(FM24) Red Sun Rising - A Tokyo Soccer Story

[Deisler26]

 

In the bustling heart of Ota City, Tokyo, Shiraki Seiji, a seasoned fisherman, navigated the morning crowds. Seiji had inherited his small fishing business from his father, a venture that had sustained his family for generations. With a weathered face and hands calloused from years at sea, Seiji carried with him a quiet pride in his work and a deep love for the ocean. Just a few streets away, Okura Masaki, the jovial owner of the Green Octopus Noodle Shop, prepared for another busy day. His ramen shop was a local favorite, known for its rich broths and fresh ingredients, many of which Seiji supplied. Masaki, with his round face and ever-present smile, was a fixture in the community, his shop a place where stories were shared and friendships forged.

One sunny afternoon, Seiji and Masaki found themselves with a rare moment of leisure. By coincidence, they both ended up at a quaint café near the Haneda Shrine. Seiji, in his fisherman’s attire, and Masaki, with his apron still tied around his waist, greeted each other warmly. “Seiji-san, fancy meeting you here,” Masaki said, settling into a chair across from his friend. “Masaki-san, it’s good to see you. Taking a break from the noodle rush?” Seiji replied with a chuckle.

As they sipped their coffees, their conversation drifted to a mutual passion they had discovered years ago: football. Both men had grown up playing the sport in their younger days and had always harbored a deep love for the game. “Do you remember those days, playing football until the sun set?” Masaki reminisced, his eyes sparkling with nostalgia. “Of course,” Seiji replied. “Those were some of the best times. It’s a shame we don’t have a proper place to play anymore.” A thoughtful silence settled between them until Masaki leaned forward, a glint of excitement in his eyes. “What if we changed that? What if we built a football pitch right here in Ota City?”

Seiji looked at him, eyebrows raised. “You mean, for the community?” “Not just for the community,” Masaki said, his enthusiasm growing. “What if we formed our own team? Enter the J3 League and bring the joy of football back to this area?” The idea was audacious, but the more they talked, the more it made sense. They both had savings and connections within the community. They could rally support and find the right talent to form a team. A week later, they stood on a vacant plot of land near the Tama River. Overgrown with weeds and scattered with debris, it didn’t look like much, but to Seiji and Masaki, it held endless possibilities.

“This is it,” Seiji said, hands on his hips, surveying the land. “We’ll clear it, lay down the turf, and build something that everyone in Ota City can be proud of.” Masaki nodded, envisioning the future. “And we’ll call our team Tokyo Metro Ota City!.”

With the support of their community, Seiji and Masaki embarked on their ambitious project. They held fundraisers at the Green Octopus Noodle Shop, where customers donated generously in exchange for steaming bowls of ramen. Seiji’s fishing business flourished as well, with locals eager to contribute by buying fresh seafood for the cause. Months of hard work paid off. The land was transformed into a pristine football pitch, complete with floodlights. The Tokyo Metro Ota Citys were born, a team comprised of local talent and coached by a former J-League player Shinji Shihainin who had retired in Ota City.

As the sun set over Ota City, Seiji and Masaki knew they had created something special—a legacy that would inspire future generations. They had built more than just a football pitch; they had forged a new chapter in the story of their beloved hometown, one where dreams and determination turned into reality.

Edited June 11 by Deisler26

[john1]

Good luck

[sherwinriga]

Finally, I'm finally thrilled to have a Japan save story for months after following Tokyo Rising last week! And coincidentally, Ota was featured for the first time since I have worked a fan fiction story that I have in an anime community. I can't wait to see what's in store for your new story in Tokyo because I'm about to get thrilled into this after following the J.League for a year! Good luck in Ota! 太田で頑張ってください！

Edited June 11 by sherwinriga

[Deisler26]

Red Sun Rising - Season 1

Welcome to the (Tokyo) Pleasure Dome

(東京)プレジャードームへようこそ

So here we are. A newly created club in the lowest out-of-the-box league in Japan. I usually have a plan for this sort of thing, but to be honest, I'll try my best to grow the club's youth system, whilst supplimenting them with signings. I will attempt to use the Data Hub and statistics to try and justify the signings, but this ain't no Moneyball.

