[FM16] Partisan (adj) strongly supporting a person, principle, or political party,

[FM16] Partisan (adj) strongly supporting a person, principle, or political party, often without considering or judging the matter very carefully:

My Youth only save in (GIB) has just died a death as I lost all 3 saves. As a result I am looking for a new save but am determined to keep the focus on Youth based principles, but possibly relax it a little so that there is some scope for signing players of some sort, (but I'm making this up as I go and I haven't really decided yet) . I have always been keen on the Balkans but I have never had a long-term save there. I have done San Marino and Gibraltar as youth only, (it's hard), and now it's time to see what I can do in an area where the potential for new players might be significantly higher than what I am used to. I recently saw a list of the 11 best Serbian players of all-time and I was astonished that there was only 1 Partizan player on the list, (and he just happened to have also played for Red Star for half a season). There seems to be some Red-Star bias around and I am keen to redress the balance so I am going to be managing Partizan.

My plan is to not only ensure that Partizan are the best team in Serbia, but also to try and ensure that Red Star are NOT the 2nd best team. I want to try and create a gulf between the 2 clubs whereby Red Star are so poor that they are no longer even deemed rivals. To see them relegated would be the ultimate goal, but I'm not sure how realistic that is.

My plan, (it's sort of developed as I write this), is that I'm going to sign only Serbian players, (so that I can nick the best that Red Star produce), and I'm also planning on never selling to them, (EVER!), (although I might change my mind if there is an opportunity to sell an old player to them for lots of money when the player is also going to be on huge wages). Anything basically that will screw them over. My main focus will be on producing my own youth players, but I will not be adverse to signing the products of other academies or even established players from elsewhere, (just so long as they are of Serbian Nationality).

The Rivalry.

Well this graphic shows that the rivalry is alive and well, although we have had the best of it in recent years.

 

Our Facilities are significantly better than at any club I have managed in...... well possibly ever in terms of FM.

 

The Squad Depth page initially looks promising, but I have found this to often be misleading and it is certainly so in this case. It suggests that things are looking fine and dandy just so long as we do not employ wing-backs and also it suggests that we afre more suited to playing attacking wingers rather than more conservative wide players. The reality is that we are desperately short of even 1 single decent striker at the club, (which I personally find astonishing and could lead me to be sacked before this save has even got going).

 

The best striker, (according to my Ass Man), is the Ivorian Fofana, but of course he is out on loan in China, (no, I have absolutely no idea why), and I'm not sure when he will be back. After that we have a succession of wide players who can also play up front, (but who are most definitely wide players playing up front rather than front players playing up front), but really none of them are what I would call good enough to spear-head an attack that I hope is going to win us the title, grant us some progress in Europe and hopefully get 1 round further in the domestic Cup than Red Star, (yes I am building the rivalry already).

If we change the Squad Depth chart so we are looking at PA rather than CA, (I didn't realise that was possible until just now), then it shows things in a slightly better light. We have PA in abundance in lots of different areas and the future looks bright, (potentially).

 

It still leaves the problem of who plays up front in the here and now. Partizan under my stewardship are not going to be a team that park the bus, so I'm in dire need of someone to convert the chances that we are surely going to make. I'm already thinking "wrong-footed" IF's instead of wingers to try and take up some of the slack, (if you haven't hear/read one of my tirades on the folly of wrong-footed wide players then you obviously know me not at all), but what I really need is a... Clive Allen/Robbie Fowler type player who does little but celebrate the astonishing number of goals he has scored for me.

The next graphic shows exactly what I am up against and what I am getting at here.

 

6 of the best 9 strikers at the club are actually wide players who "do a job" through the middle.

The single best striker as I've already mentioned is an Ivorian who is out on loan in China until...... [goes to look]....... January.

Of the 2 other strikers in the top 9, the next best is a 16 year old called Ivan Saponjic. He actually made 14 appearances last season, (I'm guessing from the bench), wherein he scored 5 goals, but I can't rely on him to score the goals that are going to win us the title, (not this season anyway). I've just looked him up in real life on the internet and it seems that he made 17 more appearances this season, (scoring just 2 goals), before being farmed out on loan to Benfica B, (where he only scored 4 goals in 13 appearances so he's not exactly setting Portugal alight either).

 

The next guy on the list, (and the only other striker who isn't a teenager), is Bulgarian Valeri Bojinov. He is so not the next Dimitar Berbatov that he had been shipped off to our "B Team" Teleoptik. I have brought him back on the basis that it actually looks like I might have to start him, (can't believe that I might have to), but it's either him or the 16 year old Saponjic and I would at least like to protect the kid a little by utilising him from the bench.

 

Unfortunately, he's never scored the number of goals that I'm going to need from him, (although Man City once paid £5.75M for him and he rewarded them with 1 goal in 2 years before they first loaned and then cut their losses and sold him to Parma in a cut-price deal).

So we need a striker and we need one on the hurry-up just to cover us between now and January, (at the very least). I can only buy Serbians, (doesn't seem like such a clever idea now but let's stick with it), so let's see how much money we have got and start the scouts looking for someone who is going to score the goals that are going to keep me in charge here long enough that I can get someone else in.

Well the Financial situation isn't too bad at all, (especially when you consider we are just looking for 1 player). We have £6.5M in the bank which is great, but importantly we have a transfer kitty of just over £570,000. When you consider that our best player is only valued at £1.1M, (and we only have 2 in total valued at more than ££0.5M), buying a decent Serbian striker for £0.5M certainly seems doable at this stage. The other thing to consider is that we have a surplus wage budget of approc £3.6k per week and nobody at the club currently earns more than £2,700 per week so again that seems to be fine. My initial reaction is to immediately go and buy Red Star's best Serbian striker, but that would just be too easy wouldn't it?

 

Nah, don't buy from Crvena.

League Rules in Serbia.

It looks like we play eachother home and away, (so that's 30 games), and then the League splits into 2. We then play the top/bottom half of the table once each, (meaning another 7 games).

I'm not sure if Continental qualification uses the Preliminary stage or the Final phase, but I would expect it to be the Final phase. At the moment Serbia gets 1 team into the 2nd Qualifying Round of the Champions League and 3 teams into the 1st Qualifying Round of the Europa League.

I can't use trialists, there is a maximum of 25 players per squad, (interesting for me because I am used to a huge squad), I can only have 4 players from other "Balkan/Yugoslav" Nations, and only a further 2 from non-Balkan/Yugoslav Nations. I think that's correct. I can only loan in 5 players in total during a season, (but I'm not overly keen on loans anyway).

We are not going to be rolling in cash even if we do win the league.

Red Star have a 17 year old kid called Luka Jovic who is valued at £350k so I have sent my scouts to look at him. They also have a 23yo called Depotovic who is on loan in Kazakhstan and I have asked them to look at him too. The only other non-teenage striker at Red Star seems to be a 32yo journeyman striker who doesn't seem up to much of anything at all and I'm not even going to trouble the scouts to write a report on him. Red Star have 3 foreigners who can play up front so I am guessing 1 or more of them will be their main goal threat.

