[FM24Beta] Colombia - Envigado. Quarry of Heroes. [Youth Only]

[Jimbokav1971]

Dec 2032. 

Liga Finalización Final. We win the Liga Finalización for the 2nd time, (to give us 4 Liga Dimayor titles in total). 

Overall Table. (Just because).  136 goals in a league season sounds like a lot, but it's actually only 2.42 goals per game which isn't many at all in the grand scheme if things. More concerning is the 10 losses and 69 goals conceded. 

Most League Titles.? We've won more than 2 titles haven't we? 

Oh I see. The game is only counting 2nd Phase title wins.  Or is that just league positions and doesn't include Semi-Finals and FInals? 

We won the Liga Finalización Final in 2027 and this season in 2032, but we also won the Liga Apertura Final in 2030 & 2031, (so we should have 4 titles rather than 2). 

* I've added it to the bugs list in Colombia. 

Facilities. 

Goal-scoring GK's. No change. 

(24e) Ramos (Driven) 6'1" is 21/27 from the spot at 78%. (Is no longer at the club). 
Fontalvo 6'4" is 9/10 from the spot at 90%. (Is no longer at the club). 
(25b) Hyam (ENG)(IRL) 6'1" is 29/34 from the spot at 85%. (Is no longer at the club). 
(28a) Pocarrero (F.Det) 6'2 * is 4/4 from the spot at 100%. (In on loan in the Colombian 2nd Tier). 
(29a) Tello (F.Sport) * is 2/2 from the spot at 100%.
(31a) Díaz (F.Pro) 6'2" is 3/4 from the spot at 75%.

Finances. 

[Jimbokav1971]

Squad Stats. Jan 2033. 

Squad by Appearances. 

Squad by Goals. 

Squad by Assists. 

Squad by Avg Rating. 

Squad by CA. 

Squad by PA. 

[Jimbokav1971]

Media Comparison. Jan 2033. 

I always like looking at the "labelled the next..." or "dubbed the next....." when I venture into new leagues, and Colombia is no different. 

 Now THIS is what I'm talking about. Never heard of him.

[Jimbokav1971]

Squad Depth. Jan 2032. 

GK.

1st Team. (31a) Díaz (F.Pro) 6'2"
Backup. (27d) Sierra (F.Pro) 5'11"

DL.

1st Team. (29f) Contreras (Det) 5'7"
2nd Team. (28l) Baldovino (Bal) 5'4"
Backup. (25l) Belalcázar (F.Det) 5'9"

DR.

1st Team. (30c) Ortega (Res) 5'9" *
2nd Team. (27f) Torijano (Driven) *
Backup. (30d) Calvache (F.Loyal)5'1" *

DC.

1st Team DLC. (25c) Soto (L.Heart) 5'10" *
1st Team DC. (24a) Gómez (Bal) 6'5" *
1st Team DRC. (25d) Díaz (Resil) 6'1"

2nd Team DLC. (25e) Panesso (F.Sport) 6'2" *
2nd Team DC. (25f) Lencina (Fickle) (ARG) *
2nd Team DRC. (26a) Bernal (F.Det) 6'1"

Backup. (32b) Cassiani (Merc) 6'0" *
Backup. (31d) Mosquera (Bal) 5'8"
Backup. (32c) Ruiz (Res) 5'10" *

Loan. (29g) Crispín (Spirit) 6'0"

MC.

1st Team MLC. (26c) Cotterill (COL)(USA)
1st Team MRC. (27b) Hoyos (Res) *

2nd Team MLC. (26b) Benítez (Bal) *
2nd Team MRC. (30a) Torres (Driven) *

Backup MLC. (24g) Smith (WAL)(IRL)(Bal)
Backup MRC. (24d) Villegas (COL)(PER)(Bal)

Sell. (24h) Ladino (Bal) SELL

SC.

1st Team SLC. (25a) Mesa (F.Pro) *
1st Team SC. (24c) Suárez (F.Amb) *
1st Team SRC. (29c) Cabal (F.Pro) *, (26f) Corrales (F.Det) *

2nd Team SLC. (29b) Cortázar (F.Det) *
2nd Team SC. (28b) Salazar (F.Pro) *
2nd Team SRC. (26f) Corrales (F.Det) *, (27a) Pacheco (Real) BadTrain*

Backup. (30b) Mosquera (F.Loyal) *
Backup. (29d) Guerrero (Res) *

Sell. (26d) Parra (Merc) SELL

Loan. (27a) Pacheco (Real) BadTrain*
Loan. (30e) Golúz (F.Pro)
Loan. (28h) Ramírez (Merc)
Loan. (31c) Aponzá (F.Amb)
Loan. (28g) Góez (F.Det)
Loan. (31b) Peinado (L.Heart)

Edited November 23, 2023 by Jimbokav1971

[Thebaker]

i've only heard of the first 2 of the former great players, Valenciano must be a cult colombian hero, i'm impressed that in 20 seasons he never stayed more than a season at 1 club and often had only half a season.

As an aside James Rodriguez could be signed as a former youth player i noticed!

Edited November 22, 2023 by Thebaker

[Jimbokav1971]

6 minutes ago, Thebaker said:

i've only heard of the first 2 of the former great players, Valenciano must be a cult colombian hero, i'm impressed that in 20 seasons he never stayed more than a season at 1 club and often had only half a season.

As an aside James Rodriguez could be signed as a former youth player i noticed!

I love finding about real, (long time retired), players who I have never heard of. Really cool little feature. 

Yeah we could have signed James Rodriguez, but unfortunately he's an unemployed Manager now rather than a player. 

Could sign him as a Coach at a push I suppose. 

[RoguPL]

Finally had time to catch up with this ! 

Some great progress done for Envigado 

After winning/not winning this crazy league what is left to achieve ? 
Copa Libertadores?  Can't be far away now. 

[Jimbokav1971]

2 hours ago, RoguPL said:

Finally had time to catch up with this ! 

Some great progress done for Envigado 

After winning/not winning this crazy league what is left to achieve ? 
Copa Libertadores?  Can't be far away now. 

I think winning a domestic quadruple, 2x Leagues + Cup + Super Cup in the same season is a goal. 
Obviously winning either the Copa Libertadores or the Copa Sudamericana is on the list. 

After that...... 

[Jimbokav1971]

Youth Intake day. Jan 2033. 

I'm not signing the following players for obvious reasons. 

[Jimbokav1971]

Jan 2032. 

Liga Apertura. It's been a poor opening month, but there are mitigating circumstances. First of all we have 9 players away on Int duty as well as a few senior injuries. Also, although we played 4 friendlies during a short pre-season, I didn't select the squad for these games and some players have been shattered and others have had zero gametime so it's just been a disaster really. I really need to make much more of an effort during pre-season. 

It's early days though and remember, (again), all we have to do is finish in the top 8. Nothing else really matters so no need to panic. 

Transfers. 

We made £425k in loan income last season without me really noticing. 

* The plan was for (29c) Cabal (F.Pro) * to start for the 1st Team this season, but this was such a good offer that it made sense to accept it. £250k while they play him regularly and we get to play someone else, (probably 2 other players), seems win/win for me. The game he scored in, (late winner from the bench), was the only game they have won this season and he was obviously unavailable against us, so I expect him to get more gametime as the season progresses. 

Reputation. 

New wonderkid. I'm not sure how long he has been a wonderkid, but this is the 1st time I've noticed. 

Goal-scoring GK's. Nothing this month. 

