The Sammarinese Challenge.

[Jimbokav1971]

Club Update. Feb 2039.

It's been a bit of a strange season so far, but we have just lost our first league game after 20 wins and 3 draws sees us a whopping 18 points clear of Juve in 2nd place.

Before losing 2-0 away to 9th placed Lazio, we had lost other games, (we lost the Italian Super-Cup 2-1 to Napoli during pre-season), and then more recently (lost the 1st leg of the Italian Cup Semi 2-0), before winning the 2nd leg 6-0 and progressing to the Final.

We have been poor in front of goal and while Rob (SMR) (2033) has 17 goals for the season, the next highest scorer is Lucio (our GK), with 9. Part of this is linked to the fact that I rotate most of the players in most games, (so effectively each player in the senior squad only plays every 2nd game even when he is available), but we haven't been helped by the fact that our main striker Geri "Rossi" (2031) was injured after scoring 5 goals in 5 games at the beginning of the season. He is suffering from a serious viral infection and is expected to miss the whole season and more, (he is out for another 3-4 months).

We are really desperate for a centre-half or a left-winger, (or ideally both), to be produced in the Youth update.

[leonavich]

I just need to vent...

We have lost the title to Palermo this season, and are likely going to slip out of third because we just cannot score or stop opposition from scoring for the life of me. To say we have had a capitulation is an understatement.

We have lost 5 of our last 7 (conceding 15 goals in this time and not a single cleansheet in 10 and only one in 16 games!) and won only 4 out of our last 13. We are a whopping 13 points off the pace and have been eliminated by Bayer Leverkusen in a game I have no idea how we did not win.

It is absolutely ridiculous. Our key striker has managed to find the target a few times, only for other teams to score 2 within 2 minutes on virtually every occasion, when we didn't start the game by going a goal down.

Every season, about the same time we run into the same issues, and I have usually done enough to steady the ship, but this season has just been insane!

It is time I call it a night and try and pick it up again tomorrow, otherwise I will probably resign and destroy the save so as to stop haunting me!

[leonavich]

EDIT: I couldn't keep a way and decided to test the fates with only 2 games left in the season and the season done for. Rant seems to have served me well, we have pulled off a 2-0 which should see us keep 3rd place with one game to go

[Jimbokav1971]

I feel your pain Leon. Others have mentioned mysterious dips in form in FM14 but I used to poo-poo the idea before I experienced it myself during this challenge. It only happened once, (I think), but for the life of me I could not eke out a win and to be honest it felt like we were aquaplaning, (that nothing I did as a manager made any difference).

In the end I went back to basics, disected and tweaked the tactic and come the start of the following season all was fine and this mysterious drop in form was never heard form again.

I have to believe, (for my own sanity if nothing else), that the actions we take as Manager do count and do matter.

[leonavich]

National Team Starts to Grow

The players that have come through over the last few seasons are starting to grow their talents

Below are our best 5 players:

Mario Dini - At 17, he could become a Star Serie A Defender. Being the second best League at the moment, that is no mean feat.

Mattia Berardi - Our most experienced player at this level, still has a little wriggle room but will most certainly remain around his current ability. Has the ability to be a Good leading Serie A Attacking Midfielder.

Mattia Matteoni - Has been playing for a while at International level, but has only really just started to develop enough to make a noticable difference. Has the potential to be a decent Serie A Defensive Midfielder.

Michele Bindi - Has pace which makes him an asset and has started to get a run at club level. He is close to his full potential as a decent Serie A striker though, so don't expect much more growth out of him.

Simone Mularoni - Had a great year at club level last season and has only just made himself available after choosing us over Italy. Gives us a decent forward pair, but has the potential to become a star Serie A striker which means plenty of room to grow.

[leonavich]

I feel your pain Leon. Others have mentioned mysterious dips in form in FM14 but I used to poo-poo the idea before I experienced it myself during this challenge. It only happened once, (I think), but for the life of me I could not eke out a win and to be honest it felt like we were aquaplaning, (that nothing I did as a manager made any difference).

In the end I went back to basics, disected and tweaked the tactic and come the start of the following season all was fine and this mysterious drop in form was never heard form again.

I have to believe, (for my own sanity if nothing else), that the actions we take as Manager do count and do matter.

Things seemed to steady in the final 2 games, but they were also against 16th and 14th placed sides.

We copped a battering, and things are not going much better internationally, so I hope that this time around things go a bit smoother.

[leonavich]

Season	Team	         League	   Position	National Cups	                              Continental Cups	                    
2026/27	San Marino	 Serie A   3rd	        Italian Super Cup     - Runners Up
                                               Italian Cup           - Quarter Final         Champions League        First Knockout Round	

A pretty non event year this year as the second half of the season was a complete write off. We came away with no silverware, but saved face by taking an auto Champions League spot. The lack of additional support up front was a problem and maybe I need to freshen up the middle as they didn't seem to track back as much this year.

We have a new tactic that we are looking to work with with 5 midfielders so hopefully it will help with the being over run in the middle of the park.

Only time will tell though.

[coady]

Another season has passed and this one has just been sublime on all fronts. The club side over-achieved hugely on the pitch, more investment has been agreed off it and the national team are finally starting to produce some quality. Here are the highlights:-

Transfers

We were fairly quiet in the transfer windows as I looked to give youth a chance. I signed a high quality striker and made a profit on my first choice keeper change, but did little business aside from that.

Club Competitions

Serie A - We were 11 points clear before the winter break, but struggled in the 2nd half of the season badly. Luckily, we held Roma in the 36th game, and they slipped up after to hand us our first Serie A title!

Italian Cup - I played a strong side in this competition, hoping to retain it from the off. This plan came to fruition with a stunning 6-3 win in the final vs Milan.

Champions League - This is the one that surprised me, I rested players for the semi final against Man City, as In wanted to win the other 2 competitions, however, we progressed to the final before being humbled by Barca, despite an exceptional combeack. Not bad for our first attempt in this competition though.

Youth Intake

No stars this time around (about time), but we did produce 3 potential decent Serie B players, 2 of these could be vital to the NT depth in 2-3 years time.

Youth Updates

As I've no profiles from this intake, here are updated profiles for the players who are now well into their development. Volpinari, Francioni, Mularoni, Stefanelli, Giacche, Bianchi.