Our manager:

Meet Shinji Shihainin. Ex-J League player, who was inspired by Kazuyoshi Miura and Gary Lineker to be a player, but spent his career around the lower reaches of Japan. Finally he retired to Ota City and opened a soccer school. He was the only person that Shiraki and Okura approached for the job and left him to deal with the lack of players and staff.

His goal for this first season is to attempt to finish in the top half of the league and keep within the wage budget. As they have just one player out of H.S, a lot of work will be needed to achieve this.

Our first (and only) player so far, is a H.S basketball player who worked with Shihainin at his soccer school. He looks the part of a big target man and as we will be playing with one, he's a godsend until he's poached by a bigger club. 

Well. Here we have the information on the new club. Let's hope that this can be successful!

Edited June 11 by Deisler26

[Deisler26]

10 hours ago, john1 said:

Good luck

Thanks man. It's good to be back

[Deisler26]

On 11/06/2024 at 15:20, sherwinriga said:

Finally, I'm finally thrilled to have a Japan save story for months after following Tokyo Rising last week! And coincidentally, Ota was featured for the first time since I have worked a fan fiction story that I have in an anime community. I can't wait to see what's in store for your new story in Tokyo because I'm about to get thrilled into this after following the J.League for a year! Good luck in Ota! 太田で頑張ってください！

Appreciated, my friend. The Tokyo Rising series is what inspired me to take this on tbh!

[Deisler26]

Part 1

So I made an absolute boo-boo in starting the season almost at the first J3 game of the season, with one player and no staff. Oh no. I was hitting the phones with regards to staff, but no-one with decent personalities wanted to come to the lower reaches of Japan, even if they could live in Tokyo! With two days to go, we still didn't have any players or staff, so I signed every grey player we had in the team, which is the equivalent of getting in the players from the local pub, The Serow and Giant Hornet. And this is what we came up with

Goalkeeper

 Kim Min-Woo, 34. He's not likely to win any awards or stay at the club for long, but he'll do. The best thing is all the areas he's particularly weak in aren't at all needed for a keeper.

 

Defence

Nobuyuki Nagase, 28, Right Back.  An absolute shambles of a player, this 5'7" waste of space will be one of the first to be replaced, once we actually get some scouting staff in...

Hikaru Ishikawa, 26, Centre Back. 5'11, but with an Aggression rating of 10, means that this one will be one of the last to be replaced.

 Kota Kobayashi, 19, Centre Back. A standing six-footer and more well-rounded than his partner, but not as specialised as him which means we don't have to worry as much as other positions

Minoru Soma, 30, Left Back. If there is such a thing as a decent enough grey player, then this guy is it. Acceleration of 10 and Natural Fitness of 11 means that he'll be part of the defence until late

 

As you can see, our first XI defence is not worth a yen, yet only the goalie and right back are pressing concerns for us right now. We'll focus on the midfield and strikers in the next post, with the subs to follow.

 

 

[Deisler26]

Part 2

The first part of this was shambles. The second part... not much better...

Midfield

 Hideo Nemoto, 26, Right Midfield. He's got a Flair of 10. That's about it. Certainly in the second tier of "We need to replace this guy soon"

 Hayato Yoshikawa, 19, Central Midfield.  He's not terrible, but really short at 5'9" for the midfield. I think he'll go into the hat for replacing ASAP. with the GK and RB.

 Takuya Sakai, 29, Central Midfield. Holy crap, this player wins the worst one of the First XI. This player will be the priority to be replaced, with the goalie being bumped down to Tier 2.

  Yuki Taki, 20, Left Wing. Poor, but we're stuck until we get more staff

 

Attack

 Takumi Imei, 18, Striker. A player that is both literally and figuratively the best thing we have in this entire club, including the manager. He'll leave soon, but we'll pocket some cash off him

Kazuo Kato, 20, Striker. His Bravery and Natural Fitness are his best assets, so he'll always get in the thick of things

 

This is probably our weakest and strongest areas. With Imei, we're clearly setup to bully other teams, but with our rice-paper thin midfield, we're going to heap pressure on our....less-than-ideal defence.

 

 

Edited June 14 by Deisler26

[Deisler26]

Part 3

Imagine, if you will, players who weren't good enough to make it into our first XI. This is them.

Subsititutes

  Masato Yamazaki, 21, Left Midfield. His Pace is better than the encumbents. And that is truly it.

