Ceching You Out

One of the disappointments so far (and there aren't too many on the macro level) is that our B team remains mired in the 5th division with a reputation of 1700 that hasn't changed since I've watched it. Looking in the Editor, it must have changed at some point because it looks like it was initially 2125 (fourth lowest in the division). Now that we've been promoted and solidified ourselves as the 4th most reputable side (up from 28th), let's see how our B team compares. In order of reputation: RB Salzburg: FC Liefering in 2nd tier (rep: 5119) Sturm Graz: Sturm Graz II in 4th tier (rep: 4508) SK Rapid: SK Rapid II in 2nd tier (rep: 4576) Us: Dornbirn 1913 Juniors in 5th tier (rep: 1700) Austria Vienna: Young Violets in 2nd tier (rep: 4903) Admira Wacker: Admira Panthers in 5th tier (rep: 3500) Wolfsberger: Wolfsberger II in 3rd tier (rep: 3250) Tirol: Tirol 1c in 8th tier (rep: 950) SV Reid: SV Reid II in 3rd tier (rep: 3250) LASK: LASK Amateure in 3rd tier (rep: 3700) I think that pretty clearly tells the story that our B Team should have been improving and there's a quirk of FM holding it back. All of these are roughly 1500-2500 points within their A teams, outside of Tirol 1c (~5000 points), Wolfsberger (~2900 points), and Liefering (~2800 points). I wouldn't use the editor to manually promote our B Team, but I'm strongly considering bumping their reputation up to a more reasonable amount. Maybe 3250 initially and then if/when they're promoted bump it closer to our current rep less 2900 (~3800 at the moment) to simulate what I think should be happening. If I were doing this challenge again, I'd choose a DB that includes lower level leagues. Now that I'm this far in, I think the approach above might be the most conservative way to correct things. Any differing viewpoints out there? Something I'm missing?

Post-season 2035/2036 No trouble making the top half. We struggled a bit on the back of the Brugge results, with morale dipping. Losing to Vienna twice gave them the initiative, but frankly we're quite happy with Europa League spots (finishing 3rd or 4th). That's our target at the moment, with Champions League a bonus (2nd). I think we'll need to clear out our squad a bit in the summer. Lots of players with only 1 year left on their contract and we're deep in players approaching their ~120 PA ceilings. Without as many enforced changes (i.e., our best players getting poached), I can be a bit more selective and proactive in who we let go. EDIT: Post-season award!

This is a near perfect intake. One borderline star (153 PA), three eventual starters that will improve our talent level (135, 137, 137 PA), and two to three players good enough to be starters now but will likely be rotation by the time they peak (118, 121, 126 PA). I would take this each of the next five years without hesitation. Another interesting note (shoutout to Evidence Based Football Manager on youtube, no affiliation), confirming something common wisdom -- Youth Recruitment ratings matter relevant to other clubs in your country (not the absolute values). In other words, being 18-19-20 doesn't matter if everyone else is below 17. Ties are then broken by reputation. Unfortunately, RB Salzburg, Sturm Graz, and Rapid are all at 20 Youth Recruitment as well, and then trump us on reputation. Hence we're fourth in line, which I can confirm in the order of our intake dates (which follow that pecking order). We are relatively close to Rapid who is having another down season, so we might be able to leap them. Side note - I wonder if those clubs upgrading their Youth Recruitment led to the downturn in our intakes a few years ago. Even though we were upgrading other things, we may have gotten worse relative to their ratings. Maybe I'll go back and check if this idea feels like it has legs.

Europe 2035/2036 (continued) One of the four possible opponents where we might have a chance. An unfortunate 2-1 at home that really should've been a draw meant we were behind things in the away leg. Their LB scored a screamer and then we were full dog-chases-car trying to get back in it. We barked a bit but never came close. No regrets, however, as I think this is our ceiling right now -- if everything breaks our way, Round of 16 with a slight chance of advancing.

