Dan1884

15. Summer of 2026 I'll let you in on a little secret, I'm already in October. However there's a lot to cover. As a club going through the rigours of the Conference League play-offs, it's like having your season back to front. For anyone who has managed in these sorts of leagues, you will appreciate this, but it's quite strange having your August games as probably your most important of the season. Because we know that should we make it to the group stages of the Conference League, we will be in a basically transformed financial position. This was how my squad was left in January, using again my traffic light policy. Green gets you a pass. Amber means you're not applicable. Red means you've got a year to convince me to stay. Anybody who is crossed out has gone this summer. --- Goalkeepers: Frelih, Plachy Right backs: Jawara, Goldin, Caio, Alders Centre backs: Cernin, Takacs, Luftner, Masek, Hanzelka Left backs: Tucevic, Galus, Divis, Ismail Midfielders: Sory Soumah, Baayou, Hasek, Mino, Plsek, Atakan, Rusek Wingers: Berden, Brian Pena, Fila, Martinovic, Lezama Strikers: Brunker, Samuel Granada, Konate, Kralj, Tall, Svejda --- I've rearranged it slightly to include some younger prospects in italics. To go through the greens who stayed... Frelih definitely dropped off this season but I still think he's good enough for now. I think his performance improved upon the introduction of Masek into the team and I can only conclude it's relating to the system and how well Masek sweeps up behind the defence. Jawara has been a fantastic signing and probably somebody who I don't give enough credit to. To think I signed him off the back of him catching the eye in a friendly for a second tier Slovakian side, he's one of those players who comes into the team and just gradually seems to get better and better, while he is now attracting Eredivisie interest. Alders has done well but has gone out on loan to the second tier for a year. His star rating isn't the most encouraging but he's always done well when filling in. Cernin has been such a good signing. Fastav Zlin giving him away to us then getting relegated while he picks up back to back European finishes is quite the story. Luftner is ageing now but he is still good enough as a backup for me, and I still think I favour him in a backs to the wall game. The decision to introduce Masek to the first team was undoubtedly the correct one. He's 18 years old now and is rated by the game as my best player! I do think he's very likely to be sold in the next year though sadly. Tucevic for me probably has a year left as he is on the wane. Galus has never been anything but a solid dependable backup to the point he probably just about gets the nod over Tucevic nowadays. Definitely a position to recruit in for next summer I would say. Divis and Ismail are both promising, Ismail more so, both have gone out on loan to second tier teams though I must admit Divis is probably not going to be good enough. In midfield Baayou has been a great signing. Rusek has done well even if a bit wasteful in front of goal. Berden probably should be a red to be honest, he's injury prone having missed a lot of the season, being 29 now and only having a year left on his contract, but I can't really deny his quality when he has played so I generally let him off. Lezama had a genuinely productive loan spell at Pribram where he both performed well and developed so I'm willing to stick with him for another year. Kralj and Svejda are two very exciting young forwards. Then the greens that left... I'm sad to say Atakan Akkaynak has gone to Huesca following his excessive wage demands, only having a year left and me weighing up that we probably needed to cash in due to our financial predicament. He goes for £650k, but I cannot pretend he isn't a very big loss. Caio has gone to Slavia Prague for £750k and a few add ons. A perfect example of the success of the policy of signing 5 star potential youngsters on frees as he was actually showing very little sign of development, so there's a decent chance in my opinion he's a dud, even if I was planning for him to be Jawara's cover this year. The reds that stayed... Plachy was only brought in as backup and while he only played a couple of games, I don't really see the harm in trying to rotate your backup goalkeepers a bit over time. I think he was a poorer backup than Mastny. Plsek arrived in February but has been injured pretty much entirely throughout and at his age I think that unfortunately makes him a red, even if he will feel a bit like a new signing next season. Lukas Fila hasn't kicked on whatsoever since I first got here and the fact he's a home grown academy player is about the only thing keeping him about these days. I genuinely feel he's a worse player than the 19 year old Fila so he definitely deserves to go. Brian Pena was pretty mediocre if not bad. Brunker was a bit disappointing - a good battering ram but truly wasteful in front of goal. Granada was better here on loan and although he had a great end of season I still think it needs to be based on a good year rather than a good 6 weeks. Those four will go next summer, if not before, if they don't produce the goods. Then the reds who left... Goldin was released and joined a team in the second tier of Serbia. Takacs was sold in January. Hanzelka had a poor loan spell and I've released him given he's done nothing in two years, he's been picked up by Opava so I'll be intrigued to see how he gets on. Sory Soumah was a bit unlucky, he did little wrong but he was just slightly lacking the ability and a non-EU slot to boot, this made my mind up to release. Hasek, Mino and Konate were all sold during last season. Alassane Tall's spell at the club is over having lasted far longer than anyone would've probably anticipated. --- This left me needing to recruit for the following positions; Centre back (replacing Takacs) Right back (replacing Caio) Central midfielder (replacing Sory Soumah) Central midfielder (replacing Atakan) Winger (addition) Juninho is the Sory Soumah replacement. He's a bit more playmaker than destroyer but he's a better player, youngish and a reasonable wage. Pokorny was a laughable case. A 17 year old striker in a not dissimilar mould to Svejda, a 5 star potential player, released by second tier Brno due to getting a 3 month injury. I'd shortlisted him as a long shot and I couldn't believe it when I found they had triggered a clause meaning they could release him. He was straight in. Ibrahima Sarr is a centre back, the Takacs replacement. He's fairly young, left sided and pretty well rounded. Caic comes in on loan as the Atakan replacement. He has big shoes to fill. Ethan Blackburn, Jan Reitmeier and Leon Koss are future prospect signings, although there's a real farce around the Koss signing. Benrahou is the pick of the signings for me. He's a winger / attacking midfielder with a real bit of X-Factor. Set piece specialist, technically excellent. He's become our highest paid player so he needs to deliver, but I think he'll smash it. Then we have the curious case of Liam van Gelderen. The sale of Caio led to a bit of a revolt about out right back situation. Peculiar because Caio hadn't even made a senior appearance by this point. I promised to get another right back in, knowing I'd already sorted it. Then in came Liam van Gelderen as his replacement. This is him; Unfortunately, due to his natural position being centre back, despite being absolutely capable at right back, this hasn't registered him as the right back replacement even though I would say for this season at least he's a better option than Caio is there. It's absolutely basic stuff and the game really needs to fix this sort of thing by now. In a further attempt to placate this, I brought in youngster Leon Koss, who wasn't even particularly highly rated. This has also not ticked the box. I gave up. I'll take the brunt of... the game not registering a right back as a right back. The ring leader, Jakub Cernin, is probably going to leave next summer as a result. He's out of contract so isn't going to sign a new one anytime soon. Our European draw is Íþróttabandalag Akraness. Or as they're otherwise known, and what we'll call them - Akranes. 4th in Iceland last season. This really should be a very comfortable passage. Some of the other signings of interest;

14. Another European push There isn't going to be quite the detail this time around but we got over the line again, following an absolutely rampant opening couple of weeks of the championship group where we ended up breaking new ground. Hradec Kralove were bizarrely bad against us and although our goals came late, it was a complete domination from start to finish. What's made it even more impressive is how many goals we're scoring despite the almost routine injuries to our attackers. Samuel Granada's move to a number 10 seems to have transformed him because he was in grave danger of being given the 'red' treatment, but he's starting to win me over. He's drastically outperformed what he delivered on the left wing and as a striker in Rusek's absence. We beat Slovacko in a chaotic game before finally, 'finally' beating Sparta Prague in probably the best 90 minutes I think we have produced under my management. They won the league that night as a Slavia victory at Plzen meant that Plzen in 2nd could no longer catch them, but we went punch for punch and absolutely battered them for periods of the game, although I think they could've scored a few more themselves. Just a fantastic showing and one that confirmed our top 4 finish. We drew with Plzen again and by which time, the table had already been settled with more than a 3 point gap separating every team from 1st to 6th, which was odd, creating three dead rubbers. A largely changed side lost at Slavia Prague meaning we started and finished the season with 2-0 defeats to them, but it was another good season on the whole. The same position, the same points tally, and another crack at Europe to come - three qualifying rounds of the Conference League. In a surprise twist, two teams were relegated this year. Jablonec were sent packing by Karvina on the final day meaning their 30 year stay in the top flight is over, but Karvina were pulled down themselves in a play-off against Brno, our old foes from the first season. It will be interesting locking horns with them again. Sparta Prague were so dominant in that they not only won the league at a canter, but even their B team won the second tier. However as they can't go up, Prostejov did instead, so we had another new name for the division. Roll on the unforgiving, condensed preseason of Czech Republic. Three seasons done. 1st in the 2nd tier and 4th twice in the 1st. This save is going really well.

