[FM24] Going off on a tangent with Rangers, after just getting relegated, with -£2.8M (not), in the bank and loans of £485M being repaid at £1.8M per month. Should be easy right?

[Jimbokav1971]

Nov 2062. 

Scottish Premiership. I'm not completely sure how we're top, because it feels like we've been really struggling, but maybe everyone else is struggling at times too. All teams have lost at least 3 games and if you look at the table you will see that just 2 points separate the bottom 5 sides, and then 3 points separate the top 5 sides, (with Aberdeen & Ross County in sort of no-mans land in the middle). 

UEFA Europa League. We had a little blip when the Group Stage started, but since then we've got back on track and find ourselves in a really good position now. 

Transfers. I absolutely love it when these clauses appear in my inbox. I know it's not free money, but it feels like it. 

Finances. We're doing ok with money, but obviously our increased spend in wages has taken a big chunk out of our profits, but I'm afraid that's just part of being a more successful club again. The thing we have to remember is that when we sign these players on a free, even if they do well, they are still here for us to make money on them. 

 

[Jimbokav1971]

Dec 2062. 

Scottish Premiership. It's ridiculous how busy December is when you consider that we have only 1 league game in January. Although we dropped 7 points in these games, 17 points from a possible 24 really isn't too shabby at all. Our 2nd Team beat Tullibody and then the following week they were 2-0 down at HT to Raith Rovers, came back to lead 3-2 and then conceded 2 goals in the 93rd and 94th min to leave with nothing.   We're still top and we're doing ok, but we don't have 2 proper squads like I'm used to with Tullibody. 

UEFA Europa League. We were well worth the win against FC København, but we only scored 1 goals and it wasn't enough. We're still well set to qualify with 2 winnable games to come.

Transfers. We've managed to get the transfer % increased from 10% to 25%. I thought I was asking for next season, but it's been adjusted immediately. 

Finances. 

 

[Jimbokav1971]

Jan 2063. 

Scottish Premiership. We should have won convincingly, but we only scored once and it wasn't enough. 

UEFA Europa League. I thought a win against Young Boys would have secured qualification, but it appears that we need to win our last game. 

Scottish Cup. 

Transfers. 

Friendlies, (arranged as a result of transfer clauses). Over £1.5M earned in a month simply from unfit players playing in friendlies seems like good business to me. 

Finances. 

 

[Thebaker]

I see that Rangers and Celtic are rising to the top again, been a while since that last happened. Tulibody are beginning to struggle, are they picking any youth players at all or even producing any decent ones?

[Jimbokav1971]

2 hours ago, Thebaker said:

I see that Rangers and Celtic are rising to the top again, been a while since that last happened. 

I think the Scottish Premiership has seen a general "levelling out" of the clubs at the top. Certainly this season the Old Firm seem to be at the top, but Rangers finished 5th last season and Celtic (2nd), finished only 3 points ahead of Hearts. 

The previous season, Rangers were 2nd and Celtic finished only 5th, with Hearts and Aberdeen missing the cut. 

I think it's far too early to say that this club is starting to dominate, although it is true that Tullibody are not as dominant as they were when I left them.

Hibs are the team who have fallen away if anything. They won 3 Premiership titles when I was managing Tullibody.

Celtic are the most consistent rivals to Tullibody, with 13 top 3 finishes in the last 17 seasons. Hibs are just behind them on 12, but if they don't finish in the top 3 this season, (and they will need to overhaul 1 of the Old Firm or Tullibidy to do so, then it will be the 4th successive season that they will have missed out on the top 3 after making the top 3 on each of the last 11 season. 

The big change I suppose now, (and this is probably important for Hibs in particular), is that their, (Scottish clubs) coefficient has risen to the extent that "we" now get 3 Champions League spots, (and 6 European spots in total). It means that all 6 clubs who make the top 6 split qualify for European competition. 

[Jimbokav1971]

2 hours ago, Thebaker said:

Tulibody are beginning to struggle, are they picking any youth players at all or even producing any decent ones?

Tullibody were always going to struggle a little after my exit, but you would think that the smart move would have been to employ someone who who would come in to continue my legacy and use the foundation I had built by adding a sprinkling of real elite talent on top of the Academy products. 

Instead their new manager came in and threw out the baby with the bath-water. Selling their brightest prospects for below market value and then replacing them, (with better CA players), but above market value price. So there has been an awful mix of selling low and buying high and I would suggest that there is very little of the £200M bank balance they I left them with. 

Because there were no Rangers players involved I didn't comment on it, but I think there were 3 Tullibody Academy products, (now no longer at the club), who made the Top 50 players in the World for the last 2 seasons, and indeed Tullibody made the Top Academies in the World list last season, (which it hadn't done with me as manager and which is 1 thing that really makes me want to get back to that branch of the save), because since that feature has been introduced it's something that I haven't achieved in a save. 

Their finances are secure rather than rich now, and they've had to rein in their spending accordingly. 

I think this takes us back to the period when I was in charge and the thing that jumps out at me is not only that they're selling players for more than they are bringing in, but they are also selling a higher number of players than they are bringing in. That suggests to me that they are spending HUGELY on wages, and if you remember from my thread you will know that this was something I had to work really hard in order to control. 

In the 4.5 seasons since I have left, they have sold players to the value of £486M. 
In the 4.5 seasons since I have left, they have bought players to the value of £275.5M. 

If we look at the players they have right now, they don't have anyone valued at higher than £30M - £37M, and astonishingly, they have 5 players in on loan. 

Their highest valued player is Kyle Franczak who is only 25, (which is good), and was also signed on a free, (which is excellent), but he certainly doesn't seem to be a world-beater. 

Ronnie Street is another free agent signing who looks decent. 

(55d) Gordon (Pro) * PPM is the highest value player who is a product of their Academy, closely followed (57a) Bastos (SCO)(ANG) * & (57c) Hogarth (F.Pro) *. 

Mark McGill is the highest valued player who came through the intake after I left, 

This Peruvian lad has come through the Academy and looks pretty decent. 

This winger is another Academy product who I really like the look of. 

This bloke is another Academy product and perhaps hints at the problem. He looks decent, but is leaving on a free to join Hearts. Leaving is ok. Leaving on a free is not ok. 

I think they are seriously in trouble financially and it's only a matter of time before their current model is no longer sustainable. 

This is probably the best player at the club, and he's on a whopping £145,000 pw, (which equates to £7.5M per season). Granted he is a hell of a player though. 

The problem here is that for all his quality, his performances on the pitch aren't great, and he's a hell of an expense for a player averaging under 7.00 per season. 

They play a 442, but it doesn't seem to be working that well for them, (even though they did well against Hibs in their last match).

In summary I would say that they have a few different problems. 

• The players that they are signing are too old. 
• The players that they are signing are on too high a wage. 
• They are producing good young players but not developing them. 
• They are not selling their young players for a profit. 
• All in all it's a recipe for disaster and I can't see them lasting. 

[Thebaker]

Looks like the formation and management of the players is wrong. Kubala is described as world class and has the attributes for a creative player but has almost no goals or assists in his time at Tulibody.

