Riebow

KSV Oudenaarde Season Review (35/36) League Amazing season all around, where we competed on three levels. We were top of the table at the end end of the regular season, but fatigue started to set in during the Championship group as we were still in the Conference League as well. In the end we finished 4rd and qualified for Europa League football. Anderlecht extended its title. We kept Club Brugge behind us. We're close, but these games are brutal. Croky Cup We finally had a good cup run, but we keep running into Anderlecht. They completely demolished us in the semi-finals. Europe (Conference League) But the real magic we kept for Europe. We had a tough road to the league phase, having to get by Banik Ostrava and FC Midtjylland. The league phase however was a doozy, the strongest opponent being Trabzonspor. We finished at top of the league. In the round of 16 we had another lucky draw with Pogon Szczecin from Poland. In the quarters we finally got a real opponent: Valencia. This should have been the end, but our lads thought otherwise. In a incredible performance we absolutely demolished Valencia at home: 3-0!!! In the return leg we had to hold on for dear life. We were down 2-0 at half time, but we stood tall in the 2nd half. No teams from the big leagues were left and in the semis we drew Basaksehir from Turkey. We won both games, to reach our very first European Final. To make things even better, it would be an all-Belgian final with the opponent being Club Brugge. The final: the game couldn't have started worse. They scored on a corner after only 5 minutes. We kept bringing the pressure, but in the second half we've gotten one of those random pushes for a penalty against. 2-0. We scored one back, missed two huge chances in extra time, but couldn't equalise. We lose the final 2-1. Youth Intake Another 8 elite talents, but the personalities are mostly negative. Nobody really stands out, so we'll circle back in 5 seasons. NXGN Three players in the NXGN-list, on positions 1, 2 and 5 Emmanuel Decorte(AMR/STC; Spirited) Our main striker, scored 19 goals this season. Nabik Arkine(DRL; Fairly Professional) Our starting right back Kamal Nekkache(DM/MC/AMC; Fairly Ambitious) Now this is a bonafide wonderkid. Only 16 and already an established Jupiler Pro League player, with tons of upside. Transfers In January we sold our best player at that point: Pierfrancesco Zanni to Juventus. A nice bit of money: Almost 10M upfront and 50% of the next sale. Here he is. He breaks Jacques Schrauwen's previous transfer record. Facilities We improved our youth and training facilities (both are now on Great) We also maximised our youth recruitment 5 Years ago... The Starters: - Nicolas Didier is our starting left winger and a really good, if inconsistent, players. He scored 17 goals last season combined with 11 assists. The squad players: - Simone Cortinovis: He's a decent option from the bench as an inside forward from the left or a striker - Rémi Franzen: a mostly back-up wing back who can jump in from the left or the right - Rube Charles: Has been on loan the last couple of seasons. Has a lot of speed, but not much else. Might use him as the occasional starter next season The ones that have gotten away: - Dominik Gibas: could have been our starting GK, but sold him last season to Club Brugge, where he's their back-up - Patrick Mbombo: Left at the end of his contract to Francs Borains; could have been useful - Jean-Luc Verelst: Really gutted we lost him. I refused a bid from Club Brugge and the beginning of last season, which made him upset. He refused to renew his contract; and left for a free to RWD Molenbeek. He would have been a regular starter. The others: - Harry de Jong: is now playing for Jong Lede in the provincial divisons - Ryan Michauw: is still at my U21' - Alessandro Battistelli: didn't get a contract - Cédric Van De Velde: plays at Tournai in the 3rd tier - Murphy Makutungu: is at Beerschot's U23's - Pasquale Roelandt: is now playing at KRC Gent in the 4rd tier - Heinrich Van Rooy: didn't get a contract - Terry Paulussen: is at our U21's - Koenraad Janssens: is playing at KVV Zelzate in the provincial divisions Next season. Reach the championship group again, and rake in the money in Europe.

KSV Oudenaarde Season Review (34/35) League Our best season to date. We finished 4rd in the league phase and qualified for the championship group. We only won one game and drew twice, but it was enough to finish 5th and the chance to play for European Football in a play-off game. We were able to keep AA Gent behind us for the 5th spot. An insane game against Westerlo for European football. They equalized in the 94th minute to take the game to overtime. They scored again on a corner in the 99th minute and then pandemonium struck. Up and coming star Emmanuël Decorte scored twice in the 118 and 120th minute to take us up and over Westerlo! Croky Cup A very bad cup run; ending after only 2 games. Youth Intake Our HOYD is on a roll, delivering another 9 elite talents. Personalities are a bit of a mixed bag this time. Star of the intake is Kamal Nekkache, who arrives with already 3 stars CA. Kamal Nekkache (DM/MC/AMC; Fairly Ambitious) He's the real deal. According to the excel algorithms he's already my best central midfielder. Technique, Teamwork, Work Rate,... Just a very well rounded player. Transfers Here's where things are going haywire. We're running on a negative transfer balance, which means that every transfer window our board is taking over transfers, doing stupid stuff. Reluctantly I decide to sell the clause for our former wonderkid Jacques Schrauwen for 5.71M which should take care of the transfer balance. However, only a couple weeks later the transfer balance is back in the red... We sold our potental future starting goalkeeper to Club Brugge for 1.8M, but worse we lost two huge prospects on a free at the end of their contract: Jayson Steyaert to Genk and Jean-Luc Verelst to Molenbeek. Especially Verelst hurts as he's a 3.5 stars CA players. Other transfers: Facilities Our training facilities downgraded, even though we only upgraded them 2 seasons ago. We've upgraded them twice this season to Good. NXGN Numbers 2 and 3 on the NXGN-list are two of my strikers with Simone Cortinovis and Emmanuël Decorte. Simone Cortinovis(AML/STC; Balanced) He didn't show as much improvement this season, so I worry he might already have reached his ceiling. Emmanuël Decorte(AMR/STC; Spirited) He scored 13 goals in his first season as our main striker. Really excited about his potential. 5 years ago... The two standout players from this intake delivered. Gramoz Camaj became our starting goalkeeper almost immediately. But the real star was Jacques Schrauwen. I had to sell him for 7.5M to PSG and sold his clause for 5.7, so I've gotten 13.2M our of him, which is not bad at this point in the save. He's still at PSG, but because the AI is so bad at developing players he's stuck in their B team. He did make his first appearance for PSG this season. Other players: - Ange Fofana: is at KRC Gent in the 3rd tier - Marvin Shabani: is no longer in the game - Jente Nicolay: Had some playing time, but is at KV Oostende at the moment - Bas Didier: is at Excelsior Zedelgem in the provincial leagues - William Reinertz: his contract is expiring and will be let go - Philippe Briers: had a good season on loan in the 3rd tier, but is not improving enough to keep - Rémi Vermeeren: is playing for Jong Lede in the provincial leagues - Yasin Ortmann: is playing for Eendracht Termien in the provincial leagues - Cardo Ilunga: Is playing for Belisia Bilsen in 2nd amateur (4rd tier) - Yoann Kramer: is at Excelsior Zedelgem in the provincial leagues - Nuno Fernandes: is at Paredes in the Portuguese lower leagues - Salaheddine Boughanem: is no longer in the game - Valentin Nita: is no longer in the game - Andries Paquay: is no longer in the game Next season: Europe, baby! The goal is to qualify for the league phase and rake in the millions!

