Thebaker

I reckon my team is the opposite of this idea, you could almost have a team of players under 5'9". midfielders and even strikers 6" or over seem to be in short supply.

2037/38 Table | Squad | Transfers Started the season pretty poorly drawing a lot of games and then losing to the better teams to sit only just outside the bottom 2 after12 games and only 2 wins. Some wins in europe was the springboard to put togther a 9 match unbeaten run and move up the league. The team was always outside the european spots and some draws in the last few games confirmed no european football for the next season. In the french cup beat Ligue 1 Nancy 1-0 away in the ninth rd before winning 1-0 at home to Ligue 2 Amiens. Just beat National Grenoble 1-0 away before facing Ligue 2 Niort in the quarter final. Playing at home the team somehow drew 1-1 before losing on penalties and wasting a chance to go further. In europe the team was in the europa conference league where the team squeezed through the qualifying rd 1-0 on agg against SJK. The team did well in the league winning most games except against Brentford which was the one poor match qualifying for the rd of 16. The team beat Bologna in both legs of the rd of 16. In the quarter final the team again faced Brentford and after losing a tight first leg at home 1-2, were easily the better team away but could only draw 1-1 to go out. Brentford went on to win the final. Finances improved as a result of the european money. Chopko was a record signing and replaced Sarkodie (114 apps, 3 goals) who left. Gomis (261 apps, 6 goals) was let go at the end of the season as he was no longer good enough for a starting player. Macek (121 apps, 1 goal) left on a bosman after the season as he wanted to sign for a bigger club just when he was becoming 1st choice RB. Leonoff (95 apps) was sold as he wanted to join a bigger club, replaced by free signing Gueye. Bonilla was top scorer. 2038/39 Table | Squad | Transfers Another season where the team started very slowly and were only just out of relegation after 15 games. A good run before and after xmas lifted the team but too many draws after this meant that the team was nowhere near the top 6. In the french cup the team beat lower league TA rennes 4-1 away with the reserves before facing Ligue 1 OM at home. Drew 1-1 before winning on penalties. In the 11th rd the team beat Ligue 1 Dijon 5-3 at home before a brilliant 3-1 win at home against Nantes in the quarter final. In the semi final the team was away to Ligue 2 FCSM and and struggled in the first half losing 0-1 before scoring 5 2nd half goals to win 5-1. In the final the opponents were Ligue 2 Montpellier and the match was decided by a missed penalty for them and a penalty scored for my team to win 1-0. Finances went up slightly due to player sales. The youth facilities and ground were improved. Pedrozo was sold for a good profit on a player signed for free a year before. Rodrigues was a good squad option but was sold for a club record fee. Ivankovic (168 apps, 19 goals) was also sold as he wanted more game time but had been a good squad option for several years. The investment in the youth teams has been shown in a great youth intake although i have struggled to develop any of the high potential players who have come through in recent seasons with only 1 youth player in the 1st team as a backup player. Bonilla was again the top scorer even if i feel he could score a lot more, described as world class several teams are interested in him. Gay Rey is very frustrating at times but had a decent season overall, Lefevre was the best rated player again even if he nowhere close to being the best on ability. Season League Position French Cup Europe Top Scorer Top Assists Attendance Training Youth Junior Youth Rec Notes 2034/35 Ligue 1 13th 10th Rd N/A Gay Rey(10) Gay Rey(6) 7853 Great Great Adequate Exceptional 2035/36 Ligue 1 7th Qtr-final N/A Bonilla (11) Caceres(7) 10361 Excellent Great Excellent Exceptional Qualified for Europe 2036/37 Ligue 1 7th 11th Rd Europa league Rd of 16 Bonilla (21) Caceres(12) 10643 Superb Great Excellent Exceptional Qualified for Europe 2037/38 Ligue 1 8th Qtr-final Conf league Qtr-final Bonilla (14) Jiracek(9) 11041 Superb Great Excellent Exceptional 2038/39 Ligue 1 10th Winners N/A Bonilla (24) Gay Rey(11) 11145 Superb Excellent Excellent Exceptional French cup winners

They are usually just called Airdrie so that might be why but i think they have been in the leagues for a while.