[Jimbokav1971]

Feb 2063. 

Scottish Premiership. It wasn't a good month in the league, but at the same time we've had some tough fixtures, (away to both Celtic & Tullibody), and our focus has also been on Europe. 

UEFA Europa League. We're doing well in Europe, but an English club in the last 16 will be a tough test. Not that tough a test though. Bournemouth have never finished in the top 10 in the Premier league in the save, and are only in the Europa League this season because they won the Europa Conference last season, and they were only in the Europa Conference last season because they finished Runners Up in the FA Cup to.... Tottenham. They did however also win the EFL Cup, (League Cup in old money), last season. 

Scottish Cup. 

Facilities.

Transfers.

Finances. 

 

[Jimbokav1971]

5 hours ago, Thebaker said:

I see that Rangers and Celtic are rising to the top again, been a while since that last happened. Tulibody are beginning to struggle, are they picking any youth players at all or even producing any decent ones?

Since you posted this they've both been on fire! 

[Jimbokav1971]

2 hours ago, Thebaker said:

Looks like the formation and management of the players is wrong. Kubala is described as world class and has the attributes for a creative player but has almost no goals or assists in his time at Tulibody.

Exactly. You might also note that he has little red dots of experience in both full-back positions. 

[Jimbokav1971]

Youth Intake day. Mar 2063. 

[Jimbokav1971]

NxGn 2063. Mar 2063. 

[Jimbokav1971]

Mar 2063.

Scottish Premiership. 3 wins from 3 in the league this month, and it was good to see us smash home a few goals. 

UEFA Europa League. We're into the Quarters and are up against Barca. They aren't the force they once were, and they haven't won La Liga since 2045/46. They've only been Runners Up in the league twice since then, and 3rd only 4 times. That's 7 Top 3 finishes in the last 18 season. 

Scottish Cup. 

Transfers.

Friendlies, (arranged as a result of a transfer clause). 

Finances. 

 

[Jimbokav1971]

Apr & May 2063. 

Apologies. I forgot to post the April update. 

Scottish Premiership. Our form in the Championship Group was decent, but it still wasn't enough to pip Tullibody to 2nd. I felt like we've done really well in the league this season, but at the same time we've lost 9 league games, and that's just too many over the course of a season if you want to be champions. We were top goal-scorers in the league, (with 89), but that's a far cry from the 100+ we were used to scoring with Tullibody. 51 goals is also too many to concede to be serious challengers. 

UEFA Europa League. So near but yet so far. Would we have won without the red card? Who knows. 

Transfers.

Awards.

Finances. Our finances are looking decent at £57M in the bank, and that's before we receive out season ticket money, (which should be somewhere in the region of £27M), and also before we sell players in the Summer window. Last season we sold players to the tune of almost £49M

 

Edited July 9 by Jimbokav1971

[Jimbokav1971]

Jun 2063. 

Facilities. 

Transfers. You can clearly see on the graph that we've sold a healthy number of players in each of the last 2 Summer windows, with a smaller, (but still decent amount), being generated in the january between. It's not over yet though because we've still got just over 2 months of this window left and I have quite a few players I'm prepared to sell. Although we've brought some players in on a free, there weren't the same number of strikers available to us this window, (at least not within our wage range). Perhaps my eye was attracted by young players who's club demanded a fee, (with our improved financial situation), but I can't ignore the goal of the save and the obvious benefit that signing free agents represent. 

Finances. 

 

[Jimbokav1971]

Jul 2063. 

Transfers. I've got a few more players I want to shift, but even reducing the asking price isn't working and they are proving tough to move on. 

Friendlies, (arranged as a result of Transfer clauses). 

Finances. I was hoping to have more than £100M in the bank at this stage, but I have spent £21.5M on players and that would take us to £97M so we're there or there abouts. The other thing to mention is that we've done loads of structured deals and there is lots of transfer dees still to come in. 

We've actually got a guaranteed £15.5M due to come in from transfer fees, and much much more on top of that, that isn't guaranteed. 

 

[Jimbokav1971]

Aug 2063. 

Scottish Premiership. The 1st team battered Tullibody and should have won, but the 2nd Team were a little unlucky against Celtic and no way the score should have been 3-0. A draw would have been a fair result. 

Hibs are the only unbeaten side left after the 1st month, (although they have only played 3 games), but Tullibody have only won 1 of 5 and sit in 8th position with a negative goal difference.

UEFA Champions League. We didn't last long in the Champions League. We had quite a few new players in, and my focus had been so much on bringing players in and moving others out, that I took my eye off the ball in terms of getting the whole squad fit. It meant that the 1st Team were fit, (and probably a little fatigued), and the 2nd Team were really short of match sharpness. While the exit is absolutely down to me because of that, we drew the home leg against Rapid 1-0 with an injury-time leveller, but in the 2nd leg we were 2-0 down away and playing against 10 men after 26 mins and we really should have been good enough to progress from that position. We scored 3 goals, (which would have been enough to win it, (but conceded 2 more against the 10 men and that's just not good enough). 

UEFA Europa League. 

Season Tickets. Still no change. 

Transfers. 

Friendlies, (arranged as a result of a transfer clause).

 

Finances. 

 

[HorusFM]

I have really enjoyed reading this over the last two days sir. I absolutely didn't know about the friendly match income support arrangement, will try to utilise this is in my future save games  

[Jimbokav1971]

2 hours ago, gavrenwick said:

I have really enjoyed reading this over the last two days sir. I absolutely didn't know about the friendly match income support arrangement, will try to utilise this is in my future save games  

Thanks very much. 

Yeah the income from friendlies arranged as a result of transfer clauses is quite unusual really. Often if you have a big club with a big stadium, then the finances are already good so you don't really need to worry about playing extra finances because you simply don't need the money. The situation at Rangers is pretty unique though, (Barca could possibly be put in the same boat), and it just makes sense to use the big stadium and tye large number of fans. 

Although it's something I like doing in other saves, I've never focussed on it as much in a save as I have done here in this save. 

As someone who usually plays Youth Only saves I've also really enjoyed the scouting and the transfer aspect of this branch of the save, and so much so in fact that I think my main save in FM25 is NOT going to be Youth Only. 

[shd34_216_42]

The drawback of friendlies is that you have to pay taxes on the gate receipts and ground maintenance, so the friendly clause isn't overly valuable compared to straight-up money. (The real profit is what the appearance fee for the other team would be, which is typically going to be somewhat less than the actual revenue.)

That being said, at least it's an opportunity for match fitness.

[Jimbokav1971]

4 hours ago, shd34_216_42 said:

The drawback of friendlies is that you have to pay taxes on the gate receipts and ground maintenance, so the friendly clause isn't overly valuable compared to straight-up money. (The real profit is what the appearance fee for the other team would be, which is typically going to be somewhat less than the actual revenue.)

That being said, at least it's an opportunity for match fitness.

I really don't agree.

You still pay taxes on any fee received for an away friendly, (as long as you make a profit), and if it's an away friendly then you also incur travel expenses. 