I'd be amazed if Red Star would accept bids from you and even more so if the players accept. It's one of the fiercest rivalries on earth...

Well you would have thought so but......

He's one of their best players and is valued at £525,000. That they would ask only £950k + £325k over 12 months seems strange. Although he's excellent, he's not a proper striker so even if I had the money I still wouldn't be interested, but it does seem a strange deal. Maybe Red Star need the cash?

[Edit]

I've tried it with another of their players too. This time they negotiated a £400,000 valued player for £2m up front. That's more like it, (but I still wouldn't sell at all if I were them).

Our best player seems to be 18yo IF Zivkovic.

It's a bit of a disaster really. He is valued at £1.1M and is obviously going to be a bit special, but for a start his contract runs out in June 2016, (so next year), and to top it off, 50% of his "value" is owned by some shady agent! (I thought that was banned by UEFA now?)

PSG have come in with a cheeky bid of £220k up front, £205k over 12 months and then 40% of profit from the next sale. They can go off and fornicate!

I will try and get him on a longer deal and maybe even see about buying the agent out too.

[Edit]

So I can't offer him a new contract.

If I sell him, 50% of the value goes to an agent.

If I let him leave on a free then I should at least get compensation, (but again 50% if that will go to the agent).

This is a disaster!

Keep Zivkovic at all cost even if it's going to be for a season. He is going to win you the league single-handedly.

Forfana is pretty useless, always misses alot of chances.

There are quite a few bids flying in for various players.

Zivkovic (SRB) is the 19yo IF who is 50% owned by his agent. He is already valued at approx £1M and has missed the opening 4 games of the season through injury. We seem to have lots of options in his position, (out wide), so despite the advice from vasilli07, I am considering selling him for as much as I can, (and possibly getting him back in on loan as part of the deal). I've offered him out for £2.5M up front, and then add-ons to get us up to £7M as well as 30% of re-sale value.

Saponjic is a 17yo (SRB) Striker who is in contention for a starting place up front. He has asked to leave and is unhappy that I am refusing bids, but he has 2 years left on his contract and not only do we need him to play, but his value will also increase hugely over the next year or so. He's valued at £400k and the bids that I am currently looking at are from Valencia, Atletico, Sevilla, Inter & Napoli and are all in and around the £3M mark with approx £700k coming up front and the rest as add-ons. I really don't need to sell him in this window so I'm not going to.

Darko Brasanac is one of my senior MC's, but has yet to be capped by (SRB) at the age of 23. He is valued at just under £1M and I am asking for £5M in the hope of putting off potential suitors until next season. He is contracted for 2 more seasons so there is no rush to get rid right now.

Stevanovic (SRB/BIH) is mates with Zivkovic and also wants to leave despite only being 19yo. He is a right back and looks to have serious potential. I really want to keep him and play him in the hope that when the window closes he will forget about moving.

You can buy out the agent, no?

You can buy out the agent, no?

Of course, but I only had £571,000 transfer budget at the outset and I think it was him that was valued at £1.1M. The agent owns 50% so 50% of his current value is £550,000 and that just about clears us out and then there is no guarantee that I get him to sign an extension anyway. Add in the fact that he's a "wrong-sided" player which I'm not as fan of, (the squad is full of them!), and I sort of decided that I would just try and flog him, pocket what I could and then spend the cash on 1 or even 2 strikers.

As it happens, I sold a 25yo (MNE) right winger for £700,000, and while we didn't get all the cash returned to us, our budget has now at least gone up to £794,000 so I feel I have some more cash to spend. I have brought in 1 striker on a free, but he's certainly not going to be a regular starter, (and if he even starts occasionally we are in trouble).

The agent rejected a £400,000 offer for his 50% share in Zivkovic (SRB), but I have returned with a £450,000 bid, (rejected as well), so we are now up to £500,000. We played cat and mouse for a bit before agent Dragan put his cards on the table and said that he wanted £1.7M for his 50% share in Zivkovic. Well that's the end of that then!

Stevanovic (SRB/BIH) is a 19yo right back who is attracting a lot of interest. I wasn't overly concerned because he had 3 years left on his contract and despite having 3 loans outstanding, (totalling £7.81M) we are doing ok financially and have £7M in the bank. I'm very aware of the financial situation and have no intention of making it worse. What I do plan however is a gradual reduction in the debt. The board seems to have other ideas however as they cash in on Stevanovic (SRB/BIH), while he still has 3 years remaining on his contract.

Real came in with a good offer I would agree, but why sell him now? There is just no need and he is only going to get better?

£1.3M up front.

£1.1M over 12 months.

£825,000 after 10 league appearances.

£170,000 per 10 league appearances.

£825,000 after 1 International appearance.

40% of profit from next sale.

a Friendly.

It would be a great deal were it not for the fact that he still has THREE WHOLE YEARS left on his contract.

Branislav Ivanovic is 31yo and is the 1st choice DR for the NT.

Nenad Tomovic at Fiorentina is 27yo and probably next in line.

There is a good 19yo WB at Bordeaux called Gajic.

I would expect Stevanovic to get an INT call-up before he is 21.

Still not happy. This deal just didn't need to be done now and we will kick ourselves when we see his worth in 3 years.

This is something that I plan on taking quite an interest in.

The above message says that Red Star lead the way currently with 8 and we are languishing behind with only 5. That we are not even 2nd is concerning as both Vojvodina, (level on 8 with Red Star), and OFK (6), are both ahead of us.

If I am honest, I don't even know which players this relates to and I really need to because there might be an option to return them to the fold in the twilight of their career. I guess I should probably start with the NT players and we can work it out from there.

Matija Nastasic is 22yo DC currently playing at Schalke. He is valued at £13.75M and he looks the business. We nicked him from Buducnost and then after 4 years with us, (where he only played for our B Team), we sold him to Fiorentina for £2.2M. He then went to Man City and on to Germany. He supports Partizan, so there might be a chance of getting him back later in his career.

Lazar Markovic is a 21yo AMC/AMR who is currently on loan from Liverpool at Fenerbache in Turkey, (so I'm not sure if he counts on the above list). He is currently valued at £21M after we sold him to Benfica for £8.5M and they sold him just 1 year later for £22M. He again is a Partizan supporter so you never know what the future holds.

Milos Jojic is a 23yo M/AMC who currently plays for Koln in Germany. We sold him to Dortmund for £1.8M and 2 years later they sold him to Koln for £2.1M. He ic currently valued at £4.4M. He came through our academy and spent 8 seasons here.

Adam Ljajic is a 23yo AML/C SC who is valued at £11.5M. He came through our academy and we sold him to Fiorentina after 4 seasons for £5.75M and they almost doubled their money, selling him on to Roma 4 years later for £9.25M. He is currently, (surprisingly) out on loan at Inter.

Mitrovic is a 20yo SC who plays in the Premier League for Newcastle and is currently valued at £10.5M. He came through the Partizan adacemy and we sold him on to Anderlecht after 5 years for £4.2M, He did well for them and earned a £12.75M move to Geordieland.

I have heard of the 3 guys who have played in England, but I had never heard of Jojic & Ljajic. That they are all aged between 20-23 is impressive in one respect, but it also asks the question as to where are the older players who we have produced?