13. Vladimir Masek I didn't sign any defenders in the summer. Nobody for the first team squad anyway. I gambled on having Cernin, Luftner and Takacs with youngster Vladimir Masek acting as deputy. The plan when I signed them all was Cernin and Takacs with Luftner as the backup, but Takacs got injured early and Cernin/Luftner ended up being the partnership, and they really worked quite well together. This season I started with Takacs but it's just evident that he isn't right for this side and I've agreed to sell him in January to Istra (Croatia) as he was going to leave for nothing. I reverted to Cernin and Luftner and I saw an upturn in results, but in truth, Luftner isn't great and he's ageing too with the possibility that I end up releasing him in the summer. So entering the season post winter break I've decided it's time for Masek. It's a risk but he looks good to me. Not brilliant in the air but he's very quick. I'm going to shift the system a bit and have him covering. Brutal reality for us is that we probably need to start using players like him if anything to boost the value for a potential sale. Our financial trajectory is in perpetual decline and I've never been at a club where the board have had to throw us a bit of money this many times. Those sods giving us Shakhtar in the Conference League will pay for this. We come back in serious style though. I go to the Slovacko game with fairly muted expectations as they've been fantastic this season but we end up wiping the floor with them in a crazy first half. They get one back but we hold out. Masek's first ever league start goes well enough for me. His second ends up being our first ever avoidance of defeat to Sparta Prague, the runaway leaders. We catch them at a good time with their European commitments (where they end up knocking out Toulouse impressively) but it's another good result. We beat a pretty poor Ceske Budejovice once again. I make two signings in February. After lots of deliberation I bring in veteran midfielder Jakub Plsek to replace the outgoing Martin Hasek following his release from Puskas Akademia. I sell striker Moussa Konate to Moldova and make a signing based on a bit of sentiment, and a bit of practicality. Where's the fun if you can't make a bit of a sentimental signing every now and then. We bring in Matej Vydra on loan - probably the best player to ever start his career at Jihlava. There's a gap appearing between 6th and 7th, and we widen it with 'another' injury time winner against them (Bohemians Praha). Bar a drastic swing it's pretty obvious who the top six are going to be this year. My aim is simply Europe. We go on to have another good month. The problem is injuries. Top scorer Antonin Rusek is ruled out for 2-3 months and this seems to start a run of picking up an attacking based injury in what feels like every game. Both winter signings ended up with bad injuries almost immediately. Plsek is 32 and I fear this bad injury will basically wreck him and defeat the purpose of bringing him in at all, and Vydra's going to miss probably 80% of his loan move, so it's really infuriating and we're down on numbers. This means striker Gregor Kralj is going to get more minutes, and it also means Luciano Mino, who I've agreed to sell back to Argentina in the summer, is still going to be needed for now. Kralj did score just 3 minutes into his first ever league start against Karvina though, which is a fantastic sign. April proves to be a trickier month. Berden seems to keep getting injuries as well, I've had to convert Granada to an attacking midfielder (which seems to be bringing the best out of him to be honest) but it seems that basically anyone who plays in front of midfield for us is fair game for at least two months out this season. Brian Pena ends up a regular having only been signed as a backup. Martinovic keeps having to play on the right wing despite Partizan's manager calling me out for doing this early season, though he seems to have gotten over it. It's a mixed month, we lose our unbeaten record in infuriating fashion to newly promoted Opava, who to their credit are going to survive comfortably down to their ridiculously good home form although I've no idea how they keep doing it. We hit the woodwork four times in the game. We end the regular season at home to Plzen for the second year running, and deliver yet another injury time goal to steal a point. Though Lukas Fila and Kai Brunker now face time on the sidelines too. This system has withstood the test this season, because we're still getting the results despite constant injuries. Something that's going to be an even bigger problem for us should we actually make Europe. So we make the top 6 again and this time its a bit more comfortable. We're very much in the same boat as a year ago. I think the top 3 is virtually unattainable but 4th is very much so. Slovacko have slowed down a bit following an injury crisis of their own in that they were largely being propped up by some striker averaging nearly 8.00 who has ended up breaking his leg. Yet again we have 3 away games out of 5, yet again we're away at both Prague sides, but roll it on. But back to Masek - he's been good. In-fact I would argue he has risen our level. We only let in 10 goals in the second half of the season compared to 23 in the first half. Cernin is still smashing it, Frelih seems to have gotten back to his best in goal. It's all positive stuff, but we really could do with the revenue from European football before we're forced to sell everyone decent. We have a nice young squad now though. I think there'll be a fair bit of promotion from within rather than big money on signings this summer. Partly because everyone I'm promoting seems to be doing a job anyway but we're £2mil in the red now. I think it's inevitable somebody fairly key will have to go. A couple of the second year academy players are looking promising and there's a winger I really like in the third year too, so it feels like there's something to really work with here in the long run.

12. We've had a taste I'm half way through my season and it's easy to forget now, but we actually played European football this season. This is what happened. Suduva were no match which is a good sign. 7-1 on aggregate but even more encouraging during July was the absolute taking apart of a hapless Jablonec where we actually went 4-0 up against them in the first half for the second meeting in a row. I did plan to play more attacking football this season but I wasn't quite expecting that sort of response. The real downer of this month however was we were given a really bad European draw, and were to face Shakhtar Donetsk in the 3rd qualifying round. This was sadly likely to be the end. It was. I tried to play my last season 4-3-3 tactic in an attempt to keep the game tight and conceded two goals at the worst possible times - very early and very late, having actually matched them for large parts. The plan was hopefully pinch a win or draw away, or even a 1 goal loss, and then really gun for them at home but it just never fell how I hoped. I still went for them at home but we were pretty bad and our level was exposed. We have come a long way, but we have a very long way to go. So the mission is simply to try and get back in again. The problem is I do think we look a bit off it this year. We're playing some nice football but the most open style is definitely having its drawbacks at the back end of the pitch and we're letting in far too many goals again. We put in a number of decent performances in September but just can't quite get the results to match. Unlucky at Bohemians, should've beaten Slovan Liberec for sure, and took until the very last kick to finally break down Karvina, which is no big criticism. A totally changed XI featuring some of my young recruits put away a hapless third tier side, but we are given more rotten draw luck in the form of Sparta Prague - who are absolutely walking the league and have actually vindicated my decision to not go to Plzen, because I wouldn't be toppling them this season on this showing. The injury time kings struck again against Hradec Kralove (they must have it in for us by this point) before wins over Mlada Boleslav and Opava put us back into the European places. But once again it's an earlyish cup exit. Sparta Prague up it a few gears in the second half and we can't live with them. Three more young prospects join us on free transfers in the Autumn. In our financial position, which seems to be in constant decline due to terrible crowds, we need to somehow get a couple of gems in there that can be sold for good money, but I do feel that this is a league that will struggle to attract big fees, particularly as a smaller club. We pay the price for the Sparta game by then losing at Sigma Olomouc courtesy of what I'll put down to fatigue and wastefulness, before a hattrick of two goal losses is secured at Viktoria Plzen despite our early lead. We're back in midtable. We're actually playing really well, but we've become pretty inefficient, and the numbers will explain things later. This wasn't before we did beat Jablonec again and then pick up a famous victory at Slavia Prague, yet another in injury time. We are good for a late goal it has to be said. I love the way we grow into games. We are definitely a net beneficiary of late goals and comebacks which I'm delighted about. The Banik Ostrava loss is barely believable. We turn in no exaggeration one of the best performances I've seen under my tenure, totally battering them in the second half and mustering an xG of nearly 4 goals, yet somehow come away with a 2-0 loss. We do however convert a rare chance in a bad game over Pardubice, leaving us in a healthy position going into the winter break. But it really could be a bit better. I'm actually massively encouraged by plenty of things in our game. I think we are the better side in probably 75% of our games. We play good football, we're quick, we can do most aspects well - but we have become quite bad at actually converting our performances into results. We are xG underperformers at both ends, and you'll see below. The pitch tilt is quite an interesting graphic as I think it tells you a bit about how dominant you really are. Sparta Prague are a cracking team this year. There's no shame in losing to them a couple of times. Most of the signings are doing well. I absolutely love Atakan who really has been quality, he's everything I hoped for - a playmaker who can score, create and control a game. A brilliant signing on a free. I think Brunker has done OK in parts and that Rusek, the other first team signing of note has been both good but infuriating. He's on 6 goals yet xG puts him on 10 - which is some number for somebody I've had in attacking midfield for 80% of the season. The elephant in the room is just how bad goalkeeper Ziga Frelih has been. I gave him a new contract in the summer and although I think going to a more expansive 4-2-3-1 has probably made his game a bit tougher, he's become utterly hopeless at shot stopping this year having been as good as virtually anybody last time out. Goalkeepers are the aspect of the game that I just simply can't come to terms with. I cannot figure it out. It seems almost totally random who is good and who isn't. The fact Frelih can decline like this is infuriating. I've given up on a couple of my 'red' players. Takacs and Hasek are both going. I'm looking at a couple of signings in January possibly but nothing major. We're not in a good financial position, still, and I think I may end up having to promote a few prospects rather than make any big wage signings. I think we're up against it to actually get into Europe this season, but the aim has become like last year - hope for the top six, and then hope for the best from there.

