GreenTriangle

March 2027 For the last few matches I decided to play a bit more defensively. The idea was quite good, because in the 5 years I spent at Rhodienne, we never conceded just one goal in 4 consecutive games. However, we didn't play very well, and in the last game we managed the "performance" of shooting only twice during the 90 minutes. And there was probably another important aspect. Our best striker, Bertini, is unhappy again, for the same reason as last season : I can't offer him a contract as he wants. Is the scenario similar to last year's ? It's not similar, it's even identical : after 4 weeks of "unhappiness", Bertini realized that, in fact, he doesn't even want a new contract . Is this important ? I don't know, but Bertini is, by far, our best scorer, so we might score more goals in the 3 games left to play until the end of the season. ********** April 2027 10 goals scored, although we shot on target only 13 times. Of course, Bertini scored 5 times. 7th place. Unlike previous years, now we haven't had a very bad second half of the season. In fact, this year we got about the same number of points both in the fall and in the spring. Also, the xG table was much more realistic. ***** Player's stats : ***** Youth intake. Regarding the number of stars, it was clearly weaker than the intakes of previous years. Regarding the real CA and real PA ... I don't know, but probably the qualitative difference between the players received now and those received in the past is quite small. Realistically speaking, there couldn't be a significant difference as long as we have exactly the same facilities as 4-5 years ago. ***** Finances. The club's debts have reached 180,000 euros, which means that they are twice as high as the annual income (excluding fund raising). Solutions ? There would be. The simplest would be for the club to re-become amateur for the next 4-5 years. I don't know if the game allows this, and I don't have time for that anyway. There is also the possibility of using some tricks that allow me to get some additional money, but as long as I don't use an editor, even these tricks require a lot of time and have various disadvantages. So, in the end, the simplest option for me is to leave Rhodienne. At the moment there are no less than 12 clubs looking for a new manager : Of course, I'll apply first at those clubs that have good facilities. Also, I'll try to avoid clubs that have a particularly insecure financial situation. I checked all these 12 clubs : First of all, it is probably necessary to detail the Belgian football system. There are two fully professional leagues (leagues 1 and 2). There are also 3 national amateur leagues (leagues 3-5). The 6th level is composed of provincial leagues. So, of the 12 clubs looking for a manager, 2 are in the 6th league (provincial), 5 in the 5th league (3rd amateur league) and other 5 in the 4th league (2nd amateur league). Two of these clubs (Jong Esseeve and OHL U23) are basically the second teams of some big professional clubs, but at the same time they are separate clubs with their own management and their own budgets. However, I will avoid these two clubs. Of the other 10 that remained on the list, one (Hoogstraten) is a professional club and has a salary budget of over 1 million euros. I will avoid this club too. So, there are 9 clubs left. Three of them have really good facilities, much better than Rhodienne : KRC Gent, Excelsior Zedelgem and KFC Alken. The first, KRC Gent, plays in the 6th league, but has a financial situation described as "good". The other two have just been relegated from the 4th league this season, and their financial situation is "insecure". I'll therefore apply, to begin with, at KRC Gent. If I don't receive an answer in the next 7 days, I'll apply to the other two clubs. I didn't have to wait too long. KRC Gent hired me after only a few days. It would probably be interesting to remind that this was not my first "contact" with KRC Gent. A year and a half ago they were interested in discussing with me about the possibility of becoming their manager : ********** Goodbye, KFC Rhodienne. I spent 5 interesting years at this club. I'm sorry to leave, but that's it ...

November 2026 We scored 11 goals, but we conceded no less than 15, and that in just 5 games. I can't complain, we were very lucky in the first match, and the fact that we had some bad luck in the next matches doesn't mean that we deserved more. This is our real level at the moment : 6 points out of 15. The difference between us and the team in 4th place increased to 6 points ... *** Three months after the first attempt (the one in August), I tried again to convince the Board that we need investments. What did they answer me? That it does not allow us to improve training facilities, junior coaching or youth recruitment ... and, yes, there is no money to even finance a coaching course, not even if it is the cheapest one, that is, the one that allows getting the "National C" license. It's funny, but 53 months have passed since I've been a manager at Rhodienne, and it's never been possible to take such a course. ********** December 2026 4 points out of 9, but I have to thank all available gods, because we were really lucky, especially in the last match. The difference between us and the team in 4th place has now reached no less than 10 points (!). It would probably be better for me to forget about the first four places. Those four teams have their league (a bit more professional), we play in our league, along with the other amateurs. *** Players' stats *** Youth intake preview. "Excellent and terrific". *** 13 of the 22 players who form the first team are "very happy". I'm ... happy for them, it means they know how to be happy even when without any reason. In fact, maybe they are right. We'll certainly not be relegated. And, according to xG table, we're playing quite well : if we'll win 3-4 additional points, we could even get involved in the fight for the first places, . But it's still a good thing that the game (FM) didn't crowned us as "xG champions" like in the previous seasons, that would have been way too hilarious. ********** January 2027 3 matches, 6 points, we defeated (5-2!) one of the 4 bad boys, that is, one of the 4 teams that are fighting for promotion. Unfortunately, we conceded 4 goals from only 7 shots on target. *** Transfers. We brought in two new players. Anyway, I'll leave Rhodienne at the end of this season, there is no point in experimenting with youngsters. Also, I released several young players (Bindi, Barraud, Wydra) who were unhappy because of trainig intensity and I promoted Lachaud from U21, a player whom my assistant thinks is very good. Immediately after that the media prediction have changed, that is, our odds improved from 33-1 to 18-1. ********** February 2027 I should probably be happy, we managed the "great performance" of defeating the team in last place, 16th. I sincerely regret that we cannot play more times against this team, that because the other opponents seem to be much too difficult for us. Of course, we were a little unlucky (especially in the second match), but the reality is that we currently play really bad. Well, we avoided relegation ! Hooray ! I tried one more (last) time, just for fun : does the Board agree that I should take the necessary course to get the National C license ? No, it's not ! So, after 5 seasons I still don't have any license ...

https://steamcommunity.com/workshop/filedetails/?id=2941653674 https://steamcommunity.com/sharedfiles/filedetails/?id=2914865242 ********** Various competitions in Europe, season 2025-2026 : Some more important domestic leagues / League 1 and League 2 in Belgium / Continental competitions. World Cup 2026 ********** I'll continue with one more season at Rhodienne. I don't expect us to win the league, but I hope we can place - finally - in the top 4. Anyway, regardless of whether we'll be able to qualify for the play-offs or not, I'll leave at the end of this season. I decided to release more than 40 players, that is, a lot of of these players we have received at the youth intake in the last 3 years. I would have kick out even more of them, but I wanted to keep 20 youngsters for the U21 team. Since these players were receiving some money (each of them had month-to-month contracts and received 60 euros per month, i.e. 720 per year) we thus achieved significant savings, which allowed me to bring a player that I really needed, i.e. a left defender. I could have brought 2 (maybe even 3) other players without exceeding the wage budget, but I decided to postpone these new acquisitions until the next transfer window. *** Since our expenses will be lower this year, I thought that, maybe, our Board would be willing to accept some investments. Unfortunately, it's not. It doesn't want any kind of improvements, regardless of whether it's about training facilities, junior coaching or youth recruitment. Moreover, it doesn't even want to allow me to take a coaching course ... (To be honest, the Board is probably right. We have debts of 110,000 euros and we lose 40-50,000 euros every season. It doesn't seem like much, but the club has very limited sources of income, and 110,000 means more than all the club's yearly income that doesn't come from Board contributions) *** The squad we'll rely on for the next half of the season : The U21 squad is now, as I said earlier, much less numerous, only 20 players. Probably even 20 are too many, we have at most 5-6 good players there ... *** Transfers. We brought in one new player in June, and none after July 1st. The good part is that no one left. By the way, I still don't understand why my players don't leave. Are they so weak that no one wants them ? In fact, most of them received a lot of offers. Are we paying more than other clubs would pay them? Are all of them very loyal ? It' difficult to say... Anyway, according to media prediction, compared to other clubs in the 6th league, we have a mediocre team, good enough not to be relegated but not good enough to fight for the first places. The Board only asks me to avoid relegation. Quite surprising, considering that in the previous seasons we ranked 5th and 6th. Normally, our reputation should have increased, but it seems that this increase was insignificant. *** Friendlies (and Cup) We played 6 friendly matches. We had fun in 4 of them, and that's because the opponents were small teams from the lower leagues. In the other two games, somewhat more difficult, we beat a 5th league team (Condruzienne) and got a draw against a 6th league team (Oppagne-Weris). All in all, both the cohesion and the atmosphere have reached a very good level. The support for the manager is not at such a good level, but it doesn't matter. Even I wouldn't support a manager like me either. Regarding the participation in the Belgian Cup, it was spectacular. Not because we defeated countless opponents, but because we scored 7 goals in a game in which the opponent was, like us, a 6th league team, and after only one week we clearly won (3-0) a match played against a 4th league team (Sparta Petegem) . In fact, we won without the opponent shooting on target even once. Unfortunately, the third game wasn't that entertaining. Another team from the 4th league (Olympic Charleroi) showed us what our real level is. ********** September 2026 7 points. Good enough, but it could be even better. In the third game we had 3-2 (plus a denied goal) but we only managed a draw due to the stupid idea of the referee to award a penalty to the opponents in the 86th minute ... ********** October 2026 Wow, 13 goals scored ! And 9 points won. However, I don't think we have that much offensive power. In addition, the opponents (ie, the AI) will probably realize that something is wrong with their defense. I expect, therefore, that we'll score much fewer goals in the next matches.

