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Ri916's FM 12 European Youth Academy Challenge


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I thought it was about time that this forum had another youth challenge :D. Currently if you want to go in the direction of youth, you only have England or the countries in Toonbalmy's challenge. So I thought I would rectify that ;). There also seems to have been a decline of interest in my other thread and I thought making europe available might spice things up a bit. From FM 13 I will probably make a new challenge, combining these two threads into one for FM 13. So here's how it's going to work.

Welcome to what is probably one of the hardest challenges in FM. Clubs such as Arsenal, Manchester United and Barcelona have a reputation of bringing through youth. But their filthy rich and have a massive reputation, of course they can bring good players through, right. My question is can a small club bring through youth that has sufficient quality to play for the first team. The only person that can answer that is YOU. Personally, I'm sceptical as to whether it's possible. Prove me Wrong. Thats the Aim of this challenge.

The Available Countries

France

Germany

Italy

Portugal

Netherlands

Spain

Belgium

Scotland*

*If you want to manage in Scotland then you holiday until the end of the first season and pick one of the teams in the bottom 2 of the third division.

The Reset Dates

France- 19th June

Germany- 19th June

Italy- 29th June

Portugal- 29th June

Spain- 9th July

Scotland- N/A

Netherlands- 6th July

Belgium- 29th June

The Database

  • Only load the Nation your planning on managing in.
  • Database size is optional (small, medium or large)
  • Players Based in your nation
  • Players from top clubs in europe (or everywhere)
  • International players is optional

No further customising of the database is allowed.

Attribute masking is optional, I personally will have it disenabled. 'Add key staff' and ' Add players to playable clubs' should be ticked.

Steps when getting started

  1. Add yourself as an unemployed manager. Call him holiday man if you want.
  2. Go on holiday until the reset date of your nation or the day before if your planning on reloading.
  3. Retire the manager
  4. Add a new manager with your honest nationality and Sunday League reputation.
  5. Choose the newly promoted club of your choice

To Complete the Challenge

Win your countries domestic top division and win the Champions League.

Rules for the Challenge

No loans or transfers in are allowed but you can sell and loan players out.

If you are sacked, sorry, you have to start again.

No savegame editors are allowed. only cosmetic database edits are allowed. (team/competition names/logos)

No international management until completion of challenge.

Signing backroom staff is allowed.signing players on trial or signing grey players isnt allowed.

Rules for this Thread

Player naming is allowed.

General discussion on tactics is allowed, although people should not refer to downloaded tactics. They are not banned, but I would expect the majority of people to avoid them.

Screenshots for anything are encouraged but please post links to your pictures, don't post them as images as it makes the pages slower to load. Posts included embedded images may be deleted without warning.

When you join the challenge, could you post a screenshot of your manager's profile on the league reset date.

Progress of your club should be documented using this thread, I want to hear the story of your club all the way through. Please keep me updated, even if you are doing really badly.

Updates should be one for your Youth Intake and one for your season and should include the following screenshots :

Youth Intake

Youth Candidates

All Tagged Players Attribute page

Season

Transfers (to prove that you havent signed any players)

Squad

League Table

Anything else is optional.

Also, I would like you to Nickname/Tag your best player/s of each youth intake in chronological order. for example, nickname your best player in the intake in season 1 as *their name* YP01.

How to Post a Screenshot

  • While in FM, press Alt and F9
  • A picture will be saved to a screenshots folder, in the FM12 folder in your documents
  • Upload the image to an image hosting website such as Photobucket
  • Post the direct Url to the image here.

How to Add Links

At the top of the forum, go to 'Settings' then 'General Settings' (on the left). At the bottom, select 'enhanced interface' and save the changes. This will give you access to the extra posting tools that make it easier to post links. Once you've done this, highlight the word you wish to turn into a link, then use the link button (looks like a little globe) to paste in the direct Url to your screenshot.

I will be doing this as well and posting my progress. Thanks for reading and good luck!

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I'll have a go at your English challenge first, then I'd be interested in starting a German save here.

Good luck though, as I will follow the thread as well.

Good luck with the English version and I will be following your progress :)

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Pontevedra C.F. 2012-2013

n_lanus_trapos-2522581.jpg

Here is the Manager Profile

So I've decided to go with Spain as I like the idea of Play-offs at the end of the season to decide promotion, and decided on Pontevedra due to their Basic Youth Facilities instead of Minimal.

Will post more info once I get there.

Season Goals

1. Avoid Relegation.

2. Improve Junior Coaching

3. Raise some money

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Ineson has taken charge of Union Royal Namur.

Information

Facilities

We're Predicted to finish 7th out of 18 teams this year so we shouldnt have too much trouble staying up. For some strange reason all of the teams that came up from division 4 were semi-pro but all but 2 or 3 teams that started in Division 3 A and B were Amateur :confused:.