At home you also get the added bonus of Match Day income, (and I would expect an increase in merch sales). These don't happen at an away game, (or rather they do, but the income is received by the hosting side). 

Additionally, playing a friendly in a 72k capacity stadium, and for a club with loads of fans, is likely to generate significantly more income than any fee that might be paid by a club playing in a smaller stadium with a much smaller fan base. It's just basic maths. 

With regards to Ground Maintenance costs, they are costs that would have been incurred anyway. Ground maintenance is paid whether you play 38 games per season or 138 games per season. Yes there will be some increase, but it's not proportional to the the starting cost per game.

We are obviously under no obligation to play a full strength squad, (or even any 1st Team players), so there is no negative with regards to fitness or fatigue, and the only real negative is the way that it impacts on training schedules. I would love to have the ability to make Senior squad players not involved in the match day squad train as normal, (and I think that used to be a thing back in the day), but now there is no training on a match day at all, and it also impacts training both the day before and the day after. In my opinion this is the real costs of this strategy. 

[Jimbokav1971]

Sep 2063.

Scottish Premiership. It's a really good month in terms of results, but not so much in terms of performances. We're top of the table, but Celtic are only 2 points behind and have a game in hand. 

UEFA Europa League. We're going to struggle in Europe this season because, (as a result of a lack of HG players at the club), we've only been able to register 21 out of 25 players for European competition. We're short 4x HG Nation players and 2x HG Club players. I will look to resolve this in the next couple of windows, (at least the HGN players), but the HGC player might take a little longer. I don't plan on spending money to bring back old players, (not that there are many options), so we might have to wait for youngsters to develop, and I'm not sure how realistic that is in the short-term. At the very least though, ( should be able to sign 4 HGN players in the next 2 windows, (while also ensuring that I don't sell any HGN or HGC players). I was so keen to sell players previously, that I completely forgot about HG rules in Europe. 

League Cup. 

Transfers. I've already mentioned that we're 4 players short in terms of being able to register a full 25 man squad for the Europa League this season. I don't think our youngsters are good enough yet, (we're not producing anywhere near the quality I saw at Tullibody despite having better facilities), so the only solution is to bring players in. We're short 4x HGN players and 2 HGC players, so what I really want to do is sign 2x HGN players and then promote Academy players, (when old enough), to fill the 2x HGC slots. 

When I look at players who are products of the Rangers Academy, there are particularly slim pickings, and some obvious examples of mistakes I made in terms of selling players. 

I really don't intend to sign any 30+ players, because I just think that any fee paid, (and wages), are "dead money" in the way that we can't possibly to sell the player for a fee to recoup these expenses. It woudl take a really particular player to make me sign a 30+ year old and none of these have that something special. 

I then made the mistake of looking for (SCO) players, and after i had identified quite a few targets, I belatedly realised that they had all been produced at non-Scottish clubs and as a result, despite being scottish wouldn't help me with my HGN quota. 

Instead I had to then look for players who were HG in Scotland and see what we had available there. 

Quite a few of these players ARE 30+ years old, and although I usually filter-out down to 27, if we just do to 29 on this occasion, this is what we get. 

At the moment I'm also filtering out players who aren't interested in joining us simply because I can't be bothered sifting through so many scout reports for players who don't want to join us on the off-chance that I will find 1 who will. 

• Hill (NIR) (Res) 5'5" is already 29, (but let's give him a chance), but he's also a 5'5" (NIR) Int DM and we have loads of midfielders. There is no way he gets a game for us. 
• Muir (Perfect) 5'11" is an athletic midfielder, and although I love his personality, I really don't think he gets a game for us, and the sort of price we would have to pay just rules him out. 
• MacPhee (F.Det) 6'0" is decent, but he would cost £6M - £9M and that's just too much for us to pay for a player to fill our quota. He would have to be amazing or have the potential to be amazing, (or something), for us to pay that. 
• Delcour (M.Pro) 5'10" is a decent DL and he has a min fee release clause of £1.1M. He's currently playing for Aberdeen U21's and his agent thinks we can get him for less than £900k. I think this is exactly the sort of player I'm looking for. Someone who can be registered and then be sold for a profit. Obviously love the personality too. 
• (58b) Lindsay (ENG) (Res) 6'2" is a product of the Tullibody Academy, (hence the nickname), but I don't remember him at all, (although he would have been very young when I left. He's turned into a hell of a player and considering both our big TM are out injured right now, he would be starting for us right now if he was our player. 
• (56a) McCluskey (Res) 5'8" is another product of the Tullibody Academy, but he's just not good enough.
• Stefanov (BUL) (L.Heart) 5'10" came through the Academy at Hibs and then signed for Celtic, but he's a small, quick striker rather than the big man we're looking for. 
• Wells (Resil) 5'10" is decent, but at £6M+ he's just not worth the money at this time. 
• Anderson (F.Pro) 5'8" is a decent teenage right-winger, but at £16M+ he's out of our price range. 
• McMahon (F.Det) 5'10" is a decent quick striker, but just not what we're looking for. 
• Philp (F.Pro) 6'4" is a decent defensive DR, but he's also 29 so right on the edge of our signing policy. It doesn't matter though because I'm not paying £8M+ for a 29 year old. 
• Brebner (F.Det) * is a winger, but again he;s 29 and really just not good enough, (despite being cheap). 
• Cormack (Bal) 5'8" is an ok defensive DR, but he;s on loan at Leicester from Portsmouth so we can't sign him right now. 
• Miller (Pro) 5'9" is an ok right winger, but at £4.7M+ I don't think he offers good value. 
• McGrath (F.Pro) 5'8" is a poor right winger who has good physicals, but that's all he's got and I don't want to stoop so low. 
• Duffy (F.Det) 5'5" is another physical right winger, but he's not good enough for us and also doesn't represent value.  
• Ferguson (F.Pro) 6'3" SLC is 28 years old and he's actually someone I've already tried to sign. He;s not amazing, but I love his height and his physicals. His agent says he would cost £4.3m - £6.8M and that's more than I want to pay for a 28 year old, but he's still an option. 
• (57c) Hogarth (Res) * is another product of the Tullibody Academy. He has a min fee release clause of £15m, but his agent things we could get him for £11M - £14M, (but that's still too much. He's certainly one to keep an eye on though. He has 2 years left on his contract + a +1. 

Finances. 

 

[Jimbokav1971]

Oct 2063. 

Scottish Premiership. We've been decimated by injuries, so taking everything into account I'm quite happy with just 1 loss this month. We're still top and have actually extended our lead to Celtic. 

UEFA Europa League. The problem we have in Europe is that when I selected the 1st Team, (to play at weekends), and the 2nd Team, (to play midweek), I didn't take into account registration because I'm so used to everyone being HGC and didn't think for a minute that we would have players who we weren't able to register. Usually with Tullibody I had spaces left over, but only after everyone was registered. With us being 4 players down on registration we were going to be struggling from the off, but now with many of them playing in the 1st Team, the 2nd Team are really short of numbers when they have to play a European game. 

Transfers. 

Finances. 