(24e) Ramos (Driven) 6'1" is 21/27 from the spot at 78%. (Is no longer at the club). 
Fontalvo 6'4" is 9/10 from the spot at 90%. (Is no longer at the club). 
(25b) Hyam (ENG)(IRL) 6'1" is 29/34 from the spot at 85%. (Is no longer at the club). 
(28a) Pocarrero (F.Det) 6'2 * is 4/4 from the spot at 100%. (In on loan in the Colombian 2nd Tier). 
(29a) Tello (F.Sport) * is 2/2 from the spot at 100%.
(31a) Díaz (F.Pro) 6'2" is 3/4 from the spot at 75%.

(31a) Díaz (F.Pro) 6'2" is attracting a little bit of interest. Maybe I shouldn't have sold 1 of our previous GK's. 

Finances. 

[Jimbokav1971]

Feb 2033. 

Liga Apertura. What an appalling month. 

The 9 players we had out on International duty came back during this month and I tried to integrate them immediately, but they were all shattered, had missed pre-season and it was a disaster. Rather than strengthening us, their availability actually weakened us in the short term. Missing pre-season, (as short and poor as it was), was a significant miss. 

I have no idea why we have played so many games when we've had the most unavailability and also had additional games to play in the Súperliga Dimayor.

Súperliga Dimayor. (Colombian Super-Cup).

Goal-scoring GK's. 1 goal this month from (31a) Díaz (F.Pro) 6'2" brings him to 4 career goals. 

(24e) Ramos (Driven) 6'1" is 21/27 from the spot at 78%. (Is no longer at the club). 
Fontalvo 6'4" is 9/10 from the spot at 90%. (Is no longer at the club). 
(25b) Hyam (ENG)(IRL) 6'1" is 29/34 from the spot at 85%. (Is no longer at the club). 
(28a) Pocarrero (F.Det) 6'2 * is 4/4 from the spot at 100%. (In on loan in Chile). 
(29a) Tello (F.Sport) * is 2/2 from the spot at 100%.
(31a) Díaz (F.Pro) 6'2" is 5/6 from the spot at 80%.

Finances. 

[Jimbokav1971]

NxGn 2033. 

I was surprised to see that (31a) Díaz (F.Pro) 6'2" wasn't on the list last season, and it's no surprise at all to see him on it now. He will still be eligible next year. 

In terms of players who missed out on the list.....

(29b) Cortázar (F.Det) * was ranked #46 last season and is possibly a little unlucky to miss out. 

(30a) Torres (Driven) * is also possibly a little unlucky to miss out, but perhaps this is more about a lack of game time caused by his early-season involvement on International duty. 

In terms of who might make the list next season, (other than (31a) Díaz (F.Pro) 6'2"), then perhaps the following are most likely. 

(30b) Mosquera (F.Loyal) * needs to play more, and hopefully this post will be a catalyst for that. 

(32c) Ruiz (Res) 5'10" * is still very young, but is certainly worth keeping an eye on. 

[Jimbokav1971]

Mar 2033. 

Liga Apertura. We've got some work to do to finish in the Top 8. We're 7 points short at the moment with just 8 games left to play. It's going to be tough. 

Copa Libertadores.

Records.

Goal-scoring GK's. 1 failure from the spot for (31a) Díaz (F.Pro) 6'2" this month. 

(24e) Ramos (Driven) 6'1" is 21/27 from the spot at 78%. (Is no longer at the club). 
Fontalvo 6'4" is 9/10 from the spot at 90%. (Is no longer at the club). 
(25b) Hyam (ENG)(IRL) 6'1" is 29/34 from the spot at 85%. (Is no longer at the club). 
(28a) Pocarrero (F.Det) 6'2 * is 4/4 from the spot at 100%. (In on loan in the Colombian 2nd Tier). 
(29a) Tello (F.Sport) * is 2/2 from the spot at 100%.
(31a) Díaz (F.Pro) 6'2" is 5/7 from the spot at 71%.

Finances. 

[Jimbokav1971]

Bad Trainers. Jan 2033.

Because I'm a bit anal about the personalities and level of (Det) I have in the squad I tend to not encounter this too much, but when I do it annoys the hell out of me. 

I'm happy to delegate General Training and all I'm interested in usually is Individual Training and PPM's. 

That being said, when you see the same player rated as the worst trainers again and again and again then it's a warning sign that all is not well.

Often a player will appear on the list just once or twice in a row and then return to normal. He might be unhappy because he wants a new contract or you have turned down a bid for him and the window is still open, or he might not like the high training, (General + Individual + PPM), or he might not like the individual training itself, or he might not be getting enough gametime. There are loads of triggers, but some players just seem to appear on here far more often than others and for no obvious reason. 

As usual, the 1st thing I look at is personality. I always blame the personality even when it's not the personality.  In this case the player is a Realist, and I will admit that I don't know from the off what that is. In the real World, if you were to describe someone as "a realist", than I would consider it a compliment. It's a positive and certainly not a slight, but FM isn't the real World and these negative/connotations we have with personality names don't always translate to the personality itself. 

Let's have a look at Realist. 

It doesn't tell us a great deal.

• Sportsmanship is guaranteed low, but I care so little about sportsmanship that I can't even tell you how it might impact anything. I have just never taken much notice if it.
• Det is maxed at 17 for this personality, (which is great).
• Pro is less 18, but that's all we know. 
• Media Handling is Outspoken, Confrontational

• I don't know for sure, but I expect that both his Pro and Amb are low, (at least in single figures). 

Let's have a look at what else we can find and see if he's "fixable" or if we just need to cut our losses, (because he's actually a decent player), but if we can't fix his training performances then he won't develop as well as he might so the 1st Team exposure we're giving him would be better of spent on other players in terms of developing them and selling them on. 

• There was 1 more which I resolved before posting this so it's no longer visible. He didn't like the individual training I had assigned, (I think it was finishing), so I have replaced it with ball control. 
• Unhappy about being touted for loan, (I wanted to make him someone else's problem and see if they could "fix" him). I've made him unavailable for loan now because he's actually playing games and for the 1st part of the season at least he will be the designated 2nd Team SCR, (so he will start quite a few games). He's actually started all 3 games so far this season, (scoring 2 goals), and the game he didn't score in he was subbed off at HT because we had a red card, so he's doing ok. I can't directly fix the unhappiness about be offering him out for loan, but lets see if we can do something else. 
• The clash with (27b) Hoyos (Res) * over their differing levels of Pro is not something I can do anything about. 

He hasn't been amazing, but if we can't fix his unhappiness about me trying to loan him out, maybe we just need to "balance the books" so to speak and give him some happiness in a different area that will counteract that. 

This was a little step in the right direction, but it also hinted at a bigger problem. (But if we know what the problem is then we can fix it right?)

He just plain doesn't like me, (and the feeling is mutual I can tell you). The reason he doesn't like me is largely because I have been on his case digging him out about training and rather than improve the situation it has made things worse, (I'm guessing because of low Pro/Det levels). 

So now I basically need to force his morale and his opinion of me upwards. I will no longer be digging him out for poor training and instead will praise even reasonable match performances.

If he learns hic current PPM then I will also not add a new one immediately. 

• We have 9 players out on Int duty, (the Campeonato Sudamericano Sub-17), and a few injuries and suspensions so he started the 4th game of the season too, but we got spanked 5-2 and he got a 6.3 so I can't praise him for that. 
• It does at least mean that he's started the 1st 4 games of the season and he's delighted with his playing time, so there is that tiny positive being thrown into the mix.

1 goal and 2 assists in a MOM performance in the away leg of the Súperliga Dimayor means that I get to praise him for his performance. 

• As well as his last performance, I also use this as an opportunity to praise his general form, (I just want to praise him for as much as possible to try and out-do the recent negativity. 
• Did my recent praise cause the good performance or was it likely to happen anyway? Who knows. Remember though, this isn't actually about match performances. It's about training performances. 

It's training review time and there is no change. 