National Team Competitions

European Nations League Division D 2020 - We had another difficult group in this one, but played admirably to achieve a comfortable 2nd place finish.

World Cup Qualifiers - We got a tough 5 team group here, but were seeded fourth due to our success in the Nations league. This meant we drew a minnow in the form of the Faroes. If I could just get mularoni to join volpinari in the NT midfield!

Just look at the progress in our world ranking!

[Jimbokav1971]

NT Update. May 2039.

World Rankings Announced.

San Marino have moved up 2 places to 1st position in the latest World Rankings list.

The most improved Nation was Greece who moved from 33rd to 28th in the list.

So we can add #1 ranked team to our list of accomplishments.

We meat Moldova 4-1 in a qualifier and then beat Lithuania 3-0 in a friendly back in March and haven't played since then. I have no idea how or why we have suddenly risen to top of the pile after actually dropping back from 2nd to 3rd in last month.

Our points total is currently 1,739 which is only 9 points ahead of 2nd placed Portugal, (yes that was a surprise to me too), and Italy have dropped 2 places and now sit on 1,713 points.

[Edit]

We had a news item about our ranking being a new record so I clicked on our NT records and it showed me this.

Highest World Ranking. 1st in May 2039.

Lowest World Ranking. 209th in March 2021.

So I went from bottom to top in 18 years. That's pretty decent.

[Jimbokav1971]

Coady.

Nice progress in the World rankings.

Navas looks nice. Any interesting ppm's?

Good effort against Barca.

The domestic Cup Final looked a hell of a game. 17 shots on target! lol

Volpinari looks excellent. I have a player with the same name playing in the same position. (Spooky!)

I'm less keen on Mularoni, (I prefer better defensive abilities but maybe I need to rethink that), but he is still young to so time to develop further. #

ooh Stefanelli looks an excvellent player for only 18 years old.

Giacche looks pretty average, (and Italian), but he looks more like a MC than an AMC anyway. Does he have DN?

Oh I like Bianchi. Very very very good indeed.

I can't wait to play FM15 or FM16 and participate in the Nations League. I feel like I'm missing out when I read your updates.

That really is a tough WCQ group.

[coady]

Ironically Francioni is my best performing youngster, the only one you didn't mention haha. Volpinari is about to join cesena for 10m, as they can offer him first team football. Not sure about navas ppms, will check tomorrow. The finals were mad too, forgot i lost both the super cups at the start of that season too.

Giacche doesn't have DN, but is a wonderkid with world class potential. The nations league is brilliant, helps climb the world rankings more quickly.

Well done on reaching #1, great achievement.

[leonavich]

Well done on number one! Once you get European Championships, you have pretty much done all there is to do. The Legend of San Marino has arrived! And his name is Jimbokav!

[Reggiana]

Good progress Coady, you're a little ahead of me, I've reached 2023 and only just been promoted to Serie A. Mainly due to an atrocious record in the playoffs!

I keep threatening to post a proper update and will try and actually do it this evening now that I have some proper progress to report. I've managed to get my facilities, recruitment and junior coaching all upgraded at least 2 times along the way, so hopefully should see some better national players coming through shortly.

Just recorded my first ever qualifying win, an incredible 1-0 victory over Portugal! Although it was followed by a 9-1 tonking against Switzerland. A bit up and down I think you would have to say, we have 2 wins and 2 losses from our current campaign. Still not managed promotion in the Nations League, finished 3rd, 2nd and 3rd I think. Up to 82nd in the World now I think, so I'm getting there slowly.

[Jimbokav1971]

Well done on number one! Once you get European Championships, you have pretty much done all there is to do.

Yeah. Euro Champs is the next target, but of course there is the Confederations Cup.

As I plan on keeping going at least until my GK retires, (oh how I wish he was Sammarinese), I have a bit of time yet, but I would also love to have a pop at some of the aged group competitions such as the Euro U21 Championships, (which I think is also the trigger for the Olympics), and the hardest challenge of all would be any sort of success at all in the Euro U19 Champs. I do hope that it's the U21's that is the trigger for the Olympics and not the U19's. If I get to that stage then I might have to resign from the club side and just run the NT to speed things up.

[Jimbokav1971]

Ironically Francioni is my best performing youngster, the only one you didn't mention haha.

Somehow completely missed him. He's a belter!

[Jimbokav1971]

Despite now being ranked the #1 team in the World, I still can't persuade any of the DN players to play for us.

[leonavich]

So I won 5-1, only to then lose 6-1 the following game to 8th placed Lazio. Unbelievable.

We are still remarkably inconsistent and my tweaking seems to have no impact. I need to figure out a stable platform otherwise we will come away with no silverware again this year.

Nonetheless, the season is still success at this stage, as we are currently 3 points off first place Fiorentina, with a game in hand, whilst also through to the Italian Cup Final, looking for our first domestic cup win.

Champions League campaign looks like it may be over as we lost at home to Manchester United in the First knockout Round first leg, though it was only 1-0 so it can still be overturned.

Oosting has been a huge signing for us, wining our first Balon d'Or and World Player of the Year Award. However we are relying to heavily on our Left winger and struggling to hit the net unless it is coming from the left or through Morra, our attacking Midfielder.

[Jimbokav1971]

Oosting has been a huge signing for us, wining our first Balon d'Or and World Player of the Year Award. However we are relying to heavily on our Left winger and struggling to hit the net unless it is coming from the left or through Morra, our attacking Midfielder.

Would love to see a pic of Oosting.

[leonavich]

Here you go:

And his awards:

[leonavich]

The signing of Dede provides extra spark in title run

Dede has been the extra life that we needed in our quest to regain the title. 4 goals in 2 matches since his free agency signing and poor form from our challengers has seen us stretch out a lead at the top of the table with just 6 games to go.

We lost the Champions League First Knockout Round to Manchster United 4-0 on aggregate, and I had decided enough was enough and went in pursuit for a striker who would fall in with what we needed.

To be fair, this plan was looking like the next transfer window as I did not expect to find anything available on a free outside of the windows, however our scout did what he is paid for and came back with Dede, a real gem of a player. Coming off contract with Palmeiras in Brazil left him available for the last quarter of the season, so we signed over the contract work quickly to get him into our squad for the Atalanta game. He scored a brace to help secure a draw, and then followed with another brace to get all 3 points against Spezia.