Why is the name of Crvena Zvezda translated into English? Seems weird.

Why is the name of Crvena Zvezda translated into English? Seems weird.

Because I'm playing in English language so it gets translated?

You don't translate names?

You don't translate names?

errrr. Don't you?

I remember the Marseille - Red Star Final back in whenever it was and as far as I was concerned, Red Star were called Red Star. it was only relatively recebtly that I found out their real name was Crvena Zvezda.

I'm guessing that by the same token, Partizan Belhrade should be just that rather then Beograd, so maybe the Serbian Researcher is biased?

Interesting proposal, Partizan's a cool club, I'll follow this thread.

Also, in Brazil we translate the name of Crvena Zvezda too, we call them Estrela Vermelha, who's literally Red Star translated.

Signing players directly from Red Star? Aren't there enough riots in Belgrade on derby day already?

Decent challenge though. I tend to like Ukraine for my eastern Europe fix on FM, but Serbia could be fun too. Best of luck.

Serbia has always been fun for me, especially Partizan. Good luck.

As a Red Star man I hope they don't get too bad Will follow though as Serbia is a good league

Never ever seen this before and didn't even know it was in the game. If I hadn't seen it I probably wouldn't have believed it.

We've been struggling a little with goals in the 1st half of the season and in desperation I turned to a 16yo Youth striker. He got an assist on his debut from the bench as we beat Cukaricki 2-0 and he did this on his 1st start.

Looks like a hot prospect.

errrr. Don't you?

I remember the Marseille - Red Star Final back in whenever it was and as far as I was concerned, Red Star were called Red Star. it was only relatively recebtly that I found out their real name was Crvena Zvezda.

I'm guessing that by the same token, Partizan Belhrade should be just that rather then Beograd, so maybe the Serbian Researcher is biased?

Well, when you play in Romania, do you play against FC Steaua, or do you play against FC Star?

In Ukraine, do you play against Shakhtar Donetsk, or do you play against Miner Donetsk?

In Poland, do you play against Wisła, or against Vistula?

The thing is, no other (football) name than Crvena Zvezda that is translated, why would you translate that particular one?

Well, when you play in Romania, do you play against FC Steaua, or do you play against FC Star?

In Ukraine, do you play against Shakhtar Donetsk, or do you play against Miner Donetsk?

In Poland, do you play against Wisła, or against Vistula?

The thing is, no other (football) name than Crvena Zvezda that is translated, why would you translate that particular one?

I agree it does not really makes sense to do it but it is what media have always done at least here in The Netherlands and I think more or less all West/North Europe. An explanation might be that (at least for Dutch-speakers) CRVena Zvezda is really difficult to pronounce whereas your other example aren't that difficult.

Well, when you play in Romania, do you play against FC Steaua, or do you play against FC Star?

In Ukraine, do you play against Shakhtar Donetsk, or do you play against Miner Donetsk?

In Poland, do you play against Wisła, or against Vistula?

The thing is, no other (football) name than Crvena Zvezda that is translated, why would you translate that particular one?

Should point out this isn't an individual making a translation. The club have been known as Red Star for as long as I've been watching football, and I'm 36 very soon. It may well look odd, but that's just how it is.

Interesting proposal, Partizan's a cool club, I'll follow this thread.

Also, in Brazil we translate the name of Crvena Zvezda too, we call them Estrela Vermelha, who's literally Red Star translated.

Same in Portugal. I wonder if in Spain is it "Estrela Roja".

Debating the translation of names is a bit pointless because there doesn't seem to be any rule. Sports journalists abritrarily decide whether to translate or not then it becomes standard usage either way. There's many other inconsistencies. City names - is it Bayern München or Bayern Munich? Then for example in Portuguese AC Milan used to be translated to "Milão", only in recent years people started calling it Milan. Yet Napoli still gets translated every time to "Nápoles".

Then there's clubs whose names get translated into something that's not part of their name. For example Sporting Lisbon fans get annoyed at being called "Sporting Lisbon" by the international press because there's no Lisbon in their name - it's Sporting Clube de Portugal, and in Portuguese simply referred to as Sporting. However from an international point of view you need to differentiate them from Sporting Gijon and others, and that form got appropriated.

It's the press that arbitrarily decides to translate certain names and not others, and then whichever usage they choose becomes common (and reflected in FM), so it's a bit pedantic to bring it up or blame Jimbo for it.

I have heard of the 3 guys who have played in England, but I had never heard of Jojic & Ljajic. That they are all aged between 20-23 is impressive in one respect, but it also asks the question as to where are the older players who we have produced?

Older players are Stefan Savic, Miralem Sulejmani, Ljubomir Fejsa, Stevan Jovetic .. or even older Danko Lazovic, Mateja Kezman etc. Or big failed talents like Simon Vukcevic or Milan Smiljanic

Older players are Stefan Savic, Miralem Sulejmani, Ljubomir Fejsa, Stevan Jovetic .. or even older Danko Lazovic, Mateja Kezman etc. Or big failed talents like Simon Vukcevic or Milan Smiljanic

Apologies if you thought I was dissing the players that Partizan had produced previously. What I was actually doing was asking seriously.... where are they? (because they weren't in the top leagues in Spain, England, Germany or Brazil). At least I know who they are now, (I haver heard of some of them but not all, I can add them to a shortlist and keep an eye on them).

Thank you.

1a. Stefan Savic. There are 2 Stefan Savic's in my game and both have played for Partizan. 25yo Montenegran International centre-half is playing for Atletico in Spain, but unfortunately he was not produced by Partizan. He started at Vozdovav before moving on to BSK Borca before Partizan grabbed him for £250k before flogging him to Man City for £10.5M 1 season later. He then went to Fiorentina in an exchange deal, (don't know who for), before Atletico bought him in game for £8.5M.

1b. Stefan Savic #2 is a 22yo Serbian centre-half who plays at FK Sloga Petrovac in the Serbian First League. He came through the system at Borac before Partizan signed him as a youngster. He is classed as home grown at club, (unlike the other Stefan Savic). Unfortunately, he isn't very good.

#2. Miralem Sulejmani is a 27yo Serbian attacking midfielder, (who can also play wide on both sides). He came though the Patizan youth sytem before joining Dutch side SC Heerenveen on a free. 2 seasons later they pocketed a cool £13M when he moved on to Ajax. He then moved to Porto on a free before recently joining Young Boys of Switzerland on a free in game.

#3. Ljubomir Fejsa is a 27yo centre-half. He came through the youth team at Hadjuk 1925 before Partizan bought him for just under £1M. We kept him for 3 years before selling him to Olympiakos for £2.3M. Two years later he moved on to Benfica for £3.8M and he is still there now.

#4. Stevan Jovetic is a 26yo Montenegran striker. He came through the youth system at Madglost Podgorica before PArtizan signed him for the modest sum of £24k,. Actually, scratch that. He was only 10-13 at Madglost so he certainly WAS a product of the Partizan academy. I wonder if that's probably the case for some of the other mentioned above? Probably. He's currently on loan from Man City at Inter and that's why he wouldn't have appeared on the list.