KSV Oudenaarde Season Review (33/34) League We struggled a bit early in the season, but finished strong to end up in a safe 10th place. Second Group A decent run in the European Qualifying group, where we finished second, despite rotating a lot and giving playing time to younger players. Croky Cup As what has become an annual tradition, we lose in the quarter finals against Anderlecht Youth Intake After last season's 9 elite talents, this intake claims to do even better with 10. Also very happy with the many positive personalities! The belle of the ball is David Le Bail, a resolute central midfielder. David Le Bail (M/AMC/STC; Resolute) Transfers I'm in the 'half of my players are out on loan'-phase of the save. I even made a bit of money. NXGN Simone Cortinovis had become my starting striker at the end of the season. He also finished 3rd in the NXGN List. Simone Cortinovis (AML/STC; Balanced) 5 years ago... This intake gave me three starting defenders in Alexis Detry, Justin Theodor and Rube De Weirdt. To be honest they're all stopgaps , waiting for better defensive talent. Rolly Kitenge was supposed to be the star of the intake, but never developed much and is no longer at the team. Thomas Gasparotto is a good squad player, who's a weapon on set pieces, with his 16 for Free Kick Taking No other player made it close to the first team. Next season For the first time in the save, I feel like we have a decent squad with promising youngsters. I'm hoping to compete for the 6th spot and a place in the championship group. Who knows we might even not get Anderlecht for once in the Cup!

@XaW what do they put it in the water over there? Another 4-star CA out of the intake! 16 crossing

KSV Oudenaarde (32/33) League Well, it's like the game finally realised we suck or because we sold our lone good player, Jacques Schrauwen, We were in a tense relegation battle, but had a strong end of the season which saw us sneak into the Second Group. We gave some playing time to younger players... and finished last in our group. Oh well, they're glorified friendlies at this point. Croky Cup A bad cup run with a tough loss to 2nd tier Kortrijk, while we were up 2-0. Youth Intake 9 elite talents, now we're talking. Unfortunately, no freak talent that could jump in immediately. They're all a season or two off at the least, but hopefully this is the 'golden generation' I was waiting for. Pierfrancesco Zanni (AMR; Fairly Professonal) The best of the bunch according to the intake, a great name and a good personality. He could do with a bit more pace for a winger, but we won't complain (yet) Transfers It needed to be done. Only one season left on his contract with no hope on renewing; He left for PSG for 7.5M and 50% sell-on fee. Let's hope for a big payday somewhere in the future! Facilities We used the money to upgrade the youth facilities. 5 Years ago... I was promised a lot of elite talents, but it was a lie! Jerome Dumont came in with 2.5 CA, but never improved. Only Tim Godfroid is a starter, the rest never even sniffed the first team. Next season It seems we're going in reverse. After a very strong first two seasons in the top tier, we were really struggling last season. There's very little talent at the squad, barely anyone is a Jupiler Pro League-level player. So next season another fight against relegation and hopefully some players actually develop.

KSV Oudenaarde (31/32) League A more mediocre season that the one before. The top 6 and the championship group were never really in play, neither was relegation. We finished 7th in the league stage and 2nd in the Second Phase. Croky Cup Another quarter finals, but again we were unlucky to have to go against Anderlecht. We were no match for them. Youth Intake Not a good intake, very low in CA and bad personalities. I'd expect better considering the improvements to our facilities. I still have the same HOYD, but so far I haven't found anyone better so I'm sticking with him. Harrison Martins (LB; Balanced) The pick of the intake. A nice left wingback would be nice, as we're very weak at that position. NXGN The legend of Jacques Schrauwen continues as he finishes 2n in the NXGN list at age 17 Jacques Schrauwen The good news is that his minimum release fee has expired; The bad news is that he still wants to leave. With one year on his contract, it's paramount we sell him during this off season. Transfers Nothing in; nothing out again; except for some loans Facilities We've had some money; so we invested it in the training facilities. 5 Years ago... Again a very average intake. Only Michael Akumu and Quentin Rondeau are regular starters. Some of the other players are still hanging around in U21's. Next season. We need to sell our best player, Jacques Schrauwen, and that will dramatically worsen our team. I'm hoping to invest the money in some better facilities and hopefully we can get some better intakes.

Yeah, in the beginning of a save when you're semi-pro or have bad facilities there's often no other option than playing the young'uns. When you're more established, I generally keep them at the club until 18 and then look for a loan so that they get playing time.

