (Det)
2nd Team DRC. (37c) Pretti (KOS)(SUI) 5'11"

Loan. (36g) Hismani 6'0"
Loan. (36k) Magny (KOS)(SUI)
U19's. (41n) Veliu 5'10"
U19's. (39f) Imeri (Unamb)
U19's. (40p) Kuqi. 6'3" DC
Sell. (38h) Emini. 5'10" 
U19's (41l) Dushi 5'10"

MC. 

1st Team. MLC. (34d) Xhafa (Res) *
1st Team. MRC. (34c) Hidri *

2nd Team. MLC. (34j) Memaj (F.Pro) *
2nd Team. MRC. (36a) Young (KOS)(ENG) *

U19's. (40c) Emini
U19's. (40g) Brodersen (KOS)(DEN)5'7"
Loan. (37e) Blliku (KOS)(ALB)
Loan. (38i) Zefi (Perfect)
Loan. (35i) Bala
Loan. (38j) Qose (Temp) MC
U19's. (39k) Strøm (KOS)(NOR)(Unamb)
U19's. (40f) Dani
U19's. (40n) Toma 5'8"
Loan. (37n) Terenzi (SMR)(ITA)
Sold. (36j) Kirkevold (KOS)(NOR) 6'0"
Sell. (37k) Adili. 
U19's. (41g) Berisha.

SC.

1st Team. SLC. (33o) Elezi
1st Team. SC. (33e) Shumeli
1st Team. SRC. (35a) Siano (ITA) *

2nd Team. SLC. (38a) Sinani *
2nd Team. SC. (33f) Fahrni (KOS)(SUI)
2nd Team. SRC. (40h) Qarri 6'3" *

U19's. (41c) Kastrati (F.Pro) *
(39a) Tahiri (F.Det)
Loan. (36h) Puto *
Loan. (34b) Pasha (KOS)(ALB) SC
Loan. (36l) Tozaj SLC
Loan. (36f) Qehajaj (Temp)
U19's. (40e) Idrizi
Loan. (35f) Sykaj *
Loan. (39d) Demiri. (Res) SRC
U19's. (41c) Kastrati (F.Pro) *
U19's. (41f) Gjonaj
Loan. (39m) Domi (Bal)
Loan. (39o) Ramaj (Fickle)
U19's. (40m) Debonnville (KOS)(SUI)
(38n) Gjoni.

[Jimbokav1971]

Saved Team selections. Jun 2041.

2041 1.

2041 2.

[Jimbokav1971]

Jul 2041. 

Champions League. 2 games, 2 wins, 2 clean sheets and 8 goals scored. 

Goal-scoring GK's. Good to see (32g) Kadriu 6'1" off the mark with his 1st goal and assist of the season already. 

Loans. For the last few seasons I have been slow in getting our loan players out, and this means that they have often, (and by often I mean almost always), missed the 1st round of the European games, and there hasn't usually been a 2nd round of European games because they lose the 1st tie. So this season I just renewed the loans to the top 4 domestic clubs so that they would be available and registered from the start. Let's see how that impacts their results.... 

 

Finances. The reason I mention this transfer isn't because of the amount, (it's only £300,000 + £27,470 + £110,000 in installments = £437k), but because this is his 3rd move from leaving us and we're still getting cash from him. 

1. We sold him to AC Milan and we got £2.5M cash for him + we loaned him back for 1.5 seasons, (I think). 

2. AC Milan sold him to Ajax for £4M and we got 50% of that deal (£2M). 

3. Ajax have just sold him to Lazio and we get 50% of what AC Milan got for him, (they had a 20% profit clause), so we get another £437k. This really is the transfer that keeps on giving. 

[Jimbokav1971]

Aug 2041. 

SuperLeague. We've won both our games without conceding, but we're not playing well. 

Champions League. Our form has been really poor in the Champions League. 0 clean sheets from 4 games and we needed pens to get past Czech side Slovan Liberec.

Goal-scoring GK's. 2 more goals this month, (both in the league). 

Finances. 

[Jimbokav1971]

Other Kosovan clubs in Europe. Sep 2041. 

For the last few years, each of the 3 other Kosovan clubs have crashed out pretty early in Europe. 

As our performances drive our National coefficient though, they should get easier ties over time. 

Ballkani were last in the Group stage of the Europa Conference back in 2033/34. You have to go back 5 years to the last time they won a European tie, (beating Haverfordwest (Wales) 6-0 on aggregate), and they have won only 2 games since then as they lose in the Europa League and then drop into the Europa Conference and lose there too. 