#5. Danko Lazovic is a 32yo Serbian Striker. He is currently at Beikong in China after finishing his 3rd spell at Partizan. (I love this bloke!)

#6. Mateja Kezman has retired from football in real life and is not a member of staff in my game.

#7. Simon Vuckevic is still playing in Cyprus in real life, but unfortunately he is not in my database.

#8. 29yo DM Milan Smiljanic is now playing in Israel.

I get the impression I annoyed you with the way my comment was worded, but I promise that's not how it was intended. It's simply that I'm not a Partuzan fan in real life and no nothing about them or their former payers. I really appreciate the fact that you names so many and would really appreciate you, (or anyone else), naming any more that you might have missed.

Thank you again.

Not at all,I love your thread so far and club you're playing with obv .. Just trying to point out some old players (am guessing you guys dont watch JSL that much if at all ).. And yeah Stefan Savic (MNT) and Fejsa wasnt from our youth system, but we made them players..

Also I forgot about Nikola Ninkovic hes still young but another failed talent (imo) who coulda been huge .. Curently in Chievo on loan from Genova, and Danilo Pantic (Chelsea/Vitesse)..

Apologies if you thought I was dissing the players that Partizan had produced previously. What I was actually doing was asking seriously.... where are they? (because they weren't in the top leagues in Spain, England, Germany or Brazil). At least I know who they are now, (I haver heard of some of them but not all, I can add them to a shortlist and keep an eye on them).

Idk we are kinda European brazilians, young talents soon as they get some serious money, dont give a f*** about football (money, cars, women, nightlife are more important) .. Thats the biggest problem imo .

Actually, scratch that. He was only 10-13 at Madglost so he certainly WAS a product of the Partizan academy. I wonder if that's probably the case for some of the other mentioned above? Probably.

And yeah we tend to sign players at rly young age, and train them in our academy not all but few good ones .. Same thing like Barcelona (only we have smaller youth recruitment range) .. Best of luck playing this

It's Jan 2016 and we are in the middle fo the Winter break.

I've been fighting off interest for just about everyone but there was a deal that was just too good to turn down.

18yo striker Ivan Saponjic wouldn't sign a new contract so needed to be sold, but at the same time we are still desperately short of strikers and I can't just afford to flog him without having someone else to come in. I have a few different options up front now, but nobody who is demanded that ther name be on the team-sheet every week. When this deal came in for Saponjic, I almost bit their hand off.

£2.5M up front.

£625k over 12 months.

£400k after 10 league goals.

£80k per game for 10 league games.

£400k after 1 International appearance.

£400k after 10 league appearances.

A friendly.

50% on profit of next sale.

And last but certainly not least, I also got to have him back in on loan, (for nil wages), for the rest of the season. That's possibly one of the best deals I have ever done in FM.

That's just over £5.125M if everything comes in, and then 50% profit on the next deal. Then we also get him back in for the 2nd half of the season on nil wages. He was valued at approx £325,000 when I sold him. He's immediately worth £3M.

I would still hate to sell a highly promising player, but if he wouldn't sign a new contract and it was running out soon, then it's a very good deal.

It's not a great 1st intake, but then again I am so used to managing at such a poor level that anyone who came through was going to have better PA than the best CA already at the club, (although whether they were able to actually achieve their PA is a different question). The situation is that we now actually have some decent players, and as a result we are not going to be producing loads of players who are better than we already have. In recent seasons, (in real life), Partizan have actually produced some really good players. Some of them are still at the club and still others have since moved on. Either way, the quality produced has been good and if we can match that they we will be doing better than well.

(16a) Macesic (Sport) (2016) is the best player to come through this and as luck would have it, he's a much needed striker. Better than that's he's even most suited to an AF role. I particularly like his finishing/composure attributes at this stage, and even his physicals are decent for a 16yo.

In terms of striker depth, you will see from the following graphic that we now have 5 strikers at the club with 5.0 PA and another 2 SC's with 4.5 PA. While that sounds great, 2 of them are on loan, so maybe not so great. Saponjic was my 1st choice, but I couldn't turn down a deal that was just beyond my wildest dreams AND allowed him to return for the remainder of the season at no wage cost to ourselves. Luka Belic is a player that has come through tghe system at OFK Beograd, but my attention was drawn to him after he signed for West Ham in the Premiership at the beginning of the season and then managed to score 10 goals and 3 assists in 18(1) Premiership appearances just in the 1st half of the season. I was astonished that they agreed to loan him to us after that sort of start to life at the Bubble Blowers, but as he isn't brilliant, maybe I should have looked at who was assisting the goals. The only problem with that is that they obviously weren't Serbian, meaning that..... well...... unfortunately I couldn't sign them.

If we look at the next pic however, (strikers this time ranked by CA), then it makes less cheery viewing.

Saponjic is top of the pile, but I think the problem in his case, (and this was a contributing factor in the sale), is that he is best suited to a DF role and this doesn't fit with my plan, (nor the other players around him). Trujic and Aboubacar are both wide players of different sorts, (I prefer Trujic as I don't feel I am getting the best out of Aboubacar in his WTM role as yet), and Fofana is yet to play for me in a competitive game because he was out on loan in China for the 1st part of the season. He's most suited to a Treq or a Poacher role, but he looks an improvement on Saponjic as an AF, and that's how I want to try him initially. I'm certainly going to give Belic some game-time, but I'm not sure he is the answer right now, and we might have to get him back next season or even after to get more out of him. Bojinov (Bul) was the starting striker at the beginning of the season, but he has under-performed and if I have to rely on him for the rest of the season, then I think it's safe to say I won't be the manager here next season.

To add a little humour to proceedings, please allow me to introduce 16yo (16b) Beljin (SRB) (Bal).

Now THAT is a hard paper-round.

I would still hate to sell a highly promising player, but if he wouldn't sign a new contract and it was running out soon, then it's a very good deal.

I did hate having to do it, but at the same time it was either that or lose him on a free at the end of next season so...... it was a no-brainer really. Had he been smashing in the goals left, right and centre, then it would perhaps have been more galling, but as it is, a modest return of 5 goals from 9(9) league appearances makes feel feel slightly better at the situation. The FM Gods will probably ensure that he hits a rich vein of form in the 2nd half of the season now that the deal has been done and the situation is out of my hands.

Season Summary 2016.

League Stage Table.

League Stage Graph, (and comparison with Red Star).

Final Phase Table.

We won the league by a point, but as we took 7 points from the 3 games against Red Star, (and they took just 1 point from the same 3 games), I think we can safely say that we won the league by virtue of our head to head record against our closest rivals. That we only won 20 of 37 league games is probably a bit poor, but as mentioned above I put that down to our non-firing strikers.

League Fixtures to winter break.

League Fixtures after Winter break.

Final Phase Fixtures.

Champions League Fixtures.

Europe League Fixtures.

Europa League Group.

Serbian Cup.

The good news is that although we crashed out early in the Cup, Red Star were unable to take advantage and lost on penalties to Mladost who finished 11th in the league.

Serbian Super Cup.

