The Sammarinese Challenge.

[leonavich]

I agree, out of all the potential I have to choose from as possible NT players, my best are:

PA

4 Stars x 2

3.5 Stars x 2

2.5 Stars x 1

2 Stars x 7

1.5 Stars x 2

1 Star x 1

This equates to 15 of my players, the eldest of which is 25, Berardi, who is a 61 cap veteran

[Jimbokav1971]

Soooo annoying.

Our club U19's have just lost 2-1 to Juve in the Youth Club Invitational.

In the league, the U19's have won 24, drawn 1 and lost 1, are in the 1st knockout Round of the U19's Champions League and are in the Semi's of the U19's Cup. I don't manage the team so I know that's part of it, but it's still annoying nevertheless.

Meh!

[Jimbokav1971]

Unusual NT Update. Feb 2040.

I usually ignore this message, but I thought it was time to have a look and was surprised by the results.

San Marino players in action this week.

It's interesting to see how some of the lesser lights in the (SMR) squads are progressing while out, (possibly only on loan), at other clubs.

MC Marco (SMR) (Bal) is likely to appear for Sporting in the EURO Cup.

GK. Protti (SMR) (F.Pro) is sure to face Celtic for Borussia Munchengladback in the EURO Cup.

AMC. Costible (SMR) (Res) is likely to feature for Feyernood against Liverpool in the EURO Cup.

AMR. Sam (SMR) (2027) is recovering from injury and might miss out for Metalist against Sampdoria in the EURO Cup.

8 other players featuring in the top leagues around Europe.

Pretty impressed and a little surprised with that if I'm honest. It's only the 1st knockout Round of the EURO Cup and obviously there were no Champions league mentions, but that's still decent as I have the majority of our best players still at the club.

[leonavich]

Not a bad round up... I still have all our best at the club, though Bindi had the chance to move out, but he rejected the contract.

[leonavich]

We had two testimonials for some long serving veterans in Zimmerman and Douglas, who have both been at the club for 11 years.

Zimmerman

Douglas

Though they have managed to make the cut and stay on for another year as role players, we did have a lot of movement this transfer window

Transfers

The one that could prove the most costly, but was also our most rewarding, was letting Jovanovic go. He was bought by Barcelona for £33m, which is our highest ever transfer, but it left us a little light in the middle, and it showed in out 2-0 loss to Catania.

This was the reason Netinho was brought in, and it showed as we did enough to beat out Udinese 2-1 in the following game.

[Jimbokav1971]

So it's "Youth Day" 2040 as I call it and I thought I would share a little bit of detail as there has been a fair bit of discussion about it recently.

This is the screen that I have created specifically for viewing the new recruits on this day each season.

There are only 2 players not being offered youth contracts. All the (SMR) eligible players will be offered contracts, (I can't see that ever changing) and any other player who has better than 0.5 PA, (that might well change in the future).

That just leaves Raimondo Caneo. (who's . after his name indicates that he is no longer needed), and Toni Guido (F.Pro) who is the poorer of 2 (ITA) GK's promoted. We only need one and it is likely that I will bring in a young GK anyway, so no point keeping a 2nd HG non (SMR) GK.

A player with no Nationality in his nickname is (ITA) only.

A player with a *** prefix has DN and is eligible for (SMR) and another country. It's usually (ITA) but at other clubs can sometimes be (ARG).

A player with (2040) after his name is the best of that years academy products. That doesn't always mean the player with the best PA, (but in this instance that's exactly it.

A player with * after his nickname is a player with World Class PA, (or at least a VERY good stat balance and very good PA).

At first glance this looks to be a disaster of a Youth Day, (my initial reaction), but after my conversation with Leon and Coady the other day, I need to stress that it's actually nowhere near as bad as it first looks.

1. Nicolo (Slack) (2040) has a rubbish personality, but that's easy to fix so now I tend to just not worry about it. Even if I have to buy a tutor in specially, then so be it. 2.5 PA for a MC is actually a Leading Serie A player, so that's certainly not too shabby. Yeah it's a shame that he's not (SMR), but that's just the way it goes some years.

2. It's always decent to get a decent HG GK and Casanova (Unamb) is certainly decent. Again he is (ITA) rather than (SMR), but as Lucio will never be ousted anyway, does it really matter? 2.0 PA stars is a Good Serie A GK.

3. Nic Abate (Bal) looks decent and I like his stat balance, but like the previous 2, he has no (SMR) blood in him which is a shame. 2.0 PA stars for a SC is Good Serie A SC, so not too shabby at all.

4. & 5. Then we have 2 decent (SMR) SC's, (albeit that one of them is DN). Both have the ability to feature in Serie A, (for someone else), and I have no doubt that both will make an impact on the Senior NT. The key is to get ***G Force to play for the U21's though!

6. Val Ursino looks to be a decent full back and despite only 1.5 PA stars, has the potential to be a Good Serie A left back. (So this is what I am saying about appearances being deceptive). This guy is a really decent player and if he was (SMR) or even DN, it would be a right result. Just because he hasn't got loads of PA stars doesn't mean the end of the story.

