[FM22] Let the Kids Play - Youth Only Chojniczanka Chojnice (Poland)

[DomD]

My 10 season journeyman save is starting to feel a bit stale, so I wanted to try something different. I was always curious about a youth only save, so I'm going to give it a test run in FM22, at least until FM24 comes out. Decided to go with a club in Poland and I'm following the rules of the youth only challenges. So I created a stand in manager to holiday through the first season and see who was promoted into the 1. Liga (2nd tier). The teams I could choose from were, Stal Rzeszow, Chojniczanka Chojnice, and Garbarnia Krakow. Since Chojnice didn't have a manager, I decided to give them a go.

Season 1 - 2022/23 - Chojniczanka Chojnice - 1. Liga (Poland)

Club and Manager Intro

The club is located in Chojnice, a small town in Northern Poland.

In FM terms, the club is almost a blank slate. There was also no staff, so I had to scramble to hire as many as I could before the season stared. I placed adds for every position that the board allowed (except for the recruitment team). Early on in pre-season, I even had to take charge of the 2nd team games.

My first HOYD:

Squad:

One thing that I didn't know about taking on a previously unavailable team is that you had to wait until the spring for your first youth intake. So for now I just have the 'originals' to work with. Although there are a few youngsters in that group that I hope will serve the club for a long time to come.

We also have some veterans that we will probably rely on for a few more seasons.

Obviously I'm starting as an inexperienced manager.

[DomD]

Forgot this info in my first post. The board want us to finish in mid table, but the odds makers have us in 16th, and the media in 15th. Seems like the board are being a bit unrealistic. This test run might not last too long...

[DomD]

Our facilities:

[Hanys]

5 years ago Chojniczanka almost made it to Ekstraklasa, they were only two points short to Zagłębie Sosnowiec on 2nd spot. They fell terribly since then. Good luck!

 

If anyone wonders, it's pronounced somewhat like Khoy-knee-chan-kah Khoy-knee-tseh.

[DomD]

Yeah, for some reason the records section is blank in FM, but they have this:

[DomD]

My season has started better than I hoped for (5 wins from 5), but now I got this news:

There goes one of those veterans that I was going to rely on.

[DomD]

July - August 2022

The first few friendlies had me concerned as the team seemed to have a hard time scoring. But by the time the season started things seemed to click and we won our first 5 in a row. Couldn't have asked for a better start, but will this last?

Still getting to know my squad and the performances of Artur Pląskowski have been a pleasant surprise. He wasn't in my first team plans at first, but asked for more playing time. I was going to give him some minutes off the bench, but an injury and the hectic schedule that required rotation meant that he got to start several games. He has rewarded me by scoring in five in a row!

[DomD]

September 2022

I thought that our purple patch had come to an end when we lost twice in 3 games, but luck seems to be on our side as the victories keep rolling in. After losing against Miedź Legnica in the league we were able to exact revenge in the Cup. That means we now get the reward of facing Ekstraklasa side Cracovia in the next round.

Artur Pląskowski keeps scoring goals and is leading the 1. Liga charts.

 

[DomD]

Well, this one was a bit wild!

[DomD]

Another veteran bites the dust. He's been at the club since the 2012/13 season and I was keen to see if he could reach 80 goals for the club. The mark is now set for some youngster from our academy to hopefully someday beat. League goals 77, league appearances 302.

[DomD]

October - November 2022

Going into the match against Cracovia we were in very good form and held our own against a team from the top division. They needed a penalty to beat us. But results have dropped off since then. Hopefully the winter break will do us some good. I'm really curious to see how the first youth intake will look.

[DomD]

The youth intake preview appears to be a mixed bag, we'll see what we actually get.

[DomD]

The club offered me a new contract on Christmas day. It would be nice if they would upgrade the youth coaching.

[DomD]

Just had my game of the season I'm sure. It may take a very long time before we score this many goals in one match again.

[DomD]

December 2022 - March 2023

I used the very long winter break to offer new contracts to all the players that had contracts expiring at the end of the season, except for the one that wanted to leave. I let my staff schedule the friendlies, but I had to add myself because I didn't realize what a messed up job they did of it.

I was worried by the 1-1 draw with Zagłębie Sosnowiec but we managed to win a wild game against Sandecja and remained undefeated since the winter break. A bit inconsistent, wining 7-1 against one of the better teams, but then drawing 2-2 against one of the worst. But we're still over preforming so I can't really complain.

I'm a bit worried that if we get promotion will be too early for this squad. But we need money and hopefully there is more to be had in the Ekstraklasa (and the promotion wage raises don't eat it all).

[DomD]

2023 Youth Intake

Finally got a look at this year's youth intake. Since all my U18s are gray, I'll be offering all of them a contract.