11. Viktoria Plzen, who could come with me, and the summer The Plzen job offer threw things a bit up in the air for me. I had seen their manager lose his job following their poor season and did think with what has happened here at Jihlava that there was a chance they would come for me. I looked through their squad and noticed a few things. - Good squad as you would expect, think it's quite hard to dispute them being predicted 3rd. It's not at the level of either Prague side, but it's definitely better than anyone else. - Not in Europe next season. This would be a shame as I love managing in Europe and I would be a shame to sack it off with Jihlava having taken them there against the odds. But this could be a big advantage in terms of my domestic season. I would be aiming for the title. - While the squad is talented, the age profile is a bit of a concern. Loads aged between 27 and 32 which while I don't mind it somewhat, I would want it bringing down a touch. - No transfer budget at all. This surprised me. To spend any money, we would need to generate money through sales and like I said, despite the players being of a decent level I don't think the ages of them means we're likely to get anything groundbreaking in terms of money. --- I think in real life it's a no brainer of a move. Unfortunately for Plzen, this is not real life, and I've stayed at Jihlava. I could come to regret it. On my Brage save, I moved to Mainz before eventually rueing my non move to Juventus afterwards. This could be another one of those moments, but a few things did keep me at Jihlava. I've already made them a steady team for this level. I've got a lot of the squad with profiles of player that I like as a result, but the thing that's really swung it for me, despite the lack of money, is that our academy is genuinely productive to a point that I expect it to make up a fair chunk of my team in the next few years, which is not something I ever really find myself having and I'm intrigued to see if that can become the case here. While I'm not somebody to pick academy players for the sake of it, this seems to be an academy that is genuinely going to supplement my team without me having to force it to happen. I mean Masek and Kralj aren't that far off my first team at 16, and I've had a midfielder come through that I think could be a real gem if he develops how I hope. Basically I have something quite good going at Jihlava, a European campaign to look forward to, and Plzen's offer, wasn't an absolute guarantee of success. I want to see a couple more years here before potentially stepping up to somewhere like that. If I feel that Jihlava have hit their ceiling, then I'll move. That takes me onto an analysis of my signings, and players performance for the season. --- I heard something recently that new Manchester United chief executive Omar Berrada had a rule at Manchester City, a two year rule. If you had no signs of contributing in two years at the club, then you were out. I'm thinking I may undertake something similar. I like it. It's hard, but fair, and it will drive up the standards. I will start this process from the first year up in the top tier. Of those players, I think all of the following in green get a pass for year one, while those in red have failed year one. Those in amber are not applicable, due to either being a loanee (Totic), retired (Smola), or a 17 or below year old who I don't think it's fair to quite put that demand on yet: Goalkeepers: Frelih, Mastny Defenders: Goldin, Jawara, Cernin, Takacs, Luftner, Hanzelka, Pisko, Tucevic, Galus Midfielders: Franek, Mino, Sory Soumah, Baayou, Hasek, Fila Forwards: Lezama, Berden, Totic, Krivanek, Smola, Tall, Konate, Samuel Granada Some of my reds are harsh, because in the instances of Goldin, Mino, Krivanek and Tall, they are players who didn't do much wrong, but they are simply not quite of the standard I need and I don't think they can be relied on in the long run. Mastny had a good first year but first himself into red with his antics this season and I've decided he can go. Takacs was a bit unlucky to get an injury just as Luftner and Cernin forged a steady partnership at centre half, but he hasn't been entirely impressive when called upon. Hanzelka's not impressed even if he's only a youngster. Pisko is frankly miles off the level, as is Franek. Hasek was a disappointment for his ability even if he was in a similar boat to Takacs. Lezama though only young I think ought to have made more of an impression given his talent level. I am not simply getting rid of all reds, but they are on a bit of a watch list, they must win me over in the next 12 months - of those who stay anyway. Those in green I'm happy to have contracted until 2027 - with the possible exception of Sory Soumah who is possibly not quite of the level. I wouldn't be surprised if I'm sat here in a years time thinking we need him to go, particularly as he's classed as a non-EU player and we're only allowed to play five of them at a time. So what did actually pan out in the transfer window? Mastny, Pisko, Franek and Krivanek were all released. Tall has actually secured another year courtesy of a clause I didn't realise he had based on appearances. It's hard to begrudge him given he has generally delivered when relied on and he won't demand to be anything more than a backup. I've also loaned Rodhier Lezama to second tier Pribram. Now a good season there where he shows signs of development can be a green for me, but if he continues to stagnate then he can go. Hanzelka joins Slovakian side Prochezka on loan, similar situation to Lezama albeit without the whinging. Totic and Granada returned to their parent clubs. Totic has outgrown us, Granada doesn't fancy joining permanently, which is a bit of a shame. Smola departs into the sunset on a high. This leaves my squad in this position, with the following gaps: Goalkeepers: Frelih, NEW GK Defenders: Goldin, Jawara, Cernin, Takacs, Luftner, Masek Tucevic, Galus Midfielders: Sory Soumah, Baayou, Hasek, Mino, Fila, NEW CM, NEW CAM Forwards: Berden, Tall, Konate, Kralj, NEW WI x2, NEW ST Nowhere near the overhaul of a year ago, but we do need bodies again. I'm also basically taking a policy where any cheap 5 star potential my scouts find will be brought in as well because I see them as free hits. Next to no downside and very big upside every now and then. Think Lezama types. The new CAM is because I want to start playing a bit more attacking again this season. I think we became good at edging games out but I'd like to try and go back to being a bit more attacking too. I will revert to defending more if we start letting in too many goals again though, I don't want to run before we can walk. The following came in (and sorry for the messy presentation, I hate it when they stick some of this summers signings on last summers list): Regarding the 5 star potential prospect types, I will get them out of the way. These are Gerard Alders, Matej Divis, Ion Ciobanu, Tim Binder, Martin Blazek and Alan Kardec. They may make an impact. They may not. They cost nothing. This left my first team squad like this; Goalkeepers: Frelih, Plachy Defenders: Goldin, Jawara, Cernin, Takacs, Luftner, Masek Tucevic, Galus Midfielders: Sory Soumah, Baayou, Hasek, Mino, Fila, Atakan, Rusek Forwards: Berden, Tall, Konate, Kralj, Brian Pena, Martinovic, Brunker, Samuel Granada Plachy comes in just as a backup. Never like signing backups, I'd sooner sign first choice players and force my existing first team players to be backups, but Frelih isn't going to be upgraded on currently. Atakan is a quality player and probably the pick of the signings, having just averaged 7.5 in the Turkish second tier, he's a playmaker type and I did specifically target that profile. Rusek is a coup as well having had numerous steady years in the top flight. Martinovic is simply Partizan's next Totic on the conveyer belt. Brian Pena a creative playmaker / winger type. Brunker is the new Smola, a German battering ram who I expect to be pretty key for us. Granada had a change of heart and joined the club on a permanent deal. The picks of the signings below: We've drawn Suduva Marijampole of Lithuania in the second round of Europa Conference League qualifiers, which I expect us to get by. Progress three rounds and we're in the league phase, we need some luck with the draw.

