Shrewnaldo

How much do you think you'll get for the Wahi? Are you looking for a like-for-like replacement, or taking the chance for a change of approach?

👀 Going to need a new name for the thread.

Ah OK. In the third screenshot, would those bars be more accurate if you had Extensive knowledge of the player rather than minimal? Your set up is so different, I wasn't sure how it was working

Ah decent, wasn't aware of the pop up. I've just been having some very quick look through the skins For some players it's obvious but for the some it just reflects the top of the range so takes a bit of digging. Thanks for taking a look

Hi @_Ben_ - just a suggestion I'm going to make to all the skin creators who make non-numerical attribute skins. Is it possible to add a "scouting knowledge" indicator or descriptor to the front page of the player profile? It would make it much easier to very quickly cross-check and be able to tell if the graphical attributes are accurate or to if they are only reflecting the top of the unknown range.

Hi @GIMN - just a suggestion I'm going to make to all the skin creators who make non-numerical attribute skins. Is it possible to add a "scouting knowledge" indicator or descriptor to the front page of the player profile? It would make it much easier to very quickly cross-check and be able to tell if the graphical attributes are accurate or to if they are only reflecting the top of the unknown range.

Hi @sebastian_starttrbts - just a suggestion I'm going to make to all the skin creators who make non-numerical attribute skins. Is it possible to add a "scouting knowledge" indicator or descriptor to the front page of the player profile? It would make it much easier to very quickly cross-check and be able to tell if the graphical attributes are accurate or to if they are only reflecting the top of the unknown range.

Not good enough Leoni del Garda - FeralpiSalò We said we'd give it one more shot and, whilst it started well, we really fell away come the end of the season. In truth, the lack of squad depth absolutely killed us. Our first XI could compete with everyone outside Torino but, whether off the bench or covering suspension and injury, the second string was just far too much of a drop. We managed to hold on to the last playoff spot - putting us into a single leg shootout at Pisa. We had a terrible record against the Nerazzurri but dominated the 90 minutes and should have been more than one up when that lack of depth cost us a 92nd minute equaliser. Pisa then had the better of extra time despite neither team being able to score. By virtue of the Italian rule that the highest rank side wins after extra time, we were then defeated. And so we're left with a choice. Stay or leave? 8 loan players will be leaving, as well as three first teamers out of contract and likely at least two more who we will have to sell. That would leave me with a squad of 12 and needing to start again. Again. The mooted takeovers have collapsed three times this season. Again. The board has cut our wage budget. Again. We have literally no transfer budget. Again. Yet there's a small part of me that wants to do it. Perhaps switch away from the direct, counter game and go with something a little more in line with my usual preferences... If we were to leave then I think I'd need to self-manage where we go next. My experience is that FM offers you up unrealistically good jobs far too early in your career. I think if we were to move on having over-achieved in Serie B then I'd be looking for something in the bottom half of Serie A. Perhaps something like Hellas Verona - geographically close to Salò too, bringing with it some realism there. If not, then perhaps something top-tier mid-table in Switzerland, Austria, Czechia or Slovenia? I don't want to take a step down in budget - I think it'd be realistic to look for a personal wage rise, as well as a bump in the financial muscle of the club I'm looking to take over. Any and all thoughts welcome. Forza Feralpi?

We started great but, slowly, it's all unravelling. In the past 5 games we've conceded 3 penalties - twice against direct rivals for playoff positions. Our form is rancid and only the dire form of everyone else has prevented us falling any further than 6th. But we're just 2 points above 9th spot - the first non-playoff position. Ideally, we'd bring in a couple of new faces to freshen it up - particularly a striker as, predictably, we're struggling up top without Chermiti. But we all know why we can't bring anyone else in so I'll just have to put faith in the improving form of loan striker Vivaldo Semedo. We also might need to freshen it up tactically a bit, otherwise this sort of stagnation is going to see a rather underwhelming end to the Toporagno era at FeralpiSalò

Nice one Sebastian, always a fan of using the Star Attributes. This is looking good

