Jogo Bonito Posted December 20, 2023 Share Posted December 20, 2023 (edited) 19th June, 2023 - Welcome to Geneva Geneva, Switzerland is home of the world famous Lake Geneva and offers various mountain views in the distance The city is also European HQ of the United Nations, HQ of the Red Cross (formed in Geneva) and the place where the Geneva Conventions were signed It is also the home of Servette FC, formed in 1890 (although the football section was created in January 1900) Servette has won the Swiss top flight 17 times, but the last of those came in 1999 The 2023/24 season will be the 25th anniversary of that triumph, and in the period since that success they have suffered many troubling times The club was relegated to the third division in 2004/05 due to a bankruptcy, and then bounced between the top two leagues from 2006 to 2019 After several seasons back in the top tier, they finished 2nd in the Swiss Super League in 2002/23 - their best performance of this millennium Swiss Super League 2023/24 The 2023/24 season sees the club predicted to finish 2nd again in the Credit Suisse Super League They will also be competing in the UEFA Champions League (starting at the 2nd Qualifying Round stage in late July) Club Facilities Edited January 3 by Jogo Bonito 3 Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jogo Bonito Posted December 20, 2023 Author Share Posted December 20, 2023 (edited) Meet the Manager Noah Laurent has been appointed as the new manager of Servette FC, after the somewhat surprising departure of the popular René Weiler The Geneva-born boss comes in at a time when many considered the club to be on the cusp of a trophy, so the pressure to succeed will be high Club Profile Recent History and Club Overview And with the announcements made, it was time for Noah to settle in to his temporary hotel residence Edited December 20, 2023 by Jogo Bonito Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jogo Bonito Posted December 20, 2023 Author Share Posted December 20, 2023 (edited) The new era begins with the launch of three stylish new kit designs, supported by a fresh local sponsor After relaxing briefly at the hotel, it was then time for Noah to look around the dressing room before meeting his players and staff at the training ground Edited December 20, 2023 by Jogo Bonito Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
warlock Posted December 20, 2023 Share Posted December 20, 2023 Nice digs, nice kits, nice views. Might be quite the challenge . Any goals for this save or just 'play as you go'? Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jogo Bonito Posted December 20, 2023 Author Share Posted December 20, 2023 (edited) 31 minutes ago, warlock said: Nice digs, nice kits, nice views. Might be quite the challenge . Any goals for this save or just 'play as you go'? Thank you Sir! After 'virtually living' in Innsbruck and Valencia during the last few FM years, Geneva seems like a nice place to stay No real goals, but I'll be hoping we can challenge for the title on our 25th anniversary. Not expecting much at all in Europe, but would hope to be back there in some form after the first season. The club has a strong philosophy to bring through home-grown players, so we'll try to increase the local Swiss contingent either internally or externally, and also aim to reduce the French element. It was a close call between this and a club in Denmark, but hopefully I can do that one too. Happy to finally begin trimming down the list of possibles (just four or five now including one EFL club, VfB Stuttgart and one in Italy later). Edited December 20, 2023 by Jogo Bonito 2 Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Hootieleece Posted December 23, 2023 Share Posted December 23, 2023 Glad to see you back at it again. 1 Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
DefinitelyTaylor Posted December 25, 2023 Share Posted December 25, 2023 Best of luck! Love the kits, very tidy. 1 Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jogo Bonito Posted January 3 Author Share Posted January 3 On 23/12/2023 at 11:21, Hootieleece said: Glad to see you back at it again. Thanks very much Hootie. The first update should follow soon. On 25/12/2023 at 20:40, DefinitelyTaylor said: Best of luck! Love the kits, very tidy. Thanks very much DT (welcome back). Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jogo Bonito Posted January 3 Author Share Posted January 3 Season 2023/24 Newly-installed manager Noah Laurent made three new new signings in his first summer in Geneva There was a little more business done on the exit side, but that only recouped 4,400 Euros as it mainly involved sanctioning free transfer departures Left-back Isaac Schmidt (FC St. Gallen for 400,000 Euros) and midfielder Giotto Morandi (Grasshoppers for 325,000 Euros) were the two cash purchases And the third arrival was teenage striker Junior Ligue (loan with an option to buy) from FC Zurich The first-team squad available for the first part of the season is shown below Pre-season results went reasonably well, although the home loss to CSKA Sofia was a bit disappointing On the eve of the new season, the Club President set out their expectations for the coming season And here are results from the first section of the season The Champions League campaign didn't last long, falling at the second hurdle with home and away to defeats to Marseille However, there is a second chance to bank some cash via the Europa League The league form has been solid, with only one loss to date (at home to FC Zurich) These results have been good enough to claim a narrow lead at the top of the table, with 10 games played The club is also still in contention for the Schweizer Cup after two wins in the opening rounds Chris Bedia is top scorer but has been missing through injury for a few weeks Hopefully he is back soon, but he also intimated he would not be agreeing any offers to extend his expiring contract 2 Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