This season they beat St Gallen of Switzerland on pens before doing really well but still losing against Maribor of Slovenia. They do at least qualify for the Group Stages of the Europa Conference. 

They currently have 7 of our Academy products at the club, (3 on loan who are all in the NT squad), and 4 of them are playing a significant role in the squad. 

Drita have never been to a Group Stage in Europe and you again have to go back 5 years to the last time they won a European tie.  

This season they did amazingly well to beat Shakhtar of Ukraine and then were really unlucky to lose to Honved of Hungary on pens. That's a really good qualifying campaign even if they missed out. 

They have 6 of our Academy players at the club, (3 of them on loan), and 1 is in the NT squad and 3 more in the U21's. 5 of the 6 have played significant roles so far.

Prishtina were really unlucky 4 seasons ago in that they won 2 ties in Europa Conference qualifying, (Pontypridd of Wales and Aqtóbe of Kazakhstan), but then came up against Empoli of Serie A in the last qualifying game. 

This season they had tough opposition in the form of OH Leuven of Belgium, but did reasonably well. 

They have 6 of our Academy products at the club, (2 of them on loan who are both in the U21 (KOS) squad). They've all played a significant role so far. 

Summary. Obviously it's great that Ballkani got to the Group Stage in Europe for the 1st time in a while, and it's also good that while the other 2 sides didn't, their performances were at least good. Sending the players on loan obviously helped, but significantly sending them back for a 2nd season, (so that they were there right at the start of the season for these early qualifiers was key). That's obviously something I'm keen to do next season where possible, but I'm also not overly keen on sending a player out on loan to the same club for 3 consecutive seasons, so it's something I will have to think on. All in all though, even if Ballkani lose all their Group Stage games, our domestic rivals have managed 3 wins and a draw between them this season, (which is much better than usual). 

Edited September 18, 2023 by Jimbokav1971

[Jimbokav1971]

Sep 2041. 

SuperLeague. I still don't think we're playing particularly well, and clubs have started to kick the hell out of us. I think we've had 4 opposition red cards already this season. We conceded just 1 goal this month and although that does irk me, it wa a hell of a goal so I can't really complain. 

Champions League. Spurs weren't good in this match, but they were still better than us, but (33e) Shumeli came on for the last 15 mins and scored 2 goals in injury time to win us the game. To be completely fair we should have scored another in injury time too. 

Goal-scoring GK's. 2 goals and an assist this month. 

Finances. 

Edited September 18, 2023 by Jimbokav1971

[Jimbokav1971]

National Team production. Oct 2041. 

15 of the 23 man (KOS) Main NT squad are products of our Academy and none of them are older than 26 years old. 

Of the other 8, some are established names that you have seen before and others are new. 

Berisha (KOS) has had a good career and has been an important player for (KOS) over the years, but his lack of physicality is a problem and I think his days in the NT are numbered. (28a) Mema * of Ballkani, (who is only 28), should especially feel unlucky to have missed out with his inclusion. 

Hismani (KOS) 6'1" is a player we've played against regularly in the last few years, and to be honest I didn't realise he was this good. He's a very good GK to be still playing in Kosovo. His contract is due to expire at the end of this season and I expect him to move abroad. 

Hoxha (KOS)(SUI) came through the Academy in Basel, Switzerland and although I can't see much of him, must be at least decent to get in ahead of some of the players who have missed out in central midfield. I'm going to scout him so I can see him properly. 

Kobel (KOS)(SUI) isn't a player I have heard of before, but he typifies the Ballkani transfer strategy. Pay small amounts of cash to hoover up any young Kosovan talent and reap the rewards as they grow. 

Muqiqi (KOS)(SUI) * 5'11" is a phenomenal player for (KOS) and has had a great career and I was about to say that he wold surely be the 1st Kosovan to reach 100 Caps for his Country, until I checked the records...  It would appear that he still has some way to go. Muric is of course the 6'6" GK that plays for Burnley in real life. 

Neugebauer (KOS)(GER) is very lucky to have been called up ahead of his club teammate (28a) Mema *, but maybe the Kosovan Manager have a specific DM role in mind for him. 

Spahiu (KOS) was a good player in his day and is another good example of the Ballkani transfer strategy. 

Zejnullahu (KOS)(NED) is being used as an AP in the AMR slot for the NT. It's not where I would play him. 

There's a fair smattering of quality to go with that produced by our Academy, and I honestly think that we should be getting better results in the NT than we have seen in recent seasons. 