Will we be good enough? Leoni del Garda - FeralpiSalò It was a *really* difficult summer window. We needed a lot of players and had no money. Indeed, we needed to sell just so we could afford some signing on fees. In the end we brought in a little over £600k and spent... nothing whilst bringing in no fewer than 12 players. That's way more than I'd usually be comfortable with and I think has led to some early season lack of cohesion. Beggars, though, can't be choosers - something I found out to my detriment when most of the players that I wanted to choose went elsewhere, and I was left begging for scraps. Brackelmann and Cabraja were two of our starting defence last year, the former being one of our best players. With a third member of the back four (34 year old Filippo Scaglia) released, three-quarters of our starting back-line are new players. Hungarian international Ákos Kesckés is the only one on a permanent deal, with Milan's Adam Bakoune, Cagliari's Juan Gutiérrez and Palermo's Giuseppe Aurelio all on season-long loans. I ended up going for a few loans, considering that if the players I can get won't be good enough for the squad in Serie A then there's no point. Where this proved the biggest problem was at 9. Everton simply refused to let the excellent Chermiti come back for another season on loan, instead sending him back to Portugal for a free season at Moreirense. I couldn't find anyone of the same quality - either on loan or a free. Udinese's Vivaldo Semedo is fine, but the primary starter will probably be Kristian Fucak. I'd liked his stats in 2024/25 whilst at Osijek and had tried to get him on loan but he'd gone to Bravo in Slovenia instead. Again his numbers were good but what I really liked was the option to play a 6'4" aerially dominant option on the left-flank. With Juve's newgen Fabio Bottone providing a 6'2" option on the opposite flank, it's something we're committing too. It also fits in nicely with the general switch to using two holding DMs and letting the wing-backs come forward to provide the width. Without a quality 9 that can contribute 20-25 goals, I'm instead hoping the front three can get 12-16 each. So far it's going well. Fucak has 5 in 7 starts, Bottone 4 in 9 and Quina 2 in 11 - with the alternative 9, 6'6" Norwegian Kristoffersen chipping in with 3 in 3. But I think that 5th spot is going to be about our level. The three we've lost were 3-0 at Torino, 2-1 at Frosinone and 2-0 at Sampdoria. All teams above us and, in truth, we were completely outclassed in all three. We've then slipped up in two other games - a 1-1 draw in Modena and a horrible 3-3 home draw against Juve Stabia. The minnows scored with 3 of their 5 efforts, including a penalty. If we want to challenge for promotion, we can't afford many slips like this. But whilst we're no longer the team with the lowest total salary in the league, there's still an order of magnitude between us and the teams we're trying to compete against. Torino's squad is, quite frankly, ridiculous for this level and I would be amazed if they don't walk the league. That leaves one automatic promotion spot which I'd expect to go to Samp who have made some excellent moves, particularly Brazilian striker Kaio Jorge. I'd expect us to be there and thereabouts in the playoffs. If and when we get there, I'd be worried about Parma, Frosinone and Empoli simply due to the quality at their disposal. Sydney van Hooijdonk is doing a good job of carrying Benevento up the league but they don't have much else outside of their solid defence and I'd expect them to drop back a bit. In truth, I'm keeping one eye on the jobs market already and wondering what sort of job I'll be able to get if I'm off come the end of the season. A lower Serie A side seems reasonable, or perhaps a solid team in some of the Eastern European leagues that I have loaded? Serbia or Slovenia maybe? What do you reckon - what sort of level do you think I should be looking at? Forza Feralpi!

100% fair comment. I would prefer to err on the side of realism. I'm not sure how realistic the money troubles are... I guess FeralpiSalò are naturally a Serie C level team so it's always going to be a struggle in Serie B, nevermind Serie A. All of which is leading me into the decision to leave come the end of the season. Having built up his rep by overperforming with a small side, it feels realistic that Toporagno would look to pick up a job with a bottom-half Serie A team, or perhaps further afield.

Empoli, Parma and Torino came down. To give you an idea of the quality we're then up against, Parma have Arkadiusz Milik up front... Torino, meanwhile, have Raoul Bellanova, Malacia, Hannibal, Vlasic, John McGinn, Antonio Nusa, Antoine Semenyo, Pietro Pellegri, Josh Cullen and Brian Ocampo. Their centre back Jordan Beyer, or Burnley fame, is paid £66,000 a week. That's 80% of what my entire squad gets paid. I strongly suspect that Toporagno will be leaving Salò come the end of the season.

Surprised you stayed in France. Given the PSG challenge you've pointed out and the stage 3 requirements, I thought you'd nip off to Belgium or something. I think Lens have a great academy of though, which makes some of the other challenges easier?

