_Ben_

Season Five: Pre-season It feels like only a matter of weeks since my last update and that is because, when in the transfer window, time seems to move slow - winding through ups and downs: closing in on players, losing out on players, identifying new players and running jobs to ascertain their qualities. In among the new kit reveals, I must say that this transfer window has been the most fun that I've ever had. Handing over transfers to my recruitment team has led to significantly more missed deals, which - honestly - is the level of realism I've found that I can work around when doing it myself. That little bit of extra money on the contract here, that release clause here etc - there is now no more of that! It's then even more exciting to consider that, within this group of players - many of whom were not even my first pick, I now have the job of forming and developing a team that will continue our push towards Serie A, despite not really wanting some of them to be at the club! That, to me, feels like the most purposeful Head Coach role I can create in this game! Despite bringing several new signings in, I want to be completely transparent with the new transfer system that I'm using and highlight those that didn't sign for us. The ones that got away... - - - Right wing back I had already profiled the four right backs that I had identified at the end of last season, somewhat hastily, as soon as I knew that there'd be interest in Bosman moves. Sadly, the first three on that list did not join. 1. Federico Romeo - didn't even get to negotiation with the Juve Stabia man as, despite their relegation, he was keen to sign a new contract. 2. Claud Adjapong - newly promoted Sampdoria came in, offering him nearly €6k per week, which is what he'd originally quoted us when I was interested before he became a free agent. I was not willing to nearly double my highest earner to accommodate him. 3. Vitinha - still at Padova on a month to month contract but not interested in joining anyone else at present. Left wing back With competition required for Tripaldelli, I set out some parameters to find a new rotational left wing back. 1. Riccardo Sorbo - the pick of the free transfers this summer. Riccardo is ex-Lazio and was on trial at the club, playing a game as a wide centre back and then as a more conventional wing back. I was concerned with his heading ability and felt that his marking job would maybe land him in trouble against a forward two but felt his overall ability made up for this lack of actual versatility. We agreed terms on a contract of just over €2.5k per week but Salernitana sealed the deal, paying him over €6k. Attacking midfielder I profiled this area of need before the Bosman window opened, ideally wanting two players to come in here. 1. Nacho Moreno - was the dream transfer here. Young, ex-elite academy and would potentially sell for millions down the line but the contract from Portugal was too good to turn down, proving that, at this stage of his career, he wanted to be playing a better level than we could offer. 2. Alex Blesa - more of a playmaker than a dribbler but a nicely rounded midfielder. Alex was offered a trial after impressing the scouting team with some decent stats last year but choose, instead, to make a move to Spain. 3. Juan Dalbon - highlighted last season but the draw of northern England was obviously too much for Juan as he rejected €4k from us to sign for Sheffield Wednesday for the same amount. I mean, why would you come to Sicily when you can move from Preston to the Steel City?! Centre Back A left footed centre back was needed after my decision to allow Fall to move out on loan and after we lost Louis Masudi last January. 1. Louis Masudi - the man who we lost rejected us! He left Lazio on a free after his youth contract ended but, despite a trial here and an agreed wage of just shy of €4k, he decided that the move to Cremonese was easy - so much for the relationship that we built! 2. Federico Luchetti - another top youngster released from an academy who has a bright future ahead of him. Over twenty appearances in Serie A last year for Torino meant that I knew he was going to go for a lot. The recruitment team were not able to agree a contract fee for him and he moved to SPAL. Annoying that they are at the same level and we just do not have the pull but, then again, a part of me feels that I needed to be realistic - if he was that good - then I should've gone all in, got this area sewn up first and splashed the cash on him! But it's not all been bad news! - - - A hatful of new signings who, as I said, were not all top of my lists but - through scouting networks, statistical searches and DoF recommendations, we just about have a squad ready for next season. Are we stronger than last season? Probably. Losing Ibrahimovic and Ruggeri for a combined €1.2m freed up two spaces within the squad, of which I haven't actually recruited another defensive midfielder, but the new signings are options that cover for roles where, Merola aside, I had little depth in. I think I'm happy but, of course, we'll come back to this after twenty or so games and see how they're doing! Patrick Ciurria was the second name on the left wing back list and I'm pretty happy to have secured this deal. Despite playing on twenty-eight minutes for Monza in Serie A last year, the two seasons before that saw him amass sixty games at this level. He's one of those players who can cover multiple positions and, if his legs hold out, could work for a couple of years for us. The timing here isn't the greatest as other left back Tripaldelli is also nearing the later stages of his career and I'd have ideally liked someone a bit younger who can learn the ropes, but, in an ideal world, we might be moving into Serie A around this time, opening a whole new level of