Shrewnaldo

You'll be loving this then?

At the halfway point and we're well on our way to the 32-point target that should see us survive. The January window has opened and we could do with a couple of reinforcements. I'm weighing up going for a striker to support Pérez (0.47 goals per 90 but starting to pick up a few injuries) and Sremčević (0.55 goals per 90 but massively skewed by a hat-trick against cup no-hopers). I think the latter will come good but is wildly inconsistent at just 19. However, I'm of a mind to just promote one of the B-team strikers and give them a shot. I don't think either Oyón or Tzalo will be good enough to 'make it' but this feels like an opportunity for a free hit. We're probably unlikely to go down from here... although being only 6 points clear, I'm thinking I might need more than 32 to stay up this season... and I'm not too keen on bringing in someone who will stifle future development opportunities for either Sremčević or the Mareo youngsters. So the other option is a loan or bringing in Pedro. The now 38 year-old former Barca and Chelsea winger is still turning in top performances for Alavés in the second tier and would make a perfect tutor with his Model Professional personality. All very tempting. I've also continued the Mexican recruitment focus, bringing in Alejandro Gómez for just £475k. I was quoted £4m for him in the summer but his contract was expiring next December and our affiliate Santos Laguna were happy to let him go on the cheap. Gómez becomes the 8th Mexican at El Molinón, including two on loan, and whilst he won't become a star player, I really liked this trend we're developing. We started with youth players coming through, moved into B-team support players and can now attract squad players. Mexico is relatively high-rep and the clubs play well so we're not yet able to attract the real stars of Liga MX but we're getting there. ¡Siempre Sporting!

That's a great spot - I confess that I'd missed that completely. I've just checked and my HoYD is down on the staff responsibilities page as being assigned this task. I don't know if something got mixed up last season when I sacked my old HOYD and appointed the new guy? Quite possibly because the personalities don't seem to align with the HOYD at all... which reminds me that I should source a new DoF whilst I'm at it. 100% agree on the affiliates. I'm really looking forward to the newgen spawn day this season as I'm really hopeful, given the upgrade in youth recruitment and rep alongside the affiliate links, that it'll be a great one.

There's always been a bit of variation in the reporting (which I think it totally fine) but it does seem to have increased in recent years. Ochoa is far from being my only example of players whose potential has increased since spawning. In fact, nearly all of them now have higher potential star ratings. Jaime Luis, Welton, Alejandro Soriano and Francesc Polo all now have 4 gold stars and an additional grey star, compared to 3 and 4 when they came through. So I wouldn't write your players off at all. I'd be tempted to give nearly every newgen a chance. Maybe I can do something fuller about trying to maximise development, if you're both interested. Are you going to create another version of Statman with the numericals back? It's interesting how different my game has been when I'm trying to play this way. In my Feralpi / Hellas game, I did a lot of micro-managing individual matches and spent a lot of time tactically planning for games. In this save, I've even stopped playing on Comprehensive - instead my focus is now elsewhere and I'm itching to just get to newgen day. Same game, different focus, very different experience.

Looking at that table, it's not hard to see why you're leaving and I think 'processional' sounds like the perfect word. In FM terms, it's just mashing the space bar and knowing that you'll win regardless because your players are so much better. Mad 43 minute hat-trick there against GAIS. Will be really interested to see where you end up. Realistically, I'd be thinking a lower Bundesliga side is entirely realistic. Like maybe a Mainz who have a track record of giving up-and-coming managers a shot.

