FM15 'Big' Euro Challenge

[PaulHartman71]

[iacovone]

Those ********!

In Machico news - we've drawn Porto away in the Taca de Portugal third round

Also in terms of choosing my club on FM it ranges from a fancy name and good kit/badge to someone from a far flung corner of said nation. So in FM13 (I think) I chose a Russian team called Luch because they were in Vladivostok on the Pacific coast . Similarly Machico, on the island of Madeira is closer to Africa than it is to Portugal!

[Tecmo]

So far so good in the Turkish Cup with a pair of draws against the Super League sides and a pair of home wins on TV in league play to push up to 12th. My 3rd string, not good enough for my squad striker has been an unlikely hero with 2 goals in those games.

The bad news, we just lost our starting goalkeeper for 2 to 3 months with a separated shoulder. The good news (bad for my starter), the youngster from France has been impressive, only allowing 3 goals in 5 games so far, including 1 to each of those Super League sides. I have a feeling he's not going to lose the job.

[Wizard of Oz]

(3. Cool name. Yep, nailed this one. )

As reasons go its hard to go past this one

[Romanista1994]

Those ********!

In Machico news - we've drawn Porto away in the Taca de Portugal third round

Also in terms of choosing my club on FM it ranges from a fancy name and good kit/badge to someone from a far flung corner of said nation. So in FM13 (I think) I chose a Russian team called Luch because they were in Vladivostok on the Pacific coast . Similarly Machico, on the island of Madeira is closer to Africa than it is to Portugal!

Good stuff.

So far so good in the Turkish Cup with a pair of draws against the Super League sides and a pair of home wins on TV in league play to push up to 12th. My 3rd string, not good enough for my squad striker has been an unlikely hero with 2 goals in those games.

The bad news, we just lost our starting goalkeeper for 2 to 3 months with a separated shoulder. The good news (bad for my starter), the youngster from France has been impressive, only allowing 3 goals in 5 games so far, including 1 to each of those Super League sides. I have a feeling he's not going to lose the job.

I just looked them both up and he looks a lot better than your original starter. Pretty close to my starting keeper in terms of attributes actually, so he should be really, really good.

(3. Cool name. Yep, nailed this one. )

As reasons go its hard to go past this one

[PaulHartman71]

do you get big money for drawing the big teams away in Portugal? Even if not still a pretty call draw for you

[iacovone]

do you get big money for drawing the big teams away in Portugal? Even if not still a pretty call draw for you

I'll find out soon enough but I doubt we'll get much (if any) money for it being an away tie. Hopefully we'll grab a draw and bring them back to Machico

[Tecmo]

I just looked them both up and he looks a lot better than your original starter. Pretty close to my starting keeper in terms of attributes actually, so he should be really, really good.

Yeah, Carre definitely looks like the better player. His hands are like glue, helps the defense so much. I was trying to take it slow with him given his age and move to a new country. That and Ozkan was tutoring him. But hopefully Carre can be a fixture for us at least until we move up if not further.

[iacovone]

Yeah we didn't get any money from the Porto game but played well and only suffered a 4-1 defeat. We had a goal disallowed as well so it was much closer than I expected!

[ArranoBeltza]

ArranoBeltza - Solid season there, I love the jump your balance graph though. Will you be using those riches to considerably strengthen the squad immediately, or will you keep wages relatively low and build a solid base for the future? Also, what are the expectations of your tycoon chairman?

I spent a good bit of money- I already feel I have a solid core of players and a few newgens who haven't broken into the team but should be able to within a couple of years (especially with the facilities upgrades I'm getting). I've spent $12.25mil between three players in the first window and still have over $7mil to burn and I'm at about $50K/week under my wage budget. Going forward I don't forsee myself spending quite as much on quite as many players without larger sales; I may make one big purchase a year or so. Right now the board is expecting a mid-table finish in the league and for us to reach the fourth round of the Copa del Rey so they're fairly reasonable for now.

[PaulHartman71]

I only made 2 transfers during the summer, I purchased a much younger Goalkeeper on a free to provide back-up and eventually become our new #1, however Kouakbi got injured in pre-season so the new guy has already become #1. I also got in a free agent striker 22 year old Alpha Mbaye who has spent his entire career in Lille's reserves.

A mixed bag but overall a pretty disappointing start to the season. 1 win, 3 draws and 2 losses in our first 6 league games. The first two games were worrying as Alpha Mbaye failed to hit the net in either. He grabbed his first goal for us in a 3-2 win over CS Sedan Ardennes which saw us progress past the first round of the Coupe de la Ligue for the very first time. He then bagged a hat-trick in our first league win of the season over AS Nancy-Lorraine, just when things looked like they were going as planned - disaster struck!