• He's gone from "has no strong feelings" to "strongly opposes" the good overall support from the dressing room towards me.  This is going the wrong way. 

If you are wondering why I'm showing you all this by the way it's because I had decided that I was going to sell him, (because of his training performances and how this impacts player development), but I thought I would give it a proper got to try and improve things and document how it goes. I have no idea if I'm going to end up selling him or not, but if I can't fix his performances in training then I'm certainly going to try to move him on.

It's training time again.

• Although there has been a tiny improvement, it's still a really poor training level. 
• There is a new negative in that he thinks (26c) Cotterill (COL)(USA) should be played more. (He has started 4 of 7 games this season). 

Unfortunately I don't feel able to praise his last performance or his recent form. 

It's training time again.

• Training rating levels have risen from 4.90 to 4.95 and now a slightly bigger jump to 5.45. It's still not good, but it's better. 
• He's moved from "strongly opposes" to "completely opposes".

His form isn't good enough to praise, but I think I might get away with praising his last performance. 

Didn't take a screenshot, but praising an average performance didn't go down well. 

He scored in his last game but I'm still unable to praise his last game, (that's the last 2 games I've been unable to praise). I think this is as a result of the failed last game praise, (3 games ago), and it's resulted in me being unable to praise last game for a set period. 

He then scored 2 goals against Sporting Cristal, and I was able to praise his last game, (because he was MOM). 
I also praised his recent form too. 

You will notice that he's starting every game and that's an error. He has been included in both the 1st Team and 2nd Team preset starting XI's.

(26f) Corrales (F.Det) * should be in the starting XI lineup and I have fixed that now. 

(27a) Pacheco (Real) BadTrain* received a 3rd consecutive MOM award, (in the Copa Libertadores against São Paulo, so I was again able to praise his last performance. 
I was unable to praise his recent form after having done so recently. 

It's training time again. 

• After rising levels in the previous 2 training weeks, he drops again this week. 
• His struggle to connect with  (27b) Hoyos (Res) * due to differing levels of Pro has now been replaced with a struggle to connect with (25f) Lencina (Fickle) (ARG) * for the same reason.

The next 2 games saw a reduced playing time as I sorted out the preset squads after him appearing in both over the early part of the season. 

It's training time again. 

• Training levels have risen slightly from 5.15 to 5.20 but are still really poor. 
• Completely opposes has dropped to strongly opposes. 
• The player he is struggling to connect with (due to Pro levels), has swapped back again to the original player. 

It's training time again. 

• Training levels drop from 5.20 to 5.00

He's now being rotated, (as was always the plan). 

It's training time again. 

• A slight increase in Training Rating from 5.00 to 5.05, (but still really poor). 
• He is unhappy both that (26c) Cotterill (COL)(USA) isn't being played enough, AND that I haven't let him leave. (Well which one is it?)
• I wonder how long the being loaned out unhappiness lasts for? 

It's training time again.

• Now there is a 3rd player he can't connect with because of "differing levels of Pro"
• He's now involved in the dispute I have with (29b) Cortázar (F.Det) *
• As well as 2 different disputes about (26c) Cotterill (COL)(USA)
• He's still unhappy about being loaned out. 
• He still "strongly opposes" the overall good support for me, (despite the fact that I've not dug him out over his training all the way through this). 

I think it's just time to admit defeat and accept anything I can get for him. 

This bloke is doing my head in. 

[Jimbokav1971]

Apr 2033. 

Liga Apertura. Our form is much better than it was, but whether or not it's enough to get us to 8th and qualification for the Semi-Final remains in the balance. We have 1 game remaining, (in the 1st phase), and while we will absolutely have to win it to have any chance of progressing, there is no guarantee that even a win will be enough to see us through.

Copa Libertadores. We're top of the Group with 1 game left to play and should progress even with a narrow loss in our last game, but a point would make certain. 

Goal-scoring GK's. Nothing this month. 

Finances. 

[Jimbokav1971]

May 2033. 

Liga Apertura. After last month all we needed was to win our Final game against Atlético Huila and that would have been enough to secure a top 8 finish and all would be well with the World. Unfortunately I opted to play the 2nd Team in this match, (because I thought they would be capable of winning at home against a team who finished joint 2nd bottom and who had only taken 1 single point from their previous 9 away games). What threw a spanner into the works is that the 2nd Team got absolutely smashed in their previous game, (in the Copa Libertadores against São Paulo), so morale was low and this was enough, (with poor form and some unhappiness), to convert what should have been an easy win into almost unbelievable loss. 

To put our performance in the Liga Apertura this season into some perspective, our final league position of 11th is the 2nd lowest of the save ever, (and the lowest for 9 years). 

Of the 21 completed League Phases in this save, we've finished in the top 3 on 16 occasions.

2024 Liga Finalización. 13th.
2025 Liga Finalización. 9th.
2028 Liga Finalización. 9th. 
2031 Liga Apertura. 5th.
2033 Liga Apertura. 11th. 

Our goal difference of +1 is the lowest ever in the save. 

Unhappiness. My usual strategy, (in a Youth Only save), is to just ignore player unhappiness, keep players for as long as I possibly can and however unhappy they are, the benefits of them playing far outweigh the negativity of their unhappiness. Whether it's been tweaked in FM24, (not positive it has), or the issue has been compounded by our Captain (24a) Gómez (Bal) 6'5" * being "devastated", and other factors, it certainly seems to be playing a part in the save at the moment. I think a large part is the poor start we had relating to a poorly managed, (by me), pre-season and the fitness issues that created, as well as having 9 players unavailable at the start of the season due to International call-ups and then returning fatigued having also missed out on pre-season. 

The "problem" with this stage of the save is that we're still playing lots of teenagers in the 1st Team. If we were able to just leave these players to develop naturally then we wouldn't have needed them and the International/Pre-season fatigue wouldn't have been an issue because they would have been playing U20 games rather than Senior games. 

What jumps out at me is that it's largely our best players who are unhappy, and they're unhappy because they want to move on. 

If you look at 2 of our devastated players, (24a) Gómez (Bal) 6'5" * & (26c) Cotterill (COL)(USA), then you will see that their average ratings this season are 6.86 and 6.88 respectively so there's the proof that that their/our performances have suffered. All of our senior Internationals are unhappy. 

I think I have to have a cull. 

Copa Libertadores. We're into the next round. 

Copa Dimayor. We're into the next round. 

Performance Review. This was a bit scary. I told them that it was just a blip and they needed to look at the bigger picture, (and they fell for it), but they are right. Missing out on the Semi-Final stage is ridiculous and there is just no excuses, (even though there are reasons). 

I think I need to accept that there are levels of unhappiness that we can deal with and which performances can be managed through, but that when a player becomes devastated then you just need to call it quits, let him leave and draw a line under it. The problem with that is that while that strategy might be fine when you can go out and buy/sign a replacement, it's not so simple when you're playing a Youth Only save and what you've got is basically what you've got. 

That being said, one of my kids would have played better than either of the 2 devastated senior players this season.

Goal-scoring GK's. Nothing this month. 

Finances. 

[Jimbokav1971]

Jun 2033.

Fixtures. 

There are no fixtures this month because we should be playing in the Semi-Finals and the Final, (so 8 potential games missed). 

Clauses. 

2 players have clauses available to sell. 

(25b) Hyam (ENG)(IRL) 6'1" * has a 25% clause that we can sell for £478k, but that's ridiculous because I expect him to be worth FAR more than £2M in the near future. He's currently worth  and likely to be capped by ENG soon. He only has 18 months left on his contract though and there is no option to take up extra years so I think it's likely that he will leave on a free. That being said, I think it's worth just leaving the clause there in case someone comes in for him or in case he signs a new deal. £0.5M is neither here nor there, but 25% of his sale would be big.