Takashi Iida, 21, Striker. His Aggression means that he *could* be an asset off the bench late on. Could.

Keisuke Sato, 23, Right Midfield. No Agilty, Pace or Technique means this guy's gonna suffer splinters in his a***

. Kenji Kamiya, 20, Centre Back.  Jesus wept. What an awful player

 Kenji Sawada, 25, Goalkeeper.  Backup king

[Deisler26]

We have staff!! Oh my God, we have staff... I mean, we're 4 games into the season and I don't exactly have the best and brightest. Still, staff is better than no staff and this who we'll have for the debut of this club!

Assistant Manager

 Hiroya Kanamori, 30, Assistant Manager.  Decent Discipline, Man-Management and Working With Youngsters means that at least the behind the scenes stuff should run well.

 

Head of Youth Development

Jun Takahashi, 36, HOYD.  All that matters here is his Working with Youngsters and his Professional personality, I can do the rest from here, 

 

Coaches

 Motoki Matsuzawa, 36, Goalkeeping Coach.  The best of a VERY bad bunch. Upgrades ASAP for this role

 Masato Suzuki, 28, Fitness Coach.  His Discipline is high, which means he'll teach the fitness badly, but no-one will argue.

 

So there you have it. Our first incarnation of Toyko Metro Ota City. We're not good, but the only way is up!!

[Deisler26]

Neon Tactical Genesis: Evolution 

I'm very much a loyalist. If I find something that works, I keep at it. Probably past it's sell-by date if I'm honest. I've spent the last few FM's playing with my Asymmetric 4-2-1-2-1. But this time, I've decided to try and sort a formation in real-time. Tweaking and changing as we go with promotion and better players. So, with that in mind, I've gone for 4-4-f**king-2. This is to exploit Imei's height and heading. Plus I've always loved having a big target man, right back to my beloved Oyvind Hoas / Tommy Hoiland partnership in FM 02/03 on the Xbox.

So this should shake out, that we're crossing into Imei who can knock down or score himself. The terrible Crossing stats of my wingers and full backs, means I've given both wingers instruction to get to the byline and cross, this will eliminate a lot of wayward crosses in my opinion as they're so close to the goal, it'll take just a lift into the box. Simplicity is the order of the day with both centre backs on as limited as possible, without making them No-Nonsense. Same with the midfield where we need cover at the back more than going forward, so the MCL joins the attack and defence and the MCR sweeps up constantly.

Eventually, the idea will be to move to more subtle versions of this formation, maybe even changing formation, depending on who we can bring in / develop. 

[Deisler26]

Part 2

We've locked up everyone we need to run the club in the interim now. It took us until the last day of the transfer window, but we've managed to fill all the staff needed to run the club fully, rather than a skeleton staff. They're not good, but neither are we, so it'll be important to grow the club so that we can get better staff. Here's the rest of our staff.

Coaches

  Takahiro Yoshida, 29, Coach.  Extremely Determined & very Adaptable. He'll be a good vanilla coach for our level.

 

Scouting

Kenji Kobayashi, 29, Chief Scout. He's awful. But we finally have a scout at least so that we can try and get players in on Deadline Day

 

Medical

Itsuki Hamada, 24, Head Physio. He's determined to do a mediocre job. But it's the best we can get

Tsubasa Ando, 28, Physio. He's disciplined enough to do a mediocre job.

[Deisler26]

March 2024 Transfer Window

I can't believe we finally have the chance to get players in! However, we're not lucky enough to have the time to scout properly, so we're gonna need players that are already fully known to our scouts, which....aren't many. FFS. We tried many times for loans, but our low position and the fact the board don't trust me enough yet to give me a parent club means that we were increasingly desperate to get at least one player in.

Eventually, we managed to get one player in before the transfer window shut. 

We picked up Ryotaro Yamamoto as a free agent. His First Touch, Passing, Technique, Work Rate and Stamina mark him as being the second best player in the team already. He'll slot into the BBM role, but need someone better in the BWM slot, so I can maybe change his role to an Advanced Playmaker, perhaps?

We also brought in four players on trial. Once they have all been fully scouted by our coaching team, then we'll rate them.