KSV Oudenaarde Season Review (30/31) League Bonkers, in our first season in the top tier we made it to the championship group. This despite our team mostly consisting of tier 3 and tier 4 talent! The most amazing result was a 3-1 home win against champions-to-be Anderlecht. It went as well as you might expect, finishing bottom in the group. No European football, not that I was expecting any. Croky Cup A huge upset over KRC Genk in the quarter finals. We stood no chance in the semi-finals against Anderlecht though. Youth Intake As usual a lot of A's and an 'Excellent Intake'. Quite some elite talents in the actual intake, but I'm dubious about their long term potential. Not many positive personalities. I'd like to change HOYD; but haven't found anyone better yet than the one I currently have. Dominik Gibas (GK; Balanced) Supposed to be a very gifted player... I'm not seeing it so far. Definitely not better than the GK from last year's intake Transfers Nothing in, nothing out except for some loans Upgrades We're firmly in the black now. Not enough to accept upgrades to our Youth or Training facilities, but I was able to upgrade our Youth Recruitment and Junior Coaching: And we're building a new stadium! Jacques Schrauwen-watch Ok, this kid might be special. He's 16 and our star player and developing very nicely, with still room to grow. I didn't expect this quality player this early and he has only a 5M release clause . His value is between 5 and 10,5M...Of course he wants to leave to a bigger squad. I really should have paid more attention. 5 Years ago... The first intake was amazing, with quite some players who developed into Jupiler Pro League players. The 2nd intake... not so much. Starters: - Mario Giorgetti: he's a regular starter, either from CM as a Mezzala or as a winger from the left - Jordy Michaux: a squad player in CM or as a right winger - Gary Lea: Back-up striker, who has so far been unable to unseat an original player Other than that... Yikes. I did lose Renier Knapen (GK) on a free when I wasn't paying attention. He could have become a decent GK. Really a horrendous intake. Next season We had a banger season, but the reality is that our squad is still very poor. I might need to sell our star player Jacques Schrauwen for the sell-on fee, which would weaken the team incredibly. The goal is still to avoid relegation, and perhaps be a bit lucky in the cup...

KSV Oudenaarde (29/30) League Well, this went easier than expected. After two seasons in the Challenger Pro League we already go up to the Jupiler Pro League. We were in prime position for the 2nd direct promotion spot, but two straight losses at the end of the season saw us drop to fifth. We had to go through the play-offs once again, but this time we were successful. In the semi-finals we first dispatched Eendracht Aalst Beerschot was our opponent in the final In the Promotion/relegation playoff we had to take on Lommel SK. A magnificent performance saw us beating them 2-0! Croky Cup An away game to Anderlecht gave us a huge payday as they share gate receipts in Belgium, which was very welcoming for our finances Youth intake The intake promised a talented goalkeeper and a striker and it delivered. Jacques Schrauwen entered with a 3 star CA; the rest of the intake doesn't look to shabby as well. Jacques Schrauwen(AMR/STC; Light-hearted) A great looking little winger, who is very strong on the ball. He already scored a screamer in his very first 15 minutes Transfers We sold two very good first team players. Emmanuel Antwi was our starting CB/FB was sold for 275K to Kortrijk and a 50% sell-on fee. Carl Philips was our highest outgoing transfer to date. With only 1,5 year left on his contract, I decided to sell. In hindsight I should have probably waited, because with the promotion secured I could have persuaded him to sign a new contract. He went for 575K to Poland and some sell-on fee. Carl Philips(AML/STC; Resilient) He was a very good player for this level; I should have probably kept him Upgrades With the promotion secured I could persuade my board to an upgrade to our youth recruitment, which is now at good. We also need a new stadium. In the meantime we will be playing in the Elindus Arena, home of Zulte-Waregem. 5 Years ago... Ah our very first intake. It was an amazing intake. A lot of elite talents obviously, but it was a actually a very good intake. A lot of players left for bigger teams. The starters: - Maurice Verlaine came in with the highest current ability, but as you can see from his personality he never developed in too much. A useful squad player, but he will not be getting a new contract - Marcellus Custers: our starting leftback; perhaps the weakest position in the team right now. - Yassine El Idrissi: Very good winger; who was sold by my board to Westerlo for up to 135k and a sell-on fee - Ioannis Reuter: This one hurts. I completely missed that Cercle Brugge offered him a contract and so he left for a free at the end of the 2028 season. Otherwise he probably would have been our starting striker - Emmanuel Antwi: Started out as a right back but moved to centre back. Very nice player with Jupiler Pro League potential. Was sold for 275K and sell-on fee to Kortrijk - Mael Laslandes: A nice rotation player, with still some potential - Mirko Gilson: Was also sold by our board to Westerlo for a measly 28,5K (with add-ons). I sold his sell-on fee for about 200K - Carl Philips: Perhaps the best player of the intake. Left for a team in Poland for about 0,5M - Pieter Sarlette: our star player, plays as a CM(A) or on the right. Leading assist giver and in average rating - Andy Bodein: lots of potential but bad personality. I let him go on a free to RFC Liege - Walid Bouchta: was also sold to Westerlo very early. Would have been a starting CB - Omer Faruk Yildiz; I gave him a lot of playing time as a right back; but his personality meant he would never really develop. I sold him to some lower league Turkish team - Geert Lemmens: Was useful at a time and has a good personality; didn't renew his contract Next season It's all about the money. Take advantage of the television money and higher gate receipts and hopefully get a great intake. We will try to stay up, but it will be very; very hard.

KSV Oudenaarde (28/29) League The goal was just to attempt to avoid relegation, but we were more competitive that I'd thought. We easily cruised to a mid-table finish, which somehow meant we qualified for the play-offs and a chance to go up... Promotion Play-offs Semi-finals We were the better team in both legs against Beerschot, but we needed penalties to proceed. The penalty shootout finished 17-16!!! I though it would go on forever Promotion Play-offs Final We continued our good form and easily dispatched RFC Liège, winning both legs 3-1. Against all odds we would get a chance to go up to the Pro League! Relegation/Promotion Playoff We had to play Kortrijk for a chance to get promoted. It was close, but a 92 minute screamer dashed our hopes of a very unlike promotion. We were the better team yet again, but honestly we have no business in the Jupiler Pro League Croky Cup 7th round once again. We were the better team, but couldn't sneak out a win. Youth Intake A lot of elite talents, so curious what will become of them. Rolly Kitenge(DM/MC; Realist) This guy is supposed to be the best of the rest. Don't know what to make of his personality, but he's seems like a good rotation player already. Next Season The vultures are sniffing around my players, so not sure I can keep the squad together. As the B teams can't get promoted, basically every team will take part in the play-offs as has happened last season. With a bit of luck we might see ourselves promoted, although that's not the goals at the moment.