It's all well and good smashing the likes of Liechtenstein, (and I expect us to hammer them next week when we play them for a 2nd time), but to go to Germany and win a point, but then lose twice to Czech is criminal. 

Despite that, they're well capable of winning each of their last 3 games

The 5 best 2nd placed teams also qualify for the World Cup, and you can see where Switzerland currently are. I'm not sure whether 3 wins would be enough for Kosovo to qualify for the World Cup because only results against the top 5 teams are counted, (because some leagues only have 5 teams), and so our results against Liechtenstein won't be included. 

I'm obviously really keen for Sermaxhaj (KOS) NT Manager to be sacked/resign, and failing that I would even take the U19/U21 jobs just to get my foot in the door. 

[Jimbokav1971]

Kosovo U21's. Oct 2041.

The U21's are doing better than the Senior NT. They're unbeaten in this EURO's qualifying campaign, after qualifying for the previous Finals earlier this season. You can see by the goal-scorers that they're heavily dependent on our Academy players. 

20 players in the U21 squad are products of our Academy. 

There are just 3 players in the U21's who are not a product of our Academy. 

[Jimbokav1971]

Ballon d'Or winner. Oct 2041. 

Rashica (KOS)(BEL) * isn't a product of our Academy, and no longer plays for (KOS), but he was born in Kosovo and before he started playing for Belgium, he represented Kosovo 8 times, scoring 10 goals. He would have been phenomenal had he stayed with Kosovo rather than opting for Belgium. 

[Jimbokav1971]

Oct 2041. 

SuperLeague. We're winning, but we're really not playing well. 

Champions League. We had a 1st half red card against Barca with the score at 1-1 so who knows what might have happened without that. 

Goal-scoring GK's. Just 1 penalty scored this month, but also 1 missed. 

Finances. 

[Jimbokav1971]

Nov 2041. 

SuperLeague. 2 games, 2 wins, 4 goals, 6 points and 0 conceded sounds great, but we're really not playing that well. I know that sounds silly, but we're really not. We've suffered injury after injury so far this season. There is always someone missing, someone else recovering from injury and someone else not fully fit. It feels a bit of a slog at the moment for some reason. 

Champions League. The Napoli game could have gone either way and it went there way. This is what I mean by us not playing well. 

Kosovan Cup. There 2nd Team played in both these games, but Vushtrria are a yo-yo club, (currently in the First League), so it's not as big a deal as it might be. The last few seasons we were sticking 10+ goals on SuperLeague sides. We're not doing that at the moment. 

Goal-scoring GK's. 0 goals scored and 2 more misses from the spot. Ths typifies the general feeling at the club right now. 

Finances. 

[Jimbokav1971]

Dec 2041. 

SuperLeague. 5 games, 5 wins, 15 points, 25 goals scored & 1 conceded. (Still annoyed about the 1 conceded though). 

ChampionsLeague. We led 2-1 on 71 mins, but were well beaten in the end. 

Goal-scoring GK's. 2 goals scored this month.

Finances. 

[Jimbokav1971]

Jan 2042. 

Champions League. The target was to qualify for the Playoffs, and we did that with a game to spare. 

The Nationalities of clubs finishing above us are as follows. 

FRA x1 (with a 2nd also qualifying for the Playoffs).
ITA x 4
ENG x5 (with a 6th also qualifying for the Playoffs). 
GER x2
ESP x4

There are also clubs with the following Nationalities who finished below us but still qualified for the Playoffs. 

POR x1
NED x2
DEN x1
GRE x1
ENG x1 (I don't understand how there are 6 English clubs playing in the Champions League). 
FRA x1

They start off with 4 places, and then they get another 1 if an ENG club wins the Champions League last season, but then they also get another 1 on top of that if an ENglish club also wins the Europa League. 

Champions League winners. An ENglish club didn't win the Champions League last season, (so how have they got 6 English clubs in the Champions League?) 

Europa League Winners. An English club did win the Europa League last season, so it should be 4 +1. 

Europa Conference winners. 

Goal-scoring GK's. Another missed penalty, (to make it 5 in total this season). 

Finances. 

[Muttley84]

56 minutes ago, Jimbokav1971 said:

They start off with 4 places, and then they get another 1 if an ENG club wins the Champions League last season, but then they also get another 1 on top of that if an ENglish club also wins the Europa League. 

Nope. In real life from 24/25 is going to be like this:

- Top 4 get CL places

- If someone else wins CL or EL they get another place (happened in your save with EL winner - 5th club).

