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

[Jimbokav1971]

Aug 2023. 

First Division. 2nd Phase. When you have a run of form this bad, the only thing to do is save, exit the game and try again tomorrow. 

Transfers. 

I didn't actually sell either Moreno HG or Parra 6'0" HG. They actually agreed to leave on a free at the end of their contracts and I just took some loose change in return for them leaving now rather than later. 

Goal-scoring GK's. We need to add 5 goals scored from 6 penalties taken by Parra 6'0" HG to the list. Fontalvo 6'4" now has a brace of his own. 

Finances. 

[Etothe2power]

2 hours ago, Jimbokav1971 said:

Aug 2023. 

First Division. 2nd Phase. When you have a run of form this bad, the only thing to do is save, exit the game and try again tomorrow. 

Transfers. 

I didn't actually sell either Moreno HG or Parra 6'0" HG. They actually agreed to leave on a free at the end of their contracts and I just took some loose change in return for them leaving now rather than later. 

Goal-scoring GK's. We need to add 5 goals scored from 6 penalties taken by Parra 6'0" HG to the list. Fontalvo 6'4" now has a brace of his own. 

Finances. 

Things are going about as well in your save as the IRL Envigado  

[Jimbokav1971]

7 hours ago, Etothe2power said:

Things are going about as well in your save as the IRL Envigado  

What do you mean? WE won 3-0 last night! 

You're right though, and I must admit I did look at this on Day 1 when I started the save. Not looking good, (bit there is always the 3 year average to save them!) 

[Jimbokav1971]

Review Time. Sep 2023. 

Support from the Board and Fans is as you would expect, but strangely I seem to have very little support from the players. 

This could possibly because many of the senior players are out of contract shortly, (and many even already agreed deals to leave), but it's actually been there for quite a while. You could be forgiven for thinking that this relates to our recent poor run of form, (5 losses from 7 games in August), but actually I have been keeping an eye on it and although the Dressing Room Atmosphere has been better, the Managerial Support has stayed pretty close to this, (albeit in a little bit of credit). 

In a normal save I try to speed through the 1st season so fast that I don't really notice, (or care), about stuff like this, but I've put in significantly more effort into this 1st season than I do in most of my 1st season in saves. Will be interesting to see how/if this improves over the 2nd half of the season and into next season. 

[Thebaker]

1 hour ago, Jimbokav1971 said:

Review Time. Sep 2023. 

strangely I seem to have very little support from the players. 

 

This seems to relate to your reputation compared to them. I started in france with no qualifications and after 7 games and only 7 points the players were telling me they would never support me and i should quit now, my telling them we were all in it together made it worse! Board sacked me giving poor support as a reason.

The player personalities and determination levels probably also made a difference as they were lowish. Restarted in Portugal and the players there also have poor support for me although its slightly better as the club is smaller and presumably lower rep players.

[Jimbokav1971]

2 minutes ago, Thebaker said:

This seems to relate to your reputation compared to them. I started in france with no qualifications and after 7 games and only 7 points the players were telling me they would never support me and i should quit now, my telling them we were all in it together made it worse! Board sacked me giving poor support as a reason.

The player personalities and determination levels probably also made a difference as they were lowish. Restarted in Portugal and the players there also have poor support for me although its slightly better as the club is smaller and presumably lower rep players.

Yeah, good point. 

This could be quite normal and how they game has always/is intended worked. I usually start off with no badges and Sunday League experience in a tiny club, so I'm  not used to this at all. 

[Jimbokav1971]

Board Takeover. Sep 2023.

I'm not sure this makes much difference. A transfer embargo wouldn't hurt us at the moment and the best case scenario would be a consolidation of debts into a loan. 

What I really don't want is a demanding Tycoon or something like that. 

[Jimbokav1971]

Form. Sep 2023. 

If some of you are wondering about our rather sudden dip in form from the 1st Phase to the 2nd Phase, there is a very good reason for it. 

