[FM15] Avenir Beggen - a Luxembourg Youth Challenge

Avenir Beggen

After reading through the several San Marino youth challenges, I've decided to try my hand at something similar in Luxembourg. There's something about the crushing odds, extreme difficulty, and centuries of game time that's just inspiring.

Why Luxembourg?

First, it's just fun to say. Lux-em-bourg. See? Second, I wanted to try an unusual country that no one else was doing. Three, the league needed to award European places in a straight forward manner; the various San Marino threads drew my attention to how frustratingly inconsistent a unique league structure can be.

Why Avenir Beggen?

I holidayed through a season so that I could takeover a side recently promoted to the Luxembourg second division. My attempts to research the three clubs failed miserably. There is, perhaps unsurprisingly, little information available on these obscure sides. What I did find is the a tidbit on their youth policy and the delightful creature above. Combined with Avenir Beggen showing up as opposition in the San Marino threads, these were enough to make my selection.

I would later find out that the logo is *ahem* a pixie, which makes it a little less intimidating than I had pictured. Regardless, we soldier on.

What's the challenge?

No signings beyond any already arranged when I take over. With the low state of Luxembourgish (I've double checked twice and that word still looks made up) football, we'll struggle to progress until we slowly drag the league reputation upward. The goal is to win the Champions League using only players from our Academy.

At some point I'll take over the national team as well to (hopefully) guide them to World Cup victory and Euro domination. The country may be small but our ambitions our big.

You're going to fail miserably.

Probably! But inspiring, right? Success and failure will likely be measured in decades; luckily I have a natural predilection to set a tactic and let it ride with minimal in game tweaks so I'll be leaning heavily on "Instant Result" outside of Champions League games and major national side games (eventually).

How impressive is the stadium?

Hold on to your hats:

What is that -- a pitch for ants?

Well, I'm not that familiar with the animal life in Luxembourg but I'm guessing there are probably a few? One day these fine people will host the Champions League's best.

Good luck! I'll be following.

So what are we working with?

The Squad

I immediately get a constant barrage of offers for my players from teams in both Luxembourg leagues. I counter-offer but a few too many sign elsewhere leaving the squad picked to bare bones. This screenshot is actually from the end of the season but it shows how thin our squad is -- 3 grey starters and that's without any injuries. Thankfully the players we do have are better than expected for this level.

Sagramola, Sousa, and Gaspar are my three best players by CA with the latter two in the playmaker mold. That's something we can build on.

The Staff

Nada. Easy enough, just click over to Staff Search and...hmm...can't filter by realistic targets because I don't have an Assistant. Okay, I'll offer contracts to the low reputation options and...they're not interested either? How do I place a job advert again? Functionality that I've never used before, so it must be pretty lame.

After a week with no response I consider restarting with a different players loaded setting or DB size. Better I catch it now than never. A few days later I get three responses and sign the best one. From there I fill out my staff with the only couple of mediocre blokes who are interested in being a coach or physio.

The Tactic

Not too much elaboration here. The short explanation: I'm porting this directly over from another save.

The long explanation: I'm a Chelsea fan excited about Conte taking over the club and so I've enjoyed playing variations of the Italian's favored three at the back. Maybe it will work in Luxembourg too.

We stumble for a few games before finding our competitive footing. We're obviously desperate for our youth intake to fill in the gaps in the squad with something better than a grey player. February rolls around and we're in business:

I can work with that. They are warm bodies and at least promising, although there's little chance that they'll fully develop at our semi-pro club. My Assistant is garbage at evaluating talent so there's little reason to trust his evaluations (but I'm going to anyway).

The best of the lot. Good with both feet but slow and lacking vision. Anticipation is important for my CMs since it's a pressing formation, so he may be better off as the CAM.

This guy is truly two footed and looks to be a strong winger. Light on the defensive side but I'd rather see that than the opposite.

Another winger with even better speed and solid crossing. Pretty happy that Hodzic (16C) and Matteo Bozzi (16B) will go directly into the starting line-up instead of the makeshift wingers I've been using.

My Assistant thinks he's the 4th closest to the first team. I probably wouldn't have tagged him if I weren't a little over eager about having a full squad. A few others go straight into the starting lineup as STs and GK but aren't anything special besides being warm, non-grey bodies.