yes, it's possible, if you can get enough money for your club. if you can't, then it's not possible

April 2026 Very nice. Only 2 points out of 9. Maybe we didn't deserve such an embarrassing end to the season, but does it still matter ? 6th place. It's disappointing, but, of course, it could have been even worse. *** I tried to use our youngsters as much as possible. I don't know if it was a smart approach in terms of the results, although probably the bad form in the second half of the season would have been bad even if I had used the best players we have. In any case, I did not discover any future local star. There are some players who have a good potential, especially Bordes (and maybe Bajic too), but none of these young players seem to rise to the level of Ciabrini, Kouadio or Bertini. Speaking of Bertini, he scored again a very high number of goals, 29, and from my point of view he's a phenomenon because he's not only very efficient but also very loyal. I refused again to offer him a contract (we don't have enough money), he was upset for a while, but after a few weeks his agent declared that, indeed, Bertini admits that in the last games he didn't play very well and, as a result, he no longer wants that contract. . He's the first very good striker I see doing something like that in FM. *** Towards the end of the season, our chairman declared himself happy with the team's performance...that is, with the fact that we were not relegated. Based on this optimistic approach I tried to get some improvements. For example, I asked if it would be possible to improve our training facilities a little. No, it's not possible. Then maybe we could improve our youth recruitment ? That's not possible either. Okay, then maybe we could, at least, increase the junior coaching budget. Oh, no, not at all ! I understand, it's about some money that we don't have. But could I still improve my ablities by taking a coaching course ? I have no coaching qualification and a course for the National C license would probably not cost so much. No, that's not possible ! In conclusion : nothing is possible. Ah, I'm wrong, actually there was an improvement : our wage budget was increased from 9369 per month to 9645 !!! Wow ! An impressive increase ! A few more such increases and we'll surely win the Champions League in the next 5 years ! However, as an idea, I think there is something wrong with this approach. Let take an example, Bertini. He wanted 300 per match, I could offer him a maximum of 230. Is there somewhere in this world a president or Board that would refuse a budget increase by 70 euros per match (that means at most 2100 per year), if by doing so the club could keep its best player ? *** Youth Intake 2026 An intake similar to those from previous years. A pretty good player and a few other players who, if they develop well, could end up playing in the first team. The question is... will they develop well ? I don't think so. Our training facilities are only "basic" and will probably remain so in the years to come. Also, we don't have the money needed to hire good enough coaches. At the beginning of the season I decided that all the young players we have at club will be trained at maximum intensity. The outcome ? Some players have progressed, indeed, but quite a bit. Most of them develop slowly ... or not at all. Some even regressed. It's hard to believe that I can build a qualitatively superior team based only on youth intake. Also, there is a problem regarding the players' evaluation. The lower the staff's skills are, the more imprecise the evaluation is, and this means that after one or two years a player who I am told at intake that has 4 PA stars can end up being evaluated at only 3 or even less. (Of course, the PA will never change. What changes is the staff's perception. And if the staff "sees" wrong, I have no other solution but to "see" just as wrong as them). There are also inverse cases, but rarer, and the increase is not that high. Also, the staff takes into account aspects such as, for example, the fact that a player has a better ability to hit the ball using his weaker foot, but even so, some of their evaluations are strange. Honestly, I don't even know what to do with many of these youngsters. There are huge differences between the list of those whom the staff considers really good / weak and the list of those who, according to their attributes, can be considered really good / weak. (I don't intend to turn the game (FM) into a collection of Excel tables, so I'll "believe" what the staff say, although in reality I don't trust them at all). *** The question is ... what to do now. The chance of achieving impressive performances with Rhodienne is extremely small. We simply don't have the necessary money. And also, we have no additional sources of income. Of course, there are various tricks to "solve" this problem, but I won't use them. So ... either I'll continue at Rhodienne just for fun, without hoping to achieve any performance, or I'll go to another club. If I leave, of course, it will be necessary for my new club to have better facilities ... and more money.

January 2026 We should not have lost the second game. Even a draw would have been advantageous for us, but that's what happens when a team (meaning "our team") isn't able to create clear scoring chances. The opponents had only one clear opportunity, they scored ... and won. We're lucky, the other teams involved in the fight for first place didn't have a "better month" than us. Woluwe-Zaventem got only one point, Ixelles got three and Wolvertem one. The distance between us and the second place increased to 3 points, and that between us and the 5th place reached 8 points. *** The transfers window closed on January 31. I didn't bring any new player and, fortunately, none of our players left. Since the team is quite balanced and I don't want to reduce cohesion, I didn't promote any player from the U21 squad. On the other hand, both the cohesion and the atmosphere are very good : out of the total of 25 players who make up the first team, no less than 24 are "very happy". ********** February 2026 Only 5 points out of 12. We're probably a bit unlucky, but even if we had been luckier we wouldn't have managed to get more than 6 or maximum 7 points. My team is in a bad run of form, complacency is obvious and, in addition, the opponents play now differently compared to the way they did 2-3 months ago. Not only they defend more carefully and compactly now, but also they use a much more intense pressing in the middle, which results in countless balls lost by my midfielders. We dropped to second place. It was to be expected, so this second place doesn't represent a real problem for me. The real problem is that the difference between us and the team in 5th place has decreased from 8 to only 2 points ... By the way, if I want to look at the problem in an optimistic way, I can admire the xG table. At least we're in first place somewhere, even if that "somewhere" doesn't really matter in the fight for promotion. ********** March 2026 Positive aspects : we scored 9 goals and conceded only 3 Negative aspects: we only got 6 points, and, in a very important game, the one played against the leader (Wolvertem), we managed the epic performance of not shooting even once on target. The teams' morale is still very good, which is explainable, because, isn't it, we fulfilled our objective, that is, we avoided relegation. I have to remind : many important players were downright outraged when I proposed a more ambitious objective. In other words, this is their level of ambition : "We survived in the 6th league, everything is fine, there is no point in stressing for promotions, play-offs and all kind of s**t like this" In theory, we still have a chance to rank 3rd or 4th. In practice, the last 3 rounds mean for us matches against the the teams ranked 1st, 10th and 3rd. Moreover, it would be necessary for us to win at least 6 points from these 3 games. Our chances ? They probably still exist, but I would definitely need a powerful microscope to be able to see them. Finally, after a long time, the game (FM) realized that some aspects can be extremely hilarious. As a result, we're no longer leaders in the xG table. Somehow I regret this decision, it would have been really fun to win the "xG competition" twice in a row even if my team didn't even manage to qualify for play-offs.