players to come in. His coach report is strong and has a lot of what I've tried to bring in elsewhere, too - versatile, consistent and fits in well with the rest of the lads. €2.2k per week well spent, I'd say! The role of the backup keeper is quite important, given that last season was possibly the first time I've lost a first choice keeper to a long injury. After Donnarumma's retirement, the backroom team only found one option, Gabriele Marchegiani. By becoming the de facto first choice, I guess that this classes as a win! He spent last season in the second tier of Greece and was an important first team player but, given that I don't have the league loaded, his stats haven't generated. His coach report is pleasing - big matches, consistent, fairly pro and with a decent level of experience, too. At just €2k per week, I think the Aragon has pulled off a good bit of business here. Daniel Frey was the fourth choice right wing back on the list created last year and, honestly, I think we could've done a little bit better here. Despite some decent stats in Serie C - where he exceeded our target of progressive passes but missed on dribbles (1.37 to 2.46) and expected assists (0.07 to 0.19), I think the step up might be quite tough for him. However, his coach report has him down as someone who is, even in his early days, working hard on the training ground and - at 26 - could still improve. He's intelligent, consistent and versatile, which are three traits I do find very important and, probably most importantly, is happy to be considered a fringe player behind Floriano Mussolini, which none of the other three on the list were happy to do. I want to push him to become more comfortable on his left foot and then also see what I can get from him! It's quite exciting actually to be presented with a player who isn't exactly what you wanted but is moldable to be! Javi Montero was a smart bit of statistical work, found whilst playing in Ligue 2 at Grenoble last year. He's a ball playing defender who is not only safe on the ball but also considerably creative for his role. He meets all of the target data (1.43 interceptions, 3.67 progressive passes and 47% header win ratio) and embodies that quality in hard to find places as Grenoble's thirteenth placed finish last year would hardly have put him in the spotlight as a key player who could move higher in the footballing world. Julian Stephan, his old manager in France, also played with a back three so I hope that his transition to ours - also as a left footed centre back - isn't too difficult. His coach report embodies so much good stuff - brave, versatile, consistent, enjoys big matches and his trait of playing long passes is also something that I see could help us unlock quicker counter attacks. Whilst he was listed as the third choice, his wage is around €1k per week cheaper than the two I missed and I think that his age profile, experience and ability mean that he's not in any way a bad signing! Diego Gonzalez is a bit more a wildcard, coming from 12th placed second tier Elche on a free transfer. A recommendation for a free transfer from Chema Aragon, he was on the list below Montero, but, as another left footer and a shorter contract of two years, I felt that his experience would be invaluable. Unfortunately, his wage demands of just under €4k per week make him one of my top earners and I don't think that I can justify that with playing time but definitely a player I hope to be able to trust when trying to lock up a game, given his incredibly safe passing and strong tackling ability. He, like Montero, spent a lot of time on the ball and that's important for me as we build with a three. His coach report lists him as a team player, versatile, consistent and a fan of big matches but I do need to watch for any fall off of his pace as he enters his more advanced years. With Babacar Fall moving out on loan to get, at least, a full season of football under his belt, this signing - despite not being the best option - does make sense for me longer term. Pedro Santos registered five goal involvements in a bit of a stop start season as Auxerre finished eighth in Ligue 2 last season. He was the fourth choice attacking midfielder as I was somewhat worried about his lack of Italian or, with my recent signings, Spanish language. Capable of playing either role within my attacking midfield area, he met each of the three target areas: non-pen xG, Shots per 90 and expected assists. His coach report, surprisingly, lists him as consistent, skilful, versatile and technical but - importantly - someone who could also improve and, right now, has started training really well for us. I'm concerned about his lack of fitting into the social structure here and, if the deal is right, certainly wouldn't pass on another Portuguese, Brazilian or just Portuguese-speaking player to help him out. Maybe not the standout attacking midfielder I wanted but certainly a player who can integrate with Clemenza, Verre and Biagioni. - - - What I've done is increased the number of players in the peak of their careers whilst also brought in sufficient experience to allow Vinci - heading to Catanzaro in Serie B - and Fall - going to recently relegated Gubbio, now in Serie C - to get match experience before heading back to the first team, hopefully. The extra depth has also meant that Salerno and Fucilli, backups last season, to go out to Mantova, where they'll be managed by youth developer Ignacio Abate and, as a recently relegated side, will be among the favourites. I'm excited to get down to working with these new players as my first team squad feels virtually complete. A strange experience to hand it all over to my staff but one that has provided me with much enjoyment and an incredible focus to get them working well within what we have! Forza Biancoscudati!

