Neo_Geo

Nice one on getting promoted @mschafer13

AMIDST TRANSFER CHAOS THE GREENS WIN THE TITLE I am going to trim down my yearly updates because one of the reasons for doing Malta is a smaller league and get through the seasons quicker. I was going to do 2 years per update but given what went on in the first season I thought it would be best to have the first one now. I mentioned in earlier posts that as soon as the first transfer window opened I was being bombarded with news items of approaches to sign nearly every player in my squad (the best ones at least) and little did I know until a little @WhiteCat33 told me, that if you set the contract start date to be the end of the season it will at least buy you that much time without any further offers as they have already accepted a contract. Without knowing this I lost 6 of my key players (2 out of the 3 strikers 2 out of my 3 central midielders a highly promising left winger and a defensive utility man that could pretty much play anywhere). Up until the first window closing we were actually doing really well and even after losing these players and playing a right winger in DMC position we were still getting results (guess this shows the awful level of Tier 3 football in Malta). I had opted for my trusty 4-2-4 wide formation but I moved the central midfielders to be DMs to suit my 1 remaining midfielder and also to provide a little more cover at the back. Things were going well and the second transfer window opened and now with the knowledge provided to me I was able to avoid losing a single player in that window. We continued our good form and with about 5 games to go we were 12 points clear with a game in hand and it was looking comfortable. Then we lost to Rabat Ajax, no big deal right with a gap like that? Well it turns out the scheduling in Malta is a bit imbalanced (possibly due to stadium sharing) which meant that the spread of games played often wasn't symmetrical. Rabat Ajax were one of those teams who had played about 4 games less than everyone else (including myself) and were now 10 points behind and in fine form. It produced a very nervy end to the season especially when my game in hand with 2 games to go saw me travel to 3rd placed team Marsaskala with Rabat level on points but behind on goal difference and I came away with a 1 nil win to restore the 3 point gap and at this point avoiding a complete disaster in the last game would see us crowned as champions. In another away match to 8th placed Xgħajra Tornadoes it was another nervy 1-0 win that clinched to title. Our defence was the one area not really impacted by the sales and it shows as we only conceded 12 goals in 22 games but scoring goals was a bit more tricky playing with the one grey striker. I can only wonder what might have happened if I had held onto those 6 players however financially it would have left us in an even worse position as we are currently £27k in the red and that was despite making a few rounds of the Maltese Trophy which provided £10k prize money for winning in the third round and would have given £20k if we had won in the 4th round away to Premier League side Gzira United (3-2 loss) but we still got £10k for losing there as well. Financially we need to look to progress in the cup as much as possible to balance the books as the shirt sponsor deal is only worth around £6k at the moment and there will be no money coming in from anywhere else unless the board provide funds to keep us in the black. There were no coaching courses approved due to the finances nor any improvements and this may remain the same for some time. Youth Intake The intake was all about numbers and replenishing a depleted first team squad following that first transfer window however Michael Attard Y1-A looks like he will make a big difference right away. In addition to him there is a left winger where I was lacking depth and quality and two central midfielders albeit more attacking minded so I might have to retrain or tweak the formation into something less symmetrical. I'm looking into my own ratings approach for the youth players but I'm nowhere near ready to use it and I just want to get the save moving so for now its just a case of looking at the intake at face value and according to my backroom staffs view of their abilities. Squad News I want to spend more time looking at the squad during this save so I will be tracking the squad planner for the coming season, squad depth, experience matrix and an overview of the squad each update: The average ability looks a little better than it did before the intake but you can clearly see DMC is a problem area. This is again backed up in the squad depth view showing that I have 1 player recognised as a DM, but he is a pretty decent one at that. You can also see the strength of the defence but its only 1 layer deep. Experience matrix shows only the 1 experienced player in Lee Galea who has now retired. I'd say overall the squad is looking ok as far as potential is concerned (at least according to the coaches) but as always you have to temper these expectations until the players start playing and age by a couple of years. Bingo Card A reasonable first year for the Bingo Card but I've seen that there are no awards given in this league (must have been something Timo didn't want to do) so at least 4 of these will never be achievable (A3 through B4) so I will most likely change these to something I can actually achieve. Admin

There is a spoiler in the original post though I think it’s a little dated now. From memory I’d say in europe it’s Northern Ireland, Finland, Denmark, Croatia, Belarus, Hungary, Bosnia, Albania, Austria (watch out for @libbyshuss), Slovenia, Slovakia, Israel.