End of Season Awards.

Nicola Trujic was the top scorer from left wing, and he was 2nd choice for much of the 1st part of the season.

Vulicevic (SRB) (Pro) received the highest average rating and was very consistent throughout.

Nikola Trujic showed me how wrong I was at the start of the season as he topped not only the goals, but also the assists in only 24(9) appearances. The only shame is that he couldn't get 1 more assist for a "double double" as they say in basketball.

Fans Player of the Season. Vulicevic (SRB) (F.Pro).

He really was excellent, and also doubled as vice-captain, (which was vital as Sasa Ilic (SRB) STAFF is now 38 years old and while he still has undoubted quality, he no longer has the physical ability to play twice a week, (or even once every week for that matter). Between our captain and vice-captain however, they were awarded the MOM award in 12 of our matches this season, (6 each), and that is a reasonable indicator of how influential they both are. With such a young squad, (REALLY young squad), the experience and leadership of these 2 can't be stressed enough.

Goal of the Season. Jevtovic (SRB) (Bal) with an angled screamer from outside the box in the 2-1 home loss to Radnicki early in the season.

Signing of the Season. Veljkovic (SRB/SUI) (F.Det) on loan from Tottenham.

We looked short at centre-half at the beginning of the season and this bloke looked like he would not only improve us immediately, but also that we would have a chance of signing him in the future when Spurs release him because he isn't going to reach Premier League class. He came through the sytem at Basel in Switzerland and as well as making his league debut for Spurs, he has gone out on loan and featured for Charlton and Boro in the Championship. He's 20 years old, has a long term contract with Spurs until 2019, (so I will look to get him back again next season too), and they have an option to extend his contract until 2020. He's classed as a "hot prospect" by them, but I'm not sure he has enough quality to make it at the top level.

Young Player of the Season. Zivkovic (SRB) (F.Det).

This bloke has entertained, dazzled, frustrated and downright annoyed in just about equal measure. To start off with, there is absolutely no doubt that he is our best player and is going to get even better. He is going to go right to the top. The problem, (at least the 1st problem), is that he seems to get injured a lot. This season alone he has suffered a double hernia, (2 months out), a groin strain, (3 weeks out), a strained stomach muscle, (4 weeks out), a sprained ankle, (2 weeks out), and another couple of lesser injures. Well that's already 13 weeks out! It doesn't stop there either. Oh no. His contract ends at the end of this season and when I try to offer him a contract it tells me that I am unable to do so because his agent owns a 50% share in his value I flippin hate that for a start and I also thought that UEFA had made it against the rules after Tevez/Mascherano-gate? That's not the end of it though. I eventually worked out that I could buy-out the agent for £1M, (that's probably a fair price actually), but I was reluctant to do so because there is no guarantee that he will actually want to sign a new contract even if I really throw money at him, (and we have a decent pot available now). I can't afford to throw away £1M at this stage of the save and get nothing in return for it. I think that because he is under 24 years old, whoever signs him will have to pay us compensation, even if he leaves on a free, (although it may be paltry compensation). Is that how it works? The problem is though, that the agent is still going to retain at least 50% ownership rights so he is going to get 50% of any compensation that comes our way. That's bad, (but it gets worse!) As I was thinking hard about splashing out the £1M to buy him out of his contract with his money-grabbing agent, I noticed that he had a nasty little clause in hos contract meaning that he will personally get 25% of any re-sale value!!! WTF!!! He's valued at only £115k now, (I think that's because he only has 1 month remaining on his contract), and even if he leaves on a free at the end of the contract, then he is personally going to get £25% of any compensation we get and then his agent is going to take 50% of what's left, meaning that the reality is that we are going to receive just 37.5% of any fee. The big fee with regards to this particular player isn't the cash fee now or even bonus payments after however many games. It's the % of next re-sale value which is going to be absolutely enormous, (you mark my words!). The clubs that are already in for him are the likes of Atletico, Barca, Inter, PSG & R.Madrid. He is going to go to as big-boy and be worth a considerable amount immediately. I wish I knew if I was going to get compensation because of his age if he leaves on a free. I have tried to sell him for a low initial value and then 40% of next value and a friendly, but I just can't seem to force any deal through. What worries me is that the buying clubs are acting as if they just have to wait and they will have to pay absolutely no compensation whatsoever, (or at the very least it will be tiny). It's been a long time since I was so perplexed by a players contract negotiations, (or lack thereof). In the end I decided that it wasn't worth £1M to buy him out of his contract with Mr Dragan Trajkovic because I didn't know if he would sign a new deal, (probably not), and because I was going to get such a small portion of any fee anyway, (with him taking the first 25% of any deal). It will be interesting, (and a learning experience), to see exactly how this works. To say that I'm not a fan of 3rd party ownership would be a HUGE understatement, (both in real life and in the game), but feel free to voice your own personal opinion here too.

That league table looks rather complicated.

Transfers in.

At the start of the save we only had approx £0.5M and I was a little reluctant to slash the cash because I really didn't know how good we were in comparison to Red Star and I didn't know what we needed, (other than a striker of course). I tried and failed to sign a striker who would fire us to success, but instead I managed to sign players for good value who I think will feature for us over the next few years and who we will also be able to make a decent profit from.

I should probably highlight Stefan Jankovic (SRB) (Bal) HG who I paid £450,000 for. He initially came through our system before being released and allowed to join OFK Beograd on a free. I'm hoping he will be a very astute bit of business.

The other signings were of lesser importance but I really have high hopes of this guy

Transfers out.

This looks like I have gone mad and sold all our best assets, but that really isn't the case at all.

Grbic (MNE) was 27 and I had an abundance of wide players. It seemed obvious to cash in on him toward the end of his contract to give us some immediate cash in the transfer kitty.

Stevanovic (SRB/BIH) HG was our star right back and a huge prospect for the future, but we also had other options there, (one of whom was our vice captain who I expected to play a lot), and I needed to cash in on Stevanovic before his contract expired. I have no doubt that he will go on to be a star, but I have a feeling that the board forced my hand with this sale anyway and reading back.... yes they did accept the bod over my head, and the player wanted to leave anyway.

Darko Brasanac (SRB) HG was a player that I didn't particularly want to leave, but he just went on and on and on about it and kicked up such a fuss that in the end I was just happy to get rid of him. There is no doubting that he is a good player, but bloomin hell he likes to moan!

Ivan Saponjic (SRB) (Det) HG is a bit of a strange one. We were desperate for a striker so I didn't really want to let this guy go, but the reality is that I knew he wasn't the answer to our striking problems anyway, (I just wanted someone to stick the ball in the net), so in the end it was a no-brainer to let him go on this deal, (especially when it meant that I got him back in on oan for no fee).

Finances.

That's a pretty remarkable transformation even if I do say so myself. I have clicked 1 day too far so the budgets for next year are now showing, but it's almost what it was anyway I think. We went from a transfer kitty of £0.5M to a transfer kitty of £8M and we didn't weaken the squad too much at all, (and still won the league). I'm really happy with that.

We do need the money though.