Results

It's really not been the best start this season. Especially as it's taken forward Imei over three games to find the net, by contrast, his striking partner Kato has got 4 in 4. We've also had the misfortune to play 3 of the top 7 so far this season.  The win over Numazu was the only team that were below us in the league. To be honest, I just want us to survive this season.

[Jimbokav1971]

Great intro. 👏 

[Jimbokav1971]

Loving the look of TM Takuma Imei. 👏

I take it HS is High School?

[Jimbokav1971]

There are some really bad haircuts in that team, (particularly midfield). 💇‍♂️

Why is height important for a MC? 🤔

[Jimbokav1971]

On 15/06/2024 at 04:25, Deisler26 said:

Neon Tactical Genesis: Evolution 

I'm very much a loyalist. If I find something that works, I keep at it. Probably past it's sell-by date if I'm honest. I've spent the last few FM's playing with my Asymmetric 4-2-1-2-1. But this time, I've decided to try and sort a formation in real-time. Tweaking and changing as we go with promotion and better players. So, with that in mind, I've gone for 4-4-f**king-2. This is to exploit Imei's height and heading. Plus I've always loved having a big target man, right back to my beloved Oyvind Hoas / Tommy Hoiland partnership in FM 02/03 on the Xbox.

So this should shake out, that we're crossing into Imei who can knock down or score himself. The terrible Crossing stats of my wingers and full backs, means I've given both wingers instruction to get to the byline and cross, this will eliminate a lot of wayward crosses in my opinion as they're so close to the goal, it'll take just a lift into the box. Simplicity is the order of the day with both centre backs on as limited as possible, without making them No-Nonsense. Same with the midfield where we need cover at the back more than going forward, so the MCL joins the attack and defence and the MCR sweeps up constantly.

Eventually, the idea will be to move to more subtle versions of this formation, maybe even changing formation, depending on who we can bring in / develop. 

I have t done loads of work on it, but the TM instruction doesn't seem to work as well as it should. By all means use a TM role, but maybe be slightly more specific than just use the instruction "aim at TM" 

In line with your love of asymmetric systems, maybe the answer is to have him play left or right of a central AF and instruction crosses to go to near/far post as appropriate to deliver to area TM most likely to frequent. 

At Rangers I'm still using my TM centrally, but more and more I'm thinking that using him in either of the wider slots might be more beneficial. The only problem with doing that is that you would be unable to set him as a TM, (I think), but that needn't actually be a problem. 

Anyway, good luck with this. Really interested to see how it develops. I'm sure the big lad will tear it up however and wherever you play him. 👍

[Deisler26]

6 hours ago, Jimbokav1971 said:

Loving the look of TM Takuma Imei. 👏

I take it HS is High School?

Yeah. there is an add-on that will give you the high school and university leagues, but that's too much for me haha

[Deisler26]

6 hours ago, Jimbokav1971 said:

There are some really bad haircuts in that team, (particularly midfield). 💇‍♂️

Why is height important for a MC? 🤔

For me, I find that height in the midfield helps with winning the goal kicks usually. But that may just be anecdotal

[Deisler26]

11 hours ago, Jimbokav1971 said:

I have t done loads of work on it, but the TM instruction doesn't seem to work as well as it should. By all means use a TM role, but maybe be slightly more specific than just use the instruction "aim at TM" 

In line with your love of asymmetric systems, maybe the answer is to have him play left or right of a central AF and instruction crosses to go to near/far post as appropriate to deliver to area TM most likely to frequent. 

At Rangers I'm still using my TM centrally, but more and more I'm thinking that using him in either of the wider slots might be more beneficial. The only problem with doing that is that you would be unable to set him as a TM, (I think), but that needn't actually be a problem. 

Anyway, good luck with this. Really interested to see how it develops. I'm sure the big lad will tear it up however and wherever you play him. 👍

It is an interesting premise, but I kinda want him to be the whale and Kato to be the fish cleaning up the debris. So having Kato as a wide striker or get an asymmetric SS in to arrive late? It certainly bears thinking about and when our quality improves, I'll look at trying to incorporate that 

[Deisler26]

Intake Preview

Kinda hard to be a bad intake when you're replacing grey players. Very much hoping we get players good enough to make up some depth.

[Deisler26]

2023/24 Campaign

First Round

Tokyo Metro Ota City 7-2 Button Down FC

An easy dispatch of lower league opposition. Four goals from Takumi Imei settled this tie.

