PGC: Going Dutch for FM14

[FFCStu1428]

Stuart NAC

A great season came to a end leaving me with a bad tast in the mouth. After finishing 5th i had to go into the playoffs to get into europe where we ended up going out on away goals to Heerenveen. Was a bitter pill to take after such a good season, To miss out on a champions league spot by 2 points was bad enough but to end the season with no europe had left me and the club feeling rather flat.

THIS SUMMER

Not sure what i will be able to do this summer as there is no money at the club and the players i have are not worth a great amount so any sales wont bring in the cash i need so it looks like ill be lookin in the free market again!.

More updates as the week games carry on

[redhawk]

When I left off there were 4 games to go and 2 points separating myself and Volendam for the title and the only automatic promotion spot. Here is the journey of those last four games.

Roda JC 2-0 MVV

Volendam 2-3 GA Eagles

We scored a comfortable win, despite a lacklustre first half, against local rivals MVV, before the Eagles scored in injury time to beat Volendam. And it was ex-Roda player Moussa Sanoh doing the damage! The gap was now 5 points.

Twente B 0-0 Roda JC

Emmen 1-2 Volendam

Frustration as our attack didn't turn up at all against Twente's B team, a terrible result. Volendam did the business over Emmen, meaning the gap was back to three. I needed to get a win and a draw from the last two still, as Volendam were way ahead on goal difference.

Emmen 0-2 Roda JC

Volendam 1-2 Helmond

After being frustrated by Emmen in the first half (the attack looking devoid of ideas without Khaloua), we broke through with two classy goals in the second half to grab the win in the trickiest tie of the last four. After the game I saw that Volendam had lost to Helmond, and we were promoted! Bit of an anti-climax after a terrific battle all season

Roda JC 3-1 GA Eagles

We celebrated the season with a nice 3-1 win, though conceding meant we ended our run of eight clean sheets in a row.

So, we were promoted as champions, on 91 points, the second highest in Jupiler history. I really didn't want to go into the playoffs, my fears confirmed when Volendam were knocked out by Helmond themselves, and that could have been my fate. Helmond also knocked out Dordrecht, Paul's team, to claim promotion. The core of the squad will remain going into next season, and, with the right reinforcements, I believe we can be lower mid-table. Really is a fantastic result for the club, champions on only the 17th highest wages in the league.

[pauladams84]

Well after a decent start/ poor middle and finishing the season very strong, Dordrecht made the playoffs easily enough. Made hard work of the playoffs, mainly my own fault but players were fit an ready to play Helmond who I had beat both games this season. First game I equalised and they were down to 10men... great I thought. Next thing I knew my CB didn't see the GK pass and came off his back for the Helmond winger to pass it to striker for an almost open goal. Second game was very poor with barely any replays.

Needless to say I lost in playoffs for 3rd season running

Next season I have told the board I expect promotion. I think its achieveable as long as I don't get loads of injuries again.

[Dig_Dog]

Steve - FC Den Bosch

This is my final post on Slosch. I did not complete the season and instead fulfilled my pledge to get out of here to a better club. Anyway, the season began well, like the last Eredivisie season. This time I wanted to make the good start stick and not get sucked into a relegation battle. I made the following tranfers (please note any transfers after september where not by me, but my replacement):

You'll see that after over 8 years at Slosch and never not once spending a penny at the club, no sooner am I gone than they start splashing the cash. After all that scrimping and saving to get us on an even keel, they immediately start spending! Not just that window, but the coming summer window they spend £400k on one player!!

So the final domestic fixtures:

You'll see after I left on 13th November, the club's fortunes took a nose dive, and it was not until they beat my new side that they finally won without me! In the end Slosch had a better season than last, but those solid foundations laid by my excellent start where the corner stone of that.

You'll remember I lost in the dutch cup final and so had a foray into europe. Remember, I left on the 13th November when looking at the fixtures:

After securing qualification after just 4 games and leaving them top of the group, I was sad to see that Slosch faded in the last two group games and then went out against Napoli.

In 8 seasons at Slosch, I've battled the odds. The finances were appalling. The debts were a mess. The stadium was a dump, the facilities were a joke. I've left them settled in the top flight, with a renovated stadium and an increased capacity, and record crowds to fill it, with great youth facilities and youth academy churning out great young talent, much improved training facilities and all in all, I can say I have really improved this club. So much so, in the end, I was sad to leave. But, leave I had to.

Here's the state of the Jupiler club i took over:

[Dig_Dog]

Steve - AZ Almaar

So after the mess at Slosch, I moved to the big time. AZ Alkmaar, winners of the league twice, most recently in 2009. 4 times winners of the cup, most recently in 2013. A club with a 17,000 stadium, which regularly fills it. The stadium is a cracker:

They've also got much better facilities and infrastructure than Slosch and whilst I was dropping right down the league, it was a short term problem for a long term gain. However, it was only when I got into the club that I could see the state of the mess they were in. They were paying extortionate wages to mediocre players. The club was into their overdraft by £4m and the bank was knocking on the door. The club also sat 15th in the table and wanted to shoot the table to where they belong, whilst slashing wages and not spending a penny. Boy, oh boy, oh boy. How had I got this job? Well I had an interview, I told them that I could operate on a shoe string, that I only needed time to work with the youth team and the capacity to sign top kids, and that I would be able to use what was already here whilst slowly lowering the wages. Oh yeah, and I'd quickly have them right back up the table and you never know, in Europe, yeah probably in Europe. Oh why not, I'll get you Europe by the end of the season.

So yeah, i came in, was an instant success and we won game after game and secured the European place I promised them:

Ok, I exaggerated somewhat. Fact of the matter is, it was tough to turn these around, but i did. We pulled up thanks to victory over the champions and a resurgence thereafter, only slipping back from 12th to 14th on the last day. The board was slightly disappointed that I did not deliver European football, but was willing to give me more time.

Transfers:

So you'll see I signed two players in January. Wrong. Vianna was inbound before I took the job. Also my predecessor had agreed to sell one of my best players for a meagre £2m. The board would have sold him from under me anyway. I got none of that money to spend, the finances were shocking and so I had no option to buy anyone even on a free in January and instead had to make do with a loan off Ali. I got a cracking little striker who was a great impact sub and really helped at the end of the season.