[DomD]

2023 Youth Candidates

Like I said, I had no U18 team, so I signed them all. Now that we've had a closer look it seems like a few of them have high potential, but many will probably never make the grade.

The top candidates are also for positions where we have quite a bit of depth, especially in central midfield.

[DomD]

April - May 2023 and end of season review

It was close right to the end, but somehow we pulled it off and won the league and promotion. Is it a bit too early? Are we going straight back down next season? Only time will tell.

 

 

All the records were new, hopefully some academy kids can get their names in the record books in the next few seasons.

[DomD]

An early effect of us getting promoted is a move to a different stadium, about 100km away. Our previous stadium condition was 'Average.' This new one is 'poor,' hopefully that doesn't cost us in terms of revenue.

Edited September 9, 2023 by DomD

[DomD]

2022/23 Season Player Review

Here is a closer look at how the current squad performed in the last season. Paweł Czajkowski was clearly the stand out player, with 11 goals and 9 assists, and I'm worried that other clubs will come in for him. Damian Brytek was very important for us in defence, but he's 32 years old. I wouldn't be surprised if he picks up a bad injury next season and decides to retire. Very early in the season Artur Pląskowski was scoring goals almost every game (9), but only managed 12 for the whole season. Thankfully Oskar Frygier stepped up with 8. Rafał Majtyka was chosen by the fans as the young player of the season.

[DomD]

Just to finish off the season review, here is the transfer activity. The board are unhappy about the fee we received for Lukasz Wolsztynski. I guess I should have tried harder to get more. But he does have a 40% sell on clause

 

Some final thoughts about the season and the youth challenge in general. I'm going to keep going with this team until I'm fired or FM24 comes out. But if/when starting a new save I would choose a team in a larger city and with the best facilities possible. At least for the first time doing this.

[DomD]

It was a nice surprise to see this:

Which means our finances our in the positive again:

And the board actually agreed to increase the budged for academy coaching!

Let's see if they approve anything else.

[DomD]

Had to do some convincing, but they agreed to improve youth recruitment too.

[DomD]

Season 2 - 2023/24 - Chojniczanka Chojnice - Ekstraklasa (Poland)

We were not able to keep any clean sheets in the pre-season, which is a bit of a worry considering the board now want us to play defensively solid football. We're predicted to finish dead last by everyone, so this should be fun.

[Sizeman21]

Tough season ahead. Forza Chojniczanka Chojnice!! 

[DomD]

@Sizeman21 thanks! Should be a "fun" ride...

[DomD]

July - August 2023

Unsurprisingly the Ekstraklasa is challenging for these players, but we've averaged a point a game. If we can do that throughout the season we should be alright.

Edited September 17, 2023 by DomD

[dtown1414]

Interesting challenge. Good luck!

[DomD]

September 2023

An amazing month for us. We're not defensively solid at all, but we're scoring loads, so it doesn't matter! Also, somehow the transfer window went by without anyone making a bid for one of my players. The cash would have been nice, but while I wait for our youth to be ready it is nice to hold on to our original players for a bit longer.

The finances are looking fairly healthy. Not good enough to improve our facilities yet (I've asked), but I did manage to convince the board to send me on another course.

[DomD]

The original squad that I took over had several young players who, according to my coaches, had high potential. One who has probably progressed the most is my starting GK, Szymon Lewandowski. Always top in training and obviously getting loads of game time. Went from 2 to 4 star CA.

[DomD]

October - November 2023

The wheels are starting to come off. We had the worst possible cup draw, being pitted against one of the top Ekstraklasa sides and it showed as they hammered us. I thought we would continue to eek our results in the league, but after one win we went on a horrible run. We need to turn things around quickly or I'll be out of a job.

[DomD]

Finally felt I had to give one of the academy players a debut. Adam Kowalczyk (Y1e), a winger who I'm re-training as a WB got the start because of suspensions to senior players.

Edited September 20, 2023 by DomD

[DomD]

December 2023

We are nothing if not entertaining, for the neutral at least. We're scoring plenty of goals, but don't really know how to defend. The game against Jagiellonia was the most amazing comeback that I have ever seen. Down by 3 after 10 minutes, we managed to fight our way back to win in the end. Still in the bottom half of the table, but at least staying out of relegation trouble.

 

The youth preview was quite disappointing.

[DomD]

January - February - March 2024

Results after the winter break were enough to keep us in 13th. With 33 points we should be safe from relegation. I'm assuming the board felt the same since they offered me a new 2 year deal.

[DomD]

2024 Youth Intake

Not quite as dire as the pre-view, but really not much to work with.

[DomD]

And another debut from the first youth intake, also a WB, this time on the right, because that is where suspensions and injuries are hitting us the most.