Based on my quick projections above, I'd be content with 9 points in the League Phase. We managed to pull off 10, with the only surprises being a comfortable draw with Olympiacos away and a home draw with Lyon where we managed to throw away a 3-0 (!) lead, versus a loss to VTSC where we were well off the pace. Was that enough to see us through to the Playoffs? It was, not by much, but comfortably so. It would've taken crazy results on the final matchday to see us denied. Our reward? Playing Lyon again. On one hand - we smashed them 3-0 for the better part of a match already. On the other - they turned it around in less than 15 minutes. So much for being a home game! 4000 out of 8500 attendees will be Lyon supporters. We draw 1-1 at home in a pretty fair result. So let's jump to the second leg. The result of the save so far. This turned into a war of attrition, with all 6 subs used before starting ET. We really should've been able to hold on for <10 minutes after (32g) Sulzbacher put us ahead in the 89th, but we instead allow an equalizer halfway through stoppage time. Fortunately we were the better side through the first half of ET, getting our reward with a (31f) Itter finish from inside the 6 yard box. Lyon had a striker played through in stoppage time, our GK rushed out, and thankfully a defender threw his body in front of the shot. The long rebound fell to Lyon, but they dawdled and we recovered to guard the previously empty net. What a result! I think Lyon's 4-4-2 simply lines up poorly versus our 4-2-3-1.

Mid-season 2035/2036 Solid showing in the league at the break. We should be pretty cleanly in the top half when it comes time to split, although I'd rubbish any talk of a championship challenge even if we win our game in hand. RB Salzburg is just such a stacked side. We are (long overdue) kings of Austrian player development. We'd likely have been close to the top in past seasons if I hadn't been so conservative leaving players in U18 and Reserve sides to try to manage personalities. We're fairly solid as far as starters go, so really hoping for a high potential and deep class here regardless of position. Drama! Wien targeting my B Team Coach to take over their... first team, I think? Message may be ambiguous on "Head Coach", although they do have a caretaker manager at the moment. Regardless, he's not head of anything for us. I mean, he's okay? I'd think they could do better. I don't think our counter offer to continue as a B Team Coach will amount to much, so fare thee well Enzo Leopold!

Europe 2035/2036 (continued) Now this schedule feels a lot more competitive than last year. I'd classify these as: Should win: Astana, Zrinjski Pick up points, if not win: AIK, Molde, VTSC Auto-loss: OL, Olympiacos, Ajax

Europe 2035/2036 Well that's not a good draw at all. Not bad, I guess? 5-2 away was a beating but it's a top tier team. The 2nd worst player in their first team (124 CA) would make our top 5. On to Europa League.

Post-season 2034/2035 We slipped into the Championship Group without too much fanfare. Not really setting the world alight, but 9 points clear from the Relegation Group. I'd be absolutely shocked if this is a concern going forward. Are we now the clear best second team in Austria? I don't think we are...yet. On paper, Rapid is a little better than us but seems to consistently stumble in the Championship Group; that includes head-to-head with us. I think this marks three years running they've barely clung on to a lower European participation spot. Sturm Graz is definitely better than us, even head-to-head. Better squad rotation and a functional tactic are probably why we're outperforming them over larger sample sizes. Those are historically the bane of FM's AI. Regardless, we'll kindly accept the Champions League participation again knowing that even a loss dumps us into the Europa League League Phase and roughly $5M even if we lose every game.

Sorry, strangely your comment didn't show up in my notifications and then got lost in between my posts. Glad to hear you're enjoying it! Very cool that you're an researcher for Liechtenstein. I'm due for an update on how the national team is doing. The spoiler is they're mostly playing with our second/third string players; looks like our players with ceilings reasonably below appearing for Austria (~120 PA) haven't come to the realization they won't make it. I'm tempted to start pushing for the National Team job soon just to see if I can convince them. It would be a pretty dramatic boost!

But before we get to that, a fun observation. You may recognize the name from his time at RB Leipzig and Bayern Munich, but this guy is still kicking around at the ripe age of 37. Not unheard of, but his position map made me chuckle. Definition of a utility player - put him quite literally anywhere but GK, DC, or ST. Also, hey I know that guy!

Accidentally plowed right through my usual mid-season update, so I'll just recap at the end of the season. In the meantime, this should take us to max Training Facilities (20) with only Youth Facilities (14) not maxed out from July. Knowing that information above, this is another disappointing intake. Three players who may contribute to the first team. Another 4 or so that may be worth considering simply to develop and sell. Personalities are generally disappointing too, at least compared to the start. Has our dear cult leader, Reçber, lost his touch in his old age? Maybe we've surpassed the level at which he can meaningfully contribute? I'm not sure.