 

[Jimbokav1971]

Nov 2063. 

Scottish Premiership. I kn ow they weren't huge wins, but both these games were really dominant performances where the margin of victory could have been much bigger. We're now behind Celtic on goal difference, (+19 to +12), but we do have a game in hand. Usually I would expect us to have the best GD, (certainly when managing Tullibody), but the problem this season has been that on top of all the ins and outs, we've lost both our central "Big" strikers to injury. Matheson (IRL) (Unamb) 6'5" got injured, (hip injury), at the beginning of the season, and still isn't back yet and Thomas (ENG) (F.Det) 6'6" PPM missed a month and was then slow to regain his form, but has recently scored 10 (ten) goals in his last 4 games.  If I can get him scoring in the league then we will be laughing. 

UEFA Europa League. We really hit form in Europe, as we smashed 9  and 5 unanswered goals 

League Cup. 3 games played and 3 clean sheets as we progress to the Final where we will play our old club Tullibody. 

Transfers. Nothing this month. 

Friendlies, (arranged as a result of a transfer clause). 

Finances. 

 

[Jimbokav1971]

Dec 2063. 

Scottish Premiership. It's a good month, but with Celtic on a rub of 7 wins on the bounce, we've actually dropped to 2nd place in the league. We're 4 points back now, but we do have 1 game in hand. 

UEFA Europa League. We're in really good form in the league, and even playing against German opposition wasn't a problem for us. 

League Cup. I think this shows the demise of Tullibody from the team that I had built. We score no less than 6 (SIX) 1st half goals in a completely dominant performance to absolutely smash the life out of them!

New contract. 

Transfers. 

Finances. 

 

[Jimbokav1971]

Jan 2064. 

Scottish Premiership. I rotated the squad against Ross County, and it came at a cost. 

UEFA Europa League. We've auto-qualified for the last 16. 

Scottish Cup. We smashed Tullibody in a recent game, and they got their revenge here with a 96th min winner. 

Transfers.

We signed 1 player on a free in Jan. 

Mina (ECU) 6'4" was almost signed last year but I decided not to in the end because I was advised we wouldn't get a WP. This time, because it was on a free, I thought I would give it a go anyway, and he got a WP! 

I was keen to sign at least 2x Scottish HGN players in this window, because we were 4 players short in terms of European registration. 

Delcour (M.Pro) 5'10" is actually a reasonable player, (and what's not to like as a free signing), but actually it's an appalling decision because although we're desperate for HNG players, we really didn't need to sign one in the WBL position. Last season we had 2 good youngsters in Hill (ENG) (Bal) * PPM and  Simmons (Pro) 6'0" PPM, (and of course  Simmons (Pro) 6'0" PPM is HGN in Scotland now). I managed to bring in not 1 but 2 WBL's ahead of them in Conde (ESP) (Res) 5'10" WBL and Komoróczi (HUN) (Perfect) 5'9", but the problem there is that I have blocked the pathway for not 1 but 2 young players, and now added to the problem by signing a 3rd player above them.   I wanted to loan both the youngsters out at the beginning of the season, but I couldn't get a deal done and so they have stayed here stagnating. 

Actually, I've just seen that we paid £1M for Delcour (M.Pro) 5'10", so this is an even worse transfer than I imagined. 

As if all that wasn't bad enough, 1 of our brightest young prospects is (63b) Yangyang (Pro) 6'0" * who is obviously also a WBL and at 16 should be getting the occasional game now but can't because there are 5 (FIVE) players ahead of him and his route to the 1st Team is completely blocked up. 

(58b) Lindsay (ENG) (Res) 6'2" has come in for £5M and I really like him. He can step into the central TM role even though he's only 6'2" and he would have played quite a few games for us had he been here in the 1st half of the season. Unfortunately Thomas (ENG) (F.Det) 6'6" PPM has scored 15 goals in 19(4) appearances in the 1st half of the season, (but only 3 in the league), and Matheson (IRL) (Unamb) 6'5" has just started playing again after being out for months with injury. He's only scored 4 goals in 10(6) appearances. 

Taylor (ENG) (F.Det) was signed by the DoF for the B team. He's pretty raw but appeared decent value at £0.5M so I didn't use my veto powers. 

Langfield (F.Det) 6'0" was a DoF signing for the U18's. I liked his physicals and didn't really see a reason to veto. 

Gold (Res) 5'10" is another signing for the B Team initiated by the DoF. 

Adams (IRL) (Bal) 6'1" is another signing for the B Team. 

Križman (CRO) (F.Amb) 5'10" is a DoF signing who I really like the look of, but I am a little worried about his physicals. 

I'm not usually someone who uses the out-going loan market for deals including clauses to make the deal permanent, but I am experimenting with it here. 

Clark (AUS) 5'9" SCR SELL has a future fee clause of £4.7M
Guessous (MOR) (Unsp) 6'0" MRC has a future fee clause of £7M.
Baranja (SVN) (F.Amb) 6'0" has a future fee of £4.7M.
Jonathan (ESP) (Res) 6'1" has a future fee of £16M.

WBL conundrum. We need to do something about the WBL situation. We've got 5 players who should be playing 1st Team and a hot prospect below them in the U18's. 

1st Choice. Conde (ESP) (Res) 5'10" WBL has been 1st choice and has been very good. We've got him on a 2+1 deal and nobody is interested so I've got no interest in selling him at the moment, but I think that selling him at the end of next season would make sense. We signed him on a free and he's now worth £13M - £14M, so I think there is good profit to be made there.

SELL. Komoróczi (HUN) (Perfect) 5'9" has a great personality and looks to have really good PA, but his performances haven't been amazing. We paid £3.5M for him and he's now valued at £8M - £9.2M. He's only 20 and I think selling him is the smart move in view of the HG registration rules for Europe. 

SELL. Hill (ENG) (Bal) * PPM is a player that was 1st Team last season and although I like the look of him, there is no doubt that the players we've brought in have knocked him down the pecking order. He's 22 years old and we signed him on a free, so with a valuation of £6.4M - £7.8M there is decent profit to be made there with some add-ons. I think that by not playing him this season, I have seriously put a dent in his development. 

2nd Choice. Simmons (Pro) 6'0" is a player I like, (even though he lacks the CA of some of those above him), but he's HGN trained in Scotland, (which is huge), and his valuation is only £1.1M - £1.5M. I think I want to keep him not only because of his HGN status, but also because his low value gives us little reason to sell him on. I can see him staying on as a Backup player simply because of his HGN status and his low wage. 

Backup. Delcour (M.Pro) 5'10" is a decent little player, but I think I was so focussed on bringing in a HGN player, that I didn't stop to think how he would fit into the squad.  I think what I will do is keep him on the bench for both 1st Team and 2nd Team and just let the other 2 start on rotation. Why on Earth did I sign him? 

Hot Prospect. (63b) Yangyang (Pro) 6'0" * is a hot prospect and although he's only 16, he's someone who I would gladly start if someone was injured, (even if only to boost his development). 

Finances. 

 

Edited July 12 by Jimbokav1971

[Jimbokav1971]

Feb 2064. 