Showing my lack of experience with the semi prof side of things, I'll give that a try with the next transfer window, thanks for the advice Edit: thank you so much @WhiteCat33 the end of season contract start date just puts a stop to the endless bids…..wish I had known at the start of the season

Can someone help out here? This player was on £220 appearance fee and an important player, he signed for a team in the unplayable division BELOW for £70 appearance fee and my club's reputation (although on half a star shows higher in the national club reputation ranking). Why on earth would this deal happen?

I forgot just how much I HATE semi pro contracts: Feel like all I've done since the save is read about other clubs approaching my players over and over and over again. I offer contracts, they sign then 1 day later another team come in. Why is it whenever I've tried signing players in the past who signed a new deal I get told they aren't interested in talking yet when the shoe is on the other foot its fine. Going to get sacked as there will be no way I can get promoted if I lose half my team before a competitive match is played EDIT: 6 of my best players gone in the first window, this was meant to be fun but its brining on anxiety. This save might be over before it even gets going at this rate (though somehow I'm top despite playing an AMR in DM and now a grey striker partnering my one remaining striker)

I realised something, I get tired of saves because of the pressure I put on myself to succeed and complete the challenge rather than enjoying it and embracing the journey and the evolution of a squad and country. For my next save I am focusing on having fun rather than expecting to mount any kind of serious challenge. Welcome to the island of Gozo, Malta Time to go back to a country where I had a lot of fun in FM 23 and with it being such a small country the chances of succeeding the challenge are slim to none, so its about having fun and not about the outcome. The leagues are nice and small with 22 games in the 3rd Tier (I had to exclude the 4th tier as there is no relegation from it), 30 games in the second tier and 26 games in the top tier. There is a national cup and a super cup so its quite a compact country as far as fixtures are concerned. One of the key things I will be looking at is the Maltese national team (you will see why a little later in this post) and at the start of the save they are 163rd in the world and have never qualified for the World Cup or European Championships since joining FIFA in 1959 and UEFA in 1960. Now it's time to introduce the club that I am going to take charge of to start my Maltese Adventure! (using the Timo Malta (D4) pack) Kerċem Ajax FC I know I said I didn't want to put pressure on myself to succeed but I may not get the chance to relax and have fun as both the board and supporters expect promotion this season for which I have to finish first. The squad is in good nick with a healthy number of players although just one keeper so hopefully avoid any season ending injuries (or lose him as we are semi-pro). The star player is 27 year old Brazilian Gabriel Fernandes Olimpio who is a solid central midfielder with 12 long shots so I will be encouraging him to test the Maltese National Amateur League keeper as much as possible. Now for the fun part!!!! One of the reasons I stopped playing my Croatia save was not being able to play my youngsters well here there are no age restrictions but there are two key restrictions for the squad: 1. Only 2 foreign players can be registered 2. Only 1 foreign player in match day squad This is going to be a true build a nation relying on the domestic talent (hopefully with a few second nationality Maltese youth players!). Usually with building a nation its about bringing in talent to that league, doing better on the continent and repeating over and over until winning a continental competition and boosting reputation of your club and the league. Obviously in the youth academy challenge this isn't allowed but foreign players coming through your ranks are a key part to getting a better squad particularly when the nation has a very low youth rating. It will be interesting (most likely frustrating) to see how players come through the youth setup and just hope that I don't actually get too many players that I simply cannot register. In saying this IF we ever make European competition I could potentially play foreign players there but I can only register 2 for domestic purposes (that is of course if the bug in Croatia doesn't show up here where domestic player rules bleed into continental rules). I'm probably going to give updates at 2 year intervals as well as I feel this save could be more focused on the long term rather than the short term but I'll see how it goes. EDIT: Nearly forgot the kits

Awesome work @Daddy Glad to see I didn't jinx you by saying that Czech Republic might not be long for being incomplete!