You seem to have a very young squad now with mostly potential over ability, do you still really need to sell the best players now as your balance is huge. Is this maybe holding back the team with players with lower mental attributes.

I can agree with that, the number of times a random person takes corners or free kicks when not down as taker is frustrating. Why a player has to be a right or left footer to take a free kick from one side or the other is just odd, with no option to select certain players due to their preferred foot.

Well done on winning the Premiership, i would be happy about the goals being shared. It means that injuries and loss of form have less effect on the team and that more players will have higher ratings and improve more as a result. When did you stop GK taking free kicks, also have your other GK's (except Welsh) ever played for the club since none have scored a goal which seems surprising in 100+ apps.

2036/37 Table | Squad | Transfers The team had a really poor start to the season and for much of the 1st half were only just outside the relegation spots, this was due to the european games which tired the players out and needed a lot of rotation. In the new year with less games the teams form picked up and they were just outside the european spots until the last few games. 10 points from the last 12 coupled with OM's collapse in form (3 points from the last 6 games) meant that european competion was gained for the 2nd year running. In the french cup the team beat Ligue 2 Nancy 2-0 away in the 9th rd before beating Ligue 1 Toulouse 3-0 at home in the next rd. The team went out in the 11th rd 1-2 awy to Metz in a close game. In europe the team entered the europa league in the league phase and qualified for the round of 16 with a game to go without losing any of the 8 games. In the round of 16 the team played Shakter again who had drawn with my reserves in the league phase. Away in the 1st leg the team was 0-4 down at halftime and in spite of finishing the match with 22 shots to 9 and an xG of 2.19 to 1.25 lost 0-4. In the home leg the team again dominated with 22 shots to 2 but could only win 3-0 to go out on aggregate. Finances improved again thanks to the extra games and money from europe, the training facilities were improved. The top scorer was Bonilla was still a bit up and down in his performances, luckily club favourite Majic (106 apps, 42 goals) had a good season, unsure about extending his contract by the time i did try he had signed for someone else. As an attacking RB Caceres provided a good threat leading in assists for the 2nd year. Long time backups Mijic (87 apps) and Tesic (115 apps 4 goals) both left after being left out the europa squad, neither quite lived up to their potential when they arrived. Season League Position French Cup Europe Top Scorer Top Assists Attendance Training Youth Junior Youth Rec Notes 2032/33 Ligue 1 13th 10th Rd N/A Kembo, Lafton (9) Ospina, Ivankovic (7) 7217 Good Average Adequate Good 2033/34 Ligue 1 13th 9th Rd N/A Majic (11) Asamoah (6) 7257 Great Good Adequate Excellent 2034/35 Ligue 1 13th 10th Rd N/A Gay Rey(10) Gay Rey(6) 7853 Great Great Adequate Exceptional 2035/36 Ligue 1 7th Qtr-final N/A Bonilla (11) Caceres(7) 10361 Excellent Great Excellent Exceptional Qualified for Europe 2036/37 Ligue 1 7th 11th Rd Europa league Rd of 16 Bonilla (21) Caceres(12) 10643 Superb Great Excellent Exceptional Qualified for Europe

The french leagues with a team called Racing CFF in 2037. You are probably right about the finances, my team got £18 Million pounds for tv rights last season. I also got £7 million in sponsorship, £8 million in league prize money and averaged 10500 in attendance, the next team was 17000 by comparison. Its likely to be the least money for any team in the league.

I looked at my game and i improved the youth facilities 3 times in 3 seasons from adequate to great. I dont know what my rep was at the start of that period but i had been promoted to Ligue 1 only 1 season before that. In the 5 years since only in the last 2 seasons have i finished 7th and been in europe once which is after the last upgrade and obviously at a lower rep. The club rep is national now at 3.5 stars and is ranked 102 in europe (40th of the national clubs). If it is a bug it would seem to be one only in scotland.

i can't believe that the youth facilities not being improved is down to rep as yours must be high enough. Sometimes its down to how it compares to other teams in the league, although i would expect a few teams to be higher than that. Could also just be the board. I found in my save (in france) that i would ask for an upgrade in may after the season was finished which the board refused only to then at the start of the next season suggest to me if i wanted an upgrade, happened 2 successive seasons with training and youth upgrades.