No transfer spoilers here but I'm well into transfer window season! Still very much on comprehensive - just a lot of play time and a successful style at the moment which negates quite as much tactical thought!

It's mad that, at the start of this journey, you were just adding old players but you've genuinely got some quality experience here! Welbeck is a top player, even at 34! Good luck!

Appreciate the kind words and hope that my writing is as interesting to read as it is to write! Nacho is indeed a great player but I'll fully run down the successes and failures of my summer transfer dealings soon...

Season Four: Preparing for the transfer window So, the summer… This piece feels quite polished because, annoyingly, it’s the second time I’ve written it after I decided to turn my laptop off without thinking to save the post I was writing. Nevertheless, it’s written over a period of time, essentially marking my thinking on paper of the plans before coming to some decisions regarding my intended transfer business. I’ve tried to dig into to panels and areas that I don’t always look at and really get down my thoughts on how I want this to pan out, removing – hopefully – the biggest issue that I have with recruitment, my own element of perfectionism. I rarely commit to a player if he doesn’t tick all the boxes but, in reality, that’s very rarely going to be the case! - - - Step 1: Assessing what we can spend. The Messina board gave me a budget of €63k p/w (around €3.2m per year) and a transfer budget of €812k. We’ve ended this season with just over €300k left in the bank and that situation would look much worse without the strong cup run bringing prize money and player sales that have balanced our books in January. We are going to get two further payments of €367k this season – in July and January – but that only accounts for two thirds of the initial fee brought in last year. Furthermore, the expiring contracts will save me a total of €233k across the season, which amounts at about €4.7k per week. Looking at our wage expenditure across a yearly figure, rather than a monthly one, has helped me identify where we spend a lot of money and this can easily be seen when looking at the budget costs. I can see that Riccardo Vinci, for example, has cost me a lot of money and, despite forcing my hand with contract demands, hasn’t quite lived up to my expectations of him just yet. At only 17, though, he’ll have plenty of time to attract develop himself. With losses predicted, I need to gamble on any interest within my own team but am reluctant to sell my midfield duo of Bellino and Lucenti, my starting striker Owusu or the best keeper at this level, Esposito. However, both Carboni (Venezia) and Ruggeri (Sampdoria) have interest in two players who would provide significant financial gain for us. Carboni would, if I play my cards right, bring in over €1m whereas Ruggeri could get me around half a million. My concern is that Sampdoria’s interest was concrete whereas Venezia’s was only rumoured and, even so, there wasn’t enough interest to create a proper bidding way. I invited Sampdoria to make a bid and was able to negotiate an offer way more than my first thoughts for Ruggeri, which amounts at a figure that would equal the transfer fees from last season. Additionally, I used the data from last season to determine that Max Ibrahimovic had likely reached his peak and I offered him out, too. Hacken’s bid for Ibrahimovic matched what I wanted and the two of them will bring in just over €1.2m in transfer funds to be reinvested next year if necessary. - - - Step 2: Analysing what we need to do. Whilst I neglected an original rule that meant I had no say in my DoF recruitment, I have upgraded him thanks to an advert put out following an early exit for outgoing David Roma. Chema Aragon comes in with significant experience of working on a tight budget in the lower echelons of Spain, recently with Deportivo La Coruna. I've also refreshed the scouting setup in order to process reports quicker across this process. Looking at the experience matrix, and going against what (myself included) a lot of FM players enjoy – developing youngsters – I really feel that we’re missing quite a few players who would class as ‘in their peak.’ That is a dangerous game, I feel, as these players will command far more money and playing time but are invaluable as they have the experience at this level, or similar, but still have the legs needed to play full seasons. When looking at both the social groups and hierarchy, I want to ensure the we are bringing good eggs into the team who are able to come in, fit in seamlessly, but also have a big role to play within the dressing room as I still have a huge number of youngsters at the club. Lastly, the strengths and weaknesses – despite feeling so unrealistic – have forced my hand towards some attributes. If, in real life, I’d been told our team lacked stamina, I’d weed out those unprofessional players who turn up after a heavy session and then run the rest of the team into the ground for a long pre-season, ensuring that we are the fittest that we can be for the start of the season. Sadly, FM does not