Will be following, nice to see a youth challenge from a different country. There was a nice Andorran one but the author hasn't got a lot of time to play I think.

Just a request, could you post screenshots from the attribute screen rather than the profile one?

I may be Avenir laugh, but will you end up getting people Beggen to play for you?

Good luck! I'll be following.

Thanks! Your San Marino posts are one of the aforementioned inspirations for this. In other words, if this goes south I'm blaming you.

Will be following, nice to see a youth challenge from a different country. There was a nice Andorran one but the author hasn't got a lot of time to play I think.

Just a request, could you post screenshots from the attribute screen rather than the profile one?

I'm hoping it provides a slightly different angle. Sure, I can take the screenshot from there; anything particular you're looking for?

I may be Avenir laugh, but will you end up getting people Beggen to play for you?

[groans]

[reads it again]

[applause]

One of the stranger messages I've received in FM:

He's starting every game as a RM since I've no other options. When I refuse to change my formation to accommodate him, half my squad is upset. Don't throw ALL your toys out of the pram, guys; we still have a few games left and I would hate for you to run out of ammunition.

Avenir Beggen - 2015/2016

Squad / League / Transfers

How was the league?

Surprisingly well despite getting picked over like carrion before the season even started. We finished second and claimed promotion fairly comfortably.

If you're not first, you're last.

That doesn't even make any sense. Promotion is a huge boon and puts us ahead of schedule.

Whatever. Anything else noteworthy?

It turns out that although the youth intakes are fantastically early, they can't be registered until the following season. That's going to make this a little tougher.

I'm also a little concerned that we may be out of our depth in the top division. We were able to upgrade our youth coaching once prior to the intake and once after. Somehow that doesn't seem like it will be enough to make us immediately competitive.

Recordkeeping:

Speaking of upgrades, I'm going to track the progress of facilities and reputations, finances, and my manager's profile. The suggestion to track these in excel is copied from another thread (and I'm assuming the suggestor is gracious enough to let me use it). Trends should be easier to identify and who knows -- maybe we'll uncover something interesting.

For the fellow spreadsheet geeks, I'm trying to capture these on the first date of the season so that the reference point stays consistent. The asterisk next to 2015's League Rank means the # is for the top league but I wasn't actually competing in it. I also haven't received any TV income as of yet; perhaps the end of next season.

Pity you can't take advantage of excellent youngsters straight away. I always preferred it when the youth intake arrived on the reset date anyway.

After watching how my Assistant's opinion of last year's intake changed, these aren't as initially useful as I would hope. The best few players after signing:

I'm a big fan of Chaussy. Even if he doesn't develop well he doesn't have any glaring weaknesses; hopefully he's a starter in a season or two.

Good potential, horrible attitude (Unambitious). If I get that turned around he's instantly the best striker I have at the moment, which is kind of sad. He may end up starting immediately anyways.

Another decent CB, another Unambitious youth that needs tutoring. He continues the trend of Bosnia-Herzegovina dual nationalities. Without actually counting, roughly a third of my youth have BIH, ITA, or POR as second nationalities. That could be very helpful if we're able to update our facilities enough.

The final tag of this class. Potential looks good (according to my Assistant) and he's young.

Pity you can't take advantage of excellent youngsters straight away. I always preferred it when the youth intake arrived on the reset date anyway.

It does change my approach a bit knowing there's no deus ex machina appearing from my academy.

The Drama

Winning two of our first three set my mind at ease; we could definitely compete at this level. Except we couldn't actually -- those happened to be two other relegation candidates. The rest of the league pounded us like a hammer.

Coming into the last game, we sit 13th in the last automatic relegation spot. We are even on points with 12th and playing them; 11th and automatic safety is two points ahead. We need a win for any chance at staving off relegation. Also, our best three players are hurt. Beautiful.

This might be important enough for me to actually take control for, not that I can magically heal those injuries. Can we do it?

We score one quickly, add another before the first half completes. Both of the critical scores are 2-0 at this point taking us clear to 11th. Oh sunny skies! Then we ship one with 15 minutes to go; my muscles clench. Followed by a shot against the post. Racing (LUX) scores two in stoppage time to reclaim 11th, while we...hold on. Just.

We're destined to stay up. Maybe. At least it's against an ostensibly worse team, ignoring our myriad injuries.