Finances:

Oh my Lord. You may as well call this lot Slosch. When I arrvied at Slosch, they had £4m debts and went to wonga.com to pay them off. They took out a £4m loan with ultra high interest and had to repay a total of £20m leaving me hamstrung forever more. Guess what, these lot had £4m debts, so they took out a loan to clear them and guess how much they had to repay:

you could not make it up!

The Summer Transfer Window:

We were back to familiar Slosch territory. Massively over the wage budget at the start of window and having to sell to be able to not only offer wages, but also to afford the fees for a so called "free transfer"! AZ paid out £250k when I took over and wanted us to reduce that to £125k a week. In the summer I was given £1m to spend and a £100k a week budget. Of course I put the £1m into wages to try to be able to sign frees, but was, of course, still massively over budget. Therefore, I have sold a few key players to try to get funds to bring in top quality free transfer to improve the squad.

I'm optimistic of achieving a top half finish, but anything more than that will be unrealistic, and it's more likely we'll be a notch or two above the drop.

[Jonas Christensen]

The Dane is back!

Well, if you follow this thread just somewhat, you will already know how my season ended. When I last wrote, we were 12 games in, and I was in 2nd place and expecting a midtable finish. I was correct in predicting that I would not be a top team, but it was actually my own fault to some degree. For a long time I was just outside the top 2, with Ryan's Roda being the dominant force in 1st with an insane amount of clean sheets. Truly the best defensive work the league has seen for a while, and Volendam lying in 2nd close behind him, with their dangerous strikers banging in the goals. As the season progressed, my team proved that we belonged in the playoffs, but it took a while to secure the place. When we had 5 games left, the PO spot was finally secured! This meant that for the remaining 5 games of the regular season, I fielded half a team of resevers/youths, as I had some players where I needed to see if they deserved a new contract. So, as I basically fielded a weakened team, I quickly dropped some spaces from my 5th at that point, and ended up in 8th - Had I fielded my best team in every game, I'm fairly certain I would have gotten 5th or possibly 4th with some good performances. But I wanted to avoid getting vital players injured before the PO.

In the PO I drew Telstar in the first round... I lost the first game 2 - 1 and was fairly certain I was already out, but in the 2nd leg I killed them 4 - 0 A great performance by my team. So on to the second round! Next up were RCK from Eredivisie! The two games were almost too entertaining, and it ended as a 5 - 7 aggregate loss for me... I wasn't to bummed up about it, since I really hadn't been expecting to be promoted, and RKC beat Joe's Sparta 4 - 0 in the third round, so all in all, I was quite pleased with my team's performance.

All in all, it has been season well-above my expectations. My new star Amrani won 2nd best youth players and 3rd best player, and 2nd best signing of the season. I have already extended his contract, and can't wait to see how his second season goes. My main striker, Benteke, who had his first season as main striker also performed fairly well, scoring 23 goals in 38 games...

The new season

For the new season, the board is expecting a mid-table finish, but I really wanted to promise them a top-half finish - which I had done - but a crash by FM made me miss the possibility to change this and have an additional 5k to work with in wages. This sucked! I've been having an extremely difficult transfer window so far. I quickly find my first signing of the season, a - in my opinion - great Danish talent, which you can see blow. He's 17 and has pretty good stats for Jupiler already. He has killer physical stats - except for natural fitness, which is a bit dissapointing compared to the other stats - and pretty great stats for his position, although he could use some better tackling...

He'll be joining me in the winter transfer window - but this signing meant that I was already limited and from thereon could basically not offer above 1k in wages!

At this point 9 players had already left my team on free transfers and 3 are out on loan, and I had only gotten 1 player in on loan. This meant I had to sell one of my best players and a fringe striker to get some wages free for a new signing or two. So I ended up with a new youth striker and possibly a DR coming in on loan... Which means that so far the transfer window has left my team fairly weakened depth-wise... I still have the main foundation of my team, and I'm hoping this will prove sufficient with the few new players.

This however also means that my finances are not too bad at the moment. Although I don't really have any wages to spend on new players. I have a minor negative balance, but I'm below my wage budget, and hopefully won't go above it this season.

Expectations

It will be difficult to compete with the performance from last season. I am however once again hoping for PO, since I have most of my best players still at the club and with more experience. The tricky part will be whether I can keep my team fairly injure-free, especially in the striker position and DL and DR, where I don't have much competent backup. I'm hoping for a killer season from both Benteke and Amrani, which alone should make me a PO-contender. Despite the squad not being as big as my squad usually is, I'm not expecting more transfer activity, unless I can find one or two cheap youngsters...

[Olib1983]

Oli- Heracles

Ok so im back and got given the chance to pick whatever side i wanted from the Jupiter league. So i trolled through the sides available and took in to consideration the clubs finances and facilities and decided the club in the best position was Heracles with decent youth facilities and a sound financial platform. Upon taking over the side i was given a 2m transfer budget and told i need to get them in to the playoffs. First plan of action once taking over was to clear the players on crazy wages compared to their tallent and bring through some of the youth prospects then look and decide where needed strengthening. I decided i needed a centre back playmaker and winger come striker. I managed to bring in a brilliant Portugese centre half from Portos academy for 100k who instantly is my clubs best player then i managed to beat off competition from the top division to raid their academy once again. I brought in a tallented winger come striker from AZ and was getting some interest from Italy for my keeper who had one year to run on his contract so i managed to sell him for 1m. I attempted to raid Porto once again but wasnt successful. In the end i managed to bring in AZ former reserve keeper on a free.

So i have a solid squad money in the bank to invest in January if i need to and now i am looking forward to pushing on this season.