work this way. However, I will try and bring in players who work hard, are brave and naturally fit – in addition to the Messina DNA of anticipation, acceleration, decisions, first touch and technique, required for our tactical style. These constraints mean that I am unlikely to hit all areas and that is okay. It’s a step I want to take – handing over to the DoF which takes the pressure of my handing out of wages but it also means that I am less likely to get that perfect fit. I am, after all, the coach and I then need to ensure that I get the best of the players at my disposal. With that in mind, I've used the squad planner to identify needs for depth that allow loans for Fall and Vinci, as well as goalkeeper depth, WBR and WBL depth, a second striker and an advanced playmaker. Quite a lot of players and some interesting discourse around what bringing in players here will do - block longer term roles for Vinci and Fall, mean that Floriani Mussolini will need to battle at right wing back or move back to centre back but that is, again, part of this process that I want to embrace! - - - Step 3: Building the plans. I think that I can split this into two areas: pre-contract expiry and post-contract expiry. From what I've found, I feel confident that I can close the right wing back gap without spending a penny on transfer fees: Four names added to the list, all with different strengths and weaknesses: 1. Claud Adjapong - The top target for the right wing back role and, initially - I thought - the safest option to kick off this style of recruitment. Versatile, consistent, enjoys big matches, over two-hundred career appearances and has performed pretty well this season, as per his recruitment report. He'd slot into the second group and doesn't have a great personality, neither is age necessarily on his side. It's also likely that my DoF is going to have to work wonders on a contract negotiation that will keep him under the €3.5k that my top earner gets without a huge promise of game time which means that I am tempted to keep this on hold until his contract expires and, maybe, I can then get him on a free. 2. Vitinha - The second man on my list is this Portuguese full back. His recruitment report has his overall form (B+) rated higher than his current form - analyst report - (C-) but he's professional, versatile, consistent and a team player. He's not a fan of big matches and is quite one footed, too. The biggest issue though is that his contract demands means that he's not going to come, at all, whilst still under contract with Padova. Maybe one to keep on watch for a free transfer. 3. Federico Romeo - The wildcard here is midfielder Romeo. His recruitment report states that he's versatile, intelligent, and consistent, the only things he lacks are a strong personality, a slightly better level of determination and exposure at right wing back. As a Carillero, he's quite used to shuttling out wide and I think that his trait of running through the centre could provide a really interesting take on an area of the pitch that already looks to exploit numerically. He's third due to lack of positional sense but, also, his contract demands, whilst contracted elsewhere, might need some work to fit inside my demands. 3. Daniel Frey - Lastly, and certainly the safest is Daniel. Again, the recruitment report states he's versatile, anticipates well, consistent and fairly professional. Another one footed player and one who'll not fit in the core group plus a player from the level below. The major positive here is that his contract demands are, by far, the most workable and he'd likely be happy with sitting on the bench for longer periods of the season. - - - Just the two players identified so far for the AM role and only one fits the main part of the experienced heads! 1. Nacho Moreno - My absolute number of target has a good recruitment report, adaptability aside but is currently plying his trade in the Spanish third tier, after moving on from Barca to get some first team minutes. Agent feedback suggests that he'd be interested but I'd need to get some convincing to bring his wage demands down, although I feel that I'm going to have to make some changes to those limits anyway. At just twenty, he does have a lot of experience, albeit at a poor level, yet could be considered to be a key player if I do get him. 2. Juan Dalbon - Just thirty-six minutes of action for Juan this season in a stop start career at Preston, but, as per his recruitment report (Analyst - D - but Scout Report - B+ showing his form is impacting his sellability) he could be a strong candidate for finding value in difficult places. Fast, technical and can finish, he does remind me a lot of Merola in that he's quite weak mentally but I think he'd be an interesting prospect as a second striker, actually making him slightly different and able to co-exist with Moreno, should I get him. - - - The plan will be to see how these moves progress before the 30th June contract deadline and then create an entirely new focus once the players are unattached! It's going to be a fun process but I do certainly feel clearer in what I want to achieve! Forza Biancoscudati!