With just 6 games to go, Dede is already tied 5th , behind Oosting (29), Morra (13), Yilmaz (7), and our leading striker, Sabbioni (6).

To show the struggles we have had up front, Oosting is our left winger, Morra our central attacking midfield, and Yilmaz our main right winger out of a rotating 3.

Sabbioni has only managed 6 out of 25 matches, and our leading strikers show stats of:

Sabbioni 6 in 25

Dede 4 in 2

Bindi 3 in 16

Mularoni 1 in 22

[leonavich]

2027-28 season

The Italian Cup has once again eluded us as we lost out 1-0 in the Final to Fiorentina, however we pipped them to the League title, despite a slip in form at the tail end of the season, winning only 1 of our final 5, ending on 80 points, which is 4 points clear.

The Champions League proved too much for us as we went out 4-0 aggregate to Manchester United in the First Knockout Round. A disappointing run, where we need to improve next season.

Oosting proved a valuable signing, with World Player of the year and European Golden Boy of the year awards, so a bright future for our young 22 year old recruit.

[dan_lcfc]

Despite now being ranked the #1 team in the World, I still can't persuade any of the DN players to play for us.

That is a shame, possibly a bug (which would never get picked up in testing tbf)

Fantastic achievement though, very well done

[Jimbokav1971]

NT Update. Jul 2039.

We have dropped in the rankings after our rise up to 1st. We only managed to draw 1-1 at home to Belarus in a EURO Qualifier and this sees us currently sit 2nd in the group, (behind Croatia), and now down to 5th in the rankings.

The draw for World Cup 2042 Qualification is made today and we are still seeded in a group of 8 as top seeds. Surprisingly, Scotland have risen to 14th in the rankings and are also in this group.

We will be in Group 1.

San Marino. (Ranked 5th).)

Serbia (Ranked 15th).

Georgia. (Ranked 49th).

Wales. (ranked 67th).

Azerbaijan. (Ranked 119th).

Kazakhstan. (Ranked 133rd).

Serbia are our bogey team and have scored 5, 7, 8, 11, 6, & 7 against us while I have been in charge.

[Jimbokav1971]

Club Update. Aug 2039.

San Marino are the most decorated team in Italian Super-Cup history, having just lifted their 10th title. The record was previously held by Inter.

San Marino won the Super-Cup in 2022, 2024, then 6 consecutive years from 2029 to 2034, 2037 and then this year in 2039.

They have also been Runners-Up on 2 additional occasions.

[Thefulham]

Hey guys,

How do you go about finding regens and such for the San Marino NT? Want to clear it up before I start!

[Jimbokav1971]

Hey guys,

How do you go about finding regens and such for the San Marino NT? Want to clear it up before I start!

They generally come through your own system.

What I do is leave the running of the U21's and U19's to staff and they obviously select the squads. If a player features regularly for these teams then they get added to the NT Pool. From there I select the Senior NT so in effect I leave all the scouting to others.

I am in 2039 and in all that time I have only ever had 1 significant player who has been produced by a club other than ourselves. Their facilities are just so poor that they really do produce rubbish, (with the odd exception).

When I started I added all (SMR) eligible players to the NT pool and simply went through every single one of them. If the player was absolute rubbish then they were given a nickname with a "." at the end of their name and removed from the NT pool. As time progressed I would get through more and more players. It didn't take long before I had gone through every SMR eligible player in the game.

It's been a long time, (decades), since I even bothered to look at the San Marino domestic league.

[Jimbokav1971]

NT Update.

EURO 2040 Qualifying Group H.

Belarus (A). Won 5-0.

Croatia (H). Won 3-0.

Slovakia (A). Lost 3-2.

Moldova (H). Won 4-1.

Belarus (H). Drew 1-1.

Croatia (S). Won 5-1.

Slovakia (H). Won 3-1.

Moldova (H). Not yet played.

The loss away to Slovakia can be explained away by us being reduced to 10 men as early as the 29th minute. We were poor anyway and despite scoring 2 second-half goals, we conceded an OG that we were unable to recover from with 19 tired men.

As bad as the Slovakia result was, at least it could be explained by the fact that Nicola was sent off early on. Conceding a late equaliser against a very poor Belarus team, (who should get nowhere near us), is harder to explain. In fact I am unable to explain it at all.

Both ourselves and Croatia have already qualified with 1 game to spare. We are 3 points ahead of them, and even if we hadn't beaten them twice in qualifying, we have a goal difference that is 13 better than theirs, (so in effect we have won the group already).

The games against Croatia were pretty impressive as they are decent actually. The 2nd game saw us in tremendous form early on and it was actually 5-1 at HT before I made some subs and rested/rotated players for the Slovakia game. Croatia are ranked 25th in the World so I think that speaks volumes.

For a minute I was confused when the media comment said "San Marino qualify for European Championship again", (as I couldn't remember competing previously), but actually after looking back I remember Euro 2036 now. We performed well but drew too many games, (all of our Group games), before beating Germany in the 2nd round and then losing on pens to the Dutch in the Quarter Finals. A very forgettable campaign, but it obviously stood as in good stead for our World Cup exploits 2 years later.

Overall Summary.

Things seem to be going ok, but I am still and increasingly frustrated that so many DN players are unwilling to opt for (SMR) rather than (ITA). It also annoys me that i have allowed us to drop down the rankings at just the time when (ITA) also drop down. They are in 4th and we are in 6th now.

I'm aware, (I think), that as World Cup winners we will be invited to participate in the Confederations Cup, (won't we?) and that's on the horizon and something I am looking forward to.

Something else that I have been thinking about since winning the World Cup is looking to participate in the Olympics. In order to do this I need to first qualify for the Euro U21 Championships, (and get to the Semi's and win the 3rd/4th place playoff), (I think). That seems a million miles away at the moment as the U21's sit 4th of 5 in a strong group behind Romania, Croatia, Wales and ahead of only Macedonia. We have been reasonable recently, but certainly I think I could tighten things up defensively if I managed them myself and with that in mind I will be sacking the U21 Manager and taking control myself when the next Euro U21 qualifiers come round. I already try not to weaken the U21's by selecting their players for the Senior squad, unless it is to seal in DN players to (SMR). There are some decent very young players coming through so depending on when exactly the U21's Finals come round, (every 2 years right?), then I might get 2 full campaigns out of some of them.