(26d) Parra (Merc) SELL has a 20% profit clause, so for us to lose money by accepting this deal his next transfer would have to be for £701k. I don't think £60k is worth selling that for. He's currently values at 

Transfers. 

Records. 

Facilities. 

Finances. If you wonder how we've just sold a player for £4.5M (+ add-ons) and still only have just under £11M in the bank you haven't missed anything. Approx £2M of the £4.5M is to be made in installments. By using installments and add-ons I've worked out that you can get much more bang for your buck than asking for the money up front. Of course there is a risk that the clauses might never be triggered, but by reducing the up front cost it makes it easier for them to accept the 25% clause and the way I see it we're still getting the money anyway, (and sometimes even more. We just don't get it up front. (27b) Hoyos (Res) * is valued at £14M after his move and if I add the cash portion of the deal £4.5M to all the add-ons (£5.8M) then I get £10.3M and 25% of £10.3M is £2.575M which gives us an approx total deal value of about £12.875M and I really can't complain about that. 

[Jimbokav1971]

Jul 2033. 

Liga Finalización. I screwed up, again.  I'm so used to qualifying for the Semi-Final Group stage that I don't know what it's like when we don't. What I failed to consider is that when we don't qualify for the Semi's, we don't have any fixtures in June so I have to replace them with friendlies, (and didn't). As a result our players weren't match fit when the 2nd phase started, and that's on top of the unhappiness issues that I've mentioned previously. Selling some players and loaning them back and selling others permanently will hopefully resolve our morale issues, and our fitness issues seem to have been resolved now. 

Copa Libertadores. We're nowhere near the level of the Brazilian giants. 

Transfers.

(27a) Pacheco (Real) BadTrain* was sold simply because of his training performances. I really did try to resolve it, (even before I posted about it in here), and nothing seemed to work. 

(24c) Suárez (F.Amb) * is a big player for us and although we've sold him, we've also got him back on loan for 12 months. 

(26c) Cotterill (COL)(USA) is a player I really liked, but I just couldn't get a deal done to get him loaned back. He still had to go though as he was just so unhappy and his performances significantly suffered as a result. 

Records.

Goal-scoring GK's.

Finances. 

[Jimbokav1971]

Aug 2033. 

Liga Finalización. The 1st Team are actually playing ok, but the 2nd Team are awful at the moment.  Atlético Nacional are a really good side and I don't actually expect to beat them right now, but I also wasn't expecting a 4-0 thumping either, (and it could have been more). 

Copa Dimayor. The 1st Team did so well in the 1st leg that I thought I would trust them to finish the job. (Well that was a stupid decision!!!). 

Transfers.

(31a) Díaz (F.Pro) 6'2" is a player I really wanted back on loan, but I just couldn't get the deal done and in the end I decided that I would let him go even without the loan-back.

Records. I haven't finished yet with player sales. When you consider that we've brought in £13M in transfer fees this season, but only have £15.4M in the bank it suggests that things are not too stable. Missing out on the Semi-Final Group stage hurt us because we lose a minimum of 3 home fixtures. The biggest thing about losing in the Cup is again the loss of additional fixtures and as well as the revenue lost there is the missed opportunity for player development, (because most of the players in the squad are still in their development phase). 

Goal-scoring GK's. More bad news as (27d) Sierra (F.Pro) 5'11" failed from the spot against Junior FC, (in a 1-0 loss). 

(24e) Ramos (Driven) 6'1" is 21/27 from the spot at 78%. (Is no longer at the club). 
Fontalvo 6'4" is 9/10 from the spot at 90%. (Is no longer at the club). 
(25b) Hyam (ENG)(IRL) 6'1" is 29/34 from the spot at 85%. (Is no longer at the club). 
(28a) Pocarrero (F.Det) 6'2 * is 4/4 from the spot at 100%. (In on loan in Chile). 
(29a) Tello (F.Sport) * is 2/2 from the spot at 100%. (Is on loan in the Colombian 2nd tier).
(31a) Díaz (F.Pro) 6'2" is 5/7 from the spot at 71%. (Is no longer at the club). 
(27d) Sierra (F.Pro) 5'11" is 0/1 at the spot at 0%.

Finances. This is the most money we've ever had in the bank, and with that in mind and the player sales I've made, perhaps it's not such a huge surprise that we're not firing on all cylinders at the moment. 

[Jimbokav1971]

Sep 2033.

Liga Finalización. We're doing ok, but we're just not clinical enough. As soon as we get an injury it seems to kick the arse out of us.  Ideally I'd like us to be scoring 3 goals a game, (even if it means we concede more). 

Records. 

Goal-scoring GK's. Nothing again. 

Finances. 

[Jimbokav1971]

Oct 2033. 

Liga Finalización. Just when I thought we had lost any sort of footballing ability, we suddenly clicked and won 4 on the bounce, smashing 7 past a hapless Cortuluá. The loss at the end of the month to Unión Magdalena was down to the 2nd Team, as I the 1st Team needed a rest after performing well all month. They actually did ok and were unlucky not to win never mind about lose in the 94th min. 

We've qualified for the Semi-Final Group stages and as far as I'm concerned that's job done. 

Goal-scoring GK's. After missing his 1st pen, (27d) Sierra (F.Pro) 5'11" gets off the mark against Millonarios to earn us a point. 

Finances. 

[Jimbokav1971]

Nov & Dec 2033. 

Liga Finalización. Semi Final Group. We qualified for the Final quite comfortably in the end, (a tad surprising as we had Millonarios in our Group), and it serves to show that there is no link between your League finish and your Semi-Final finish. I would like to see more of this sort of thing in future. (Much rotation and some losses during the regular season and then focus and delivery in the Semi-Final Group). More rotation will not only mean less fatigue, but also increased development opportunities for our youngsters. 

Liga Finalización Final. My mindset in FM has been for a while, (especially when using the IR button), that losing Finals is completely acceptable as long as the overall general curve is upwards. Losing a FInal to someone other than Millonarios or Atlético Nacional is a bit rubbish, but when you consider the players we've sold in the last 12 months, and the fact that we finished 11th in the Liga Apertura this season suggests that while we might have taken a small step backwards, it was with a view to taking a big leap forward. 

Goal-scoring GK's. Nothing again this month. 

(24e) Ramos (Driven) 6'1" is 21/27 from the spot at 78%. (Is no longer at the club). 
Fontalvo 6'4" is 9/10 from the spot at 90%. (Is no longer at the club). 
(25b) Hyam (ENG)(IRL) 6'1" is 29/34 from the spot at 85%. (Is no longer at the club). 
(28a) Pocarrero (F.Det) 6'2 * is 4/4 from the spot at 100%. (In on loan in Chile). 
(29a) Tello (F.Sport) * is 2/2 from the spot at 100%. (Is on loan in the Colombian 2nd tier).
(31a) Díaz (F.Pro) 6'2" is 5/7 from the spot at 71%. (Is no longer at the club). 
(27d) Sierra (F.Pro) 5'11" is 1/2 at the spot at 50%.

Finances.

Edited November 26, 2023 by Jimbokav1971

[Jimbokav1971]

Youth Day. Jan 2034. 

There are 3 of this years intake who I won't be offering contracts to. 

[Jimbokav1971]

Jan 2034. 

Liga Apertura. This is a better start than I was expecting. Not just 2 wins, but 3 goals scored in each game is great. 

South American rankings. Surprised that not only have we dropped from 3rd to 4th, but also that the 4th placed league, (Peru's Liga 1), has usurped us meaning that the new 5th placed competition, (Chile's Campeonato AFP PlanVital) won't be far behind us. I honestly don't know how this impacts our South American competition places. 

Reputation. We keep taking little steps forward, but the reason for a drop in our competition rankings becomes apparent when we see that Millonarios have dropped rep. 