Thanks Jim! Means a lot - considering your San Marino threads really sparked my interest in youth development stuff! France 98 and, to some extent, bits of Euro 96 were my first footballing memories and, around that time, Serie A was on top of the world - so it's little surprise that my interests gravitated there.

SixPointer...he's alive!

Appreciate the kind words! Good luck with this.

Tough start but you’ve kept it tight(ish) at the back, are above one side and have the much easier run of fixtures. Plus, its minutes for the new recruits to settle and you to learn about them! Good luck.

Season Four: Playoff disappointment but huge progression Just under four seasons in charge of Messina and I'm completely in love with this project. Before we get to the on-pitch stuff, I was delighted to be able to get Wisdom Amey to sign permanently, after having agreed terms following a very successful loan spell, but more on that later. He was joined by a new crop of academy graduates, led by Adama Kouakou and Andrea Nicolini. I've just upgraded my HoYD to Marco Fioretto and can't wait to see what he can do over the coming years. Whilst I'm trying to build a squad built around statistical outputs, I must say that the set for release day is one of my favourite now I've taken to approaching it differently. Once I get the list, I dip into the player search feature - which I rarely do but there isn't a better mechanism - and look through those who are about to be released from academies within Italy. I look at their statistics from the youth levels as well as getting a brief scouting report on them. Following that, I like to trial the most promising and spend the last month or so of the season as open trials for these youngsters. In the past, I've picked up Merola, Ibrahimovic, Ruggeri and Bellino using the method and, this season, I've added two more faces. Luca Di Mauro is an aggressive midfield general who has height and tenacity. Lacking maybe a little technically, he's not quite ready for fully fledged first team action but signed with a nice cheap contract. The comparison between he and other specialist DM Ruggeri shows that there is definitely scope for him to become a useful player but I do feel that a loan next year might be the most beneficial. Secondly, Marco Biagioni was signed following a hugely successful trial period, where I tried him out in both attacking midfield roles within my tactic. Comparing him and Ibrahimovic and also with Clemenza, you'll see that he's already better - on paper - than the former and is also looking to be a competent long-term replacement for the latter. He's very much still considered a project signing as his only first team experience was out in the Slovakian top tier but he's an exciting dribbly boy with enough pace and precision about him to also unlock defences with a pass. With, potentially, one upgrade already secured, I set off to find out which division we'd be playing in next year: The last ten games produced some really strong performances - mirroring that across the rest of the season. Strong wins against Sudtirol, who've struggled since being relegated back to Serie B and in the Sicily derby were slightly overshadowed by a poor showing away at Brescia and a last game holiday-mode performance against Mantova, who were fighting to save themselves from relegation. A win would've put us into fourth place and seen the playoff schedule look somewhat different. In the end, we dispatched eighth placed Cesena before falling over two legs to Pescara. We drew the first leg but, admittedly, that was not the result that the tie deserved as we failed to hit the target all game, accruing just 0.43xG. Pescara were cagey, too, but I always felt that the first goal, particularly at home, would be really necessary to get anything. It turned out that it was the case - two nil down inside twenty minutes with both goals completely against the run of player knocked the wind out of our sails and we had nothing left. An Owusu goal made things look a bit more respectable on paper but their goal, on the stroke of half time, killed the tie and, essentially, any hope that we had. Pescara secured promotion with a win over SPAL in the final. However, despite the disappointment - this has been a momentous season for us. We've been promoted to the second tier, ended with the second best offence and - by far - the best defence in the league, finishing fifth overall, above two of the relegated Serie A sides and some huge sides like Verona, Ascoli and Venezia. Statistically, we've dominated in many areas, still leading the league in xG underperformance, which, when turned into xPts would've seen us finish top of the league. We're the best dribblers, having created the most chances (but the worst shot on target percentage) and give the opponents the most passes between each defensive action. In terms of the players overall performances, there have been some standouts, too. Despite not hitting the heights of last year, both Owusu and Merola (who lost his stats when moving club and rejoining) hit double figures for goals and midfield duo Lucenti and Bellino also backed up last season's double figure goal involvement tally by doing it at a higher level. Tripaldelli was the standout with fourteen assists from the left wing whilst Esposito's twenty-one clean sheets was, by far, a league best. Those with a star next to their name met by 80% of last season target, which was an expectation given the increase in level that we've had this time out, whilst those in green have met or exceeded the Serie B average for their position. Amey was a fantastic acquisition to the team, suring us up defensively and being the only one to be above average in terms of header completion this season. I am delighted to be keeping him. He's sat well with youngster Fall, who was promoted because of the loss of Masudi back in January. It's likely that Berto - the weakest of my centre backs and the one with the least number of minutes, may well be off. Elsewhere, there is slightly skewed data given the limited minutes for Fucili and Salerno - the backup wing backs and there is one real standout under performer: Maxi Ibrahimovic. I think he's struggled to reach the level required and, with the arrival of Biagioni, I think he's the sale that funds my summer spending. In terms of our financial situation, we've made it out alive due to the player sales and will have to do that again for as long as we remain here! It's going to be a hugely fun summer but one that I'm going to map out to the nth degree! Forza Biancoscudati!

Thanks - we've been really, really good in the cup since I took over actually! I do wonder how we'd get on over 38 games though. I'm actually not against a few years in Serie B - the money is an issue, yes, but it's giving me a chance to really focus on how I want to recruit and exactly what I need to recruit rather than having the luxuries of the cash whenever I need it.

Since moving to playing the game in far more depth, I was always conscious about handing over such a big area of the game that, honestly, isn't too well designed to be done by others. But, by making this recruitment team kind of idea, it's brought in a load of fun for me. I hope I can do it justice in my write ups over the summer!

Thanks! Youth development used to be something that I obsessed over, crunching numbers to try and be optimal. I've since stopped trying to predict development and track it, instead just embracing it and I've really found a new love by doing this! In the DoF tab, you have the 'Transfer Targets' area. You can add individuals to be transfer targets, by doing this: In that case, it'll work through the five I've added and try and sign them all. However, often, the DoF will reach a point and be like 'yeah, we're stocked here so I'm going to not do this' - which can be both good or bad, depending on what you actually want. What I like to do is the below: Firstly, I create a group for the role I want to fill: Here, I've set up an order of five players I would like to sign for the AM role: The DoF will go for Dybala and, if he's unsuccessful, will then move for Isco and so on. Within that, you can set parameters, so - in this example - I'd want my first choice as my star player but, by the time I get to option 3 or whatever, might only want them to sign as an impact sub. Noting the Negotiation attribute of your DoF may be useful in order to strike a better deal with the players and the limit you set on their wage might be significantly less than what you'd be able to negotiate to. You'll notice I've set this focus up as urgent so he reacts to it straight away, maybe because there is interest in the top target from elsewhere or I want to make the most of an opportunity for better value. Try it! It still allows you to go out and find the targets but, for me, it means that I don't just get sold on the first player I see and have to think about option B, C and D too! I will make sure that my summer recruitment drive includes all of this background work!