In the 1st Phase we only lost 5 games out of 20, and we were the top scorers in the league. 

In the 1st Phase Semi Final Group we won 3 and lost 3, (and I'm fine with that). 

We started well in the 2nd Phase, but we have really struggled since than and before our last game we had lost 6 of the last 7. 

Hopefully we have stopped the rot and will improve a little from here on, but I just wanted to explain why. 

At the beginning of the season I created 2 Saved Team selections, but for whatever reason, (a suspension after every 3 bookings is a big one). I was unable to rotate from 1 Saved Team to another, and it was more a mics-mash of whoever was available for each game. 

We had loads of players and it took me an awful long time to work out who we wanted to keep, who we were able to keep and who we already had signed up beyond the end of this season. 

This is the 1st Saved Team selection from the beginning of the season, you will see that there are a few absences. 

• Parra 6'0" HG was by four our best GK, (and had contributed 5 goals for us), but he has moved to Argentina and all we got was £100k.
• Moreno HG was our best MC, (and probably best player), and he has moved to Saudi, and again all we got for him was £100k.
• Mosquera was our top goal-scorer when he left, (9 goals in 24(3) appearances), and he has gone to Argentina for £350k. 

There are others in this team who are still here, but who I'm not playing because their contract is expiring at the end of the Season, and because they won't be here next season, I'm choosing to give game-time to younger players who will be. I simply couldn't afford to keep everyone and some tough choices had to be made. Rather than continuing our good form this season I have decided to take a little step back and blood the youngsters who will be here. I didn't expect our form to fall of a cliff as it has done, but I think it will stand us in good stead for next season when these young players will have already gained some much-needed experience. 

• Of the 1st choice starting XI shown below, only JM.Zapata and Banguera 6'4" are currently staying on past the end of the season, (although I am still negotiating.  

This is how we're planning to look for next season, and even then there are a few questions that remain to be answered. 

• Rodallega HG isn't staying, but he's so good I just can't bring myself to freeze him out completely. 
• Rodríguez HG hasn't signed a new contract yet, but I'm doing everything I can to get him to stay. 
• Palacio 5'10" HG isn't contracted beyond the Summer but I'm trying. 

It's not all bad news though. 

As a result of me deciding who was staying and who was leaving, Banguera 6'4" moved from DRC to DC and the transformation has been nothing short of remarkable. He's made 36(2) appearances this season, contributing 9 goals and 2 assists, but 7 of the goals and 1 of the assists have come in his last 12 games since I swapped him from DRC to Libero at DC. 

[Jimbokav1971]

Sep 2023. 

First Division. 2nd Phase. We're very hit and miss at the moment. 

The 2nd Phase table shows us down in 10th, but we're still only 1 point off 8th and that's all we need to qualify for the Semi-Final Group Stage. 

The Full League Table shows us in 6th, but we have a game in hand on all above us and I think we are likely to have to finish in the Top 8 to have Continental football next season. 

Finances. Come on El Presidente. Where are ya!

[Jimbokav1971]

Youth Intake preview. Oct 2023.

I think I will reserve judgement until they arrive. 

[Jimbokav1971]

Amazing new feature.   Nov 2023. 

I love this. 

I really love this. 

I REALLY love this. 

The Top 7 clubs on the list have a "Star Graduate" and then they each have 3 "additional star graduates. 

Man City
Barca
Chelsea
Benfica
Salzburg
Sporting
PSG

Then the 8th and 9th club have 2 additional star graduates and then the 10th club go back to having 3. (I wonder how this is calculated). 

Genk
Independiente del Valle (Ecuador)
Real Madrid

Let's use Man City as the 1st example. 

[Jimbokav1971]

Oct 2023. 

First Division. 2nd Phase. A decent month, only spoiled by a narrow away loss to Jaguares. 

