Ron_Swanson

Thanks, that 9th level was the hardest to beat but as soon as the academy started producing quality youngsters we're on a highway to Premier League - we'll get there eventualy. Sorry for not posting lately, but less time to play now and I wanted to do a small side career. More updates are coming, maybe not as often

[FM22] SK Zestaponi - season 2 - 2023 This year was totally opposite to previous one. Bad start, eliminated from cup in first round, but everything turned around in may. I've made two changes - I started playing with DM instead of AM and put my experienced (but slightly weaker) goalie in match squad and since then we're on a very long winning streak. We gor promoted to National League 2 where the format is slightly different. There's only 10 teams and we play each other 4 times so 36 games total. Finances are tough, sucha a great recruitment network costs a lot compared to our income, domestic prizes are non-existent so we're gonna struggle until we get some continental cups

[FM22] SK Zestaponi - youth intake 2023 Another decent intake. The best talent Levan Bakradze has pretty low skills now but I'll give him a lot of minutes because he can be used as a right winger and since I still don't have any proper replacement for my oldies I need to create them on my own. Nice to see a Portuguese kid, he'll be really helpful in defensive rotation mainly at center. Also a couple of defensive midfielders that will make this formation even stronger

[FM22] SK Zestaponi - season 1 -2022 We finished this season way below expectations. After excellent first month we had frustrating may/june and we didn't really recover. I was hoping for that playoff spot but when you end with 8 winless games you just want to forget and move on to the next season. At least we shown some good football in domestic cup almost reaching the final, lost in semis after penalties.

[FM22] SK Zestaponi - youth intake 2022 First intake is pretty good, some of them will be in a first team rotation right away. Although position-wise it's not exactly what I needed. Central midfield is my best formation already, adding 3 more talented youngsters is always nice but priorities are somwhere else. Elite striker is good news, my best one is loaned and heavily injured so I have a natural replacement now. No good defenders, I will be forced to play 1* youngsters because there's no better options - I even consider retrainig Devdariani, he's competent at DC but he's too short, I will see how he performs. I could also need some wingers - I don't have a lot of them and they're getting old. The 3 elite talents details in spoiler

[FM22] SC Zestaponi - introduction This is a sleeping giant of Georgian football. Founded in 2004 (as a succesor of Metalurgi Zestaponi) - 2 times national champion (2010/11 - 11/12), expelled from league in 2015 for not attending a match (as far as I read). Now they are trying to rebuild from lower divisions. Very good overall facilities to start with, I hope the intakes will give me a lot of talent, nice financial situation, some decent players but there's a big hole in a central defence. The league starts at march/april so it's more like a scandinavian style not a typical one. If things go well we should aim for a promotion playoffs (top3) at least according to bookies.

Here we go, FM22, Georgian league from Around the globe megapack playable to 3rd division so should be legit.

Is it ok if I post my updates here if I play FM22 or should I go to last years thread? I need a little break from my main career so I thought about trying with a country I've never played before and chose Georgian league

September 2032 Only four games with poor outcome but we were facing top teams in this league so I'm taking it easy. We're losing a lot of money when we don't play more often, it's good to have a healthy bank balance now so expenses won't kill our finances to quick.

You know that you can see tables from previous seasons? Go to your league --> overview --> stages --> and on the upper right you can switch between seasons

That's the plan to avoid relegation, establish ourselves at this level and push for promotion as soon as we will have a chance. Players are on long contracts (except Patrick Stanley who still don't want to negotiate) so if they will keep improving I hope that in 2-3 years we'll go up for Championship.

August 2032 Two wins to start the season is always nice, although we're struggling with scoring. Unlucky loss in EFL Cup against Brentford (currently in Premier League) - late red for my def followed by lost goal in 88th minute and we're out. It's not the most important cup but always a chance to sell more tickets.

Such a great thing playing at Old Trafford and the result don't look that bad. How are your facilities now? Because I think it's the right moment to use that money and get some upgrades to your academy.