Thanks. What I like most with this approach is that I can create a shortlist of those I'd like and then hand over to the DoF. The Amey deal, for example, saw him top of the list to sign for that role, with the three other targets below him. We managed to agree a deal and I'm delighted but, on the other hand, if things hadn't gone so well, we'd have ended up with the third or fourth choice there. The stumbling block is when I need to change styles or shapes - these players are brought in based on stats for that exact area and I'd need to reshape all of my research and planning if, for example, I wanted to move to a 4-at-the-back shape again.

Yeah, why not. No idea when or how happy I'll be with it but I'll share my work with the community.

Season Four: Progressing towards the normal January is always a time for procrastination, change and - sometimes - transfer related pain. It's been no different here but it has given me the time to reflect on how I want to build the club and what my next steps will be in the transfer market, specifically looking at pathways of how I recruit. With interesting rumours flooding in and bunches of trialists coming in and out of the club, I had agreed with myself that I did want some transfer activity this January window. However, the majority of it was those leaving the club. Merola, arguably my most influential player and top scorer heading to Serie A with Torino, in a deal that I negotiated as much as I could but, honestly, could not turn down. Not only does it give us until the summer to source a long term replacements - the timing of the installments immediately adds €400k to each transfer window for the next three years. It might not be a lot in the long run, but certainly feels like that right now. Next to leave was Ceresoli - who has headed for Australia on a loan to buy agreement. With my transfer action already solidified at this point, I felt that the fee to secure him permanently would be more use to us in the summer. Lastly, we lost Masudi as Lazio signed him from Napoli and then immediately loaned him out. The plus though is that I immediately reinvested some of that money on the contract renewals of Owusu, Tripaldelli and Esposito - three important squad players. With that, I was relatively content. The immediate money from the Merola deal will keep us in the black until the summer and, once we've got a better picture of our standing at this level, should be able to reinvest the €400k in either transfer fees or wages, using one of the two ideologies shown above: on statistical recruitment or project recruitment. However, three opportunities - across those bands - presented themselves to me, and I took advantage. A longer term recruitment focus of mine was to bring in a 'destroyer' of a centre back - building on the metrics that I used in the last post to identify my central defender - of the three - was less useful at progressing and, as such, would be more useful winning the ball and moving it on. I identified my type: high tackle percentage, high header percentage, blocks and then aggressive, brave, tall and strong and came up with a shortlist. All of those players had their flaws, which slowed the process hugely - largely not enjoying big games or being able to settle within the country. The statistical element does not work for those players who aren't playing football and, because of that, I was able to snap up Wisdom Amey, in what I'd call my project: a player who is currently at an elite academy - Bologna - but also potentially soon to be 'ex' as his contract is expiring, leaving me with a lovely loan-to-buy project, providing he agrees to join permanently. He comes with a handful of games over the past seasons and, hugely unrealistically, isn't even playing age group football or demanding a move elsewhere, so a move here does class as a risk despite his obvious quality. Now I have him - the job is to see how he holds up with those statistics: headers won, tackles won, interceptions, pass completion - slightly different to the wide centre backs but equally as important. I also bolstered my academy sides with two project players: Louceny Toure and Abdoulaye Cisse. The former had been on the books at Juventus after they brought him in from Stuttgart and the latter had been at Borussia Dortmund, with me spotting his performances whilst looking through the German youth leagues. Two absolute project players, who, whilst not having elite potential, could go on to possibly play a role for us at this level, with the right supervision across their next couple of years. I'd very much class Cisse as a 'wildcard' signing as I think, potentially, he could do a job at right wing back - somewhere he's never played before. With recruitment completed, here is how we've fared: Another famous Coppa Italia run as we take the scalp of a second Serie A side in two years - holding off a bit of a late surge to defeat Torino. That couldn't be repeated against Milan but we did ourselves very, very proud. The hit and miss form in the league was absolutely to be expected and we've gone down to teams - largely - above us whilst still maintaining a strong showing in each game, Pisa aside. Our trip to the leaders came just three days after we played at the San Siro and our legs were tired as they put the game out of sight within the first half an hour. To follow that up with a loss to SPAL was disappointing, but it was a game we really shouldn't have lost. Dropped points against Cosenza and Ascoli mean that we're unlikely to make it out of this division but I would have bitten your hand off if we were offered this kind of performance level at the start of the season. We've got quite a nice set of fixtures coming, Cesena aside, and I hope to pick up plenty of points of confidence from them. I do believe that - despite second to fourth placed having to play other top teams - that the gap, at this business end of the season, is already nearly insurmountable and our realistic hope is to ensure a gap of no more than fourteen points opens up between third and fourth and, with that, a playoff, taking the second placed to eighth placed teams is used to determine the other two promoted sides. We're still huge outsiders for this but you can't predict high pressure situations! Forza Biancoscudati!

