(FM24) LutterworthFox presents The Nearly Men - Club #4 - Valencia

[TheLutterworthFox]

8 hours ago, leobiazzi said:

OMFG, you actually did it. What an incredible accomplishment in such a short time, congratulations!!

 

5 hours ago, corinthiano said:

What a run!!! Congratulations!

 

3 hours ago, Michaelinho said:

Wow! What an extraordinary season you’ve had with Club Brugge. It’s almost a shame you ‘have’ to leave te club now. Enjoy this amazing achievemsnt!

Thanks all for the kind words, it was a whirlwind night and I'm still not sure I'm over it! Only realised when the game ended I didn't make a single substitute, think I was too scared to click anything!!!!

[TheLutterworthFox]

Part #102 - 2041/42 End of Season Review

Wow what a night it was, I still cannot quite believe we won the Champions League with Brugge and within 4 and a half seasons as well! 

But now it's time to say goodbye to them, they are no longer Nearly Men and that means my work here is complete.

Before I go let's take a look back how the season went and who my key men were.

An amazing season overall, winning all 4 trophies we were entered in to. The only regret it we just missed the unbeaten season, losing the final match to Antwerp, it was 5 days before the Champions League final and I play a team of kids!

Now to the players and there might be a few I talk about.

Firstly is the match-winner from the final, Javier Domingo, his best season at the club and the main reason we were so successful, he ends as the club players of the season and the Champions League player of the season

Absolutely incredible from Attacking Midfield with 20 goals and 11 assists from 33 starts, 8 of those goals in the Champions League.

Next is Summer signings Chrysis Georgiou, he only cost me £65k!!! He ends as the Champions League young player of the season an epic first campaign at the club and I have a feeling he is destined for very big things!

34 starts, 20 goals and 15 assists! Stunning!

The top goalscorer this season was another Summer signing, Lucas, signed to play on the right wing but he ended playing up front most of the season, he was the man that scored 4 against Barcelona and has been amazing all season

29 goals overall from 37 starts, 18 from 20 in the league, this lad is a superstar!

Next I have to talk about my goalkeeper, he was virtually unbeatable in the Champions League final and pulled off a string of stunning saves at the end to help us lift the trophy.

 

The last player I want to speak about is one of our own, left back Eduardo Pascoal, this season he came into the first team as the understudy to Mensah, I had high hopes he could become a first-team regular and he proved his worth. 22 starts, 12 as a sub, he was solid when he played and never let the side down, I am excited to see where his career goes after I leave.

I could talk about so many more but I have to stop! Here is the clubs best XI for the season.

As you can see I played a 4231 this season, I really wanted to move away from the 3 at the back and felt this formation suited the players I had, my word did it work!

It's very basic, I wanted to play the tika-taka style but to also get the players to run with the ball more and to soak up the play before countering on teams. It worked so well. 

The roles are pretty well balanced, we attack more on the right with our wingback, helped by a wide-man cutting inside. On the left we have a more conservative full back with an out-and-out winger further forward. This formation has suited Domingo in the attacking midfield so well, he has the freedom to go where he wants and dictate the play. 

And here is the whole first-team squad

I will be keeping track of all these players when I leave to see how they get on, maybe I'll sign one or two depending on where I go!

Talking of that, I really have no idea what to do next, I went to bed last night thinking the challenge would be over for me, could I really top this? I did want to carry this save on though, so my plan now is to resign and see what happens. Maybe it's time to try and tick off a few of the bigger clubs, the likes of Spurs who have lost in the final 3 times in the save alone! 

For a reminder, here is the current list...

I think with only a handful of weeks to go before FM25 potentially coming out a rebuild job will be too hard. It's time to see how many I can tick off as quick as possible. The likes of Spurs, Leverkusen, Roma and Valencia could be the clubs to go to, I guess it depends on what jobs become available.

If all else fails and no jobs come up soon there are a couple of other ideas I have. 

The first one is, if the job comes up to manage either Leicester or Middlesbrough, the reason for this is both of these clubs are tycoon-owned, Leicester are also the club I support, although they aren't technically "Nearly Men", they have not won the Champions League yet! Maybe, if I go to one of those clubs I rename it "The not-so Nearly Men"!!?!?

But now it's time to say goodbye to Brugge, it's been a short time here but what an amazingly successful time it's been. 4 and a half seasons.

4 x Pro League

2 x Croky Cup

3 x Belgian Supercup

1 x CHAMPIONS LEAGUE

It's been an amazing journey....so far!

Now it's time to find a job!

Edited October 7 by TheLutterworthFox

[TheLutterworthFox]

Part #103 - Job Number Four!

It's taken a while, over 6 months in fact, it's now January 1st 2043 and I've eventually accepted a job.

At one point I nearly took the Leicester job, they offered it to me but just as they made me an offer another job came up which would mean continuing on the challenge. I've taken it and I'm off to......

Valencia will be club number 4 in the challenge, twice Nearly Men after defeats in the 2000 and 2001 Champions League final, it's now my job to change that!

I arrive with the club not doing as well as they have, last season they ended 4th in La Liga and have hovered around there over the past 15 seasons or so, having the odd dip along the way.

This season the club sit 8th in the league, 6 points off the top 4

The big news is the club was once tycoon-owned but, in 2037 the chairman withdrew all funding

The club have also done very little in the save so far with only one trophy win, the Europa Conference in 2036.

This season they are in the Champions League and are currently on course for a playoff spot.

Club Brugge not doing as well!

Currently I'm not sure how long this will take, the first aim is to get the squad up to standard to start challenging the top 4 and then challenging in the Champions League, I'd hope within 3 or 4 seasons we can be there but, with finances not great, I need to make sure that is stabilised first.

We currently have £17m in the bank, predicted to fall to -£1m by the end of the season, we are also max-ing out our wage budget and only have a transfer budget of just over £3m to spend. We will need to sell before we can buy or rely on free/loans or cheap kids, something I did well with at Brugge and Sampdoria.