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If I was to start this challenge one of the rules states no signing of backroom staff. What if due to retirements or poaching I have no staff?

Says that you are allowed to sign backroom staff fella

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Traveler and West- What kind of tactic are you using and is it based on your squad? I've settled on a 4-4-2 with an AMC instead of one of the MC (so you could call it a 4-3-1-2) but thats because of my squad. I only have 15/16 players and there are two or three that play out wide so I needed to have wingers, and my best prospect is an 18 yr old AMC so I needed a position to put him in.

Also I would like you guys to post an Update for your Youth intakes, as it makes the thread a bit more interesting with the whole challenge being about youth.

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I'm playing 4-1-2-1-2 with my FB's on attack to provide some support/service to the frontmen. There was only 1 winger in my team when I first started so I thought it would be suitable to play a pretty narrow formation, as well as making my pitch pretty narrow as well. Just realised that the youngest player in my squad is 20! My squad is made up of 19 players, tried to pick a team with the largest squad so i've got suitable depth and cover just incase of any injuries. Ri916 what are you making of only having 4 subs, no wonder i'm struggling with the rule that you have to have at least two u21's in your squad I didn't realise the lack of youngsters in my team.

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I'm playing 4-1-2-1-2 with my FB's on attack to provide some support/service to the frontmen. There was only 1 winger in my team when I first started so I thought it would be suitable to play a pretty narrow formation, as well as making my pitch pretty narrow as well. Just realised that the youngest player in my squad is 20! My squad is made up of 19 players, tried to pick a team with the largest squad so i've got suitable depth and cover just incase of any injuries. Ri916 what are you making of only having 4 subs, no wonder i'm struggling with the rule that you have to have at least two u21's in your squad I didn't realise the lack of youngsters in my team.

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I'm going to have a go. Really got into the English one but just couldn't keep going (may return to it one day) but for now think I'll give this one a go. I'll upload initial stuff in a bit, holidaying atm.

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Cheers TheGreatTraveler.

Here goes: Elliot van Barthold has been announced as the new manager of Real Sporting Club, more commonly known as Real, who have recently been promoted to the Second Division - Central in Portugal. In his press conference he was quoted as saying that he hopes to take the now third tier club to Champions League glory by using the clubs own youth system products.

Real have pretty decent facilities and were in the Second Division just two seasons ago and are now back after one year in the Regional Divisions. Should be fun!

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hey ri, i want to start this challenge in france (after being relegated from the BSP to the BSS, my Hendon has flopped massively, so going to put it on hold) however i loaded up all the leagues possible, but i go to add a manager and the CFA league is greyed out, so does that mean i have to start in the National league and start with a club that has been newly promoted from the CFA league

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Pontevedra C.F-2012-2013

n_lanus_trapos-2522581.jpg

Youth Intake

Not the best intake by any means, with only 2 players worthy of a YP tag and a professional contract, and none yet ready for first team football.

Abraham Sierra(YP01)

Sierra could become a fast winger, but won't get much playing time this season due to my preference for a narrow formation. I'm training him to become an AMC, but I feel he will only be good enough while we are in Segunda B(Third Tier) and not any other level.

Eugenio Alquegui(YP02)

With Him I have higher hopes, although it will be a while before he can become my starting LB. He has some pace but could use better technical skills, so I've set a specific training schedule for him that will emphasize defending as I need my full backs to be a guarantee.

Depending on how the relegation battle goes, I might give them some playing time towards the end, but safety is my main goal.

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End of Season Review - K Berchem Sport 2004 (Season 12/13)

After a long. hard season West led Berchem to a well deserved promotion to the Second League. Although I wouldn't say I understood the format of the league I was in, I interpreted it as I had to just try and win all of my games to try and get promoted.

Pre Season:

I could take many positives out of pre season even though I suffered 2 loses, one to Anderlecht (which I didn't expect to win) and the other to Wielsbeke (which was pretty disappointing due to them being a smaller team as well as the friendly being at home). Pre season proved that throughout the season my home form would be vital and that I needed to make my home ground a fortress, as well as winning as many points away from home as possible.

Third Division A:

The start of the season gave me mixed feelings about whether it would be a successful season or not. During our first 10 matches we won 4 games (2 at home 2 away), drew 3 times and suffered 3 defeats. Although this record wasn't the worst I never felt that we were playing well, I suppose that could be a good sign as well seeing as we were still grinding out results. After the mixed start we gradually got into our rhythm only suffering 1 defeat and 4 draws in the league during the period from 27.10.12 to 17.02.13. During this period we won 9 games (6 at home 3 away).

Cup Run:

Our cup run wasn't the worst we got into the 6th round, was pretty disappointed that we went out though, although I never thought we'd win the cup the team we played from the Pro League were dire. Also, we lost at home which added to the disappointment.