Scottish Premiership. We had a bit of a blip at the start of the month when I weakened the squad too much for the game and paid the price. Other than that we were decent and that was enough to move us 4 points clear of Celtic, (also with a game in hand). Tullibody are a shadow of their former selves, (under me), and are 16 points behind us now and surely out of the title race. I don't think we've even scratched the surface of what is possible with this Rangers side yet. I've been selling on so many players that I would otherwise have kept, and have only recently started to looking to pay cash for long-term investments. So far it's just been signing free agents, using them well and then selling them on for a fee. (Not even huge fees). 

Transfers. 

Friendlies, (arranged as a result of a transfer clause). 

Finances. 

 

[Jimbokav1971]

Youth Intake day. Mar 2064. 

I really hope that this intake is better than it looks. 

[Jimbokav1971]

NxGn 2064. 

[Jimbokav1971]

Mar 2064. 

Scottish Premiership. I'm not saying we choked big time this month, but..... we were much the better side with much the better chances against Celtic, but we couldn't score and they grabbed a late winner. 
just to prove this wasn't a one-off, we then went and also lost to Aberdeen, (and this time we deserved to lose.  

So yeah, at the beginning of the month we probably looked favourites for the league title. At the end of the month however..... not so much. 

UEFA Europa League. We comfortably eased into the Quarter Finals of the Europa league after absolutely smashing Fenerbahçe in the 1st leg. 

Transfers. Nobody has arrived as yet, but I can confirm that I have done deals to sign 4 free free agents who are 6'3", 6'6", 6'0" and 6'1", and also splashed out £10M on a 6'5" Scandinavian centre-half who thinks he's a WB. 

Finances. 

 

 

[RoguPL]

Feels like you can go all the way in Europa League ! 

Edited July 13 by RoguPL

[Jimbokav1971]

24 minutes ago, RoguPL said:

Feels like you can go all the way in Europa League ! 

Valencia said no. 

[Deisler26]

17 minutes ago, Jimbokav1971 said:

Valencia said no. 

[Jimbokav1971]

Apr 2064.

Scottish Premiership. Our form has fallen off a cliff. Despite that, we're qualified for the Champions League again, and this time it will be auto-qualification for the Group Stage and the riches that comes with it. 

UEFA Europa League. There's no point saying we were unlucky. They scored 1 more goal than us and that's all that counts. 

Transfers. Nothing this month. 

Finances. 

 

[Jimbokav1971]

May 2064.

Scottish Premiership. I thought that we were guaranteed 2nd for some reason at the start of the month, and then Ross County beat us and Tullibody, (who had been on good form), overtook us into 2nd and I realised we might have to play in Champions League Qualifying again. As luck would have it, they imploded enormously and our 2nd place, (and Champions league Group Stage football), was secured for the very 1st time, (with a game to spare). 

Transfers.

I think it's fair to say that we have done our business early in the Summer Transfer Window this season. (All of them are 6'0"+)

We've signed 4 players on a free, but we've also paid £24.7M to bring in 6 players, (5 of whom are teenagers and the 6th is still only 20). This is a significant change in our recruitment policy. 

Awards. 

Finances. 

We've only got £61M in the bank. but that's hopefully going to get boosted as we offload some of the current squad to make room for the new signings. 

I notice that the new signings are going to take us considerably over our budget, but I don't see that as being a problem at all because I plan to sell quite a few players over the SUmmer. Let's see what the situation looks like then!

 

[Jimbokav1971]

Squad Depth. Jun 2064. 

This is going to be a very basic squad depth post just so that I can see what areas need to be trimmed most urgently. 

GK. We don't have a GK arriving in the Summer window, and that's just a little bit of a problem because I'm not hugely keen on what we've got. 

• Bruce (F.Sport) 6'0" * HG only has 12 months on his contract, but he's HGC and I think I'm going to offer him a new contract because selling him for £200,000 just doesn't seem to make sense when we have European registration issues as it is. 
• (55e) McLean (Res) 6'0" SELL. SELL.
• (60k) Smith (Spirit) 6'0" * is a decent young GK.
• Gonzalo (ESP) (F.Pro) 6'2" has a decent value, (so we could cash in on him), but he's also only 21 and has a +3 option. SELL.
• (62n) Johnston (NIR) 6'5" is a decent young GK. 
• (63o) Taylor (Res) 6'2" is pretty average, but he's also very young. 
• (64d) Hemmingbye (NOR) (F.Amb) is from the most recent intake and that looked rubbish and I'm slightly surprised that he looks decent. 
• Mina (ECU) 6'4" looks decent, (and was 2st choice), but I can get good money for him and that's the name of the game here. SELL. 
• (61h) Longwell (F.Pro) 6'1" * is a decent young GK. 

The problem with selling those 3x GK's is that if we do we probably need to sign a new one. 

GK1. (55e) McLean (Res) 6'0" SELL
GK2. Bruce (F.Sport) 6'0" * HG

Edited July 14 by Jimbokav1971

[Jimbokav1971]

Squad Depth. Jun 2064.

WBL. We don't have a new WBL arriving in the Summer, but some of these still need to leave.

• Hill (ENG) (Bal) * SELL hasn't developed as I would hope, is transfer listed by request and his value has fallen. SELL. 
• (62e) McJannet (ENG) (Unamb) isn't good enough so can be sold/released. SELL.
• Conde (ESP) (Res) 5'10" WBL is 1st choice and I'm happy with him. 
• (63b) Yangyang (Pro) 6'0" * looks like he could develop into a nice little player. 
• Langfield (F.Det) 6'0" was brought in by the DoF but it's too early to sell him. 
• Delcour (M.Pro) 5'10" was signed by me last Summer, and although he's a decent player, I really need to move him on because I need to use a HGN player at WBL. LOAN.
• Simmons (Pro) 6'0" will be my 2nd choice and then I will sell him once YangYang is ready to BangBang. 
• (61i) Sweeney (F.Pro) is a decent young player. Loan. 

WBL1. Conde (ESP) (Res) 5'10" WBL
WBL2. Simmons (Pro) 6'0"
WBL3. (63b) Yangyang (Pro) 6'0" *

Edited July 14 by Jimbokav1971

[Jimbokav1971]

Squad Depth Jun 2064. 

WBR. We have a 19 year old wonderkid called Eriksen (NOR) (F.Pro) 6'5" arriving in the Summer. Although he's a WB, he might end up playing at right centre-half. He's a hell of a player already. 

• Arifi (KOS) (F.Det) 5'5" SELL isn't good enough and needs to be sold. SELL.
• Ritchie (ENG) 5'10" PPM is still a bit raw but looks decent. I have triggered his +2 and will loan him out. LOAN.
• (61k) Donaldson. (Driven) SELL isn't good enough and needs to go. SELL.
• (62g) Brownlie (Temp) 6'1" is a bit raw, but it's too early to give up no him. 
• Williams (WAL) )(F.Pro) 5'9" was 1st choice last season and will be 2nd choice next season. 
• (60e) Swinton (Unamb) * WBR is a converted winger and is developing well.
• (63h) Mackie (Fickle) looks decent.
• (64b) Sinclair. (Unamb) is still young so no need to make a decision now. 