[Jimbokav1971]

NT U19 & U21 Level planning.

I've never really taken much notice of U21 NT fixtures and even less notice of the U19's. In the main it was because if a player was any good as a teenager, then the chances are he would go straight into the senior squad. It's only recently where I have successfully been able to select a Senior NT squad without taking players from the U21's, (with 1 exception). This means that although the U21 results have improved a little, they haven't improved to such a level that they are anywhere near qualifying for anything. The other problem is that because we have 2 age group squads, (U19's and U21's), are meagre resources are stretched across 2 teams when I think the best tactic might be just to concentrate on the U21's, (even at the expense of the U19's), and then move on to the U19's at a later date.

What I have noticed however is that the 1st qualifying stage of the U19 championship consists of just a group of 3 where you play each other team once and the top 2 progress. I need to keep an eye on who we get drawn against I think.

My 1st choice striker for the Senior NT is 22yo Rob (2033), and that he already has 25 caps by the age of 22 shows that he was taken away from the U21's and promoted to the Senior team early, (although 39 U21 Caps and 28 U21 goals show that I did at least manage to hold off for a while). Bill (2035) is 2 years younger and he is the main goal threat for the U21's at the moment, (12 goals in 32 U21 appearances), but he is only an AMC rather than a SC and if I look for a decent young (SMR) SC then I have to go down to Bonini (2039) who is only 16yo but who already has 2 U21 goals in 3 appearances. If i was to start managing the U21's then he would probably be asked to step up and score the goals. At his age and level of ability I am not sure how realistic that is. We just don't have anyone better though so......

The U21's currently have 3 remaining fixtures, (all friendlies), and I think I will leave whoever it is to manage them until at least the next competitive fixtures are announced. The plan is to completely concentrate on the U21's, (at the expense of the U19's), and if I have to look at a striker-less formation, (not overly keen if I'm honest), then so be it. 4 players in the AMC line might be interesting though. I can't imagine they would be easy to pick up by your average set-up.

[leonavich]

Interesting idea with the U21 tactic, but I do like the idea, as this may help get you into the Olympics, I'm sure?

Decent results in the qualifiers. A shame about the draw and loss though. Was Italy's campaign as flawless as yours? I would wonder how they managed to remain above you if it was anything but.

[Jimbokav1971]

Italy were in a qualifying group with 6 rather than 5 teams and remained unbeaten, (7 wins and 3 draws). While you could argue that 3 draws is not as good as 1 draw and 1 loss, (I'm not sure which is best with this formulae they use actually), the simple fact is that they had 2 extra competitive games to play and these games are weighted higher than friendlies so they get an advantage when it comes to rankings.

I can't really complain though as I'm in a WC qual group with 6 teams and Italy are in a EC qual group with just 5 teams so it's swings and roundabouts.

Our U21's have won their last 3 games, (friendlies against Australia, Kuwait and New Zealand), but tougher tests are coming as they play Poland and Japan.

[leonavich]

Right, that's understandable given the extra games then.

[leonavich]

Modena have come from nowhere to be dominating the league early on. Looking at their last season, they destroyed Serie B, but their start out of the blocks has been good once again. We have stumbled a bit losing to two of the competitors, Inter (2-0) and Fiorentina (2-1), but are back in some decent form to sit 6th.

[coady]

In terms of all round development, this was probably my most successful year of the challenge thus far. This is despite the fact I did not control most of the key improvements.

Club Side

Firstly, we have yet another training and youth facilities upgrade which will improve =141913051&filters[recent]=1&sort=1&o=8"]these stats even more. As you can see, we also have a stadium expansion underway!

Transfers

We were busy but uneventful until deadline day on the (ins) side of things, we blew our budget on a 19 year old DM with world class potential. On the (outs), first ever youth prospect and NT star Volpinari departed to Serie A rivals Cesena for £10m + first team football.

Club Competitions

=141913051&filters[recent]=1&sort=1&o=0"]Serie A - We retained our title quite comfortably in the end, with 3 games to spare.

Italian Cup - We reached the final again before meeting a clinical Juventus side.

Champions Cup - Real Madrid showed us some true class in the 1/4 finals in this one.

Italian Super Cup - Another defeat, AET to Milan.

Youth Intake 2022

No Stars this year, but one decent Serie A potential player in Silvano Bianchi. He is DN, and is rejecting us at the moment. He somehow scored 2 goals on the final day of the Serie A season.

National Team

International Competitions

World Cup Qualifiers - We performed admirably in a difficult group. Although we narrowly missed out on an amazing third placed finish, I was delighted with our points tally.

Nations League D Group 1 - We've been handed a decent draw this time, with only 45th ranked Estonia a threat. Could we get promoted?

Friendlies - A single win against Moldova in March 2022 kept our momentum up.

World Rankings

Despite not playing since March and a world cup taking place, we have moved up from 64th to a record 51st place! I cannot believe this considering the fact we still have at least 4 amateur/equivalent standard players in our starting XI!

[Jimbokav1971]

Good stuff Coady.

Your facilities are way ahead of mine at a similar stage I think.

I see you are paying 3 loan fees this year, That's very different to my strategy. I don't think I ever loaned a single player in after I got to Serie A.

Bartolini from Roma must be the 19yo World Class PA DM? It's got to the stage now where other big Serie A clubs just won't sell to me, (unless it's for £60M+). While I do sign high PA youngsters, they tend to now be not Italian, (or at least not from the bigger Italian clubs).

I never chose to sell (SMR) players early on, but because you are signing loan players I can see why that's sensible. It's really interesting to see such a contrasting style. I would have just settled for playing a poorer quality Volpinari, at the expense of quality in the club side.

The Italian Super-Cups is usually a comfortable win.

Just 3 Serie A losses is impressive, but not nearly as impressive as 98 goals scored. Back in 2022 I had not even finished in the European places yet. I have since gone on to score 103 & 113 Juve have scored 102, (as Champions) & 103, (finishing 2nd), but nobody has managed an unbeaten season, (although we lost just once in 31/32, once in 33/34, and so far once half way through the 39/40 season).