The Turning Point:

I feel that the most crucial part of the season was the first 6 games after the winter break. I felt this was because we managed to comfortably win 6 games on the trot (scoring 17 and conceding 3). Also, this was the period which kickstarted Ben Mbemba's season as he scored 9 goals in 6 games.

End of Season + Playoffs:

We ended up finishing the campaign in 3rd and the had to go through the dreaded Relegation Playoffs. Throughout the whole of the playoffs I was on the edge of my seat, celebrating like a kid everytime we scored. The quarters against RC Mechelen was by far the worst. I was worried that they had scored an away goal in the first match and I had my doubts due to our away form that we would be able to get the win at their place but we managed to pull it off. In the semis we failed to get an away goal, but even though we lost 1-0 I was always confident that we would be able to turn the game around at home which we did by winning 2-0. Before the final I may have been overconfident as we had already beaten Tournai 5-0 at their ground on the last game of the season, but in this case they proved much harder to beat, although we lost 2-1 at their ground we got the vital away goal. At the time the away goal was crucial but in the end it didn't really matter as we comfortably won the 2nd leg 3-0 at home.:cool::brock:

Star Players:

Ben Mbemba (ST) - His goals towards the end of the season were vital, he was on fire and without him I couldn't of seen us getting promoted and to think he had a 20 game goal drought during the season is unthinkable.

Ben Bakkovens (DM) - one of my 'technicians at work'. He provided vital deliveries from corners which helped us throughout the season.

Glenn Boeckmans (CB) - he was a rock at the back, and was my 'near post maestro' when it came to corners racking up an impressive 14 goals.

Kevin Vande Walle (LB) - the other 'technician at work'. I can safely say i've never praised a LB in FM in my life but this bloke was vital during the season. Constantly bombing up and down the wing and whipping balls in for fun. Due to my narrow formation he was exactly what I needed.

Squad

Squad Stats

Youth Intake: In all honesty my youth intake this year was pretty disappointing, I was hoping for a few more players as I didn't have the youngest of squads. I decided to take on 2 players which were Emiel Willems, who only had 2.5* potential but I felt he would be adequate cover as I lacked CM(D). The other player I took on was Nic Furlong, who I decided would be my YP01, from looking at his stats and coach report I feel that he could possibly get a look in next year as he looks like he's capable of scoring.

Facilities: I was able to improve both my Junior Coaching (basic to adequate) and Youth Recruitment (limited to basic).

Finances

Transfers: these free transfers were already in place before I took charge of the club so they had nothing to do with me :)

Roll on next season!!!

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Pontevedra C.F 2012-2013

n_lanus_trapos-2522581.jpg

Pre-Season

I set up a Money raising tournament against 3 Liga BBVA teams to raise money, and then several other friendlies. As expected, we lost both money cup matches, although we came close against Almeria. Then I set up more money raising friendlies and was surprsied to see the side earn a draw against Atletico Madrid and a win vs Real Sociedad. The games against Montaneros and Lugo were meant to test how the team would do in the division with both of them in the same league as us. 2 wins got my hopes up, and then some morale boosting friendlies had me on my way to the new season.

Segunda Division B1-14th

Fixtures 1

Fixtures 2

A bright start to the League campaign with 6 points from the first 9 was followed by a morale destroying 4 match losing streak, before a win vs then bottom Ourense gave us some much needed points. After that we would get some points and the lose, before winning again. However, the most important part of the season was the 4 match winning streak as it took us 8 points clear of the relegation play-off spot(16th place). After wards, form dropped and the club went on a 5 match winless streak, before a win vs Ourense was followed by an even worse streak of 7 matches without a win. A surprsie win against eventual Segunda B1 champions and Segunda B runner-ups Salamanca put us 3 points from securing our place in the division. A win vs Montaneros made it certain we would play Segunda B football next season and alos sent them down into Tercera Division.

Key Players

Squad Reports Squad Stats

Dele-GK-Was a wall in goal, has 5 star potential, and improved 2 stars this season, I have very high hopes from him.

Yago-AMC/ST-Captain Fantastic for me, had a great goal-scoring season and scored the vital goals for the club

Senen-DC/DMC/MC-A very good youngster I found in the youth ranks at the club, he played more and more as the season went on and is already rated 1 and 1/2 gold stars, despite being 5 silver stars at the start of the season. One to look forward too.

Youth Watch

Abraham Sierra(YP01)-AML-Came on as a sub in the last game, where I tried him as an AMC. Did well enough and will get some game time there next season.

Eugenio Alquegui(YP02-DL/WBL-Played in 4 games. Made his debut as an injury time sub VS Castilla as I tried to run the clock out since we had a valuable point. Then came on against Salamanca on half-time and performed very well, and also played against Montaneros and Tenerife, both times as a sub. Should get more playing time next season.