Here is the current squad...

We do have quite a few players in on loan, I've also recalled Salas and Opiela from their loans just to bulk the squad out.

Juanfran is one of our best players, I really like the look of him, although it looks like the previous manager didn't! He's only started 4 games all season, with 9 appearances off the bench. He will get more gametime with me here.

Candela is probably the reason Juanfran hasn't played much, another LW who also looks really good, he is our valued player. I may look at playing him as an attacking LB with Juanfran in front of him

We also have a familiar face here, Striker Accardi, who was with me at Sampdoria is here, now 30 but still looks incredible, he's been here since 2041 after moving from Sampdoria for £22.5m, he's only played 27 league games, scoring 13 goals. 

I will more about the players as I move through the months

Now it's time to get cracking, the Winter window is open but I don't foresee any business, especially in, maybe a few will leave if the right bids come in.

Squad depth looks OK, as does the average rating for each position, so I don't think I need to bring anyone in currently.

I've stuck in the 4231 that did me so well at Brugge but that may get tweaked as I assess the side.

 

[Michaelinho]

Interesting to see how many clubs you can clear of the ‘nearly man’ status. Good luck in the wonderful city of Valencia. 

[leobiazzi]

If anyone can give Valencia their first UCL title, that person is you. I'm hoping you sign one or two Club Brugge players at some point.

[Taunton]

Congrats with a great achievement with Brugge!

Good luck with Valencia.

Will you continue the save om FM25?

[TheLutterworthFox]

4 hours ago, Taunton said:

Congrats with a great achievement with Brugge!

Good luck with Valencia.

Will you continue the save om FM25?

Thanks for commenting mate. I probably won't carry this on to FM25. Have a couple of saves ideas, just got to decide which one to go for!

[TheLutterworthFox]

Part #104 - January 2043

This update starts at the end of December, I thought I'd taken the job on Jan 1st, well it was actually December 31st! Only a day but what it meant was I had a game the day I joined and it couldn't have been much tougher, away to Atletico, tough, right?!

What a start! 

January's results have also been pretty good, a couple of defeats but some really good wins as well.

In La Liga we've played 3 and won all 3, Levante and Tenerife were expected but Athletic Bilbao was really tough, we came out with a fantastic 3-1 win.

Those wins push us right into Champions League qualification contention.

We've also progressed in the Copa del Rey with a comfortable win against lower league opposition

Now to the Champions League, we faced both Milan sides in our final 2 games, we lost to AC Milan in a decent showing, we then played Inter at home, we had to win to guarantee qualification to the playoff round and we put in a brilliant performance to seal 2-0 win

We end in 18th place, a good showing overall.

You can also see that Brugge snuck into the playoff round, nowhere near as good as last season and there is a big reason why, the AI, in 6 months, has absolutely destroyed the side!

There are six players in that list that I would've had in my first XI last season, Babic, Matheus, Lucas, Vandenbroucke and Rosales all played the Champions League final, Mensah would have but he was injured. What a shocking thing to do! Luckily they're still top of the Pro League but we won't see them challenging in the Champions League again!

Finally, I just wanted to show the tactic I'm going with, it's the same 4231 that I used at Brugge but I've swapped the channels. By that I mean at Brugge we had a more attacking right back with a support wide-man, on the left we had a more defensive full back with an out and out winger. At Valencia I felt out left back was much better being employed in a more attacking duty so I've changed the left-sided wide-man to be a support duty, then on the right the FB is more defensive with a Winger ahead of him. 

This means I've also swapped the DMs around so a BWM on the left to cover the attacking right back and a DLP on the right. 

Make sense? Great!

[TheLutterworthFox]

Part #105 - February 2043

It's been another busy month, the players are slowly getting used to the tactics and personally I feel things are going well.

Unfortunately out Champions League adventure was cut short! We were drawn against Atletico Madrid in the playoff round, first leg at home and we just didn't show up.

A 1-0 defeat and a really poor showing.

We had it all to do in the away leg and by half time it was all but over. Atletico had scored 3 times in the opening 45, all we had to play for now was our dignity and the boys put up one hell of a fight in the second half. We scored 3 times ourselves to level the match at 3-3, it wasn't enough, the home leg was what had done the damage and we were out 4-3 on aggregate.

In domestic action it's gone really well.

3 games in the league, we've gained 7 points, performances have also been good. 

We are progressing well in the Cope del Rey as well, we scraped past 3rd tier Numancia in a really poor defensive display but after that we've been amazing. We smashed Espanyol even if we did concede 3 and then, in the first leg of the semi final we went to the Nou Camp and beat Barcelona 3-2, an incredible result!

As you can see they had much more of the chances and a better xG but we managed to score 3 goals and 3 shots on target! Now we just have to see the home leg out

In other news, we lost a player after the Spanish deadline had closed. Right Back Esposito made the move to Westerlo for £21.5m with a a few million in add-ons, he asked to leave and the offer was too good to turn down.

What it does do is give me a bit of transfer budget to look at getting players signed for the start of next season. I did sell a couple of other players in the Winter window, no one of note but it's given me enough to go back to Brugge and bring two players in, they will join in the Summer.

Superstar Brugge academy attacking midfield Giovanni Imparato will join the club for a fee of £1m + £2.9m of addons. One for the future.

And one for the here and now, central defender Salvador Ceitil will join for £30m. Probably the best defender I had at Brugge and he will walk into our first XI

[leobiazzi]

Great signings!

[TheLutterworthFox]

Part #106 - March 2043

After all the good results this month has been iffy at best. 

Two solid wins at the beginning and end of March but the filling was three pretty rubbish performances. Real Madrid we were terrible, Las Palmas we were unlucky, I'll take the 0-0 against Barca but we probably should've done better. It was pleasing to see us stop the rota with a solid win over Valladolid at the end of the month.

We sit in 5th with a game in-hand on Sevilla above us, we need to grab that 4th spot to get a Champions League place. It's really close though with the teams below us down to 8th only 2 points behind. We need to win that extra game which is away to 9th place Osasuna.