I personally think we've been really poor in the 2nd half of the season, but the fact that we have either won or drawn, (0 losses), has sort of kept us in the mix. Going into the last regular league game of the season, (away to7th placed La Equidad), we're just 1 point off the leaders and only behind 2nd on goal difference). The top 5 are all separated by just 2 points though but we can't fall out of the top 8 now, (even if we lose our last game), so I think our Semi Final spot is secure. 

Astonishingly it appears as if we have already secured 4th place in the overall league, and we are therefore guaranteed Continental football of some sort next season. 

Goal-scoring GK's. No goals scored this month, but Fontalvo 6'4" did see a penalty saved against Independiente Santa Fe, so he's now 3/4 ar 75% for the season. 

Finances. The dept is now £2M+..... 

[Jimbokav1971]

Nov & Dec 2023. 

First Division. 2nd Phase. We sneaked this game 1-0 despite seeing our GK get injured, (red injury), in the 81st minute, and as I don't use a sub GK an outfield player had to go in goal and he saw us through. Unfortunately Fontalvo 6'4" has torn wrist ligaments and will be out for 6-7 weeks, (so that's the season done for him and he will play no part in the Sem Final Group games. 

I immediately brought Daniel Melo 6'0" back from loan, and as soon as he arrived back he told me that he's leaving on a free at the end of next season. 

And it appears as if I've completely screwed the pooch on that one because although he's back, he's obviously not registered so I obviously can't play him. 

We missed out on winning the 2nd Phase league on goal difference, but whether you finish 1st or 8th makes no difference, because it simply wins you entry into the Semi Final Group Phase. 

We currently sit 3rd in the overall table, and it appears that this table includes all the Semi Final Group games, so we could potentially even sneak above Deportivo Cali if things go for us. 

Unión Magdalena might have finished 8 points clear of Atlético Bucaramanga, but you can see why they were relegated. 

We did really well in the Run-in as our young squad started to gel and improve together, but by the end we were starting our 5th and 6th choice midfielders and our 4th choice GK and it's hard to compete against proper squads being paid proper money. 

The Final was not actually lost in the 3-1 away 2nd leg defeat, but the narrow 4-3 win at home. We should have won much more comfortably but we were battered with injuries and the truth is that we were just not good enough to win with so many players unavailable and had we won it would have seemed a little ridiculous to me. 

It means that we finished 3rd in the Overall League Table and I would have bitten your arm off for the chance of this at the start of the season. 

Records. How do you bring a winning run to an end? Post about it.  It actually lasted 8 gamed in the end, and we went 11 unbeaten at this time so I can't complain. 

Goal-scoring GK's. No goals scored during the run-in, and with Fontalvo 6'4" injured, Daniel Melo 6'0" unavailable even after I recalled him from loan, and Santiago Asprilla 6'2" still on loan, we were forced to play 17 year old Andrés Tovar 6'0" in the last 8 games of the season. 

Finances. Well £28k isn't going to go very far, (but then again, neither did we).  Millonarios beat Junior on pens after a boring 0-0 in the Final. 

[Thebaker]

You might want to reconsider not having a sub GK as GK injuries in match are pretty common in the beta from what i can tell, i've had 3 in the 25 games i've played and it looks like others on the forum have had a few.

Did you get any money from the league at all, if not those finances are looking scary. Does the team have any fans?

[Jimbokav1971]

Wages. Jan 2024. 

We were spending £59,407 pm before all the players left at the end of the season. 

Clauses. This was a nice little present that I wasn't expecting. We basically get £7,750 + £61,000 + £55,000 = £123,750 that I can transfer from the Transfer Budget to the wage budget. 

We have 6 players with clauses outstanding and El Presidente has done deals for 2 of them. 

Daniel Londoño HG is 29 and usually I would look to sell the clause now, but he has 2 years left on his contract and a Saudi club are interested. I think it's worth waiting and seeing if the deal goes through and hope it goes through for more than £600,000 which would generate us £120,000 profit. 

Mosquera is our 1st nice little payday. We sold him for just £350k(£400k) and now we can cash in immediately for £626k cash. I will absolutely be doing this. 

After all the players leave on a free, this is our wage spend/budget. 