7. Toni Guido (F.Pro) is the poorer of 2 (ITA) GK's, (and has a poor aerial ability), so will not be offering him a youth contract.

8. 9. 10. 11. & 12. Are all DN players who will probably not make it in a decent Serie A Team, (although with the correct stat balance and personality I have shown that players can significantly over-perform). None of these players are ever likely to play for the club side in a competitive game, but it's not beyond the realms of possibilty at all that many of them will be back-up players in the NT. I would expect them all to play at Serie B level and a few in Serie A. The big thing here though is getting them to play for the U21's. In that respect, their lack of PA might be a blessing in disguise.

13. Is the non (SMR) player not being offered a Youth contract.

14. 15. & 16. are DN players of varying ability. (Only ***NDV (SMR/ITA) (F.Det) looks reasonable at the moment.

So that gives us what at the end of the day?

Well...... Let's list it. (I love a list).

An (ITA) MC with the PA to be a Leading Serie A player.

A HG (ITA) GK good enough to play in Serie A. (Might get registered in European squads if I opt for 100% HG squad apart from Lucio).

2x (SMR) eligible SC's who look to have easily enough quality to play International football and do well in a decent team.

5x (SMR) eligible players, (covering 3 more positions*), who should be well able to act as a back-up in the NT squad and add depth to the U21 talent pool.

*It's important to consider the positions. Both the better (SMR) players were SC's, and 2 more of the 2nd level of youth players are also a SC. Only one of these can play at a time so I would rather have players capable of playing in other positions. We also then have an AML, AMC, & DL. So what's really frustrating is that from 7 players we have only gained 4 different positions really. :-( That's annoying.

[Edit]

To give you a clearer idea of how good these players are, (or aren't). Here are their values after they sign youth contracts.

£1.7M. Nicolo (Slack) (2040)

£195k. Casanova (Unamb) (I'm not really sure why he is valued so lowly. More anti-GK bias).

£2.0M. Nic Abate (Bal) (He has been upgraded to 2.5 PA stars).

£825k. *** G Force (SMR/ITA)

£96k. Dan Muccioli (SMR/ITA) (F.Amb)

£215k. Val Ursino (F.Det)

£110k. ***Claud (SMR/ITA) (Bal)

[Jimbokav1971]

Club Update. Apr 2040.

We have retained the Serie A title with a staggering 5 games still to play. We are currently 19 points ahead of 2nd placed Milan, (who have a game in hand), and have only lost 1 league game all season.

We still have the Italian Cup Final to play and the 2-legged Champions League Semi against Ajax, (pleasantly surprised that they are showing a resurgence in an inactive domestic league).

We have only lost 1 game all season, (a 2-0 loss away in the league to Juve), where our aggressive style didn't go down well with the ref and he just kept blowing his whistle and they scored quicker than I learned my lesson. In addition to our single loss, we have drawn 4 more league games, drawn 1 cup game, and also drawn 3 Champions Leagues matches. So that's 1 loss and 8 draws out of 48 games, (so far), meaning that we have won 39 games out of 48.

I'm annoyed at myself for the single loss, (was down to my tactics), and assuming that we win our remaining Serie A games, (not guaranteed at all), I will have lost out on an unbeaten domestic season through sheer stupidity and stubbornness.

[coady]

After our tricky start to the season for the club side combined with the loss of our top striker, I decided to give a positive update about our astonishing National progress and the effect of the Nations League.

We were given a decent draw in the Nations League as I previously mentioned, but knew Estonia would be a tough opponent. This proved to be the case as you can see from our =141913051&filters[recent]=1&sort=1&o=2"]tight games, but we still managed to remain unbeaten (winning 5/6) and gaining promotion to pot C in the process!

This is massive for us and has had an unbelievable effect on the =141913051&filters[recent]=1&sort=1&o=0"]world rankings. With the European Championship Qualifiers next month, we may even make it into POT 2!

I had to post this as I could not believe the effect the world ranking has had this year.

[Jimbokav1971]

Clup Update. June 2040.

Victorious San Marino celebrate famous Quadruple.

Italian Super Cup. Champions. We beat Atalanta comfortably 3-0.

Serie A. Champions. We lost only once all season, (and drew another 5 games), amassing 101 points, (beating last years record by 1 point), and scoring 106 goals in the process, (goal difference of +83). We finished 19 points clear of Milan in 2nd, (who won 9 of their last 11 games to at least keep it respectable(ish). I would love to get an unbeaten league season, (never done that before in any FM), but while trying to juggle all the Cups and of course International fixtures, it's actually quite a surprise that I even get close. My ridiculously large squad helps, (and the quality of some of the youngsters), but you still have to make the correct decisions.

Italian Cup. Champions. We beat Juve, (the only team to beat us in the league), 2-1 in what was actually a close game. Juve are decent and just need to add more goals to their team to be a threat.

Champions League. Champions. We demolished Man Utd 3-0 in a very one-sided final. They couldn't cope with our extra man in midfield and we scored early and just dominated the game from start to finish.

U19's League. Champions. (I didn't manage these games).We won the league again, (6th time in succession), by a 21 point margin, and I am peeved that we lost twice when an unbeaten season should have been well within our grasp.