Avenir Beggen - 2016/2017

Squad / League / Transfers

How was the league?

We survived by the skin of our teeth. Need to pick up a few more wins next season to be safe.

You're getting relegated next season.

Well that's just like your opinion, man. Have a little faith.

Whatever. Anything else noteworthy?

Our GK is atrocious. If we can hang on this year, it'd be nice to pick up a better prospect.

Facilities upgrades seem to have stalled out until we build either our reputation or balance.

Recordkeeping:

That was tight, congrats on beating the drop

Well done on beating the drop. Am I right in thinking this team have won the league a few times.

I seem to remember playing them a few times on the past games in the Champions League

That was tight, congrats on beating the drop

Thank you, sir! To be completely honest, I had resigned myself to relegation with three games left. It was late at night, 2 of my 3 best players had just been hurt for the rest of the season, and the table looked dire. I decided to vacation through just to see if I kept my job after the drop, then talked myself into returning after seeing the (positive) scoreline of the first game scroll past.

Well done on beating the drop. Am I right in thinking this team have won the league a few times.

I seem to remember playing them a few times on the past games in the Champions League

Wikipedia was one of the few sources I could find (and even then the info is scarce) but it looks like they were last in the CL in 1994-95. I wouldn't be surprised if they were successful on past iterations of FM; based on the editor they have one of the higher reputations in Luxembourg, which seems to have a huge impact in how non-active leagues are simulated.

One special note that deserves to be shared since you asked about past glories and it's also one of my favorite facts I've found about the club. From Wikipedia:

[Avenir Beggen] have won three ties in European competition (although two were only on technicalities):

In 1974–75, their Cup Winners' Cup first round opponents, Enosis Paralimni of Cyprus, withdrew due to ongoing crisis in that country.

In the same competition in 1992–93, Avenir beat the Faroe Islands' B36 Tórshavn 2–1 on aggregate in the qualifying round, before losing 5–1 on aggregate to Spartak Moscow in the first round proper.

In the 1995–96 UEFA Cup, Avenir lost on away goals to Örebro SK, but Avenir were awarded a 3–0 victory when it transpired that the Swedes had fielded an ineligible player.

Safe to say that if we make it back to the CL we won't be able to rely on technicalities to carry us to a fourth victory.

Poor Spora fans. I hope they at least sat together.

My Assistant is obviously not a good judge of anything; these ratings changed substantially after signing. Post-signing we have a great intake that could go 8 deep and greatly expands our depth. Let's see the top 4 players we've got:

A little slow but not too bad for this level; otherwise a great player that can use either foot. Tuccio could be a starter depending on how he develops between now and next season.

He'll be retrained as a RM. Hopefully he takes to the position and continues his all around development.

My next goalie, dropped from the heavens. He'd be starting immediately if I could register him.

Model Professional with plenty of potential. He could use some development but my fingers are crossed that he eventually becomes a tutor.

Nice start here and like the writing style. Hopefully won't be too long until you are challenging for the league, but from memory the top teams in Luxembourg have some good players. Stelvio being one, a former FM must sign!

I laughed at just 2 people attending a game!

I laughed at just 2 people attending a game!

Not even their WAGS want to come watch them

2 people

I remember couple of FM's ago in some obscure lower league one team always had 1 spectator on their match. Probably the most hardcore fan in the world

or ye wife

Nice start here and like the writing style. Hopefully won't be too long until you are challenging for the league, but from memory the top teams in Luxembourg have some good players. Stelvio being one, a former FM must sign!

Much obliged -- I try to keep it entertaining. There definitely are some good players on the top teams as evidenced by some of the transfer fees received. I'd describe the league as three pretty distinct tiers each separated by 8-10 points, which is a lot over just 26 games. We haven't even been competitive with any of teams from the first yet.

That said, over time FM tends to drag the quality down of teams "outperforming" the status of their smaller nations. Typically it struggles to replicate their transfer behavior, probably because there aren't enough active lower leagues for them to sign players from. I'm expecting the best teams to start regressing just about the time we are competitive for the 4 European slots.

I laughed at just 2 people attending a game!

Not even their WAGS want to come watch them

2 people

I remember couple of FM's ago in some obscure lower league one team always had 1 spectator on their match. Probably the most hardcore fan in the world

or ye wife

Laughed at all the comments. When you're a team of celibate orphans, there are no WAGS or family to fill the stands.