KSV Oudenaarde (27/28) League We're going up! We drew a lot of games, didn't lose too many (both losses against Aalst), but also didn't win too many. I don't feel we have the quality to compete in a higher division, but I'm just happy we're going to be a professional football team again. Corky Cup Seventh Round again. We really should have beaten Sint-Truiden, but it wasn't to be. Youth Intake A very mixed preview again, but the intake was pretty good. A lot of elite talents, with one player first-team ready from the get go. Jérôme Dumont(Unambitious, AMLC) He looks really good for the level. Unfortunately he's both unambitious and has a determination of 2... Finances and upgrades Probably not the smartest move to increase our academy coaching, considering the state of our finances... We're professional again!! Transfers The board sold Yassine El Idrissi for close to nothing. Let's hope we can sell the sell-on fee for a nice amount Yassine El Idrissii Next Season. We'll try our darnest, but staying up would be a miracle. Let's hope we can stay employed, develop our players and get a nice intake

KSV Oudenaarde Season review (26/27) League Another season of mid-table mediocrity. More youth players are finding their way into the first team, which bodes well for the future. Croky Cup We made it to the 7th round, but not a good draw away at OHL, so no big gate receipt. Youth Intake All C's, but an excellent intake. The result was a bit of a mixed bag. A lot of positive personalities, but no-one who would make the team instantly better. Finances Still bad, -800K in the red Next Season The youngsters are developing nicely, so next season we'll be churning out the older players and play with almost youth prospects only

KSV Oudenaarde Season Review (25/26) League Quite an uneventful season, never in the promotion hunt and never in any danger for relegation. The goal is just to develop the players and hopefully haphazardly go up one season Corky Cup Not a great draw with Seraing, which didn't result in any nice gate receipts, which is the only goal at this point. Youth intake I didn't take a screenshot at the time of intake so you'll have to do with my excel snippet. As expected a lot of potential, but a bit disappointed with the CA considering the quality of the squad Finances Well, it happened. There's no money in this level and honestly even in full amateur we would be losing money despite barely paying anyone Transfers The board already sold two prospects from last season's intake for almost no money. Let's hope the clauses bring in some cash. Next season No expectations for the league, just developing the players and hopefully sell some for some money so we can get our professional status back

Please don't forget about me 😊

Alright, I'm back in. The issue with the Belgian finances always scared me off, but @libbyshusshas shown it can be done. I even didn't have to reload to get the team I wanted, a mere 20 minutes drive from home: KSV Oudenaarde. The obligatory eyebrows were raised, yadda yadda yadda. As a bonus the job was available as they moved their long time head coach of 16 years to Technical Director. Manager style: League (24/25) We were predicted to finish rock bottom, but we were never in any trouble. Instead we were battling for promotion for most of the season. We finished poorly, however, and ended 5th. Croky Cup Probably the best possible result at this point: a home game against a big team. We had a full house and some nice gate receipts. Youth Intake We actually start out with some decent facilities, so I was really excited about the first intake. It didn't disappoint with 14 Elite talents, although some personalities are pretty crappy. Finances and upgrades Despite all my players at the beginning of the save were on amateur contracts, we were still projected to lose massive amounts of money. The finances at this level still don't make any sense. The board helped with some injections so the situation is still bearable but I'll need to sell some youngsters soon. We did manage to improve our Youth Recruitment after some harassing the board Next season The squad will look a lot different next season as I will play mostly the young ones from the intake. In this division everyone can beat everyone so I'm not counting out promotion.

Challenge completed! We finally did it. We didn't play our best, but Henry Ike was absolutely clinical. A save that has taken me close to 6 months comes finally to a close.

Olot UE Season Review (46/47) Europe We eased through the league phase, but were once again knocked out in the quarters. We were dreadful in two matches against Real and so once again no Champions League glory. League Our third league title in a row. We're just the most consistent team, even though we don't have the talent that Real and Barca posses. Copa Two nail biters in the semis against Barca, but we came just short. Super Cup We somehow won this for the first time. It helps when you don't have to play Barca or Real for a change. Youth Intake It's the second year since we've maxed out our youth facilities and this intake is probably even worse than the one before. We also changed our HOYD at the same time and I'm starting to believe his scouting knowledge of the country might be more important that I've previously thought (He was German). I've switched to a HOYD who actually knows the country. Let's hope that delivers better intakes. NXGN We have a player back at the top of the NXGN. Our Belgian wonderkid Cyrille Delorge has become a valuable member of our squad. Facunda Campanella made the list again for the 4rd time! Never had that before. Cyrille Delorge (Resolute; MC/AMRC) Best XI I've introduced a couple of new players this season, with the best of them Eloi, a tall creative playmaker who can play in attacking midfield or at the top. 5 Years ago... Emili Dominguez was the best player to ever come out of our academy. He's our starting left back and a Spanish international. This intake also gave me Brahima Toure who developed into a very good defensive midfielder. Of the remaining players Andreu Martinez will take the leap to the first team next season. Next season Some of our players are nearing or in their 30's, so it might be time to start phasing them out. And win the CL of course