The FM - GTA6 crossover mod

One more season of Serie B Leoni del Garda - FeralpiSalò Come what may, Naldo Toporagno is (hopefully) heading into his last season in Serie B. Having decided to stay with the Lions of Garda, we made our way all the way to the playoff final - limping through the final league games before absolutely battering local rivals Brescia in the semi-final. Sadly Cagliari, relegated the previous season and still undoubtedly of Serie A quality, were just too good for us in the two-legged final. A 1-1 home draw gave us hope before we were comprehensively outclassed in the return game. Still, we are progressing season-on-season. We'll face *another* cut to our wage budget this summer - taking us from £130k a week when I first started the save, to £84k a week despite three consecutive Serie B seasons and the tantalising prospect of promotion. That cut is going to force out a handful of our highest earners - most notably Eklu Shaka Mawuli and Alessio da Cruz, both of whom I considered selling last season. With 36 and 25 starts respectively, that's quite the gap to fill. Wahbi Khazri joins them out the door but, in truth, he'll be no loss whatsoever. An impulse signing on a free, he was the only "miss" of our 8 signings last summer. We couldn't spend anything last year and we won't be able to spend any this. So it'll be more of the same. Literally in the case of Adam Bakoune who we have managed to keep on loan for another season. Sadly, Youssef Chermiti will return to Merseyside and leave the biggest gap - 21 goals and 5 assists in 34 starts is outstanding for our level and he led the line beautifully. Targetting similar loans, I've been sending my scouts out to get team reports of B teams and unders sides... but finding the sweet spot of talent and affordability is becoming increasingly difficult. The mooted takeovers never arrive and, with literally zero transfer budget, it looks like I'm going to need to sell someone just to get some funds for free transfers' signing-on fees. In case that never happens, I've asked the board to find me a senior affiliate that can give us some free loans... so fingers crossed. As it stands, I'm going into next season with a squad of 14 players - including one loanee. Those 14 will absorb £40,415 a week of my £84,000 per week budget - the one ray of hope that I might be able to cobble together some sort of squad that can continue our progression and take that final step into Serie A. If not, Senor Toporagno will see out the final days of his contract and say ciao to the bonny banks of Lake Garda. My own patience for the struggle has worn thin, so I can imagine that a real manager facing three and a half seasons of this will start to look favourably on the offers coming his way from far richer clubs. Once more unto the breach, dear friends, once more... can our final effort get FeralpiSalò to the big time? Forza Feralpi!

It'll be interesting to see how that high line fares in the top league, assuming you'll be sticking with it? With both the improved quality of the centre backs to play those difficult passes, and better strikers / wingers to make those passes easier... Looking at your squad, there's a lot of PA but not a lot of CA. Are you thinking about bringing in more experienced, short-term options to shore it up a bit?

Thanks for the input @Lestri @Matty Aqua @MattyLewis11 @Lasson I've decided to stick with FeralpiSalò. My contract runs until the end of next season and I'm going to give it until then to get promotion. I think there's a good, realistic story to tell that, should we not go up by May 2027, Toporagno would be keen to move on. Having come in to a club that was rock-bottom in Serie B, rescue them in the first season and then create a team that challenges at least a playoff position but is hamstrung by financial matters beyond his control, it seems entirely logical that an ambitious manager would take that opportunity to go elsewhere. Teams such as Parma are already coming offering interviews, so I think we should be able to get something decent if we somehow manage to eek out another solid campaign despite the ever-decreasing wage budget. I also like the idea of seeing out my contract rather than leaving mid-way through. It'd feed into the sort of old-school, no-nonsense, "stand by my word" sort of manager I imagine Toporagno being.

I get what you're saying but there aren't many Italian clubs that I'd want to join. Other than Parma, I would probably consider Fiorentina and Roma. Fiorentina's board wants high-tempo pressing football, which is against Toporagno's instincts, and Roma are probably just a bit too big for my preferred type of game - maybe right at the end of a career but not now. Having said that, Parma's board wants possession football and to develop youth players... also not Toporagno's style... hmm....

Or... perhaps there's a fourth option to solve the financial crisis. Leave. Of all the offers that could come in, this is one of the few Italian options that I am genuinely tempted by. Parma are currently bottom of Serie A but hardly out of touch, just 3 points from safety with 9 games to go. With 90s nostalgia galore, some really lovely kits, an actual stadium where they can play at home... this is a genuinely tempting offer. Thoughts?