[Advantageous]

Ali/Steamboat/Rumple Stiltskin/Bottlejob - Feyenoord

Eredivisie

Well it was one of those seasons. We surged 9 points clear in the league with about 6 or 7 games to go, secured ourself a place in the Dutch Cup Final and were progressing beyond expectations in the Champions League, having just knocked out PSG 5-3 on aggregate. All with my two best players, Schmidt and Diallo determined to find homes at bigger clubs in the Summer. My team (and myself as well, admittedly) then decided that a second consecutive League Title was already won and that no effort was required in the remaining games. Cue defeats to Andy, Steve and other sides who were fighting for their lives at the bottom of the table and we found ourselves in the uncomfortable position of being just a single point clear with 2 or 3 games to go. I have to thank Steve here, as his victory over FC Twente (our nearest challengers) may well have won me the league. I managed to secure a solid victory in my final game as we finished the season top. This did nothing to ease the fears of Schmidt and Diallo, who after promising they'd stay if we won the Eredivisie, both submitted simultaneous transfer requests a week before the Champions League Final. 'The club wasn't big enough to match their ambitions', they said. #BacktoBackWinners

Champions League

Whilst our horrendous League form was in full flow, our performances in the Champions League were reminiscent of our early season surge. Our semi-final drew us against Barcelona, who had knocked us out in the First Round Knockouts two years running. My players were up for revenge and my team talk personified their emotions. A 3-2 away-leg defeat was a decent result and kept us in with a shout of the Final. The match was relatively even, but their DM was dominating the game essentially turning Nunez, my AMC, into the most ineffective player on the pitch. Cue a quick tactical tweak at half-time and we decided to go for it. A 424 formation, an attacking mentality and we managed to score those 2 crucial away-goals in the second half.

The return leg was a very cagey affair. Barca had their chances (one or two they probably should have scored) with the majority from distance, and late in 70th minute, Schmidt struck again. A lovely long ball from my Full Back, which completely split Barca's Centre-Back pairing and Schmidt calmly took it round the keeper, passing into an empty net. 1-0 at home. 3-3 on Aggregate. #FluidFootball

The final itself was relatively dull. The damage was done by Bayern Munich early on in the first-half and they decided to sit back and counter for the remainder of the game. A worthwhile tactical decision, for they could have had 1 or 2 more (but then so could we). We played well overall, but we did not take our chances. I'd like to say that the mental state of Schmidt and Diallo was in tatters after their transfer request, but they were as motivated as the rest of the lads. Perhaps they realised this would be their last game for the club, their last hope for that big European trophy with Feyenoord.

Dutch Cup

The team decided to take their League form into this fixture. Cue a 3-1 deserved defeat, a terrible performance and a rollicking from the Manager. Perhaps this spurred the lads on to claim the League Title in the remaining fixture, or perhaps I'm overstating my acumen for on-the-spot man-management.#Bottlejob

Transfer Window

The last two seasons at Feyenoord draw comparisons with Dortmund (in real life) of late; We are essentially small fish in choppy European waters, yet managed to claw our way into a Champions League final; Despite not being the biggest side in the Eredivisie, we have now secured back-to-back League Titles; Like everyone managing in the Dutch League, we can only buy if we sell; Our best players have left us, and we are now relying on our youth academy.

It is a season of transition here at Feyenoord. 5 or 6 1st Team players have been sold on for after reaching 30 years of age (the last possible transfer window where I would have received a good price for them). Diallo also left for Bayern Munich for £27.5m. A decent price, but not brilliant considering the £40m I was offered last summer. That 1 year remaining on his contract must have played a part, since his performance this season was excellent. Schmidt left for a hefty £58m. Over-priced in my opinion, especially considering he only had 1 year remaining on his contract as well, the difference being he was just about to accept an extension. His 33 goals in all competitions this season (18 of those in the League) propelled us to our two trophies (Eredivisie and the Dutch Super Cup) and two Cup finals.

Our initial income is around £30m from these two players, with another £45m to line our pockets over the next 4 seasons. I've spent £500k on Nunez, an absolute steal for that price, who we had on loan last season. He's a solid player with some excellent attributes, but his performances were lacking sometimes, unable to provide that bit of magic we needed in key games.

Such is the nature of the Dutch Leagues, there are very few quality players who are interested in joining. The small well, from which I have signed gems over previous seasons (and then subsequently sold on to bigger clubs) seems to have dried up and I am now relying on my youth academy prospects for the forthcoming season. Truth be told, they have excellent potential and would be solid players for most Eridivisie sides. The difference is that the board expect another League Title and a good run in the Champions League. Fingers crossed my new look side can maintain the expectations set over the previous seasons.

[jdckelly]

Joe-Sparta

Another season another failure, after a sluggish start where I experimented to find the right formation and combo of players and tactic but eventually hit on the right formula and won 2 of the 4 league periods but defense was the issue. Over a goal a game conceded is far too much. So playoffs first match up no issue but got mangled in the last round. Back to the drawing board again trying to get out of this hellhole.

[Advantageous]

Ali

I (Ali) had a decent season with Feyenoord. The Eredivise Title, plus the Dutch Cup Final and the Champions League final is no easy feat. Truth be told, the fixtures caught up to me in the end and I crawled over the line for the Title and bottled the Dutch Cup. The Champions League final against FC Bayern always had my side as under-dogs, but we gave a good account of ourselves.

Ryan

It was an excellent first 'full season' for the clans newest member Ryan. His performance in the Jupiler League was top drawer, leading from the front right from the get-go. Whilst Roda JC aren't exactly the weakest team in second flight but their wage budget is considerably low. It takes a good manager to point them in the right direction, whilst fending off challenges from the likes of Volendam, who really should be in the Eredivisie based on their strikers alone. Ryan (and his board) will be hoping for consolidation within the Eredivise in his second full-season in clan, which is no easy task.

Stu

Stu had a very strong season with NAC Breda. His Assistant had him sitting in 3rd place at one point, before being overtaken by Ajax and FC Utrecht, leaving them in 5th for Stu's return. 5th is where Stu finished and he will be looking for European qualification this season after losing in the European play-offs. If a big job comes up, I think Stu's loyalty to NAC might be tested, despite them being his Dutch side IRL.

Andy & Steve

Both of these lads were involved in a major relegation struggle. Andy began his trend of starting very well finding himself in the top half of the table, before gradually slipping down. At one point, he (FC Eindhoven) was propping up the rest of the league and was fearing the worst. Steve began the season on a charge for European Qualification with Den Bosch, before the AZ job turned his head. The final third of the season saw one of the toughest relegation battles seen so far in FM14, with both managers 'very insecure' at some point. Ultimately both ended up surviving comfortably and live to fight another day.