Thank you! I would agree that we are absolutely overachieving - in terms of my expectations rather than the match statistics. I really want to take a few seasons here to really try and build what I want Messina to become; in some ways that is because lower levels are a little more forgiving but also because I actually dislike the top tiers of countries and how money really does grow on trees, making the tightest of budgets and stringent spending plans pretty useless. Scrapping around for every penny, accepting that I will lose players I've put hours into developing and being prized out of option A, B and C makes this way more fun for me to play!

Thanks Shrew. It's been a long process for me to reach this level of tactical thinking but I'm really enjoying the process, even if I'm nowhere near settled on a final approach! The text strings are something I spent ages adding into an old version of the Statman skin but they've since fallen out as, like you say, offer little in the way of making the search - "Hi, DoF - I want a playmaking midfielder who is an excellent dribbler" - more realistic.

I know that FM does allow this option but I think it’s wholly unrealistic and expect you to be sacked within 3 months. @Jimbokav1971 did something like this with Chelsea and struggled from day 1 with player power.

What past experience have you set yourself as? What coaching badges have you got? It’s pretty much impossible if you’re not down as an ex-international as you’re going to have to work so hard to win all of the players around.

Not something I'm overly bothered about, to be honest! Thanks. The lack of clarity is intentional. You can change the colours in the settings file: <!-- Profile attribute colours --> <colour name="low attribute" value="rgba(35,40,52,0)"/> <colour name="normal attribute" value="rgba(135,206,250,50)"/> <colour name="good attribute" value="rgba(25,118,210,120)" /> <colour name="excellent attribute" value="rgba(251,192,45,255)" />

Nothing major here but just some changes to panels trying to bring the entire skin back into line with how I've remade the player profile: Just ticking over, keeping sharp for whatever FM25 brings!

Please share images! I’m working on a scaled back version of the whole skin - with a theme that continues through from the player profile - which will likely to be last release in this iteration. Screenshots to follow!

They're all old enough to be family men now. No Xmas Eve drinks giving them a two day hangover!