The other match this month was the second leg of the Copa del Rey at home to Barca, we won the away leg 3-2 so had a nice advantage to bring to the Mestalla and when we took the lead we looked to be coasting, then came the second half capitulation, two Barca goals levelled the tie and it would go to extra-time, then in the second 15 minutes we grabbed a goal to take the lead but Barca immediately scored. It ended 5-5 on aggregate and it would go to penalties. 

Where we were fantastic scoring all 5 spotkicks, Barca scored their first 4 before Bosetti hit his penalty wide! We won!!!!

Into the Copa del Rey final, not a bad way to start my time here and we actually have a winnable game!

It's Real Betis in the final, bring it on!

 

[Number seven]

On 06/10/2024 at 21:46, TheLutterworthFox said:

Please welcome half-Belgian, half-DR Congolose defensive midfielder Friedrich Mavinga

I am so excited by this lad, he will come straight into the first-team and will get some game-time in the league. I really hope he lives up to the hype!

Any chance that you will sign this kid to Valencia?

[TheLutterworthFox]

10 hours ago, Number seven said:

Any chance that you will sign this kid to Valencia?

It's the first thing I tried to do, I put a bid in but they wanted more than £20m, I didn't have the cash at the time. I managed to get the budget up but decided on other targets. IF the boars give me enough money in the Summer he will be the first player I go for although it does seem like a lot of cash!

[TheLutterworthFox]

Part #107 - April 2043

Let's first start with the youth intake, on the face of it it's not amazing, no elite talents at all but there are a couple of players who look like they could become decent enough to push into the first-team in the years to come.

Six top talents there and there are two that I do like the look of.

Firstly is Right Back Manual Farinos, he does need some serious work, he has low determination but I like his bravery and natural fitness. Let's see how he progresses.

Secondly is Defensive Midfiedler Jose Miguel Ors, his mentals are what drew me to him, really good for a 15 year old. He needs some serious work on his physicals though, but I'm sure that'll come as he gets older.

Now to results and firstly, the Copa del Rey final against Real Betis. We were hot favourites and we showed it, we grabbed two first half goals to take charge of the match, Betis never got going, we scored a third towards the end of the match to ease to a 3-0 win. A fantastic victory and a brilliant way to cap my first half a season in charge at Valencia.

We've also pushed on really well in the league, five games and three wins.

A couple of dodgy away draws but we are definitely improving. I was guilt in March of messing around with the tactics too much, switching formations too much, I went back to the 4231 against Malaga and stuck with it all month, it seemed to work!

We now have four games to and we sit nicely in fourth place, the final Champions League spot, fifth may get one as well but currently Spain are not in the top two of co-efficient rankings and unlikely to get there as well.

We have a handy four point gap in Real Sociedad in fifth and a favourable run of final games.

Only really Atletico to worry about although we need to start improving away from home. I think two wins will be enough to secure second place.

[TheLutterworthFox]

10 hours ago, Number seven said:

Any chance that you will sign this kid to Valencia?

Well I thought I'd test the water again, that puts pay to that! 

[TheLutterworthFox]

Part #108 - May 2043

Here we are, the end of another season, my first at Valencia and since joining at the end of December I personally think it's gone very well. We now have four games left to make sure we secure fourth spot and, with that, a Champions League place for next season.

Well it was a lot easier than expected! We won our first match, Sevilla and Sociedad lost their next two and that was it! Fourth guaranteed!!!

As you can see it was an inconsistent end, I did mess around with the team in the two losses, hence the defeat but I went as full strength as I could against Atletico and we pulled off a brilliant 4-2 win.

A really good half a season, 43 points from 21 games, more than two points a game, really pleasing. All we really have to do is sort out our away form and we could be pushing the teams above us.

But we also need major improvements to the squad, the first XI is decent but the majority of the backups aren't we were especially short in the centre of defence and defensive midfield.

Here is the Best XI. As you can see the forward line did really well, averaging over 7, as did the fullbacks and the goalkeeper. But the CBs and DMs didn't, that's where we need to improve this Summer. Currently though we don't have much money, although the board have given me good budgets!

£37.6m to spend, we do only have £17m in the bank though, that will improve once the sponsorship money comes through but not sure it'll be enough to spend all of that budget. I did mention a few updates a go I've got deals in place for Cietil (CB) and Imparato (AM) who both will come in from Brugge, I do have another players coming in, for £40m, I'll leave that surprise for the next update! I managed to spend that amount as I agreed deals to sell two players for a combined £50m

Both of these wanted to leave and go for their transfer value. Hernandez is a CB and Nikolic is an AM.

Now let's take a look at who are key men have been since I joined. 

Firstly is Ludovico Accardi, a player I had at Sampdoria who was at Valencia when I joined, he's managed 12 goals since I came in and has been integral to our push up to the Champions League spots.

Young Winger Juanfran has also been fantastic for me, he was a player I pinpointed when I started as a key player and he more than lived up the expectation. He ends as the clubs play and young player of the season and has performed really well since I joined. Let's hope he doesn't get his head turned by bigger clubs!

And here is the whole squad, I've removed the players who won't be here next season, that includes a couple of loans, the two players who are leaving for a fee and DM Amadou Diédhiou who is retiring. The latter will be a big loss, my best DM which leaves a massive hole in our side.

Now I look forward to next season, a lot of hard work ahead, firstly I need trim the fat of the squad, we have way too many players who aren't good enough, taking up valuable space in the squad and wages I could spend elsewhere. Time to get rid.

I also need to make some money to help me bring a few players in. A new DM is needed because Diédhiou is retiring. I could also do with a new first-choice CB and a better GK. Other than that it depends on who leaves. If I can't get the bank balance up though I may have to look at a couple of loans or freebies. We shall see!

Overall a great first 5 months in charge, a Copa del Rey trophy lift and a top 4 finish, now it's time to see how much we can push the big 3 in the League!