Olot UE Season Review (45/46) Europe We completed the challenge...almost! We never made it past the quarter finals before and I thought it would be our end point again when we drew Man City. We somehow managed to sneak two wins despite being 2nd best in both games. We had less issues with AC Milan, which we dispatched easiliy in the home leg. In the final we encountered Dortmund, an all by all manageable opponent I thought at first, but a look at their team saw that this was wishful thinking. They were by far the better team in the first half and we were lucky to be only behind 2-1 at that point. We were more dominant in the 2nd half without creating too many chances, but luckiliy an individual action from José Manual equalized close before the end of regulation. They then lost a man with a 2nd yellow card just before extra time: a golden opportunity. Unfortunately we were unable to take advantage and we had to settle for penalties. I don't believe ever to have won a penalty shoutout in this save, as the game refuses to deliver a player who can kick a penalty (the highest rating for penalties is 10). My pessimissm seemed to be justified and we lost 4-3 on penalties League Our fourth title and by far the easiest of the bunch. Barçelona and Real were shocking this season. We were also less dominant than previous seasons, but we were ahead so far and won the title with 4 games to spare. Copa Our second copa win and our second double. A 94th minute header by Joan Miquel Sollivelles gave us the cup win Youth intake It took 22 seasons but we were finally able to upgrade our Youth facilities to State of the Art! Our HOYD got poached to become head coach at Alaves so we had to look for someone else. Johannes Wimmer first intake was not spectacular. By CA it's about the worst in 6 seasons. There seems to be a talended GK, but we'll see in a year of 5 to see how they've developed. NXGN 3 players in the NXGN, but the first one only in position 9. We're playing less and less youngesters so I guess this makes sense Cyrille Delorge(AMRC; Perfectionist) A very exciting prospect, who I promoted to the first team. Unfortunately he seems to be quite injury prone which affected his playing time. Brahima Touré(DMC; Fairly Profesisional) Facunda Campenella(AML/STC; Fairly Ambitious) Best XI A lot of players with an average rating above 7. In goal Josep Lluis Guso has shared time with Robert Alsina, although his potential seems to be at about the same level. Emili Dominguez at left back is our best player, with an impressive 7.43 avg rating. Alfred Vazquez is an enigma, his attributes arent't that good and he's only a decent first division player, but his production... Joan Miquel Sollivelles followed up an injury ravaged season with the best season in his career, scoring 26 goals across all competitions. 5 Years ago Quite a good intake: - Is a first team starter: Miquel Angel Puigoriol and Fernando - Is a rotation player: Antonio Berenguer - is close to the first team: Jan Figueras and Oscar Lara Next Season This season we said goodbye to some long serving players, I might do the same next season as it's time to get the next batch of youngsters playing time. And oh yeah, win the CL.

Olot UE Season Review (44/45) Europe The quarter finals remain a hurdle we can't cross. We had a great campaign all things considered. We finished 2nd in the league phase, we gave us a bye week. I was hoping for a favourable draw, instead we've got Man Utd. We were lucky to only lose 1-0 in the first leg. In the return leg we played really well, and a great goal from Delfi got us into extra time, where Esteban scored an amazing free kick to see us through to the quarter finals. There we would meet Real Madrid. We hammered Real only a couple of weeks before, winning 4-1 at home so I was hoping we could repeat that. A equitable 1-1 at home meant all was yet to play for in the return leg. A very poor first half saw us down 2-0. We had to go all in and Andreu gave us a lifeline around the 65th minute. With momentum swinging we received a penaly in the 95th minute which would send us into extra time!!! Unfortunately Joan Miquel Sollivelles couldn't control his nerves and he missed the golden opportunity. Knocked out yet again. League In a season where Barçelona went undefeated, we somehow come away with our third title! We only had 1 loss ourselved (against Barça), but they had 9 draws against our 6. We had a 3 point lead on the last game, which was against... Barça. We've only been able to beat them 3 times in this entire save, mostly very convincing losses. We parked the bus for the entire game and just enerved them. It was enough to escape with a 0-0 tie and the title! Copa Our cup luck seems to have ran out, with another early exit. This time we were knocked out in the quarter finals by Girona on penalties (it would really help if this game would spawn some players who can actually kick a penalty). Super Cup We've got the result we wanted by losing in the semi's Youth Intake A lot of A's in the preview again, we're used to that. The intake actually looks pretty good! I'm excited to see how they will develop. NXGN A bit of a shocker that Emili Dominiguez didn't win it two years in a row. In fact Brahima Touré finished ahead of him in 5th place. Brahima Touré(DMC/MRC; Fairly Professional) Nicely developing defensive midfielder who has a great reading of the game. He played quite some games this season and that will only increase. Emili Dominguez(DL/WBL/ML; Resolute) My wonderkind leftback is unfortunately already close to full potential. He did break into the Spain national team though. Facundo Campanella(STC; Fairly Ambitious) Campanella made it on the NXGN list for the 2nd straight year, despite playing for my U19's. Best XI Robert Alsina's days as our number one Goalkeeper may be numbered as Josep Lluis Guso is coming for his spot. We finally have a 2nd player who's good enough to play center back on this level with Miquel Angel Puigeriol. We have another one in the rotation with Antonio Berenguer(althouh he's wanted by most top teams in Europe). We're set on wing back and defensive midfield. José Manuel had a lesser season for his standards, only scoring 7 goals. It was actually Henry Ike who was the better striker this season. 5 Years ago... 1. Josep Lluis Guso is on track on become our next starting goalkeeper 2. Desko Vlasblom made the team this season, but I couldn't get him the playing time I was hoping for, so I sent him back on loan after January. 3. Armand seemed to be a major prospect for the left wing back position only to be overtaken only a year later by Emili Dominiguez. With the amount of games we're playing he's getting plenty of game time as the backup. 4. Marko Stankovic finished his third season on loan in his native country of Croatia. He will get his shot next season, as I'm not entirely satisfied with our strikers behind Henry Ike 5. For Federico Alvarez it will be difficult to break into the team with the talent we have at left back 6. Antoni Sola and Pep are still at the club, but are more fodder to bulk out our B Team 7. The others didn't get signed Next Season We're close, I feel it. One of this years we'll get past the quarter finals!