We're spending just £43,409 of a £71,262, (after I transferred most of the Transfer Budget over to wages but leaving £185,609 simply because there is no way I can see us spending all the £71k wage budget so what's the point? It leaves us with an available wage surplus of £27,853 per week, (and that's enormous!).

Cash/Claused Transfers. This is only showing as £550k, but obviously we sold clauses too which isn't included in this. 

Loans. 

Free Transfers.

Released. 

It means that at the end of the season, (I think we're about to tick over seasons any day now), we're £700k in the red, (which doesn't sound too bad when you consider it was up at about £2M+ at one point), but when you consider that we had £1.6M in the bank at this stage last season it doesn't seem quite so good. 

[Jimbokav1971]

4 minutes ago, Thebaker said:

You might want to reconsider not having a sub GK as GK injuries in match are pretty common in the beta from what i can tell, i've had 3 in the 25 games i've played and it looks like others on the forum have had a few.

Yeah I did wonder about that. It's just happened once so far so I think I will stick with it, (no GK on bench), for the time being, but if starts happening more and more then I will have to reconsider. 

[Jimbokav1971]

U19's. Jan 2024.

Our youngsters scored a LOT of goals. 

There are 5 Groups rather than 2 at this level, and although we romped our group, we were beaten in the 2-legged Semi-Final on pens. 

Our players were 1st and 2nd top goal-scorers at this level. 

Ramírez HG scored 25 goals and 5 assists in 22(2) appearances at this level, and also scored 1 goal in 3(2) senior appearances for the 1st Team. He was on a Youth contract but I have just signed him to a 3+2 deal. 

Bonilla HG scored 24 goals and 4 assists in 22(4) appearances, but is yet to make his senior debut. He's on a 2+1 deal.

Mesa HG is the player that really caught my eye though. He scored 14 goals and 13 assists for the U20's, but in the 2nd half of the season he played for the Senior Team where he contributed 7 assists in 21 appearances. He's signed on a 2+1 deal. 

[Jimbokav1971]

Reputation. Jan 2034. 

There doesn't appear to be much difference between the Continental and the National Rep sides in Colombia. 

[Jimbokav1971]

5 minutes ago, Thebaker said:

Did you get any money from the league at all, if not those finances are looking scary. Does the team have any fans?

I'm honestly not sure. I certainly haven't seen anything, (although it's possible that it's about to come through now). I still haven't had a Youth Intake yet so still some things not been triggered but I think that's due any day now. 

In terms of income..... I don't understand how our income from players sold this month can be greater than our income from players sold this season, (as we haven't tripped on to the next season yet) 

In terms of TV revenue we received £416k all in last season, but so far we've only received £25,890 this season, (and I'm expecting it to be more than last season because of how far we progressed in the 2nd Semi Final Stage. 

I'm going to hold of posting this for a little but in the hope that it gets updated and the game announced who has qualified for what Continental competition. 

Obviously I'm also waiting for the Youth Intake, (which is happening at some point in Jan). 

We've ticked over to the 2nd season and I've just got this message, but still nothing related to prize money. 

I'm a but concerned that we also haven't had our Youth Intake yet. 

The save started in Dec 2022 and we're now half way through Jan 2024 and no Youth Intake. 

[albertluque]

I feel first intakes will always be in 2024, regardless of when you start. On 23, they were always in 2023 when your save starts in 2022. The first year brings nothing.

[Jimbokav1971]

Continental Competition. Jan 2024. 

There still hasn't been an announcement as to who has qualified for what Continental Competition, (and there is nothing shown on last seasons league table or this seasons), but we have just received this. 

Blooming, (never heard of them), are from Bolivia. 

[Edit]

And now we're getting drawn into a Group Stage, despite that we have 2 play 2 opponents and 4 games to get there. 

Copa Libertadores. 