Youth Club Invitational. Lost in 2nd Round. (I didn't manage the games). We seem to really struggle with this competition when I am not in control. Squad management seems to be a real issue but I just can't be bothered to go and micro-manage everything. It's frustrating because we should be romping it. Pescara deservedly beat us on the day and we were wasteful both with the ball and in front of goal.

U19's Champions Cup. Lost in Semi Finals. (I didn't manage these games). We did really well early on, but there is a time in the season, (always Feb & March), where we seem to struggle with the sheer number of games and the fatigue caused by this. Barca beat us 3-1 in a close game, but the fact that we had lost in the YCI in our previous game obviously played a part.

U19's Cup. Lost in Semi Finals.(I didn't manage these games). Already annoyed at the previous losses in U19 Cups, (and it has been a developing trend in recent years), this really frustrated me. We had a significantly better squad than Pescara and we should never have lost, (we were even playing at home), but lose we did and again we were wasteful in front of goal. We had the top 3 scorers in the Youth league, (unsurprisingly), and the top 2 in particular were 2 very good young Germans, but for some reason we played a 16yo (ITA) up front in this game. Why not go with the better players in the Cups when the league was won with such ease? I think you see the issues with squad management here. I really need to find a skin for FM14 with an "instant result" feature so that I can start managing the Youth squad without having to play the actual games. Would probably use it for many Serie A games too if I'm honest.

Does anyone know of one?

[Jimbokav1971]

Observation. May 2040.

I have just seen that (FRA) U23's are looking for a new manager.

They are in a 4 team Group with Brazil, New Zealand and Iran in the 2040 Olympics and in total there are 16 teams at the Olympics, (4 groups of 4 teams), so I thought it would be a good time to see who qualified from Europe and how.

(FRA) U21's won the June Euro38 U21 Champs Final. (The qualifying stage was held in..... actually I don't know). It looks like they possibly didn;'t have to qualify and that might tie in with them being hosts. They only played friendlies in 2037 and it was actually 2035 that they last played a qualifier and that was for the Euro36 U21 Champs Finals, (where they didn't get out of the group).

The other 2 European teams to qualify were Romania and Ukraine.

Ukraine U21's were beaten Finalists against France U21's.

Romania U21's lost to Ukraine U21's in the Semi's of Euro36 U21's and then beat Holland U21's in a Euro36 U21 Champ Olympic Playoff that was actually just a 3rd/4th placed playoff.

Interestingly, there are 4 African teams, 4 Asian teams, 3 European teams, 2 South American teams, 2 North American teams, and 1 Oceanic team making up the 16. That doesn't sit with where the strength lies in World Football but meh!

So basically I need to first qualify for the Finals of a U21 Euro Championship, and then once we get there we need to make the Semi's and then win the Playoff. I suppose there is no chance of us hosting?

[Jimbokav1971]

[Jimbokav1971]

NT Update. June 2040.

Warm-Up games for 2040 Euro Championships.

(H) Iceland. (Ranked 162nd). Won 5-1.

Visentini (SMR) 2021 becomes record San Marino goalscorer with his 61st and 62nd for his Country. The previous record holder Pier (SMR) (2023) also scored and is now on 61 NT goals.

(H) N.Ireland. (Ranked 103rd). Drew 3-3. (Lost 4-1 on pens).

Really poor performance and I'm not really sure why. Yes I rotated things around a little, but not to such an extent that we should not get the result. Not only did N.Irealnd draw, (and then win on pens), they also hit the woodwork twice and had much the better fo both the start and finish of the game. Really not a good warm-up this one.

MC Nicola (SMR) (Res) was injured in this game and frustratingly will be out for 5-7 weeks. Our first game against England at the EURO's is in only 2 and a half weeks but they won't let me replace him. Grrrrr. Hugely frustrating!

It could have been worse though. Italy lost away to Ireland in a friendly today.

(H) Latvia. (Ranked 99th). Lost 2-0.

I had decided that Protti (SMR) (F.Pro) would be by 1st choice GK, but this match, (and the N.Ireland one), has made me change my mind again. I will now be dropping him and reverting to old favourite Mazza (SMR) (F.Pro). I don't know why Protti (SMR) (F.Pro) under-performs. He just does. If I can't work out why, (and stop it), then that's it. We lost 2-0 and Latvia only had 2 shots of any type. We on the other hand had 16 shots, 3 ccc's 2 hc's and also hit the woodwork. What we didn't do however was stick the ball in the net.

To make things even worse, (could they get any worse?), we lost AMC Volpinari (SMR) (2029) (Det) through injury. It was only a slight knock but still.....

We are not alone in our poor form however as Italy lost again. This time 2-1 to Scotland.

(H) Cyprus. (Ranked 95th). Won 3-0.

Protti was out and Mazza was in and it was back to business as usual. What a difference a decent GK makes.

The quality of the opposition has been gradually improving all through thebuild-up, but the key thing in this last game is to avoid injuries. Avoiding defeat will be of 2nd importance.

(H) Austria. (Ranked 83rd). Won 2-0.

A more typical performance and with no injuries, just what we needed.

In the following week before our opening EURO 2040 game against (ENG) we suffer more inmjuries during training.