Europe 2034/2035 (continued) Sure enough, right into the Europa League League Phase with a bag stuffed with $3.6M in cash. We'll do well to pick up points in even half of these. Zurich and Casa Pia look our best hope for a win. Ha, worse than anticipated. Although not by much. We're simply not at this level yet. Probably 10 points behind on average CA to match up with this next class of clubs.

Fare thee well, sweet diamond of our Academy. I stayed true to my word to sell you for $20M. Tried damned hard to gin up a higher offer from one of the long list of Manchester City, Chelsea, Arsenal, etc. that were interested. But no such luck. Like an unpopular off-brand Transformer, (31d) Starke turns into Youth Facility (improvements). And then... well, then I couldn't help myself. Flush with cash, and maybe just a little flushed in general at the prospect of a little physical contact, we brough (27a) Hug back home. Nothing like a warm embrace to pick up your spirits after you've been dumped by your dream boy. Or at least that's how I'd feel if I was a teenage girl and not a middle aged man [cough]. Seriously though, this made me far happier than it should. 120 CA / 120 PA @ 22 (soon to be 23). I'll be reinstalling him as our captain as well. Viva la culto de personalidad! EDIT: In my elation, I forgot to include a key piece of information -- we're paying him essentially double our next highest player. Is that wise? Maybe?

Europe 2034/2035 Early season injuries sidelined two attackers and their best two backups, so things were dicey from the get-go. We snipped a 1-1 draw at home that was a bit fortunate. Then (31d) Starke, subject to heavy bids and in possibly his last game for us, is played through off a free-kick in a 0-0 game in the 85th minute. It's written in the stars... that he fires wide. And we lose in 90'+6 (of only 5 minutes of stoppage time) when their striker dribbles half the field and coolly slots home. We were shattered, playing deep bench players who never sniff the field in a Champions League tie nonetheless. Far less distressing than last year, just comical.

My confidence in this plan is wavering. Perhaps it will just play out quicker than I expected? (31d) Starke begins drawing interest in July from a list of heavy hitters. He's agreed to stay happy unless someone bids $20M; fingers crossed our Board can keep their grubby hands to themselves unless that value is reached. To that end (and for personality reasons), I've shifted on two of our starters for a combined $5.3M at the start of the window.

Post-season 2033/2034 The league was incredibly tight, 5 points separating us in 2nd from Admira Wacker in 6th. Sturm Graz missing out at the expense of a promoted SV Ried side was a shock. Another bitter disappointment this season. We carve our way to the final, avoiding RB Salzburg, only to completely capitulate. I think I botched the Team Meeting before -- our AssMan suggested I remind them what's at stake, so I challenged them to win our first cup. That went over like a lead balloon. This result also complicates how European places are assigned since Sturm Graz finished outside the Championship Group. Richest contract we've signed to date, but I'm not repeating the (30a) Kindle mistake. (31d) Starke is 130 CA / 168 PA @ 18 and had Liverpool, Man United, and Arsenal sniffing around. Nooooope. When he leaves us, it better be for just an absolute boatload. We've got our first Austria call-ups! I think I'd trade this to rectify each one of our major disappointments this season -- (30a) Kindle's departure, the Malmo farce, the Cup catastrophe -- but it was an undeniable cherry on our season. We're playing Champions League next season! And it looks like Sturm Graz, who finished 2nd last season, went directly into the Europa League Group Phase after losing their first Playoff to Basel.

Mid-season 2033/2034 I certainly don't trust this given how similar it looks to our previous intake. Well, no it checks out this time. High CA AMC and ST. Two very high PA players, love it. Another two I'll definitely sign, then I'll go diving in the heap of "others" to see if there's anyone close enough to Model Citizen that's worth poaching.

Europe 2033/2034 (continued) 7-1 away meant we could play a fully rotated side, chock full of youngsters and still comfortably advance. We get the winner of Feyenoord-Malmo, with the former having won the first leg 3-0 so on we go to... Sweden?! Wait, no I read that wrong. We get the loser of that Europa League tie. Whew. We should be at least slight favorites here. What an absolute disaster. They generate 1.6 xG to our 5.2, and we still go to penalties at 3-3. Which we botch in kick #5 with a chance to win it, then again in kick #7 to lose it. This tie took years off my life and we don't even have anything to show for it.