Although I wave won the Italian Cup many times, I do admit to finding it hard to win the Cup without losing a single Serie A game. In my earlier years I would just happily throw the Serie A game before the Cup Final, (and Semi), but now that I am trying to remain unbeaten it's not an option and so impacts on our Cup exploits.

Exactly the same can be said of the Champions League. I stroll through the early rounds, but often seem to come unstuck, (surprisingly to me at least), in the Quarters/Semi's.

Silvano Bianchi looks great and while it's frustrating that he is refusing your call-ups, just keep at it because with that PA it is unlikely that he will ever make the grade for (ITA). I would see his lack of PA in this instance as a real positive, (because you know he will eventually play for you).

Competitive NT games are looking good. I don't know if you have thought of this, but my strategy was to "throw" the games against the top seeds during this sort of period, and really target the games where I thought i could get something from. (Great win against Poland though).

World Ranking is progressing really well so well done.

Everything really is progressing nicely.

If you are taking requests, can I have a look at the players that you have loaned in please?

[Jimbokav1971]

NT Update. Dec 2039.

The draw for the 2040 Euro Championship Finals has been made and we find ourselves in a tough Group C.

San Marino (ranked 3rd in World).

England (ranked 10th in World).

Germany (ranked 16th in World).

Croatia (ranked 34th in World).

This looks like an absolutely awful group, but that's because we are thinking in current real life terms.

Having said that, England are unbeaten in 17, (now being managed by a Croat, so the England v Croatia game should be interesting), and seem at least to have a decent team. Their achilles heel however, seems to be that they are lacking a real top level clinical striker. What they have is decent, but it doesn't exactly worry me. The fact that they play an old-fashioned 442 also plays into our hands. On further investigation, the reason that they are unbeaten in 17 is that they failed to qualify for the World Cup last year, (losing on away goals to Russia in the playoff).

Germany are managed by a German, (as you would expect), but have had far more mixed results. They play a similar basic formation to us, (41221), but have lost to both Czech Rep & Holland this year, Colombia last year, and were put out of the World Cup at the Quarter Final stage by Portugal in extra time. They have some real quality players and it's surprising to see them ranked so lowly.

Croatia play an attacking 4231 but of course had to come through the same qualifying Group as us. (Shouldn't that mean that we can't meet them in the Group stages at the Finals???). In any case, their success seems to be built on them putting the poorer teams to the sword with ease. I doubt they will find it so easy in this Group C.

If I had to predict where each team will finish, I would say that the top 2 positions are between us and Germany, (despite their ranking), and that England will probably beat Croatia to 3rd.

[coady]

Jimbo

I would say the differences between FM14 & FM15 have changed my approach massively this time around.

The facilities are great, but I have not produced as much depth of (decent) HG players this time so far, is this something you've managed to sustain over 25 years. I'm not talking about the stars, but the players that fill the squad around that.

=141913051&filters[recent]=1&sort=1&o=0"]Bartolini is but I'm not convinced he will make it completely. I think the transfer system is fantastic in this game, the active leagues are superb. As you've seen, I often sign players for peanuts and sell them for a fortune once they do well. My 2 IF's, =141913051&filters[recent]=1&sort=1&o=0"]Zivkovic & =141913051&filters[recent]=1&sort=1&o=4"]Savitskiy are now both attracting bids worth up to £55m (along with =141913051&filters[recent]=1&sort=1&o=5"]Navas), even though I signed both for under £3m a few years back. This also means my first full squad transition is imminent, with these players likely to leave next year (when they have 2 years left on contract), to maintain a good fee, with a few other in this boat or in their late 20's now.

The loans are simply to compliment positions I had HG youngsters. For example, =141913051&filters[recent]=1&sort=1&o=2"]Moreno rotated with Stefanelli and is now his back up, =141913051&filters[recent]=1&sort=1&o=1"]Vallejo is my CB with Bianchi coming in for less difficult games at present. =141913051&filters[recent]=1&sort=1&o=3"]Demirel just used to be a spare for Francioni out wide (2nd choice sub). I had all of these for 3 successive seasons. It also allows me to sell players like Volpinari when Serie A clubs offer them regular football. My plan is to produce good Serie A players and let them become regulars at other clubs, giving me more opportunity to blood more youngsters. In FM14, nobody ever wanted my HG youngsters, so my 2nd batch of youngsters couldn't get games cause I was still blooding my first batch. If I did both together, I wouldn't have even been competitive in the league.

With my 2 indispensable winger due to leave next summer, I'm also testing a new formation in a few games this year. This means I needed a couple of spare CM's, as I'd loaned Mularoni & Giacche out for experience to good clubs. Those two loans in barely played so they weren't needed in the end. I think this approach is largely because loaning out players for development actually works in FM15, so Mularoni has reached his full potential by spending 2 seasons at ADO in Holland and Cardiff in the UK.

Bianchi will hopefully agree by around 20/21 years old, which will do nicely for me. I take that exact approach for the NT, picking the winnable of my 2 games and resting players for the other. Problem is the Nations League, where I have 2 winnable games in 3 days and only 8 good players! But as you see, the Nations league is fantastic for the world ranking, because you are getting at least 2 or 3 competitive results on the board every 2 years.

For the club side, I always play youngsters in the Super Cup (hence I never win) and I applaud you because we are nowhere near being unbeaten. I think we may struggle to win the title this year.

Your group will be great, I can't wait to see it unfold!

[Jimbokav1971]

World Golden Ball Candidates Dec 2039.

Last season I think we had legendary centre-half El Amrani (ITA/MOR) (Model Pro) and and goal-scoring GK Lucio (ITA) (F.Pro)World Golden Ball shortlisted for the World Golden Ball. There might have been another, (but not 100% sure).

This season we have just 1 single nomination in El Amrani (ITA/MOR) (Model Pro), who at 35yo is no longer either 1st choice for Italy or the San Marino club side. In real life, this competition seems to just be a popularity contest between Messi and Ronaldo, so I tend to not take too much notice and if I'm honest I don't know if it's just club football that counts or what?