Half a window A Sporting Heritage - The Guajes of Gijón I was expecting a busy summer and frantic transfer window but, having made some early moves to bring in the priority targets, the last month or so just sauntered on past without much fanfare. This was not through choice. Indeed, I was desperate to bring in more players but simply ran out of money and couldn't move players on as I'd expected, leaving me with a couple of unwanted players and a squad that I'm less than convinced will keep us in the league. The signings we did manage should come as no surprise to those who had been reading the thread to date. José Gragera is a former-guaje who was struggling for game time at Espanyol and has cost me more than I'd have expected for someone who got two starts last term. But Gragera is one of the few options for former academy players and, following retraining, can fill a concerning gap as a ball-playing centre back. Where Gragera will play on the right, Marín will play the cover role in the middle and joins permanently following a successful loan period from Real last term. He was outstanding in the promotion campaign and is certain to make us a tasty profit if nothing else. Over-performing our centre-back averages from the 2023/24 season in all but two metrics, and in some cases massively exceeded them, he was a no-brainer at just £1.2m and £4400 a week. Molinas also made his loan spell permanent when I activated his £5.25m optional fee despite Boca indicating they wanted to stick him in the first team next season. Similarly standing out statistically, Molinas had a net possession impact (possession won minus possession lost) of 7.28 per 90 cf the 23/24 average of 4.36, creating 0.71 chances per 90 (cf 0.41) and with expected assists of 0.24/90 (cf 0.15). He was such a huge step up from Fran Villalba that the latter played only 763 minutes and was destined for the exit. Indeed, Villalba's exit formed quite a significant part of my strategy as I anticipated using the proceeds from his sale to fund a couple more first-team signings - particularly an additional centre back and a physical forward. And then the contract demands started... Five or six players complained that their deals were no longer commensurate with their ability, or La Liga football, and demanded significant increases that I couldn't really resist. There were even a number of players whose wage was below the minimum required for La Liga registration and I had to give them new deals or they'd be unable to play. All of which meant that I would have to use Villalba's fee to increase my now bust wage budget. Bust to the tune of £17,266 a week (10% of my £173,930p/w budget). Worth noting that despite busting our budget we are still very much the pauper of the league - with our wage bill 50% below the next lowest (Elche), 15.7% of the league's average and 3.2% of Real Madrid's. And then we ran into another problem. Villalba wouldn't leave. First he rejected contract offers from Tenerife and Levante, and then all interest disappeared completely. No-one was interested at any price. With his contract expiring next summer and in desperate need of the funds, I tried all the options but came up blank. As such, the only other deals we could manage were a free Mexican centre back to fill out the B-team, a rotation right-back / centre-back on loan from Mexican affiliate Club América and a 6'4" Slovakian striker who had massively over-performed in the Segunda. The last deal is exactly the sort I'm looking to replicate more and more - a loan deal for a Mexican player who looks like he could have a bit of talent and wants to put himself in the shop window for a potential move to Europe. Espinoza is far from being the best Mexican prospect but he's clearly got something about him and has been put in my B-team to prove himself until the winter break. Barring the financial constraints, I'd have liked to spend a lot more on bringing in under-20 players to strengthen the B-team. I'm pretty pleased with the prospects that we have at 17 or younger - but those between 18 and 22 are short of where I'd want them to be. There's maybe 3 or 4, shown in the posts above, who I think could be good squad players but only one, Lucas Ferraras, who I think will be a solid first-teamer. That left scope for a handful of, preferably Mexican, arrivals to fill those gaps. Maybe next summer. In the meantime, I thought it'd be useful to check in on the first newgen intake - particularly to gauge how problematic our lagging youth facilities are. Of the prospects outlined in the first intake, all are progressing relatively well. The worst performer is 'keeper Roberto Vacas but he didn't get much game time last season - prompting me to let incumbent Nel González leave. Centre-back Welton looks like he's going to be excellent, whilst Jaime Luis - of the excellent moustache - and Francesc Polo are now 4.5* prospects. Particularly pleasing has been Luis Ochoa. In a little over 16 months, Ochoa has grown an inch and put on half a stone in weight. More importantly, his attributes are soaring. To do it all in bullets would make a long list but: Corners +2, Crossing +1, Dribbling +3, Finishing 0, First Touch +1, Free Kick Taking 0, Heading +1, Long Shots +1, Long Throws 0, Marking +1, Passing +2, Penalties 0, Tackling 0, Technique +2; Aggression 0, Anticipation +3, Bravery 0, Composure +3, Concentration +1, Decisions 0, Determination 0, Flair, +2, Leadership +1, Off the Ball +3, Positioning 0, Teamwork +1, Vision +2, Work Rate 0; Acceleration +3, Agility +3, Balance +1, Jumping Reach +1, Natural Fitness +1, Pace +2, Stamina +1, Strength +2. Technicals: +14 Mentals: +16 Physicals: +14 44 attribute points in a little over a year. I mean wow. And somehow he's picked up a trait I didn't train him. 30 games for the under-19s last season and a positional training regime - AP(S) - along with alternating additional foci has produced the goods so far. And he's only 16. Ochoa, more than anything else, gives me great hope for the development system I'm trying to run here. My one remaining uncertainty is about the transition from under-19s to B-team. I had intended to keep the newgens in the under-19s until they were too old, then they'd progress into the B-team for one or two seasons before finally making the jump to the first team. Obviously this can be accelerated in exceptional circumstances but I'm now wondering whether I need to have another step for more than just the exception. I've knocked back any number of Primera and Segunda loan offers for my under-19 players this summer - with our B-team being in the Primera I could just use my own system instead. But assuming the B-team is promoted this season or next... would Ochoa as he is now be good enough for Liga 2? Probably not. But certainly the Segunda and perhaps the Primera. With the C-team not showing any signs of promotion into senior football, we could look to re-negotiate our affiliate deals with Cultural Leonesa or Lealtad, both Segunda clubs, and use them as that interim step. That, however, is tomorrow-Shrew's problem. Today-Shrew is more worried about top-flight survival with a questionable squad. The target is 32 points, which would have seen us survive comfortably in the last two seasons. Having been given an incredibly generous start with home games against the other two promoted sides and trips to Mallorca and Granada, we're 25% of the way there after four games... With a trip to La Real and then a visit from Atlético next on the agenda, I suspect it is only downhill from here. ¡Siempre Sporting!