July 2032 This preseason lokks a bit different. I've switched from single friendlies to a league type friendlies. In many of my saves this was the most financially efficient way to do it if you can find right opponents. Season preview one week before first match. We're dead last but we've always been overachievers compared to those previews so I aim for a mid-table/safe from relegation place Finances just went to the moon. Income from friendlies was a huge boost but not the biggest. Near the end of the month we've got another caluse available to cash out. This time it was from goalie Mark Daniels transfer. I was hoping for more because of his current value but it's still huge money for us and I'm sure we'll benefit from it significantly. Right away I asked for upgrades, but to my surprise I was declined twice and we had a little talk with board to get what I wanted.

June 2032 Nothing worth mentioning happened in june so just finances and career overview update.

May 2032 - part 2 Squad overlook - nearly 20 player I use heavily in rotation. Defence is where I need more good players, now it's only 3 center defs and 3 side defs and sometimes I have to use 1*CA reserves. After promotion Michael Thornton finally agreed to discuss new full-time contract and we can keep him until 2038. Now it's only Patrick Stanley who still refuses signing new one but we have some time to handle it. And if we talk about Patrick Stanley - he's gonna need a bigger trophy cabinet Winning the league also brought me a Manager of the year award Season's best 11again dominated by my players U18 team got to play one division higher than previously, they ended up mid-table, so looks like they faced better opponents - I like that, good for developement The board announced that we have improved youth rating. It costs a lot but on the other hand I've spent 1,6m on youth setup this season so I think it's not gonna hurt that much A nice sack of gold from solidarity payment, some of that money went to pay our players bonuses. On top of that we also got additional FA Cup money. It adds up to a solid profit.

April - May 2032 Despite bad run of 3 winless games we secured promotion. Last game of the season was the icing on the cake - two best teams playing for the title. To add a little bitterness - my best player won't have a nice holiday. If thing go well he should lose only first few league games Both upgrades completed so we go for another. Youth facilities were my first choice and as expected we got approval, but we don't have enough money for training facilities.

March 2032 Playoff spot secured and we're very close to direct promotion. We lost big game against Wrexham, they were dominant, but it make title race more interesting.

Youth intake 2032 Good intake, the best players are in positions I wanted more depth. I'm really happy that there's three wingers/strikers with nice potential, maybe in two years they'll be ready for first team football. Also two decent DC's - they will compete for 4th/5th place in rotation as I still don't have much quality in center defense reserves.

Yeah, money is much needed, match day income and sponsorship is currently not enough to cover all expenses

February 2032 Quick month, we start with FA Cup loss, Sheffield were just to strong and the result don't really show their advantage. Next a free weekend so to keep match sharpness I arranged a friendly game with our affiliate Coventry City and used my best lineup. We end up with win and a loss in league but there's still safe distance from playoff zone

January 2032 Almost perfect, just one draw in league and a loss in EFL Trophy I decided to play with reserves so my best lineup could be well rested for FA Cup battle. That paid off as we beat Birmingham 1-0 also getting record gate receipts. Ross Ross officialy joined Werder and this is what we got. 3,6m upfront and possibly 2m more. With that kind of money there was no other option than upgrading facilities. In april I will try asking for another, we can afford it now.

December 2031 A lot of games so even the ones that don't usually are in match rotation got their chance and it ended up really well. Bad thing is our only loss was to the worst team in league, but that's ok. Big win in FA Cup, next round we're facing Birmingham City at home, they're in Championship so it will be tough. As I mentioned earlier I decided to cash out the clause. Intake preview - I really want that striker. Russell Griffin is still performing well but looks like he has reached his peak, maybe this time we'll get next scoring machine

November 2031 What a great month. We kept the spot in playoff zone, we advanced in both cups, but the EFL Trophy is not that relevant (lower income and horrible attendance) Buyout of Javaun Martin clause appeared, it's not much but I think I'm gonna take it. But the most interesting thing happened almost unnoticed. Check the spoiler

October 2031 It's going way better than I thought. Some big wins and we present really good offence in most games. Finances are tight but there's FA Cup coming soon so it will help in