Maybe not so much a record for getting out of the lowest division but in terms of perseverance at a save he is the go to guy.....honestly don't know how he goes as many seasons as he does, its the stuff of legends

Good job I erred on the side of caution last night when spinning up a new save then

What's the general view of transfer update packs and updated clubs per league? Is this a no go? I had downloaded a pack from sortitoutsi and its enabled 35 database editor files.

Croatia getting on my nerves now, the whole waiting until players are 17 to play them, my U19s still not being in a league, any players I loan out can't play until they are 17 as well and now my new chairman (despite having Develop players using clubs youth system) refuses to approve the youth facilities (asked 4 times now) despite the option never disappearing. I'm going to do something I haven't done in a long time and re-visit an old save (I'll keep the Croatia save just in case I decide to go back there some day). I'm going back to my Crewe United save mid-way through Season 14. EDIT: I loaded in and had so many games in such a short space of time, not going back there

Ask @Padders

I mean you could make the challenge even harder if you want by not allowing yourself to extend their contracts

Awesome, if I get bored (or sacked) in Croatia I may just look to do a build a nation save that starts as youth only though with only a few months to FM25 I doubt I’d get that far!

I hear you @XaW England is a mammoth undertaking, so many games, so many tiers. Seeing @WhiteCat33 with 22 games in a truly unique setting looks very appealing. Hopefully you can get one of these saves to stick to lead you through to FM25

Every story is different so just because the club is the same doesn’t mean the save will be any less enjoyable for you or for the rest of us to read about. I mean look at the Northern Ireland attempts, 90% of them are for Crewe United because it’s usually them or Belfast celtic that get promoted in the first season, we had 3 saves on the go at the same point not that long ago

You’re far too polite sir, I wasn’t suggesting you were treading on his toes, I just know from my own experiences I like to do something as unique as it can be but that’s just me. Don’t let me talk you out of it

Best of luck @scarp though @Daddy is 23 seasons in with the same team and doing really rather well and not that I want to jinx him I wouldn’t bank on Czech being incomplete for too long. Last time I can think of two members completing with the same team close together was @thomas_e and myself completing Holland with VV Katwijk within a week or so of each other and thomas_e doing it in a shorter timeframe. As long as you enjoy the journey and don’t mind someone else doing that team/country at the same time then go for it.