So I did this and instantly the Youth Facilities option has become available. And now I'm left with a conundrum. In the second tier, we had 4* youth facilities and were able to improve our training facilities to 4.5*, plus max out our junior coaching and youth recruitment. Then our youth facilities were downgraded due to technological developments. And clubs with the same reputation as us (3.5*) have up to 4.5* youth facilities (Girona). I think I'll stick it out until the end of this season and see what happens. Assuming we get another rep boost then hopefully it should sort itself out. If not I may revert to the in-game editor.

No but that's a good shout. It feels odd to me that rep would only constrain the youth facilities and not the training, junior coaching or youth recruitment. And to the point where the option just doesn't appear. I don't get it. The options almost always appear for everything else and they just say no if the parameters aren't aligned.

I've tried a different experiment, using the in-game editor to reduce the youth facilities to 9 out of 20. And then the option appears to ask for an improvement. So it turns out that the affiliate is not blocking it after all and perhaps it's not even a bug. It's just that I can't even ask the board if they'll improve our youth training facilities despite them being downgraded whilst we were in La Liga 2 and us then getting promoted... I don't understand

No that's what I tried. But the option to request improvements to the youth facilities has never re-appeared, and I holidayed forward about 6 months as a test. Which makes me wonder whether the problem really is this affiliate link or something else?

So I've discovered why I can't improve the youth facilities. There is a bug where you are prevented for asking for upgrades if you share youth facilities with an affiliate club. Our agreement with E.F. Mareo Logroño not only includes this type of deal, but it is a long-term deal which cannot be cancelled. Therefore, I am in the sub-optimal position of needing to buy the in-game editor so that I can cancel the link and overcome the bug. Unfortunately, I don't seem to be able to use the in-game editor to just remove the sharing of facilities So I bought the in-game editor and removed the link... then holidayed to test that it would work... and holidayed... and holidayed... and holidayed. The option never appeared. I've tried other ways of editing the link but none of them seem to bring back the option to request upgraded youth facilities. So I'm a little stumped. My last option is just to use the in-game editor to bump my facilities and then subtract what I consider to be a reasonable amount of money from the club's balance. So, a couple of questions: 1. Has anyone else come across this bug previously and know a way around it? 2. If not, how much is a reasonable cost for upgrading the youth training facilities from 'Great' (3 1/2 stars)? I'm thinking £2m?

At first I thought Werder Bremen were interested in you and I was rather comfused. That'd be a great move Have you managed to set up any affiliate deals with African clubs? Like a pseudo-emulation of Right to Dream? Or even just to give you scouting knowledge?

Surely. For comparison, this was Soriano when he came through: And here he is now: You'll notice that he's now an AMC but has really struggled for game time which has probably held him back. Weirdly, his free-kick taking ability has got worse by two points but his dribbling and off the ball have improved, along with a significant jump in some of his physicals. I don't tend to use a DLF, but perhaps if I switch away from two 10s then a move to two 9s is a natural progression in which case I'd definitely be looking for one of them to be a DLF type player