WBR1. Eriksen (NOR) (F.Pro) 6'5"
WBR2. Williams (WAL) )(F.Pro) 5'9"

Edited July 14 by Jimbokav1971

[Jimbokav1971]

Squad Depth. Jun 2046.

DC. We've got a 6'5" centre-half called Wilshaw (ENG) (F.Pro) 6'5" joining us in the Summer. 

DLC1. Bolger (IRL) 6'2"
DC1. Moore (NIR) (Spirit) 6'4"
DRC1. Daoud (BEL) 6'2" * DRC

DLC2. O'Donnell (F.Pro) 6'5" *
DC2. (60h) Ferguson (F.Pro) 6'0" *
DRC2. (58h) Duncan (Unamb) 6'6" *

Backup. (60b) Warnock (F.Pro) 6'3" * Wilshaw (ENG) (F.Pro) 6'5".

We're weak at centre-half and it's costing us. I really need to work on this over the enxt 12 months. 

Edited July 14 by Jimbokav1971

[Jimbokav1971]

Squad Depth. Jun 2064.

MC. I think we've got loads of midfielders, (with more arriving), so we really need a clear-out. We only play a 2 in midfield and if I had any sense I would play 3 or 4 in the middle and drop down to a back 4. 

We've got 2 midfielders arriving in the SUmmer. 

Houghton (ENG)(M.Pro) 6'3" MLC was signed on a free and I really like him. 
Radović (SRB) (Unsport) 5'9" * is arriving from Partizan for £4.7M.

Matrljan (CRO) (Fickle) PPM is a 19 year old Wonderkid who is wanted by Barca & Villa. He's not really a centre-mid in my sides but he also isn't a central or wide striker. He has a £19M release clause. 
Jonathan (ESP) (Res) 6'1" SELL is wanted by 3 Middle East clubs so he can leave. 
Pritchard (ENG) (Res) SELL is wanted by quite a few English clubs so he can go. 
 

MLC1. Houghton (ENG)(M.Pro) 6'3" MLC
MRC1. Matrljan (CRO) (Fickle) PPM

MLC2. Baldo (ARG) (Driven) 6'1" MRC
MRC2. Radović (SRB) (Unsport) 5'9" *

Backup. Stewart (Res) * is HGC registered. 
Backup. Križman (CRO)(F.Amb) 5'10" PPM

[Edit]

That means the following can be sold/loaned out. 

Jonathan (ESP) (Res) 6'1" SELL
Pritchard (ENG) (Res) SELL
Guessous (MOR)(Unsp) 6'0" SELL

Baranja (SVN) (F.Amb) 6'0" Loan.

Edited July 14 by Jimbokav1971

[Jimbokav1971]

Squad Depth. Jun 2064. 

SC. We've got so many strikers, (and wide forwards), that I'm just going to list everyone in contention 1st and then pick who's going to do what and stay/go from there. 

SLC.

Dias (POR) (Res) 6'1" was signed on a free before we signed much better options. He's not really in contention to start. He is basically a small/cheap/backup "Big" forward. LOAN.
McAtee (ENG) (F.Pro) 5'9" has been our 1st choice left forward but didn't perform well in the league last season so we need an upgrade. SELL.
Taylor (ENG) (F.Det) 5'8" was signed by the DoF for just £500,000 last season but is not ready for 1st Team action yet. Needs to go out on loan. LOAN.
Soley (ENG) (Res) 5'10" PPM is a righty but has played on the left. Has scored 9 and 14 goals in his 2 seasons with the club. 1st Team.
(60i) Taylor (Res) * is a decent young player, but needs to go out on loan because isn't ready for the 1st Team. LOAN.
(60f) Munn (NIR) (Unamb) * is out injured for the next 2 months, but needs to go out and play regular football after that. LOAN.
(60d) Kirkness (Bal) needs to go out on loan. LOAN.
Zieliński (POL) (Bal) 5'9" is a 20 year old Polish International who only scored 4 goals & 6 assists from 16(19) appearances in his 1st season with us. 2nd Team.

SC.

Forte (AUS) (F.Det) 6'6" is a 6'6" 28 year old Australian International with 60 caps who is joining us on a free. 2nd Team. 
Black (ENG) (Det) 6'0" is a 6'0" 31 year old English striker who we signed on a free from Championship side Preston, after he scored 122 goals in the last 4 seasons. Backup. 
Mihaljević (CRO) (Perfect) 6'0 is an 18 year old Croatian who we signed from Rijeka for £2.9M. He looks like he's going to be amazing, but he's possibly not ready yet. U21's.
Matheson (IRL) (Unamb) 6'5" has been the 1st choice SC for a while now. He's scored 23, 38, 23 & 16 goals in the last 4 seasons but missed a fair bit of last season through injury. SELL.
Thomas (ENG) (Res) 6'6" PPM was signed simply because of his size and I didn't really think he would be that good, but 4, 13 and 20 goals in his 3 seasons with us suggest he has developed to be in consideration. 1st Team. 
(58b) Lindsay (ENG) (Res) 6'2" was signed as a bacup SC for £5M from Tullibody and is possibly better than I thought. He scored 1 goal from 1(4) appearances last season. LOAN.

SRC.

Dzafic (BIH) (F.Pro) 5'9" is 20 year old Bosnian right winger is we've signed for £6M from Crvena Zvezda. His physicals are amazing. 1st Team. 
Ditutala (ANG) (L.Heart) 5'8" is an 18 year old Angolan striker  who looks pacy enough to play out wide. One for the future though. LOAN.
Clark (AUS) 5'9" SCR SELL is a 30 year old Australian International who is earning £40k per week and needs to leave. SELL.
Bolaños (ECU) (F.Pro) 5'11" is an athletic 21 year old Ecuadorian who had a decent 1st season with us, scoring 6 goals from 8(1) appearances. U21's.
(61b) Smith (Unamb) * PPM is a decent looking young striker who is probably better centrally but not big enough to play there for us. Needs to go out on loan. LOAN.
Adams (IRL) (Bal) 6'1" was signed last season by the DoF and needs to go out on loan because at the moment it doesn't look like he will make the grade. LOAN.
Gold (Res) 5'10" was signed by the DoF last season and doesn't look good enough. LOAN.
Begović (BIH) (F.Det) 5'9" is a 21 year old Bosnian International. He scored 8 goals and 5 assists from 18(17) appearances in his 1st season at the club. 2nd Team.
(59a) Stark (L.Heart) * is a 21 year old winger who I have converted into a striker. He needs to go out on loan. LOAN.
(60g) Sinnamon (Fickle) 6'1" is a decent young winger who I have converted to a wide attacker. He needs to go out on loan. LOAN.