Then, UEFA gives 2 extra CL (one each) places to the nations who had the best coefficient in the previous season. Most lilely England had one of the best 2 coefficients in the previous season and they got another club (6th).

[Jimbokav1971]

4 hours ago, Muttley84 said:

Nope. In real life from 24/25 is going to be like this:

- Top 4 get CL places

- If someone else wins CL or EL they get another place (happened in your save with EL winner - 5th club).

Then, UEFA gives 2 extra CL (one each) places to the nations who had the best coefficient in the previous season. Most lilely England had one of the best 2 coefficients in the previous season and they got another club (6th).

Oh yeah. Of course.  I've seen that message but not paid any attention to it. 

So it's 4 (as normal), +1 (coefficient), +1 Europa League = 6, meaning that if and English side also won the Champions league then it could in theory be 7 entrants. 

[Muttley84]

12 minutes ago, Jimbokav1971 said:

English side also won the Champions league then it could in theory be 7 entrants.

Slim chances that both club to win Champions League and Europa League are not finishing in the first 5 places in the league. 

[Jimbokav1971]

3 minutes ago, Muttley84 said:

Slim chances that both club to win Champions League and Europa League are not finishing in the first 5 places in the league. 

Yeah, that's a fair point I suppose, but you never know. Remember that I only have the Kosovo leagues loaded, but the top 3 simulated of the Premier league over the course of the save looks like this. 

So the teams who have finished 1st, 2nd & 3rd are as follows. 

Man City
Arsenal
Liverpool
Chelsea
Man Utd

So just those 5 that we will call the "Big 5" and that seems pretty reasonable even if you might have expected Spurs, Newcastle, Brighton to have made some sort of impact. 

There are also no English clubs outside these 5 who have made the Champions League Final during the save. 

Although the Europa League has been won on 8 occasions during the save by English clubs outside the top 5. (Newcastle x5, Spurs & leicester x2), although non "Big 5" English clubs have made 15 appearances in the Final. So at the very least it seems common that the Europa League is being won by a Team who isn't a "Big 5" English club, and then all we need is the winner of the Champions League to fall a little short on the league. 

For example... when Arsenal won the Champions League in 2033/34, they didn't finish in the Top 3 in the Premier League that season, (so certainly possible), although it should be added that there was no English club in the Final of the Europa League that season, (so you're probably right). 

[Jimbokav1971]

Feb 2042. 

SuperLeague. As good as we were against Dukagjini Klinë, we were really poor against Drita and 2-1 down after an hour I thought we were going to lose never mind about win. 

Champions League. The 1st leg was closer than the scoreline suggests, but we were well beaten in the 2nd leg and they deservedly went through. 

Goal-scoring GK's. 2 penalties scored, (1 missed), with 2 assists too. 

Finances. 

[Jimbokav1971]

Youth Day. Mar 2042. 

• We have a 5.0 PA player. 
• Our 5.0 PA player is a centre-half. 
• (42a) Krasniqi 5'10" and (42f) Krasniqi (KOS)(ALB) are not related to eachother or our 2nd choice DR (37a) Krasniqi 6'2". 
• (42b) Shabani is not related to (31f) Shabani 6'0". 
• We have a few nice 2nd Nationalities. 
• We don't have any different Nationalities. 
• We have 4 players with single digit (Det). 

These are the 4 players with poor (Det) and I will be releasing them all immediately. It's not just the Low Det that is an issue with these players. 2 of them are also (Unamb) and a 3rd is (Temp).

(42j) Hatia. (L.Det) 6'0" is a centre-half and I really don't want to release him, but (L.Det) is (L.Det) and I want to stick with that. 
(42l) Hausmann. (KOS)(GER) is a striker, (and we have loads of them), but he's also pretty good striker, and I'm surprised to see that he's only rated as a "First League" standard player. The way I see it though, even if we release him, someone else can pick him up and if he turns out to be better than his PA rating suggests, then we can always re-sign him at a later date. 

These are the players I'm signing from the intake. 

[Edit] When you have already decided to release (42l) Hausmann. (KOS)(GER) and he goes and scores 2 goals as the Youth candidates beat our U19's. 

Edited September 19, 2023 by Jimbokav1971

[Jimbokav1971]

Mar 2042. 

[Jimbokav1971]

Kosovo International job. Mar 2042.

Even if we ignore the 7-0 against Luxembourg & the 9-0 against Liechtenstein, the 1-1 draw away to Germany and the 3-1 win at home to Switzerland were really good results. The problem is simply that they weren't consistent enough and lost twice to Czech. 