Sponsorship. I'm really surprised to see us top this. I would have expected us to be miles behind the historic big guns in Colombia. 

Continental competition. We won't be playing in the Copa Libertadores this season and the reason for that is that we didn't win anything last season, other than the Súperliga Dimayor. (Colombian Super-Cup), and winning that doesn't provide entry into any South American competition in it's own respect. As a result our South American qualification had to be decided by... our place in the Overall Liga Dimayor table. 

Overall Liga Dimayor table. I had decided to stop showing this table, (because it's not important), as soon as I stop showing it then it becomes important. 

Finishing 7th sneaks us into the Copa Sudamericana. I hadn't even thought to look at the end of last season. 

Transfers.

Goal-scoring GK's. Nothing this month. 

Finances. 

[Jimbokav1971]

Clauses. Jan 2034. 

I've been selling players on the basis that if I sell them then I won't have to keep cashing in the clauses that we do deals for and that way I might manage to keep a winning lottery ticket/clause long enough for it to be drawn. 

This is never going to get triggered. 

I'm surprised that none of these have been triggered, (because he's decent), but he's 31 now so we might have missed our chance. 

We're guaranteed this money. 

We're guaranteed this money. 

(22) Ramírez. SELL scored 15 goals last season so we should be getting this clause triggered soon. 

We're guaranteed this money. 

(24a) Gómez (Bal) 6'5" * is playing in Brazil now and I expect most of these clauses to be triggered. 

(24c) Suárez (F.Amb) * has signed for a Saudi club, but we've currently got him back on loan. 

This isn't worth much.

We're guaranteed this money. 

We're guaranteed this money. 

I expect most of these clauses to be triggered. 

We're unlikely to make money off of the 20% clause. 

This was the Bad Trainer that I documented earlier in the save. 

He's gone to the UAE, but we still have him back on loan. 

He's playing in Peru and expect him to bang the 20 goals out pretty quickly. 

He's playing in Argentina & has a £6.75M release clause, so I'm holding out for more than £1.687M for the clause. 

[Jimbokav1971]

Feb 2034. 

Liga Apertura. Our good start to the season continues. Who would have thought that the answer to all our problems was to sell our best players! 

Transfers.

Goal-scoring GK's. 1 goal for (28a) Pocarrero (F.Det) 6'2 * this month. 

(24e) Ramos (Driven) 6'1" is 21/27 from the spot at 78%. (Is no longer at the club). 
Fontalvo 6'4" is 9/10 from the spot at 90%. (Is no longer at the club). 
(25b) Hyam (ENG)(IRL) 6'1" is 29/34 from the spot at 85%. (Is no longer at the club). 
(28a) Pocarrero (F.Det) 6'2 * is 5/5 from the spot at 100%. 
(29a) Tello (F.Sport) * is 2/2 from the spot at 100%. (On loan in the Colombian 2nd tier).
(31a) Díaz (F.Pro) 6'2" is 5/7 from the spot at 71%. (Is no longer at the club). 
(27d) Sierra (F.Pro) 5'11" is 1/2 at the spot at 50%.

Finances. 

[Jimbokav1971]

NxGn 2034.

We may not have one of our own players on the list this season, but we do have an Academy product, (who has moved on).

There were some Premier League clubs interested in him for a while, but I couldn't get them to make a bid so he went to Argentina. 

[Jimbokav1971]

Mar 2024. 

Liga Apertura. We may have dropped 7 points this month, but actually I'm really happy with how things are going. We gave Millonarios a right good spanking and if you look at the table you will have to look down as far as 9th to find Atlético Nacional, and that's even with them winning their last 4 games in the league!

We've got a pretty well-balanced side, (we always need new centre-backs), and even though we will lose our 2 best players (27b) Hoyos (Res) * and (24c) Suárez (F.Amb) * after the 1st phase I'm happy even with how we will be in the 2nd half of the season. 

Copa Sudamericana. It's strange to play a single-legged tie in South America, but that's exactly what we had to traverse in order to get to the Group Stage of the 2nd tier of South American football. Job done. Really happy to see that we've been drawn in a Group with no Brazilians. 

Transfers. No significant players out this month. 

Goal-scoring GK's. A goal each for both (28a) Pocarrero (F.Det) 6'2 * and (27d) Sierra (F.Pro) 5'11" this month.

(24e) Ramos (Driven) 6'1" is 21/27 from the spot at 78%. (Is no longer at the club). 
Fontalvo 6'4" is 9/10 from the spot at 90%. (Is no longer at the club). 
(25b) Hyam (ENG)(IRL) 6'1" is 29/34 from the spot at 85%. (Is no longer at the club). 
(28a) Pocarrero (F.Det) 6'2 * is 6/6 from the spot at 100%. 
(29a) Tello (F.Sport) * is 2/2 from the spot at 100%. (On loan in the Colombian 2nd tier).
(31a) Díaz (F.Pro) 6'2" is 5/7 from the spot at 71%. (Is no longer at the club). 
(27d) Sierra (F.Pro) 5'11" is 2/3 at the spot at 67%.

Finances. 

[Jimbokav1971]

Apr 2034.

Liga Apertura. Now this is what you call good form. 

The only side who managed to score more than 1 goal against us was Atlético Nacional, and 4 clean sheets from 6 was definitely not something we had seen to often, (if ever). We're a whopping 15 points clear at the top but you have to remember that winning the league doesn't count for anything if we don't then go and win the Semi-Final Group and then the Final too. 

Copa Sudamericana. Not just 2 wins, but but 2 more clean sheets too. 

Goal-scoring GK's. Another goal for (27d) Sierra (F.Pro) 5'11" is our 4th successful pen of the season. 

(24e) Ramos (Driven) 6'1" is 21/27 from the spot at 78%. (Is no longer at the club). 
Fontalvo 6'4" is 9/10 from the spot at 90%. (Is no longer at the club). 
(25b) Hyam (ENG)(IRL) 6'1" is 29/34 from the spot at 85%. (Is no longer at the club). 
(28a) Pocarrero (F.Det) 6'2 * is 6/6 from the spot at 100%. 
(29a) Tello (F.Sport) * is 2/2 from the spot at 100%. (On loan in the Colombian 2nd tier).
(31a) Díaz (F.Pro) 6'2" is 5/7 from the spot at 71%. (Is no longer at the club). 
(27d) Sierra (F.Pro) 5'11" is 3/4 at the spot at 75%.

Finances. 

[Jimbokav1971]

May 2034. 

Liga Apertura. We finished the 1st Phase of the League with another win, (and end 12 points clear of 2nd place). We've taken 53 points from a possible 60 in this phase and nobody has exceeded 50 in this save before now. Let's hope we can carry this on to the Group Stage and the Final now. 

Liga Apertura. Semi Final Group. We start off well in the Semi's and I'm really keen to get some early wins on the board and give us some breathing space in the latter games. 

Copa Sudamericana. We've romped this Group and qualified with ease and assuming we can avoid Brazilians for a few rounds maybe we could go far in this competition. 

Copa Dimayor. We needed an injury-time goal and pens to do it, but we're into the next round. 

International call-ups. This is only a preliminary squad, and the good news is that the 1st 2 players on the list are only on loan and leaving us in June/July anyway, so this isn't quite the disaster it might be. I'm not sure how many of the other players are going to remain in the Final World Cup squad, so hopefully shouldn't hit us too hard. 

In the end, 6 were culled to 3, and only 1 of them, (30a) Torres (Driven) *, would be at the club for the 2nd half of the season. 

It brings to 9 the number of our Academy players in the Colombia National Team squad. 

Records.

The winning run actually finished on 14.