Paul & Jonas

Once again, Paul and Jonas found themselves in the mix for promotion from the Eredivisie, but both ended up slugging it out again in the Jupiler League next season. Solid efforts from the pair of them, as their sides shouldn't really be up their challenging. It won't be long before one of them makes it out of the division, most probably as champions.

Joe

Joe returned from the wilderness that is unemployment to take Sparta. In his first season, he found himself challenging for promotion, hunting down Ryan for that top spot at one point. I think we can expect big things from Joe this season, who is one of the few managers to successfully navigate the Jupiler Play-Offs to win promotion.

Will

Will once again managed to fend of relegation with his Fortuna side. Most would argue that Fortuna should be challenging higher up the league, but Will is happy experimenting with some crazy tactics, portraying himself as a connoisseur of tactical judgement and revolutionary formations. To be fair, his team isn't worthy of a promotion challenge just yet, but Will is working solidly to bring in quality signings and hopes his time his near.

Oli

Season 10 announces the return of Oli. A PGC legend with a haul of trophies to his name from FM10-FM13. He is perhaps most notorious for spending astronomical amounts of money and is often cited as the main reason Roman Abramovich left Chelsea in FM11. Oli takes Heracles in the Jupiler league.

And finally, above shows the Major Trophy Honours from our managers in FM14. I currently lead the way with Feyenoord, as should be expected with a top Dutch side, after a successful 5 years with De Graafschap. 8 Managers then follow in joint second place, each having won the Jupiler League, with the exception of Sean. That is 7 Jupiler League Titles in 9 seasons - an excellent return. Top stuff lads.

[redhawk]

Summer transfers and early season update 2022/23

Defence

The focus going into the first season in Eredivise in terms of transfers, was midfield and attack. After an outstanding defensive season, just 23 conceded in 38 games (7 of those in 2 games against Volendam and Zwolle), the centre back make up was not changed, only if superstars became available, such as my failed attempt at signing Jeffrey Bruma. The centre backs, in order of choice are Porto (Italian, captain), Oddang (Holland U-21), Toure (experienced Ivorian), Phillips (best Lux player, can play DM). I rejected a 500K bid for Oddang, he is worth far more quite frankly and still only 20. He could grow with the club and be a fixture for years to come.

I decided to trust Houwen in goal eventually, after my failed attempt at signing Renan, which would have been a massive upgrade. I will be keeping a beady eye on Houwen though, as I do not have too much faith in him, with one free transfer target already in mind. I sold my young back-up keeper Boessen, and brought in the experienced van Gelderen, who is a step up.

At full backs, I made permanent the loan deals of de Graaff and Ata (DR and DL respectively), and extended the loan of Marinovic, keeping Petersson as my other DL. My full backs consist of determination and a little pace basically. DLs of Petersson (Swedish U21) and Ata (solid Turk), with DRs of de Graaff (young Dutch) and Marinovic (versatile yellow card merchant). Baba had already decided to go to Heracles, late last season, as I was unwilling to give him the wages he demanded for a slow full back/DM with jumping of 3.

Midfield

Midfield is where I really bolstered my options. I let go Vermeer and Akbal, who were neither good enough, nor performed well enough. Two direct replacements for these were Magne and Diego. Magne being a French 22 year old with already good stats, and Diego being an all-round experienced AMC/ST. Omondi and Yildirim are both 18 year old prospects with some excellent promise, both from Sochaux, Omondi defensive and Yildirim pacey and attacking. I was also able to hook up a parent club deal with Inter (after the board gave me Havre, wtf), and took Sume, a diminutive, creative, Turkish MC, on loan for free. He may or may not be any good, but adds promise and squad depth at no cost.

There was a twist in the tale on deadline day. I had actually originally signed Diego to be a striker, despite his naturally AMC position, due to my difficulty in finding top drawer forwards. However, I managed to snag Hayden Smith, a very quick AMC, with the stats (aside from composure) to play up front. I decided to switch Diego back to midfield, which left me heavy in numbers. After some consideration, I offered Ozkan out for £2.5m, and duly he left to Bursaspor. £2.5m is a huge amount of money (signed for free a little over a year ago), considering in my time I haven't spent a penny on a transfer fee, and is more than half the wage bill for all of this season. Ozkan is a good player, but suffers from nerves very often, leading to him underperforming. His large wage and easily liquidated high value, convinced me to let him go.

So my midfield now consists of DMs Alberto (stalwart Spaniard) and Omondi (promising Frenchie). In central and attacking midfield I have the options of Diego (experienced Spaniard), van der Loo (young Dutch, most creative player last season), Magne (very promising Frenchie), Guler (strong, technically proficient), Yildirim (raw but pacey) and Sume (creative Turk).

Strikers

Now here is where my problems continue to lie. Last season, the defence got us promoted, with the attack helping out in spurts. A top scorer of 17 from Djumo shows that. Djumo and Khaloua were the only senior strikers I had left, so naturally they had to stay. I signed Mulholland on a free, who looks decent, but I'm not convinced by him. Originally like I said, Diego was to fill the fourth ST requirement, but signing Hayden Smith has seen me go with him, despite him being an AMC only. He has excellent pace, dribbling and first touch, with decent finishing, technique and off the ball. Allied to some composure (he is only 22), and he could be a real weapon in attack.

SEASON SO FAR

As you can see, strikers remain the issue, though Smith is yet to make an appearance of course. We dominated the first two games of the season, and did more than enough to gain at least a draw against NAC, but did we score? Nope. Finally, in our fourth game of the season, we beat VVV, before being predictably beaten by Feyenoord, my defence a shambles for the first time in a long time. Some fines and warnings were given out over that, and when PSV had a man sent off early in game six, we pounced to record our second win of the campaign. 3 clean sheets in six matches offer encouragement in defence, but I really hope Smith comes good, or Lopes puts on 10 chances a game, otherwise we will struggle big time.

I do, however, have an ace card up my sleeve. I have £1.9M to spend come January once it becomes clear where I am weakest, from the sale of Ozkan. Hopefully there is only one area we are weak in!