October 2025 10 points out of 12. We didn't play so well as to score 10 goals and concede only 3, but we were lucky, especially in the last match. ********** November 2025 We are doing quite well, although I would have preferred to get a draw against the team ranked in second place (Worvertem). Unfortunately, in this match it was obvious that Worvertem have better players. After all, they have a 4-1 odds and are the 3rd favorite, while we, with 33-1, are also the 3rd favorite ... but for relegation. ********** December 2025 Only 4 point out of 9. The first match was frustrating. Kouadio got a red card 14th minute, but, surprisingly, at halftime we had a two-goal advantage. We were not able to defend this advantage and, worse, we conceded the second goal in the 90th+4th minute. As for the second match ... not even Bertini can win a match "by himself" if his teammates (especially those on the wings) play really bad. We're in first place. Moreover, in the xG table we're also in first place. Considering the fact that we have neither the players nor the reputation of a "first place" team, this position will probably be difficult to keep, because complacency will appear. We have good players, but they are no more professional, no more ambitious and no more determined than the players of the other teams in the 6th league. I don't hope for a first place ranking, but I still hope that this year we'll be able to stay in the top 4 and participate in the play-off. *** Who was our best player ? I don't even need to say anymore. He scored 105 goals in the 102 matches played in the league, which seems to me out of the ordinary even for the level of a rather obscure league. Why doesn't he go to another club ? I have no idea. He probably has a very high "loyalty" attribute. He had a lot of offers and can leave us whenever he wants because he does not have a full contract. As for the other players... I was hoping that some the youngsters promoted from the U21 would stand out more, but unfortunately they didn't do it. The list of highlighted players is almost the same as that of the previous seasons : Ciabrini, Noicharoen, Kouadio, Seize. *** It has already become boring : this is what negotiations look like every time I find a good player and want to bring him to us. "Hey, man, I want to be star player and also a want you to promise me that you'll do everything I wrote in this list". Some players give up on the list, others don't, and with those who don't give up I end the discussion because I don't want to promise what I know I can't do. Other players agree to give up the list, but everything collapses when it comes to money. They want 350 or 400 or more, I can offer them a maximum of 230. I can increase the bonus and substitute fees, but they are not interested on this. *** A probably less important aspect, but which intrigues me : why is there such a big difference between the Board's opinion and the supporters' opinion ? In my case it's not very relevant because our supporters have a relative low influence, but I wonder what happens in the case of those clubs where the supporters have a very high influence. Can the manager be fired (even if the team is in first place) just because the fans don't like him ? *** Youth intake preview. At first glance it seems quite interesting and green. At second glance, it's nothing different from what I have seen in previous years. I mean, we might receive some good players, but I wouldn't bet on it.

Well, I stated what I stated because exactly in the season in which the team I manage was promoted to the higher league, these "other expenses" increased from almost zero to over 75,000, which for my club means more than 1/3 of the usual yearly expenses we have. Also, these expenses increased two months after the end of the competition and two and a half months before the start of the next season. But if you prefer to believe that there is no connection between these expenses and promotion, no problem. Everyone is free to believe what they want.

In real life there are, indeed, some additional costs in case of a promotion to a higher league. Also, there are additional costs (other than salary costs) in case of a status change (for example, when a semi-professional club becomes professional). I don't know if those costs are really that high (one million), but any of these changes are quite expensive, this being one of the reasons why some clubs are't even interested to promote, although the players they have would allow them to do it. On the other hand, it seems obvious why FM opted for a generic heading instead of detailing those additional costs. Those costs do exist, but it would probably be impossible to allocate them a specific numerical level due to the fact that they vary from one season to another, from one competition to another and even from one club to another. Probably FM takes into account a percentage from "something", although I couldn't say what exactly that "something" could be.

At this moment my "great career" has become quite boring, as it is obvious that I cannot achieve spectacular performances. However, from my point of view the career is still interesting, and this for several reasons: - first of all, I can resign from Rhodienne at any time. Or I can be kicked out. I would take over another Belgian club, probably something stronger, but my career would continue "in Belgium", as this topic is titled. - secondly, so far I have experienced quite a few new things. In fact, I did nothing but apply various variants of some tactical configurations. I didn't deal with micromanagement at all, I wasn't interested in player development. - thirdly, I admit, it's a matter of ambition. I'm sure that under certain conditions I could achieve some remarkable performances, but I probably started from a level that was too difficult for my FM player skills. However, I can continue this career by taking over more and more powerful clubs (and easier to manage) until, in the end, I will achieve those remarkable performances I was talking about. ********** The experience I gained in the last 3 seasons at Rhodienne "told me" that it is not worth the effort to try to develop the team by the method of bringing players from other clubs. We don't have enough money to pay salaries of the level demanded by really good players. In addition, few such players are interested in coming to us on loan. In the summer of 2023 we were able to transfer some good players because at that time we had been "a newly promoted to the 5th league" team. But because we relegated at the end of that season, our access to the market of players who deserve high salaries became much more difficult. As a result, at least for now, I have to rely primarily on the players produced at my club. It's not a very encouraging conclusion because in the three previous seasons we received only a few very good players, to be precise, only three such players, and none of them are better than those players I found at the club in 2022. *** These are currently the players we have at the club - the senior squad (and, more detailed, the best 14 players) - the U21 squad We also have an U19 team, but for the moment I only use it for youth intake. All players received annually at intake are moved to the U21 team at the end of May. - youth intake 2023 / youth intake 2024 / youth intake 2025 As can be seen, there can be important differences between the initial PA (the one evaluated at the time of youth intake) and the PA evaluated after one or two years. As for CA, the differences can be really huge. That's the reason why I don't use notations like "Player name (202X a, b, c, d)". They are subjective and, in addition, they can create a false impression. A young player needs at least 6-12 months to be properly evaluated. *** The staff we have at the club is, from a numerical point of view, adequate to our needs. Regarding their quality, however, it is limited by the status of the club, the low budget and the very low reputation. However, we have two staff members whose skills are very good, at least for the 6th league level : the assistant manager and one of the U21 coaches. I rely on them to evaluate the players we have, but I don't have much confidence in their evaluations because they consider that one of the best midfielders we have at the club (Noicharoen) is "useless" and this young player ( whose mental attributes are very low and whose personality is extremely negative) is one of the best players in the U21 squad. As a result, I decided to ignore the "stars" by which they evaluate the players and to temporarily use this evaluation system. (In general, I try to avoid calculations of this kind, but now I prefer an alternative to the evaluation system expressed by "stars"). As a result, I got this list. Based on it, I'll decide which players will be part of the senior squad and who of them will have to be sent to the U21 team. *** Until now I haven't taken care of the U21 team at all. From now on I will take control of the training and all the young players will have specific individual training, plus additional focus, all at double intensity. Whoever does not resist, complains or does not develop will be excluded from the team. The goal is to reduce the number of U21 players from "over 40" to "under 20" by the end of next season. In addition, I'll schedule for the U21 team two friendly games each month. Also, the young players in the senior squad will have individual training and additional focus, but at normal intensity, because I intend to use them from time to time in the first team and I don't want them to get injured. However, I'll not change the training program of the important players, those in the "first eleven". In their case the AI did very well and I have no reason to change something that works well. ********** European competitions, season 2024-2025 Belgian leagues and Belgian cup, seasons 2022-23, 2023-24 and 2024-25 : First League / Second League / Third League / Cup ********** May - August 2025 At the beginning of June my contract was extended. I expected something like that, but I did not expect that the team's objective for the upcoming season would be changed. If initially I was asked to avoid relegation, now I am only asked to "try to avoid it", which means that even our Board believes that we are in big trouble and that we must "fight bravely" to have a chance. Something else was worse : the reaction of certain players. At the new season first day meeting I suggested that we could get a mid-table position. No less than 6 players from our "best 11" were offended by this idea. It's obvious that these players have low levels of ambition and probably a mediocre level of professionalism ... I was curious to find out if our Board is, however, willing to accept some not very large expenses for the improvement of our underdeveloped facilities. No, it's not. For this reason, I didn't even ask about any possible improvement of the training facilities. It's obvious that they would not agree with this. *** So, these will be our two squads for the next half of the season : Surprisingly, the media prediction odds have improved in the last two months (from 50-1 to 33-1), although, of course, we're still rated as one of the main "favorites" for relegation. We didn't bring any new players, and, in addition, we lost one of the important players we had (Thomas Tis, by far the best full-back in the squad). Instead, I promoted no less than 8 players from U21 (El Attabi, Bindi, Barraud, Andre-Prevot, Messaoudi, Kabamba, Soule and Perreira), with the mention that the last two were also part of the senior squad for a short time time in the past. *** Friendlies (and Cup) We won by large margins (8-0, 8-1, 7-0) several matches played against some small teams from the lower leagues. But when we played against a better team (RFC Meux, the 4th league team) it was obvious that we, a 6th league team, are far below their level. At one point Meux was leading 5-0 and only their complacency and the fact that they changed almost the whole team helped us not to concede 3-4 more goals. Overall, however, these friendly matches were very useful because they helped me to improve the team's morale and also increased our team cohesion to an impressive level. Regarding the participation in the Belgian Cup, we did reasonably good. At least that's what our Board thinks. I regret that we didn't win the match in the second round because it's always frustrating to miss a qualification when the opponent doesn't manage to shoot even once on target. ********** September 2025 A very good start to the season. That comeback from the last game was unexpected for me because we always played weaker towards the end of the matches. Anyway, the competition has only just begun. A lot can happen until the end...