Goal-scoring GK's. A bit of a mixed bag this month. 1st of all (27d) Sierra (F.Pro) 5'11" missed from the spot against Fortaleza C.E.I.F. and as we were drawing 2-2 and it was the 94th min I thought he had cost us 2 points and our winning run, but then we get another pen in the 96th min and he steps up, slots home and he's gone from zero to hero in literally 2 mins. (28a) Pocarrero (F.Det) 6'2 * also missed from the spot, (against Millonarios), but we still won the game so no issues there. 

(24e) Ramos (Driven) 6'1" is 21/27 from the spot at 78%. (Is no longer at the club). 
Fontalvo 6'4" is 9/10 from the spot at 90%. (Is no longer at the club). 
(25b) Hyam (ENG)(IRL) 6'1" is 29/34 from the spot at 85%. (Is no longer at the club). 
(28a) Pocarrero (F.Det) 6'2 * is 6/7 from the spot at 86%. 
(29a) Tello (F.Sport) * is 2/2 from the spot at 100%. (On loan in the Colombian 2nd tier).
(31a) Díaz (F.Pro) 6'2" is 5/7 from the spot at 71%. (Is no longer at the club). 
(27d) Sierra (F.Pro) 5'11" is 4/6 at the spot at 67%.

Finances. 

[Rikulec]

Things seem to be coming along nicely this season. 

[Jimbokav1971]

46 minutes ago, Rikulec said:

Things seem to be coming along nicely this season. 

Yep. Really quite a pleasant surprise actually. We were awful last season and it almost cost me my job. My reaction was to sell our best and most experienced , (but also unhappy), players and just trust the youngsters, (who were happy just to play). We were better the 2nd half of last season, but this season they have just gone mental and over-performed enormously. I expect us to drop off a little in the 2nd half of the season when 2 of the players I sold, (1x MC & 1x SC loaned back for 12 months), finally leave, but even then I still think we will be fine. Taken more than a few little steps in the right direction over this period. 

Edited November 27, 2023 by Jimbokav1971

[Jimbokav1971]

Jun 2034.

Liga Apertura. Semi Final Group. I'm not sure if we have ever won all 6 of our Semi-Final Group games, but if we haven't then this is the closest we've got because we won the 1st 5 and then I rotated the squad completely to a new PA based XI just to rest everyone for the Finals. 

Liga Finalización Final. Are Millonarios and Atlético Nacional losing their dominance. They finished 7th and 8th in this league 

This says that we've won 3 league titles but it's more than that. Isn't it? Or have we only won 3? 

Liga Apertura. 2030 (won after finishing 2nd), 2031 (won after finishing 5th), 2034 (won after finishing 1st). 
Liga Finalización. 2027 (won after finishing 3rd), 2032 (won after finishing 1st). 

We 've actually won 5 titles, but this message is concentrating only on the Liga Apertura title, (which I think is an issue).

New contract. After last season's blip, the board have obviously forgiven me because they have offered me a new 5 year contract. 

International appearances. 

Goal-scoring GK's. (27d) Sierra (F.Pro) 5'11" made it 4 goals for the season, (and we've been awarded 8 pens in total). 

(24e) Ramos (Driven) 6'1" is 21/27 from the spot at 78%. (Is no longer at the club). 
Fontalvo 6'4" is 9/10 from the spot at 90%. (Is no longer at the club). 
(25b) Hyam (ENG)(IRL) 6'1" is 29/34 from the spot at 85%. (Is no longer at the club). 
(28a) Pocarrero (F.Det) 6'2 * is 6/7 from the spot at 86%. 
(29a) Tello (F.Sport) * is 2/2 from the spot at 100%. (On loan in the Colombian 2nd tier).
(31a) Díaz (F.Pro) 6'2" is 5/7 from the spot at 71%. (Is no longer at the club). 
(27d) Sierra (F.Pro) 5'11" is 5/7 at the spot at 71%.

Finances. 

[Jimbokav1971]

Jul 2034. 

Liga Finalización. When you consider that the loan-backs after we sold our 2 best players, (27b) Hoyos (Res) * & (24c) Suárez (F.Amb) * have expired, 4 consecutive 3-goal winning margins is quite an achievement. Add to that the opposition we played include América de Cali, (who have won their 3 other games so far), and Cortuluá, (who have remained unbeaten in their 3 other games). 

Transfers. The only significant transfer deals this month are the 2 loan-backs ending. 

Goal-scoring GK's.

Finances. 

[kandersson]

Catching up with the story and the progress already seems amazing. Can't help noticing that this year seems much tougher for goalscoring keepers? You got us used to crazy GK numbers 

I'm also a fan of the media comparison thing, colombian wonderkids are always a must for my brazilian saves and the next James Rodriguez seems to be the most common comparison. I did have a next Carlos Valderrama though sadly without the hairstyle. Still waiting for the next Higuita!

[Jimbokav1971]

10 minutes ago, kandersson said:

Catching up with the story and the progress already seems amazing. Can't help noticing that this year seems much tougher for goalscoring keepers? You got us used to crazy GK numbers 

I'm also a fan of the media comparison thing, colombian wonderkids are always a must for my brazilian saves and the next James Rodriguez seems to be the most common comparison. I did have a next Carlos Valderrama though sadly without the hairstyle. Still waiting for the next Higuita!

It's only tougher because there usually isn't 1 single player playing all the games at GK, (I think). So far in the save we've generally had at least 2 players playing games in GK during a season and sometimes up to 4 GK's making appearances in a season. We've actually been awarded 94 penalties in the save so far if we assume we've played 10.5 seasons, (it's just over), then that amounts to 8.9 pens taken per season, (which absolutely is lower than we have seen in previous versions of the game).

This isn't active right now for some reason. It could be that it was in there originally in previous versions, (I'm sure it was), but I also think the tactic has evolved over time in previous versions of the game and it could be that we just didn't have the set-piece dominance so I removed it, (rather than taking set-pieces and just pumping them into the box to a big man.... that doesn't exist by the way). 

And obviously there are no free-kicks because in order to allocate set-piece takers I have to take control of 100% of set-piece instructions and I wasn't initially keen on that. 

At the moment I have literally plugged in and played my old tactic from.... I think it was FM23. I haven't changed anything at all yet, but I have mentioned before that in this version of the ME the WB(a) roles seem to be much more influential and as a result they are often our big attacking outlets and they're too wide to win penalties. Once we start winning and I have to look for the next marginal game then free-kicks and adapting my ball-carriers from WB(a) to whatever the wide forwards, currently (PF(a) will become.

The other thing that I started to notice is that when you have 2x PF(a) duties in a front 3, what happens is that the AF(a) drops much more than has happened in previous versions of the game, (think Kane dropping deep with Son & Kulu running in behind), and it's not what I ever thought an AF(a) was going to do. It could be down to the attributed of the players concerned and simply that's where the space is, but if that's going to continue to happen on a regular basis then it means I have to think about the type of player I'm playing at SC

At the moment we've been producing so many strikers it's ridiculous, (or strikers and wingers to be more accurate because wingers just play as wide strikers). 

There are loads of things to be done yet, (I have honestly not scratched the surface of FM24), and I'm starting to think that rather than starting a new save, when I feel like I'm ready to leave Colombia I will simply look for a job in one of the smaller South American Nations. 

It's a shame that Bolivia, Venezuela, Paraguay & Ecuador are not in the game. (I was sure Paraguay were but obviously not). 

It means that Uruguay are likely to me my next Nation, (or whichever is ranked lowest at that time), and of course depending on what clubs are available. 

I've added the Brazilian 3rd tier as a playable league because I thought I had added all South American playable leagues at the outset, (although it's possible that it wasn't available in the Early Access/Beta). 

I'm personally really surprised that Peru is ranked so highly, but maybe that says more about my lack of knowledge than anything else. 