[AndyFal36]

Media Predictions 2022/23 Jupiler

[AndyFal36]

Media Predictions 2022/23 Eredevisie

[FFCStu1428]

END OF WEEKS LEAGUE TABLES

[AndyFal36]

Promotion Play-Off Stages

Stage 1

[AndyFal36]

Promotion Play-Off Stages

Stage 2

[djwillster]

Will.i.am - Fortuna Sittard

Missed the last session due to circumstances in private life

new seasons and already things are looking great 16 games in and almost managing what the board asked for a mid- table finish the team has performed really well this time around and are aiming for a top spot of at least 8th id say.

[Olib1983]

Oli-Heracles

Things started terribly here with 6 points after the first 7 games we were sitting in the bottom half of the table but since that point we have been on a march up the table and have only dropped 2 points. We have now ensured we will be in the Play offs and now are looking at the top of the table and thinking the title is an option. Injuries have been really bad im hoping things dont get worse in that regard.

[AndyFal36]

End Of Session Standings Jupiler (TUES)

[AndyFal36]

End Of Session Standings Eredevisie (TUES)

[AndyFal36]

End Of Week Standings Jupiler

[AndyFal36]

End Of Week Standings Eredevisie

[redhawk]

Early/Mid season update

FIXTURES

As you can see our results so far this season have been..... mixed. Usually it seems my attack fires, while my defence doesn't and when my defence does perform, my attack doesn't! I left off having beaten PSV, and much of the same results have continued.

We should have comfortably beaten Vitesse, but didn't score, this being our fourth blank in seven games so far. Again we were the better team vs RKC, but at least Smith scored his first for the club in his second game. We were then able to get some goal confidence going against minnows Babberich, before absolutely dominating Twente from start to finish, not affording them one chance, a fantastic win and really showed what the team is capable of. However, Smith, was ruled out for 6 weeks after this game, just as he looked dangerous. Khaloua scored a hat-trick in this game, and has just one since, which sums him up. My captain and best defender, Porto, was also ruled out for 8 weeks, a huge blow.

We really should have beaten de Graffschap, but had to come from behind twice, as the defence missed Porto all too clearly. The defence then got worse against FC Eindhoven, an awful display, the centre back I didn't want to sign, but forced to play due to injuries, giving away a penalty (more on him later). T least we were scoring goals and it was good job as my defence then conceded 3 v Heerenveen! In all fairness I was pleased with my team's determination to come back from 3-1 down here. A comfortable win against Excelsior restored a little morale before we played very well against NEC, though they are the bottom team. In the final game of the week, we smashed Ajax, but oh look, didn't score, a late goal giving us no reward for our 5 CCCs.

I really feel we can win every one of our next six, and with Smith back from injury, and Porto not far away, I am optimistic.

TRANSFERS

Another cause for optimism is the transfer business I have done outside the window. When Porto, and then Toure gained long term injuries, I had to move for a centre back. I ended up signing two, Ferranti and Lursmanashvili. Ferranti I tried to cancel, as I had appacohed him before knowing his stats. However, I had already approached Lursman too and went to cancel Ferranti, unfortunately I didn't get chance, as the game continued just as I was about to cancel the transfer, with no reload offered, despite my pleas, something I was not impressed with in the slightest. But there you go, I'm now stuck with a £6k pw average defender who will disrupt the squad when he doesn't play. Maybe I will make some money on him, though I doubt it.

I also signed a long term target Buenaventura, a tall, young GK who will challenge Houwen. Both have their weak points, so it will be interesting to see how each fares. Currently, Buenaventura is being favoured after the 3 conceded against Heerenveen by Houwen. In the international break I decided to take a couple of risks, and take this opportunity we have in the Eredivisie, as I feel with a little luck and quality, we can make a push for the high EU places. We had budget available to spend, and it is now all gone and we are £12k over wage budget due to signing Addamo and Zaza.

Both are quality signings on paper, Zaza experienced and with average physicals, but excellent striking mental and technical attributes. He may be exactly what I need alongside the pace of Smith. Addamo, meanwhile is a real quality player for my midfield. Though midfield wasn't really a concern, this kind of quality has to be snapped when you can get it.

As a result of these transfers, Phillips, Omondi, van Gelderen, Djumo and probably Guler will be/have been moved on. I'm happy with Guler, but if I can get a decent price for him, he will be moved on. If not, Alberto will be let go instead. That should see us pretty much back in line with our budget, with it now pushed up £110k pw, having been £80k pw at the start of the season. Amazing how quickly £2m can be spent on free transfers!

PLAYER PERFORMANCES

Two players I have been impressed with this season have been de Graaff and Petersson, both first choice full backs. Both started off shakily but have been superb since, while Diego has 8 assists in 14 from the AMC position, so is doing his bit. Another I have been really impressed with is the 19 year old Yildirim, who is quick but raw. He has only recently broken into the first team, but has performed excellently in his 8 games. Porto has also played well, holding together the defence.

Disappointing have been Ata (who was first choice over Petersson last season) and van der Loo, both playing horribly in the several chances they have been afforded. Even more disappointing as these two were one of the first names on the team sheet last season.

For the future, I'm optimistic, I believe we can push up the table. It will depend on Smith and/or Zaza up front and one of our GKs performing. The rest of the team will be fine. We are also getting over 17000 for every game, which is encouraging for future growth.

[Jonas Christensen]

The Dane is back...!

The season so far

As you might have seen in some of the screenshots of the season standings at the moment, we're currently lying in 3rd place, in the midst of a battle for the title. We're 3 points behind Joe's Sparta in 1st, who we just played in our last game - where we got a 3 - 3 result away and had a good chance at winning the game.

When I last wrote, the transfer window was nearing the end, and I wasn't sure if I was going to be bringing more players in - despite letting several players go and not buying that many. Well, one more player came in on loan - a RB since I didn't have any backup there, and I bought a fast striker on a free. So the transfer window closed with 5 new players joining the team, from which 2 are only on loan, while around 10 players have left the club, and a few others are out on loan. One more fringe player is leaving the club for some cash during the winter transfer window, and one player is joining on a free - and I will likely be bringing in 1 or 2 more, if we're still challenging for the title.

So far the main reason why we are still fighting for the title is goals, goals, goals... We have scored 44 goals in 16 games and are by far the most dangerous team in regards to scoring goals. My star player from last season, Amrani, has continued his fine form and have contributed with 5 goals and 12 assists in 16 games and an average rating of 7.33, and he's leading the league with most assists.