10. The fight for Europe I don't expect us to make it, but the situation as I read it is this... 1st - Champions League 2nd qualifying round (champions path) 2nd - Champions League 2nd qualifying round (league path) 3rd - Europa League 3rd qualifying round (league path) 4th - Europa Conference League 2nd qualifying round (league path) 5th - One legged play-off game at home to the winner of the 7th-10th play-offs 6th - Nothing 1st has already mathematically gone for us and frankly if we'd pulled that off I don't think I'd have ever topped that. 2nd is virtually impossible as well. 3rd is extremely unlikely - maybe if we were to win all five of our games. It's very likely to be 4th, 5th or 6th. Our opening game is crucial in my opinion as it will very much dictate how this goes. I think we have to be aiming for two wins from the Karvina and Hradec Kralove home games, while the fact they've given us Sparta and Slavia away three days apart, I think we're very likely to lose both. So a lot comes down to can we pull off a surprise result at Ostrava? This was Jihlava at our absolute best. Konate's clever looping header early on and then 70 minutes of being an absolute nightmare to play through. Ostrava had been pretty fortunate to beat us in this fixture in the league so I was glad to not only get some revenge, but take a massive step towards Europe. We would make it two from two - the only one of the six to do this. No real drama here, we owed them one after only getting a point in our two league meetings with them. I think this is a particularly strange top six because while our squad has no business in it, neither does Karvina or Hradec Kralove - both of those two have massively overachieved to be here as well. News then filters through elsewhere, 5th suddenly got far more appealing. I thought Plzen would absolutely rout their way through the play-offs. They picked up late in the season and only just missed out on the top six. But they have somehow gone down to Jablonec over two legs and suddenly the route to Europe if we finish 5th looks a lot more presentable. Pardubice winning at Liberec was a surprise as well - this meant 9th took in 10th in the play-off final. Onto our Prague double header. It was ugly. I do think we were a touch unlucky in both games. A rare Frelih disasterclass at Sparta gave us a pretty brutal loss there despite not a terrible performance. Slavia we'd completely blown for ourselves within 10 minutes getting a stupid red card. This ended up being a very good effort though. It's a loss, but the crucial part is went into the final day knowing that should we beat Hradec Kralove, we would topple them on goal difference, whereas if we'd taken the hammering I expected us to after the red card, we'd have been looking at needing to hammer them. The flip side was if we didn't beat Hradec Kralove, then Karvina could pip us to 5th by beating Sparta - 6th as we know is nothing. So beat Hradec and we finish 4th. Fail to win, we finish 5th, unless Karvina beat Sparta, which would knock us to 6th. The following plays out: It's just the perfect end to a brilliant season. We finish 4th with an injury time comeback winner, set up by substitute Tomas Smola on his final ever appearance before retirement. A pretty bad performance for a while but as soon as I properly attacked them, they did crumble. To make matters even worse for Hradec Kralove, they ended up losing the play-off. So 9th placed Pardubice will be joining us in Europe. We would need to conquer three rounds of the Conference League play-offs just to make the league phase, which I do think is unlikely, but it's way beyond what I expected already. I am then presented with a real dilemma. I'm very torn. I sort of want to keep going here, but this is a good offer, and it does add an element of realism to the game too if I were to move. Plzen as we know have failed to make Europe this year. They don't have any real money to spend and I would need to be quite creative with my transfers, definitely having to sell to fund some moves. But their potential does interest me. While I'd simply be happy to play a league phase game with Jihlava for now, I think Plzen are a club I could potetially push to winning one of the lower European competitions. I will do the interview and decide afterwards. Tune in for more!

9. The unlikeliest European push Europe feels a bit of a pipedream but you never know, we're playing very well and we've already massively exceeded what I expected from us. The Czech top tier is one of those leagues that splits. So after the 30 regular games it splits into three groups. The top six, the bottom six, then the middle four. The top six all play each other again. Likewise the bottom six. Then the middle four have a play-off system. The top six are going for the title and Europe. The bottom six are playing to survive. The middle four are playing the play-offs to have one lost pop at Europe - and it's against whoever finishes 5th in the league by my calculation. This does actually give us a crack regardless of our league finish from here, providing we don't drop to the relegation group - which I don't think is impossible, but even if we did I think we'd be too clear of the others to actually get relegated. I mean we're 32 points clear of the only automatic relegation place. There's just simply no way. We would have to lose not far off every game, and then lose a play-off against a second tier side. It would be the most ridiculous implosion. We return from the break with another pair of draws. Given we hadn't drawn a game until the 16th game, we've now drawn 5 of our last 6, but we do pick up a win at Ceske Budejovice - pretty much killing the faintest fears that we did get dragged in. We start March with a very eye catching hammering of Jablonec - our games seem to be very tight encounters for the most part but both games against them ended up being hammerings, one each. Moussa Konate has made a fantastic start following his injury, although he's become yet another that wants out at the end of the season. Players sign for us but very few see any long term future here, so all the signs are pointing to another big overhaul in the summer - but we'll worry about that properly when we get there, and in the mean time sort out putting ourselves in a position to attract anybody decent. We produce a turnaround away at the utterly hopeless Fastav Zlin who look frankly done already, but have our 10 game unbeaten run ended by a rapidly improving Banik Ostrava. They outclass us to be honest and they look a lot better than the team who sneaked a win against us in September. We bounce back however with a very impressive win away at fellow surprise package Hradec Kralove. April however is a lot more challenging. Terrible fixtures on the whole and blowing a 2-0 lead to Sigma Olomouc was a really bad way to start a month that consisted of expected points drops. We did lose at home to Sparta Prague which was expected, but in a massive effort away at Slavia Prague we stifled them again and ended up mathematically confirming our place in the top 6. It turned out with how the other results went that had we lost at Slavia Prague, we would've indeed finished 7th. Sparta Prague won the cup meaning that they have taken the first of five European places, which they were going to get anyway via a league finish. The way I read it is that the top 3 (now 4) are in, and then whoever finishes 5th will play a play-off against the middle groups play-off winners. The problem I have here is that Plzen looked a totally different beast on the final day. They absolutely slaughtered us and I think on that evidence the likeliest outcome should we finish 5th is that we just lose to them. So the aim, as hard as this is going to be, is 4th. This probably means having to win 3 of these games. Perks are that we have the two weaker teams both at home (though we do actually have a better away record than home somehow), but the drawback is having all of the top 3 away and trips to both Prague teams 3 days apart. I think so much of this will hinge on what we do at Banik Ostrava on the first game. If we win there, I think we have a chance. But it's going to be very difficult. Our financial situation is looking a bit dire. Two occasions now the board have thrown £675k into the bank. Europe would go a way to fixing this but I think the other way might actually be our academy, which seems to be bizarrely productive for what's clearly a pretty small club (though it did produce Matej Vydra). Along with Hasek, Kralj is another player with decent potential and has developed no end over the season. The problem I have with him is he's neither quick or good in the air, and I think with the way I play, this is going to be an issue. I'd have to accomodate. Or he just gets sold. Who knows. We'll see how he develops. I've had a couple of decent prospects in my second years academy as well, but I'll see how they develop in the first year before posting them. The academy is becoming a decent quirk to this save. I'm quite enjoying this league - though it helps doing pretty well!