 

Edited October 22, 2023 by Jimbokav1971

[Jimbokav1971]

3 minutes ago, albertluque said:

I feel first intakes will always be in 2024, regardless of when you start. On 23, they were always in 2023 when your save starts in 2022. The first year brings nothing.

Yeah, that makes sense., (because there was no Intake preview to work from and the players would have simply been created at the outset anyway), but as it goes on and on I'm getting more and more worried. I'm just not used to going 13 months without an intake and it's stressing me out. 

[Jimbokav1971]

We have an intake...... 

[Rikulec]

4* CA at this level? I think you might have a real wonderkid there. 

[kandersson]

Do we have the next Higuita or at least the next Oscar Cordoba or maybe the next Faryd Mondragon? 

[Jimbokav1971]

2 hours ago, kandersson said:

Do we have the next Higuita or at least the next Oscar Cordoba or maybe the next Faryd Mondragon? 

You know what I love about your post? I have never heard of either Oscar Cordoba or Faryd Mondragon. 

Cordoba loved a signing bonus it seems. 

So does Faryd Mondragon it seems. 

If my bloke has even 1 Senior International Cap I will be more than happy. There is no chance he's 50+ Caps sort of quality at this stage with our reputation what it is. 

[Edit]

I've just realised that I haven't posted the full Youth Intake post yet and you don't actually know that he's a GK. 

He is indeed a GK!  

 

Edited October 22, 2023 by Jimbokav1971

[Jimbokav1971]

2 hours ago, Rikulec said:

4* CA at this level? I think you might have a real wonderkid there. 

I think he he might be one that flatters to deceive. All CA and no PA. (All mouth and no trousers). 

His Driven personality and great starting CA certainly gives him a chance. 

[Jimbokav1971]

Youth Intake day. Jan 2024. 

There is some contrasting info here. 

We have 3x "A" players, 5x Elite talents, yet it's classed as a "poor" intake. It was this rating that I took more notice of in FM23. 

 

[ToMexico!!]

Gomez and Ramos look great for a first intake in Colombia. 

Sherman Cardenas was another Colombian FM favourite from back in the day. Think he started at Bucaramanga? 

[Jimbokav1971]

1 hour ago, ToMexico!! said:

Sherman Cardenas was another Colombian FM favourite from back in the day. Think he started at Bucaramanga? 

Sherdan Cardenas isn't one that rings bells for me.

If we're talking about Colombian Wonderkids rather than top Colombian GK's, then I feel I have to big straight away and re-introduce everyone to Freddy Guarin, (who actually started here). He is at least someone I have managed in CM/FM back in the day. 

Edited October 22, 2023 by Jimbokav1971

[Jimbokav1971]

1 hour ago, ToMexico!! said:

Gomez and Ramos look great for a first intake in Colombia. 

I will have to take your word for it because I obviously have nothing to compare it to. 

We now have 18x 5.0 PA players at the club, none of whom are older than 21 and 14 of whom are teenagers. 

Only 5 of them have single figure Det values.

(24e) Ramos (Driven) 6'1" has an enormous advantage over and above his PA because he started with such a good CA, but also he had a good personality, (Driven), and is immediately the best GK at the club so will be 1st choice at 15 years old. 

(24a) Gómez (Bal) 6'5" is obviously coming from a lower starting point with just 2.0 CA, but I think he should be rated at higher than 2.0 CA and I won't have an issue throwing him into the Senior squad, especially so when we rotate the squad at times. With the addition of Continental football, that shouldn't be an issue, (although I suppose that depends how long we stay in). 

In contrast, I think (24b) Zárate (Cas) is likely to struggle to develop simply because of his personality, but also what appears to be a low starting CA, and simply the number of options we have in this area. 

[Jimbokav1971]

Achievements. Jan 2024. 

Now that we've got our 1st intake out of the way, let's take a look at the achievements that we've managed to trigger. 

[Jimbokav1971]

Jan 2024. 

First Division. 1st Phase. 2 wins to start the season doesn't seem that much of a surprise after our performances last season, but when you consider that Junior finished 7th in the Overall League last season and Alianza Petrolera finished 5th in the Overall League last season, then perhaps it's worthy of a little more consideration. We have started the season very well. 