Olot UE Season Review (43/44): A season of tears Europe We'll switch things up from now on and start with Europe as this is the last part of the challenge we have yet to finish. Once again the Quarter finals were the final stop and once again Newcastle was the culprit. We tied them 2-2 at their place, so everything was still to play for in the return leg at home. We seemed to be the superior team, but we couldn't get the ball in the net. Just when it seemed we would go to extra time, they hit us with a near post corner. A really undeserving loss and exit out of the CL. That Newcastle game... An XG of 2, but we were unable to score. League Another heartbreak followed in the league. We were top of the table for most of the season, mostly because we were 2 games ahead of Barçelona. However, unexpectedly Barçelona started to drop some points, giving us a 3 points lead on the penultimate game: a home game againt Barçelona. The match started as badly as could be expected and we were down 0-2 at half time. With nothing else to lose we went all-in Attacking and miraculously we fought back to 2-2. Wishing to keep the draw I reverted to a very defensive tactic with 3 CB's, with one in cover, and 4 DM's, hoping to prevent balls behind our defense. So obviously they score on a deep ball behind our defense. This game... NB: look at that gap between the 'big three' and the rest of the league.... Copa Our worst performance in the cup, where we were knocked out in the 4rd round against Huelva, who were bottom of the 2nd tier! We were up 0-2 and seemed to be cruising to an easy victory and somehow conceded three goals in the final 30 minutes. Super Cup A useless competition where we somehow managed to beat Real in order to get hammered by Barçelona in the final. Youth intake A lot of A's in the preview, but the actual intake was pretty dissapointing, more so because of the personalities. My HOYD is basically as good as is possible, so I guess this is just a bad roll of the dice. Joan Ramon was labelled as 'one of the most gifted players to come through our academy' so we'll see in a couple of years. I didn't sign many of them. NXGN After a short hiatus, we're back on top of the NXGN. This time the honours went to Emili Dominguez, with 2 more players in the top 20 Emili Dominguez(DL/WBL/ML; Resolute) 18 years old and already has the label 'Wonderkid'. I don't believe I've ever had this with a player this young. He became our starting left back by the end the season. I'm hoping he might become our first truly world class player. His Natural fitness of 5 is a problem though... Facundo Campanella(AML/STC; Fairly Ambitious) This one really surprised me, he finished 8th on the NXGN list, while playing for our U19's... Marko Stankovic(STC; FaIrly Determined) We don't lack in strikers. Stankovic has spent the past 2 seasons on loan in his native country of Croatia. Next season the plan is to find a good 2nd division team for him. Best XI Really our best season, with a lot of players well over the 7 average rating mark. Robert Alsina is still our number one, but I wished I could upgrade. He really let us down at the end ot the season. We have two exciting wing backs with Carlos Boriba and Emili Dominguez, while center back remains our achilles heel. There're some youngsters I will promote to the first team next season and hopefully one of them will account to something. The law firm of Sebastian & Esteban kept control of midfield, while Jose Manuel had another amazing season with 16 assists and 23 goals coming from the left wing. Joan Miquel Sollivelles had another major injury, so Henry Ike played most of the season as our lone striker. 5 years ago... It's fair to say the PA on Carlos Boriba was very misleading, as he easily ended up being the best of the bunch. Noa Bruneel has been unlucky in his development with some bad injuries and equally bad loan spells. Isidre was rated as the player with the highest potential, but is still playing at tier 3 level. Marçal is stil worth mentioning as a player who might make the team someday. At this point in the save getting a starter out of an intake should be considered a success as we're pretty much stacked on most positions save for GK and CB. Next season Rinse and repeat. It's Champions League or bust

Olot UE Season Review (42/43) League: Our reign in Spain has ended! To be honest, there was just no competing with Real this season. They went undefeated and only lost their first point after 23 games. We actually had a very good season, finishing with 5 more points than last season, when we won the league. We're lucky to have taken advantage of some down years of the big two to steal away some titles. Copa Or the one where our midfielder played a shocking pass backwards to our goal keeper, only to have it intercepted and for Barcelona to score the winning goal... in the 89th minute. Perhaps the most devastating loss I've ever encountered while playing FM. Europe Again a decent run, where we knocked out two fellow compatriots in Vigo and Valencia. Man Utd was just a bit too strong. Super Cup yes, this also happened Youth Intake A great preview, the intake as well looked decent. We'll revert back in 5 years NXGN Well, no winner this season. Three players made the list though Armand(DLC; Resolute) The big prospect of the intake two seasons ago. Already looks very good, and has played some games this season. Unfortunately the next season the best prospect was another left back and could be even better. Desko Vlasblom(MC/AMRC; Resolute) Away at our affiliate ADO Den Haag, he's developing nicely. Probably still a year away to make it to the first team Noah Bruneel(AML/STC; Fairly Sporting) It took some time, but a season on loan at Beerschot saw some nice development. I'll probably let him roast there for another season. Best XI Our defense remains our achilles heel, especially at center back. Antoni Juvanteny is the only quality player at the position. Wing back was an issue for a very long time, but we have some excited prospects (especially on the left) which could turn the position into a strength. We rotate a lot in midfield; the big surprise there was Alfred Vazquez: it's his first season in the first team, spending some seasons away on loan. He was initially meant to be a squad player, but he ended up with whopping 7.37 average rating, 17 goals and 6 assists! It's things like this which makes the save so much fun. Speaking of surprises, 'old' Robert Pujadas (he's 28) had a great season, scoring 20 goals across all competions; He's now leading in appearances (395) and is two goals away for being the all time goal scorer (although he has competition from Jose Manuel). What a legend. 5 years ago... This was actually a decent intake with quite some players who became decent squad players. I've ended up signing all 16 of them. - Joan Raimon Rodriguez Vazquez: has a long name, but also won the NXGN last season. He's a decent rotation player on the right wing - Andreu Saitor: I was so excited when he came through, finally a center back with high potential and a good personality. Alas the position is cursed, he has barely improved since. - Eloi Pujol: might just not be good enough. There's to much competition up front - Aldo Catalano: Still at the club technically, but always out on loan. Could be a decent player for a bottom of the league team, but not for us - Alfred Vazquez: as mentioned above, an amazing first season in the first team. A player who is vastly overachieving his attributes - Mathijs Smit: a very good looking play maker, who I really need to give some more playing time. Might overtake Jan Porte as the backup RPM - Are still at the team and have a chance: Juarry Ricciuli and Giel Verschuere (as our 3rd GK) Next Season: It will probably take a couple more seasons before we can properly compete with the English teams in the Champions League. We definitely have plenty of talent up front, but lack talent at the back. To be honest, while are squad is very good, we don't have any world class players like Real or Barça has. Hopefully this will change in the coming seasons. Vamos!