8. The adjusting period As ever, I think as a newly promoted team, it's a fair enough target to just simply look at survival in your first year up. Particularly in a year where you are the only team who ended up getting promoted. I think with the wage budget we were given, which was comparable to the next lowest in the league in Fastav Zlin, it was attainable providing the team gelled quickly. I alluded in my earlier posts that one thing I think I'm quite good at is getting a reliable, average player for a league for next to nothing. So being able to overhaul my entire squad meant I could get a pretty solid base of players. The long and short is I do think I'll pull survival off this season. We make a perfect start: Both results were probably quite flattering when compared to the performances, but what a start. The Slovacko win I think is particularly impressive as they're expected to finish in the top half this season. We've already managed the same number of wins this season as what Teplice managed last! Despite our best performance of the three resulting in defeat to Karvina, we kept on with our fantastic start. We seem to have already developed a knack of pinching games which is a pretty good thing to develop. The Bohemians away game was possibly the worst game I've seen in the entire save, virtually nothing happened all game until Alassane Tall did what Alassane Tall always seems to do, and nicks a goal for us off the bench. 5 wins from 6 - I had a quiet confidence that we'd be OK, but this was particularly great. The fixture list had been unkind enough to give us two runs of playing Sparta Prague, Slavia Prague and Viktoria Plzen in a row - including in our last three games of the regular season, so getting away before that becomes an issue is very welcomed. What wasn't welcomed was our increasing injury list, and a bizarre kick off from midfielder Luciano Mino who was scared I was going to replace him. I mean, I am, but I've played him in every game so far, how can he possibly complain about game time? Idiot! September was a more mixed bag, but a good month again on the whole. New striker Moussa Konate was one of our victims to a bad injury. It's just not really happened at all for him so far, he's been made to fill in on the wing when played. Smola has been very much a functional player, he doesn't seem to get good ratings, but I think our 4-3-3 system is a lot trickier for a striker to play in and I'm happy with what he's doing even if the goals aren't flowing. Think Morata for Spain in this Euros on a much smaller scale. If the Bohemians game was funny then the Ceske Budejovice win was hilarious. We were absolutely awful, completely outplayed by the team sat second bottom, scored a massively deflected goal and just absorbed them for the rest of the game. I do think how well we're doing this already is quite impressive though. Teams are really struggling to break us down. We're a lot less fun as a team this season, but we are very functional and this will do for now. I'll make us fun again when we have better players. We were hammered at Jablonec but then bounced back to beat a dreadful Fastav Zlin 3-0 - they're absolutely terrible and given I compared our wage budgets in pre-season, it puts into context how good our start has been. Things do seem to turn a bit however off the back of a very poor surprise cup exit to 2nd tier Kromeriz, and a late, albeit pretty undeserved loss at Banik Ostrava, going into one of our horror runs of fixtures. Even worse was another bad injury to Radek Krivanek - a player who just seems to bizarrely keep performing well above his ability. He's mostly kept my biggest money signing Berden out of the side! Though some of this was injury enforced too. What made these fixtures harder was that Hradec Kralove are the other surprise package, but they're outperforming us. We sat around 5th at this time, but they're in genuine title contention at this point. Quite remarkable, as their wage budget pits them 14th in the league. We pick up arguably our most impressive win yet by beating Sigma Olomouc away courtesy of a fantastic solo display from Berden, before going down 1-0 at Sparta Prague - not a disgrace of a result, goalkeeper Ziga Frelih having an unbelievable game, but unfortunately Tomas Smola breaking his ankle and joining the ever growing list of injuries. We have one fit striker, and frankly, Tall is hopeless every time he starts. My choice going forward is attacking midfielder Lukas Fila, who can fill in there, with Tall probably coming on for him later on. This injury for me practically finishes Smola, he was declining anyway and you don't really come back at that age at this level, so I'm on the lookout for another striker in January. November however, we hit another level. I've been impressed, but this took it to a new height. To beat Slavia and Plzen back to back with this side, with this many injuries. I really didn't see it coming. I think we benefitted from both teams going for it in Europe in the week and having tired sides. Both of whom resting players against us and getting their karma. Real Madrid drawing at Slavia days later made it even funnier - Jihlava did what Real Madrid could not. It's worth pointing out that Plzen are having a bit of a mare of a season, but the Slavia win was fantastic, two early-ish goals and another example of our resilience. The rest of November & December are pretty drab games, but we don't lose any of them, keeping another three clean sheets in the process. There's a long way to go, don't forget the season will stretch to 34-36 games (depending on where you finish) and I do think we're going to lose a few more games in the new year, but the entire squad should take a bow. We're very hard to play against. Our goalkeeper is excellent and I think we'll do well to hold onto him. I've barely even used Takacs (and don't I know it, moaning git) and we've very seldom had a fully fit side. Our top scorer is my originally planned third choice centre half, Michael Luftner, which I think tells you a bit about us as a team. We're very strong at set pieces - I simply delegate. Get a decent set piece coach in and let him do his thing. It's working. Dzenis Totic has been probably my best outfielder despite all of this. He's developing pretty quickly and we've no chance of keeping him permanently. I think I'd be making a bid if I was one of the bigger teams in the division. I'm quite excited as well by a young defender in my academy. Do you ever get those youngsters who don't seem anything special on the face of it, but just seem to constantly get better and better? Meet Vladimir Masek, only recently turned 16, and developing more and more by the week. I'm tempted to sell Takacs and just let him have his role. He's already given a 2.5 star current ability rating by my staff. Final bit of news is we've agreed to sign Brazilian striker Samuel Granada on loan in January, though I think there's a decent chance I'll just make it permanent as soon as I can - he's another real coup. We beat off Varazdin of all clubs to bring him in. So in short, it's going about as well as it could be going. We have a genuine shot of a European place at this rate, but there is a long way to go. I think we're very safe to stay up anyway, I say that confidently already.

7. Assemble the army This is going to be where I give a bit more detail on the squad itself. Now I'm not going to go as far as posting every player, but every one of them will at least get some sort of overview. The squads are very much a mish-mash in year one and I think I speak for many when I say you're seldom happy with what you have. I see the fact virtually my entire squad's contracts are up in the first summer as an opportunity, rather than a hindrance. I usually hit double figures for signings in my first full summer, but this is going to be something else with the sheer volume that is needed. I draw up a bit of a plan of what I need in my squad, and what I actually have. I have, so far, twelve players contracted to me for the start of the 2024/25 season. They are the following: 1. Ondrej Mastny (Goalkeeper) - First choice goalkeeper, as per pretty much everybody in the squad I inherited, he was out of contract but he was one of the ones I decided to extend. Good, young goalkeeper. 2. Milan Pisko (Centre back) - Has signed for another season but I have to admit, I think if he plays a minute in the top tier we're in trouble. He's very much a player needed for numbers. Backup at most. 3. Bakary Jarawa (Right back) - One of two new signings I had agreed prior to the summer. He had a stormer against us in the winter break for a Slovakian 2nd tier team and he was willing to join us from the summer on a free, so I took it, he's an upgrade. 4. Michal Galus (Left back) - Signed him a year ago as backup left back to loanee Kubr, and to be honest, he outperformed Kubr and was often first choice by the end. Probably fine as backup in the top tier, but not starting. Did a job at CB as well. 5. Tomas Franek (Defensive midfielder) - Versatile young player who did well in midfield and defence. Signed for another year. 6. Adam Pesek (Central midfielder) - He was bizarrely the only player contracted beyond June 2024 when I arrived, and it's annoying, because he's both bad and thinks he's entitled to start. Not good enough and will take whatever I can get. 7. Luciano Mino (Central midfielder) - Had a decent trial here, got a short-term contract, did pretty well in cameos, have kept him on for another year, though his lack of physique is going to be a problem in a relatively bad side I fear. 8. Lukas Fila (Attacking midfielder) - Started the season brilliantly, signed a new contract, has tailed off a bit. I envisage he will probably be replaced in my team, but not all hope is lost. 9. Dzenis Totic (Winger) - Remember the Serbian winger I thought I'd signed in January but had actually missed that he would join in the summer? Well he's here and he looks good. 10. Radek Krivanek (Winger) - Limited, but was too good in the second tier for me to not at least give a go for a year. 11. Tomas Smola (Striker) - Dominated the second tier despite turning 35. It's probably a risk having him for another year, a league higher at his age, but I won't go with just him. 12. Alassane Tall (Striker) - He's pretty bad, but he seemed to score every time I subbed him on, often in crucial games too. I think as a third striker he's worthy of a squad spot. --- This left my squad like this, and I had this many gaps, at least in my opinion, to fill: Goalkeepers: NEW GK, Mastny Defenders: NEW RB, Jawara, NEW CB x2, Pisko, NEW LB, Galus Midfielders: Franek, Mino, NEW CM x3 Forwards: NEW WI x2, Totic, Smola, Tall, NEW ST --- This leaves to me, 12 new signings minimum on top of the 2 we've already made, and probably a couple more if the wages allow, which I actually think the board have been fairly generous with us on. The following players come in: To revisit that squad I put together above, here is how it is now: Goalkeepers: Frelih, Mastny Defenders: Goldin, Jawara, Cernin, Takacs, Luftner, Hanzelka, Pisko, Tucevic, Galus Midfielders: Franek, Mino, Sory Soumah, Baayou, Hasek Forwards: Lezama, Berden, Totic, Krivanek, Smola, Tall, Konate Starting from the back, often as I tend to do business, we made in my opinion the coup of our summer in goal in Ziga Frelih. Mastny decided to give me the Selnar/Svoboda treatment and tell me he wants to run his contract down which is a shame, so I looked to potentially sell him (though the offers made it barely worth it), however, he was doomed regardless having discovered a goalkeeper I'd once had in Ligue 1 was somehow willing to join a newly promoted Czech side. Bizarrely good work. The defence is totally overhauled. I ended up signing four centre halves. Cernin and Luftner will be the pairing of choice to start with in a tighter 4-3-3 inverted full back system. Takacs will come in for Luftner in time if he makes a recovery from a long term injury he sustained last season. He's a bit of a free hit signing for me. Hanzelka is a young defender for the future (frankly, I should've just signed him and released Pisko) although we have had a quite good one come through our academy too to keep an eye on. Tucevic is another coup, a Montenegro international who'll play the left inverted full back role, a solid head and set piece taker to boot. The midfield very favours industry. Again, this is often how I will work things with a side expected to struggle. Spoil and make it horrible to break us down. Sory Soumah is a steady CDM who came from the third tier of Czech Republic but I think can step up. Baayou and Hasek are both real coups again. Baayou was playing in Luxembourg and has been capped twice by Tunisia. He's a horrible player, and I mean that as a compliment. He's going to be booting some ankles this season. Hasek comes back to Czech Republic after a spell in Greece, he's another player above the level I expected to attract. The attack concludes our business. Lezama was a bizarrely good bit of scouting as somehow we had a report on an 18 year old winger in Venezuela, cheap fee, willing to join us and a fair bit of potential. Berden is another coup, the biggest money signing of the summer but for good reason. Moussa Konate is the striker I've gone with, he's getting on a bit, but having had a productive season in the 4th tier of France (...) I think he can actually score a few for us. Can fit on the wing as well. My expected first choice team, in time, will be... Frelih Jawara - Takacs - Cernin - Tucevic Sory Soumah Baayou - Hasek Berden - Konate - Totic Finally, a few of the signings of interest:

6. The first run-in Five games to go and time to battle. A three horse race for that automatic promotion spot and two others left to the vultures, likely to be picked apart by superior top tier teams. As I stated, I thought our run in was the best of the three teams. We had picked up form upon the switch in tactic, so maybe it's come at the right time. First up, it's Sparta Prague's B team at home. No mistakes made. A pretty drab first half is brought to life by a 15 minute madness from Radek Krivanek who scores a solo effort and sets up another two sitters to give us a 3-0 half time lead. Second half less convincing, but a job done. I tend to find our first halves are a lot better than second, something to consider. Brno and Lisen both drop points - we're back on top of the league. A perfect day. The second game is a trip to Sigma Olomouc's reserve team. B teams are weird because they tend to have a mix of players who are better than yours and ones who are worse. Very varied in what they can offer. While we hammered Sigma at home, the away game is a much tougher test and we are clinging on by the end, but come away with a 2-3 win. Brno irritatingly pinch an injury time win at Kromeriz while Lisen blow it at Dukla Prague. Lisen at this point are becoming irrelevant as they sit 4 behind us with 3 left. We make no mistake of a dreadful Chrudim at home, even reverting to my more attacking system, partly enforced by suspensions, partly because I'm pretty confident we'll beat them anyway. Another 3-0 half time lead, seen out in the second half. Lisen lose at home to Vyskov, Brno beat Dukla Prague 2-0. It's officially a two horse race. Lisen are out of it. So we travel to bottom team Varnsdorf, fresh from a 1-7 thrashing by Pribram, knowing that two more wins will see us promoted, or even a one win and any points dropped by Brno. We should win this, but star striker Tomas Smola is out for the remaining two games which is a real issue. Or so I thought. Alassane Tall is a funny player. He's had a terrible record here since signing two years ago, barely scoring a single goal, but he seems to really step up for me when I need him. He's quick, tall (fitting name) and has OK finishing, but he's otherwise awful. At this level though, this can often be enough. We send Varnsdorf down and await the news from Vyskov, where Brno have taken another late lead. But they blew it with the very last kick, falling 4 points behind us with a game to spare. We had done it. Champions with a game to spare. Our late surge has taken us to the top tier. The board go on to make big plans: In all seriousness, this is a pretty decent wage bill. It's enough to allow me to give this squad the big overhaul it needs. I'm going into the new season with just nine players lined up, and of those I don't envisage as many as three of them featuring at all. So it's going to be a real adjustment. I'm good with that though. My summer between my first and second season is usually like this and I often thrive in it. The two players who welcomed me to Jihlava by telling me they wanted out all of a sudden were interested in renewals, and yet in the end it is me who decides they're going. You're not important enough for me. Thanks for your effort, but you're both out of here. The club comes first. I think it was pretty fair to say we deserved it. The set piece coach had clearly paid dividends. We were easily the best team in the division going forward and the high pressing game was clearly effective in stopping build up. We were typically abrasive, which is only going to get better with rising up a league. We've taken shape of what I want quicker than I expected. I genuinely didn't think we would beat Brno to the title, but we got there. As feared for them, and Viktoria Zizkov (who ended up 3rd, Lisen somehow dropped to 5th) they would face another season in the second tier. We swap places with Teplice who finished bottom of the league - though they've produced an absolutely unbelievable young defender which is interesting. He's 15 years old and is already basically their best player. I'll be interested to see where he ends up. He'd have been an obvious pickup if I'd been at a better side, speaking of which... A slightly unrealistic element of FM is how easy it is to turn down a better job. I just simply want to build this club up to see how far I can take them before moving on. This was a very good offer though, Mlada Boleslav finished 4th in the league and are only managerless due to Plzen taking their manager. The final news before I move onto next season is our takeover is completed. I don't see this making a big difference - maybe a bit less credit in the bank at my end though!

5. Avoidable panic Well I had earlier in the season worried that we weren't going to be capable of seeing this through, but I must say, I'm pretty disappointed at the way we have tailed off. We've come back from the break and have looked frankly dire. The friendlies could've acted as a bit of a warning sign, though I did put that down to rotation at the time. I made the mistake of letting my staff pick the teams, as I happened to notice going into the Dukla Prague game that I had numerous players not in the right condition to play. We were unlucky against Dukla, but the Vyskov game was frankly embarrassing. We were slaughtered, and worryingly this is by a side sat in the bottom half. We bounced back by beating Lisen in a pretty convincing display, but we did lose Tomas Smola for a month and our depth in attack isn't great to be honest. We lost at Brno, a game we didn't play badly in, but it's three defeats from four games. I am quite performance driven and I believe that any team who is playing badly is going to start paying the price for it, while thinking that any team consistently playing well is going to come good, so I pinned the Brno defeat on bad variance. Missing our best striker by a mile and putting in a respectable display at the side I considered the best in the division. The problem is I think this benefit of the doubt cost me in the next two games. Abject against Zizkov and an overly open game against Pribram where we paid the price. Five defeats in six, and down to third in the table. I put the dip down to two things in particular though you could argue they were intertwined. The first reason for me was tactical. I have been a proponent of chaos-ball this season and I think despite some excellent performances, many of whom where we've dominated teams of a similar level to ourselves, it's fair to say we had gotten away with a few at the other end and we were letting in way too many goals. I consider 1.5 goals my satisfactory goal line. If we let in 0 or 1 goals that's fine with me. If we let in 2 or more, I'm not happy. So in 22 games, we had conceded 2 or more on 10 occasions. I believe this catches up with you eventually, and when you haven't got a striker too good for the division propping you up, you are going to start paying the price. The other reason, which I believe does fit into this, is that I've seen a drop off from some of my older players. This often happens on the game anyway, so it's to be expected, but I think when you combine playing a high tempo game with 36 year olds, and then throw in a four month winter break this really can scupper you. The main player I had my eye on here was midfielder Matus Lacko. To me it's too demanding a game to put on a player of his age, suffering his decline. The same can apply to an extent to Jan Sisler, who has also turned 36, but he'd largely been kept out of the team anyway. Although I retain the pressing, I think dropping my number 10 to a holding midfielder and inverting my left sided full back makes us far harder to play through. I'd dropped Fila completely as his form had really tailed off, for new midfielder Luciano Mino, although he's picked up an injury himself now. It will be a shame to lose the attacking threat, we have scored the most goals in the league by a mile, but we had become simply too easy to beat. If we were to see promotion through, we would get absolutely eaten alive playing this way on occasion, though I do envisage a hugely different squad should we pull it off. The good news though, is the tactic has paid some dividends so far, with 7 points from 3 games and 2 clean sheets in the process - though it's hard to not be concerned with throwing a 0-2 lead away at a struggling Prostejov, exactly the sort of thing I thought we'd overcome. So we're in a real battle now. It's a proper three horse race between ourselves, Brno and Lisen. I think bar a huge dip from one of us, we're going to make up the top three. The league winner is promoted. 2nd and 3rd will play playoff fixtures against the teams who finish 2nd and 3rd bottom of the top tier, and I don't think history is on the side of the second tier side. Basically I think we're going to need to win the league to go up. And then what we may be up against; So five games left for us. We have a very kind run in in all honesty. The B teams of Sparta Prague and Sigma Olomouc caused us no issues in the reverse fixtures before we play the bottom two - both of whom could be relegated by the time we play them. The final day against Taborsko looks tricky, but this is offset with the convenient fact that Brno play Lisen on the final day, so at least one of them drops points anyway. And the final bit of interest is takeover interest in "penniless" Jihlava. Our financial situation has gone from looking pretty secure to looking fairly dire, so if we don't go up, I'm expecting some cutting back. I'm going to go heavier on loans next season regardless of division. They have allowed me to spend too much money on wages - and funnily enough I could spend a fair bit more if I wanted to. There's no money in this league and no money in this ownership. Something to bear in mind.