Rodríguez HG scored a hat-trick this month so he deserves some exposure. He almost left us at the end of last season and negotiating his contract was tough but we got there in the end. He contributed 15 goals and 11 assists last season, (which was great), but I expect him to absolutely obliterate this season. (I'm thinking 20+20 minimum). He plays on the right, (or left), of a 3 up front and is pretty versatile. I even might be tempted to throw him into central midfield if we were really stretched. 

Goal-scoring GK's. Unfortunately (24e) Ramos (Driven) 6'1" hadn't signed his contract in time for him to play in our 1st game, and then when Fontalvo 6'4" kept a clean sheet and we won our opener 3-0 I didn't have the heart to drop him. Thankfully he conceded 2 goals in our 2nd game, (he actually had a decent game), but that's him dropped now and (24e) Ramos (Driven) 6'1" will be our permanent #1. 

Finances. I'm trying to just ignore the finances. Let's see how playing in Europe helps us, (and we really won't know until we start qualifying for the Group stages), but in any case (24c) Suárez (F.Amb) was immediately worth  after signing pre-contract terms with us, (24e) Ramos (Driven) 6'1" was worth , and (24a) Gómez (Bal) 6'5" , so I think there are certainly signs that we can make Youth Production a profitable venture in Colombia. 

[Jimbokav1971]

Takeover completed. Feb 2024. 

As expected they've consolidated our debt so we're back in credit. 

We're back in credit, but only because we've now got a loan of £1.3M repayable over 10 years at £12,500 per month. 

[Jimbokav1971]

Feb 2024. 

First Division. 1st Phase. We've had to rotate players in league games because our priority has been the Copa Libertadores. As a result we've dropped points that we probably wouldn't otherwise. 

Copa Libertadores. I really didn't know what to expect from our 1st foray into South American Continental competition, but I certainly wasn't expecting 13 goals scored and only 2 conceded as we qualify for the Group Stages. 

Records.

Goal-scoring GK's. I haven't been able to select (24e) Ramos (Driven) 6'1" for the Copa Libertadores because he signed his contract after I had registered the squad for these games. so he's been playing in league games and Fontalvo 6'4" has been playing in Continental games. 

Finances. 

[Jimbokav1971]

NxGn 2024. 

Well this is a nice surprise. 

He had an ok 1st half of the season last year, but after I moved from DLC to Libero at DC he was phenomenal and I think either 9 or even 10 of his 11 goals came after the swap. 

[Jimbokav1971]

Mar 2024. 

1st Division. 1st Phase. I was going to say that we're in awful form, but we're actually not. We're just getting awful results. We've been absolutely decimated by injuries and only 1 of our 1sty choice front 3 has been available and it's just been a tough month all round what with injuries, 6 league games and 2 Copa Libertadores games too. The players have either been injured or knackered and there seem to be very few partnerships available right now. It will take time to build that again after so many players left in the close-season. 

Copa Libertadores. We were unlucky not to get anything out of the Club Atlético Lanús (ARG) game, but INTernacional (BRA) were too good for us and shows us how far we need to go to compete with the best at this level. 

Goal-scoring GK's. We had 1 pen this month and although (24e) Ramos (Driven) 6'1" got it on target it was saved.  He's 0/1 at 0%.

Finances. This is a marked change from last season and although I expect it all to vanish over the course of the season, I do think it will at least cover most of the monthly debt we build up. 

Our income line looks rather impressive. 

Prize money is the big one where we have already been awarded £3.3M compared to just £28,000 last season. 
Gate receipts is also up hugely though. £1.2M after just 3 months of the season compared to just £460k over the whole season last year. 
Sponsorship is up by about 15% year on year. 

[Jimbokav1971]

Apr 2024. 