warlock Posted January 3 Share Posted January 3 59 minutes ago, Jogo Bonito said: good enough to claim a narrow lead at the top of the table Cracking start If you don't mind me asking, what role are you playing Bedia? I've signed him for Bordeaux in season 2 and can't get a tune out of him. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jogo Bonito Posted January 3 Author Share Posted January 3 13 minutes ago, warlock said: Cracking start If you don't mind me asking, what role are you playing Bedia? I've signed him for Bordeaux in season 2 and can't get a tune out of him. Thank you! So you must have picked him up on a free transfer then? Not a bad swoop. Before his injury I used him as PF (attack) or TF (attack) depending on who his partner was. The preference was to have him and Junior Ligue paired, which meant Bedia often played as the target forward. 1 Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
warlock Posted January 3 Share Posted January 3 1 minute ago, Jogo Bonito said: PF (attack) or TF (attack) Hmm, tried both of those but I'm playing him as a lone striker - maybe he needs a partner alongside him. And, yes, he was a free transfer. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jogo Bonito Posted January 3 Author Share Posted January 3 1 minute ago, warlock said: Hmm, tried both of those but I'm playing him as a lone striker - maybe he needs a partner alongside him. And, yes, he was a free transfer. I often find lone strikers become quite isolated. This 442 was one of the few formations I felt would work with a four-man defensive system, I'd probably play a pressing forward or advanced forward if I only had one striker. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
warlock Posted January 3 Share Posted January 3 1 minute ago, Jogo Bonito said: I often find lone strikers become quite isolated Yeah, it can happen. I was always a fan of the 442 but have drifted away from it in the last couple of FMs. 433 can work if you have inverted AMs to close the gap with the striker, or a 4231 with the AMC pushing up. Problems to be solved, hopefully, in my January transfer window Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jogo Bonito Posted January 3 Author Share Posted January 3 I cannot remember the last time I used 442 before this! You're a much more successful manager than me, so I look forward to reading about the solutions you find 1 Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Hootieleece Posted January 3 Share Posted January 3 I agree with @warlock about the 4-3-3 and Inverted AML's helping with the lone striker problem. I am using a 4-3-3 Gengenpress at ASSE currently in my Journeyman save. I am interested in figuring out how to beat the 4-4-2 more often than not since about 1/3 of the AI Managers use it it seems. Maybe Bendia needs a partner to get full use out of him. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
warlock Posted January 3 Share Posted January 3 2 hours ago, Jogo Bonito said: You're a much more successful manager than me Pfft! I've had a bunch of promotions from lower leagues, but the only real success I've had was with Benfica last year and if you can't do well with Benfica then... Nice of you to say so, though Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jogo Bonito Posted February 11 Author Share Posted February 11 Hello again, I have been away for a long time due to a combination of real life distractions which included the festive season, travelling, illness, work, and even an actual disillusionment with real life football etc. More than a month ago I did get to the winter break of my first year in Switzerland and this is shown below. And things were going fairly well in truth (and much better than at FC Basel). Unfortunately the month away from FM had it's usual impact and I've decided to admit failure on this one. I'll instead be starting up with the first club I had in mind to manage even before the game launched in October. My FM24 record so far is poor - one completed season with FC Heidenheim, and aborted first season efforts with Southampton, Notts County and now Servette. Hopefully my new club will get me back in to the groove. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
warlock Posted February 11 Share Posted February 11 6 hours ago, Jogo Bonito said: Hopefully my new club will get me back in to the groove Good to see you back! Hope you're recovered from the illness and life is treating you more kindly Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
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