 

[TheLutterworthFox]

Part #109 - July/August 2043

A new season is here and it's been an expectedly busy Summer. We were losing quite a few players from a mix if retirement, planned sales and loans expiring. This freed up some money but also left big gaps in the squad.

I won't go through all the out's, none of them will be missed!

As for the in's, I mentioned the signings of Cietil and Imparato, both from my ex-club Brugge a few updates ago, Cietil will walk into my first XI, Imparato will have to wait a bit longer because I have brought another of my Brugge boys to the club and this one is a big one!!!

Yes in comes superstar Attacking Midfielder Javier Domingo, the Champions League winning goalscorer and one of my key men at the club, he comes in for a hefty fee though, £41m! This was already planned before the previous budgets came out but did make a big dent on the bank balance! I really hope he can push this club to glory in the next few years.

I mentioned in the last update that a new GK was one of my big aims this Summer and I got an an absolute bargain! In comes Williams Gonzalez from Nacional for £4.7m. I'm sure you can see from his attributes why I snapped him up, he is sensational!

I also mentioned that one of my biggest problems last season was in defensive midfield. Well I really struggled to find the right player, for the right fee. All the decent, younger players were going to cost too much, so I brought in two experienced DM's, both on frees.

Firstly is Chris Wright. He joins after his contract expired at Aston Villa. He has been signing to play as a DM but can also play as a CM, AM and Striker naturally. Versatility!

The second DM join is Tom Askey, he signed on a free after his PSG contract expired. A top quality midfielder, who, even at 32 is still valued really highly. I don't think I'll play both of them at the same time but it's great to have two top quality players with massive experience join the club.

Defence last year was also a major problem, I spent ages hunting for new CBs, Cietil was already joining but I still felt we were one short. I ended up signing this lad on loan. David Bailey-Holt, for the season from Spurs. He's only 21 but already looks fantastic. He will more than likely play alongside Cietil as a CB pairing.

And finally a Right Back, this was not top of my shopping list, I have Miranda as my first choice but no real back-up, my plan was to bring in a couple of the academy players to offer assistance to Miranda when he was knackered. Well when the registration window came up I realised I was unable to register them as they were on youth contract, to register a play they have to be earning over £2.6k a week. Neither are until their professional contracts get signed which will be some point through this season.

So I went out and brought this lad, Wilfried Diomande, he comes in from Kortrijk in Belgium for £9.25m. A big fee but a top quality looking player and he's only 19. He can also play on the Right Wing, an area where we could do with an extra option.

Business done, we've spent a lot, all in all we've brought in 8 players for a combined total of £89m, we've sold 3 players for £58m but also with numerous other players leaving we're currently £300k per week down on wages.

The bank balance also looks really healthy. We've made £33m in season ticket sales, £28.5m in sponsorship and currently £45m in TV money. This puts our bank balance at £72.3m and it isn't projected to drop below £60m by the end of the season.

Now to results and so far it's been a really good start, loads of goals and only one rubbish result.

Two absolutely belting wins at home, scoring 6 in each, we did lose to Osasuna away which was really poor defensively but we ended the month with a solid 2-0 win away to Valladolid.

So 9 points from a possible 12, a solid start!

Finally, we've had the Champions League fixtures and personally I don't think they look too bad.

We will return to my old club Arsenal, I think that's the first time I'll play them since I left, on the final game. Bar that we have a tricky home tie against Spurs and games against Monaco away and Leverkusen at home. I really think we can win 5 of those matches. Another point in the others and that may give us a chance at sealing a top 8 spot.

[TheLutterworthFox]

Part #110 - September 2043

Well it's been one hell of a good month!

5 games, 5 wins, 3 from 3 in the league which puts us top of the pile!

Real Madrid having a shocking start to the season!

In the Champions League we've started really well as well. The first game was away to Monaco, it was a really tough match, they had the better of the game but it was settled by a late Juanfran goal.

Then we placed Westerlo at home and destroyed them!

A brilliant start.

Finally, here's the tactic I'm using at Valencia, it's a tweak on what I used at Brugge, both the WBs are more attacking, supporting the wide-men who are both IFs on support. 

As you can see it's working really well!

[AlfieLucas]

Congratulations with Club Brugge, i enjoyed what you did with them. And it's a good start thus far with Valencia.

[TheLutterworthFox]

So FM25 has been delayed until March. I was planning making Valencia my final club in this save as I had a really good plan for my FM25 save.

Would any of the people following along with my save be happy if I started my FM25 save on FM24? If/when the new game comes out I'll just port it over and continue

[TheLutterworthFox]

Part #111 - October 2043

Well the month started so well and went downhill at the end!

Three great wins followed by a shocking defeat to Girona then an away hammering by Atletico. We have struggled with injuries and fitness issues in defence all month, those final three games we conceded way too many.

We've also had one Champions League games this month and it was a solid win at home to Benfica.

That makes it three from three so far!

In other news, the board have rather unexpectedly bumped up my transfer budget. Another £20m added to it. Maybe time to buy another central defender!

[Michaelinho]

4 hours ago, TheLutterworthFox said:

So FM25 has been delayed until March. I was planning making Valencia my final club in this save as I had a really good plan for my FM25 save.

Would any of the people following along with my save be happy if I started my FM25 save on FM24? If/when the new game comes out I'll just port it over and continue

Do whatever gives you the must fun mate! Really enjoy this series, but I know for sure a new one will be of the same quality. Happy to follow either way, really like your posting style and they way you play your savees. 

[TheLutterworthFox]

Part #112 - November 2043

After a few dodgy defeats in October I was concerned the wheels were going to come off, how wrong I was!

The month opened with a Champions League home tie against the mighty Spurs, a really tough game, although they haven't won the Champions League yet they were still a fantastic team, well we played out of our skin to seal a 3-1 win!

Probably the best win since I joined Valencia!

Our second Champions League game of November was away to Celtic, another tricky tie but one I knew we should be winning. We won but only just!