In fact, what are these player attributes ? They are a basis from which the calculation of each event starts. FM calculates if player X will receive the ball, if he will manage to reach a favorable position, if he will shoot / cross / pass / lose the ball and, possibly, if he (or one of his teammates) will score. If FM, according to an algorithm, evaluates the moment as important, it will generate a graphic representation of the entire sequence of events. In absolutely all calculations these attributes are always used in groups, not isolated, and the calculations are based both on the visible attributes and on a multitude of factors that are sometimes presented explicitly, sometimes only suggested (hidden attributes, personality, individual morale, collective morale, tactical elements, shouts and probably many other factors). This calculation system can generate extremely variable events, this being the reason why a player can score, for example, 4 goals in one match and zero goals in the next 30 matches. However, in the long term (6 months to a year), the game accurately simulates reality in terms of, for example, the number of goals scored in a season by all the teams. This variability is not random but takes into account aspects specific to football in real life. Considering the above, introducing an additional variability into a system that IS already variable (in a quite realistic way) seems to me completely unnecessary. The fact that the attributes change slowly does not mean that the result, i.e. the generated events, cannot significantly change from match to match, or even more than once during a single match. [This is a personal opinion actually based on an interpretation of how the game (FM) reacts based on my own decisions and actions. The opinion can be wrong, which is why it should not be considered an "expert's opinion" (lol) but strictly a speculation belonging to an average FM user]

April - May 2025 Only 5 points. But it doesn't matter anyway... We achieved a "glorious" 5th place. And, yes, we didn't even manage to qualify for the play-offs. Anyway, we wouldn't have had any chance to promote. Only one team (out of 16) can promote from the playoffs, and this means that 4 consecutive wins are necessary. Which it would be impossible for us, because my team is, obviously, in a bad run of form. ***** Players' stats : As usual, Bertini is number one. Honestly, I'm surprised that he hasn't left us yet because he doesn't even have a contract with us. His agent suggested me to offer him such a contract, but Bertini's demands (300/month) are much higher than what we can offer him (220/month, and that as a star player). A special mention for Kouadio, the only player who has developed significantly in the last two years. Also, another young player (Enzo Bordes / youth intake 2024) looks promising, although his personality (he's "unamibitious") is not really what I would wish. By the way, this is what our "best eleven" looks like in the 2023-24 and 2024-25 seasons. In total, Bertini scored no less than 90 goals in the 91 matches in which he played. ***** Youth intake 2025 An interesting intake. Four players seem to be quite good, but two of them (Fortes and Vial) are "casual" and the third (Adilson Cayres) is "unambitious". Not exactly the most recommended personalities for a young player. Regarding the CA, we have six players who seem to be one step away from promotion to the senior squad, but this opinion is strictly based on the subjective assessment of my assistant. And, unfortunately he has quite limited skills. ***** It's been three years since I've been a manager at Rhodienne and I still haven't seen what a coaching course looks like. And I won't see it in the near future either, because the Board refused my request again. In any case, even though I don't have a license, I'm not completely underdeveloped as a manager. I don't know why, but the game says that I would be a kind of dictator who imposes a very strict discipline. It's not true at all. Sometimes I even let my players go to the toilet, but not too often. *** Finances. We're losing money (a lot of), which is why the Board gave me a gift and decided to reduce the salary budget from 12.300 per month (ie 150.000 per year) to 9.300 per month (110.000 per year). We already were having a big problem regarding the lack of money, now it will be even worse. Until now I haven't been offered a contract extension, but I imagine that I'll not be fired, at least not now. In any case, the Board does not expect any significant performance. If at the beginning of last season I was asked for a "mid-table position", for the next season I'll have nothing else to do but to avoid relegation.

December 2024 Generally speaking, it was a mediocre month, even if we got 7 points. Unfortunately, we played poorly both against the leader (Woluwe-Zaventem) and against the team in second place (Wolvertem Merchtem) and managed to win only one point. We have no way to get close to the first place if we're not able to beat teams that are ranked better than us ... *** Players stats at the half of the season : As usual, Bertini is - by far - the best player. Honestly, I'm surprised he hasn't left us yet. In fact, Bertini is the only one who plays consistently well. Other players played very well during series of 3-4-5 matches, but these positive series were unfortunately always followed by matches in which they played really bad. One of the best players in the last two seasons (the central defender Henrion) left us because, in his opinion, he didn't play as much as he wanted. He probably "forgot" that he was injured for no less than 9 weeks. I would have needed him, but I preferred to let him go because his unhappiness was starting to affect the club atmosphere. *** Youth intake preview. Our HOYD claims that this intake (like last year's) will be "excellent". ********** January 2025 For the first time this season we reached the top 3. A good position, but not good enough because we're the leaders in the xG tables. Of course, probably my players are not, from a qualitative point of view, as good as those of the two teams in the first places, but, at least in theory, we should be able to get involved in the fight for the first place *** The transfer window has closed. Uninteresting, because nothing special happened here. No new player came, no one left. The only news were related to the promotion of 3 other young players from U21 team (Marchal and Bajic / youth intake 2023, respectively Leterrier / youth intake 2024). We needed these players not because they are very good, but because we only had 18 players in the squad, a little less than would normally be needed (many of my players already have enough yellow cards to be suspended in the near future) In terms of morale... although we have countless happy players, the atmosphere is only "good", which means that somewhere there is "something" that affects the morale of the team as a whole. I have no idea what that "something" is. The managerial support is not more than "good" either. I'm probably doing something wrong, but, as I already said, I have no idea what is so wrong. ********** February 2025 6 points out of 12 ... Realistically speaking, we didn't deserve more than that. And that match played against ERC Hoeilaart was probably one of the worst in my entire career so far. The distance between us and the leader increased from 5 to 9 points. It's clear, now we have no chance to fight for the first place. From now on, our goal will be to rank in one of the 2nd, 3rd or 4th places and participate in the play-offs ********** March 2025 In the first game we had 2-0 after 10 minutes. We should have been able to win or, in the worst case, to get a draw. We were not able. In the third game we had 2 CCC and 4 HC, but those who scored 3 goals were our opponents. And no, Cambetas is not a wonder striker. He's playing as AMC. The AI proved to be smarter, because it played with AMC and two strikers, and I asked my players to mark the two strikers. Only in the second half I focused on neutralizing their AMC, but it was too late. We have to play very well in the next games. Otherwise, not only we'll not qualify for the play-offs, but we can even end up in 8th or 9th place ... *** Yeah, based on the xG tables, we are the best team in the league. We have the most points, the best attack and the third best defense. We should probably prepare the champagne bottles. Of course, in the "official" table we're only on the 5th place and we have even a chance to fall to the 9th place ...

September 2024 It wasn't exactly the start of the season that I would have wished. Only 4 points out of 12, and that's primarily because we scored only 3 goals. However, we did not play very bad, but probably my players were affected by the fact that I gave up the tactics that I used in the friendly matches. In addition, we had a rather difficult schedule, two of the four opponents (Woluwe-Zaventem and ERC Hoeilaart) being, according to media predictions, in the top 3 of the promotion favorites ********** October 2024 Well, yes, it's better now, 9 points out of 12. Unfortunately, in the last game we played very badly ... ********** November 2024 9 more points. We lost a game because the opponent wanted to show us how easily two goals can be scored from just two shots on target. Probably the game (FM) was filled with remorse after this match, because in the next two games we scored six goals from only seven shots on target We are in 5th place, equal on points with 4th place, a place that allows qualification for the play-offs. (Probably it would be better to remind : the team ranked first will be promoted and those teams ranked from 2nd to 4th place will qualify for the play-offs). It's surprising that in another table, not so "official", we are leaders. We have the most "expected points", which means that we didn't play badly at all (or that the opponents didn't play as well as it would seem according to the league table). If we'll continue to play like this, not only we could easily get a place in the top 4, but we can even try to get involved in the fight for the first place.