 

Second Round

Tokyo Metro Ota City 3-2 Criozao United

We struggled somewhat against more lower-league opposition, going a goal down early. But a brace from Kazuo Kato gave us the lead twice, the second time for good.

 

Third Round

FC Imbari 4-3 Tokyo Metro Ota City (a.e.t)

This was against one of the high-flying teams in our league. We went into half time, drawing 1-1, with both goals coming in the last 5 mins of the half. We then took the lead on 69 mins, before being hauled back on 84 mins. When Hideo Nemoto netted on 87 minutes, a roar went up from the away supporters, but our exhausted team couldn't hold on and conceded a 90th min penalty. This was duly converted and off to extra time we went. We then conceded early in ET and had no energy to get an equaliser.

Edited June 18 by Deisler26

[Deisler26]

AGAIN. GREY PLAYERS! FFS!

[Rick87]

I've just read through this, I find it quite interesting as I've really tried managing in Japan, I did load up a save once but the editor data I was using was very incomplete which put me off taking it any further.

Nice update presentation, keep it up and hope you can turn things around.

[LUFCspeni]

Sorry if you have mentioned this, but should it be Tokyo and Toyko? In game it says Toyko.

[Deisler26]

3 hours ago, Rick87 said:

I've just read through this, I find it quite interesting as I've really tried managing in Japan, I did load up a save once but the editor data I was using was very incomplete which put me off taking it any further.

Nice update presentation, keep it up and hope you can turn things around.

Appreciated! Me too, otherwise this is a short save, haha

[Deisler26]

35 minutes ago, LUFCspeni said:

Sorry if you have mentioned this, but should it be Tokyo and Toyko? In game it says Toyko.

Yeah, I cocked up with the naming ha

[Deisler26]

August 2023 Transfer Window

Staffing

Well, we continued to add to our staffing levels, with two more Scouts and a Head of Sports Science.

Kazuki Saito, 37, Scout.  He's not good, but he was the best of the applicants.

Yusei Kiritani, 36, Scout.  He's not also good, but he was the second best of the applicants.

Yuhei Mochizuki, 36, Head of Sports Science. He's pretty average for this level. Let's see if he helps with the injuries.

 

We're playing poorly so far this season, finding ourselves just four points ahead of the drop with just under half the season left. However, we've scrambled to find players this window and actually managed to pick up a few. Here is what we've got.

Transfers

Fabio Augusto, 24, D/DM/MC. Free Agent. We picked up the Brazilian early as the midfield needed steeling. It means we actually have some backup as the players drop down to the subs

Kenta Maruyama, 18, M/AML. Free Agent. We finally managed to get some quality on the left side of midfield, hopefully this will mean we get more goals as his Crossing of 10 is light years ahead

Lee Do-Hyung, 21, GK. Free Agent. We've basically picked up a younger, better Min-Woo. He'll last until we upgrade him again.

Kei Sakamoto, 22, DR. On loan from Gainare Tottori. We've FINALLY got a right back in. Jesus wept. FINALLY.

Taiyo Namazuta, 24, DM/MC. Free Agent. Another midfielder, but by Christ do we need the backup...

Edited June 18 by Deisler26

[Muttley84]

1 hour ago, Deisler26 said:

Kenta Maruyama

Are these real pics or some weird football anime spinoff 😁 Good luck, will be following.

[Deisler26]

2 minutes ago, Muttley84 said:

Are these real pics or some weird football anime spinoff 😁 Good luck, will be following.

I'm creating them, one at a time. And have you not seen Captain Tsubasa??? 

 

[Deisler26]

2024 Youth Intake

Well, this is our first intake. Let's see what it's given us

I mean, it's good, and it lets us concentrate more on the full backs positions in the offseason, but I was hoping for better full back, you know? Sigh. Still, let's look at the Top 3 Prospects and a reminder that you can't keep a bad Youth Only player down and I will sign all the intake to a starter contract.

Top Prospects

 Toshiaki Taniguchi, 15, M/AMRLC. Bit of a jack-of-all-trades-master-of-none player here. Get him straight on the Crossing training and he can start on the right wing as soon as he's signed.