4. The long, long winter I mean seriously, I know you get some long winter breaks in some of these leagues, but this one feels particularly ridiculous. Our season breaks off in early November and has a whole four months off! This isn't in some freezing cold country, what's going on here? Even at somebody who by my own admission does holiday between games, this has dragged on. It isn't the case in the top tier, where they do have a break but only one that runs from December to February. The good news however is we're looking like we really could go all the way and get promoted. Brno have slowed down while we have picked up, even despite what has to be considered a bit of a shock loss at Chrudim. I had to laugh about the Chrudim game, they rank bottom on just about every performance metric and I expected us to take them apart, but it ends up being our only loss, and failure to score to date (in the league at least). Clearly the exciting football has got the fans flocking through the gates: It's a good reminder that we're a pretty badly supported club. Even in the second tier, as a side winning practically every home game we're only averaging 630 fans a game, the 10th highest in this division. This is again a reason that there is just simply nothing to gain from trying to build at this level. It's a terrible base and we simply need to just get out of this division as soon as possible, and we're looking like we could. The winter window was fairly busy for us in terms of outgoings rather than incomings, though we were forced into bringing some in. At this level virtually everybody is out of contract at the end of the season, so I think it's worth taking most chances to cash in on anybody if they aren't being used. All four players who departed in January had less than 6 months on their deal (so were going for nothing anyway) and had made virtually zero impact on my season. A fifth player in Trinbagonian striker Justin Araujo Wilson will return to his homeland in the summer too - quite funny watching clubs at that level give me money for players they could take for nothing. I made a bit of a clanger, albeit one that I haven't really paid the price for in signing a winger on loan from Partizan Belgrade to replace Leandro Lima, who has picked up a 2 month injury. While looking for a winger I in the process found a cheap one in Hynek Hruska who joined for a pittance in wages, albeit wanted loaning out. I made both signings but later found out that the Serbian winger wouldn't join until the summer, so Hruska can simply fill the void even if he's not quite at the level. He'll be a nice present when he arrives. We also signed young Argentine midfielder Luciano Mino after a trial - he looks a decent prospect. Not a position I lack bodies in, but an upgrade on some of the others - the majority I expect to be gone within 6 months. The squad is a bit of a mess currently in terms of structure, but it will start making some sense. The final quirk is this hilariously stupid incident with Swiss centre half Emir Tonbul, who not only became the first player I've ever seen fail an intensive language course, but then kick off and want out of the club off the back of it. He was apparently complaining to his team-mates about it - although I'd love to know what language he was doing that in. He's done pretty well for me this season, despite his lack of pace in our high line but his impressive tackling and aerial prowess seems to have made up for it, so I've given him a months leave of absence - of which he'll only miss the Dukla Prague game (this is potentially a tricky game despite them being sat 12th so I could pay for it). None of this should shock me - this is a centre half who wears the number 7. Let that be a reminder to not pick the default numbers in future seasons. He hasn't yet signed for next season. I've got eight players signed beyond June 2024 - nine if you include the Serbian winger (who I will now call by his easier to type name - Dzenis Totic), one of whom is a right back currently playing in Slovakia who happened to catch the eye during a winter friendly against us. The goalkeeper Mastny and attacking midfielder Fila are the exciting ones, Galus, Krivanek and Pisto those who I think could do a job in my squad even if I was promoted. Even despite his age I've had to give Tomas Smola another year as well - he's just absolutely miles too good for this league, and even on the decline I think he'd have something to offer me next season regardless of division. He's scored 16 times in 13 games - though is still remarkably three behind the leagues leading goalscorer. I'm glad to be back.

3. Hitting the ground running It's safe to say that based on the early evidence, this squad has proven a good fit for how I want to play. We've embraced what feels a bit like chaos but I've already seen improvement from the very start. Although it could only have gone one way from the opening game as Kromeriz, predicted to finish bottom of the table, had a 0-2 lead here within 10 minutes. Luckily though we did turn the game around and win 3-2. A winning start and one that on the balance of play, we did deserve as we largely absolutely hammered them. We made it two from two with a late winner at Dukla Prague (before adding a third in injury time). July manager of the month in the bag! We were a lot less convincing going into August with a ridiculous game against Vyskov ending 4-4, another we were 2 down in (from the 5th minute this time) before a 1-3 win at Lisen, a good result, but a bit of a freak victory. An entirely changed side won in the cup before a game against the best team in the league - Brno. We draw it despite an absolutely dominant first half, but very much the shoe on the other foot in the second. The month is rounded up with another chaotic victory at Viktoria Zizkov, a 3-0 win over Pribram and another victory against lower league opposition in the cup. The big change I made was dropping new signing Idrissa Diarra for backup centre back Milan Pisko. Diarra had made a pretty awful start and was frequently the weakest performing player in my pretty shocking defence. Pisko seemed to fix everything, we were still scoring goals, but now we'd stopped letting them in at a slightly lower rate. It's worth the obvious point out though that we've made a brilliant start. I do back myself in these sorts of leagues and think that playing the risky attacking game will pay dividends, but I didn't expect some of these results and performances. September saw three totally dominant displays in the league (though only two wins) before a cup exit at Brno - a vastly changed side and no prizes for guessing who was in defence. The Brno loss being my first at the club. I'm not somebody to toss the cup off - but this was a rank draw and the way we've started has made me think promotion is attainable. Lets clog up our rivals fixture list as well. So far, so very good. Expectations exceeded. I'm not too surprised by the type of football on offer, but I did think we'd have had a couple more defeats like the Brno cup one in the league. I mean in fairness even at Brno we actually played pretty well, 3-0 totally flattering them. We're definitely in the mix to go up, but I do think a couple of bad injuries could derail us. We still lack depth in the squad despite a couple more late additions made on loan at right back (David Krupicka) and left wing (Leandro Lima). It's not very forgiving though, with only the league winners getting automatic promotion and then 2nd & 3rd I understand playing playoffs against top tier teams. Brno have the ability to sustain this while I'm not sure we do. But the performances started well and have picked up even more as things have gone on, so maybe I'm underselling us. This is my usual first choice XI from here. Young goalkeeper Mastny did miss the opening few games and I'm probably being harsh on Diarra to totally ignore this point earlier on. He's one of the ones I can see sticking with me for a while. I think we arguably get away with it because both Emir and Pisko have tackling stats of 16 which is great in this system. Franek came in quite early and hasn't looked back since. Lacko is doing well, but aged 36 I can see a big drop off coming with him so there's a chance I'll sign somebody else in January. The star of the show has been the right winger Krivanek. Despite being right footed I like having one winger sitting inside a bit more as opposed to having both operate as wingers. This hasn't stopped him, if anything the opposite, he's scored a good 2/3 goals already from simply beating 2/3 players and slotting home. Selnar is simply pace. Lukas Fila, aged 19, became the first player in the squad to commit to signing beyond the end of this season with me in charge. He's a pacey player with a good finish on him. He, like Mastny, is somebody I could see being involved in 3/4 years time - but maybe I'm overestimating them. Smola, as predicted, has been excellent despite a slow start. Simply too good for this division. He can do basically everything. Couldn't have gone much better so far, but we're in a battle to actually see this through and get promoted for me.