May - June 2024 First of all, my contract was extended, and this means I'll continue as manager at La Rhodienne. I requested an improvement of our facilities, because we really need something like that. The board did not agree. Honestly, I didn't even expect another answer, so I gave up. The club's reputation was significantly affected by the relegation, which is perfectly normal but it's also frustrating. Since we don't have money, I can't improve many things at the club, but, for example, I can try to find a slightly better staff. I found a much better assistant manager than the one we had until now, but this improvement dried up our budget because we'll have to pay him 11,700 per year, which for us is a very large amount. However, I don't like the personality of the new assistant. "Casual" means a low level of determination and a very low level of professionalism. I hope that he'll not influence my players from this point of view (probably I hope in vain, he'll certainly influence them, but it depends how much) ********** The 2022-2023 and 2023-2024 seasons : some important European leagues / continental club competitions / European Championship 2024 ********** July - August 2024 I didn't bring any new players. The very cheap ones are not better than those we have in the U21 team, and the most expensive ones ask for more than our budget allows (maximum 220 for a "star player"). However, we lost two important players (last season), the right defender and the defensive midfielder. Anyway, it could be worse. Unfortunately, the other teams in the league did not hesitate to complete their squads, which is why in just 2 months our odds in the media prediction dropped significantly, from 11-1 to 33-1 The squad with which we'll start this season : There are, therefore, several "new" players : Martz (youth intake 2023), Guth, Vergara and Bordes (youth intake 2024), plus Delattre, the young goalkeeper who was our first choice goalkeeper two seasons ago. We only have 19 players in the squad because for now I don't want to promote too many youngsters from the U21 team. I'll promote another 3 or 4 young players after the winter break, that is, in January. There are maybe 10 - 12 quite good youngsters in our U21 squad, but they are developing extremely slowly due to the low quality of our facilities. *** Friendlies We played 9 friendly games. At first glance the results seem pretty bad, but I have never used the "first eleven" during those friendlies. I tested 10 youngsters from U21 and, in parallel, I also tried some tactical innovations (which were not successful). The only game that worried me was the last one, in which I used the tactic I thought was the best and 8 players from the first team. I hope it was just an accident. We also played 3 rounds in the Belgian Cup. The first opponent was a team from "our" league, the 6th, and we won easily. In the second round we had to fight against some pirates. Although the Pirates currently play in the 4th league (and I expected them to beat us), we played much better than I thought we can play and, consequently, we qualified for the third round. Unfortunately, in the next game, the qualitative difference between us and our opponents (another team from the 4th league) was obvious. The fact that we only conceded 2 goals was a real success for us.

March 2024 3 points out of 12, which is a real success for us. Why ? Because at the beginning of the month I checked the list of the next games and found that we'll meet the teams in the 5th, 6th, 9th, 3rd and 4th places. A difficult schedule, at least from my point of view. I thought about how we should play ... and I couldn't think of any idea. At that moment I realized that our relegation is inevitable, so I decided to simplify everything. I gave up the complicated tactical configurations and decided to use only a template (fluid counterattack), without any modification, going to replace only the players who are tired, injured or, possibly, those who are playing very poorly. So, at this moment, only a spectacular miracle can save us from relegation. I don't believe in miracles, but I hope they'll happen. As a result, I called all players for a team meeting. Personally, I have never heard of any miracle that took place in a locker room, but I had nothing to lose if I try. Anyway, the players morale improved a little, although not as much as I would have liked. ********** April 2024 Goodbye, 5th league! It was a pleasure to meet you ! Yes, we were relegated. But it was interesting, because if we had won the last match we would have saved ourselves from relegation. It could be said that the miracle form the locker room was about to happen, but it was canceled at the last moment. This last match has a story. Somehow the game (FM) made it so that in the last round we met exactly the only team that we could have surpass in terms of points. Was it a coincidence ? Probably, although some people might say that the game (FM) makes some strange decisions sometimes. Before the game, my assistant suggested me to call a new team meeting, and in this meeting to reduce the pressure on my players. It seemed like a good idea, so I did exactly that. The consequence ? During the first half my players played like some chickens chased by a fox. At the break, I got angry and I decided to put pressure on them without caring about their sensitive souls. Surprisingly, in the second half they finally started to play some football. Unfortunately, it wasn't enough to get the win we needed. *** How have my players played throughout this season ? First of all, I should divide the squad into two. Half of the squad would be made up of Bertini, a player who in the last two years played for us in 58 games (in the league) and scored ... 58 goals. The other half of the squad would be made up of all the other players, who played better in the first half of the competition and worse in the second (although the tables don't seem to confirm my opinion) *** What will I do next ? I have no idea. I know only one thing : I'll continue this career. After all, the relegation of a team promoted a season ago is something very realistic, in Europe this happens in dozens of cases every year. So, in terms of realism, I already have an impressive career. In terms of playability and attractiveness, my career has already become boring. But I'm stubborn and I won't give up, if only because of ambition. My problem now is that, as a result of the relegation, the club's finances will highly suffer. Even until now we didn't really have enough money, from now on it will be even worse. In two years we haven't managed to improve our facilities even by 1%. In addition, some players will leave us, as they'll receive offers from teams in the league from which we have just been relegated and we cannot really offer them anything interesting enough to stay with us. By the way, I'm not even sure that I'll be offered a new contract. But I think that, nevertheless, I'll continue at this club, because the Board (and even some of our supporters) are not very affected by the fact that we have just been relegated. *** I tried to convince the Board to give me the opportunity to improve my skills. In other words, to follow a coaching course. They didn't agree with my idea. So, after two years, I'm still a "Sunday league player" without any coaching qualifications. That still doesn't mean that I'm not successful as a manager. In fact, I can say that I'm really well known. No less than 6 teams that were fighting hard to avoid relegation invited me for interviews. The last invitation was particularly sadistic, because that club (whose team had only got 4 points in 22 games) proposed to me to try to save them from relegation even though there were only 8 rounds left to play. I'm not really that masochistic to try something like that and, anyway, I also had too much trouble even at the club I currently manage. I don't need some additional stress. So, I refused all 6 invitations. *** Youth intake 2024. I'll quote myself : Well, now I've seen. In terms of PA, this intake looks good. In terms of CA, it's a mediocre intake. We received a good player (Bordes) and another reasonably good one (Leterier), but both of them have negative personalities. We don't have good facilities and, yes, we don't have money for some good coaches, so most of these young players will remain as undeveloped as they are now.

December 2023 We're in trouble. The team doesn't play anything anymore. However, for now I am not very worried. First of all, in the xG table we are in 10th place, which means that we're not playing much worse than our opponents (ie the AI). Secondly, our Board is still pleased even after this series of defeats, so, for the moment, I am not at risk of being fired. Player stats after 16 matches played in the league. At this moment Bertini is the one who keeps us afloat. Without him (and those 16 goals scored by him) we would probably be in last place. There are still a few players (Noicharoen, Henrion, Moors and youngsters Philippe, Ciabrini and Kouadio) who are doing quite well. The other players, however, are either in an extremely bad run of form, or do not have the necessary skills to cope in the 5th league. *** Youth intake preview. I've rarely seen something like this and I'm really curious how many Messi and Mbappe we're going to receive at the next intake ********** January 2024 We were defeated by Gosselies Sport, a team that was being in last place before this match. I have nothing more to say ... We dropped to 14th place ... *** The transfer window has closed. We brought an additional player because my central defenders already have a lot of yellow cards and I risk not having good replacements if they are suspended. Our odds in media prediction have improved a little (now they have reached 250-1) but even so we're the main favorite for relegation. ********** February 2024 It's a bit better, 6 points out of 12. I expected to get somewhat better results because at the end of January I used the team meeting, and it can sometimes have spectacular effects. Of course, after two really good games the team shamelessly returned to the playing style they used before the team meeting.