I got a little cocky and miscalculated. We're already at 16 for Training Facilities, so I probably should've thought a bit harder before I did this. Our bank account dipped to about $1.4M. I didn't expect that to become relevant, but it did. (30a) Kindle had been angling for a new contract and I kept putting him off, not sure if I was ready to sign him long-term despite 116 CA / 138 PA. My concerns were largely personality driven. Still a mistake not to extend him given his potential; I could still sell if he hit anywhere near his peak. Yet I didn't. When Benfica came calling, I talked (30a) Kindle into accepting that they needed to meet his valuation -- $8.5M. I was quite chuffed. Either we get a large bid that I expected I could negotiate, or he stays. But our bank balance being what it was, the Chairman stepped in and accepted a different offer. One I forgot to "replay" for better value, so we're stuck with this incentive-heavy deal. Bah. Europe 2033/2034 We also flamed out of the Europa League, which was not all too surprising. The method was quite laughable. We took our fortunate 2-1 win at home to Portugal and extended things to Extra Time with the tie poised at 3-3. Then, the tide already firmly in our favor, their captain picked up a red card for a vicious tackle. I'm not usually one for pitying pessimism, but I thought to myself -- we're going to lose this now, aren't we? Prophetic.

Post-season 2032/2033 We cruised into the Championship Group a respectable fourth. Goals F/A would seem to say we're one of the best defensive sides and respectable in attack. That may be down to tactics. Could we afford to be more aggressive next season in certain spots? We entered the final day of the Championship Group a point ahead of Admira Wacker, our opponent. If Sturm Graz beat Rapid, a draw would send us to Europa. In the end we won and so did Sturm Graz so it looks a bit more comfortable than it was. Utrecht, who we played in the Europa Conference Group Phase and knocked us out in the first round of the Play Offs, made it all the way to the final before losing to Brentford. So it turns out they were pretty good. And this guy... I don't think we'll be able to resign him unfortunately. He's performed far too well for Rapid and is now making $500K+ a year. Which is a shame, because I still dream of bringing home one of our first Model Citizens.

This is remarkably dumb. Two of our players, on loan to separate teams in the First Division, were both sent off in a game against each other. Also dumb -- this intake. I'm not sure what caused us to revert 8ish years in terms of quality, but here we are. Maybe it's the sheer volume of players I've got in the U18s or at the club currently? Both are at all time highs. Hopefully we do better next year in both PA and personalities. I'll sign at least 1-2 here but on the fence for the rest. 100ish PA just isn't going to be a player that will ever see the field for us.

Quite the annoying draw -- we get a heavily favored opponent and one we've already played. Comprehensively beaten, although we did play an entirely rotated side in the second leg after getting beaten 2-0 at home with our first 11. Focus swings back to the league; hopefully we can return next year.

Mid-season 2032/2033 We've done just about enough in the league so far. We're a clear top half team, but barely keeping touch with the teams above us. Thankfully the league format suits us here - once we split, points are halved and I like our chances of hauling back at least one of the Vienna or Admira Wacker if we're only 2-3 points behind. Most likely the latter -- they're outperforming so far and that usually means players and/or manager get poached in January. That would keep us in line for another Europa Conference appearance. We've done about as well as can be expected in the current EC. Playoff place secured after 3 wins and 3 losses, with a nice $1.5M in winnings. No expectations that we'll pull up any trees here. I think we'd be competitive against maybe a third of the playoff sides, and that's likely to get worse as Europa teams join us. Actually wait, looks like that doesn't happen until the R16. If I put much stock in these, I'd be salivating at these two As as harbingers of CA. I'm skeptical though. I'd be happy for those to be the prominent positions though. Most STs can be trained to play across our front 3, and DMs slotted into DC and/or CM.

Europe 2032/2033 (continued) An unexpected computer restart ate my draft with the proper screenshot, so this will have to suffice. Ahead of any matches, I'd say this is two losses (Sporting, Utrecht) and four opponents where we're favored (at least on neutral ground). That may be enough to see us through? To be honest, I'm not too worried. The cash we've already generated plus a win or two (>$500K per) fills our coffers. Much needed, because I'm finding out I'm going to have to actually pay my players to extend now that we're a top half side in the Premier Division. So far we've lost away to Silkeborg in a match where anyone who was fit started and crushed Slovan Liberec at home in a game even less competitive than the scoreline.