Avenir Beggen - 2017/2018

Squad / League / Transfers

How was the league?

As previously mentioned, there seem to be three tiers of clubs in the league. Despite only picking up 13 points against our 3 fellow relegation candidates, the league was much more comfortable this year. We managed to take 14 points from the middle 6 clubs, leaving us as close to 5th as the relegation playoff (11th).

Reality check -- we only took 2 points from the top 4 teams; the gap between European places and 5th was 12 points.

If you're not first you're last.

I'm getting a strong sense of deja vu. Is this a Turing test that you're obviously failing? We won't be challenging for Europe yet but staying clear of relegation while our youngsters develop is a win.

0101011101101000011000010111010001100101011101100110010101110010. Anything else noteworthy?

We've found our GK. Our next greatest needs are STs and RM/LM. Perhaps if I put that out there, the universe will be kind again.

Every staff member interested in joining is only Balanced. Not ideal, despite the occasional youth with the right attitude. Until we can rectify that, mentoring is slowly been reshaping the squad towards Professional even when we've had to sacrifice Determination.

We did manage to upgrade youth coaching this season, so maybe we're not stalling out after all. Finances are a little dour but survivable.

Recordkeeping:

very nice, I love it. Especially because I´m living 2 kilometres near their stadium

Interesting thread.

I too was inspired by all SM stories and decided to give Andorra a shot. Didn't really click for me yet but I may make a few little tweaks and give it another go.

I say this because I wonder how you're liking using an amateur club. For me, it was frustrating having other clubs consistently offering my players contracts and never having that stability of who was going to be around the following day. Long term, I'm sure I would have adored it... but I probably would start with one of the two semi-pro clubs if I returned to Andorra.

Sorry, went on a tangent. I'll be following, keep up the good work.

very nice, I love it. Especially because I´m living 2 kilometres near their stadium

Very cool. Any info on the club you can share? My research ended up being limited to the rare English language result in Google since I speak neither French nor German (never mind Luxembourgish). Would love to know more about the club and how it's viewed in that area of the world.

Interesting thread.

I too was inspired by all SM stories and decided to give Andorra a shot. Didn't really click for me yet but I may make a few little tweaks and give it another go.

I say this because I wonder how you're liking using an amateur club. For me, it was frustrating having other clubs consistently offering my players contracts and never having that stability of who was going to be around the following day. Long term, I'm sure I would have adored it... but I probably would start with one of the two semi-pro clubs if I returned to Andorra.

Sorry, went on a tangent. I'll be following, keep up the good work.

No worries, it's interesting comparing the experiences across similar countries. The Luxembourg league edit starts all the teams as Semi-Pro so I haven't had to battle teams to keep my players. It definitely adds to the challenge; it might even make Luxembourg impossible given the reputation gap between the best teams & the worst and the lack of TV income. The folks playing in San Marino seemed to grind past it, but there's no threat of relegation and the teams seem to start on fairly level terms.

A quality CD who should be a starter next year despite the depth already there. Would've liked him a little quicker but he's tall and has time to develop.

Another player who should be competing for a starting spot next year. Young but with potential. Checks one of the boxes I was hoping for.

More CDs! A lot will depend on his development.

We don't play with RD/LDs currently, although he could develop into a decent defensive winger type if we don't change formations.

A GK to compete with last year's promising bloke. He's got a great personality so he may overtake the starting job with a little development over the summer.

Long story short -- we got relegated following this season. Our form dipped and we couldn't buy a win, ultimately falling into an automatic relegation place when one more point would've meant guaranteed safety.

The board wasn't happy and neither were the players. I was shocked myself but figured we would pretty easily bounce back. Then...

Unhappy players are very difficult to overcome. I debated how to handle this -- I very much enjoyed the save but reloading to avoid the drop or the sack seems unseemly. In the end I settled on publicly announcing my failure (shame shame shame!) and giving this challenge another shot with Avenir Beggen. I'll post a link shortly to my second bite at the apple.

Well, I love to see the thread going up, but it's not good to get sacked. Who become the new head coach of this team?

It was a little frustrating but there wasn't enough time to turn the ship around. I didn't play past the point of getting fired; not sure who took over, hopefully not that jerk from Mertzig.