Olot UE Season Review (41/42) League: A single image speaks louders than a 1000 words... The season is long, the laptop is slow. The grind continues, although I still really love this save. It's amazing the depth we possess. We're able to play a fully rotated squad and still manage to win league games. We retain our league title and firmy establish ourselves as one of the top teams in Spain. It helps that both Real and Barça have fallen off a bit. We win the title with the lowest point total in 'history' (I think they mean from when the save started). We were 6 points ahead of Real with 3 games to play. We then lost to Vigo and our next game was against Real. A defeat would basically hand them the title, but we've been so clutch the entire season. We won that game 2-1 and secured the title. Copa Another image: We win our very first Copa! It was a nerve wracking affair. We won 2-1 after extra time against Vigo, with Henry Ike bagging the winning goal. Our very first double! Europe A good European run, which saw us knocking out Benfica and Liverpool before succumbing to Newcastle in the quarter finals. The second leg might have been the most thrilling game I ever played on FM. We came back from a deficit three times to finish 3-3 in regulation. We missed two enormous opportunities in extra time and then go out on penalties after our GK missed the deciding one. We now know we can hang with the elite teams in Europe Super Cup As if we don't play enough games, there's also the Spanish super cup which is played smack in the middle of the season. We managed to beat Barça before losing to Atletico Madrid in the final. Youth Intake The preview promised central midfielders, instead we've got an incredible talent on the left wing back position. Emili Dominguez is the biggest talent to come out of the academy. He arrives with a score of 70 in my excel formula. Emili Dominiguez(Resolute; DL/WBL/ML) NXGN: As is our habit, one of our players wins the NXGN. Joan Raimon Rodriguez Vazquez wins the NXGN for the 2nd year in a row despite playing less this season due to injuries. Joan Raimon Rodriguez Vazquez (Balanced; AMR/STC) Best XI It's odd how I win the title and the cup, but only have 4 players with an average rating above 7... We rotate between a 4222 narrow and this tactic below depending on the opposition. In goal Robert Alsina has taken over from Emili and has solidified the position. They're stil no world beaters, but they do the job. On defense more of the same, although I did started to bring in Carlos Boriba on the right. He's 19, lightning fast and has 5 star PA. He wil become the starter next season. In midfield we have a lot of decent players we can rotate between. Dellfi should be our best player attribute wise, but I feel underwhelmed. We have two very good BWM's in Sebastian and Armando Esteban. Jose Manuel was our leading scorer once again and made the difference in many games. He's 12 goals away from being the all time goalscorer. Sollivelles was less impressive than the previous season. In attack I have plenty of options with Henry Ike, Robert Pujadas or Oussama Elyounnoussi 5 years ago... I was not that impressed with the intake 5 seasons ago, but it has actually delivered some decent players: Kike Gil is a speed merchant on the wing. He has trouble finding playing time, so he went out on loan in the 2nd half of the season to Sporting Gijon in the 2nd tier. He's still developing nicely, so he might one day become a starter. Sebastian became a starter rather early and is a very nice BWM, but he's getting competition from his fellow graduate Armando Esteban, who seems to have the higher ceiling and a better personality. Armand Gasol is another player I just can't find the playing time with all the talent up front. I was unable to register him, so he threw a tantrum. He was out on loan at Athletico Pamplona, but didn't really impress. His future is very much up in the air. Other than that, Nicky Otto, Oscar and Pep Balleste are still at the club. Otto might develop to become our 3rd string GK, for the others their future probably will be somewhere else Next season It's CL or bust at this point. We have won everything there's to win domestically (save for the super cup, but who cares).

Olot UE Season Review (40/41) League: Unbelievable, but in our 17th season at the helm of Olot UE we win our first silverware and it's La Liga! In what ended up being an off year for both Barcelona and Real, we were the surprise package. At the halfway mark we were 7 points behind Barcelona, with the likes of Real, Betis and Atletico all separated within two points. We were simply unstoppable past New Year, losing only one single league game, while Barcelona kept dropping points. With still four games to go, Barca dropped points again, giving us the chance to win the title in our game against Real Sociedad. It was a nervous affair, but season revelation Joan Miquel Sollivelles scored the only goal of the game (and got sent off), delivering our very first league title!! Copa: We made it to the semi-finals, but lost to Atletico Madrid in a close affair Europe Some mixed bag of results. We were knocked out by Napoli in the knock-out playoff stage Youth Intake Some exciting prospects, but a bit disappointed with the personalities and the lack of different nationalities. NXGN Another winner of the NXGN award. This time the honour went to Joan Ramon Rodriguez Vazquez, while Sebastian finished third for the 2nd straigt season. Joan Ramon Rodriguez Vazquez(AMR/STC; Balanced) Sebastian(DM/MC; Balanced) Transfers Abdou Niang got upset because I rejected offers from Saudi-Arabia. To be fair to him, he could make about 5 times more over there. I then promised he could leave in the next transfer window, which he did to ... Betis. Suddenly he wasn't interested in the middle east no more. He was a good player, but a bit injuriy prone and on a position where we have some depth. Best XI What I love in this save is that I have new players coming in the starting XI every season. Last year it was Antoni Barri. This year it was Joan Miquel Sollivelles. He started the season as a depth player, but simply played himself into our starting XI. Despite not that much playing time he was still somehow our leading goalscorer by New Year. He quickly became one of my favourite players: tall (1.94m) with great technicals and just playing incredibly most of the times. I started rotating my goal keepers with Robert Alsina seeming to win out, but he had a couple of major injuries, which resulted in Emili playing the majority of the games. Antoni Juvanteny remains our rock at the back and luckily for us pretty durable, because the drop-off behind him is pretty steep. In midfield we saw some young players breaking through in Sebastian and Joan Ramon Rodriguez Vazquez. Upfront we had the luxury of being able to rotate between Henry Ike, Jose Manuel and Robert Pujadas. Joan Miquel Sollivelles(AMC/STC; Fairly Loyal) 5 years ago... Speaking of the devil... It was 5 years ago when Joan Miquel Sollivelles came through our intake and he was billed as the best talent of the year. He really developed nicely and I never expected him to be such a gamechanger. We lost Sami Briand last season to AC Milan. Raimon Freixanet has spent the season on loan at Multivera in the Federacion 1. Emili Puigoriol is our starting left back and the first player of this intake to make into the first team. Oussama Elyounoussi had some nice development on loan and will be a squad player next season. Next Season With the challenge 50% done there is only one more thing to do: winning the Champions League so that's where my focus will go to. I don't think we have the team yet to win it, but then again I also didn't believe I could win the title this season...