I play Bonilla up front as a AF on his own (which by stars is his best position), i keep meaning to try him as a CF. I play supporting AML and AMR so there is no AMC. The wage budget doesn't matter as if i increase it then players will just increase their demands and i will not pay squad players more than my best players. Great job on winning the CL, i find that winning the CL is hard with the smaller nations and actually winning the league hard in the bigger nations. Its one reason i like playing in Sweden as there are a few bigger teams but its still really competative and the small teams grow more so the gap is less. The crowd still seems really small but looking at the league IRL they all have tiny grounds, 3 at 10-16K and the rest under 5K i guess football isn't that popular there.

2035/36 Table | Squad | Transfers Started the season ok before really strong form from sep to dec took the side into the top 4. The results thereafter were mixed with the team just outside the CL slots. A poor finish of 2 wins in the last 7 games dropped the team down and they were lucky to finish in the euro spots by the end but it was still a first qualification for european football. The team finally moved into the new stadium in Dec, crowds did not improve as much as i thought with some games less that the old ground capacity of 8000. In the french cup the team went through the 9th and 10th rounds easily against lower league opposition. In the 11th rd the team sneaked through 1-0 away to Lille after being 2nd best for the whole match. The cup run ended in the Q-final when the they lost 1-2 at home to Lyon which again was one sided to the opposition. Finances remained steady mostly due to the fact that i cannot afford the wages of any players i might want to buy and so have not bought many players, the 4 non-eu player rule is also hampering me. I did spend a record amount on Cikojevic who had a mixed season but i hope there is more to come. Tsukamoto (264 aps, 30 goals) left after dropping down the pecking order at CM, this allowed for an extra non-eu player. I brought in Bonilla who was wanted by a lot of top teams but none actually made an offer when i signed him and made him my top earner. He finished as top scorer in just half a season although Majic was injured for 3 months. I continued to invest in the facilities and it may be beginning to pay dividends with what looks like my best youth intake yet. I also had 3 players in the nextgen list, Juska and Macek i signed on a free after finding them in their countries youth squads. Diallo is a youth player although he has not played for the team yet as Macek is slightly better. Club icon Mustafic (203 apps, 46 goals) was let go as he was not a standard good enough and could not play as the lone striker. My best player was Leferve, he is a squad player was out of contract for 2 seasons before coming back into the side and really putting in some great performances in spite of his low star rating. Season League Position French Cup Europe Top Scorer Top Assists Attendance Training Youth Junior Youth Rec Notes 2031/32 Ligue 1 12th 10th Rd N/A Mustafic (9) Ospina (6) 7437 Average Adequate Adequate Good 2032/33 Ligue 1 13th 10th Rd N/A Kembo, Lafton (9) Ospina, Ivankovic (7) 7217 Good Average Adequate Good 2033/34 Ligue 1 13th 9th Rd N/A Majic (11) Asamoah (6) 7257 Great Good Adequate Excellent 2034/35 Ligue 1 13th 10th Rd N/A Gay Rey(10) Gay Rey(6) 7853 Great Great Adequate Exceptional 2035/36 Ligue 1 7th Qtr-final N/A Bonilla (11) Caceres(7) 10361 Excellent Great Excellent Exceptional Qualified for Europe

Brownlie does look good, if you are lucky he will even physically grow taller which would allow for a better jumping reach

Why is there such a different in Smith's goal numbers in Scotland and in Europe (easier opposition?) do you think. Do you need a player with high leadership and determination with a positive personality to lead the team, (a lot of the older players appear to have reasonable determination and professonalism) and help them in those pressure games.

I just noticed that your GK Welsh was 'n' in his intake, he has certainly achieved his potential. I am also surprised by Rangers continued underachievment, do they still have such large debts