Celtic took the lead on 15 minutes but we scored twice, either side of half-time to seal a 2-1 win and make it 5 from 5 so far!

The best start I've had to a Champions League so far!

It's also gone much better domestically, only three league games but, after the two defeats last month, we've turned it around with seven points.

Some touch matches but we came out the other end without conceding a goal, after last month that was massive.

We consolidate out spot in third, a nice gap to the chasing pack as well even if they do have a game in-hand.

 

[leobiazzi]

21 horas atrás, TheLutterworthFox disse:

So FM25 has been delayed until March. I was planning making Valencia my final club in this save as I had a really good plan for my FM25 save.

Would any of the people following along with my save be happy if I started my FM25 save on FM24? If/when the new game comes out I'll just port it over and continue

I'll follow whatever save you start, mate.

[TheLutterworthFox]

Part #113 - December 2043

It's been another great month and a cracking end to the year!

Some amazing wins there including beating the mighty Real Madrid 3-1 at home. 

And as you can see, we more than deserved it!

That puts us up to second but still some way behind Barcelona at the top

We also played one game in the Champions League, it was our first dropped points in this years League Phase but still a solid point away to Freiburg. We have already qualified for the playoff round and I'd say another point will guarantee a top eight finish.

In other news, superstar Winger Juanfran has won this years European Golden Boy. Such a talent, but now he is being touted for a move, I've already turned down a bid of around £40m for him from Barcelona, he is worth double that at least!

I've also made two new signings which came happened at the end of December.

The first signing is a new CB, we really needed more options in defence, we've shored it up in the past month or so but in some games we have been rather leaky.

In comes Ernad Tomicek from Dinamo Zagreb for £10.5m. An absolute steal for an amazing looking player.

The second new signing will be a familiar face to those who have followed for a while. In comes defensive midfielder Jared Roccia, from Rangers for £20m. A lad I signed at Brugge on a free transfer, he left two years later to join Rangers for £6m and since his move four seasons ago he has been really good and improved massively. He's averaged over 7 every season and this season, before his move has 15 goal contributions in 18 games. He will walk into my midfield. 

Two good new signings, is the squad ready to challenge for the Champions League? Not yet, but I think we are really close, what we need now is to keep hold of our key players, that is going to be tough!

Edited October 11 by TheLutterworthFox

[TheLutterworthFox]

Update on Juanfran......

NNNNOOOOOOOOOOOOOO!!!!!

This is a tip for every FM player. CHECK THE RELEASE CLAUSES!!!! He will discuss a new deal but he wants £400k per week!! He's currently on £15.5k. I think I'm losing my best player!

[leobiazzi]

Oh no, not the release clause. Happens to all of us every now and then :/

[TheLutterworthFox]

Part #114 - January 2044

Well the deal went through, Juanfran has left to join title rivals Barcelona for his release clause of £61m, a huge loss but made even worse with the fact there was a sell-on clause to his previous club Albacete, they get £18m of the £61m. So I've basically lost my best player for £43m. A huge, massive loss!

A new left winger was needed and I had to go big, not so big in a transfer fee but big in wages. 

In come Thomas Anderberg, for £16.75m from Lamia. I fended off Bayern Munich to get him signed, his wage though is pretty big, £165k per week, the highest earner at the club. A top quality player though who I have confidence can fill Juanfran's boots

Another piece of big news was in the form of an injury to my star Striker Ludovico Accardi, he is out for three months after tearing his knee ligaments.

With my other Striker Niang also injured and, to be honest, not good enough, I needed to go out and bring a new Striker, I decided to bring in, not one, but two!

Firstly is one for the future but I do feel he can do a job in the here and now. 17-year old Fabian Sanchez joins from Toulouse for £12.75m, a massive fee for someone so young but he looks so good.

The second new Striker is on loan for the rest of the season and, like quite a few of my signings this season, will be a familiar face. In comes Amine Vandenbroucke, the superstar academy player I had at Brugge, since I left the club he made a big money move to Liverpool and has been playing quite a bit, but Liverpool wanted him out and I've snapped him up on loan. A really good player to bring in who offers an option up top but also on either wing.

And luckily Juanfran was the only player to leave. Not it's time to push on!

Results wise it's been another solid month but we start with the Supercup and after beating Real Madrid in the semi final I had high hopes we could ease past Real Betis in the final....we didn't!

A 1-1 draw and a loss on penalties, this was the game that Accardi got injured in so it was a total disaster!

Injuries and fitness issues have been the theme of this month but overall results haven't been too bad.

Only one defeat in the league which was away to Barcelona, the other three games have all been wins, including a bonkers 5-3 win over Santander where new signing Anderberg got 4!

Way behind Barca but also a long way ahead of the chasing pack.

Two games in the Champions League this month and only one point gained, home to Leverkusen was a game I expected to win but with injuries mounting I had to play a makeshift team, we then faced my old side Arsenal and got hammered.

It didn't matter though as a top 8 finish was sealed with the point against Leverkusen.

A really good League Phase but the defeat to Arsenal shows we have some way to go before we can consistently challenge the big boys of Europe.

 

Edited October 11 by TheLutterworthFox

[Michaelinho]

These release clauses are so annoying! However, sometimes it’s just impossible to exclude them from contract talks. Also nice when the AI always includes these sell on clauses for ridiculous percentages. That’s the reason why I nearly always exclude them before the first offer . 

[TheLutterworthFox]

Part #115 - February 2044

Firstly, we've had the Champions League Last 16 draw, there were some big sides in the unseeded side of the draw and we have managed to draw the toughest of the lot.

Yep we face Barcelona, above us in the league and they beat us earlier in the season, it's going to be very very tough but I know on our day we can beat anyone.

It's been a busy month of games, 7 games in all, 2 of those in the cup and unfortunately lost in the Quarters to Athletic Bilbao.

In the league though it's gone very well!

5 games, 13 points including an absolute battering of Tenerife in the final game of the month, with Barcelona away in the Champions League next I rested some of my key men, it made no difference, we were amazing!