In the game, San Marino have just won the World Cup and the club side have just won Serie A, (by a massive 26 point margin). The club side lost in the Qtr Final in the Clampions League so that may have lost some points there, but I would have still expected some (SMR) Nationality players still playing at the San Marino club to get the nod for the shortlist at least. Visentini (2021) (SMR) (F.Pro) was the top goal-scorer in the World Cup, and also won the player of the tournament, but he is now playing for Hacken who I think play in the Swedish 2nd tier. While that sort of explains why he might not have been nominated, (great INT performance level but not so good domestic playing level), it doesn't explain why the likes of Fabrizio (SMR) (2023) (F.Pro), (World Class right back), Rob (SMR) (2033) (Model Pro), (striker) and Gabi (SMR) (2030) (Resolute), (right winger), have been omitted from the short-list despite winning the World Cup, being selected in the World Cup Dream Team and also doing the domestic treble. Why are some really average players on the shortlist but my (SMR) stars being overlooked?

[Edit]

Since I have started looking at the Golden Ball nominations, only Lucio has been selected as a GK, (which is a shame).

It does seem like the whole process is slightly bugged.

4x DC's.

1x DR

All the other 30 nominated players play at least at MC or further forward. There seem to be few strikers and the focus seems to be on wide attacking players. There also seems to be a distinct lack of AMC's

[coady]

World Golden Ball Candidates Dec 2039.

4x DC's.

1x DR

All the other 30 nominated players play at least at MC or further forward. There seem to be few strikers and the focus seems to be on wide attacking players. There also seems to be a distinct lack of AMC's

This is ironic, as on FM15 I would argue there are too many defensive players nominated!

[Jimbokav1971]

Coady.

I keep forgetting that others are playing FM15, (even when I see the pics).

I wouldn't say that I have managed to sustain strength in depth from the academy over 25 years. (Not even close in fact). I am starting to do so though. To give you an example, this/last season's youth promotions were so poor that I don't think I even bothered to mention it in this thread. Despite that, I know that the standard in terms of the NT was reasonable. It's just that we have moved on now so that I am looking for something special.

(Remember this is from the players promoted in March 2039 only).

16 players promoted.

2 players no longer in the game so didn't even get a Youth Contract.

5 (SMR) players on Youth contract at club. (Every (SMR) player gets a youth contract at the club), just to help out the U19 & U21 teams).

4 (SMR/ITA) DN players on Youth contract at the club.

5 (ITA) players on Youth contract at club.

The player that I classed as the best player of the batch is a 16yo (SMR) AMC/SC called Bonini (2039) (SMR) (Model Pro). He looks ok but I don't like his stat balance and he looks more like a wide player to me. Despite being the player with the best PA promoted, he only had 3.0 PA stars and this now equates to a Star Serie A player. I already have 1x 15yo SC, 2x 17yo SC's and 1x 24yo SC who have better PA than this. What might stand him out from the crowd is the fact that he is already a Model Pro and I just love that as a personality. My whole squad is HUGELY professional. Of the 4 SC's that have better PA than him, only 1 was produced by our academy and he obviously wasn't (SMR). He is Geri "Rossi" (ITA) (2031) (Model Pro) and has been my 1st choice striker for a while now but missed a whole season with some sort of serious virus, (he only played 4 league games in 2038/39 as a result). So that seems to suggest that although my best youth prospect promoted isn't going to be a World beater, he's not going to be pants either.

All in all I had the following.

SC. Bonini (SMR) (Model Pro). Has 3.0 stats which equates to a Star Serie A striker.

DC. Conti (SMR) (Determined). Has 2.5 PA stars which equates to leading Serie A centre-back.

DL. Simone Gattuso (ITA) (Balanced). Has 1.5 PA stars which equates to a decent Serie A left-back.

DC. Giardi (SMR) (F.Det). Has 1.5 PA stars which equates to a leading Serie B centre-half. (Although that sounds pants, any decent (SMR) DC is much needed).

DR. Aldo Bertola (ITA) (Determined). Has 1.5 PA stars which equates to decent Serie A right back.

DR. Al Cavalli (SMR/ITA) (F.Determined). Has 0.5 PA stars which isn't enough to get a grading.

MC. Stef Mularon (SMR/ITA) (F.Sporting). Has 0.5 PA stars which isn't enough to get a grading.

DL. Lee Benedetini (SMR/ITA) (Balanced). Has 0.5 stars which isn't good enough to get a grading.

MC. Aris Vicedomini (SMR) (Model Pro). Has 0.5 PA stars which isn't good enough for a grading.

DC. ***GLG (SMR/ITA) (Model Pro). Has 0.5 PA stars which isn't good enough for a grading. Despite him only having 0.5 PA stars, this bloke has a good stat balance and is someone that I am trying to get to choose (SMR) over (ITA), so far without success.

MC. Juri Bacc (ITA) (Unambitious). Has 0.5 PA stars which isn't good enough for grading.

DRC. Mattia Rinaldi (SMR) (Low Determination). Has 0.5 PA stars which isn't good enough for a grading.

SC. Dario (ITA) (Balanced). Has 0,5 PA stars which isn't good enough for a grading.

SC. Nic Vitale (ITA) (F/Pro). Has 0.5 PA stats which isn't good enough for a grading.

So to summarise, we only had 5 players promoted who had PA better than 0.5 stars and 2 of these are not eligible for (SMR). I would say this is slightly below average for a Youth Pull, but in actual fact I was delighted with it because if we include the DN ***GLG (SMR/ITA) (Model Pro), then we have actually seen 3 decent (SMR) eligible DC's promoted, (our achilles heel at the moment). Because none of these players are likely to feature for the Senior NT for at least 5 more years, it's hard to think in such long-term ways and I don't quite have a 5 year plan in terms of NT player development.(I couldn't tell you what I have between the NT and this lot, (with the exception of the better U21 player who jump out).

I guess that the way I play means that I have attempted to squeeze the absolute most out of even average players in certain positions and that's why when I look at the (SMR) eligible centre-backs listed above, I don't discard a 0.5 DN player who has Model Pro as a personality. I think it is VERY likely that he will end up playing for the Senior NT unless I get VERY lucky with my future Youth Pulls.