Promoted, so now what? A Sporting Heritage - The Guajes of Gijón Promoted in second place, we limped over the line on the final day by the narrowest of margins. Having lost the Asturian derby in Oviedo, we'd handed the advantage to Levante - who had defeated champions-elect Almeríá to be in charge of their own destiny on the final day. Two early goals for Osasuna, themselves battling for the final playoff spot, opened the door for us and, despite going 1-0 down at Elche, we were able to seize a difficult 2-1 victory, second spot and promotion to La Liga. Again, it was defensive solidity that really carried us forward - having the best defence in the league by 8 goals (or 25%) is rather impressive. At the other end of the pitch, our goalscoring improved by 15 goals (25%) on last season, despite Uroš Sremčević going on a 15-hour barren spell right in the middle of the season. Instead, our top scorer was Pablo Pérez - the former Guaje signed on a free from Primera club Rayo Majadahonda. Looking back through Pérez's 14 league goals, only 6 were scored from the ground - 5 with his right foot and 1 on his left. The remaining 8 were headers with 2 from corners and 1 from a free-kick. All of which explains his success over previous strikers - 6'2" with 16 jumping reach and elite level strength, aggression, bravery and work rate... he is really well suited for getting his bonce on the end of a few crosses. And I think this is the sole explanation for his stats exceeding the other options at 9. He makes 3.77 shots per 90, cf 1.54 and 1.68 for Quiepo and Sremčević respectively - correlating nicely with their individual aerial records. Again, Pérez is miles clear of the younger two with a quite phenomenal 57% aerial success rate and double the number of attempts compared to the average of the other two. It's interesting that Sremčević has a better conversion rate than Pérez and takes better quality shots than the latter (0.19xG/shot cf 0.13) but that hasn't mitigated against the far, far lower volume. All of which tells me that I really need to be looking at aerially dominant strikers or a change of approach (my two best newgen strikers are 5'10 and 5'9" with 6 and 3 for jumping reach...) The other key performers were wingbacks Guille Rosas and Pablo García, and my preferred pairing at 10 - loanee Aarón Molinas and guaje Gaspar. I'm hoping that promotion will stave off any thoughts Rosas and Gaspar have of leaving, whilst Molinas' future is somewhat in my hands. He has a £5.25m future fee in his loan deal from Boca Juniors and I am sorely tempted to activate it. Compared to the average 10 from last season, his performances have been exceptional and ideally I'd like to keep him. But £5.25m is quite the chunk of our £10m prospective budget for next year and there are any number of gaps which that money could be used to fill. If Quiepo could stay fit then he might develop such that we don't Molinas but this season has convinced me that Nacho Méndez and Fran Villalba can both be allowed to leave. The former is a guaje but just isn't of the required quality, whilst Villalba looks like he should be a primary creator but doesn't consistently come up with the goods. Having convinced the board to let me keep 100% of any outgoing sale fees, selling Villalba for something around £3-4m would go a long way to covering that Molinas fee... that would leave me with Molinas, Gaspar and Quiepo capable of covering two 10 spots... but that's assuming I stick with the current shape. On the left is what I've been using for most of this season and on the right is what I'm considering switching to, or at least having in our pocket as a fallback option.. The below is a typical example of our defensive shape with the 5-2-2-1, the two AMs being #20 and #19, splitting wide. My concern is that the two DMs collapse back towards the defensive line too much. Whilst I like that, in the screenshot above, they're making a pass to the opposition 9 and 10 impossible, I don't like how much space they surrender in front of them. I wonder if one DM to protect that space and prevent that pass into the strikers' feet would suffice, whilst two MCs pressing a little ahead of the DM protects the central space better. The trade-off is going to be in wide areas - the two 10s, as you can see in the screenshot above, will drop wide when we're out of possession and almost make it a 5-4-1 in defence. It's not always the most effective 5-4-1 but I think a switch to 5-diamond-1 would rob us of some of that natural width. Defending on the ball's side should be fine but the narrower midfield would leave the far side exposed to quick switches of play. I'd wanted to experiment with the 5-diamond-1 variant a bit more this season, but was constrained by how tight the promotion push was. Funnily enough, I was forced into in for the final game of the season due to available personnel and you can see an example of what I feared here: Our midfield diamond has been drawn to our right flank as Elche have attacked down their left and they're now recycling the ball back through the centre-backs. The right-most player in the 3 of their 2-3-5 shape is the danger man here - completely free and with masses of space in front of him. A quick switch before we can shuffle across could see him driving at our back line and with a series of 1v1s in front of him. With the ball, I've also found that a single 10 tends to get lost - in the Elche game, Molinas made only 30 passes which is about half of his average output when played as one of two 10s. I think I would prefer to keep the two 10s but encourage the DMs not to collapse back on top of the centre-backs quite so readily. Perhaps this is something to (attempt to) sort during pre-season. A pre-season which promises to be exceedingly busy, for 10 isn't the only position in question. Far from it. In fact, I'd say that only goalkeeper and the wingback slots are fairly secure (barring outgoings). Cuban goalie Christian Joel Sanchéz was given the #1 spot this season - as a guaje, I wanted to give him the opportunity to develop ahead of Rubén Yáñez. Still only 25, I think Sanchéz is 'just fine' for a season or two, whilst I give the B-team 'keepers a chance to exceed expectations. At wing-back, the phenomenal Guille Rosas continues to excel but he was surpassed by the surprise package of the season Pablo García. I had ear-marked Diego Sánchez, sold to and re-loaned from Southampton, as the incumbent on the left flank but García made the position his own after January - leading the league with 1.14 chances created per 90 (in 1496 minutes). The increased game time for Sánchez, Rosas and García has seen a boost to the proportion of minutes given to guajes - taking a healthy jump towards our 50% target. I think it's likely that next season will see these numbers take a, hopefully temporary, drop. There are very few guajes of La Liga quality and most of these won't be coming back to El Molinero any time soon. Bordeaux's Pedro Díaz would be a welcome addition but looks set for the gold mine in Saudi Arabia, whilst Olympiakos' Jorge Meré isn't going to swap continental football for a return to Asturias just yet. The one genuine option for a return is Espanyol's José Gragera. Just two La Liga starts last season and a player that I would absolutely love to bring back - possibly as a 6 but more likely as a centre back. Sadly Espanyol narrowly avoided relegation and Gragera's asking price is likely to remain high - within reach but, similar to Molinas, one that would dominate the outgoings and constrain us elsewhere. And with so many gaps to fill, I just don't think I can splash £5m on a single player. Loanee centre back Rafa Marín has been excellent throughout his 3856 minutes but will return to Real Madrid and leave a big gap to fill; Jonathan Varane, Mario Lemina and Nacho Martín are solid options at 6 but will need some quality back-ups... potentially from B-team promotions; and I'm going to need at least one striker to supplement the unexpectedly excellent but entirely expectedly aging Pérez. Yes, there are options in the B-team who would have been promoted for a season in La Liga 2, but are they good enough for the top tier? Probably not. I don't see much merit in accepting relegation with sub-standard players just to meet arbitrary targets. Instead, the reputation boost from continued La Liga membership should improve the newgen quality and lead to longer-term benefit. Combined with the successful re-negotiation of our affiliate deals with Orlegi clubs Atlas Guadalajara and Santos Laguna - such that Mexican newgens from these clubs should start coming through our intake - we're building towards something 4-6 seasons down the line. And so this summer is likely to see us pick up a handful of quality players that can fill a temporary gap to keep us up. But I have no intention of abandoning the principles of the save completely and so I will be looking for experienced players with positive personalities that I hope will mentor the raft of talent that we have coming though. Another busy summer awaits. ¡Siempre Sporting!