The odd thing this month is, whilst we have played 5 league games, Barca have only play 2! That means we have overtaken them at the top of the table!

I'm not sure that'll last long though, Barca are only a point behind us and they have 3 games in-hand!

So a great month, we look guaranteed a top-2 finish, and we're 17 clear of 5th so a Champions League spot next season is nailed on as well. 

But we now have big games to come, it's all about the Champions League knockouts now, if we can get past Barca I have high hopes we can go deep into the competition!

[TheLutterworthFox]

Part #116 - March 2044

Here we go, a Champions League Last 16 tie against top of the table Barcelona awaits!

First leg away and after conceding after three minutes I was in damage limitation mode, the game after that goal was terrible, we somehow grabbed a leveller on the half hour mark but the game then went downhill quick, in the second half there was one highlight of note, we defended well and saw out a massive 1-1 draw!

A brilliant result away, now we have to make home advantage pay!

And we started really well, a goal after 15 minutes put us in the lead, although we didn't have much of the ball we were playing so much better than Barca, they hardly had a chance, we defended fantastically but then, in the 88th minute Barca scored with their only shot on target and it was that man Juanfran, who had left us in the Winter. Absolutely gutting and the game would go to extra-time. Where nothing happened at all and it would be settled by spotkicks.

Where karma came back to bite Juanfran as he missed a penalty!!! We scored all of our first 4 penalties, Barca had to score their 4th and Ferreira missed!!! We were through!!!!!

What an absolutely sensational result, I class Barca as probably the best team in Europe at the moment, so to get past them is a massive achievement, but it's not going to get any easier as we face Man Utd in the Quarters.

Another tough match, Man Utd are currently 2nd in Premier League and have a cracking looking squad, first leg at home, we have to take win to take something to Old Trafford.

Now to the league and it's been a so-so month. We played 4 games, won 2 and lost 2.

In the first game I played a rotated team as the Villarreal game was sandwiched in between the two Barca Champions league matches. We then went crazy with goals, firstly beating Girona 5-2 and then hammering Atletico 5-0, one of the best performances I've had at Valencia. We did end the month a 1-0 defeat to Bilbao but to be honest our title chances had already gone. It's all about the Champions League now.

Barca sit top, 5 clear of us with 3 games in-hand! We're 11 ahead of the chasing pack although they do have games in-hand on us. I have to concentrate on the Champions League games for now, then, if we go out, I'll refocus and hope we are still well in the top 4.

[Michaelinho]

Amazing run of form so far! Although Barca still seems to be on another level.. 

[TheLutterworthFox]

Part #117 - Champions League Quarter Final v Manchester United

Here we go, we're into the Last 8 and we have another tough task, Manchester United stand in our way, we scraped past Barcelona on pens in the last round, let's not go through that again!

Well the first leg was at home and we had to win to have an advantage before we head to Old Trafford. The game was pretty even, we had the better of the chances but Man U were always dangerous. Half-time it was 0-0 but 5 minutes after the second half started new signing Anderberg scored to give us the lead. Then 5 minutes later Domingo missed a penalty, the game then got even crazier and 5 minutes later Man U also missed a penalty.

We tried to hang on, we defended for our lives but Man U scored right at the end, an absolute gutting way to end the match, it ends 1-1 and now we have it all to do in the away leg.

Man U went for it from the off, the game was wide open, end-to-end with loads of chances but both GKs were sensational. Then, in the 35th minute Man U won a freekick on the edge of the box, Prieto stepped up and rifled it into the top corner. 1-0 to Man U and 2-1 on aggregate.

We had it all to do but we came out in the second half all guns blazing and within 10 minutes we had levelled the tie, Candela playing a cross in and Vandenbroucke nipped in at the back post to tap it home. 

The game continue to be end-to-end but as the minutes ticked by legs tired and the highlights dried up, the game ended 1-1, 2-2 on aggregate and it would go to extra-time.

In the final 30 minutes we just couldn't get into the game, we were dead on our feet but we held firm, defended well and it would go to penalties, for the 2nd round in a row!!

This is how the penalty shootout went....

Man U up first....Prieto goes straight down the middle, 0-1

Accardi steps up.......send the keeper the wrong way. 1-1

Puyol next for Man U......Gonzalez goes the right way but its in, 1-2

Young academy Left Back Findlay is our next take.....nervous about this one......What a penalty, right in the corner. 2-2

Anderson next up for Man U.......send the keeper the wrong way... 2-3

CB Tomicek steps up for Valencia......keeper goes the right way but dives over the ball. 3-3

Woods steps up for Man U.....Gonzalez sooooo close to saving it but the powr beats him. 3-4

Candela next up.....the best penalty of the lot, right in the top corner. 4-4

One pen left each...my nerves are shot

Poole next for Man U......

SAVED!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Its a shocking penalty, Gonzalez dives to his right and it goes straight to him

If we score we win!

I let my ass man auto pick my penalty takers, DM Ors, who came off the bench is the man to take it, he came through last seasons youth intake, he's only 16, was this a bad idea?!

HE SENDS THE KEEPER THE WRONG WAY!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

OH MY GOD VALENCIA WIN ON PENALTIES AGAIN!!!

Absolutely insane, two rounds in a row we've faced a much bigger team and beat them on penalties, I'm not sure my nerves can take much more of this.

Up next.....

A team we have just beaten 5-0 in the league, easy? No chance!

[TheLutterworthFox]

Part #118 - Champions League Semi Final v Athletico Madrid

I literally cannot believe we are into the Last 4 of the Champions League in my first full season in charge.

Barcelona and Manchester United have been dispatched, both on penalties, lets hope we are now completely out of luck!

Athletico Madrid are our next opponents, definitely an easier game that the previous 2 but I can't take this lightly. The first leg is at home and we have to make sure we go into the away leg with a lead.

Well it started amazingly, we won a penalty on 7 minutes, dispatched by Javier Domingo but only 7 minutes later they levelled the tie with a nicely worked goal and a near finish from Lella.