SLC1. Soley (ENG) (F.Pro) 5'10" PPM
SC1. Thomas (ENG) (Res) 6'6" PPM
SRC1. Dzafic (BIH) (F.Pro) 5'9"

SLC2. Zieliński (POL) (Bal) 5'9"
SC2. Forte (AUS) (F.Det) 6'6"
SRC2. Begović (BIH) (F.Det) 5'9"

SLCBackup. Black (ENG) (Det) 6'0"
SCU21. Mihaljević (CRO) (Perfect) 6'0
SRCU21. Bolaños (ECU) (F.Pro) 5'11"

[Jimbokav1971]

On 13/07/2024 at 22:19, Deisler26 said:

That's exactly how I felt. 

[Jimbokav1971]

Jun 2064. 

Premiership TV Rights. 

Transfers. I've had a bit of a re-think in terms of Transfer strategy. I had sort of got a little bit carried away with trying to get success on the pitch, and I had forgotten that this save isn't really about that. It's about trying to repair the financial damage done to the club, (by the AI), and repaying the loan debt of what is now just over £250M+. It was £485M+ when we started and we have paid off 1 loan completely, and we're obviously repaying the other loans at £18M per month, (which soon adds up). So I had sort of fallen into a strategy whereby I would look to sign players, (on a free or cheap), who I thought I could make a profit on, and that was sort as far as it went. It sounds great, but I hadn't really considered the next step and this was my mistake. What I was doing was waiting until players became fringe players and then trying to sell them on, (after other players at the club had already jumped above them), but the problem with that is that it then makes it really hard to sell these fringe players for anything like their value, so I'm not happy with that at all. Instead I want to sell players when they are at their peak for us and in demand, (even though it will potentially leave a hole in the squad), and then just fill that hole with the next best we have available. I want the focus to be on financial game first and foremost, even if it comes at the expense of on-pitch performances. 

Eriksen (NOR) (F.Pro) 6'5" was signed for £10M and is immediately worth £32M - £45M as a teenager. Really like the look of him but I'm torn as to whether he should stay at WBR or DC. 

Ditutala (ANG) (L.Heart) 5'8" cost us just £1.4M and is immediately worth £12.5M - £14.5M. I really like his physicals but I still can't find space for him so he's going out on loan. 

Wilshaw (ENG) (F.Pro) 6'5" was signed for a very modest £725,000 and is immediately worth £1.9M - £4.8M. He looks pretty raw and has some developing to do before he gets in the team. 

Radović (SRB) (Unsport) 5'9" * looks a hell of a player and while I often end up with playmakers in midfield, his workrate, determination, stamina and tackling suggest a slightly more..... agricultural style for him, (and one that I absolutely love). 

Dzafic (BIH) (F.Pro) 5'9" has physicals and that I love, and although he's a winger I will be playing him on the right of a 3 up front. He will soon get the hang of it. 

Mihaljević (CRO) (Perfect) 6'0 is a bit more of a risk than some of the other signings, simply because his physicals aren't at the required level.

We signed 4 players as free agents, but in hindsight I'm less pleased with some of these now than I was when I did the original deals. 

Houghton (ENG)(M.Pro) 6'3" MLC is a player who I really liked when I did the deal, but the more I look at him, the less impressed I am. He's hardly played any football and had to go all the way to Brazil to get most of the football he's played. I love his personality and his passing, but I think we have quite a few significantly better players in the squad right now. I think he's probably going to go out on loan. I think I just looked at him, sawa he was available on a free, liked his passing, technique, jumping, height and personality and was blinded by his..... averageness in other areas. He's not rubbish, but he's not amazing either, and we've moved on from average in midfield. 

Black (ENG) 6'0" was definitely a mistake. I was looking for cover in the central SC role where I play the Big Men and was planning on them not being available. I looked at this bloke and saw all the recent goals in the Championship and thought he could be decent. I mean he might be decent. He is decent, but I have no business signing him for this team at this time. 

Forte (AUS) (F.Det) 6'6" might look pretty average, but I don't mind this signing. During each of the last 2 seasons we have lost 1 of our 2 Big strikers, and we struggle when that happens. This brings us a 3rd player who can come in and rotate when 1 is unavailable. 

Dias (POR) (Res) 6'1" does seem a strange signing because he doesn't seem to fit any of the roles we currently use. He looks like a poor-mans Big Man, except he's not big. i mean he's not small, but he's not a giant. I'm pretty sure there must have been some drunk management going on when I signed this bloke. 

Friendlies, (arranged as a result of a transfer clause). None. 

Finances. We're over our wage budget but that shouldn't last long. I plan on selling quite a few players in this window and that should bring the wage budget down to well within budget. 

 

[Jimbokav1971]

Jul 2064.

Transfers.

Arifi (KOS) (F.Det) 5'5" SELL was actually signed to play rather than for a profit, and although I loaned him out for the 1st season, (50% of wages covered + £170k fee received), he still played the 2nd season, (albeit not to a high standard).

This won't make sense until you read the explanation below the next player, but the cost/profit for this player was as follows. 

Initial Fee £0 + Signing fee £100,000 + wages £1.5M = costs of £1.6M.
Wages not paid while on loan £750,000 + loan fee = £170,000 + Transfer fee received = £3M
£3.92M - £1.6M = £2.32M profit. 

That's not too shabby when this wasn't a deal that was done with profit in mind. This was a player who was signed to play. 

Clark (AUS) 5'9" SCR SELL still made us a tidy profit, even if you include the £2M in wages and the £0.5M in bonus payments and fees, but I think he highlighted the issues involved with signing an ageing/experienced player on a free with a view to making a profit on him. The chances are they will demand more in wages/signing fees and there is a greater chance of their value depreciating while they're with us rather than rising, (which is obviously the aim). We got away with it this time, but I think it's an example of what we shouldn't be doing in this save at the moment. 

ps. A lot of people look at the amount they sell a player for and then deduct the transfer fee they paid for him to calculate the profit. I don't like doing that because it's too basic and misses out too many things. My calculation is more like the following. 

Transfer fee paid (£0), + wages over term of contract (£40k pw = £2M), + agents fees and signing bonus (£500,000) and this sum, (£2.5M), needs to be deducted from the selling Transfer fee received (£4.2M) to calculate either the overall cost or profit of the player over his time at the club. In this case the profit was approx £1.7M. 

I haven't included the wages that we didn't pay when he was out on loan, (approx £1M) and I also haven't included the loan fee that was received, (just under £100,000), but that basic calculation has served me well over the years. I know that some people ignore wages paid as a cost when calculating "profit", but I've just always liked to include it. It makes it much clearer whether it was a good decision or not. Because the player was on such high wages, this was always a risky deal and I'm delighted to have made a profit on him while still being able to use this as an example of what not to do. 

Jonathan (ESP) (Res) 6'1" is a really good player, but he wasn't suited at all to the way we play and I shouldn't have even tried. I should have got him in and sent him straight out on loan because it was never going to work. He was a big earner, (£40k per week I think), which is £2M in wages, but we saved £500,000 of that by sending him out on loan and making them pay half his wages, (100% when not playing), but in hindsight  maybe we should have got a fee too. I was really just happy to have him playing somewhere else and having someone else contribute to his wages. this worked out really well as we flipped him for £14M 12 months on, and this equated to approx £12.25M profit*. That's really not to be sniffed at.