First Division. 1st Phase. What a difference a month makes. As rubbish as our results were last season, they were contrastingly good this month. We weren't amazing, but we started to get players back and and I just made sure that I rotated every single game and didn't play any 1st Teamers, (apart from the GK), in the Copa Libertadores games. The mixture of fresh players, injured players starting to return from injury, and being able to field established partnerships/relationships on the field just gave us the edge over our opponents. 

Copa Libertadores. I completely sacrificed these games in favour of our league games and I make absolutely no apology for it. 

Attendances. I was surprised to look at our income from gate receipts last month and I thought I would have a bit more of a look. 

Although we have a capacity of 14,000 for League games at least it's limited to just 5,000 (and I'm not sure why). 

Last season we had 2 sell-outs in the 1st Phase. 

There was only 1 sell-out in the 2nd Phase, (and that was the Final of the Semi's).

Our attendances in the Cup last season were a little lower than the league, but still reasonable. 

There have been no sell-outs in the league, (at home) so far this season, but both Independiente and Nacional were played away in the 1st Phase this season so that makes sense. 

We've only played 5 home games in the Copa Libertadores and the attendances while decent, are certainly not amazing and don't explain how our income from gate receipts is more last month than it was for the whole of last season. 

Are we just charging more for tickets under the new El Presidente? It's possible I suppose. 

This is the situation now. 

And if I go back to an old save I can show you that this was the situation near the start of the save, (on 1st Feb 2023). 

It just doesn't make sense..... Unless of course clubs share the gate receipts home & away in the Copa Libertadores. 

Goal-scoring GK's. He's finally off the mark after 20 appearances, (and 1 failure from the spot). (24e) Ramos (Driven) 6'1" is 1 from 2 at 50%. 

Finances. 

[Jimbokav1971]

May 2024.

First Division. 1st Phase. We finished the 1st Phase surprisingly 3rd in the league, despite having lost 7 of 20 games. They key, (like last season, is not drawing many games). 

First Division. 1st Phase. Semi Final Group A. 

Deportivo Cali might have finished top of the table, but we despatched them straight away in the 1st game of the Semi Group. 

Copa Libertadores. A good result, but it was a long time in the making. 

Colombian Cup.

New contract. New 3 year deal. 

Goal-scoring GK's. Although we've been awarded 3 penalties this month, (and all 3 shots were on target), only 1 of them ended up in the back of the net. (24e) Ramos (Driven) 6'1" is now 2/5 from the spot at 40%. 

Finances. 

[Jimbokav1971]

Jun 2024. 

First Division. 1st Phase. Semi Final Group A. A 6th min sending off against Deportivo Cali just about summed up this month. We were good in both the Boyacá Chicó ties and should have won, but in fact we won neither and somehow missed out on topping the Group from what was a really comfortable position. 

Goal-scoring GK's. I think the fact that we have only been awarded 5 penalties in 32 games, (it's actually 34 games this season), shows that we're nowhere near the levels of dominance I was used to in my FM23 Kosovo save, (or even the Spanish/African FM23 save). We're competitive at the top of the table with the big clubs, but I think the demands on the bigger teams, (in terms of the Copa Libertadores). No goals this month. 

Finances. 

[Jimbokav1971]

Jul 2034. 

Good News. I have finally had enough of Brazilian name abbreviations, (or in SI speak AD ENUF OV SHRT NMS), so I have sorted the real name FIX so the Brazilians now look like this.

Bad News.

The Colombian First Division. is now called the Liga Dimayor.
The First Division. 1st Phase. is now called Liga Apertura.
The First Division. 1st Phase. Semi Final Group. is now called the Liga Apertura. Semi Final Group.
The First Division. 2nd Phase. is now called the Liga Finalizacion.
The First Division. 2nd Phase. is now called the Liga Finalizacion. Semi Final Group.
The Colombian Cup is now called the Copa Dimayor. 

Apertura is the Spanish word for "opening". 
Finalizacion is the Spanish word for "ending". 
Clausura is the Spanish word for "closing", but that would have been far too simple. 