DL. Fantini (SMR) (Driven) will be out for an additional 5-8 days with a stubbed toe.

SC. Pier (SMR) (2023) will be out for 3 weeks with a thigh strain.

MC. Nicola (SMR) (Res) will be out for 2-3 weeks with a sprained ankle.

AMR. Gabi (SMR) (2030) (Res) will miss the (ENG) came due to suspension.

We are now down to 19 available players for the (ENG) game and 3 of them are GK's.

[Jimbokav1971]

NT Update. June 2040.

EURO 2038 Group C.

England 0 - 2 San Marino

The match was quite even with England possibly edging it, but also profligate with their finishing. We on the other hand were not, but we paid the price in terms of injuries and knocks.

DC Val (SMR) will be out for 2 months with strained knee ligaments.

DL Frederico (SMR) (Model Pro) is out for 5-6 days with a gashed arm.

MC Rossi (SMR) (Pro) is out for 6-8 days with a bruised rib.

They join the above on the injury list and now limit our outfield players to 13.

[Jimbokav1971]

EURO 2040 Group C.

San Marino 1 - 1 Croatia.

We played really well despite the limitations forced upon us through injury and fatigue. We dominated from start to finish and allowed them only 2 shoty of any type all game. Unfortunately they scored from one of these. We on the the other hand missed lots of chances, (2 ccc's and 4hc's to be precise), and hit the woodwork twice. There is no point moaning that we should have won. I am well chuffed with that performance considering the state of the squad. If I am honest I had visions of us not getting a single point in this group such were our injury issues.

There were no new injury concerns, although it does seem that the fit half of the squad are all suffering with fatigue now.

[Jimbokav1971]

EURO 2040 Group C.

Germany 2 - 0 San Marino.

Germany gave a us a bit of a lesson if I'm honest, but we stuck with it and in the end were unlucky not to get a draw. We were given a pen at 1-0 only to see it saved and had the ball in the net twice only to see each effort ruled our for marginal offsides. We were a bit toothless in attack but I think that was down to Rob (SMR) (2033) (Model Pro) being plain shattered having played the full 90+ minutes in each game so far.

I went from having little hope of progressing to the knockout rounds, (before the tournament started) to being fairly confident that we would get at least the draw in this game that we needed to progress, (before kick-off). Unfortunately it didn't work out that way and with England giving Croatia a spanking, they topped the group and Germany finished above us by goal difference. We therefore fail to even get out of our EURO 2040 Group.

Ah well. I guess this is just the other side of the coin. You've gotta take the rough with the smooth.

[Edit]

Hang on. This is saying that we have finished 3rd in the group and still qualified. How does that work?

6x groups of 4 each with 2 qualifying = 12 qualifiers.

4x groups who have a 3rd qualifier = + 4 qualifiers.

16 is the magic number.

[Edit2]

Ignoring World rankings, Italy are probably the toughest team to draw in the knockout stages.

Guess who we got? That's right. Italy.

[leonavich]

EURO 2040 Group C.

Germany 2 - 0 San Marino.

Germany gave a us a bit of a lesson if I'm honest, but we stuck with it and in the end were unlucky not to get a draw. We were given a pen at 1-0 only to see it saved and had the ball in the net twice only to see each effort ruled our for marginal offsides. We were a bit toothless in attack but I think that was down to Rob (SMR) (2033) (Model Pro) being plain shattered having played the full 90+ minutes in each game so far.

I went from having little hope of progressing to the knockout rounds, (before the tournament started) to being fairly confident that we would get at least the draw in this game that we needed to progress, (before kick-off). Unfortunately it didn't work out that way and with England giving Croatia a spanking, they topped the group and Germany finished above us by goal difference. We therefore fail to even get out of our EURO 2040 Group.

Ah well. I guess this is just the other side of the coin. You've gotta take the rough with the smooth.

[Edit]

Hang on. This is saying that we have finished 3rd in the group and still qualified. How does that work?

6x groups of 4 each with 2 qualifying = 12 qualifiers.

4x groups who have a 3rd qualifier = + 4 qualifiers.

16 is the magic number.

[Edit2]

Ignoring World rankings, Italy are probably the toughest team to draw in the knockout stages.

Guess who we got? That's right. Italy.

I had qualified like this in the Championships I lost out to Spain in the Final. I think you will give Italy a run for their money now that you have progressed. one of the lucky numbers indeed! Good luck in the knockouts!

[glenjamin]

This is the greatest thread in FM history. Spent the last hour reading it. Fair play to all those who even attempted it and a big pat on the back to Jimbo for his amazing achievements and cool writeups.

[Jimbokav1971]

EURO 2040 Second Round.

Italy 2 - 0 San Marino.

Italy opened the scoring after 1 min and 10 seconds and it was 1 nil until injury time and I always thought we had a chance, but the truth is that we just didn't have the required quality, (or fitness). Italy were full of San Marino club players, and indeed players with (SMR) as a 2nd Nationality, and with a mixture of pride and jelousy, I can say that no less than no less than 10 players came through our youth system.

GK Lucio, (of goal-scoring GK fame), has been at San Marino club since he was a teenager and has 91 career goals for them.

