warlock

Quite the transformation in just two seasons

So much this What a great game where after playing for 20-plus years there's still so much to learn and explore. Appreciate your input (and yours @Jogo Bonito)

I'm sure you meant to say that an assertive halftime team talk resulted in improved performances . And rightly so!

Fair point! I readily admit I come to this as a novice, so there'll be mistakes along the way. The question is, where is the happy medium? If 16 or 20 is too small, can we agree that the 60 players in my u20s squad is much too big? In any case, I think it's reasonable to assume we'll miss out on some good players, and my feeling is that that is true regardless of how big a squad we run. At the other end of the process, what is the end goal? Assuming everything is working as expected, what should we be looking for? One player suitable for the First XI? Two or more? I would genuinely be interested to know how you approach this.

Cheers! As you know, I've never been able to find an Italian save that worked for me, but when I noticed that Sassuolo had been relegated IRL I found my story. That will be my main challenge after promotion, I think. I've long been impressed with a thread @Cleon wrote over a decade ago about Ajax's youth development and setup, and more recently revisited by others, which is available here (lacking a few images): I've never done much youth development in FM, and certainly not in a structured way, but Sassuolo seems like a good candidate for some of these ideas. In particular, I'm taken by the idea of strictly limited numbers in the squads below the First Team (traditionally Ajax used just 16 players). My gut feeling is that 16 is maybe too limited, but I'm keen to explore the potential of no more than 20 players per squad. It seems like something utterly revolutionary in Italian football, which gives it even more appeal At least, it's a goal and a framework to aim for. We'll see how it works. Very much so. The likes of Pinamonti, Berardi, Lauriente and Doig are head and shoulders above Serie B standard. The main challenge is finding a tactical structure that is solid at the back while they run riot up front. Not quite there yet!

Always difficult when, as you say, you don't have a reliable source of goals. Maldini seems to be doing alright but it would be nice if some of your other AMs/strikers could pick up a bit of slack. I'm sure you'll figure it out

Somehow missed your last update . Rough form in October but no real cause for concern yet, and you're well-placed for another Champions League qualification.

Transfer window, January 2025 I said I was hoping that the window would be a non-event, and I almost got my wish. With all of our best players wanted by top flight clubs in Italy, Germany, France, Spain and England, the best we could hope for was that we could get through deadline day without weakening the squad. By and large, we managed that. The other side of the coin was the need to raise some cash and reduce the wage bill. And we managed that, too. Six players left the club. Theiner and Parlato were in the u20 squad and never looked like making it here. Alvarez was a backup striker who never impressed when given the chance, likewise Antiste who - according to the coaches - was actively declining week by week. I'd have preferred permanent deals away for both but was happy to get their wages off the books. Ruan had been a rotation option at LCB and had done reasonably well, but with 6 months remaining on his contract and a refusal to enter renewal talks, it was important to get whatever we could. The one departure I'd have preferred to avoid was Moro. The striker had been backup to Pinamonti and looked like he had decent potential, bagging a couple of goals from limited opportunities. But he was unhappy with his playing time, put in a transfer request, and a £1.4m offer from Udinese seemed like a reasonable deal. Of those, the only player we needed to replace was Ruan, particularly as we were already short of left-footed centrebacks. After the board took away my transfer budget I wasn't hopeful but the recruitment team alerted me to the availability of Andrea Carboni, listed for loan at Monza. With the departures of several high earners, we had more than enough free in the wage budget to secure his services for £15k p/w and an optional future fee that we probably won't activate. He's a natural left-footer and very good in the air. I'm sure he'll do a good job for us. As the window drew to a close we had to fend off a number of low-ball offers for RB Missori (Southampton) and RW Berardi (Spurs) but all were loan-to-buy deals with payments spread thinly over two or more years. Rejecting them caused no problems. While that was going on, we played and won several games. The only black spot was the final game of the month, the cup tie away to Inter in Milan. Unfortunately, we couldn't repeat the heroics of our win against their city rivals last month, although we did give them a scare as we opened a 2-0 lead before succumbing to three goals in the last 30 minutes.

Glad you finished the season, and finished on a high. Fantastic performance

Not great but, as noted, not a surprise. I really need to thin out the u20s squad - 60 players, even on not much money, adds up to quite a chunk of change over the season. And there's only about 6 who have a hope of making it to the senior squad. I've managed to move on a few of the fringe players this transfer window, and hung on to almost everyone I wanted to keep, so some progress has been made. Much will depend on the generosity - or otherwise! - of the board this summer.

Ah well... you'll be retired one day . Until then, hope you can mange to fit in a visit every now and then.

Not really. I had in mind using the missing £10m to sign a couple of young prospects, and to keep a reserve fund to replace anyone that left. The real effect was to limit our options if any of the First XI moved out, but so far we've been OK. Transfer deadline day coming tomorrow

Having highlighted the poor financial position of the club, I can't say this surprised me much: They've taken about £10m from the transfer budget and cut the wage budget to zero.

That's some turnaround since you took over! KUTGW

They do, but our front 3 of Lauriente, Berardi and Pinamonti are much better quality than most of Serie B. I'm already somewhat concerned by our likely return to Serie A, given that this is largely the same squad that got convincingly relegated in 22/23 season. I think the emphasis will have to be on strengthening in defence, assuming we can keep the strikeforce together.