The only main targets are Jose Gragera and Aaron Molinas. Gragera is a former Guaje currently at Espanyol and not getting much game time. Molinas has been on loan with us this season and has an optional £5.25m fee to make it permanent... I'm not sure I can afford that given the other strengthening we need For now, only Spain is full detail. I was thinking of experimenting with full detail elsewhere but didn't want to screw up and make my game unbearably slow For a future save where I'm back with graphical attributes (say if I good back to Verona) then I think I'd bump a selection of 5 or 6 leagues to full detail and use the stats from there. With the focus on youth and the Mexican market, I don't think I need it in this save

We almost threw it away - losing to Oviedo in the Asturian derby meant we went into the final day needing to better Levante's result at Osasuna. We did our part, coming from behind to beat Elche. The first goal came from Damian Cáceres - a B-team player that I had to play due to a midfield injury crisis - and Sremcevic, who had gone 15 hours without a goal through the middle of the season. And Osasuna held up their half of the bargain to bag themselves a playoff spot where they'll play... Levante. Fun. Best part of £10m to survive.

Actually, scratch that @SixPointer - I had another look at the affiliates and I could negotiate the options... Which means we now have this option with both Atlas and Santos Laguna For the save narrative, this is huge. Massive fan of this so thanks for the prompt to re-check @SixPointer

One of my favourite news items in FM - such a great addition to the game in FM20 or whenever it was. Four teams still vying for the two top promotion spots. Almería look set to bounce straight back up, barring a complete collapse. Can we hold off the challenge form Levante and Elche? I think we have the hardest run-in - with the away leg of the Asturian derby coming at the business end of the season for a second campaign in a row. Málaga will also likely be fighting for playoff spots and then there's the final day showdown with Elche... It's going to be tight. I'm also taking an interested look at the bottom end of the table with both Depor and Racing likely to take some tasty players with them into the Primera... some raiding options available there. Sadly not. We don't have that sort of affiliate link with any of the Mexican clubs and I don't appear to be able to amend the links yet. I might have to ask for another affiliate and try again.