Finishing 4th in the Group is probably where they were expected to finish, but after taking a point off Germany in Germany I think they missed a big opportunity. 

I had expected that this would mean a change of management, but alas.... no such luck. 

There is no change in any of the 3 (KOS) National Teams. 

[Jimbokav1971]

Mar 2042. 

SuperLeague. The loss against Drita was no surprise as it had been coming for a while. Last month we almost lost to Drita when 2-1 down before coming back to win 3-2, and twice this month we scraped a 1-0 win even though we were dominant in the games themselves. Long gone are the times when we used to smash double-figure goals past domestic opposition regularly. I appreciate that we've sold/released quite a few good players over the last few years and I can see that the likes of Ballkani, Drita & Prishtina have improved as a result, (as can be evidenced by the improvement in the their European results.

Kosovan Cup. Again, this is a game that in recent seasons we would have won by a far more comfortable scoreline. 

Goal-scoring GK's. 2 penalties scored and 1 missed this month. 

Finances. 

[Jimbokav1971]

11 hours ago, Muttley84 said:

Nope. In real life from 24/25 is going to be like this:

- Top 4 get CL places

- If someone else wins CL or EL they get another place (happened in your save with EL winner - 5th club).

Then, UEFA gives 2 extra CL (one each) places to the nations who had the best coefficient in the previous season. Most lilely England had one of the best 2 coefficients in the previous season and they got another club (6th).

This is the message that I have been ignoring. 

[Jimbokav1971]

Apr 2042. 

SuperLeague. 5 games, 5 wins, 5 clean sheets and 25 goals scored. I actually blooded a few fringe players this month and it seemed to work a treat. We were becoming fatigued and by giving players a whole week off without having to even sit on the bench seemed to pay dividends for all. 

Kosovan Cup. Easy. 

U19's. 

Goal-scoring GK's. 4 goals and 1 assist this month. 

Finances. 

Edited September 19, 2023 by Jimbokav1971

[Jimbokav1971]

May 2042. 

SuperLeague. 

Kosovan Cup. 

U19's. 

Goal-scoring GK's.

Finances. 

Edited September 20, 2023 by Jimbokav1971

[Jimbokav1971]

End of Season. Jun 2042.

Squad by Appearances. 

(32g) Kadriu 6'1" might have made 58 appearances, but GK's don't count and I'm happy that nobody made more than 34 starts. I think I have mentioned that I think the tipping point, (injury), is about 35+ starts, and (form), is about 30+ starts. Obviously the number of starts can vary depending on the sub appearances, and with players such as (33e) Shumeli and (35c) Koch (GER) * each making (21) sub appearances on top of their 30+ starts, I think that too many for consistent form and right on the edge of the injury/fatigue tipping point*. 

* Please note that this is opinion rather than fact. 

Squad by Goals. I'm not happy about the number of goals we scored this season. (No, I'm not joking). Last season we scored considerably more goals and I need to have a re-think about who will play where and who will leave the club in forward areas. 

Squad by Assists. I think our forward players failed to deliver in terms of assists. Obviously part of this is because they are scoring themselves, but especially in the wide forward positions I think they can do better. (33o) Elezi (15) is the 1st choice SLC, (35a) Siano (ITA) * (14) is the 1st choice SRC, (but his goals scored are good), (33e) Shumeli (9) is the 1st choice SC, (but his goals scored are good) and then if you go to the 2nd choice strikers..... (40h) Qarri 6'3" * has 7, (38a) Sinani * has 6 & (33f) Fahrni (KOS)(SUI) only has 4.

I have some decisions to make before the start of next season I think....

Squad by Avg Rating. 

[Jimbokav1971]

Records. Jun 2042. 

[Jimbokav1971]

Awards. Jun 2042. 

[Jimbokav1971]

Facilities. Jun 2042. 

I actually don't know if a capacity of 6,250 is big enough to play in the Champions League at. 

It's not.  How silly is that?  

Don't you just make it a minimum of 8k capacity so that you don't have to rent another stadium for the Champions League games? On the other hand, the rental fee for the Champions League stadium is only £24k per year, and with their capacity of 13.5k the money we make from the additional 5,500 seats is significant. 

[Jimbokav1971]

Squad Depth. Jun 2042. 

GK. This is a really strong area of the squad. As well as the best Kosovan GK in the game in (32g) Kadriu 6'1", we have 2 or even 3 decent backup GK's and in (38b) Dibra 6'2" (Res) * a player with PA greater than the CA of our best current GK. 