Season 4: Continued presence at the top Nearing the halfway mark of the 2027/28 Serie BKT season and we've continued to upset the pundits who predicted a struggle this season for us, as we've adapted to life in the second tier very well. Twenty years ago, we had just been relegated to Serie B, coming dead last in Serie A the season before but that shall not be remembered fondly as, despite forty-nine points being enough for fourteenth place, it also was the season that the club went bankrupt and dropped back down to Serie D. Obviously, within FMs mechanics, that cannot happen to us, but - honestly - I am keeping a very tight on eye on the finances, slowly improving contracts for my key players but still unwilling to splash €8k a week on free transfers, who have been out of favour for years prior to my interest. The first five games yielded only a solitary victory as we slipped down to ninth in the early season table, but, with the return Matteo Esposito, I felt that we were much sharper defensively, stopping top-scorers Pisa from mustering any more than just two shots on target, worth 0.14xG. Our total of 2.43xG is a recurring feature of this section of games - failing to find the net and leaving us to be considered, by xPts, as the top team in the league. Esposito leads the league with a 91% save percentage, outperforming his xSave % by 6%, a sign that, whilst I'm trying to build a solid defence, it's also great having a top keeper back behind them. Gubbio were no match for our attacking prowess as they mustered just shot, compared to our eighteen. 4.07xG created - 0.23 xG/Shot is, probably, a record for me and a real indication of the incisive, lethal attacking power than we have. Owusu and Masudi - his first for the club - saw off a much more competitive Juve Stabia than I expected, considering that they were the weakest of the promoted sides and now sit bottom of Serie BKT. Relegated Sudtirol were outplayed as we only scored once from our 1.76xG before we ran riot against Cesena, dominating late in the game with some clever substitutions. Venezia are having a poor season but we didn't have quite enough to overpower them, despite dominating the match. Two of the top eight to come in the next five, which, realistically, isn't too bad. I'm still waiting for the drop in form and the steady move back down the table but, realistically, I think we're among the top seven or eight teams in the league now based on how we play to our strengths and how we can manipulate the opposition. Far from the best team, attribute wise, but the whole is significantly greater than the sum of its parts here. - - - I found it really interesting to go back and fill this table in, considering that I'd last done it when we were in Serie C. Whilst we've risen to the top of many rankings, I saw that things like headers won dropped sharply, as did crosses completed and the amount of goals. Overall, this league feels better quality and, therefore, there is less extremes within it. That being said - our goal scoring form is pretty extreme as we lead the non-Pen xG, shots, shots on target and chances, just missing that bit of the luck to get the ball into the net, and - annoyingly - a couple of penalty misses. Despite being a team that presses intently in some places, our job - as seen by the possession stats - is to get the ball, advance it through dribbles and progressive passes and then shoot. We're good at keeping the ball - mainly in our defensive third - but don't bother with passing it into the net! I know that the calculation for OPPDA is not quite as it is in real life, but, even with taking that into account, we're low here, despite having a high line, a high block and pressing more; I feel that this is due to our vastness of 'support' duties and keeping the entire team risk factor to as closely-knit as possible. In terms of player stats, wanted to go back and look at how we've compared to the averages that I created at the start of this season. On the image below, the ticks and crosses indicate whether a player is performing within 20% of the average of that area of the pitch last season. To dig a little deeper, I can then compare that with those who have upped their game and are performing at 120% of last season's average, in a higher division. The real positives are that I've reached a resolution of the heading issue within the centre backs as new signings Masudi and Capradossi seem to have filled that, we now have even higher quality output from left wing back Tripaldelli, then Bellino and Lucenti have upped their xG totals despite scoring heavily last season and we have three high scoring forwards: Braschi, Owusu and Merola. I've tried to cut the metrics down to just three for each role. Despite the in-game definition of roles, I don't specifically mean that - more rounded: defenders to defend, wing backs to keep width, midfielders to occupy the middle and forwards to create and score. By getting a more in depth understanding of each metric and how I will then see stipulations between the likes of Bellino - a volante - and Ruggeri - a more traditional holding midfielder - I can start to create really strong recruitment foci and performance analysis work. Essentially - I've had a long think about the question - what do I want each area of the pitch to do? Defenders - defend the box, win the ball back cleverly and progress the ball forwards: I am delighted that we're still performing strongly across these three areas. My only question here was about Marchetti and why he's less able to progress the ball. A look at his form tells me that he's seeing loads of the ball but is just not moving it forward. I reminded myself of what exactly constitutes a progressive pass, although I am unsure of whether this is replicated within the game or not. A two-game sample proves that, as he's the deepest defender and - despite not playing out of defence - he has at least four players in pretty close proximity to him. Looking at this great X post, I can see that in the progressive pass clusters, his area doesn't favour creativity, but, honestly, that's not why he is there. He currently plays as a CB(d) in between two WCB(d) but could easily move to BPD(d) role if I want to explore some more creativity within his passing ranges or, probably easier, just allow him to be as he is and possibly look to develop this role into a really physically demanding battle winner, who can step up, win the ball and lay it off - focusing on the other two metrics instead. Wing backs - progressing the ball either through carries or passes and create for others: Outstanding work here as Tripaldelli has accrued ten assists already, just one shy of his total from last season. Floriani Mussolini has four, at more than one in four games, but, as a more traditional full back or wide centre back, does lack a little of the progress. Whilst there is a huge need for strength in depth here, given that the backups are just seventeen year old kids, it's great to see that they're doing what I want of them! Central midfielders - create chances for others, progress the ball and keep possession of the ball: The additional of Valerio Verre has been wonderful, and, aside from assisting during Bellino's injury spell, has brought some more playmaking ability with it - as I've three players who are playing well, progressing the ball and creating chances. Carboni has been a little off the pace since his signing and is used in a similar role - DLP(s) - to Lucenti but hasn't reached the same heights as my academy graduate. He is, however, the most progressive and best interceptor of them all - meaning that, with Ruggeri, there could be a creation of another style of double pivot: really important in my reactive tactical thoughts. Forwards - shoot accurately, score goals and, if not possible, provide for others: Clemenza has found the second step up in as many seasons pretty tough - just two contributions (0G 2A) compared to twenty last year. His xG/shot of 0.14 isn't hugely off but a conversion rate of just 10% and an overall reduction in shots may mean I look to recruit at a slightly quicker pace than I had imagined for the thirty year old, probably mirroring the same kind of player as Merola - who, despite having another season of not wanting to assist others (one this season, two last) has already reached his league tally of twelve, from twelve less games, too. There's a further conversation to be had about the development - or lack of - of Owusu and how he may be the player to balanced the books before I start my recruitment but, statistically, he's done pretty well around a few niggling injuries this season. - - - Long story short - we're not fluking this! Some depth in the wing back roles, another creative dribbly 10 and, if required, a striker to replace Owusu is our sensible transfer window! Forza Biancoscudati!