2. Starting out As stated when I took over, the squad had a very peculiar imbalance. It wasn't as if it had been built for a typical winger system or wing backs - it was as if they played a 3-5-2 of entirely central players. The good thing however is that we had a bit of a blank canvas here, a bit of money to spend, and I'm able to pad out the squad with what I need. The rules in this league state that you have a squad size between 11 and 25 players, with U22 players not needing to be registered. We only had 11 players who were 22 or older at the club. The following have all come in so far: Smola is the real highlight of these signings. He's a real coup in my opinion despite his age, shown below. Diarra is a centre half who comes in as a result of a newly sustained long term injury to Filip Vedral, one of the two who welcomed me to the club by telling me he wants out of here. Kubr is a very attacking left back and again, quite a coup for this level, with Galus a backup to him. Sisler is holding midfielder / box to box type who, like Smola, should tie me over for a year or two. We're not done yet. We're still crying out for another winger, possibly another cental midfielder where we seem to have a quantity of very ordinary youngsters that I don't really rate, and another right back. Once those are in we're virtually set. However with the first game looming, this is what we have for now. I've already had to put Kubr onto the wing due to an injury to my only other player who can apparently play there. Very much a work in progress and tailored somewhat to suit the profiles of player I have. I'm excited to see what Fila can do as he's a 19 year old with a pretty decent second striker profile, and I think playing behind Smola could work wonders. In Sisler & Lacko we have a strong, but very old midfield. I'll revisit this in around three months of game time (unless something genuinely interesting happens, which isn't likely). We start with a very kind fixture at home to newly promoted Kromeriz (I'm sorry, English keyboard, I'm not finding that many accents!) who are predicted to finish dead last in the league, but our second game at Dukla Prague is a big test. Ultimately though you can't really predict everything that will happen in these leagues. On the Brage and Varazdin saves, I saw both Djurgarden and Osijek relegated, so for all I know Kromeriz might win the league. But we'll see how it pans out.

1. FC Vysočina Jihlava - The context, the plan A bit of context on the league system I've entered. Welcome to Czech Republic. I'm not sure when people started calling it Czechia. I might start doing it myself if people can give me a good reason. To make this a bit trickier I have decided from now I will just enter at the lowest tier of any country I get. I back myself generally to climb quite quickly, and at Varazdin although it was in a stupidly one sided league historically, I don't think the AI really hammers home the dominance that in this instance Dinamo Zagreb actually had. What I'm saying is overhauling them was easier than expected, and I ultimately joined the 6th best team in Croatia. At least with Jihlava I'm going to a pretty bad team in Czech Republic, predicted 7th in the 2nd tier (so the 23rd best team in the country currently) and finished 14th out of 16, narrowly beating the drop in 2022/23. In-fact on the season I'm going to start in, 2023/24, they did the same again. They are bad. The only knowledge I have of Jihlava is that they were in the top tier not too long ago and a funny quirk is that I once entered a world last man standing, where you could pick any team in the world to win to stay in the game. I picked Viktoria Plzen to beat Jihlava, an absolute banker, and it ended 0-1. So this is clearly a club with huge potential and a high ceiling. How my teams tend to play is pretty front-footed, aggressive football. We pick up many cards and suspensions, a few injuries, but I think I build a squad in such a way that I can usually take a hit. I think I'm quite good at getting solid 7/10 players for very little money. At this level I'd like to think that was pretty straight forward. The squad itself is as previously mentioned, average for this level, but it's notably very young. Very few players aged over 25, which is a good start, but it isn't a very good team and there are gaps everywhere. Criminal lack of width. One right back, one left back (who is a midfielder more than a left back), one left winger. The good news however is we do have a little bit of money to play with. A budget of £170k which in all honesty probably won't go very far even at this level, as my quite ordinary looking centre back is apparently worth £300k with a year left on his contract. But we do have a bit of money in the wage bill, so I'll be targeting free agents and loans. I make no bones about the fact I want out of this league as quickly as possible. There is no point trying to build in the second tier of Czech Republic. We aren't going to develop players quickly, we aren't going to get good money for anybody we produce. Just get out of this place and go from there. I want to be up in two seasons. I'm given a warm welcome by my new squad, with two of them telling me within hours of joining that they want to run down their contract and leave at the end of the season. I'm willing to let anybody who wants to go, go. Particularly players who have a year left on their contract. Off you pop. Nothing that a loanee or free agent can't fix. If we can get a bit of money for them in the process then great. My aim is a crack at promotion this season but not to go mad if it isn't achieved. A theme of these saves so far has been a mediocre first season where I finished well, carrying the form into a strong second season. This happened at Brage where despite only finishing 8th in the Superettan, it did come via a strong winning run at the end. It felt we'd "cracked it" as such and I knew where I needed to recruit for in the summer, before winning the league the following season. Very similar happened at Varazdin, where I had some pretty patchy form throughout the season. I tried a more technical approach at Varazdin due to the style of player I had, but it wasn't until I reverted to my what I call "shanta gegenfouling" that we yielded strong form even despite the players I had. This first season at Jihlava may be the same - a lot of finding what actually works for us and what to actually recruit towards. I'm quite confident I can crack that before the end of year two. From then on, we'll see. I do think this'll be harder than both Sweden & Croatia because of the gulf in quality. My star player would get laughed at if he trained with one of the Prague clubs. They're on another level altogether, so it is going to take a while I think.

Greetings. It has been a while. I did a save on here a few years ago in France at FC Annecy. A great success if I say so myself. But I have moved on to a new way. I've managed in many leagues in Europe, and some outside (owing to a foiled attempt at the pentagon on FM22) with varying success. I have however gained a bug for a new way of playing and it is simply to explore the game as much as possible - setting me off on a mission to win every league in Europe, and maybe down the line, every league in the world. The idea is to go onto this site: Wheel of Names | Random name picker Enter a list of every country I am yet to manage in on FM to ensure that wherever I end up, I will get a new country and league to play with. I will 'spin' three teams in three different countries, and I will simply pick the one of those I want to manage in the most. I have done two spins so far. I ended up with IK Brage in the Swedish 2nd tier and won the Allsvenskan in a surprise good season in year four. We built a solid side and developed this baffling knack of scoring late winners. I think of our 30 games, we won 13 of them 1-0 and of those 13, I think at least half of them were via last 15 minute goals. We picked up a surprising title win on the final day and I would spend another year there, having a crack at Europe where we ended up going out of the Europa League play-off knockout round to FC Basel, though we did beat Wolfsburg on the way which was the real scalp of the save. I moved on to Mainz, had a couple of seasons there, did pretty well again but just got the urge to spin again, so that save was over. Sweden crossed off my list. 15 down, 21 to go in Europe. This time I am presented with the choice of Croatia, Serbia or Scotland. I end up with NK Varazdin of Croatia. This was another very productive save. We had a mixed first season finishing 6th in the top tier where I was predicted to finish, albeit finished superbly. We in the second season finished 2nd, but via the most insanely bad bottlejob - we were something like 10 points clear with 5 games left, but such is the way of Croatia, Dinamo Zagreb beat the odds to win their 126th straight league title. We do however take our first ever trophy via the Croatian cup, and in the third season, despite a pretty slow start we absolutely romp home in the second half of the season and claim the title. We are knocked out of Europe by Servette. I've been playing on for my fourth season at Varazdin, but when you've scaled the heights, and the European campaign is going nowhere (we're getting slapped all over the Champions League) I just can't resist the urge to get myself into a new league. 16 down, 20 to go. The countries below are where I am yet to manage: I spin Israel, Denmark and Czech Republic. I will favour Israel and Czech Republic of those two - as Denmark for me is a bit too similar to Sweden, and Norway which I did on FM23. I also think I will try and merge various countries on these, and I see Denmark as a second destination after conquering somewhere like Finland, Iceland or Latvia. Israel and Czech Republic offer a decent standard league with a bit of variety - both relatively new areas for me. I don't only spin the country however, I spin the league and the club too. I spin the Czech top tier, the Danish 4th tier, and the Israeli 2nd tier. However - I may stop spinning the league, and simply go for the lowest available league within the game going forward. This is what I end up doing with Czech Republic, after I spin the impressively dull Slavia Prague. I may as well just stick with Varazdin if I'm going there. I get the following choices: Czech Republic - FK Vysocina Jihlava Denmark - BK Avarta Israel - Maccabi Kabilio Jaffa The winner is Jihlava. It was between them and Maccabi Jaffa for previously stated reasons, but Czech Republic is the 17th country I will be taking on, attempting to win a league title.

Two issues for me on 1.1. Unless I'm totally missing it and it's moved there's no longer a preferred foot bit on the attributes page (this is on the standard skin still). The other is the touchline tablet stays there during highlights for me which obstructs the view, makes the game unplayable.