What would be a realistic next step if you decided to move? Or is it just a case of waiting for other Andean clubs to become available? Cusco's shirts are great, btw. Definitely need to end up there

I like Bakoune a lot, had him on loan at Feralpi How much of a difference do you find having your wingbacks aligned with the DM line rather than DC?

The Second Intake A Sporting Heritage - The Guajes of Gijón I'm flying through the save, loving it, and have already reached the second youth intake day... and it looks rather promising. Just like last time, I'm going to go through it 'live' on this post. As a reminder, this was the rather uninspiring preview: ...which prompted me to sack the Head of Youth Development and replace him with a newgen staff member that has a better personality, leading to this intake. ...and that looks much tastier than either the preview or last year's intake. So here goes... Manuel Navarro Centre back 'elite talent' I like the aggression and boy are the physicals better than last year's intake. Balanced personality is mid, as my son would say, and Determination of 7 will need to be increased. But nothing is catastrophically low - Heading and Marking of 7 will need a bit of work but technicals should increase nicely over time and it's always nice to have a left-footed centre back with a bit of pace. This is an excellent start to the intake, particularly knowing that centre back has a number of gaps in our squad planner across the B-team and under-19s. Raimundo Montiel LB/CB - 'elite talent' Oddly Montiel is listed as a left-back only for me to notice that he's only natural at centre-back... this bug has existed in FM for years and it's so infuriating... anyway, another left-footed centre-back with better physicals but poorer in the air that Navarro. Personality is mid again. I'm thinking Montiel might make a better wingback afterall, or perhaps a defensive 6. He seems to be pretty well-rounded but the low Dribbling and Flair would push me away from a wingback role that I'd want to be more creative. I'll hold off for a while and see if his aerial ability improves in a few years. Carlos Rojas Ball-winning 6 Yikes, that personality. 'Temperamental' means he has low Professionalism and that can be a killer for development... which is a real shame because just look at those mentals! He looks like he'd be an absolutely phenomenal ball-winner at 6 so I'm immediately thinking that Perfectionist Mario Lemina will be asked to mentor Rojas and encourage him to realise the obvious potential that he has. The physicals might have started on the low side but the technicals are just about there and those mentals... Tomás Playmaking 6 - 'top talent' Much better personality and your eye is automatically drawn to his outstanding Passing and Determination, plus Technique and Teamwork - so the playmaking 6 role looks about right. Low Flair would keep him in a deep role, to my mind, whilst there are obvious defensive deficiencies to keep him away from a ball-winning role. Javier Bravo Shadow Striker - 'top talent' Again, physicals are just so much better this time around... and 14 for Dribbling, Flair and Technique could make for a fun watch. But there are quite a few gaps for me - his mentals are particularly concerning without Anticipation, Off the Ball and Vision. Is he a creator or a finisher... or neither? I can't say I'm overly excited by Bravo - although he reminds me of Alex Lozano who I've just played twice in the league due to injury troubles... I wasn't too bothered about Lozano but he's scored in both games so... maybe I should shut up Hugo Quinones Playmaking 10 - 'top talent' Decent beard for 15. Fair play. Physicals are a massive yikes, although at least the Natural Fitness may imply they will increase? Another with some top-heavy eye-catching attributes at First Touch, Technique and Flair... then looking closer he only has two mental attributes below 8, and I think I'd only be looking for a prospective 10 to have better Finishing amongst his technicals. So I think Quiñones is another with real potential. Mario Rodrígues 9 - 'top talent' Ok... he can't jump and he'd get blown over by a light breeze but there's some real potential here. Determination and Aggression obviously catch the eye but he's also got really solid starting attributes for Dribbling, Finishing, First Touch, Technique, Flair and Off the Ball - all of which have the makings of a lovely poacher. Personally, I like my lone strikers to be more imposing physically and 5'9" / 3 Jumping and Strength... that just feels like it's never going to get up to scratch. So maybe as part of a front two... Dani Moya Left back - 'decent talent' Just hang on a second there. My HoYD / coaches say he's got 2* potential... but am I crazy to think there's a player here? The mentals are impressive enough with only Concentration something that might cause any concern for a defensive player. Technically, he's only 3 points away from double-figures on Marking and Tackling. His Spirited personality implies decent Professionalism, as does Level-Headed media handling. I don't use them at the moment but I can see a solid inverted full-back in Moya, despite being rated as the second worst of my intake. And he's been using the same beard oil as Quiñones. ----------------------------------------- Outside of that, there are 6 'good talents' and 2 'decent talents' which I think are complete duds. But we've got 8 players out of this intake who look genuinely quite handy. I think Rojas, if we can sort out his personality, is the most promising of the bunch so he'll probably come straight into the first-team training set-up so I can organise that mentoring (what a stupid system that is by the way - surely they can be mentored without need to train with the first team. Ridiculous). @-Jef- I think, from the Evidence Based FM video, that only the HoYD's personality directly influences the personalities of the intake, but I'm not 100% sure. I always pay attention to the personality of the staff regardless, though - more out of superstition that any knowledge of its impact. I'm very happy to be enlightened otherwise.