[Edit]

In terms of my club 1st team squad, I currently have 8 players who have (SMR) as a 1st Nationality, and 3 more who have it as a 2nd Nationality, (so 11 in total).

All these players feature heavily over the course of the season.

If they aren't going to feature, then I send them out on loan or sell them to somewhere where they will feature. As we don't have a decent NT centre-half, and I don't ever drop Lucio (ITA) in goal, this effectively means that they are only challenging for 8 starting slots in each team.

[coady]

That seems a decent standard from a poor year so I'm impressed with that. The other thing I'd ask, with you keeping Sammarinese players to become coaches, have you noticed any youngsters pop up at any other clubs/countries.

On FM15, I just had my first one. A youngster came through at Stoke (I send all my average players with no interest/offers there) due to affiliation. He was rubbish, but I could not believe a Sammarinese player was there!

I've just had a club disaster too, PSG met Navas' release clause on deadline day... after the Italian window had shut. This means I have no replacement until January, so I'll take a top 3 finish now. At least Francioni will be busy and hopefully attract interest to follow in Volpinari's footsteps!

[Jimbokav1971]

with you keeping Sammarinese players to become coaches, have you noticed any youngsters pop up at any other clubs/countries.

On FM15, I just had my first one. A youngster came through at Stoke (I send all my average players with no interest/offers there) due to affiliation. He was rubbish, but I could not believe a Sammarinese player was there!

Yes I have actually.

I saw a DC promoted through the Middlesboro academy. He got 14 U21 caps but so far only 1 senior Cap, (and probably unlikely to add to that if I'm honest). When I looked the Boro Ass Man was Sammarinese.

More recently I saw a SC come through the ranks at Zulte Waregem in Belgium. He is 18yo and has been capped at U19 level but really isn't any good at all. He might be capped at U21 level if I start nicking some of their better players, but that's unlikely.

If I look at (SMR) staff now and filter by club, then I see such clubs as Schalke, Partizan, Napoli, Hibs, and Zulte Waregem. I used to have more leagues running but have deactivated the English Championship for example, (where Boro were playing), and so the (SMR) Ass Man there was lost I think. (That was an error on my part).

Because you have made me look, I realise that I have become a little slack in recent years and there are some excellent (SMR) staff available now. I will be signing them up where I can.

I also might look to not extend the contracts of some (SMR) staff in the hope that they are snapped up by other clubs. I had planned to do this but probably down to lazyness had never got around to doing it.

[Edit]

Oh, I think I have found the bloke from Boro. He wasn't an Ass Man but instead was a Coach at Boro but is a SMR U21 NT Coach. Because he was also the U21 Coache NT, he wasn't "lost" when the league that Boro were in became inactive. (What a result that is!) He's a very good coach indeed.

[coady]

That's brilliant & to be honest is the part of the save I'm most looking forward to.

I hate that if you get a poor youth intake in the early years you have to think 'there goes another year'. To have the thought that there might be one or two coming through elsewhere would be great!

I'm badly missing Navas now, I may get sacked by the club if this form continues!

[Jimbokav1971]

I hate that if you get a poor youth intake in the early years you have to think 'there goes another year'. To have the thought that there might be one or two coming through elsewhere would be great!

I think it's all in the way you think though. Because you start at such a low level, even a really rubbish year still improved the depth. I can't think of a single year where there wasn't a single player that went on to improve the Nt squad.

Bianchi (SMR/ITA) (2014) was amazing even though he was a DN and tried to wait for a (ITA) call.

Di Santo (ITA) (2015) was Italian but was still the foundation that we built our early club success on.

Can't remember who the star from (2016) was, (isn't it annoying how nicknames gets reset when staff profiles are added), but Pellizarri (SMR) I think was (2016) and he gained 62 caps and scored 12 INT goals.

Can't remember who the star was from (2017) but there are certainly at least 5 players from that year who gained senior INT caps for (SMR).

Amici (SMR/ITA) gained 90 Caps and was our only good starting centre-half for more than a decade.

Lorenzo was the star from (2019) and although not a star, certainly provided cover on the left hand side for the NT.

Andrea Ragini came through in (2020) and although not anywhere near the best, (never played higher than Serie B), he was our starting full back for over a decade and finished with 64 caps.

Visentini (2021) is a pretty average left winger who managed to make exactly 50 Serie A appearances for us in 7 years. He went on to be our most capped player, (146 caps and still going), is only 2 goals away from the all time (SMR) goal-scoring record, (with 58), won the World Cup, won the Golden Boot at the World Cup and was the World Cup best player. Not bad for a very average left winger.

You just have to look for the little positives. I loved and still love Youth Day as I call it.

ps. I have just beaten lowly Palermo 2-1 with both goals coming from Gk Lucio, (a free-kick and a late pen).

[coady]

That's true to an extent, I've been lucky to have a few stars in just 8 years. However, I just feel compared to last year I'm not producing any general depth, as I just loaded FM14 up and only had 1 amateur player starting after 8 years, with pro competition in some positions and 8 2* or better players in the starting XI. I'm hoping my first youth intake after being upgraded to 'well established' youth recruitment will be an improvement, as I have never had more than 2 NT squad worthy players in a season so far.

On a more positive note, my left back Stefanelli is now officially world class at just 19 and is helping the NT achieve some good things. The fact I've just got excited about 2 successive wins for the club side says all you need to know about that though!

I will post an update on all my HG talents in the end of season review this time.

[leonavich]

Good updates guys!

I'm finding my youth intakes are starting to get better as we consistently grow as a nation. The last few youth intakes have provided some great quality in the backline and in the middle, whilst 3 of our first good prospects are attacking players (2 strikers and an AMC/AML).

This has seen us start to get competitive results internationally. And the team is no longer the easy beat side of the qualifiers. In fact, in the most recent qualifier, we are currently 3rd (7 points) behind Austria and Ukraine (both on 13 points) and ahead of Israel, Macedonia and Lichtenstein (5, 4, 0 points respectively). Our ranking has also shot up to record highs.

I have been a bit slack over the week, but will try and get some update out soon when I can load the game.

[leonavich]

This was a very nice result against Milan, with all three goals coming from our Sammarinese players.

To give you an example of Dini at the moment, this is how he looks at just 19 years of age. You can see he is becoming somewhat of a regular in the side and playing very well.

