[FM24] Lichen grows anywhere, Liechtenstein needs die Alpensonne

[Ceching You Out]

 

 

And finally the coup de grace that makes me think I may be able to create a self-funding Academy with 2nd tier players... (I'm only now realizing PAOK bought both (29a) Feidel and (29b) Doepke)

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Left off this (doesn't go through until August  - Norwegian transfer window, I guess?):

 

...and in the meantime the cashing in continued...

 

...but then this happened, and it's probably worth spending a moment with this decision.

I was a little surprised by RB's interest at the start of the summer window. I know his CA/PA since I'm watching values with the editor, so I know he's 117 CA / 124 PA @ 21. That stacks up well for us, but it's not great for their standard. Maybe they misjudged the room to grow there. But that's neither here nor there; my only input is on what we'd accept.

My first instinct was to make an offer work, which honestly I was a little surprised by. But after working my way back through the roster, there were a few points that jumped out at me:

1. AMC is quite possibly our 2nd deepest position. On paper we've got replacements for (26b) Michaud, but his performances have been top notch
2. Two years left on his contract and e'd already signaled that it would take an offer of ~$400K per year to extend his contract, when our top earner just made it to $130K this summer
3. Now that he's a Team Leader (aka as influential as you can get) his lack of professionalism is concerning. No worries with determination or ambition
4. I asked his agent to check the market after we received the initial bid. His agent refused because (26b) Michaud doesn't like to be shopped around
5. The final offer feels above market value - $2M upfront, $3M next year plus $1.5M in pretty easy bonuses and a profit clause that we may be able to cash in at some point if RB boost his value

So despite being my second favorite player on the team, I popped my Boyz II Men CD into my Walkman and shed a tear to "End of the Road". He'll be missed.

 

 

 

 

Spoiler

 

(Also, I really had my eye on this after our sales figures blossomed this summer. I'm hoping this will kick us into the next gear with our intakes.)

[Ceching You Out]

So despite our recent sales and my bitching about the latest intake, the roster is actually shaping up pretty well for the future. Lots of PA in our starting lineup and more in our next 15. Obviously not everyone will develop but we're looking pretty good.

(30b) Wagner had Chelsea + Inter interest early in the summer and (30a) Schmadtke other top league clubs, until I extended their contracts a year with a handsome pay bump. They may not sign another one with us if they develop as expected. (30f) Ainoeder was extended as well, much as I don't see a long-term future for a 5'3" defender. (30c) Eckmeyer wasn't, but only because he demanded a ~$7M release clause for the rest of the window; that figure is too reasonable and could be triggered. I'm expecting twice that when we eventually sell.

(28c) Vanni is an indirect beneficiary of the (26b) Michaud sale. I've never been quite convinced by him, in a large part because he's 5'10" with Jumping Reach 5 when floated crosses to the backpost are a definite weakness for us. So assuming he's near the midpoint of his $2.1-8.6M value, cashing would be another way to fund Youth Facilities upgrades. I'd have to push him out the door though, which hurts his value.

[Ceching You Out]

At the halfway point of the initial stage (still haven't landed on what to call it), we're in the mix. Essentially as close to 2nd as 7th despite our position. Frankly, if the season continues to play out this tightly then just squeaking into the top 6 opens up the possibilities of any of the European qualifications. Halving points for the Championship Stage is a great reducer.

 

 

A little bit of love for our striker, (27g) Emmerling. He's got 9 goals in 11 games. I believe that's pretty, pretty good.

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Always. Five. Out of. Five. Stars. But I like the letters this time!

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(30b) Wagner is a wanted man. Like the worst kind of international war criminal wanted. I'd love to hold on to him for a bit longer, or if that fails get to auction him off without the Board interfering.

 

[Ceching You Out]

We fought off interest the entire window for our four talented, high-potential youngsters. I'm not sure I'd have accepted any price for (30a) Schmadtke or (30c) Eckmeyer because I'm fairly certain we won't be adequately compensated for players with 150+ potential until they're much closer to it. Bids for (30b) Wagner were countered with $10M upfront, installments + realistic clauses for $10M, and a 50% profit clause; surprisingly it did not immediately shut down negotiations. I think that means it was within the realm of reason for the AI. (30f) Ainoeder would be my pick of the four to sell first but interest was lighter and less lucrative.