DC ***Matt (SMR/ITA) (Model Pro) (2034) is the best defender we have ever produced. Of all the DN players who have chosen to represent (ITA), this is the one that galls the most.

AMR Buratti (Pro) has only ever played for San Marino club and as he is only 23yo, as a product of our academy, I hope to keep him for many more years.

AML *** Ceccolli (SMR/ITA) (Pro) (2026) came through the academy at San Marino and was never going to choose (SMR) over (ITA). We just weren't good enough back in the day when he had to made his choice. A one-club man, the 30yo is about to start his 16th season at the club. My plan is for him to stay at the club until he hangs his boots up, and then be offered a coaching role.

SC Amadu "Bettega" was signed by San Marino for £6M as a 19 year old and then sold to Real Madrid for £37M as a 25yo. Unfortunately between them was a free transfer to Wigan that I am at a loss to explain. The truth is that I just didn't think he was quite good enough and just kept loaning him out and then forgot to extend his contract and lost him on a free. He certainly had the last laugh as he scored both goals in this game, and it should really come as no surprise as he has scored 29, 42, 39, 27, & 31 goals for Real since signing for them.

SC Gerri "Rossi" (Model Pro) (2031) is probably the best player that the San Marino academy has ever produced. He was so good that it didn't even bother me that he was not eligible for (SMR). He is THAT good. He missed a whole season recently with some weird virus, but he is back firing fully on all cylinders now and he is the main man for the club.

SC Armando "Betegga" was signed by San Marino for £3m as a 16yo and then sold for £9.5M as a 21yo. He is certainly a good player, but he just wasn't going to get in our team with the strikers we have.

AMC ***Marco Fabbri (SMR/ITA) (F.Pro) came through the academy, but because he was playing in the same position as Bianchi (SMR) (2014), he didn't get the ear;y opportunities that other youngsters at the club have been given, and as a result he didn't like either me or the club. Strangely, (for a HG decent DN player), instead of giving him game-time at the club, I loaned him out to both Porto and Celtic, and I never thought he was going to be good enough to make the grade for Italy. When I sold him to Man Utd for £8.75M, I remember thinking it was a real result as they would improve him and play him and the (SMR) NT would still reap the benefits. I remember being astonished when he was called up to the full (ITA) NT at the age of only 22.

DC Polv "Baresi" (Model Pro) is an excellent (ITA) defender that came through the (SMR) academy. I was hoping to use him as a tutor, but with other players also in consideration, a £25M move to Real Madrid seemed to be the best for all concerned. Really like him though and would have him back in a flash in a short term fix.

DL ***Fed Felici (SMR/ITA) (Res) is a hell of a player and at 23yo has already made his competitive debut for (ITA) meaning that we have absolutely no chance of seeing him in the colours of (SMR) in the future. :-( He will however be an important player for the club side in years to come.

So that's 10 of this (ITA) squad that we have developed and 7 that were classed as HG at club. Four of them even have DN.

[leonavich]

Unlucky Jimbokav! But take heart in that you have produced so many of their players. There is always the chance again in 4 years, and doing a World Cup double would be special too!

[coady]

This year was the most eventful yet, having lost key striker Navas on deadline day to a release clause, we struggled for early momentum. I was fighting for my club job around October, having won only 2 out of 9 games at the start of the season. The recovery though was quite sublime!

Transfers

We lost both Navas & Italy No.1 Perin to release clauses and tried to use the money on the right players. We managed to sign a new GK in the summer and a couple of class players in January, with a couple of back ups and hot prospects also joining us.

Club Competitions

Italian Super Cup - Juventus got the better of us again in this one. It was the first time I'd selected a relatively strong team for this game, but penalties is all we could manage.

Serie A - After a dreadful start we went on 2 epic runs culminating in a comfortable looking title win. Don't be fooled though, we were level with Juve with six games to play, until they collapsed inexplicably.

Italian Cup - I've always loved this competition and play a stronger side than I perhaps should sometimes. I knew we'd struggle with Juventus again in the final, but we got penalty revenge this time after a very late equaliser.

European Champions Cup - We scraped second place in the group on the final matchday, but then bulldozed our way to final. Guess who we met there? Let's make it double penalty revenge despite being outplayed to complete a treble!

Youth Intake 2023

A couple of okay players that won't play for us due to DN, but one very handy GK in the form of Andrea Arzilli, he should become NT No.1 eventually. My luck has temporarily dried up when it comes to producing world class youngsters.

HG Player Updates 2023

A.Volpinari - Not as regular for Cesena in his second season, still doing well though

C.Francioni - Really stepped up after Navas left, scoring plenty of goals

F.Mularoni - We've finally lost him to Italy, but cemented place in club side this season

M.Stefanelli - Probably third best left back in the world now

S.Bianchi - Decent striker scoring goals consistently in Serie B

M.Giacche - Doing well on loan in the premier league, should come back next season

L.Bianchi - Coming along nicely, got a little first team run before Vezu signed in January

Other Club News

The board have given us a second big stadium expansion in a year without request. This should help us compete with the very best.