[Scribe]

I've just been catching up on this. Glad to see you getting a new contract after that blip. I've experienced similar managing Alloa in my Scottish save - having lots of unhappy players all training or playing poorly really started to put my job under threat. In the end I agreed to just sell them but now I'm left with a weaker team but the board expectations remaining high after some good years had meant I was always expected to win the league. It's a meant I've taken a bit of a change in approach in buying ready made players instead of youth to develop but you obviously don't have that option. Thankfully your youth conveyor belt just keeps rolling out player after player! 

[Jimbokav1971]

3 hours ago, Scribe said:

I've just been catching up on this. Glad to see you getting a new contract after that blip. I've experienced similar managing Alloa in my Scottish save - having lots of unhappy players all training or playing poorly really started to put my job under threat. In the end I agreed to just sell them but now I'm left with a weaker team but the board expectations remaining high after some good years had meant I was always expected to win the league. It's a meant I've taken a bit of a change in approach in buying ready made players instead of youth to develop but you obviously don't have that option. Thankfully your youth conveyor belt just keeps rolling out player after player! 

I was pleasantly surprised with the new contract, (and that it was so long). It certainly takes the pressure off a little although our form in the 1st half of this season seems to have resolved the issues with the board.

I would suggest that the impact that morale has on the game in general has increased, (although I'm obviously not 100% about this because I've just played this 1 save with 1 team in 1 nation). The fact that we can sell our best players and seemingly improve significantly certainly suggests that though, and to be completely honest I think that's a good thing, because in previous issues of the game I would just completely ignore morale and sign players to the longest possible contracts in Youth Only saves, safe in the knowledge that whatever negative impact their might be, would be significantly out-weighed by the benefit of the player both on the pitch and financially later in his contract. Making this harder for me, (and more realistic), is a positive step in my opinion, (despite making me work harder). 

Playing in Colombia actually makes the situation much easier to navigate because we only have to finish in the Top 8 to qualify for the Semi-Final Group, so there is lots of scope for rotation early in the season without it causing you significant problems with also winning the league title. 

I can understand why a slightly different approach might be needed in certain circumstances, (certainly thinking about by African save in Spain), but I guess I'm lucky that I've always preferred big squads anyway, and I should add that many of the games we've won have featured teenagers who are not anywhere near ready to play at this level yet, and the only reason that some of them reach the heights that they did is simply because I play them long before they are ready, (win, lose or draw). 

Our Youth conveyor belt does seem to keep producing, but only in certain area it seems. I think if I get more strikers and no centre-backs in this intake then I just might have to look at changing the HoYD, (and I don't know anything about him at all at this stage). I think he plays 3 at the back but not 100% positive and don't remember his personality. 

Would love someone decent who plays a 523 or even a 532. A diamond in midfield might also be an option, (with no wingers). I tend to wait until I hit a barrier that I need to do something to overcome though.

[Jimbokav1971]

Aug 2034. 

Liga Finalización. This looks decent form, but it becomes even more decent when you notice that all 4 games were away from home. When I point out that this was all the work of the 2nd Team, (because the 1st Team were playing 4 games in the Copa Sudamericana and a Quarter Final in the Copa Dimayor then it becomes even more impressive. 

Copa Sudamericana. It's really good to give Atlético Nacional a damn good hiding, because although earlier in the save Millonarios were certainly the dominant force in Colombian football, Atlético Nacional have certainly picked up that mantle in recent seasons. 

We play a Brazilian side in the Semi's and that's a touch unlucky as both the other 2 Semi-Finalists are from Argentina. I would have much preferred to play either of them. I really need to go and check what our record is in South American competition against opposition of a certain Nation. 

Copa Dimayor. What a game! 7 goals scored, (3 of them pens). 

Transfers. Only 1 actual transfer this month, but an outstanding clause came up pretty big for us. 

Records. 14 seconds is decent for anyone. For a WB it's ridiculous! 

Goal-scoring GK's. It's strange how things work in FM and as often is the case, the FM Gods were listening/reading when @kanderssonrecently commented about things being "tougher" for goal-scoring GK's in this episode of the game. (27d) Sierra (F.Pro) 5'11" obviously took great offence to this and took it as a personal slight on his character. He responded with 6 goals in 9 games this month, including a 1st hat-trick of FM24.  

On a slightly unrelated point, the stats here show just how influential our WB's are in this save. 8 key passes, 7 clear cut chances, 7 dribbles and 3 assists between them. The only outlier from other positions, (other than the GK scoring 3 goals), was the 5 dribbles by (29c) Cabal (Perfect) ** who played on the right hand side of a front 3. 

Being serious for a moment, I think at this early stage of the save, although we're obviously doing well, we haven't yet had players playing up front, (particularly win the wide forward areas), who have had the athletic ability to run past players and cause defenders to bring them down. We've had good players, but not the real athletic beasts most of us recognise as "cheat players". 

(29c) Cabal (Perfect) ** isn't a "cheat player yet, but he looking pretty good and this sort of player is obviously going to win pens. 

(24e) Ramos (Driven) 6'1" is 21/27 from the spot at 78%. (Is no longer at the club). 
Fontalvo 6'4" is 9/10 from the spot at 90%. (Is no longer at the club). 
(25b) Hyam (ENG)(IRL) 6'1" is 29/34 from the spot at 85%. (Is no longer at the club). 
(28a) Pocarrero (F.Det) 6'2 * is 6/7 from the spot at 86%. 
(29a) Tello (F.Sport) * is 2/2 from the spot at 100%. (On loan in the Colombian 2nd tier).
(31a) Díaz (F.Pro) 6'2" is 5/7 from the spot at 71%. (Is no longer at the club). 
(27d) Sierra (F.Pro) 5'11" is 11/13 at the spot at 85%.

Finances. We've got over £19M in the bank now and we're starting to really churn some decent players out. I just really want some centre-backs over the next few years because that's the only area we're struggling in. We have loads of strikers. (We could also do with a DL/WBL too). 

Edited November 29, 2023 by Jimbokav1971

[kandersson]

Well done Sierra and Cabal looks like the next Faustino Asprilla 

[Jimbokav1971]

20 minutes ago, kandersson said:

Well done Sierra and Cabal looks like the next Faustino Asprilla 

You must have missed that he has popped from (F.Det) to (Perfect) personality. 

[Jimbokav1971]

Bad Trainer. Oct 2034. 

Remember (27a) Pacheco (Real) BadTrain* who hated me and I had issues that I was unable to resolve with regards his poor training performances? 

His training performances might not have been great, but he's playing performances have been decent. 

Edited November 29, 2023 by Jimbokav1971

[Jimbokav1971]

Sep 2034. 

Liga Finalización. We just keep marching on in the league. The 2nd Team are playing particularly well and we have some players developing really nicely. 

Copa Dimayor. We hold a narrow lead going into the away leg so a draw will see us through. 

Records. We've won 28 and drawn 2 of our last 30 league games. 

Not that it means anything, but we're 34 points clear of 2nd in the Overall League Table. 
Atlético Nacional are 44 points back in 3rd.
Millonarios are 63 points back in 8th. 

Goal-scoring GK's. After 6 converted pens last month from 9 games, nothing at all this month from 8 games. 

Finances. 

[Atrux]

On 28/11/2023 at 14:28, Jimbokav1971 said:

It's only tougher because there usually isn't 1 single player playing all the games at GK, (I think). So far in the save we've generally had at least 2 players playing games in GK during a season and sometimes up to 4 GK's making appearances in a season. We've actually been awarded 94 penalties in the save so far if we assume we've played 10.5 seasons, (it's just over), then that amounts to 8.9 pens taken per season, (which absolutely is lower than we have seen in previous versions of the game).