1st Team. (32g) Kadriu 6'1"
Loan. (38b) Dibra 6'2" (Res) *
Loan. (36b) Shaholli 6'3" *
U19's. (40i) Shala 6'2"
Loan. (35n) Balla
U19's. (42d) Rexhepi 6'1" (Temp)
U19's. (41p) Milić. (KOS)(MNE) 5'11"
Release. (37p) Bull. (USA)(ENG)(Unamb)

DL. This is probably the area of the squad where we have the most depth, (other than striker), but of course there are 3 strikers on the pitch at any one time and only 1 DL so proportionally it has the most depth. 

1st Team. (33d) Jonuz WBL *
2nd Team. (31i) Dedja *
Loan. (37b) Bogdani (L.Det) 5'10" *
Loan. (41d) Hasani (Spirit) 5'7" *
Loan. (40a) Bjørnerud (KOS)(NOR)WBL*
U19's. (41a) Gudjufi (F.Det) *
Loan. (39b) Osmani (Res) WBL
U19's. (40k) Zogaj. 6'4"
U19's. (42k) Sopi.
Release. (38m) Bühler. (KOS)(GER) SELL

DR. 

1st Team. (35c) Koch (GER) *
2nd Team. (37a) Krasniqi 6'2"
U19's. (41b) Kraja *
U19's. (42f) Krasniqi. (KOS)(ALB)
U19's. (41m) Fernex. (KOS)(SUI)

DC's. Because we play 3 centre-backs, (so we need 6 to rotate even without injuries and suspensions), and a minimum of 3 more in the U19's, it looks we have loads of players here, but we really don't actually. 

1st Team. DLC. (35b) Pashaj * DC 6'2"
1st Team. DC. (31f) Shabani 6'0"
1st Team. DRC. (38e) Jaakkola (KOS)(FIN) *

2nd Team. DLC. (34f) Ademi 6'0" (Perfect)
2nd Team. DC. (42a) Krasniqi 5'10"
2nd Team. DRC. (37c) Pretti (KOS)(SUI) 5'11"

Loan. (36g) Hismani 6'0"
loan. (36k) Magny (KOS)(SUI)
Sell. (33j) Sulejmani 6'5" (Det) He wants to leave on a free in 12 months time so I either sell him now or have an expensive backup for a season, (which is actually an option). 
U19's. (41n) Veliu 5'10" (Temp)
U19's. (40p) Kuqi. 6'3" DC
Release. (38h) Emini. 5'10" SELL
U19's. (41l) Dushi. 5'10"
 

MC. 

1st Team. MLC. (34d) Xhafa (Res) *
1st Team. MRC. (36a) Young (KOS)(ENG) *

2nd Team. MLC. (34j) Memaj (F.Pro) *
2nd Team. MRC. (34c) Hidri *

U19's. (42h) Boll (KOS)(GER)
U19's. (42c) Doda
Loan. (40g) Brodersen (KOS)(DEN)5'7"
Loan. (37e) Blliku (KOS)(ALB)
Loan. (38i) Zefi (Perfect)
Sell. (35i) Bala 
U19's. (40f) Dani
U19's. (40n) Toma 5'8"
Sell. (37n) Terenzi (SMR)(ITA)
Sell. (39d) Demiri. (Res)
Release. (37k) Adili.
U19's. (42g) Nicholls. (KOS)(USA)
U19's. (41g) Berisha.
U19's. (42m) Karaj
U19's. (42p) Ndoja

SC.

1st Team. SLC. (38a) Sinani *
1st Team. SC. (33e) Shumeli
1st Team. SRC. (35a) Siano (ITA) *

2nd Team. SLC. (36h) Puto *
2nd Team. SC. (40h) Qarri 6'3" *
2nd Team. SRC. (35f) Sykaj *

U19's. (41c) Kastrati (F.Pro) *
Sell. (36f) Qehajaj. (Temp)
Loan. (40e) Idrizi
U19's. (42b) Shabani
Sell. (33f) Fahrni (KOS)(SUI)
Loan. (39a) Tahiri (F.Det)
Sell. (33o) Elezi
U19's. (40m) Debonnville (KOS)(SUI)
Loan. (39o) Ramaj (Fickle)
U19's. (41f) Gjonaj
Sell. (34b) Pasha (KOS)(ALB) SC
Loan. (39m) Domi (Bal)
Release. (32f) Mehmeti. SELL
Sell. (36l) Tozaj SLC SELL
U19's. (42e) Adili (KOS)(ALB)
U19's. (41k) Doda
Release. (38p) Halili. (Unamb) SELL
Release. (38n) Gjoni. SELL
U19's. (42n) Metani
Sell. (39g) Inversin.(KOS)(SUI)F.Pro

[Jimbokav1971]

Rankings. Jun 2042. 