[Rikulec]

Pretty sure it used to be called Clausura in the past, it definitely is/was in other South American countries.

[Jimbokav1971]

3 minutes ago, Rikulec said:

Pretty sure it used to be called Clausura in the past, it definitely is/was in other South American countries.

Yeah, I've definitely seen Clausura used before, but have never looked at Colombia before so wouldn't have been here. 

[Jimbokav1971]

Jul 2024. 

Liga Finalización. We lost the 1st game but have been playing ok and are 2nd in the league, (albeit having played 1 game more than most). 

Goal-scoring GK's. No more penalties. 

Finances. The big Copa Libertadores games have been and gone, and we're back to losing approc £500k per month. 

[Jimbokav1971]

Aug 2024. 

Liga Finalización. It was a really frustrating month in the league, where it seemed that every time the opposition had a chance..... they took it. We on the other hand have smashed the woodwork again and again and have come up against Super-Keepers again and again. We've lost both Zapata brothers in central midfield to injury, (they're not brothers but they are both called Zapata), and we really struggle without them. We've dropped all the way down to 12th in the league, but we have a couple of games in hand on many clubs and the aim is still a top 8 finish to qualify for the Semi League. 

Copa Dimayor. I will admit that I prioritized the 3 Once Caldas games this month and it worked out in so much that we beat them in the league and progressed in the Cup, but it came at a significant cost in terms of our league form. That being said, are we really expecting to challenge for titles in the 2nd season of this save anyway? I'm not so sure we are. 

Records. 

Goal-scoring GK's. Not even a sniff. 

Finances. 

[Jimbokav1971]

Sept 2024. 

Liga Finalización. I can't begin to tell you how frustrating this period of the save is. We're staggering from 1 piece of bad luck to another. When we hit the woodwork it always seems to bounce to safety. When the opposition do so it always seems to fall to their players. The injuries have absolutely obliterated us, (but we're starting to get through it now), and I even left a player with a cold at the club, and he infected the whole squad and 8 were still sick for the next game.  

Goal-scoring GK's. Nothing to see here. 

Finances. 

[Jimbokav1971]

I can neither confirm nor deny that I have saved, exited and then loaded back up immediately to change how things are going. 

[Jimbokav1971]

13 minutes ago, Jimbokav1971 said:

I can neither confirm nor deny that I have saved, exited and then loaded back up immediately to change how things are going. 

I don't know if this worked because in our next game we managed to beat Millonarios FC away, or it didn't work because Millonarios FC beat us on penalties after we beat them away. 

[Edit]

This is just 1 of many many many such incidents. 

Edited October 23, 2023 by Jimbokav1971

[Jimbokav1971]

Oct 2024. 

Liga Finalización. After the heady heights of last season, this seems like significant under-performance, but the truth is that we hugely over-performed last season and this is probably more representative of where we are as a club squad right now. We've got a really good 1st XI and when they are all available we're a good team, but take some key players out of there and we start to struggle. Looking at the detail, (and we still have 1 game to play), but we're the 2nd top goal-scorers, (in this section of the league), and we're the top scorers in the overall league over the full course of the season, (by 6 goals), so that suggests that we're pretty good going forward and the problem is more keeping them out at the back. Part of this will obviously will be down to us having a 16 year old in goal, (albeit a very good 16 year old), and his performances won't be as consistent as a more experienced player, and he seemed to really struggle in the 2nd half of the season, but maybe that was more to do with what was going on in front of him. 

Copa Dimayor. We were ridiculously unlucky in the 1st leg to lose, and played really well in the 2nd half and deserved to win by more than a single goal, but that's just the way things are falling for us at the moment and we will take it on the chin, learn from it and come back stronger next seasson. 

Goal-scoring GK's. 1 more goal from the spot for (24e) Ramos (Driven) 6'1" brings him to 3/6 goals from the spt at 50%. 

Finances. 

[abulezz]

As always, a hugely immersive and entertaining read, as with all your saves. Great stuff.