International Team

After our Nations League promotion and rising to 25 in the world rankings, I was disappointed to be in pot 5 of Euro Qualifying draw due to European nation coefficient. We got a horrible 5 team group and will likely finish bottom. I was so pleased with our first result though!

[Jimbokav1971]

NT Update. July 2040.

In the aftermath of our poor European 2040 showing, 3 of our senior players have retired from International football.

29yo MC Nicola (SMR) (Res) has 98 Caps and 11 goals.

29yo DL Fantini (SMR) (Det) has 72 Caps and 2 goals.

31yo MC Volp (SMR) (2024) (Det) has 133 Caps and 5 goals.

I have asked each of them to reconsider, (they are all 1st choice in their position), and I will be keeping my fingers crossed.

[Edit]

The good news is....They have all agreed to come out of International retirement.

The bad news is.... We have dropped from 3rd to 9th in the World rankings.

[Jimbokav1971]

Coady.

What's the score with Belarus in your save? How are they so strong?

The Perin link shows all transfers rather than his profile. Is he going to be a big loss?

The Serie A competition fall-away right at the end of the season seems to be a distinct trend.

Congrats on a good, (if lucky) treble. Seems Juve are real challengers in all competitions.

Arzilli looks interesting and what jumps out is his 20 Eccentricity. You can't knock a decent (SMR) GK though.

Good draw against (GER).

[coady]

Coady.

What's the score with Belarus in your save? How are they so strong?

The Perin link shows all transfers rather than his profile. Is he going to be a big loss?

The Serie A competition fall-away right at the end of the season seems to be a distinct trend.

Congrats on a good, (if lucky) treble. Seems Juve are real challengers in all competitions.

Arzilli looks interesting and what jumps out is his 20 Eccentricity. You can't knock a decent (SMR) GK though.

Good draw against (GER).

Belarus is simple, they have savitskiy our club winger and a top class striker, so can outscore most.

Perin was great, but de simone is almost as good and has been similarly good.

It was a very lucky on all fronts, Juve have a stunning strike partnership!

Arzilli is a strange one, but as you say you take what you can get there and he has some potential.

[Jimbokav1971]

Club Update. July 2040.

9 players have been called up for the 2040 Olympics.

5 Frenchman, (22, 22, 18, 17 & 17), 3 Brazilians, (19, 19 & 19), and a Ukranian, (18).

[Edit]

A 10th player, (a 22yo Brazilian), has also been called up as a replacement.

[Jimbokav1971]

NT Update. Aug 2040.

Euro U21 Championship Qualifying.

I've decided to take over competitive games for the U21 National Team. If the Olympics are a goal, then I really need to look at making some progress with regards to qualifying for the Euro Finals at least.

The first thing I notice, is that picking an U21 squad is hard. We really lack strength in depth and I tend to not make much notice of them at this age so I don't really know much about them

Euro U21Q

San Marino U21 3 - 1 Slovenia U21.

20yo Costabile (SMR) (Res) with a goal and an assist and 18yo Alberto (SMR) (Pro) (2038) with 2 goals and an assist.

[Edit]

I'm actually finding it really hard to manage the U21 squad. I have a pretty good grasp on who is where in the pecking order for what position in the Senior Squad, but the U21's are almost a complete unknown. The other thing is that when a player becomes 22, (and no longer eligible for U21's), it's then that I decide if they need to be removed from the National Pool. There are a lot of players who will collect U21 Caps but never get even close to the Senior Squad. With the exception of GK's, (having to pick 3 in each squad is hard sometimes), I generally just cut them at aged 22, meaning that those eligible for the U21's are numerous in just about every position, even if the quality isn't what I would like. 0

It's been a while since an outfield player in the (SMR) NT was on an Amateur contract, but in the most recent (SMR) U21 squad, we have 1 player on an (Ama) contract and another player at a non-league Italian club.

I'm really struggling at the moment even more so than in the early days when I first started managing (SMR). None of the DN players seem to have any interest in opting for (SMR) and I swear that (ITA) are trying to screw us over by calling up players that are never going to feature long-term for them, (but I suppose that's pretty realistic).

[Edit2]

93 players called up for INT duty for the most recent matches.

[Jimbokav1971]

Club Update. Sep 2040.

San Marino celebrate early-season double.

We beat Juve in the Italian Super Cup (comfortably 3-0), and then beat them again in the Euro Super Cup, (a closer 2-0 win this time).

The players were knackered during pre-season, (remember it was the 2040 Euro Championships during the close-season), and we were missing a few players too so I'm quite pleased with this. The big thing about the Euro Super Cup is that we now head to the World Club Championships later in the season.

I have never won Italian Super Cup, European Super Cup, Serie A, Italian Cup, World Club Championships and Champions League all in the same season. If we manage to do it this season, I might be tempted to just holiday club games from now on.

[Edit]

It took a late pen from GK Lucio (F.Pro) to keep our unbeaten run in Serie A going. (Currently stands at 32 games).

[MADA]

chaps, i'm back playing on fm15. top of serie b at the moment in my third season. waiting to get the national team job this time around.

[Jimbokav1971]

Welcome back MADA.

Good rapid progress.