This isn't active right now for some reason. It could be that it was in there originally in previous versions, (I'm sure it was), but I also think the tactic has evolved over time in previous versions of the game and it could be that we just didn't have the set-piece dominance so I removed it, (rather than taking set-pieces and just pumping them into the box to a big man.... that doesn't exist by the way). 

And obviously there are no free-kicks because in order to allocate set-piece takers I have to take control of 100% of set-piece instructions and I wasn't initially keen on that. 

At the moment I have literally plugged in and played my old tactic from.... I think it was FM23. I haven't changed anything at all yet, but I have mentioned before that in this version of the ME the WB(a) roles seem to be much more influential and as a result they are often our big attacking outlets and they're too wide to win penalties. Once we start winning and I have to look for the next marginal game then free-kicks and adapting my ball-carriers from WB(a) to whatever the wide forwards, currently (PF(a) will become.

The other thing that I started to notice is that when you have 2x PF(a) duties in a front 3, what happens is that the AF(a) drops much more than has happened in previous versions of the game, (think Kane dropping deep with Son & Kulu running in behind), and it's not what I ever thought an AF(a) was going to do. It could be down to the attributed of the players concerned and simply that's where the space is, but if that's going to continue to happen on a regular basis then it means I have to think about the type of player I'm playing at SC

At the moment we've been producing so many strikers it's ridiculous, (or strikers and wingers to be more accurate because wingers just play as wide strikers). 

There are loads of things to be done yet, (I have honestly not scratched the surface of FM24), and I'm starting to think that rather than starting a new save, when I feel like I'm ready to leave Colombia I will simply look for a job in one of the smaller South American Nations. 

It's a shame that Bolivia, Venezuela, Paraguay & Ecuador are not in the game. (I was sure Paraguay were but obviously not). 

It means that Uruguay are likely to me my next Nation, (or whichever is ranked lowest at that time), and of course depending on what clubs are available. 

I've added the Brazilian 3rd tier as a playable league because I thought I had added all South American playable leagues at the outset, (although it's possible that it wasn't available in the Early Access/Beta). 

I'm personally really surprised that Peru is ranked so highly, but maybe that says more about my lack of knowledge than anything else. 

What might be interesting, No Peruvian team ever won the Copa Libertadores.

[Jimbokav1971]

Youth Intake preview. Oct 2034. 

I've stopped posting these recently because.... well what's the point really, but there is an idea I've had in my head that I want to keep an eye on so I thought I would post about it. 

There is some contrary information here in that the highest letter rating we've got in the intake is C, but the overall rating of the intake is Excellent 5.0. It's possible that they can both be correct, but only if they are rating different things. 

I "think" that the letter rating relates to the CA of the intake, and the star rating relates to the PA of the intake, so this intake seems to be great as far as I'm concerned, (but we will have to wait and see I guess). 

3x DC's is good. 
3x MC's is good. 
Only 1 SC is ok. 
2x AMC 2x AMR 1 ML & 1x MR isn't great at all. 

[Jimbokav1971]

Oct 2034.

Liga Finalización. We just keep on crunching out the results and despite América de Cali only losing 1 game in this 2nd phase, we still lead them by 7 points with 1 game to play. 

Copa Sudamericana. I'm so gutted about this. We were poor in the 1st leg but I thought we had done enough to get the job done in the 2nd half. 

Copa Dimayor. We're into the Final where we will play our old friends Millonarios. 

Records.

Goal-scoring GK's. Damn right he will take another pen. 

The penalty taken by (27d) Sierra (F.Pro) 5'11" doesn't count as a missed penalty because it wouldn't have counted as a goal had he scored it. 

Finances. 

[Jimbokav1971]

1 hour ago, Atrux said:

What might be interesting, No Peruvian team ever won the Copa Libertadores.

I didn't know that. Thanks for the info. I can see that there has been quite a varied history of winners in the past though. 

[Jimbokav1971]

Nov 2034. 

Liga Finalización. We had already qualified for the Semi-Final Group well in advance, so I chose to field a really weakened side in the last proper league game, and we were 4-0 down before we started playing. This game means nothing though, (because we have already qualified), and it serves well as an opportunity to rest our regular players and pick some real youngsters and those who might be short of fitness for whatever reason. Even though we lost, this is still a worthwhile exercise because it freshens things up nicely just before the business end of the season, and it's always great to offer debuts to youngsters before they're ready. 

Liga Apertura. Semi Final Group. We romped this Semi-Final Group and if you look at the goal-scorers in the last game against Bogotá FC you will see a new 16 year old GK in there and a (34) player who scored the other goal is also 16. 9 of the starting XI were teenagers and more than that 6 of them were 17 or under. My plan was to just rest/rotate players having already won the Group, (and I expected to lose), but I hadn't counted on Bogotá FC being rubbish. So rubbish in fact, that despite qualifying for the Semi-Final Group, they have also been relegated! 

Copa Dimayor. I was pretty confidant going into this because Millonarios had an awful Liga Finalización campaign and finished down in 15th. 

Records. 

Goal-scoring GK's. 23 year old (27d) Sierra (F.Pro) 5'11" scored 2 goals at the start of this month, but the real shock was 16 year old (33e) Bermúdez (Amb) 6'3" * scoring a brace, (and keeping a clean sheet), on his debut in the last game of the Semi-Final Group against Bogotá FC.

Inspired by @kandersson  (27d) Sierra (F.Pro) 5'11" has now scored 12 penalties from 13 attempts this season, (the 1st time we have hit double figure goals in a season in this save), and youngster (33e) Bermúdez (Amb) 6'3" * has also chipped in with 2. Having taken 15 penalties this season is a far more reasonable number than what went before, and as mentioned in recent months I think it's related to now just having players who are more capable of carrying the ball into dangerous areas. 

(24e) Ramos (Driven) 6'1" is 21/27 from the spot at 78%. (Is no longer at the club). 
Fontalvo 6'4" is 9/10 from the spot at 90%. (Is no longer at the club). 
(25b) Hyam (ENG)(IRL) 6'1" is 29/34 from the spot at 85%. (Is no longer at the club). 
(28a) Pocarrero (F.Det) 6'2 * is 6/7 from the spot at 86%. 
(29a) Tello (F.Sport) * is 2/2 from the spot at 100%. (On loan in the Colombian 2nd tier).
(31a) Díaz (F.Pro) 6'2" is 5/7 from the spot at 71%. (Is no longer at the club). 
(27d) Sierra (F.Pro) 5'11" is 12/13 from the spot at 92%.
(33e) Bermúdez (Amb) 6'3" * is 2/2 from the spot at 100%.

Finances.

[Scribe]

16 hours ago, Jimbokav1971 said:

Youth Intake preview. Oct 2034. 

I've stopped posting these recently because.... well what's the point really, but there is an idea I've had in my head that I want to keep an eye on so I thought I would post about it. 

There is some contrary information here in that the highest letter rating we've got in the intake is C, but the overall rating of the intake is Excellent 5.0. It's possible that they can both be correct, but only if they are rating different things. 

I "think" that the letter rating relates to the CA of the intake, and the star rating relates to the PA of the intake, so this intake seems to be great as far as I'm concerned, (but we will have to wait and see I guess). 

3x DC's is good. 
3x MC's is good. 
Only 1 SC is ok. 
2x AMC 2x AMR 1 ML & 1x MR isn't great at all. 

Interesting theory - will be interested to see how it pans out!

[Jimbokav1971]

12 minutes ago, Scribe said:

Interesting theory - will be interested to see how it pans out!

It was what I had sort of decided was happening at the end of FM23, but in order to know one way or the other I really need to start looking at CA/PA values on Intake day and I don't want to do that in this save. Anything else is just guesswork.