Mario Dini

[leonavich]

2028-29

Club

Another tight campaign that was won on the final day. Fiorentina drew with Modena which gave us a 3 point gap in the end, but it was close. Inter proved to be our bogey, beating us no less than 4 times (twice in the league and twice over two legs in the Italian Cup), whilst Barcelona beat us twice over two legs to end our continental campaign. We are still yet to lift the Italian Cup, which is our only remaining trophy, but we are still as far away as ever as we succumbed in the quarter finals.

League: Winners

Italian Cup: Semi Final v Inter Milan

Italian Super Cup: Winners v Fiorentina

Champions League: First Knockout Round v Barcelona

Stand outs:

Ayoub Yilmaz - (37 games, 20 goals, 16 assists, 7.66 rating) Top scorer with 20 and top of the assists with 16. Was everywhere this season as I had him cutting in on the right.

Mario Dini - (37 games, 9 goals 2.52 tackles, 7.31 rating) The young defender really came in to his own in his first full season. Tackled well and chipped in with a nice goal tally.

Niccolo Morra - (43 games, 12 goals, 14 assists, 7.21 rating) Missed out early in the season but took hold of his AMC position with another double digit double.

Glenn Fraser - (43 games, 85% passing, 4.43 tackles, 7.17 rating) Solid in the middle of the park, with the highest passing percentage and tackles of all first team players.

Country

Currently in 3rd in the Qualifiers after picking up wins over Lichtenstein, Macedonia and a result against Israel, this is the best run of form the team has had in its history, propelling them to the heights of 78th in the world. Not only are we getting results, but we are doing it comfortable, with evidence coming in our recent 5-0 demolition of Lichtenstein. We are 4 points clear of the top 2 placings and unlikely to get into the playoffs, but it is a great start to what could become competitive cup football on the International stage. The core will be around in another 5 years, and hopefully by then, the side may be stronger for it, with a few further additions.

World Cup Qualifiers: 3rd out of 6 After 6 games

World Ranking: 78th

Stand outs:

Mattia Berardi - (7 games, 5 goals, 3 assists, 7.69 rating) Scoring at a high rate and leading from the AMC position, he has been our best player this year.

Simone Mularoni - (7 games, 3 goals, 2 assists, 7.29 rating) Playing well as our spearhead and improved as a potent striking weapon but also able to play out wide on the left to grab some assists.

Michele Bindi - (7 games, 2 goals, 3 assists, 7.19 rating) 2 goals as our target man, but managing some assists whilst also holding up the play. The strongest part of our team is our trident 3.

Matteo Bladucci - (7 games, 10 conceded, 3 cleansheets, 6.99 rating) Has kept well at just over a goal a game and 3 cleansheets in 7 against the likes of Austria, Ukraine, Lichtensein, Macedonia and Israel.

Youth Prospects

Youth Prospects:

Claudio Stefanelli - The best of the intake, however he is a DN so may take some effort to coax in to our country's middle.

Fabio Gatti - The pick of the defenders from this youth intake, can play on the left and right but looks too light on his feet.

Alex Mina - At 201cm, he is tall. Has a long way to develop but that height could come in handy if he can hone his ability.

Maurizio Carlini - Lacking really, but could prove useful with a grounded centre half.

[Jimbokav1971]

Alex Mina - At 201cm, he is tall. Has a long way to develop but that height could come in handy if he can hone his ability.

201cm isn't tall. It's HUUUUUGE. lol

6ft 7 and a bit. He has a decent starting stat balance for a 16yo except for..... you guessed it..... heading! Of all things heading! lol

Really like him though. Brill Youth Pull.

[leonavich]

201cm isn't tall. It's HUUUUUGE. lol

6ft 7 and a bit. He has a decent starting stat balance for a 16yo except for..... you guessed it..... heading! Of all things heading! lol

Really like him though. Brill Youth Pull.

His heading is poor, but he has a large jump reach so the hope is it can be developed quickly. Pretty pleased with the youth. Only one is DN so they are good potential additions to the national team. I have seen a few get cut back due to injury, so I hope these guys have a relatively good few seasons in on the pitch.

Alan Berti was initially a 4.5 star world class potential player. Had a season ending injury and has come back as 2 star with good Serie A potential. Such as shame, though he is a dual nationality player, so this setback might give me more of a chance to get him in the Sammarinese national side.

[Jimbokav1971]

Such a shame about Berti, but yes possibly a blessing in disguise of (SMR).

A (SMR) player, (even a DN one), with 4.5 PA doesn't come around that often.

I have 7x 4.5 PA players at the club. 0 are (SMR) (even DN).

3x 15yo, 2x 16yo, 1x 17yo and 1x 25yo (Welsh centre-half called Gubb). 3 of the youngsters are French which looks ominous for the future. I only have 2 (SMR) eligible players with even 4.0 PA. 1 of them is a DN centre-half who has already turned to the dark side and the other is Fabrizio (SMR) (2032) (Model Pro).

As if that wasn't bad enough, Volp (SMR) (2024) (Det) is the only (SMR) player with better than 3.0 PA stars. Part of this is that I have some great non (SMR) youngsters and my team is improving all the time, but the other thing is that I have really only ever produced 3 great (SMR) eligible players ever.

If I open my search to non-(SMR) players then.... I can add 2 Italians to the list, but that's it. 5 top players. EVER!

[Edit]

To put all of the above in perspective however, a leading Serie A striker is now worth only 2.0 PA stars in my club side now.

My strongest area is defence and I only have 4 players with 4.0 CA stars, (none higher), and 2 of these are DC's and the other 2 are DR's. When I look at young DC's and DR's, obviously they are being compared to the best players at the club.

4.5 PA stars is World Class potential.

4.0 PA stars is World Class potential.

3.5 PA stars is Star player for most Serie A sides potential.

3.0 PA stars is Star player for most Serie A sides potential.

2.5 PA stars is Leading player for most Serie A sides potential.

2.0 PA stars is Good player for most Serie A sides potential.

1.5 PA stars is Decent player for most Serie A sides potential.

It all gets a bit hazy lower than that, but that's the main reason why I don't just discard a player with 0.5 PA stars. They might be plenty good enough for the NT with the correct attribute distribution.