We are about to shell out £8.1M for facilty improvements and I'm not sure we will see much of an immediate return at all. I don't care. I am determined to balance the books and I am determined to upgrade to the best facilities possible. If I have to buy and sell and wheel and deal, (and take the pee with contract extensions and add-ons), then so be it. I'm going to be back asking for more upgrades after this, so already I need to be thinking about where I am going to find the cash to pay for that!

That league table looks rather complicated.

Well I looked into it at the outset so I knew what was going on. The only question I had was whether the Champions League spot was given for the initial League spot or the end league spot, (but I suppose it was always going to be the end one).

I "think" it's just like the Scottish system.

So a big part of this save is the rivalry between Partizan and Red Star.

Initially I said I was going to try and buy players directly from them, (and someone said that I shouldn't), and actually I think they are correct. I don't want to give them anything. Not a penny and not a point. Nothing!.

I will be keeping track of how we get on against our greatest rivals and I will hopefully obliterate them to such a degree that they are not even worthy of consideration.

Season 1. Game 1.

Season 1. Game 2.

Season 1. Game 3.

Red Star sack their 1st Manager.

Miodrag Bozovic can really have no complaints about the sacking, (although I of course supported him in the media). They only took 1 point from a possible 9 against us in the league and this cost them the title. They also managed to throw away the Serbian Cup against a distinctly average Mladost who triumphed on pens. They also failed to win the U19's league, being beaten into 2nd place by Cukaricki, and their solitary trophy this season was the U19's Cup, (and I love winning the domestic Youth Cups so I will hope to put a stop to that).

They breezed past Skonto (LVA) and Shirak (LVA) in the Europa League, before losing narrowly to Atromitos (GRE) in the 3rd qualifying Round.

U19's.

Although I am not managing the U19's, (not even in the Cup, although that may change), there is still a rivalry there with Red Star so we need to see who came out on top.

U19's Cup.

Unfortunately Red Star did win the U19's Cup, although it was good to see that they did not manage to win the League.

We crashed out in the Quarter Finals to Borac, and Red Star took advantage of this by beating Vojvodina in the Final.

Ok. So the situation is that I have a player called Bojinov (BUL/ITA).

He has the BUL bit after his name because he is a Bulgarian by birth.

He has the ITA bit after his name because he also has Italian as a 2nd Nationality after spending ages living there, (he spent a year in Malta, 7 years in Italy, 3 years in England, 2 more years in Italy, a year in Portugal, 2 more years in Italy, a year in Bulgaria followed by a 12th year in Italy and then a year in Serbia.

He has just joined Grasshopper Zurich of Switzerland who have mainly grey Swiss players, but also 2 Serbs and a Swede.

He already speaks the following languages.

Bulgarian (Fluent)

Serbian (Fluent)

Macedonian (Fluent)

Italian (Good)

English (Good)

Portugese (Basic).

He is saying that he wants to learn German now before he arrives, (in 9 days!).

Now I know this bloke is wasted as a footballer and is actually a gifted linguist anyway, but how the hell is he going to learn German in 9 days?

To make it worse, all the grey Swiss players speak Italian or English or both, the 2 Serbians obviously speak Serbian, (and Macedonian too) and the other layer at the club, (a certain Kim Kallstrom), speaks Enflish, (as well as 6 other languages).

These lot are all wasted as footballers!

Young Player of the Season. Zivkovic (SRB) (F.Det).

This bloke has entertained, dazzled, frustrated and downright annoyed in just about equal measure. To start off with, there is absolutely no doubt that he is our best player and is going to get even better. He is going to go right to the top. The problem, (at least the 1st problem), is that he seems to get injured a lot. This season alone he has suffered a double hernia, (2 months out), a groin strain, (3 weeks out), a strained stomach muscle, (4 weeks out), a sprained ankle, (2 weeks out), and another couple of lesser injures. Well that's already 13 weeks out! It doesn't stop there either. Oh no. His contract ends at the end of this season and when I try to offer him a contract it tells me that I am unable to do so because his agent owns a 50% share in his value I flippin hate that for a start and I also thought that UEFA had made it against the rules after Tevez/Mascherano-gate? That's not the end of it though. I eventually worked out that I could buy-out the agent for £1M, (that's probably a fair price actually), but I was reluctant to do so because there is no guarantee that he will actually want to sign a new contract even if I really throw money at him, (and we have a decent pot available now). I can't afford to throw away £1M at this stage of the save and get nothing in return for it. I think that because he is under 24 years old, whoever signs him will have to pay us compensation, even if he leaves on a free, (although it may be paltry compensation). Is that how it works? The problem is though, that the agent is still going to retain at least 50% ownership rights so he is going to get 50% of any compensation that comes our way. That's bad, (but it gets worse!) As I was thinking hard about splashing out the £1M to buy him out of his contract with his money-grabbing agent, I noticed that he had a nasty little clause in hos contract meaning that he will personally get 25% of any re-sale value!!! WTF!!! He's valued at only £115k now, (I think that's because he only has 1 month remaining on his contract), and even if he leaves on a free at the end of the contract, then he is personally going to get £25% of any compensation we get and then his agent is going to take 50% of what's left, meaning that the reality is that we are going to receive just 37.5% of any fee. The big fee with regards to this particular player isn't the cash fee now or even bonus payments after however many games. It's the % of next re-sale value which is going to be absolutely enormous, (you mark my words!). The clubs that are already in for him are the likes of Atletico, Barca, Inter, PSG & R.Madrid. He is going to go to as big-boy and be worth a considerable amount immediately. I wish I knew if I was going to get compensation because of his age if he leaves on a free. I have tried to sell him for a low initial value and then 40% of next value and a friendly, but I just can't seem to force any deal through. What worries me is that the buying clubs are acting as if they just have to wait and they will have to pay absolutely no compensation whatsoever, (or at the very least it will be tiny). It's been a long time since I was so perplexed by a players contract negotiations, (or lack thereof). In the end I decided that it wasn't worth £1M to buy him out of his contract with Mr Dragan Trajkovic because I didn't know if he would sign a new deal, (probably not), and because I was going to get such a small portion of any fee anyway, (with him taking the first 25% of any deal). It will be interesting, (and a learning experience), to see exactly how this works. To say that I'm not a fan of 3rd party ownership would be a HUGE understatement, (both in real life and in the game), but feel free to voice your own personal opinion here too.

He's left the club which is a shame...

But he has also left his agent, which is not a shame at all...

So I know it's a bit of a long-shot, but I just wonder if there is an opportunity to approach him, re-sign him before he gets linked up with a new agent who will tell him that he is too good for us and could walk into a better team, and tie him down to a lovely long-term contract?

The other question of course is..... if I do manage to persuade him to sign, is his agent still going to own half of him? I think I'm correct in saying that even if a player leaves on a free, if he then signs for a club then a fee has to be paid if he is under 24 years old. (But feel free to correct me on that). Anyway, we will see what's what and just call it education and if the worst comes to the worst then we will just chalk it down to experience.

By the way, he is 19 years old and has already made 72 league appearances for us, (scoring 17 goals in the process from right wing).