Into the second half, the game was really even and it was Gonzalez in goal that once again kept us in it, then, as legs tired, we kicked up a geat, Manojlovic scoring with 13 minutes left before Domingo grabbed his second of the game in injury time to seal a massive 3-1 win!!!

Into the away and all we had to do was not capitulate!  It started well as Amine Vandenbroucke scored 14 minutes in but just after half-time Atheltico got a goal back, they pushed and pushed but one again Gonzalez in goal was really good. As they pushed forward to grab that goal to level the tie we broke and mid-way through the second half Accardi broke clear of the defence to slot home to put us 5-2 up on aggregate. We saw the game out and WE'RE INTO THE CHAMPIONS LEAGUE FINAL!!

I seriously cannot believe what's happening this season, our squad is nowhere good enough for this, we have rode our luck in parts but we're into the final! Now it gets really tough.

Yes that's right, we face my old side Arsenal in the final, they beat Man City 5-1 on aggregate in the semi final, they beat us 3-0 in the League Phase, a step too far? I hope not, it'll be gutting to lose now!

[TheLutterworthFox]

Part #119 - Champions League Final v Arsenal

Right, here we go, 18 months after joining Valencia we're into the Champions League final and we face the toughest test, PL Champs and my ex-side Arsenal.

The teams are in, we have a full squad to choose from with no injuries. Left Winger Anderberg is fit enough for 60 minutes tops after returning from injury. Arsenal also have a fully fit squad to play with, some familar faces there, Irondino, Hands, Silva and Tevez were in the side that won the Champions League with me

12 mins - GGGGGOOOOOAAAAAAAALLLLLLLLL!!

Its the first highlight of the game and we score. Its well worked down the right, Domingo lays it back to Askey who plays it into RW Manojlovic who hits a first time shot into the bottom left! 1-0 Valencia!!!!!!!!!!!!1
15 mins - We nearly score again, Anderberg cuts in from the left, runs and runs and hits a shot from the edge of the box but it's well saved by Bartels

15 mins - The corner is played short, it catches Arsenal out, Accardi runs into the box and his shot from about 4 yards out is blocked

18 mins - First chance of Arsenal, a long throw comes in, it bounces about but falls to Silva on the penalty spot but its easily saved by Gonzalez

26 mins - OH MY GOD ITS 2-0!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Monojlovic plays a freekick into Domingo on the edge of the box, he plays it back to Monjlovic who runs free into the box and rifles it into the bottom left! This is insane!!!

29 mins - We are into total control here, playing it round really well, another good chance but its smashed over from Askey

30 mins - The hlighlight continues, Arsenal play out from the back, they do it well and get to the edge of our box before we win it back, break and nearly score a third! Monajlovic crosses it to Domingo who's close shot is tipped wide

And that's half time. I did not expect this! We are in total control

50 mins - First highlight and its  an Arsenal freekick from 30 yards out, Wingaard strikes it but it goes over

65 mins -GGOOAAALLL!!!!!

Oh, or is it?
Domingo puts it home but the linesman flag is up

VAR looks at it, it's offside, so close to 3-0

Time for subs!

73 mins - Findlay is coming on Candela at LB

Opiela is on for Anderberg at LW who is shattered

78 mins - It's all gone quiet, no highlights but time for another two subs.

Manojlovic is absolutely knackered on the RW, he is replaced by Vandenbroucke.

Roccia is on for Askey in midfield

Time ticking on

89 mins - Arsenal try and play out but we have them penned in, Opiela wins it off their defence, strikers it and its tipped wide

5 mins injury time!

ITS ALL OVER!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Oh my god, Valencia have won the Champions League

18 months, that's all it's taken, I am lost for words

in a way it's been way too easy, I never expected to win it this quickly, I expected it to take 3, 4, maybe 5 seasons

But what a run, 2 penalty shootout wins and then beating my old side in the final

4 Champions Leagues - Sampdoria, Arsenal, Brugge and now Valencia

I think its time to call it a day, its been an amazing journey

I have enjoyed every single minute of this, it's been the best save I've done on FM24, I've had so many struggles this year but this has been so good, but the best thing for me is those of you who have followed along and commented, I hate playing saves without telling people about it and love the fact that others follow along as well, even more so that people enjoy it enough to say kind words about me. 

I really hope that in my next save everyone follows along as well.

A new save will be coming out, something I planned for FM25 but with the delay I am going to start it now. Intro post is written, just need to get the save cracking then I'll put a new save up on here.

[AlfieLucas]

Congrats with Valencia, i've just taken charge of them in 29/30 season. It's been a great save mate, look forward to the next one.

[Marcussy]

Brilliant save! Congrats and good luck with your next one.

[Michaelinho]

It has been a blast to follow this one. Realy loved the idea for the save, the steady and realistic progress and above all the passionate writing style. You could easily see you were enjoying this! Don’t forget to mention me for your next adventure(s)! 

Edited October 12 by Michaelinho

[TheLutterworthFox]

8 hours ago, AlfieLucas said:

Congrats with Valencia, i've just taken charge of them in 29/30 season. It's been a great save mate, look forward to the next one.

Thanks mate and thanks for your comments throughout the save, good luck with your Valencia adventure!

4 hours ago, Marcussy said:

Brilliant save! Congrats and good luck with your next one.

Thanks mate, next one has started today, all on the forums for you to take a look at!

2 hours ago, Michaelinho said:

It has been a blast to follow this one. Realy loved the idea for the save, the steady and realistic progress and above all the passionate writing style. You could easily see you were enjoying this! Don’t forget to mention me for your next adventure(s)! 

Thanks mate and thanks for your comments throughout the save, I really appreciate the support. I'm glad my writing has shown how much I'm enjoying it, I've had a pretty crap FM24 with regard to blogging/writing, too many meltdowns to count. I feel really settled at the moment and it's all thanks to this save!

[Toin]

Fantastic achievement to bring CL glory to Valencia and especially Brugge so quickly. I'm looking forward to read about your next save!