Olot UE Season Review (39/40) League: Same amount of wins as last season, but we finish one spot lower. We started the season well, hammering Barcelona 3-0 at home and I though we might be on for something special. Especially as the Big Two took a slow start. However, we couldn't keep the form going with a 5th place finish as a result. Copa: No luck again this season, as we were knocked out by GIrona on penalties in the quarter finals. Europe A much better run in Europe, narrowingly missing out on automatic qualification. We were knocked out by Barcelona rather handily in the round of 16. Youth Intake The preview was good as always, but I'm really happy with the intake. A 5 star PA Goalkeeper is much needed. Other than that there's a Perfectionist wing back who looks really promising. Our foreign affiliates also produced us players from The Netherlands (through ADO Den Haag), Croatia (Lokomotiva Zagreb), Chile (O'Higgins) and France (Sochaux) NXGN We keep our run going and have another winner on the NXGN list. This time the honours go to our up and coming left back Emili Puigoriol, while Sebastian finished 3rd and Oussama Elyounoussi 49th Emili Puigoriol (LB; Spirited) Sebastian (DM/MC; Fairly Professional) Oussama Elyounoussi (STC; Balanced) Transfers Before the season ticked over, we lost promising playmaker Sami Briand. I was planning to give him more playing time this season, but AC Milan poached him for a measly 15M. Spain and obligated minimun release clauses keeps getting me. To make matters worse: at the beginining of the season we lost our main goal scorer Alejandro to Almeria for 47.5M. Again, I didn't do a good enough job checking the minimum release clauses so we lost two valuable squad players. Best XI A switch in tactics once again, this time going for the Brazilian box, trying to take advantage of the talent at front. Goalkeeper remains unsatisfactory, although we did conceed much less than previous seasons. Antoni Juvanteny (DC/DM; Fairly Professional) is our stud at the back and even made it to the Spain Euro's Selection. Other than him, everyone else are rated as good second division players. Emili Puigoriol had a good season, leading the team with 12 assists and still has some room to grow. Delphi is not on here, but he's our best midfielder and wanted by Bayern. He only has 2 years left on his contract and refuses to renew. Antoni Barri is the breakthrough player of the year and can play everywhere in the AM strata. Henry Ike has become our best attacking option, scoring 16 goals this season. 5 years ago... A lot of 5 star PA, let's have a look what has become of them: - Andreu Alena: spent the previous season on loan at A Coruna in the second tier. He's a bit a victom of the fact that I'm not using wingers at the moment. He still has 3.5 PA, so might become a decent squad player - Oscar: he was on loan at Alicante in the 3rd tier and finally showed some development. Still has 4.5 PA, so he might be a late bloomer. - Antoni Juvanteny: our rock in defense and Spanish international! - Pep Juncosa: Spend the previous season on loan with our affiliate Tarragona in the 3rd tier. I will give him a shot as a backup next season - Henry Ike: The 2nd wonderkid from this intake. He's our best attacking option, but I worry he might already have hit his ceiling, not making any progress this season. - Antoni Barri: broke through in the first team this season and I had to reject offers from PSG. He still has 5 star PA next to his 3.5 CA Overall a massive intake and perhaps the best one yet of the save Next Season Spain is hard. I honestly don't know if I ever will be able to compete with Barcelona or Real Madrid. Even so, we keep on going!

Olot UE Season Review (38/39) League One more win than last season and another 4rd place finish. This was the first season where we were able to both beat Real Madrid and Barcelona (their only loss this season!), but at the same time we would drop points against the bottom teams of the league. Our defense is still very poor, conceding more goals than some teams in the bottom of the league. The loss of our GK Jan Catala a couple of seasons ago still hurts (even more because he's just riding the bench at Atl Madrid). I'm still very much enyoing the save, but good lord how will I ever be able to best Barcelona in their current state? Copa Unfortunate to draw Barcelona in the quarter finals. We gave them a good game, but they were once again too strong Europe Our first season in the Champions League and it went... badly. I want to say I mostly played a rotated squad, but we played our best XI against Man City and got absolutely destroyed. It's safe to say we're still a couple of seasons off. Youth intake The preview looked amazing. Promising Full-Backs? Yes, please! In the end the most promising players are again in the more attacking parts. I'm dissapointed about the personalities coming through, which makes me think I should switch HOYD. I love the addition of two more Belgians though NXGN Henry Ike(AMLC/STC; Fairly Professional) wins the NXGN-award for the 2nd consecutive year. He's joined on the list by Emili Puigoriol (LB; Spirited) and Sami Briand (DM/MC/AMRC; Fairly Professional) Henry Ike Emili Puigoriol Sami Briand Best XI I'm not sure what to make of Emili. We concede way too many goals and he has already peaked. Unfortunately there's no-one at the club to challenge him at the moment; Puigoriol took over at LB in the 2nd half of the season and is progressing nicely. My most promising CB (Antoni Juvanteny) is not on the list as he was injured for 3 months, but he's about the only CB with 5 star PA. Delfi is our metronome in midfield, just an amazing mezzala. We might see some more competition for the other 2 spots in central midfield. Alejandro is still progressing at age 24, which is nice to see. However, now he has half of the saudis chasing after him. Henry Ike is our new wonderkid, but wants to leave the club. I dismissed him and now he's upset. He still has 4 years left on his contract so I hope he will change his mind by then 5 Years ago... Not an amazing intake to be honest. Of the players coming though only Josep Lluis Puigdollers is a regular starter and that's mostly because of the lack of talent at CB. Lu Carrasco is a good squad player with room for improvement. Vitinho has promise, but had two major injuries this season. He's a borderline squad player, but I will probably look for another loan opportunity. Miquel Angel Puigmal looked like the best prospect, but never developed and is now at Vallecano B. The other 5 star potential player, Sergio Alvarez, has the same issue: he's not really developing despite playing plenty of football out on loan. Next Season: We keep going. We still haven't won any silverware. The copa del rey is probably the most realistic, but we would need a season where Real Madrid/Barcelona bows out early. In the league we will keep competing for Champions League football. In the Champions League we will try to do a bit better than last season. Vamos!