September 2023 A very good start to the season, 6 points out of 9. We didn't deserve to win the second game (the one we won), but we deserved to win the third game (the one we lost) ********** October 2023 For now, we're playing better than I expected. We concede too many goals, but at least we score a lot. As usual in FM, we were defeated by the last ranked team, RJ Aischoise. A proof of our real low level? Not exactly, because after only 7 days we beat (3-0) the team in first place at that time, RAS Monceau We're in the first half of the table and, at least theoretically, we even have a chance to fight for a place that would allow us to participate in the promotion playoff. But there are still many rounds to play until the end... ********** November 2023 Only 2 points out of 12 and I can't even complain about bad luck. We played badly, that's all. In fact, I think that we have entered that specific FM period in which players "forget" to play football. Whether it's about complacency, pressure or anything else, the point is that I don't really know what to do. I'll probably have to change the tactics I used. And I'll definitely have to improve the players' morale, because the atmosphere is not good at all We are 6 points away from 14th place, that place which means "relegation". But since the competition has not even reached its half, I have enough time to improve the team's play. Something strange happened. I thought that the free players who sign a contract with us can be included in our squad once the transfer window opens, that is on January 1st. But, no, two new players who signed contracts in mid-November immediately got the right to play for us. I have no idea why.

April - June 2023 So, we're promoted to the 5th league. A good performance, considering the fact that we were considered in the media prediction to be only a mid-table team. The promotion is all the more surprising as the squad is not well balanced. Although we have 29 players, we relied on a core made up of only 9 players (and 4 reserves), and from that core of 9 no less than 6 were essential players. If one or two of them had been injured, we probably wouldn't have had any chance to get the promotion. The 6 essential players we were talking about are Henrion - Ciabrini - Tis (defenders) / Noicharoen - Mukota (midfielders) / Bertini (striker). It's noteworthy Bertini, a very efficient striker, who scored no less than 35 goals in 30 games played. However, he's not the most effective striker in the league / series, because KSC Grimbergen have a real goal machine in their team (Carrez, 44 goals in 30 games). As for Noicharoen, he was by far the best assists provider in the league. *** Youth intake 2023 At first glance it seems like a good intake, especially in terms of PA. On second glance, I'm not enthusiastic at all. CA seems to be way too low in the case of most players, and their personalities are ... rather mediocre. I actually got only one good player, Martz. The other players will probably remain undeveloped because our facilities are only "basic" and the clubs in the lower Belgian leagues don't have much better facilities than us, so even the loan option to other clubs will not significantly increase their CA. *** After the end of the season I thought that the Board is enthusiastic enough and, if I would ask them for something, they would't refuse me . For example, the opportunity to improve my managerial skills. Unfortunately, the board did not agree with this idea : In fact, it seems that the Board is not super-enthusiastic at all. They are pleased, of course, but that's all. Also, even our supporters don't consider that I have achieved any exceptional performance. *** As a result of the promotion, the Board decided to change the professional status of the club. The decision did not surprise me because all the Belgian clubs in the 5th league are semi-pro. The good part of this decision : now we'll have a wage budget (16,600 p/m, i.e. 200,000 p/a). The not-so-good part : there is no chance to get that budget from the club's incomes. So, I'll strictly depend on the funding decided by the Board. The fact that we have some money to spend is encouraging : last season we couldn't attract better players precisely because we couldn't pay them bonuses. And we really need such players, because with the current squad we're by far the main favorite for relegation from the 5th league, both according to the media prediction and according to my assistant's report By the way: the rules in the 5th league are almost identical to those in the 6th league ********** July - August 2023 During these two months I worked hard looking for players. And I ran into two problems. First, we cannot pay bonuses higher than 400 per match (and this only if the player receives "star player" status, a status which I would like to avoid). Second: a lot of good players ask for countless things, and my intention is not to promise anything because I'm not sure I can fulfill their requests. And I don't need a team whose morale is below sea level just because player X didn't play in his preferred role or because we didn't improve our facilities. In the end, we managed to bring 6 players, but only 4 of them are at the level I would have liked. We lost 3 players, one of whom was very important for us (Mukota), but anyway, I was able to keep almost all important players we had. Moreover, at the moment we spend less than half of the wage budget, which allows me to bring in some additional players during the next transfer window. And we'll really need these additional players because, even with those 6 new players we brought, media prediction continues to consider us a relegation team. Our rating improved, but not enough (from 350-1 we reached 300-1) I sent all the less developed players to the U21 squad. We also have a U19 squad, but for now it is very "gray". We'll have players at U19 only after the next youth intake. *** For unknown reasons it seems that I'm a very strict manager. The funny part is that I have no idea what I did to achieve this level of discipline. In any case, I informed myself : if I had players with a high level of professionalism and ambition, the team would probably be advantaged. However, since the team doesn't really have such players, it means that I basically do nothing but stress the players and affect their morale. Which probably also explains the low level of support I have from our players. *** We played a lot of friendlies, but most of the opponents were from the lower leagues (6th and 7th). The results we got are not relevant. Unfortunately, although I hoped that these friendlies would significantly improve our cohesion and atmosphere, it did not happen that way. There were some improvements, but small ones. We also played two rounds in the Belgian Cup. After an impressive first game (our opponents being a 6th league team), a shock followed, we being easily eliminated by a future opponent from the 5th league.

March 2023 8 points out of 12. The last match was really frustrating because we conceded 5 goals from 5 shots on target. It's the second time this season that this "5 out of 5" is happening. Worse, those who scored those 5 goals in our goal are not a top team but a team (OHR Huldenburg) almost relegated to the 7th league. [By the way, I changed the tactics. I could say that my tactical skills have found the necessary combination, but that would mean lying. I acted more or less randomly. I happened to find a combination that actually worked] Good news for us : the leader, KSC Grimbergen, is in a bad run of form. They managed to win only 5 points out of 12, which allowed us to recover part of the difference between us (2nd place) and them (1st place). However, Grimbergen still has two points ahead of us, plus the advantage of a better goal difference. ********** April 2023 No, we didn't play well enough to score 9 goals and concede only 2. We were simply lucky. Bang ! League 5, here we come ! Did I say we were lucky ? We were extremely lucky, and this because Grimbergen lost this game. If they would have managed at least a draw, then they would have won the series and would have been promoted to de 5th league, while we would have ranked second and played in the playoffs.

December 2022 6 points out of 9, which is pretty good. Unfortunately, we played weaker than in the previous matches and the two matches were won only because we were very lucky. To be honest, we would have deserved, maybe, one or two points. At most. Fortunately for us, KSC Grimbergen didn't have a very good month either, which helped us to stay in first place. ***** Players' performances in the first half of the competition. Honestly, I expected Bertini to score many goals because he's our best player in terms of mental attributes and he's also in the top 3 in terms of physical attributes. However, I did not expect Noicharoen's 10 successful assists because in terms of attributes, he seems a rather mediocre player and even my assistant thinks he's only a 1.5 star CA player. As for those 8 goals scored by our central defender Henrion ... he's not a very good player either. But when a player is 190 cm tall and his jumping reach is 17 then almost every corner kick becomes a good chance to score. ********** January 2023 Ah, that really hurt ! We conceded 9 goals in just 3 games. I expected that our series of wins would end, but I did not expect to concede 9 goals from only 10 shots on target. Probably the game (FM) thought I was a bit too lucky until now and decided to show me what bad luck looks like. We went down to second place ... and the games we'll play in February could be decisive. We'll meet the 4th place team, Mazenzele, then we'll play against the leader, Grimbergen. ***** The transfer window closed on February 4. We managed to bring 3 players to us, but, unfortunately, only starting on July 1, and that's due to a rather strange rule : We lost a player who was not useful to us anyway and, unfortunately, in the summer we will also lose the best defensive midfielder we have. However, it is quite good, since several important players had offers and could have left but chose to stay. ********** February 2023 I don't understand what's going on. In the second game we had 7 (!) chances to score, we were denied two goals and had to settle for a draw. In the third game we had 3-1 in the 84th minute. I asked my players to keep the ball, to waste time... and our opponents equalized in the 90th+6th minute. As for the last game... in the 35th minute we were leading 4-2. At halftime it was 4-3 and we really had played very well, much better than our opponents. I asked my players to play on the counter-attack, using direct passes for strikers. It was probably a bad idea, because after the break we conceded 3 goals in just 13 minutes. The fight for first place is over. It's not a catastrophe, even the 2nd, 3rd or 4th places are very good because they allow us to qualify for the playoffs. However, when I was hired, the board asked me to finish the competition in one of the first 3 places and I would not want to risk not having my contract renewed because I only managed a 4th place. However, participating in the playoffs does not mean that promotion is easy to achieve. The 6th Belgian League consists of 10 series, 5 in the northern half of the country (Flemish half) and 5 in the southern half (Walloon / French half). We participate in one of the 5 northern series. The 5th Belgian League consists of 4 series, from each series relegating 3 teams, that is 12 in total. As all 10 winners of the 6th league series will promote to the 5th league, it results that there are still two places available, one for those 5 northern series and one for those 5 southern series. 16 teams from those 5 northern series and 16 teams from those 5 southern series qualify for the two playoffs. They play in an knock-out system, which means that they play 4 rounds and only one team out of 16 (the finale winner) will promote to the 5th league. ********** World Cup 2022 - Qatar