[TheLutterworthFox]

9 minutes ago, Toin said:

Fantastic achievement to bring CL glory to Valencia and especially Brugge so quickly. I'm looking forward to read about your next save!

Thanks mate..really appreciate the kind words. New save is up on the forum already!

[Number seven]

Fantastic save! Would have loved it if you did Malmö too, but I will follow the Finland career!

Edited October 15 by Number seven

[tbalsnes]

I`ve been following you for years, but this thread and save has been another level! Excellent read! 
Throughout the save there is something I have been curious about, though, and I hope you can shed some light on it

You keep finding and developing excellent youths. Could you please elaborate a little bit on how you;
1) Arrange your scouting

2) Set up training? Do you put a lot of work in to training schedules og do you use the standard setup + mentoring?

Also, there is never any mentioning about staff in your post. How much work is put in to finding the right staff?

In short, I would love to see a post, it only takes one, where you go a little deeper in to the daily operation of your clubs.

Also, keep up the good work!

Best regards,
Terje, Norway.

[TheLutterworthFox]

2 minutes ago, tbalsnes said:

I`ve been following you for years, but this thread and save has been another level! Excellent read! 
Throughout the save there is something I have been curious about, though, and I hope you can shed some light on it

You keep finding and developing excellent youths. Could you please elaborate a little bit on how you;
1) Arrange your scouting

2) Set up training? Do you put a lot of work in to training schedules og do you use the standard setup + mentoring?

Also, there is never any mentioning about staff in your post. How much work is put in to finding the right staff?

In short, I would love to see a post, it only takes one, where you go a little deeper in to the daily operation of your clubs.

Also, keep up the good work!

Best regards,
Terje, Norway.

Hi Terje, thanks so much for your kind words and your questions.

I'll be honest I put very little effort into training, general training I leave for my staff, individual training I tend to train them on the role I plan to play them and then add their individual focus to where I think they need the best improvement

Mentoring, I tend to let my assistant manager pick the groups but do always make sure my youth players are paired up with an experienced player with a good personality and high determination 

As for scouting. I do use the recruitment focuses a lot. I set my own focusses to scour the world, I tend to focus on certain areas of the world at a time, give it a few months and see what I get back. I use the recommendations a lot and if anyone fits the 4 attributes I always look for (determination, bravery, work rate and natural fitness), are rated highly by my scout and have a low transfer fee then, as long as I can afford it, I'll sign them, when the fee is low you aren't losing out on much of they end up being rubbish!

As for staff, I don't mention it too much because I just don't think people would be interested. I always look over my staff on day one and terminate the contract of anyone who I don't think is good enough. I make sure my HOYD is the best I can find, has a good personality and also has a preferred formation that is the same that I want to play.

Scouts I always make sure they have good judging player potential/ability and good determination.

Assistant manager I make sure they have a good personality, tactical knowledge, determination and judging player ability.

But yes I do put a lot of work into my staff initially and then when the contract expiries come up I see if I can find a better replacement for similar money. 

One other thing I do is I always find the best DOF and I always set him to to make initial bids on new signings, this seems to add an extra way of finding decent players, he makes the initial bid and I decide if it's worthwhile continuing with the transfer or not.

Finally a quick word on intakes. I always make sure I get the youth recruitment and academy coaching as high as possible as quick as possible, this usually depends on finances. I also try and improve my facilities as and when I can. I do think this helps, not only the quality of intakes that I get, but also how quickly those players develop into better players. I do think I've been quite lucky with intakes over my time though!! 

I also always make sure those decent youth players I get, either from the intakes or signings get game time, whether that's in the first team in cup games, etc or out on loan, I don't care about fee paying loans but I always make sure they get decent playing time.

I hope that explains everything. Because I play so quickly I do tend to have to keep my updates down to usually just results, tables, signings, etc. I'd love put more explanations into my updates but I just don't want them to be too long.

I also don't think I'm great at writing proper informative posts which explain certain aspects of the game. I've tried before and it just never comes across well. I don't seem to have that in me to make myself clear enough whilst adding the right amount of correct information and I worry what I say will be wrong or taken the wrong way.

 

[tbalsnes]

Hi,

Wow, thank you for the reply and for your great insights! I`m an "old man" (41) and have been playing CM/FM since 1993, but fell off the wagon a bit as the game became more complicated and my life became more busy  It was actually FMCatenaccios` Arendal-game that gave me the inspiration to "dive into" the new FM, and it was you blog that keeps bringing me back despite my busy "grown up life".

Again - Thanks for your very helpful and insightful answer! Look forward to the new updates!

Best regards Terje

[TheLutterworthFox]

1 minute ago, tbalsnes said:

Hi,

Wow, thank you for the reply and for your great insights! I`m an "old man" (41) and have been playing CM/FM since 1993, but fell off the wagon a bit as the game became more complicated and my life became more busy  It was actually FMCatenaccios` Arendal-game that gave me the inspiration to "dive into" the new FM, and it was you blog that keeps bringing me back despite my busy "grown up life".

Again - Thanks for your very helpful and insightful answer! Look forward to the new updates!

Best regards Terje

Thanks so much Terje. Your kind words have brightened up my day.

 

I'm now 44, played since the original CM in 91 or 92. Started writing about my FM saves in 2013 and now it's part of the save, I can't play a save without writing about it. I am lucky that I have a shift job which means I have days off in the week when my wife and daughter are at work and school, this gives me lots of time to play FM!!

[tbalsnes]

You lucky dog, maybe I ought to find a new career! All though, five hours sleep is enough, isn`t it?!

 

[TheLutterworthFox]

11 minutes ago, tbalsnes said:

You lucky dog, maybe I ought to find a new career! All though, five hours sleep is enough, isn`t it?!

 

I'm lucky if I get 5 hours! Shift work messes with your body in ways I never knew. Done it for 20 years now and as I get older it seems to hit me harder!! Feel like a zombie most of the time!