KUSTOSIJA ZAGREB FALL AT THE FINAL HURDLE AS HOPES ARE DASHED An incredibly tightly fought title race went to the very last day as Kustosija played Dinamo Zagreb 3 times in a row to decide the Croatian Cup winner and League Winner. The title above tells you what you need to know, I lost the final league game (didn't matter as Hajduk won theirs and were a point ahead before kick-off) and then lost 2-1 on aggregate to Dinamo in the cup. The immediate feeling was that I had wasted a golden opportunity.....the reality is this is the 4th season of the save and I've finished second twice (with a narrowing gap) and runner up in the cup twice. In addition we made the Europa Conference League Last 16 again after dropping out of the Europa League at the play-off stage. All in all a really positive season which saw me shift to me 4-2-4 wide formation with Ernad Petanjek Y1-A finding his scoring boots having a pressing forward alongside the poacher. That change lead to 83 goals scored in the league compared to 65 of the previous season. We did manage to beat Hajduk three times; twice in the league (5-3 at home and 0-1 away) and 3-2 in the cup after extra time) and we are managing to take points off of Dinamo when I didn't have an injury crisis so there is definite progress being made. In Europe we had some astounding results, none more so than the 6-2 away win at Trabzonspor where we managed a 5.02 xG with 55% possession, or the 7-1 home win against Besiktas which told a similar story (though the xG was not as high). I've opted to not play defensive and to remain positive and keep the front 4 on attack, sometimes it pays off and sometimes it doesn't but as the quality of player hopefully improves so too should the win ratio. Overall the club is heading in the right direction with junior coaching and youth recruitment maxed out now and both training and youth facilities at or just above the midway point. Finances are going great thanks to European football and attendances still rise. I suspect there will be a new stadium in the next few years if we keep going like this especially since we managed to get 34,000 attending the home game against Valencia in the last 16 of the Conference League. We've broken into the top 10 in terms of domestic reputation and also into the top 100 ranked clubs in Europe based on coefficient so I am really pleased with the progress. League Results Domestic Cup Results European Results Youth Intake A reasonable intake this year and finally there was a half decent looking left back coming through as I mentioned in my last update that this was an area I am a little concerned about (as well as in goal as my first choice keeper seems to have peaked). I've started to just offer contracts to the players I like then sign the recommended players based on the HoYD's recommendation meaning that a number of the intake are starting to not be signed up (always feels strange when I get to this stage as I'm so used to signing all 16). I think Dorjan Pirsic Y4-A is the pick of the bunch this year but I'm not sure how we fits in with my new formation, I may try to use him as a shadow striker where I'm looking to draw the centre backs out of position where they are sitting in. Youth Intake Preview Dorjan Pirsic Y4-A Pejo Biscan Y4-A Karlo Igor Mocilac Y4-A Mislav Janko Krovinovic Y4-A Fran Roko Milasinovic Y4-A Club News The big news for the club this year was the takeover and the subsequent public listing. The new board also asked about increasing the transfer budget and I wanted to get more coaches but the option was only to increase their wages and not their numbers so I just went with the transfer budget. The previous chairperson continued to approve the improvements and I've got the go ahead for the final coaching badge course: Continental Pro License Course Junior Coaching Budget Increase Training Facilities Improvement 1 Training Facilities Improvement 2 Youth Facilities Improvement Not really club news but more country/league news, the Croatian First League jumped up 3 places and the coefficient rise has led to yet more good news on the European Places front. The previous Champions Path 2nd qualifying round place has been replaced with a Champions Path Playoff place next season. Admin (Transfers) Squad News It was a good season for a few of the youngsters getting much increased game time and I have 3 players who are now first on the teamsheet in Ernad Petanjek Y1-A, Antun Perković Y2-A (who now wants to join a bigger club) and Hrvoje Dramać Y3-A with the latter 2 having now played for Croatia at U21 level, oddly Petanjek has only been capped at U18 despite his crazy goalscoring this year. On that note: Europa League Golden Boot Europa League Young Player of the Season Here is how the squad profile looks at the end of season 4. Here is the best 11 now showing my favoured 4-2-4 wide and the steady improvements in average rating: Here are the player records (which are hard to get the numbers right as the all time appearances figure in the squad view includes loan appearances for other clubs!) Bingo Card Another 2 targets met and a realisation that one of these targets is impossible, Youth Player is League Young Player of the Season, as this award is not given in Croatia. I expect next season Youth Player with 50 club goals will be achieved, Continental Pro License and we'll see what else. Next Season I feel that things are going well at the moment but as a few of the youth players get better they are more unsettled as we still aren't seen as a big club yet. I've got the players tied down to fairly lengthy contracts but it will be Man Manager 2024 this season and possibly next to try and keep the balance. On a tactical front I have a number of decent AMCs looking to break into the first team so I will probably have to look at retraining where possible to fit them in. It's always the problem of a 2 striker and winger formation as your central midfielders rather than having as many as 4 or in most cases 3, there are only 2 and usually only space for one creative midfielder. If these are the biggest issues I face then I really have no grounds to complain. I would like to say I will target the league but it feels like the bubble is going to burst at some point even though we were agonisingly close this year and broke the record for highest points without winning the title.

So I got myself into a pickle with my up and coming star striker when his agent had the locked in incredibly low minimum fee, these contract negotiations were when the player wanted improved terms. I dropped the wages way down so that I at least offered something and the talks fell apart. The player was unhappy and I said sorry and would go back to the table. I was looking to see where the resolve issues option was but it wasn't there, oh dear I messed up. Or did I? When presented with the minimum fee being locked in I stated that I was happy in principle but wanted to not go down the route of saying anything is non-negotiable and this happened: This is probably the first time I've actually discussed a new contract for a player like this and it paid off so its another trick in the book for avoiding these minimum fee release clauses. It might have helped that the agent appears to have a crush on me though