But... Even though we're scoring a LOT of goals, we are conceeding too many as well. Below you can see the team's form so far. For the past 3 league games, we have scored 8 goals, but also conceeded 8! Before those games, we were lying in 1st for the duration of 1 game, before drawing two games that we really should have won, and drawing with the league leaders Sparta.

The last time I wrote a post, I mentioned that the board were expecting a midtable position this season, and they are of course thrilled that we're challenging for the title at the moment. My job status is once again "Untouchable", and if we continue our current form, I'll likely be asking for a bit more wages to really contend for the title for the remainder of the season.

My biggest concern for the next few game session is whether or not I have enough depth in the team. Benteke was out for the beginning of the season and has just recently become fit to play. He hasn't been as dangerous as I would have liked, but he has been getting some goals. But, the concern is, if he gets injured again, I don't really have any really dangerous strikers. The striker I bough during the last day of the transfer window hasn't really proven his worth yet. Stats-wise he's quite similar to Benteke, which is good for me, since that's the type of striker that seems to work with my formation, but he only rarely scores, so Benteke is extremely vital for me.

So what are my hopes for the season now that we're under way?

Well, since my team always throws a match now and again, I won't be expecting to get a playoff position from the remaining stages in Jupiler, but I'm quite confident that we'll finish in a PO position once the season ends - the big question is, can we continue to be a title contender? For the first time, I really do hope so. The other season I haven't been too keen on going in the PO's, since I didn't feel my team would be capable of going up to Eredivise, but this season I really feel like our position in the top spots is justified and we really do belong there - despite neither the board nor the media believing it.

[AndyFal36]

AndyF - FC Eindhoven

After starting the new season with wins against Heerenveen and Ajax I thought things were looking up but then the inevitable happened 4 losses on the spin left the fans and the board thinking about last years calamitous run of losses leading to rumours that my time could be up at Eindhoven. We currently sit in 14th place which is just a place shy of over predicted finish, if can stay around this position without losing to many consecutive games then the board should be happy and I get to stay the clans longest serving manager at their current club.

Fixtures So Far.

Dutch Cup

Transfers

Not much activity here in the summer a couple of loans in could do with one or two more come January with around 20k of my wage budget currently still available

Facilities

With the board having already agreed on expanding the stadium I went knocking on their door again for youth and training facilities to be upgraded and after a few choice words after initially being turned down they came round to my way off thinking and signed off the cheques for work to be begin. The board are currently in talks with Eindhoven City Council about getting planning permission for a new stadium to be built which if all goes well should be completed in 2025.

On the financial front the club are expected to make a loss of around £4M this season.

Until Next Time..........

[FFCStu1428]

Stuart -NAC

It was a very productive summer at NAC and we even had a little money to spend for once so it made life alot easyer than some of the summer ive had in the past. Below is the list of players i have signed.

As you can see ive been busy and have signed some right tasty players non more so than my young Brazilian wInger Alfinete, Signed on a free this lad is going to be world class and it wont be long till the big europen clubs come a knocking. The other stand out signing is my center half Brumas, after ali had him on loan from Lyon he was let go on a free and i went under the radar to sign him, Ali never knew what hit him as he said ( IF I KNEW HE WAS ON A FREE I WOULD OF SIGNED HIM ) Better luck next time m8 lol.

Season So Far

Its been a really good start to the season as we find ourselfs fighting it out for a champions league place, we have come unstuck against the big teams of twenty and ajax but a great 2-0 over ali has shown we can mix it when we want. I would like to think we can hold our own from now till the end of the season and finish in the top 3 and clam the last Champions league spot and get ome much needed money into the club.

Scores on the doors

Well thats you upto date more soon.

[jdckelly]

Joe-Sparta

After a not very busy summer of just replacing those I deemed surplus to requirement I've gotten off to the brightest of starts with 10 wins out of 16 and only 2 losses a playoff spot already secured and currently top by 3 points coming on the half way point, with the safety net of playoffs in the bag already I can go on without pressure and see if I can keep this up, doubtful with some good sides nipping at my heels but stranger things have happened. Til next time.

[Dig_Dog]

Steve - AZ Almaar

The Summer Window:

With my debts I had little choice but to wheel and deal. I liked my striker, even if he did misfire at time, but £3m was too much to resist and so he went. £1m for an overpaid aging and fading MC, even if he was my best one was also too good to turn down in our current situation. Instead, we've gambled on a load of frees taking something of a scatter gun approach and hoping something sticks.

The pick of the freebies is my new chinese sensation (hoping to cash in on merchandising too!):

I'm bringing in younger players and trying to get the ages down here. Also, in time, I'll rely upon the excellent youth setup here.

The Season so far:

We're comfortably in midtable and have some breathing space on the drop.

[pauladams84]

Paul - Dordrecht (temp)

As mentioned in my last post I made the playoffs 3seasons in a row. Then I cocked up with losing keyplayers on free and decided to change formation and hope it makes a change for the better..... with the *****st list of players ive ever seen I ended up buying a fair few but no quality.

After a poor start I have through my dummy out with Dordrecht... just cant get past the playoffs.

Time to move on and find a new team with more depth and a better structure.

Wont resign from Dordrecht unless bored force me to but will be on job hunt straight away tonight

[AndyFal36]

Paul - Dordrecht (temp)

As mentioned in my last post I made the playoffs 3seasons in a row. Then I cocked up with losing keyplayers on free and decided to change formation and hope it makes a change for the better..... with the *****st list of players ive ever seen I ended up buying a fair few but no quality.

After a poor start I have through my dummy out with Dordrecht... just cant get past the playoffs.

Time to move on and find a new team with more depth and a better structure.

Wont resign from Dordrecht unless bored force me to but will be on job hunt straight away tonight

That's not needed Paul as they have already sacked you

[Advantageous]

Ali/Rumple/Sally - Feyenoord

There's not much more I can do at this club. 2 back-to-back titles, 1 Dutch Cup, 2 Dutch Super Cups and a Champions League final, in 3 full seasons in charge. The only things left on my list would be the Champions League trophy itself, and the famous treble. Once I feel I've taken this club as far as I can, that will be the time where I'll take my leave and find my home at a smaller club, which I can build for the remainder of FM14.