I thought about this quite a lot and just can't accept the risk of such poor intakes. We've successfully bumped the Youth Recruitment to go with the earlier improvements to Junior Coaching, but I've also taken the decision to replace the Head of Youth Recruitment. Whilst Óscar Garro had decent attributes, he just didn't have the personality that I was wanting to transfer into the newgens. Balanced personality with Media-friendly media handling style and 12 for Determination is all a bit meh. So out he went to be replaced by newgen staff member Feliu Márquez 14 for Determination is better but it's the Professional personality which I was truly after, whilst maintaining decent attributes for Working With Youngsters and JPA/JPP. With luck, this will have a positive impact on the upcoming intake and going forward.

I don't recall anything about scouting regions affecting your intake nationalities - did I miss something? I thought this was always influenced by club geography, staff nationalities, national preferences, club preferences, RNG and the affiliate links (per EBFM's video)

Someone on twitter reminded me of the fantastic Evidence Based Football Manager videos which do a deep dive into the youth intake mechanics. You can watch the summary here - You were absolutely correct - Youth Recruitment also impacts your pecking order in taking good newgens from the 'draft pool'

Nevermind the Newgens A Sporting Heritage - The Guajes of Gijón We've reached the halfway point of season 2 and things are going well on the pitch. Or rather pitches. The first-team are top of La Liga 2, the B-team are top of the Segunda Federación and the under-19s are top of the Spanish U19 Division 1. Can't really say fairer than that. The B-team has faced a little more competition than I had anticipated and have even lost a game - to nearest competitors Cultural Leonesa. From just down the road in Léon, they were relegated from the Primera last season and are just a point behind our B-team. Racing Santander B, in third, are some 14 points behind that. Either way, the performances across the board have been excellent and this has prompted me to take stock for a second. The only development post I've made so far has focused on the first intake of newgens but, coming into the club at 15, it'll be several seasons before they are endangering the first team. In the meantime, there's a raft of real life prospects in the Sporting squad and a handful that I've brought in since. So I thought it'd be worth taking a wee look at some of my favourites and where they fit within the playing pathway. Under-19s Diego Matabuena Creative Midfielder 6/10 On day one at the club, Matabuena was listed as the best prospect at the club and initially I was sceptical. There's way too many low single-digit attributes in key areas but he's progressed steadily and has performed pretty well for the under-19s so far. Still only 17, there's a half decent chance that he could become a solid creative 10. Angelo Goalscoring 10 Another of those odd youngsters with top-heavy attributes in some good areas but then big gaps in others, Angelo was another that I wasn't massively convinced by but has performed superbly for the under-19s and should be able to do a job for the B team next season. Tzalo Goalmachine 23 goals in 14 starts for the under-19s is going to make you stand up and take notice. Again, top heavy but in all the right areas really. He strikes me as the sort of player that will smash is at lower levels but is going to struggle at the higher echelons where players have to be more rounded. Sporting B Damián Garcíá-San Pedro Goalkeeper Just 3* potential but, looking at those attributes, he genuinely looks handy to me. I like the basic attributes in goalkeepers - Positioning, Reflexes, Handling, Command of Area, Aerial Reach and Agility. 11, 14, 13, 11, 15, 16. That's not too shabby at all for a 19 year-old. Yes, some mental deficiencies but that could come with experience and probably good enough to be a homegrown bench warmer. There's a second 'keeper called More who I initially liked better but Garcíá-San Pedro looks to have secured the B-team slot for now. Lucas Ferreras Centre Back I like. 6'2" with pace and high Determination and Decisions, he was accelerated into the B-team this season despite being young enough for the under-19s. He's impressed, albeit at a relatively poor level, and might be a candidate for acceleration into the first team if we don't go up this year. I also brought in German centre-back Christian Kouam who may be one to keep an eye on. Sebastián Valenzuela Wingback... I think One of the Mexican imports brought in by Orlegi before I started the save, Valenzuela is starting to look the business. He's the polar opposite to the under-19 options with 10-13 across almost the entire raft of attributes but nothing exceptional. I'd ear-marked him for the wingback slot but the B-team manager has been playing him as the left of the three centre backs. With what I'd call 'broad rather than tall' attributes, that sort of versatility absolutely makes sense. Jorge Montes Wingback... definitely