I have also just noticed that he is "labelled the next Dragan Dzajic". I have never heard of him but then again I know very little about Serbian football so let's have a little look and see what I can find out...

We have 2 Dragan's on our Legends/Icons list, (but then again we do have 6 legends and 51 icon's at the club), but neither is Dragan Dzajic.

Let's see who Google says he is...

[TABLE=class: infobox vcard, width: 22]

[TR]

[TD=colspan: 4]Džajić arriving to the Netherlands on 8 October 1970 for theEuro 1972 qualifying match versus the Dutch.[/TD]

[/TR]

[TR]

[TH=bgcolor: #B0C4DE, colspan: 4]Personal information[/TH]

[/TR]

[TR]

[TH]Full name[/TH]

[TD=class: nickname, colspan: 3]Dragan Džajić[/TD]

[/TR]

[TR]

[TH]Date of birth[/TH]

[TD=colspan: 3]30 May 1946 (age 69)[/TD]

[/TR]

[TR]

[TH]Place of birth[/TH]

[TD=class: birthplace, colspan: 3]Ub, FPR Yugoslavia[/TD]

[/TR]

[TR]

[TH]Height[/TH]

[TD=colspan: 3]1.74 m (5 ft 9 in)^[1][/TD]

[/TR]

[TR]

[TH]Playing position[/TH]

[TD=class: role, colspan: 3]Left winger[/TD]

[/TR]

[TR]

[TH=bgcolor: #B0C4DE, colspan: 4]Youth career[/TH]

[/TR]

[TR]

[TH]1961–1963[/TH]

[TD=colspan: 3]Red Star Belgrade[/TD]

[/TR]

[TR]

[TH=bgcolor: #B0C4DE, colspan: 4]Senior career*[/TH]

[/TR]

[TR]

[TH]Years[/TH]

[TD]Team[/TD]

[TD=align: right]Apps^†[/TD]

[TD=align: right](Gls)^†[/TD]

[/TR]

[TR]

[TH]1963–1975[/TH]

[TD]Red Star Belgrade[/TD]

[TD=align: right]280[/TD]

[TD=align: right](108)[/TD]

[/TR]

[TR]

[TH]1975–1977[/TH]

[TD]SC Bastia[/TD]

[TD=align: right]56[/TD]

[TD=align: right](31)[/TD]

[/TR]

[TR]

[TH]1977–1978[/TH]

[TD]Red Star Belgrade[/TD]

[TD=align: right]25[/TD]

[TD=align: right](5)[/TD]

[/TR]

[TR]

[TH]Total[/TH]

[TD][/TD]

[TD=align: right]361[/TD]

[TD=align: right](144)[/TD]

[/TR]

[TR]

[TH=bgcolor: #B0C4DE, colspan: 4]National team[/TH]

[/TR]

[TR]

[TH]1964–1978[/TH]

[TD]Yugoslavia[/TD]

[TD=align: right]85[/TD]

[TD=align: right](23)[/TD]

[/TR]

[TR]

[TH=bgcolor: #B0C4DE, colspan: 4]Honours[show]

[/TH]

[/TR]

[TR]

[TD=colspan: 4]* Senior club appearances and goals counted for the domestic league only.

† Appearances (goals)[/TD]

[/TR]

[/TABLE]

Club career[edit]Born on 30 May 1946, in the small town of Ub, 60 kilometres outside Belgrade, Džajić's football career (1961–1978) was spent primarily with Red Star Belgrade. Džajić was a brilliant left winger who guided a Red Star Belgrade career spanning 590 games and 287 goals by winning five league titles and four Yugoslavian Cups. In 1969, Džajić received the Sport newspaper's Golden Badge award for Yugoslavia's best athlete. He is considered to have been one of the most important players in the history of the club and is one of only five players to have been awarded the Zvezdine Zvezde status.

In 2013, Dzajic was identified as the greatest Yugoslavian player of all time, and honoured by his inclusion alongside Pele in the best Sheep Draft team of the year.

Red Star Belgrade[edit]

Early starter[edit]

Džajić was plucked from the relative obscurity of his local club, FK Jedinstvo, by Red Star Belgrade youth coach Miljan Miljanić, spending two years in the club's youth system.

Though only 17 years and 8 days of age, Džajić was handed his first team debut by head coach Miša Pavić in a Yugoslav First League match against FK Budućnost Titograd on 8 June 1963, which finished 0–0. It was the last week of the 1962–63 league season with FK Partizan already clinching the league championship and Red Star hovering in 7th place, out of European spots.^[3] The match was played at Omladinski Stadium at Karaburma because Red Star's famous home Marakana was in the final construction stages.

Džajić might have started out as a left-back, but it was further up the flank that he made his impact. Red Star Belgrade's resident # 11 was an expert dribbler whose sweet left foot provided countless goals for team-mate Vojin Lazarević, his right wasn't bad either. Džajić was rewarded for his brilliance with championship medals in 1964, 1968, 1969, 1970 and 1973, while he lifted the cup in 1964, 1968, 1970 and 1971.

Semi-final defeat[edit]

European Champion Clubs' Cup success very nearly came his way too. In the 1970–71 season, Red Star Belgrade reached the semi-finals of the top continental club competition, and beat Panathinaikos FC 4–1 in the first leg in Belgrade. Džajić was suspended for the return in Athens, however, which the Greek team won 3–0 to go through on away goals.

SC Bastia[edit]

From 1975 to 1977, he played for SC Bastia in France (scoring another 31 times). He is considered to have been one of their most notable players of all time.

International career[edit]

Džajić on his most well-known international matches (at the UEFA Euro 1968):

"I have nice memories from that championship. It's true that our failure in the final hurts me, but from today's perspective, I can say that

we

made a great result. Some excellent teams were behind us, but against the

home side

, we were in a subordinate position due to a 'higher power.' The

referee Dienst

was the

Azzurri's

twelfth man and they won only due to his help. In those circumstances, our generation couldn't win the gold medal. It's also too bad that there was no

Ilija Petković

in the repeated match because our game play would have been much quicker."

^[4]

"Džajić is the Balkan miracle – a real wizard. I'm just sorry he's not Brazilian because I've never seen such a natural footballer."

-Pelé about Džajić^[5]

Džajić was just 18 when he was first named to the Yugoslav national team. He made his debut on 17 June 1964 in a 2–1 defeat against Romania at the JNA Stadium in Belgrade. Džajić would go on to earn 85 caps (the most in the history of the Yugoslav national team) and score 23 goals. He became renowned for his passing, dribbling and goal-scoring. His most famous international match was likely the 1968 European Championship semifinal against England, in which his 87th-minute lob over the goalkeeper Gordon Banks gave Yugoslavia a 1–0 victory against the defending world champions. The British press dubbed him "the magic Dragan." He went on to score in the final against Italy but he could not prevent Yugoslavia losing 2–0 after a replay.

Dragan Džajić (right) facing Sweden'sJan Olsson at the 1974 FIFA World Cup

He participated in the 1974 FIFA World Cup which was held in West Germany. Džajić participated in Yugoslavia's opening championship game draw with world champions Brazil and scored one goal in a record victory of 9–0 against Zaire. However, after passing the second stage of the championship, Yugoslavia didn't repeat the results of their opening games. They lost three games in a row, and had to return home.