[AndyFal36]

Promotion Play-Off Stages

Stage 3

[AndyFal36]

End Of Session Standings Jupiler (Mon)

[AndyFal36]

End Of Session Standings Eredevisie (Mon)

[AndyFal36]

End Of Week Standings Jupiler (Tues)

[AndyFal36]

End Of Session Standings Eredivisie (Tues)

[AndyFal36]

Promotion Play-Off Stages

Stage 4

Stage 3

Stage 2

Stage 1

[AndyFal36]

Final League Standings 2022/23 Jupiler

[AndyFal36]

Final League Standings 2022/23 Eredivise

[AndyFal36]

Relegation/Promotion Play-Off Final Stages 2022/23

Round 3

Round 2

[

Round 1

[AndyFal36]

PGC : Going Dutch

Manager Stats - 10 seasons

[AndyFal36]

AndyF - FC Eindhoven

Another highest finish in the clubs history in the Eredivisie as we finished 12th this season. In the cup we agonisingly lost in the Final after a few controversial refereeing decisions went against us, firstly their second goal was allowed to stand after clearly being offside gave De Graaf a 2-1 lead and then in the 79th minute Abrahamsson's bullet header would have made it 2-2 after the move of the game but it was ruled out after another **** poor decision by the ref costing us possibly our only chance of getting in to Europe this FM.

Season Transfers

To Be Updated

[Olib1983]

Oli- Heracles

Well what can i say we blitzed the Playoffs and are now an Eredivise side im really happy with my sides performances and they deserve it with their performances in the Playoffs. The only downside was our form in the second half of the season. Budgets are thin now im promoted and I think it will take a season or two to build them up. I have managed to bring in three top quality players a left back from Italy a Finnish centre back and a right winger from Germany. I went the quality over quality route and we are a little short i would have like to bring in a sub Goalkeeper defensive midfielder and right back but it wasnt to be. I have to try and consolidate our position in the league which i think is possible as long as i dont get any injuries to my keeper.

[AndyFal36]

Season Summary 2022/23

[Jonas Christensen]

IN PROGRESS

Review of the season

If you follow this thread, you probably already know that I went into the playoffs for the second year running this season. In the playoffs we got Volendam in the first round - a team that is very dangerous offensively.

Volendamn dominated the first match and went in front 2 - 0, before I finally got a goal during the final minutes to get a 1 - 2 loss. At this point I was already certain that I was out of the playoffs, as it seemed impossible to get a win over Volendam away after they dominated the first leg. An I was right - the second leg ended with another 1 - 2 loss, and my season was over a bit earlier than I had hoped.

I don't mind that I didn't go up this season, as my team is far from close to being able to compete in the Eredivisie, so I was happy with how my season went. For a large part of the first half of the season, we were battling for a top spot and was to an extent a possible title candidate, but 8 games in a row where we only won 1 game sent us out of the title race. We finished 7th in the league, which I was completely happy with, as I really felt we had the quality for a top 4 spot. With that being said, the season was decent, but once again we lacked consistency throughout the season.

Positives and negatives

The biggest positive of the season and the biggest negative of the season are in contrast of one another.

First the biggest positive: We were the team that scored the most goals in Jupiler with 82 goals scored - 4 more than Volendam as the 2nd most scoring team and 9 more than Zwolle!

Then the biggest negative: We conceeded 64 goals! Only 5 team conceeded more goals than us, which is insane considering we're in the playoffs 2 seasons running now.

More positives

Amrani continued his brilliant form from last season that made him one of the best players in the league. This season he contributed with 10 goals, 21 assists and an average rating of 7.26 - compared to last season when he had 5 goals and 12 assists! Granted, he played a lot more games for me this season, but I'm still extremely pleased with how he's been performing in his first two seasons for me.

Another positive was for sure, that out of the entire team, 16 different players scored 1 or more goals this season - which I'm fairly happy with.

More negatives

Another negative was for sure, that Benteke only scored 15 goals this season - compared to over 20 goals last season. Considering that Amrani, who plays AMR, had 10 goals, 15 goals is simply not enough by my main striker. Sure, he was out for the first couple of months, but it's still not enough, if I'm consistently going to be a top contender.

The new season

For the new season, I'm hoping to get a bit higher wage budget by promising the board higher than a midtable position, which is what I normally promise them. I'm fairly confident that we'll have no problems at all with contending for a playoff position for the 3rd consecutive year.

First order of business for the new season has been to offer Amrani a new contract, since he's going on the final year now. Second order of business is to strengthen the defence. I have my sights set on a 17 year old DC with great stats for my team, who I can get on a free - so hopefully I can show him to you next week, once I secure him. I also need to find at least a DR/DL capable player, or one for each position, as I have played the last 2 seasons with minimal cover on those position, and this season must be better defensively, so I want more players for the defence.

Thirdly, I need to decide what to do about my strikers. Last season Benteke had 15 goals, Mund had 9, Hoekman had 4 and Cura had 4. This is simply not good enough. Mund has primarily been played as AMC for me, since I prefer my strikers to have a bit of pace, which he doesn't really, but when the new season began, I got a low offer for him from a German club, if I can improve that offer, I will likely sell him and play another player as the primary AMC. This would leave me with 3 strikers from which none are really as good as I want - I'll scour the transfer market and see if I can find someone better, and if I can, I will likely let Cura go and move Benteke down to a place on the bench.

Lastly, this season I'll be searching for a new AML. For the last two season, I've played Abdellaoui and Clement, who both have done decently, but nowhere nearly as good as Amrani. I'm hoping to find a player that will perform on the same level as Amrani, which would make my offence insane...

Overall I'm not looking to make major changes to my starting lineup, except possibly a new main striker and a new main AML. I'm quite happy with the team and feel it's good enough to once again secure a PO spot.

[Advantageous]

Ali - Feyenoord

It was the first season without my talismanic three. Diallo, Driussi and Schmidt have all found homes at top clubs after leaving for a combined fee of £90m. As mentioned more than once before, the ceiling on our wage structure means I have struggled to find replacements for the players I have built my team around for the duration of my time here. In order to progress, I have often had to take one-step backwards in order to take two forward. Promoting players from our excellent youth setup here has been one of the ways of doing this, as well as hunting for those hidden 19-21 year old gems rotting in the reserves of a top side or playing in leagues 2 or 3 levels below their ability.