[Jimbokav1971]

Reputation. Jun 2042. 

I was hoping that our Rep might have popped to Continental, but no such luck. I don't even have an idea of what sort of level the pop happens, so I guess I will just have to keep waiting.

5,851 Shkëndija Hajvali.
4,456 Ballkani. 
3,127 Trepça '89.
2,026 Liria.
846 KEK-u.

[Jimbokav1971]

TV Revenue. Jun 2042. 

[Jimbokav1971]

Aug 2042. 

SuperLeague. We have only conceded 10 league goals in each of the last 2 seasons, so to concede 3 in 1 game in the 1st month of this season is ridiculous, (even if Prishtina do have 8 of our Academy products on their books). That's the problem with selling players to domestic rivals. On the 1 hand it improves the quality of the other Kosovan clubs for when they play in Europe. On the other hand it improves the quality of the other Kosovan clubs for when they play against us. 

* To be clear here, I'm not bothered in the slightest about losing to Prishtina, (just so long as we still do the double). 

Champions League. 

Goal-scoring GK's. 1 pen scored and 1 pen not scored this month, (+1 assist). 

Finances. 

[Jimbokav1971]

Kosovan Clubs in Europe. Oct 2042.

Ballkani. By progressing 2 rounds, even though they lost to Servette (SUI) they still get European Group Stage football. 

Drita. Starting in the 2nd Round is good, but when this is the Europa Conference rather than the Europa League it means that there is nowhere to drop into when they lose. 

Prishtina. I had hoped for better performances from them, but Croatian opposition is a tough ask. 

[Jimbokav1971]

Sep 2042.

SuperLeague. Prishtina might be top, but they have already dropped 11 points, so they are not a threat at all. Drita have already dropped 10 points and Ballkani the best placed at 7 points. Our single loss and 3 dropped points doesn't seem quite so bad in comparison. 

Champions League. This was a tight game that could have gone either way, but it went their way. 

Goal-scoring GK's. 1 goal this month. 

Finances. 

[Jimbokav1971]

Oct 2042. 

Superleague. We're picking up little niggles and knocks at the moment and it's really disrupting things. I'm having to mix and match the 1st Team or the 2nd Team, (or play very young U19 players), and it's taking it's toll. 

Champions League. The 2nd Team are playing in Europe, but after selling some good players in the Summer window, (actually that reminds me that I haven't updated the thread with that yet), so you would expect our 2nd team to be weaker than previous seasons, (especially during the 1st half of the season), as we look to the longer-term. 

Goal-scoring GK's. 2 goals this month. 

Finances. 

[Jimbokav1971]

Transfers. Nov 2042. 

I've already shown you the transfers from last season up to January, but there are more players that left this Summer, but who's deals were included in the 2041/42 season.

(33j) Sulejmani 6'5" (Det) wasn't 1st choice and had 12 months on his contract. While we don't need the money and we could have kept him and then let him leave on a free, I think it made more sense to bring in some cash for him and replace him with a young starlet in the 2nd team, even though it makes us poorer in the short-term. 

(40p) Kuqi. 6'3" DC is a bit of a strange one in that it didn't appear as if his PA was great, but Ballkani paid money for him and he has a good scout report now he's left so perhaps I've made a mistake here. 

(35i) Bala has been good for us and it seems weird to sell International players, but he's nowhere near our 1st Team or 2nd Team but he's still decent so it made sense to send him on to another Kosovan club to improve him in Europe. (Yes of course he was pivotal when Prishtina beat us at the start of the season). 

(33f) Fahrni (KOS)(SUI) might seem a strange one to let leave, but I'm happy with the decision. Although he was our starting 2nd Team SC, we have players who I think will progress to be better than him and while he was scoring lots of goals, he was also clogging up the pathway to the 1st Team. So we sent him on his way with our blessing. 

(39a) Tahiri (F.Det) leaving might have been a mistake. His reports suggested that his PA wasn't great and while he would be good, he would never be amazing. I look at the upper end of his valuation and think the reports might have been wrong. 

(40m) Debonnville (KOS)(SUI) was down the pecking order behind lots of good strikers so I moved him on for a little cash. It will be interesting to see how he develops and if Ballkani can do anything with him. 

There have also been quite a few players who have left on free transfers/been released, but I won't bother showing you their profiles. 