Hidenori Hayashi, 15, DC. Oh baby, where have you been all my life. I need you now. He'll be a certain starter in defence and give us some much needed depth

Go Chiba, 15, ST. He's....short. Like very short. I think he'll be an impact sub for his time here, as the emphasis on crosses into the box will not be a good thing for him.

[Deisler26]

2023/24 Season Review

It has been a pretty terrible season. All down to the owners urging to be ready for the newest J-League 3 season. Getting players of the level of The Sercow and Giant Hornet to start a professional season is not a good idea. We struggled almost all season, finishing 17th out of 20. We were floundering until the youth intake when we got in some talented youngsters. I blooded five of them in the first possible game after than they utterly delivered. 5'4" striker Go 'Sonny' Chiba scored a header (!) within two minutes and finished with a debut hat-trick. Pretty good for a player that I thought was going to be a bench warmer. Chiba ended up with 4 in 4 to end the season, as we scored 11 goals in two games after his arrival. Top scorer was Takumi Imei with 31 goals, whilst first signing Ryo Yamamoto lead the way with 12 assists

Offseason business will be about taking stock and adding to our depth as a number of our pub players will be leaving at the end of their contract. Also trying to improve our club in any way, be it with players or facilites or staff. This isn't the best seasonal review (it wasn't the best season tbf), but next season, we will have data and all sorts of new stuff to look at. 

Akuma and Hideo, both 70 years old, sat hunched over their beers in the dimly lit Sercow and Hornet pub. The pub was a cozy, old establishment that had seen better days but retained a charm that kept its loyal patrons coming back. The two friends had been coming here for decades, their camaraderie forged over countless drinks and shared experiences. Today, their conversation revolved around their soccer team's dismal first season. The team, a passion project started by the local community, had stumbled through match after match, finishing just above relegation. Akuma shook his head, his grizzled face etched with disappointment, as he recounted missed opportunities and defensive blunders.

Hideo, equally disgruntled, took a long swig of his beer before chiming in. "It's not just the losses, Akuma. It's the lack of spirit. I remember when we were younger, playing in the muddy fields with nothing but our will to win," he said, his eyes distant with memories. "These youngsters today, they have everything we dreamed of - proper gear, good pitches - yet they don't seem to have the heart." Akuma nodded in agreement, his mind drifting back to their own youthful days of playing soccer with boundless energy and passion. Despite their frustrations, both men knew they would continue to support their team, hoping for a turnaround next season. After all, if there was one thing they had learned over the years, it was that true fans never gave up.

 

 

 

[Deisler26]

2024 Preseason

We had a lot of work to do this offseason. We had players to replace, depth to create and somehow, play better than last season. The last one would be the easiest as we're not hamstring by pub players. Our depth chart currently looks something like this, coming into the season.

 

Weirdly, my board came to me and authorised a parent club link up with Yokohama FC in the J1, which was going to make this transitional season much easier to bear. We literally have just one player left from those dark early days, but he's staying for a bit. Other than that, we've managed to get backups for every position thankfully, as we were in desperate need of a DC, MR and ST, all of which we managed to source via loans from our parent club. It's been hard trying to pick up players and not get our clock cleaned over price or wages. We released 16 players, including last seasons's signings Fabio Augusto and Ryo Yamamoto. We also asked for, and got some Junior Coaching upgrades, which will help us on our way. Finally, we asked for and picked up another member of staff for the team as they were complaining about the poor strength training.

Tae-Woong Choi, 26, Fitness Coach. We could have gone for another vanilla coach to spread around the training, but the fact that so many need the fitness and speed, I went for him.

[Deisler26]

Red Sun Rising - Season 2

Green Tea? Ota!

We were given the brief of Attempting to Avoid Relegation from the J3 and to be competitive in both the JFA Emperor's Cup and the J.League YBC Levain Cup. Bit of a comedown from our first season's expectations, but after last season where I narrowly avoided the sack, low expectations are the best thing. We have a £400k transfer budget and £16k wage budget. But prudence dictates we don't spend all of it as we need to establish ourselves in the J3 first, IMO. My personal aim is for 11th or so. That will show we're improving, plus not conceding 99 goals would be lovely too.

Our squad depth for the opening game is here, but this is how I got there.

Transfers

Makoto Nakamura, 26, M/AML. Free Transfer, Yokohama S.C.C. Makoto fills our left sided issue with ease. He'll rotate with Maruyama (when fit) and it'll be the best man wins for that spot.