September 2022 A surprisingly good start to the season, considering the fact that we met the teams ranked in the average prediction as 2nd, 8th, 7th and 5th (we being in 9th place ). Moreover, in the first game the ratio of shots on target was 7-2 in our favor, so we conceded two goals from the only two shots on target that our opponents had ********** October 2022 Honestly speaking, I didn't expect something like this (i.e, an exceptional series of 7 consecutive wins). Moreover, we beat two teams that in the media prediction were considered far above our level : Mazenzele Opwijk (3rd place) and Grimbergen (number 1 favorite). But I have to admit, Grimbergen played better than us and would have deserved to win ********** November 2022 A new series of very good results and 10 points out of 12 possible. As usual (in FM), the most dangerous opponent was the team I thought is the easiest to beat, KFC Herent (16th place both in the media prediction and in the league table) We are in first place and, considering the way the team plays, we even have a good chance of being promoted to the 5th league at the end of this season. Of course, the following matches will be more and more difficult because the opponents will no longer consider us - as before - an ordinary mid-table team. I hope, however, that we can handle it. **********

In the world there are many cases when a club, for financial reasons, has to merge with another club. The new club thus formed may have a name similar to that of the merging clubs, or it may have a different name. In most cases, however, the new club will be able to keep its track record, that is, any trophies won by one or even both clubs that merged. However, there are exceptions. For example, in Belgium, there was a very strong club that won the Belgian championship 6 times and the first edition of the Belgian Cup. The name of this club? Racing Football Club Brussels. All this happened in the past, over 100 years ago. Over time, Racing declined and, although it continued to play in the first league (until 1955), it never was able to achieve the exceptional results from the 1900s. In 1963 Racing merged with another club, and now the story begins : belgian clubs receive a registration number when they are founded, and at that time (in 1963) the new club resulting from the merger could not keep the old registration number of one of the clubs from which it was formed. Moreover, the track record was at that time associated with the registration number, not with the club's name. As a result, Racing would have lost all its trophies as a result of the merger. There was, however, the possibility to transfer its own registration number to another already registered club and to take over the number of this club. That happened, and the great Racing thus transferred its track record to a smaller club, FC La Rhodienne. They probably intended to recover it in the future, but that never happened because the "new" Racing was disbanded (also for financial reasons) after only a few years. And so, FC La Rhodienne still has an impressive track record, but it is rather symbolic because they have never managed to play in a league upper than the 3rd Belgian league. Later, they were also forced for financial reasons to merge with other clubs, but in the meantime the rule had changed, the new club being able to keep the registration number that one of the original clubs had. The last merger took place in 2010, and the resulting club was named Koninklijke Football Club Rhodienne-De Hoek or, more briefly, KFC Rhodienne-De Hoek. I found this story interesting enough to try a virtual career at this club, KFC Rhodienne. Of course, it cannot be about "reviving a fallen giant" because KFCR was never a giant. But there is room for some improvement, because in real life KFCR has decayed over time. In the old days they played in the 3rd league, then in the 4th, 5th, and last season (2021-22) they were relegated to the 6th league. Moreover, in the current season they are currently in the last place and, unfortunately, it's very likely that at the end of the season they will be relegated to the 7th league. Sources : KFCR - Wikipedia (english) / KFCR - Wikipedia (french) / Belgian Champions - Wikipedia / Belgium Cup Finals - Wikipedia ****************************************** So ... RKFC hired John X, a manager that absolutely no one has heard of and who has neither a coaching license nor experience. As for his reputation... it exists, but it can only be seen with a microscope. And now, some details about the club : KFC Rhodienne-De Hoek. A small, amateur club. Its headquarters are in a small town called Sint-Genesius-Rode. Probably few people who don't live in Belgium have ever heard of Sint-Genesius-Rode ... but certainly many people have heard of the big city it borders to the north : Brussels. Also, probably many people (and especially Napoleon) have heard of the neighbor from the south : Waterloo. (Map) The city is located in the Flemish Brabant region and, as a result, KFCR plays in the regional league (called "Eerste Provinciale Brabant") belonging to this region, so in the 6th Belgian league. The club uses a rather small stadium (capacity: 4500) but suitable for a club having the current level / reputation of KFCR. Facilities are ... as they are : not quite satisfactory, but at least there is plenty of room for improvement : Financial situation: there is almost no money. Being an amateur club, it's normal, because there are no salaries to pay. Still, we have a fairly good scouting budget. The history of the club : I already referred to it at the beginning of this post. It's an impressive list of honours, but it's also only symbolic. The board's requests (club vision) : when I was hired, I was asked to "finish in the top three's places", which seemed normal to me, considering that KFCR had just been relegated from the 5th league. The squad(s) : at first glance, I have many players available, but this is just an impression caused by the fact that the club has two youth teams (U21 and U18) and also by the fact that the game (FM) has generated a lot of "gray" players. In fact, we have 35 players, and of these no less than 17 are 15 or at most 16 years old. In fact, a better evaluation of all players we have can be obtained from this table. A list of the best players we have. Of course, I'm talking about those players who have at least 4 CA stars and 5 PA stars. Four of the five are existing players in the game's original database, the 5th (Bertini) being generated by the game ***** June and August 2022 For two months i was looking for players, as the assistant's report suggested that we really need some additional players. I found the necessary players, but, being unable to offer them even bonuses, we had to convince them to come to us just because we're nice and really cool. They were not convinced at all and, as a result, the number of newly arrived players was exactly ... zero. Instead, we managed the "performance" of losing 3 players, including the best goalkeeper we had. No, he wasn't a really good goalkeeper, but he was good enough to generate a riot. Some of our most important players asked me to immediately find another goalkeeper. I didn't find him and, as a result, we'll play the first championship match with 3 of our best 5 players being already unhappy. Another problem: in the next 4 months I'll have to rely on goalkeepers who are 15 or 16 years old. It would not be a problem if they were very good players, but they aren't that good at all. Unfortunately, I don't know any method by which I could convince the opponents not to shoot on our goal, so it is clear that we'll have to play offensively and score as many goals as possible. If we can... Our squad for the next half of the season : We played no less than 9 friendly matches : Unfortunately, I didn't really like what I saw. The team has huge fluctuations in form, even when the best players are playing. For example, these two games. In both of them we started very well and led 3-0. And after that we conceded 5 goals (in the first game) and 4 goals (in the second). And I don't think it's about tactics. It's about our players' specific personalities. They had an advantage and, as a result, they was no longer interested in the way they played. This team could be difficult to manage, which i really don't like because our board has not changed its requests. It still wants us to finish in the top three places. I don't think I have the necessary players for such a thing, so I might be fired in the next few months. According to media prediction, we're a mid-table team, but only that. We also played a game in the Belgian Cup. Considering the fact that the opponent was a higher league team (5th), it wasn't a big surprise that we were kicked-out from this competition. *** Rules in the 6th league. Unlike other competitions in European countries, the rules in Belgium are very convenient. I can use as many foreign players as I want, and in terms of age, the presence of only two U21 players in the match squad is mandatory. Rules 1 / Rules 2 ********************************************** ********************************************** One more thing, unrelated to this career : does anyone want to try a James Bond career in FM ? I've just found an adequate club.