Money Troubles Leoni del Garda - FeralpiSalò The ridiculous number of goals is still bothering me so I'm playing quite a bit slower than I'd otherwise like, but I was enjoying the save too much to stop completely. As such, I'm approaching the end of season 3 - our second complete campaign in charge at FeralpiSalò and things are looking rosy. Or at least they are on the pitch. Behind the scenes, it's not quite the same story. Following the 10th place finish last season, we've gone from strength-to-strength. All-but-one of the summer recruitments have been hits - particularly midfielders Coli Saco and Mohamed Diaby, but primarily loanee striker Youssef Chermiti. The most pleasing aspect of the success has been that it's come whilst we've stuck to the low-block, direct counter-attacking principles. We have the lowest average possession in the league (39%) but take the second-most shots (396) and have the third-highest xG (52.91). Our direct style is probably most clear in the following table I've cobbled together. We take a shot every 24.9 successful passes - that's 17 fewer passes than the league average. The one disappointment has been the quality of those shots - with our xG per shot being just 0.134, worse than 13 other sides in the league and I'm not entirely sure why. Interesting, if you compare the xG per shot to the one I calculated in this post, you'll see that our average has fallen by a negligible 0.003 xG per shot. You'll also see that Spezia were the best team in the league with 0.14xG/shot. This term, there are no fewer than 8 teams exceeding that level. Why? Who knows. Regardless, we're doing rather well and whilst I don't think we'll make it into the top two spots for automatic promotion, we're well placed to take a playoff spot. All of which is rather pleasing given the financial constraints we are working under. Our current wage budget is the lowest in the league - a full half a million (12%) below the next lowest and 52% below the league average. And the really good news is that the board have now cut that budget by a further 20%. We're already down to the bare bares. I've jettisoned the under-20 and under-18 squads, including all the associated staff. Our first-team squad can only fill the bench (12) when everyone is fit and available. I have spent money on one player, splashing a massive £25,500 on Croatian Marijan Cabraja whilst relying on free transfers and loans for the rest. Meanwhile we can't ever sell players for good money because they tend to tell me they're going to see out their contract 18 months before it expires. And we haven't been out of debt since September 2023. Obviously the problem is our income. Our 'home' games, played at Mantova's Danilo Martelli because our expansion arrived 3 days too late for FM to recognise, attract an average of 2111 (unsurprisingly the lowest in the league). Our gate receipts won't raise £1m for the whole season, neither will the TV revenue. Together they'll cover about half of our player wages for the year. That's unsustainable. So what to do about it? I think there are only three solutions here: a takeover, player sales or promotion. We've had three collapsed takeovers but, to be honest, I really don't want to have my save ruined by a tycoon. Without a more-typical FM recruitment policy of signing young players with sell-on potential, I think selling our way out of debt is incredibly unlikely - and I don't want to deviate from the principles of the save. I guess this is just part of the challenge. So perhaps it is, literally, promotion or bust. We have Spezia (3rd, A), Brescia (5th, H) and Cagliari (2nd, A) as three of our remaining seven matches. Perhaps victory in Sardinia would give us an outside chance of overhauling the 5-haul gap to second, but I find that very unlikely. 5th to 8th will enter a playoff preliminary round, with the winners entering the playoff semis alongside the teams that finish 3rd and 4th - with a final then deciding the last promotion spot. Our record against the bigger sides is pretty handy - Sampdoria being the only side that's beaten us from the current playoff contenders. The counter system is particularly effective when teams come attack us, but I've struggled against Il Doria, I think purely down to the quality of player at their disposal - especially their outstanding front two of Estanis Pedrola and Antonino La Gumina. Let's hope we avoid Samp should we get to the playoffs. ----------------------------------------------------------------------------- A little on the wider world in which Naldo Toporagno is struggling against the financial handcuffs... first up in Serie B where Signor Toporango is facing some interesting counterparts. Filippo Inzaghi is in charge of Cagliari, Alessandro Nesta at Cittadella and Daniele De Rossi at Crotone. I do love these sorts of developments. It gets better in Serie A with Graham Potter's Lazio, Arne Slot's Milan, Ralph Hassenhuttl's Monza and, my personal favourite, Javier Saviola's Sassuolo. Inter, having won back-to-back scudetti, have just sacked Simone Inzaghi as city rivals Milan look most likely to take the title. In England, Man City look set to regain the title Liverpool, under Unai Emery, took from them last season. Klopp left for Real but finds himself in third having won La Liga by a point in 24/25. The other leagues are going exactly the way you'd expect with PSG, Bayern et al retaining their titles - although worth noting that Tuchel, Kane and co beat Emery's Liverpool in last year's Champions League Final. Just imagine, all that money. Maybe one day. Forza Feralpi!

Cheers SP - I've no real ambition to be involved in IRL football but maybe I should find out how much analysts are paid first...Director of Football might be more my style. ----------------------------------------- I still can't make my mind up whether or not to play on despite the goals bug. I've been really enjoying the save and want to keep playing, but my last two games were 4-2 and 5-2 wins... despite playing what I'd consider a conservative style of football. Every time I run a holiday test to get some numbers on what this looks like going forward, the goal-inflation gets worse and worse... but I'm bored and still want to play. Frustrating.

Got you. I like it. Like you say, it'd be nice to refine that comparison against the mean for their positional peers - or perhaps even top-tier peers - but I really like the quick visual to point at something which might be unusually high or unexpectedly low to go and prompt some further investigation.

Erm... 😁 So the blue bar is their attribute profile in that area and the yellow line indicates their statistical output against the global mean?

Don't think I've ever seen a counter against a 'keeper coming up for the corner either. Great stuff. Maybe one of the additions to this year's game along with the animations Could you explain the yellow checks on the attribute bars? Not sure I'm understanding that one