Transfers-No Cheating :) | Finances

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Feel I need a bit of a break from my Canvey Island save so I've gone for Germany, and got very lucky:

RB_Leipzig_30.gif

Müller takes charge at RB Leipzig

Here are manager profile and club information

We have a good squad and as you can see, decent youth recruitment possibilities. Should be able to survive at the least this season, and I'm hoping to have a successful season.

Edit: Also, straight off the bat, the board have agreed to improve the Youth Facilities. Feels a bit cheeky doing this challenge with Leipzig, will review at the end of the season if I feel it's unfair.

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b101- Good luck with leipzig mate! Dont worry about whether it's deemed easier than other clubs. There's always going to be easier and harder options. As long as you have fun thats the main thing :).

Jim-bob24- Good luck in Portugal.

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RB_Leipzig_30.gif

RB Leipzig - Season 2012/13 - 3. Liga

Sounds a bit ridiculous given where we finished, but this was a fairly frustrating season really. We were predicted 6th, but never found any form to speak of and kept drawing/losing games we should have won. As you can see from the league table, the problem wasn't so much scoring goals, but rather keeping them out. We never realistically threatened the playoffs and going up would have probably been catastrophic given how poorly we played for much of the season. On the plus side, 5 players coming in got the YP tag, all of whom look fairly promising.

League Table

Youth Prospects

YP01 - Atangana - Potentially a decent striker. Will boost his speed as much as possible and then see if the other stats follow.

YP02 - Barahouei - Eventually will be a good left winger; his pace and flair are already decent so looks like a solid player in the making.

YP03 - Kuhn - One of the two future DMCs, has a nice spread of stats although passing needs work.

YP04 - Husic - Ditto Kuhn really.

YP05 - Schulz - Already looks a decent CB and I may start him sporadically next season... he can hardly be much worse than this year's defenders.

Edit: Oh, obviously no cheating as well : Transfers

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b101- Thats a solid first season mate, even if you dont agree with me. It would have been bad to go up so quickly, and you would really want to win the league to go up, not through the playoff spot.

Ineson takes charge of Stuttgarter Kickers. I just couldn't get into the other save and I had this unstarted save game from loading up for the euro nation challenge, so let's see if I can take on Germany!

Our Predicted finish is 18th, so if we finish 1 place higher than I'll be happy :D

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RB_Leipzig_30.gif

RB Leipzig - Season 2013/14 - 3. Liga

Started well, finished even better. Absolutely destroyed everyone else this year, and our 5 draws were mostly before Christmas when we were finding our feet. A run of 25 straight wins in the league pretty much did for anyone else's hopes, with Frahn being particularly outstanding, scoring 36 in 34 games. Managed to give the youngsters more of a run-out as well, as you're about to find out...

League Table

Youth Prospects

YP01 - Atangana - Played a bit-part role, although he did score twice in a rare start in the final game of the season. Those mentals are still hideous, but if he can sort those and add a few points to Finishing, First Touch etc, he could do a decent job. Not much needed then.

YP02 - Barahouei - Played much of the season as a back-up Left back, hence the red cards. Simply cannot tackle and moans a lot, but he did play well when pushed further forward. Timed his first goal perfectly, scoring a priceless equaliser away to Saarbruecken to keep our unbeaten streak going with 2 games to play.

YP03 - Kuhn - Didn't play as much as Husic this season, but showed promise when he did - a decent passer and puts in a good shift.

YP04 - Husic - Did really well this season, playing a lot of games in our second-half run-in. Showed that he can control the game and has made huge improvements in his passing. Could be our DM for a few years to come at least.

YP05 - Schulz - Outstanding. Has risen to 5* for potential and was chased by Bundesliga clubs at one point. Solid as a rock and popped up with a few goals as well.

Youth Intake

This was a bit rubbish really, Corluka being the only one to gain the YP tag. Could be decent, but needs a LOT of work.

And still no cheating: Transfers

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F.C. Pampilhosa – Season 2012/2013 Review

Squad

We went into the season with a squad of 21 players, no reserves and no youth. I decided to get them playing a rigid possession game focusing on not conceding rather than scoring. I got very lucky to have no serious injuries through the season so I could keep a steady first choice 11 all season.

League Table

After a nervous relegation battle we went on a great run at the end of the season to pull away.

Transfers

Finances

Key Players -

Filipe Sarmento – Solid at the back and a constant danger going forward too, probably my player of the season.

Fernando – The captain was a rock in defence. 39 years old but should be able to do a job next season.

Litos – Another ageing star but he was great in midfield.

Kristian Pavlovic – Expected a bit more from him but he contributed some vital goals.

F.C. Pampilhosa Youth

1st Youth Intake

Very disappointing, but many of them were signed just in case of injuries next season. I've given one of them a YP tag:

Cassama Carvalho (YP01) – Our key midfielders are all getting on a bit so he will provide cover next season.

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