So we'll keep them until the summer where I expect a similar pattern, just dragged out for several months instead of timeboxed neatly in January. In the meantime, we see a new batch of youth join us. Not the highs of the 2030 class drawing all the transfer attention, but better. Feels like last year just +10 PA to everyone. DC is a position of need so that's nice, GK not so much. I'll continue our policy of signing every player with 100+ PA for now, since they seem to be reasonably profitable even if they don't make senior appearances.

 

[Ceching You Out]

Four draws on the bounce after the break made this a bit nervier than it should have been. Against some of the weakest teams in the division, too. I'm blaming it on the transfer noise, although there was only one player upset we didn't accept a bid and no further strops thrown. Nonetheless, a win on the last day against Lustenau, relegation favorites, off a gift of a backpass confirmed we're in the top 6 for the Championship Stage.

 

Not feeling nearly as confident as I did before the break, but it's all to play for -- only three points separate us from an EL spot. If we can find form again.

[Ceching You Out]

A shock 2-1 win against RB (thanks Instant Result button!) means we sit pretty going into the final match. LASK plays Rapid (who still have something to play for, needing a draw to clinch CL), while we play Sturm Graz. A draw might be enough to secure Europa League, but a win definitely does.

 

EDIT: Rapid crushed LASK 3-0. The ball only went in the net once in our match -- Sturm Graz in the 21'. Ruled out for offsides. Job done.

No, wait -- it shows LASK as EL qualified in 5th while we have a play-off versus the winner of 1v2 in the Relegation Stage. LASK lost the FA Cup versus RB. Apparently runners up qualify for the spot if the champion is already qualified? Ugh. Dream ending is downgraded a bit.

 

EDIT x2: Hmm that's not how it worked when Klagenfurt was 6th in 2024/2025 and runners up to Rapid in the cup (Rapid qualified for the EL via a 4th place finish). I'm utterly confused.

Edited January 4 by Ceching You Out

[Ceching You Out]

In positive news (and something I actually understand) Poelten beat Altach in the semifinal on PKs. Definitely our preferred opponent of the two. Altach might try to go toe-to-toe but not Poelten.

We win the first leg 3-1, in a less dominant fashion than I imagined but still securely. (27g) Emmerling picks up an injury in training afterwards that feels academic. The next leg is a drab affair until we squeak a goal in the 59'. Another in stoppage time turns out the lights. We're playing in the Europa Conference next season -- a season that starts in only a few weeks.

This feels like a bug, unless you've got a talented lawyer to twist in knots the definition of "win" or "Premier Division":

[_Ben_]

17 minutes ago, Ceching You Out said:

We're playing in the Europa Conference next season

Congratulations! Quite the rise and, even though the prize money pales into insignificance when compared to UCL money, it'll help!

[Ceching You Out]

Yearly accolades:

 

 

Yearly beast darkening our doorways:

[Ceching You Out]

4 hours ago, _Ben_ said:

Congratulations! Quite the rise and, even though the prize money pales into insignificance when compared to UCL money, it'll help!

Thanks, Ben! The money can't hurt at this point. We're chipping away until we make a few major sales, which hopefully we can stall long enough to get full value from. Also hoping for a small reputation bump if we can notch a few wins; that could help with future youth coming through.

[Ceching You Out]

Oh no. No no no. I can guess now why I didn't qualify for Europa League. And why I don't have any Europa Conference fixtures. There's most likely something hardcoded that prevents clubs from Liechtenstein qualifying for European competitions via the league.

I'd assumed the limitations for Vaduz were set at the club level, not the country level. Woof. I'll spend a bit of time thinking if there's anyway to save this save, but I'm stumped at the moment. Without Champions League, I'd likely prefer a different (but similar) challenge.

[Ceching You Out]

I've spent some time pondering my options. There are a few similar-type saves (Hong Kong in England, Seychelles in France) I do want to try, but it does feel like I've got unfinished business in Austria. I could restart with a non-Liechtenstein based (maybe Gibraltar?) but none of the other poorly rated UEFA countries quite do it for me. There aren't any clear cultural or geographic links with Austria and that's part of the Liechtenstein appeal.

So instead I did some testing to see if the original set up is salvageable, even if the particular save is not. It does indeed look like basing your club in any city in Liechtenstein makes you ineligible for European competitions through the league; however, swapping the city back to Austria and the region to Liechtenstein results in roughly the same youth intake (just tilted more towards Austria) while preserving continental qualification. I'll be running one final test to confirm, but I think I'll be restarting this challenge with a new thread.

Thanks to those who followed along! I'll link to the new post once it's up and running.

 

EDIT: New topic is here. We go again.

Edited January 6 by Ceching You Out