BUILDING FOUNDATIONS IN SEASON 3 A promising season which saw us finish 2nd in the league to a far superior Hajduk side, reaching the final of the Croatian Cup to lose to Hajduk and reaching the round of 16 in the Europa Conference League. I've been bleeding a few of the youngsters this season but their overall performances haven't been that great and we are very much still relying on the original cast. I'm not concerned at this stage but I'd like to see the youth step their performances up in the next season as we are probably about 3 years away from the transition from original squad to youth players in the XI being in full swing. A number of or youth players are involved in the national setup at the youth level which is also encouraging. I dabbled with a few formations this year as alternatives with the 4-3-3 DM Wide still being the first choice, 4-2-3-1 Wide as the back-up then adding a 4-2-4 Wide as the third choice. The main strength in our team is one the wings and in particular Filip Vajdovčić who on the right wing scored 16 in 37 appearances and 8 assists. Hajduk are simply way too good at this moment in time and for now I am happy to sit in the shadows building up the quality within the squad and continue to improve our facilities and second place this year was a bonus. We had been in that position most of the season but in the last 5 games we really started to dip in form and played Hajduk 3 times in a row in the cup (2 leg final) and in the league losing 2 and drawing 1. Luckily we held out and got the Europa League spot. In Europe we scraped into the Europa Conference proper after beating FC Nordsjælland 4-1 at home in the first league we collapsed in the second leg and lost it 4-1 but managed to crawl over the line with a win on penalties. The draw in the league was really rather favourable allowing us to pick up 11 points from 18 and qualify for the knock out play offs where we played IF Elfsborg who we drew with in the league phase at their ground and a narrow win drew us against Sparta Prague who were just too strong and who put Dinamo Zagreb out in the quarter final on penalties after dumping us out. The club is ticking along very nicely with the facilities now improving, finances are boosted by the European money, season tickets and average attendance all increasing. Our reputation home and abroad continues to improve well ahead of schedule. I am still frustrated by the U17 rule but it just means a few more years until I reach a point of being able to fully embed the youth in the first team but the U19s team having no fixtures is still a real pain as I'm having to arrange friendlies. If the youth facilities gets maxed then the youth players will have the best facilities here at the club but no match time unless I manually schedule fixtures for them as the current settings for the U19s friendlies just won't work. League Results Domestic Cup Results European Results and League Youth Intake I got a Scottish Elite talent this year in the intake and he looks a fairly promising prospect, the question is whether he is deemed good enough to play when he hits 16. It actually seems a little bit of a cheat because if a player is allowed to play when they are 16 it suggests their potential is better than the 16 year olds that can't play. However, this assumes that the game is using the actual potential ratings and isn't just guesstimating it based on other attributes. Youth Intake Preview Euan McLeod Y3-A Sven Horkas Y3-A Vito Hoic Y3-A Hrvoje Dramac Y3-A Maks Hranjec Y3-A Sven Pasaricek Y3-A Zinedin Bajramovic Y3-A Although the intake shows McLeod as the best player coming through I really like Hrovje Dramac Y3-A. He's already made his debut this season and as I mentioned with him being 16 this must mean he has a lot of potential (relatively speaking). He also has professional personality and is already improving from his short time at the club. The intake didn't give me much quality on the left wing as it was primarily dominated by central midfielders and defenders with a few on the right. Left back still troubles me as there is no obvious player coming through but luckily my current 2 players at left back are 25 and 24 so I may have a few years to spare in getting a quality player come through in that position. Club News A very good year as far as the club was concerned with coaching courses and improvements being approved by the board with a small amount of persuading involved. Continental A Coaching Course Junior Coaching Budget Increase 1 Junior Coaching Budget Increase 2 Training Facilities Improvement Youth Training Facilities Improvement Youth Recruitment Improvement In other news the number of Champions League places was increased which is very pleasing to see given Hajduk don't look like giving up first place anytime soon. Squad News The squad is still largely as it was with a few of the youth players starting to rack up appearances and experience. It's very unusual for me to just be arriving at this point 3 seasons in as I'd usually look to blood youngsters at the end of season 1 and fully in season 2 so its taking some time to adjust to delaying things a year or two. Squad Profile The best eleven shows we aren't performing that great overall despite getting the results to take us to second but as long as I start to see steady improvements over the next few seasons I won't be overly concerned by this. Bingo Card Another 2 targets marked off for the European progress this year. Continental A license will come next year and I'd expect the 50 club appearances will also be hit.

We’ll done @djsterry

I think I've found a bug, wondering if anyone else has ever seen this issue. So in Croatia there is the rule around the minimum age In the Europa Conference I should be able to play 16 year olds and even 15 year olds right? Both of my keepers are out injured and I'm looking to play Tomisic Y1-A but as you can see where I have highlighted "Ine" you will see he's "below the minimum age requirement for this competition" Are the league rules somehow bleeding into European competition as well?