Administrative[edit]

Džajić retired as a player in 1978, at the age of 32. Right away, he began performing a role as Red Star's technical director. In his first season in the new administrative role, the club reached the UEFA Cup final. Džajić became the main decision-maker within the club when it comes to transfer policy.

In 1998, Džajić became the club's president – a position he resigned from in 2004 due to health issues.

Corruption allegations and presidential abolition[edit]

On 31 January 2011, the trial started in which Džajić was charged of fraud perpetrated during the sale of players from Red Star Belgrade during Džajić's time as the president of the club, specifically Nemanja Vidić. Džajić pled not guilty.^[6] The charges against Nemanja Vidić were dropped. On 16 November 2012, Tomislav Nikolić, the President of Serbia, signed an exempt from criminal liability of all charges. This abolition ended all proceedings against Džajić.^[7]

Return to Red Star and Re-election as president 2012[edit]

It was stated by local Serbian newspapers in the beginning of December 2011 that Džajić would return to the administration of Red Star, as it was believed that Džajić was the only one who could get Red Star back on track. However, nothing came of this. Džajić spoke to Blic (tabloid daily newspaper in Serbia) after the board meeting, saying: "I spoke with people from the club, the desire to return was not disputed, I wanted to help, because everything that I previously experienced with the club cannot be forgotten. I followed, listened to and read what happened at the meeting, I wanted to come back but nothing happened and life goes on. I remain available and in this case I can only wish Red Star better days."^[8]

On 19 December 2012, Džajić was elected as Red Star President for the third time.

Red Star Icon? No thanks.

He's back!.

He's immediately valued at £1.2M

We've signed him on a 3 year deal with an option for 2 more. (That's honestly beyond my wildest dreams).

both the Zivkovic's (other is Dutch Ajax striker) are the big names of FM16. always end up at Real Madrid.

I cant believe how lucky you were to resign him. He'll make you a lot of money when he moves on. I'd let him go to a modest club and include the highest sell on fee clause possible for when he then moves onto Madrid. that will give you biggest money in the end. you seem to know your way around transfers though to be fair ;-) I still wish you'd try Regensburg again :'-(

both the Zivkovic's (other is Dutch Ajax striker) are the big names of FM16. always end up at Real Madrid.

I cant believe how lucky you were to resign him. He'll make you a lot of money when he moves on. I'd let him go to a modest club and include the highest sell on fee clause possible for when he then moves onto Madrid. that will give you biggest money in the end. you seem to know your way around transfers though to be fair ;-) I still wish you'd try Regensburg again :'-(

I knew he was good. I didn't realise he was THAT good.

He seems a little injury-prone to me at the moment, (still in the early stages of season 2), but maybe he's just been unlucky.

I think the injuries are the reason why nobody else came in for him, (he missed 18 weeks of last season and had already missed the opening 3 weeks of the 2nd season.

I've got to admit that I was gutted when I got sacked at Regensberg. In hindsight I should have approached the setting up of the game differently and it might have given me more of a chance. Oh well. we live and learn as they say.

Maybe in FM17...

Youngster Djorde Jovanovic, (he of the hat-trick on his 1st start for the club aged 17 years old), is having a bit of a mixed time of it. He didn't really follow that hat-trick up with anything last season and only managed 4 goals in 8(3) appearances.

He has the ppm "plays with back to goal" that I don't like. It might be good for certain roles and duties, but it doesn't fit well with what I want of my AF(a), which is my preferred role at the moment.

I have just asked one of the coaches to see about getting him to stop playing with his back to goal, (well why the hell not?), and he suggested that he didn't think that was an option, but did suggest that we teach to try overhead kicks......

I paused for a second upon reading that and had a little think before deciding why the hell not. If his back is to goal then that might work quite well. (Watch this space for a goal of the season update!)

The reason I am asking about him is that the Summer transfer window is still open in 2016 and we are getting loads of bids in for him and the price just keeps rising and rising. I am just knocking back everything at the moment, (because I have him contracted for 3 more years with an option for 3 more), and because he seems to have excellent PA, (in terms of stars).

At the moment we have Porto, Juve and PSG in with bids for him, (loads more clubs also interested and bidding from time to time), and PSG have bid the highest so far with a whopping £3.3M up front. I haven't negotiated any of the bids nor encouraged them in any way, and I;'m actually not really that interested in selling even if they were to get up to £10M. I really want to hang on to my best youngsters and making all that profit in the 1st season was done with exactly this in mind. I want to be in a position where the board is not going to sell my best players from under me, but additionally, if they do I want to be in a position where I can challenge them.

This has just happened where they accepted a reasonable bid of about £3.5M for our 21yo (MNE) DM, but they changed their mind when I said something along the lines of, "it's not as if we need the money", and they relented and cancelled the deal, (a first for me in FM).

I still have a transfer fund of £8M+, but our bank balance is now only about £8.6M+ and I'm keen to see if I can earn us enough money to improve another batch of facilities at the end of this season. I will have to sell some players in order to raise the cash, but I want to choose who goes and when.

[Edit]

Although he has just bagged a brace in a 3-0 away win at Red Bull Salzburg and Lazio have immediately come in with a £4.4M bid.

We currently have 21 players out on loan and I have specifically stopped all our U19 eligible players from going on loan so that they can improve our performances in the U19's league. I haven't taken to picking the team quite yet, but if they don't improve then that is one possible option.

I would hope to get more players out on loan once I know if we will be in the group stages of either the Champions League or the Europa League, because at the moment we have some decent players still at the club who are not eligible for league games, (I'm still struggling to come to terms to a league squad of 25 players. I usualy operate a HUGE squad).

I was about to start an epic career with Partizan, so I searched the career forum to see if someone had given an honourable mention, something I could draw inspiration from.

And so I come across this!! So excited to see someone writing about a career at Partizan. I've achieved many things in my FM adventures (if I do say so myself) but one thing has always eluded me: Champions League glory with Partizan!!!

For well over a decade, that has been my primary aim with every iteration of FM and I have never accomplished it. I have a very good save going on FM16 so I have not attempted a Partizan save yet, and was thinking of doing to do so now...but I'm also going to follow this thread very closely!

Interesting read so far. I was half thinking of doing an OFK save or another minor team in Belgrade, but opted for LASK in the Austrian 2nd tier instead. Similarly I am also signing only players from that nation (whilst hoping Red Bull Salzburg crash and burn), but narrowing it even further to only players from the same state (or 'unknown' if the guy's that good ). Will be keeping an eye on how you get on!

I was wondering where you had gotten to Jimbokav and stumbled upon this adventure... Good thread as usual!

Been great fun catching up on your exploits in Serbia!

I will give you a brief inking in to how the season has gone so far in 2 pics.

First. An unbeaten 14 game start to the season, (which included 12 consecutive wins).



Second. Getting absolutely demolished by Benfica 7-0 in the Champions League Grouo

stages, (don't worry though because the other 2 in the group are Valencia and Man City.

Much easier European games to come then... good luck!