[Jimbokav1971]

Nov 2042. 

SuperLeague. We might have lost already this season in the league, but we're already ahead of 2nd and 3rd in the league despite having 4 games in hand on each of them. Our only real challengers are Ballkani back in 4th how are 7 points back, but whom we don't have a game in hand on. 

Champions League. The 2nd Team are getting battered, but it's all good experience..... Right? 

Kosovan Cup. Having a players score 6 goals in a match is not a record for us I'm afraid. (35a) Siano (ITA) * becomes at least the 3rd player to score 6 in 1 match. 

Goal-scoring GK's. 2 goals scored, 2 assists and 1 missed pen. 

Finances. 

[Jimbokav1971]

Dec 2042. 

SuperLeague. We were pretty good this month. A bit peeved to concede 2 goals in the league, but we were really good going forward and are now 13 points clear at the top at the half-way stage of the season. 

Champions League. We're really just here for the experience and the cash this season. 

Kosovan Cup. 

Goal-scoring GK's. 6 goals scored this month, but 1 pen also missed. 

 

Finances. 

[Jimbokav1971]

Jan 2043.

Champions League. Well that's Europa over with for a few months. 

Goal-scoring GK's. Just 1 assist this month. 

Finances. 

[Jimbokav1971]

Feb 2043. 

SuperLeague. Is it wrong to score 29 goals in a month but be annoyed at conceding 1?  

Yes that is a 15-0 scoreline in a league game and no there were no sendings off. 
Yes that is 8 goals scored by a striker, (and we also scored a pen so it could have been 9). 

Records. A lot of the record I post are no huge deal, (other than the GK records of course), but these records are pretty decent. 

I'll be honest with you, I was half expecting this result, and it was the reason I looked at what the record for goals in a game was recently. Dardania Qyshk are only Semi-Pro and how they got promoted from the First Division last season I will never know, (although we did too, twice!!!), but I think there are 5 Pro clubs playing at the 2nd tier level this season, so they did really well to get promoted ahead of many of them. We have a really good record against them and stuck 10 on them earlier this season, on top of sticking 14 past them a few years ago in the Cup.  

Goal-scoring GK's. 3 goals scored this month. 

Finances. 

[Jimbokav1971]

Kosovo National Team. Mar 2043. 

Sermaxhaj (KOS) NT Manager is still in place at the head of the National Team, (but I'm not really sure how). 
The U19's Manager has been changed and although I'm annoyed that I didn't see the message, (because I would have applied for the job), I'm also relieved because I don't want the U19's job. I want the Main job. 

Kosovo Main Team. I suppose I should be happy that we've only lost 1 game in our European League Group, but I actually think we should be doing better and even if we ultimately might have still finished behind Austria in the league, the drawn games against Bulgaria (x2) and Ireland were results where we should have expected to do better. 

Kosovo U21's. The U21's did really well to qualify for next season's U21 EURO's, even if they had to do so via the Playoffs against Bosnia & Herz. 

Kosovo U19's. I don't really understand how the EURO U19 Qualification system works.  

It appears as if there are 2 different League phases. (which seems a bit pointless). 

You play the 4th Round before you play the 3rd Round? 

Does anyone know how this qualifying works? 

[Muttley84]

9 minutes ago, Jimbokav1971 said:

Does anyone know how this qualifying works?

The 3rd and 4th round are name glitches.. but it actually works in two stages:

- Qualifying Round: the team with the highest seeding coefficient receives a bye, the remaining teams are drawn in 13 groups. Each group is played in single round-robin format at one of the teams selected as hosts. The 13 group winners, 13 runners-up, and the third placed team with the best record against the first and second-placed teams in their group advance to the elite round.

- Elite Round: The 28 teams are drawn into seven groups of four teams. Each group is played in single round-robin format at one of the teams selected as hosts after the draw. The seven group winners qualify for the final tournament.

[Jimbokav1971]

1 hour ago, Muttley84 said:

The 3rd and 4th round are name glitches.. but it actually works in two stages:

- Qualifying Round: the team with the highest seeding coefficient receives a bye, the remaining teams are drawn in 13 groups. Each group is played in single round-robin format at one of the teams selected as hosts. The 13 group winners, 13 runners-up, and the third placed team with the best record against the first and second-placed teams in their group advance to the elite round.

- Elite Round: The 28 teams are drawn into seven groups of four teams. Each group is played in single round-robin format at one of the teams selected as hosts after the draw. The seven group winners qualify for the final tournament.

Thank you. 

Still seems to be far more complicated than it needs to be.