[Jimbokav1971]

NT Update. Sep 2040.

World Cup Quals (Group 1). San Marino 6 - 0 Kazakhstan. Win.

I went to pick the starting line-up for the 2nd game, only to found out that both my 1st and 2nd choice GK's, (who started and were on the bench against Kazakhstan 4 days ago), are no longer in the squad despite not being injured or suspended. We also had a 3rd player removed somehow, but I can't work out who or why, (actually I can, it was Raschi (SMR) (F.Det), but I still don't know why these 3 players were removed.

:confused: (Actually, I have looked for and and found the message telling me that they were both injured for 2 days). I would have kept them both in and started 1 of them.

In other news, Visentini (SMR) (2021) has been 1st choice on the left flank for the last 19 seasons but is now only a back-up to Umb Macri (SMR) (F.Pro), (who scored 1 and assisted another in the last game) Visentini (SMR) (2021) will surely add to his 153 Caps and 62 Goals, (both National records), but he is no longer 1st choice. At the moment he is considering the possibility of being a Director of Football after he retires.

World Cup Quals (Group 1). Georgia 0 - 3 San Marino. Win.

A goal each from our starting front 3, and a MOM performance from Umb Macri (SMR) on the left gave us the win, but against a decebt Georgian team, (ranked 44th in the World), special mention must go to 28yo GK Carlini (SMR) who is playing on the Championship for Swindon, and spent last season on loan at Notts Co in League 2. It was his 7th Cap, but I'm pretty confidant that all the others have been appearances from the bench. 3 saves needed and all 3 made. I was worried before the game that he wasn't up to it.

Euro U21 Quals (Group 3). Turkey U21 2 - 1 San Marino. Loss.

A really good, (albeit frustrating), performance. We battered Turkey in the 1st half but went in level as they scored from their only shot of any type. They then went and grabbed all 3 points after spanking in a direct free-kick. We played well enough to win, but we are lacking in the middle of the pitch and this doesn't give our attacking 4 the platform to go and attack from. Comparing our U21 games to our Senior games, the U21's are very much end to end and we don't control things anywhere as much as I would like. We could really do with finding a decent central midfielder from this years academy.

[Edit]

Despite winning 6-0 and 3-0 in competitive games, we somehow dropped from 9th to 10th in the World rankings.

[Jimbokav1971]

I have recently downloaded an "instant result" skin and I will be using this for easy domestic home matches to start with.

1st attempt. San Marino 3 - 0 Chievo. (Interestingly, I didn't complete a match plan and my Ass Man still made subs in 61st, 67th & 67th min). I love an early substitution, (even earlier than that), and I wonder if it's replicating me or is it linked to my Ass Man. Ass Man is Nigel De Jong and he doesn't have "makes early subs" preference s must be me.

2. Fiorentina 0 - 4 San Marino.

3. San Marino 3 - Catania.

Then I played a Champions League match myself.

4. Sampdoria 0 - 3 San Marino.

[Jimbokav1971]

NT Update. Oct 2040.

91 players called up for International duty.

My preferred left-back is Fantini (SMR) (Det). He retired after the EURO's but I persuaded him to play again but he injured himself in the EURO's against Italy, (broken foot), and hasn't been fit enough to play since, even for the reserves). I have just left him out of the most recent squad again, (condition is 49% and match fitness is 61% and his injury status is "currently receiving specialist treatment for a broken foot. Expected to be out for between 9 days and 3 weeks". He has just lost the plot in the media and said the following.

Fantini (SMR) (F.Det) quits International stage (again).

Fantini (SMR) (F.Det) has quit International football again, citing irreconcilable differences with the San Marino management.

The 29yo San Marino left back had been coaxed out of International retirement but Jimb O'Kav's subsequent failure to pick him in his next San Marino squad, has left Fantini (SMR) (F.Det) embarrassed and upset.

Fantini (SMR) (Det) made 72 appearances for his country over the course of his International career, scoring 2 goals.

I'm gutted. He's not as good as the other left back, but he is a better defender, possesses a long flat throw, (and has a long throw attribute of 15), and juat is more like a proper full back than the wing-back type player that seems all the rage now in real life. My right back is more attacking than my left, so I need the left one to defend.

This is a huge blow.

[Edit]

World Cup Quals (Group 1). San Marino 4 - 1 Wales. Win.

We scored early and then had a man sent off and despite that completely dominated a decent Wales team.

World Cup Quals (Group 1). Azerbaijan 0 - 2 San Marino. Win.

We scored 2 goals, had another couple ruled out for off-side, and also hit the woodwork a couple of times. We weren't good, but we were plenty good enough for Azerbaijan.

Euro U21 Quals (Group 3).San Marino U21 3 - 0 Latvia U21. Win.

I swapped the positions around among the supporting 3 and it worked well with Bill (SMR) (Amb) (2035) using his pace to run riot and finishing with a brace of goals. A really good performance and the result was never in doubt.

Euro U21 Quals (Group 3). Norway U21 2 - 1 San Marino U21. Loss.

Norway bossed the game and while we were still in it, we didn't have the clinical striker that we needed to get something out of the game.

[Jimbokav1971]

NT Update. Nov 2040.