[DomD]

Another debut. Not one of the top prospects, just filling holes in the first team. I'm curious how these youth players would do if we were still in the 1. Liga?

[DomD]

April - May 2024

We secured survival with 3 games to play. We were the top scorers in the league, but only the relegated teams let in more goals than us. A bit concerning going into next season. Full season review in the next post.

[DomD]

Season 2 Review - 2023/24 - Chojniczanka Chojnice - Ekstraklasa (Poland)

Not surprisingly our best games came against sides that were relegated. Obviously we're bringing in more money, but at the same time salaries have gone up too.

 

[DomD]

2023/24 Player Stats

Here's how the players performed.

Our top rated was Mateusz Koniuszy who I played as a False Nine. He was out on loan last season and my assistant didn't rate him too highly, but he played well in pre-season and carried that form through out. Not just our top rated but consistently good.

 

Artur Pląskowski scored 18 in the league which was enough for him to be King of the Goalscorers. At 30 years old, I really hope that he has a couple more seasons like this in him.

 

A few more of our top rated players:

Edited September 30, 2023 by DomD

[DomD]

June 2024

Finances are looking fairly healthy thanks to TV and prize money. But the club need a new stadium so that we can actually play in our own home town. Not sure what kind of effect that will have.

[DomD]

I just happened to be reading @Jimbokav1971's Kosovo thread and I saw his post about the HOYD not being the one set to "Provides Youth Development Information" so I went and checked mine, and lo and behold it was set to our fitness coach!

Why wouldn't it automatically be the HOYD??? Anyway, not sure if "Provides Youth Development Information" just means that the preview is by that person of if it actually means that they are responsible for the whole intake.

[DomD]

Since our finances are looking good I decided to ask for an upgrade to our Youth Facilities. Rejected at first, but accepted after a meeting. But I'm a bit concerned because I didn't think it was going to cost this much... So that along with the new stadium, hopefully we don't start bleeding money...

[Jimbokav1971]

9 hours ago, DomD said:

I just happened to be reading @Jimbokav1971's Kosovo thread and I saw his post about the HOYD not being the one set to "Provides Youth Development Information" so I went and checked mine, and lo and behold it was set to our fitness coach!

Why wouldn't it automatically be the HOYD??? Anyway, not sure if "Provides Youth Development Information" just means that the preview is by that person of if it actually means that they are responsible for the whole intake.

The problem is in the way the instructions are set with regards to "Responsibilities", I "think" that if you have it set to HoYD and the HoYD is replaced then it updates from old HoYD to the new HoYD because............ OMG  you're not going to believe this, but I have just checked mine again, (to clarify the wording or who you delegate to), and my DoF was in charge of the Youth Intakes again, (and my last one was absolutely rubbish and I didn't notice who had compiled the report). 

My initial problem started when I didn't have a HoYD to delegate to, (in fact I had nobody to delegate to at the start of the save), and it was only over time that I could delegate things 1st to a Coach and then to an Ass Man and then to a DoF and then to a HoYD. 

The problem is that you can't delegate to a role. You have to delegate to a person. When that person is no longer there then it defaults to someone else. 

[DomD]

Yeah, the problem was similar for me. I had no staff when I took over and one of the first that I hired was a fitness coach. So I think it just stuck him in as the person responsible for... everything? I never thought of checking who was responsible for what. I should probably check what the other staff responsibilities are set to.

[DomD]

Season 3 - 2024/25 - Chojniczanka Chojnice - Ekstraklasa (Poland)

Good results in pre-season, but against weaker sides. Once again the board want me to fight bravely against relegation and reach the 2nd round of the cup. The odds have us 1000-1 to win the league and the media predict us to finish 18th. But looking at the other promoted sides, we should have a fighting chance. The club's estimated value has taken a big jump, so that's nice.

[DomD]

Well it had to happen, one of our key original players gets his head turned by a more reputable club. It does mean that there is one less player standing in the way of our youth in central midfield, and hopefully we can use the cash to improve our facilities.

[DomD]

I don't really know how or why this happened. But I'm not complaining! The goals just kept flying in. If you remove the penalty our xG wouldn't have been that much higher than theirs. Our previous 2 games against Lech were 1-2 losses and I was expecting something similar this time around. But I'll take a win against one of the top teams!

[DomD]

Academy Spotlight

This is supposed to be a Youth Only save, so now that we're 3 seasons in I will start including updates on the academy graduates that are starting to break into the first team.

Last season 3 youth players made 1st team appearances. None of them were exceptional, with Kowalczyk having the highest average rating at 6.60.

[DomD]

Junior Coaching and Youth Recruitment

Thought it would be a good time to ask for some improvements. But how can one be going from Average to Adequate, while other is going the opposite? Or is average relative to other clubs in the country?