KUSTOSIJA ZAGREB FLYING HIGH IN TOP FLIGHT I was seriously expecting to be fighting off relegation for the season but a strong start turned into a strong mid-season and a strong end of season as not only did survive we pushed Hajduk and Dinamo all the way and managed to finished 3rd and therefore qualify for the Europa Conference qualifiers as well! Once again a strong defensive performance (35 conceded in 36) was the foundation of a successful season but injuries to Luka Vracar meant that scoring goals proved to be a little tougher. I stuck largely with the same formation until near the end of the season I had no strikers and went to a 4-1-2-3 strikerless out of necessity. In the cup we made it through one round and then lost to Osijek away but the cups are always a bonus and I honestly can't wipe the smile from my face that we finished 3rd in our first season in the top flight. With European football so early in the challenge it will be a huge boost financially but the coming season is the first time I can properly integrate the youth prospects so I expect a transitional season at best. Financially things have improved this year given the £1m TV revenue essentially allowing us to break even. Although I don't remember being told about moving stadiums it appears that we have moved to an 8,850 capacity stadium which allowed us to get a larger sellout against Dinamo during the season. I had a look at the league rules and saw that you need at least 3000 seats but apparently ours is 5000 all seater so I have no idea why we have moved ground??? Reputation hasn't risen much as we are still 2 star and still 11th in the Croatian Club Rep Rankings. League Results Domestic Cup Results Youth Intake The intake preview was a little better than last year with centre-backs and strikers both regarded as A. I would say that the centre-back opinion was spot on as we had a 3 star current ability central defender come through. Once again here are those elite talents: Antun Perković Y2-A Sven Bukvašević Y2-A Grga Vidošević Y2-A Vanja Pivarić Y2-A Vanja Pršir Y2-A Tomislav Bilić Y2-A As Perkovic was 16 and seemingly deemed of sufficient potential he was able to make 2 appearances at the tail end of this season. He's a little smaller than I would like for a centre back at 5'10" but his mentals are solid and a lot of double digit attributes across the board so I think there is plenty to work with. He is also ambitious which may help development but also see him want to leave for a bigger club earlier as well. Of the others I will probably retrain Pivaric to be a left back on wingback support as I don't have many great options coming through (Igor Hasan Y2-B that came through this year doesn't look great so I will be trying Pivaric out there). I've changed my staff responsibilities for the U19s so that a friendly match should be arranged if 11 or more players are lacking fitness to see if that gets friendlies arranged automatically otherwise I'll revert to what I did this season and arrange a number of them myself whilst I wait to see if there is ever an opportunity to take part in the Croatia Junior League. Club News Fighting Robbie Savage for coaching courses whilst at Macclesfield seems a distant memory now as my current board are approving all of my coaching courses with THREE this year. Coaching Course 1 Coaching Course 2 Coaching Course 3 We got another lovely financial boost this year as former player as Mislav Orsic moved to Fenerbahce for £30m which saw us bank another £300k for a player that never even played a single time for the club......not bad I asked for Junior Coaching Budget increase and Youth Recruitment Improvements this year and with a little persuasion the board agreed: Junior Coaching Budget Increase Youth Recruitment Improvement I have zero complaints right now with the way the club is being run and if we can manage to qualify for the Europa Conference League League Phase then financially we will be really well placed just 3 seasons in. Admin (Transfers) Squad News No major developments with regards to the squad, I have let a few out of contract players leave as we are now at the point where some of the youth players will be eligible to play for the first team. I will have a trickier time this season keeping some of the older rotation players happy as I will now start to give some of their game time to the youth players in their positions so I expect a number may leave either on a free or be loaned/sold over the course of the season. Squad Overview The best eleven shows fewer averaging above 7 than last year but it was a decent enough start to life in the top flight. In the player records two youth players managed to play a combined 3 games this season but it should start to ramp up from here onwards. Roko Peros claimed both the fans player and young player of the season this year as he excelled for me in the middle of the park Bingo Card Some nice progress made on the bingo card this year mainly attributed to our position in the league