96 players called up for International duty.

Despite winning our last 2 competitive games 6-1 on aggregate, we still drop 2 places in the World rankings to 12th.

[leonavich]

Is there anyway to learn the way the points have been distributed for that ranking period? (i.e. would trying to schedule more friendlies to match the number of matches played in africa/south america help you reach the points required to maintain your ranking?)

[Jimbokav1971]

Is there anyway to learn the way the points have been distributed for that ranking period? (i.e. would trying to schedule more friendlies to match the number of matches played in africa/south america help you reach the points required to maintain your ranking?)

I didn't have any spare friendly slots. I always use them all. Let me just have a look and see who the risers in the rankings have been. It may be that they are playing in the Copa America during that period and as a result have the benefit of additional games during this period that we don't have in Europe.

[Edit]

Yep. It was Mexico and Uruguay that passed us.

Mexico aren't in the Copa America, but do play more competitive games than us. They have just finished top of a 4 team group for qualification for..... another qualification group for World Cup 2042 and this time there are.... 6 teams in the group and as usual everyone plays eachother twice. So to get to the World Cup, Mexico, (who are ranked highly enough that they miss out the first 2 qualification stages in N.America, actually have to play 16 games in qualification. We on the other hand just play 10.

Uruguay currently sit 2nd in a World Cup 2042 Qualifying Group consisting of 10 teams meaning 18 qualification games. That's a HUGE advantage.

[leonavich]

That would explain it. Interesting though how much you have dropped in such a short time period

[Diouf]

Almost all friendly matches will bring your point average down and increase the risk of a drop in the rankings, especially games against lower ranked sides in friendlies are sure to result in a drop in the point average.

The ranking includes results from the last four years. For each of those years the average point per game is calculated. The most recent year counts 100% towards the ranking, while the three previous year only counts 50, 30 and 20% towards the rankings respectively.

The point per game calculation is slightly complicated, but the most important fact is that qualification games count 2.5 as much as friendlies, continentals 3 times as much and World Cup games 4 times as much.

Here's an example to illustrate the negative effect of playing friendlies. If in the recent year, you have played only three qualification matches with wins against nr 61 (1042.5 points) and nr 78 (907.5) and a draw against 23 (442.5), you would get the average score ; 797.5 points for that year.

However, if you had decided to play two friendlies as well; two wins against nr 13 (558 points) and nr 7 (579), then your average will drop, and you would only get 705.9 points for that year and probably drop in the rankings.

Playing friendlies can of course be helpful in a number of ways in terms of learning the players the tactic, trying out new players and systems etc, but ranking-wise they are most often negative, especially for teams high in the rankings.

[MADA]

i might have screwed up a bit this time around - was there anything i had to do setting up the game to make sure i could control SM NT at some point? or do i just have to wait fot the current guy to get fired..?

[Jimbokav1971]

MADA. Well I started managing both from the very start. If you haven't done that then yes you have to wait until the job becomes available.

[Jimbokav1971]

Club Update. Jan 2041.

European Super-Cup. Champions.

Italian Super-Cup. Champions.

World Club Championships. Champions.

Unbeaten Serie A Season. AC Milan just beat us 2-1 at their place.

[MADA]

gah, guess i'll just have to try and wait it out then. frustrating. thought i could add manager and at least get the old guy fired...

[Jimbokav1971]

Well while it isn't what I would do, I have just checked the rules on page 1 and I didn't make a ruling against that.

If you really want to manage the NT now then it's not breaking any rules if you were to add a new manager as the NT manager and then retire him immediately so that the job is available. (I would personally still wait though).

[MADA]

you can't add manager and take over SM for some reason

[MADA]

ridiculous. you can't get the job. well that's a lot of time wasted!

[leonavich]

Did you select all Sammarinese players in the database? If not, it might cause them to not have a large enough pool to select fomr, which hinders your ability to manage the national side.

[dan_lcfc]

Ive tried really hard to like FM15 but I really cant get on with it. Im going to try rekindle this save from FM14!!!!

EDIT

Hmmm, Im torn now. Ive loaded it up and I noticed I was looking at changing my approach to the game, problem is I cant remember where I was going with it?! PLus I had the bug where all of league history was deleted and thats why I stopped playing in the first place

I might start again on FM15 now hmmmm

[coady]

MADA

If you add enough leagues from that region of the world then you may be able to get the job the following season when they are loaded. It's just trying to get enough playable Sammarinese players in the game database.

[leonavich]

I should have an update within a day or two.. I have decided to just do one wrap up at the end of every season for both international and club. It saves me time as I am not often playing for long patches to run through the seasons anymore, and it gives me the chance to get all the info out in one go. 31 games into the season though and there is a battle across all fronts as we are currently battling Fiorentina for the title, Valencia in the Champions League Quarter Finals and Fiorentina in the Italian Cup Final (Repeat of a few seasons a go)

[MADA]

managed it! thanks for the tips guys

[coady]

I'll hopefully have an epic update this evening too. Having my favourite and most rollercoaster season in the history of this challenge.

[Jimbokav1971]

managed it! thanks for the tips guys

Brill. What did you do do make it happen? Add leagues?