One such player was Cleber, who I signed from Brazil for £11m. One of my most expensive buys and for two seasons, it looked like being a huge mistake. Often out-shadowed by the performances of Augustin Schmidt, who had the lone Striker position locked out before he left, he also suffered from horrendous injuries and spending many months on the medical table. However, with Schmidt gone, the 22 year old Cleber stepped up to the plate, scoring 30 goals in the Eredivisie alone and single handedly won us the title. He remained injury free in his final season and was sold to Corinthians for £37.5m. On £75k a week, I couldn't offer him the wage increase he wanted and had no choice but to sell him.

Next season I'd like to challenge for more than just the Eredivisie. We were knocked out of both the Dutch Cup and the Champions League in the early knockout rounds and whilst I managed my highest points finish in the league (77), our team is clearly weaker than previous seasons. This season really is a rebuilding process. The average age of the squad is just shy of 21 years and some of my most promising youngsters will be fielded as a new era at Feyenoord draws closer. With Steve now at FC Twente, he'll no doubt want to finish his first season off with some silverware in the cabinet, so fingers crossed my new look side can mount a challenge against the league favourites.

[FFCStu1428]

Stuart - NAC

What a great season, The aim was a top 3 finish and that's what we did, breaking up the top 5 for the first time shows that i was right when calling NAC a sleeping Giant. The only thing i miss that the others have is the cash so qualifying for the champions league is now a must. Getting the money needed to improve the ground and the whole set up is now needed for me take this club to the next level.

Summer window

Busy summer again for me as you will see below

Loan siging from lyon and glad to have him on board

Was with me on loan all last season and i was able to sign him on a free before Manchester United were able to offer him a deal Really happy i got him

Was lucky to sign him, Was looking for a new center half and just came across him by luck, Signed on a free will be a great fit for me next season.

Free signing on PSG, Was in need for a new keeper and glad he picked me over 5 other clubs. My new Number 1

After the sale of Luis Mata to PSV for 7million this is his replacement. Signed on a free more than good enough

MAJOR SALE

Had a year left on his contract and wanted 28k a week, When PSV came in for him the offer was 4m I got it upto 7m and with %20 sell on. Sad to see Mata go but i got a great price for him.

Season Ahead

Going to be hard to balance League and Europe But i will be pushing hard again, I know i can beat the best its just cutting out the silly losses that is now needed. Doing the Double over ali last season is all well and good but next game losing 4-0 to RKC is not going to win you the league so the word next season is consistency.

Fellow Managers

Ali - Set the pace again this season but doing the double over him shows that im catching up . Ali has gone and sold his top striker this summer so he has a whole to feel. Well done on the league.

Steve - Finds himself at Twenty now jumping ship at AZ, Steve is now a main rival again and this season will be looking to break into the champions league. He will have to sort his wage bill out tho.

Andy- Another solid season and miles clear of the drop zone. I see a cross roads ahead for andy, Can he improve a club of that size and challange for europe or will he have to leave before all the big clubs gets taken. Still a very solid season.

Ryan - Solid first season in the top league and to finish outside the drop zone is always good news, Ryan has a club that can improve over the next 2,3 seasons and has very good fanbase like myself.

Joe - So close again in getting out of the league, After such a great start i thought he would kick on and win the league but for one reason of another he ended up in the playoffs and lost on away goals. With some big sides coming down this summer next season will be alot harder for joe.

Jonas - One of the quiet members of the clan Jonas goes about his business and at times goes under the radar, when infact he should get more credit than he really does, One of the smaller teams in the league Jonas is always fighting it out in the playoffs and never gets shown up when he plays the big sides in the cup ( Just ask Ali ). Jonas will be up there again next season but with so many good sides about to join that league its going to be hard work again.

Oli - Rejoin the clan this season and took his side up in the first time of asking, Oli will have it all to do next season to keep his small side up and i look forward to our battles again. Oli will now be lookin for some class players to add to a good set of players, the problem is the size of his team is small soo 2,3 long tearm injurys and he will find himself in big trouble. Still a great effort mate Well done.

Will - When hes on his team does well but for one reason or another he aint been on much.

Well thats you upto date on another great season.

More soon

[Dig_Dog]

Steve - AZ Almaar

To cut a long and dull story short, AZ were meandering along, I was setting them up for next season, very happy with my youth setup and the prospects for the future, but then a big job came up.

Ryan the Pizza Guy threw his hat in the ring. I was not too interested, due to my prospects at AZ. However, I thought what the hell, I can't let Pizza boy get the job. And so I put myself forward, much to the displeasure of the AZ board. I went for an interview. With it being the very end of the season, I promised some mad stuff, and got the job. My promises:-

1. Spend a lot less money

2. Reduce the wage bill

3. Bring through players from the academy.

4. Bring in hot young prospects.

5. Play possession football.

The board liked the cut of my gib, and so I was hired and this is my new home:

[jdckelly]

More playoff failure, the great start unfortunalty fizzed out due to very poor home form which contrasted with the away form which was the best in the league. This carried over to the playoffs where I lost the home leg 2-1 with the winner scored in the 94th min which basically knocked me out. Won the 2nd leg 1-0 which just rubbed it in. Onwards and upwards.

[redhawk]

This is the first negative report I have to make on my team. After a really good start to the season, which saw us as high as 6th after 18 games, we were eighth, having scored 28 points and 31 goals, with 24 conceded before the Christmas break. A good return for a newly promoted side. The signings I made did well until the Christmas break, from then on we were diabolical. Just one win, and 8 points from the remaining 15 games in the league, just 15 scored (1pg) and 37 conceded (2.5pg). An absolutely inexplicable run of form, which continued despite personnel changes and formation tweaks.

Going forward, a centre back and some midfield reinforcements are needed, with Guler and Toure leaving on frees. I will also be getting rid of Omondi and Ferranti. It will probably be a quiet window, but if I can get good money for Mulholland, he will be leaving too, 6 goals in 21 games is just not good enough.