* Or rather it would have been £12.25M profit, but we had to give a % of the fee to the player and another cut to his previous club, and I think this took approx 2.5M on the profit line, (so still almost £10M profit over the course of 12 months). 

Guessous (MOR) (Unsp) 6'0" MRC is a perfect example of what we failed to do with the previous player. We managed to get a £2.4M loan fee for a half season loan where he only played 7 games.  To be completely fair, the fee was part of a bigger deal that involved a future sale fee clause, but they opted not to trigger that when they probably should from a financial point of view. We obviously made  a really nice profit on this player, (but I'm not going to bother adding and subtracting for you). 

Something that I usually pay far too little attention to, (to my detriment), is the amount that can be generated by loan fees. My focus is usually on young player development, so when it comes to a loan, my priority is usually that the player is at the right club at the right level with the right facilities getting the right amount of football, and often I don't care about how much of his wages are being paid never mind about a fee. This save is different though. I don't actually care hugely about young player development in the main, (because we're going to be selling them on before too long so who cares), but I do care about loan fees. Because money obviously!

In season 1 we earned £9,750 from loan fees. 
In season 2 we earned £10k from loan fees. 
In season 3 we earned £27k from loan fees. 
In season 4 we earned £67k from loan fees. 
In season 5 we earned £220,000 from loan fees. 
In season 6 we earned £2.5M from loan fees. 
In season 7 we have already earned £4.5M in loan fees, (and the Summer window is open for another month). 

I'm not doing anything different. I'm just offering out a better standard of player and these players generate a fee. The better the player, the bigger the fee. 

Friendlies, (arranges as a result of transfer clauses). 

Finances. I'm a bit peeved that we're not over the £100M mark, but the transfer window is open for another month so we still have some more time. I'd like to think that we're going to sell more players in the window, but we've done most of the business I wanted to. 

 

[Jimbokav1971]

Aug 2064.

Scottish Premiership. That's a really good opening month of the season. Unbeaten and 5 wins from 5 sees us 4 points clear at the top of the table as everyone else, (including Celtic), have already lost at least once. 

UEFA Champions League. We were 2 players short in terms of player registration. We had 7/8 HGN players but only 2/4 HGC players. 

League Cup. We're into the next round. Nothing else matters. 

Season Tickets. 

Transfers.

Begović (BIH) 5'9" started the season really well with 2 goals and 2 assists in his 1st 3 games. He did so well that West Ham met his min fee release clause and he's gone.  It's still good money though and I'm not complaining even a little bit. I had managed to put an expiry date on the clause, but we didn't even get near it. Good luck to him. 

Friendlies, (arranged as a result of transfer clauses). Nothing this month. 

Finances. That's looking much better now. We would have got over the £100M mark even without the Champions league money, but it's still nice to have it. 

This is much better now. We've got £16M in the transfer kitty now, (even if I haven't actually got a target that I'm willing to splash the cash on right now), and the wage spend has dropped down to comfortably within the budget. 

 

Edited July 15 by Jimbokav1971

[Jimbokav1971]

Sep 2064. 

Scottish Premiership. Another unbeaten month and we're top of the table by 7 points from Kilmarnock, although they do have 2 games in hand. More importantly to me, we're ahead of Celtic by 9 points and 13 ahead of Tullibody. 

UEFA Champions League. We were 3-0 down at Villarreal but fought back to lead 4-3. Unfortunately they also fought back and nicked a leveller. 

Transfers. 

Friendlies, (arranged as a result of a transfer clause).

Finances. 

 

Edited July 16 by Jimbokav1971

[Jimbokav1971]

Oct 2064. 

Scottish Premiership. After going unbeaten in the opening 13 games of the season, (it felt like more than that), we were finally beaten in the 14th game. Kilmarnock seemed to score every time they got the ball. They definitely deserved to win, but there's no way it was a 5-2 game. We're still top of the table and are 7 points clear of Celtic and we also have a game in hand. It's early days yet, but things are looking decent. 

UEFA Champions League. Delighted to be unbeaten in the Champions League after 3 games, although with Atletico & Chelsea up next I expect that's about to change. 

League Cup. We're into the next round. 

Transfers.

Finances. 

 

[Jimbokav1971]

Nov 2056. 

Scottish Premiership. We lost a league game for the 2nd time this season, and our gap at the top is down to 5 points now, (although we do have a game in hand on Celtic). I wasn't expecting such a strong season so a slight drop-off in form is to be expected and I just hope we don't completely implode. 

UEFA Champions League. If you had told me that we would be unbeaten after 5 Champions league games including 2 from Spain and 1 from ENgland I would have thought that you had lost your marbles. 

League Cup. When I was managing Tullibody, this "Cup" was simply a collection of friendlies. Would it be fickle of me to state that it's no longer the case now I'm managing rangers and desperate for any success I can get. 

Records. This is huge considering the chequered financial history of the club. 

Transfers.

Finances. The Champions league prize money has already been huge this season, but it;s only huge because we've grabbed 2 wins and 3 draws generating approx £7.19M, (with 3 games to play). 

 

[RoguPL]

Champions League Playoffs are on the cards here. That will be another £9M  

[Jimbokav1971]

Dec 2056.

Scottish Premiership. The loss against Celtic was a big blow, but even with that we're still 1 point ahead of them and have 3 (THREE) games in hand. Games in hand only count if you win them though, so the pressure is really being cranked up now. We've already won the League Cup, it looks like we will be progressing from the Champions League Group and we're about to enter the Scottish Cup. 

UEFA Champions League. I thought that qualification was just about secured, but I've just realised that our last 2 games are against PSG and AC Milan. 

League Cup. That's 3 times we've won it in 5 seasons now. 

Transfers. 

We've signed not 1 but 2 players from River Plate, and although both had 5.0 PA scout reports, 1 has dropped to 4.5 PA now he's actually arrived. I can't work out of £12M for 2 teenagers is frivolous, and I guess time will tell. 

Baldo (ARG) (Driven) 6'1" MRC was a little older than some of our other midfielders and only had 18 months left on his contract, so £5M +25% and a friendly just seemed smart business. 

McAtee (ENG) 5'9" is a bit of a strange one as he has performed quite well this season, and the decision to sell him was made at the start of this season and based on his performances last season. I tried and failed to sell him for £9M, so he went back into the team and has done better this season. As a result he's secured a £10M transfer with 25% and a friendly, (which I'm obviously delighted about. If he had been HGN or HGC I would have kept him, but he's not and he's basically funded the signing of the 2 teenagers from Argentina. 

Shortlist.These are the list of players I'm keeping track of with a view to bringing in. Obviously most of them are more money than I would like to spend

I'm really tempted to splash the cash on Anderson (F.Pro) 5'8", and if this was any other save then I think I would do, but I just don't think I can justify spending £22M, (even for a Scottish Wonderkid), in a save when we're trying to repay the debt. 

Finances. Wow.  That's a lot of money. The problem is that I'm not really finding players to bring in at the moment.