Valenzuela has been pushed to centre-back because of Montes who has been exceptional from left wingback for the B-team. And just look at those arrows. Obviously there's a couple of deficiencies in the mentals and that Strength but I'm a big fan. Franco Rossano Wingback Montes and Valenzuela meant that another Mexican, Franco Rossano, was pushed to the right flank. To be honest, I saw this as a stop gap, with other prospect Kevin Picon already in the first-team squad and expected that Rossano would just fill the slot for a while - particularly considering those physicals. But he's done really well for the B-team and has given me some thought about 'wrong footed' wingbacks. He's scored 3 this season (and many more last season) cutting onto his strong foot from wide. Something to consider. Damián Cáceres 6 Cáceres is really only lacking Concentration and Strength to make him a really, really good physical 6. So I've had him pegged as the more creative 6 in our double pivot - albeit I'd appreciate better dribbling and flair. At 21, he'll likely make the step up to the first-team squad next season. Aarón Quintana 6 Quintana has the same issue as Cáceres - he's just missing those one or two attributes that would probably see him already in the first team squad. His Vision and Composure need to improve for him to be the creative 6, Marking and Concentration are a bit low for the sitting 6. Enol Prendes 9/10 Clearly held back by his physicals but Prendes. With his exceptional Technique, First Touch, Off the Ball and Flair I see him as being a creative 10 trying to play in between the lines. Both my 9 and the other 10 need pace to try and get in behind the defence, so it absolutely makes sense to tailor him for the less physically-demanding role. Joshua Mancha 9/10 The last of the original Mexican imports, Mancha has been the worst performer in the B-team by quite some distance. He is, however, filling the second 10 role which is struggling throughout the three teams and is indicative that I just haven't got the front three right yet. I see this second 10 as being the "link role" - ahead of the creative 10 but playing off the advanced forward 9. This clearly hasn't worked yet so I'm willing to give Mancha more time to prove himself. Álex Lozano Winger 10 Lozano has been held back by being a winger, which we don't use, and then breaking his ankle last season - keeping him out for at least 3 months. I've tried to re-train him as that 'link 10' but he hasn't even had the game time in which he can fail to impress. Given Valenzuela and Montes, I really don't need another wingback on the left and so I'm at a loss what to do with Lozano. I suspect he'll just leave the club shortly and end up back on the wing somewhere else - which is a bit of a waste for us, as I think there's a player in there. I'll probably regret this in 3 seasons when I get bored and revert to wingers. Álex Oyón 9/10 Yet another 9/10 who isn't really perfect for any of the roles I play but who has been smashing it as a 9 in the B-team. Ok 8 of his goals have come from penalties, but 12 in 18 from open play is pretty handy anyway. Despite these impressive numbers, I'm just not convinced by Oyón - there seems to be too many gaps in his attributes. But, perhaps a legacy from playing with graphical attributes, so long as he keeps producing then I'm just going to ignore the gaps I think *should* be there. Exceptional First Touch, Technique and Decisions with good Off The Ball, Flair, Finishing and Composure... it's clear to see why he's bagging goals in the Segunda. ----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- That all gives me some nice prospects to work with whilst the newgens start to come through. I've got high hopes for Ferreras, Valenzuela, Montes and Matabuena as the best prospects - with a handful of the others likely to be squad rotation options that should give me 7 or 8 Guajes towards my target of 60% (15). With the likes of Christian Joel Sánchez, Borja Montes, Pablo García, Nacho Martin and Dani Quiepo already in the squad and getting significant game time I feel that there's a solid foundation of homegrown players to work with. I've also convinced the board to improve the Junior Coaching twice (now Excellent), something I hope to see reflected in this year's newgen intake - even if the preview is uninspiring. The training facilities are also currently being upgraded from Excellent at a cost of £2.5m, whilst I still cannot ask the board to improve the Youth Facilities - a major disappointment. I am able to ask them to improve the Youth Recruitment but I'm unsure whether or not I'll do so. My understanding is that this will simply increase the range of recruitment - allowing the club to draw newgens from other countries and even continents. I'm not sure this is something that I want. Considering Turkish clubs in FM, they all have terrible Youth Recruitment and so they typically produce only Turkish newgens. Isn't this what I want? To prioritise Asturian talent? I'd welcome any thoughts on this and whether I'm simply misinterpreting the Youth Recruitment mechanic. ¡Siempre Sporting!