Yosuke Morishige, 19, ST. £250k, Shimizu S-Pulse. We've got our Imei replacement if he goes, but what a weird profile of a player. Looks far more at home in central defence, than he does up front.

Keisuke Tao, 20, DLC. £130k, Kamatamare Sanuki. We raided the recently-relegated Sanuki for their left back, instantly upgrading the position for us. 

Yutaro Hakamata, 27, DLC. Free Transfer, Omiya Ardija. Another defensive upgrade. This is shaping up to be a great window for us

 Keisuke Oyama, 28, DM/MC. Free Transfer, Omiya Ardija. We were terribly under-manned in the centre of midfield and Oyama will be a brilliant addition.

 Satoshi Osgui, 27, GK. Free Transfer, Fukushima United FC. We attempted to upgrade our goalkeeping position, so we picked up this cat for cheap

Ono Cholhwan, 30, GK. Free Agent. I love a South Korean keeper and we have one to be our number 1 again. 

Shunsuke Murakami, 23, DRL. Free Agent. This guy is a brilliant third choice full back and we need the cover

Bruno Henrique, 18, DM/MC. Free Agent. Finally, we have our starting BWM. He's a brilliant player and will probably attract attention from above.

Loans

Takuma Sugiyama, 17, DM/MC. Loan, Yokohama FC. This character is going to be a star for us and give Sonny some room to breathe without having to be the first choice.

Takuma Sugiyama, 17, DM/MC. Loan, Yokohama FC. This gives us a rotational aspect to our right midfield role and he'll be a decent player for us.

Taiga Nishiyama, 24, DC/DM. Loan, Yokohama FC. Pure backup man.

Yuki Yamashita, 24, DC/DM. Loan, Iwaki FC. .This is again, backup for the MC spots so that we can roll despite injuries.

 

[Deisler26]

Injuries

We're top of the injuries league atm. The worst part is that there seems to be some sort of vendetta on our left side. Two left wingers in Nakamura & Maruyama, a left back in Okamoto, a defender who got injured playing on the left (Nakagawa).. Jeez. We also lost a centre back and midfielder too.

[Deisler26]

2024 Campaign

First Round

S.C Sagamihara 1-0 Tokyo Metro Ota City

An absolute shambles of a performance. We lost to a smash from 6 yards out, and just couldn't finish a good meal. Their goalie got POTM and we hit the post in the 92nd minute. F**ks sake.

 

2024 Campaign

First Round

First Leg
Tokyo Metro Ota City 0-1 Yokohoma F.C

Great start to the season, we had a J.League`team in the League Cup. We battled hard and ended up just losing by the one goal. Could we provide a miracle second leg.

Second Leg
Yokohama F.C 5-1 Tokyo Metro Ota City (Yokohama win 6-1 on aggregate)

We could not, as we were blown away in the second leg. Hidenori Hayashi headed home in first half added time, but we were already 0-4 down at that time.

 

F**ked in the first round in both cups. Sigh. The league it is then...

[Deisler26]

They're a) in the same league as us and b) below us. DENIED. Still, it had a good ending as at the end of the season, the board turned me down for a new contract, but it seems they don't want anyone else to play with their toy, so...

Another year on top. Should be good.

[Deisler26]

2024 Intake Preview

First up, we got some excellent news, as the board agreed to upgrade our youth coaching. Everything else is really low level, but we could do with maybe improving the youth facilities tbh next, as improving the recruitment isn't particularly worth it in Tokyo.

Now onto the preiew.

Love this. Let's hope it pans out the way it looks

Edited June 24 by Deisler26

[Deisler26]

Club News!

"Masai Okura, the dedicated co-owner of Metro Ota, found himself at a crossroads when Tsuyoshi Sugai, a well-known national businessman, made an offer to purchase the club for 308 million yen. Okura, who had invested into nurturing the club, felt a mixture of apprehension and hope at the prospect of selling. His concerns centered around the future direction of the club and the well-being of the players and fans, who had become like family to him. Both he and his partner did not particularly have the resources to push on up the leagues. Despite the substantial financial offer, Okura was not easily swayed, valuing the club's legacy and his personal connection to it over mere monetary gain.