Two more files, similar to the "African" one : the "Caribbean League" and the "Oceanian League" 1. Caribbean League. It's composed of 5 levels and includes 280 clubs belonging to 31 nations. It also includes a cup system : two league cups and two league trophies, plus a regional cup in which 16 teams from the Caribbean region, 8 teams from the Central American region and, starting with the semi-final round, a Mexican team participate. The nation on the basis of which the competitional system was built : Anguilla Selection of clubs, according to nation List of participating clubs and their distribution by levels and groups List of participating clubs according to the nation they belong to Competitions : Leagues system Cups system The file was tested for 10 years (until 2032). League rankings, cup results in 2032 : League 1 / League 2 / League 3 / League 4 / League 5 League Cup / Lower Leagues Cup / League Trophy / Lower Leagues Trophy Caribbean - Central American Cup *** THE FILE : Caribbean League 2022-12 **************************************************** 1. Oceanian League. It's composed of 4 levels and includes 144 clubs belonging to 16 nations (of which two nations, Guam and the Northern Mariana Islands, were "borrowed" from the Asian area). The cup system was simplified, there being only one league cup, one league trophy and one regional cup : 16 teams from the first Oceanian League, 8 teams from the Southeast Asian region and, starting from the semi-final round, an Australian team. The nation on the basis of which the competitional system was built : Tuvalu Selection of clubs, according to nation List of participating clubs and their distribution by levels and groups List of participating clubs according to the nation they belong to Competitions : Leagues system Cups system The file was also tested for 10 years (until 2032). League rankings, cup results in 2032 : League 1 / League 2 / League 3 / League 4 League Cup / League Trophy Oceanian - SouthEast Asian Cup *** THE FILE : Oceanian League 2022-12 ********************************************************** Some important mentions: 1. Both leagues start in DECEMBER 2021, with the season starting in January and ending in December. 2. There are special leagues in which the reserve and U19 teams play, so that all club's teams can participate in a competition. Example 1 / Example 2 / Example 3 / Example 4 3. There are specific awards for each competition. Example 1 / Example 2 ... 4. Unlike the African League, which was designed to generate more young players having a high CA / PA (which is why the youth rating was set at the level of Nigeria, 120), the Caribbean and Oceanian Leagues can rarely generate very good players, their youth rating being set at 70. Reason : in the original database of the game YR is anyway very low in both regions, lower than 70. Consequence : these files will NOT generate extremely good players except, perhaps, some extremely rare cases. After 10 years, the Caribbean League has generated an exceptional player and about 4 good players, while the Oceanian League has generated only a few average level players. 5. All 3 files can be used at the same time and can also be used when European leagues are active. I tested these 3 files together with 10 active (and playable) European leagues. However, I don't recommend using the whole set because after 10 seasons the game becomes quite slow. Also, the Caribbean League only works because the North American Champions League has been disabled, so I practically don't recommend using this file together with the Mexican league, MLS or the Canadian league.

First of all, I have to specify : this is a fictional league, so, it doesn't exist in real life. What does this league contain ? Almost 500 African clubs. 496 clubs to be more exact. These clubs are divided into 6 levels (divisions), according to the following structure : Each team will therefore play 30 games in the league. But there are, in addition, some cups: - a cup (named "League Cup") that takes place in the classic system (a knockout stage played over two legs). - a second, more important cup (called " the League Trophy"), which takes place in a mixed system, including at least one group stage and one knockout stage. - the third cup (named "African - West Asian Cup"), in which only teams from League 1 (Level 1) can participate but also includes teams from outside Africa, more precisely 16 teams from the Persian Gulf region. Why such a complicated system of cups, based on division into leagues? It would have been simpler for all 496 teams to play in the two competitions ("Cup" and "Trophy"). There is a reason: the number of available dates is not enough. Also, the cup system based on a single game was very subjective because some teams could end up playing series of 5-6 games at home or away. I preferred the system based over two legs, but that means that to win all 3 (or 4) trophies some teams would have had to play over 85 games per season. By dividing into league competitions, the number of these games was reduced to 65-70. ***** How were the participating clubs selected ? I gave up the selection based strictly on reputation because the South African clubs have a very high reputation, even the ones in the 3rd league. I chose to take into account two aspects: the "official" ranking of continental African club competitions ... and the number of players having a certain nationality who play in Europe. Thus, although the teams from Guinea and Tanzania, for example, have a better continental coefficient than those from Ghana, Cameroon or Senegal, there are many more Ghanaians, Cameroonians and Senegalese who play in Europe, compared to players from Guinea or Tanzania. Also, the teams taken into account had to play in the first league of the respective country (or also in the second, if the nation was to be represented by several clubs). I thus avoided the "historic" clubs that have a huge reputation but now play somewhere in the lower leagues. Clubs distribution according to nation Clubs distribution according to the league and the group in which they were assigned Important : participating clubs in each league / group ***** An aspect that is sometimes ignored, but which can prove to be very important: the distribution of money. ***** Of course, the file was tested (until 2028) and it worked very well. If anyone wants to see how the 2028 competitions ended... League1, League 2 and League 3 : League 4 League 5 League 6 League Cups League Trophies African - West Asian Cup Also, maybe someone wants to see how certain "trophies" progress from the group stages to the final stage : African Trophy African League 4 Trophy ***** As I said, there are a number of clubs from the Persian Gulf area that are included in this file. These clubs participate in the African - West Asia Cup, but they also have their own competition, called "Gulf League". However, this competition is strictly "view only", the respective clubs not being part of the list of those that can be managed. What was the purpose of their inclusion? First of all, more competition in the African - West Asian Cup. Clubs that are not active do not have complete squads, their transfers are numerically reduced, sometimes the staff is insufficient and the players' development is incomplete. I needed the strongest possible opponents for the African teams. Another aspect: in real life, clubs from this area cooperate a lot with North African clubs on transfers, which gives North African clubs the necessary financial resources. Without these resources the North African clubs cannot fight with the richer South African clubs, and my goal was to create a balance between the South African financial strength and the financial strength of the Maghreb clubs. ***** Reserve and U19 teams. Clubs from different countries have different second / B and youth team systems. It was necessary to unify these systems so that there could be common competitions. I therefore "established" two teams for each club (the Reserves team and the U19 team), both playing between 15 and 18 "official" games in the competitions reserved for them. Absolutely all clubs, even the smallest ones in the 6th league, have two such teams each and participate in these competitions. Example. ***** Basic rules 1. 5 substitutions are allowed. In cup games, a 6th substitution in extra-time is also allowed. 2. there are no rules regarding the age of the players or their status. The number of foreign players is not restricted. If someone wants, he can fully use European or South American players only. There is no need to register a certain number of players. 3. There are no restrictions (age, status) regarding the transferred players. Transfer windows : June 9 - August 31 and January 1 - 31. Free players can be transferred between September 1 and December 31. ***** Transfers. I tried to make the non-African transfer market more active, for which purpose I added additional options to several European and West Asian nations. Thus, clubs from these regions can now "see" more players (partial knowledge). Of course, most players are still transferred from one African club to another African club, but now there is somewhat more participation from non-African clubs. Example : June 2027 - July 2028. ***** Another important aspect : since all the competitions were built on the structure of a single nation (Seychelles), there is a possibility that the newly generated players may also be of Seychellois nationality. No, that's not the case. Players have the base nationality of their club. A Nigerian club will generate Nigerian players, an Egyptian one will generate Egyptian players and so on. Of course, there are also "foreigners" as well as players who have dual nationality, and in some cases the second nationality is Seychellois. Curiously, there are only a few clubs that annually receive more players having this kind of dual nationality. Many other clubs receive none or only one at most. Example. ***** Will more players be generated at youth intakes in the case of clubs managed by AI ? Normally the game generates quite a low number of young African players (between 400 and 600 every year) because it does not need more, these being used by clubs that only participate in continental competitions and by national teams. When there is an active league (or even a view only league), the number of newly generated players increases. So instead of 400 to 600, between 3500 and 4000 young African players will be generated every year, to which are added another 200-250 that will be generated by the clubs in the Gulf area. ***** Did the game also generate top players between 2023 and 2028 ? I didn't increase the youth rating to an unrealistic level. Nigeria has a YR of 120 in the game and it seemed to me that such a level is enough to generate a large enough number of good players ... but not to generate an unrealistic number of top players. Most of the newly generated players have a good enough level to play in one of the African league divisions (or for an a European club with a not very high reputation). But were also generated some very good young players whose market value highly increased in just a few years. Example. ***** Various useful information : Since the database was built using Seychelles as a nation, it is obvious that to activate the league it is necessary to activate the "Seychelles" option in the nation(s) selection screen : As can be seen, other nations can be also activated when this (database) file is used. The compatibility is certain regarding the nations from Europe, and it is probably also certain regarding the American nations (North and South). There may be some issues related to Asian continental competitions, so I do not recommend using this file in this case. South Africa can be activated, but I don't recommend it, because now the South African first league is made up of 3rd league clubs. I have not checked the compatibility with other custom files and it is very possible that some may not work correctly if this database is used. ******************* And, finally, THE FILE : AfricanLeague 2022-11