Understanding Okura's reservations, Sugai approached the negotiation with sensitivity and respect. He recognized the deep emotional ties Okura had with the club and sought to assure him of his intentions to honor and build upon its legacy. To alleviate Okura's concerns and secure his support, Sugai made a significant promise: both Okura and his partner would be given seats on the board of directors. This gesture was aimed at ensuring continuity and allowing Okura to retain a degree of influence over the club's future. Sugai's offer was not just a business transaction; it was a commitment to preserving the club's heritage and fostering a collaborative leadership environment.

Sugai's promise provided a sense of reassurance to Okura, who began to see the potential benefits of the deal. By remaining on the board, Okura could continue to play a role in guiding the club's strategic decisions, ensuring that his vision and values were upheld. Moreover, Sugai's business acumen and resources promised to bring new opportunities for growth and success. The combination of Sugai's strategic investment and Okura's ongoing involvement created a promising outlook for the club's future. Despite initial apprehensions, Okura's faith in Sugai's leadership and the prospect of a collaborative partnership paved the way for a new era in the club's history, one that balanced tradition with ambitious progress."

Wow. Money into the club and a takeover. Let's hope that they have as much patience as our last owners. Since they're interested in investing, I tried for upgrades..

Yeeeeesss.. Looking forward to the future!

[Deisler26]

2024 Youth Intake

Well, this is our second intake. The first promised much and delivered little. Let's see what this one has given us

I mean, it's good, and it lets us concentrate more on the full backs positions in the offseason, but I was hoping for better full back, you know? Sigh. Still, let's look at the Top 3 Prospects and a reminder that you can't keep a bad Youth Only player down and I will sign all the intake to a starter contract.

Top Prospects

Junichi Tobori, 16, M/AML. Very excited about this prospect. Due to the shambles we've had on the left this season with injuries and poor form, he's very welcome

Akio Chiba, 15, ST. Brilliant, we have another target man coming through. This means that we can move Morishige to centre back and benefit.

Kazuma Shimazu, 16, ST. A striker who can replace our on-loan sensation? Brilliant. He'll start next season for sure.

[Deisler26]

2024 Season Review

It was the best season in the club's history. As the club had only had one other J-League 3 season, it wasn't hard. We started well, only losing twice in the first 12 games, before only picking up 6 points out of the next 36 on offer. After the intake, we picked up, remaining unbeaten until the end of the season, finishing 10th out of 20. We were floundering until the youth intake again, when we got in some more talented youngsters. I blooded three of them in their first possible game. Our 6'2" striker Akio Chiba scored a goal that cemented his place in the record books, at age 15 and 302 days. Top scorer was Takumi Imei with 29 goals, whilst the much-maligned Makoto Nakamura lead the way with 11 assists

Offseason business will be about patching holes in the team. We have a decent enough spine in the club, it's just making sure we're consistent from week to week. We wont get any decent staff whilst in J3, so we need to look at moving quickly to attack the top half of the league. 

 

Akuma and Hideo, both 70 years old, sat in their usual corner of the Sercow and Hornet pub, nursing their beers as they lamented the mid-season slump that had cost their beloved soccer team a shot at promotion. The pub, with its worn wooden tables and walls adorned with old sports memorabilia, was their sanctuary. Akuma's furrowed brow and deep sighs mirrored Hideo's frustration as they recounted the critical matches lost due to injuries and a lack of form. "We were so close, Hideo. Just a few more wins and we would have been promoted," Akuma said, his voice tinged with regret. Hideo nodded, taking a sip of his beer, the disappointment evident in his eyes. "Those injuries to our key players came at the worst possible time. It was like watching our dreams slip through our fingers," he replied.

Despite their shared disappointment, a glimmer of hope brightened their conversation as they turned to the future. Hideo's face lit up as he spoke of the promising youth players coming through the ranks, their talent and energy a beacon for the team's prospects. "Have you seen that new striker, Kazuma? The boy's got talent, Akuma. He reminds me of us when we were young," Hideo said with a grin. Akuma's eyes sparkled with anticipation. "And the new chairman, too. I've heard he's committed to investing in the team, bringing in better facilities and support staff," Akuma added, a note of optimism in his voice. The friends clinked their glasses, toasting to the future. Despite the setbacks, they held on to the hope that next season would bring renewed opportunities and perhaps the promotion they so dearly desired.