We did progress to the 3rd round of the Coupe de la Ligue after a win over FC Istres in extra time, but aside from that it wasn't great stuff really in our other two league games which ended up as draws. We should have lost really at Stade Lavallois but for a last minute equalizer from Sambague which was very remnant of our last minute salvos last season.

6 points from 6 games, not the end of the world but not the kind of start I was hoping for. Need to kick on and do better in our next run of games.

[chris11223]

Elversberg

Season 2020/21

The League

Fixtures I - Fixtures II - League Table - Past Positions

I came into this season expecting to improve on last seasons 6th place finish and we started really strongly taking 22 points from the first 8 games of the season putting us a few points clear of 2nd place early on, we managed to stay in 1st place for all but one game of the season after this and went on to win the league by 4 points despite a late wobble.

I'm really happy with gaining promotion to the Bundesliga and all the things that it brings with it (mainly the money) but I know this is where the real hard work starts and I have to try and make some additions to my squad to make sure that they will survive next season.

German Cup

We got knocked out in the first round by a team a few league below us, the less said the better I think .

The Squad

Squad

For the most part I think the squad as it is would probably be able to put up a strong fight against relegation next year but I want to look for a few players just to sure things up, I'll be looking to bring in a new 1st choice Goal keeper, A tall Center Back to partner Amparo, a young Ball Winning Midfielder and probably a new Attacking Mid, Obviously this all depends on how much money I get given to spend but a new GK is a must.

As far as key players for the season go it was pretty much the same as always;

Ernesto de Santis - Although his season was hampered by a few injuries and he only managed 19 games this year when he did play he was the main man in the team with 5 goals and 11 assists with an average rating of 7.30, If he can stay injury free I'm sure he will be one of out big players next year.

Kevin Ritchie - As always he was Mr. Reliable at Right back, at only 20 he is rated as a good Bundesliga Right Back and still has room for improvement, He started 32 out of the 34 league games this season, the 2 he missed he was away with Scotland on international duty, and averaged a 7.27. He was our captain this year and will be again next year, I can only see him getting better and hopefully I can keep him in the team because It can't be long before big clubs start sniffing around, I'll try to get him to sign a new long term deal over the summer.

Carlos Dominguez - This guy came in on a free last summer and is a guy i'd been following for a year before that, his size and strength cause problems for opposition defenses and he showed he has an eye for goal this year finishing as the leagues 3rd top scorer with 16 goals in 33 league games. Hopefully he can make the step up next season because I will be needing his goals.

Transfers

Transfer History

I wasn't expecting to make any sales this year but I ended up letting Sinan Keskin and Ole Kauper leave when their buy-out fees were both met, they both went on to have haf decent seasons at their new clubs.

I decided to have a look around to try and reinvest some of the money I got from the sales mentioned above and didn't really find anything that we needed so I turned to a young keeper with big potential and signed then 15 year old Thomas Rex for £400k, He had a solid season for the U19's this year and might get a few run outs next season in the cup. I'm looking for him to become our first choice keeper in a few years time.

Finances

Finances

For once the finances are actually looking quite good, largely because of the £8m prize money for winning the league but still... They should only get better next year as long as I don't get silly with transfers because we are guaranteed a minimum of £15m in prize money at the end of next season even if we fail to pick up a single point .

The Future

As I have said there are one or two players I'm looking for to improve the squad but apart from that now is the time i'm going to start to look at improving Facilities and start to try bringing young players through consistently to help bring in some extra cash.

As for my manager I have recently picked up my Continental C License and am currently studying for my Continental B Licence and I've rejected my first two job offers from SC Paderborn 07 and TSG 1899 Hoffenhelm (an established Bundesliga club)

[chris11223]

Well this is just ridiculous, I was hoping for a transfer budget of around £5m-£7.5m which I don't think is too unreasonable for a newly promoted team given the prize money at the end of the season but nooooo I've been given £275k and my wage budget has been reduces .

[Romanista1994]

Well this is just ridiculous, I was hoping for a transfer budget of around £5m-£7.5m which I don't think is too unreasonable for a newly promoted team given the prize money at the end of the season but nooooo I've been given £275k and my wage budget has been reduces .

Damn, that's pretty stupid from the board, especially with the finances you now have with the prize money. Maybe they'll revise it before the start of the season when TV money comes in (you get TV money in Germany, right?)? Had a great season though, and the players you showed should be good enough for the Bundesliga, so hopefully you can stay up regardless.

In Batman news, we have our first international as Jules Ebwelle has now gotten his first cap for Cameroon. Konuk might also be starting his international career, as he was brought into Turkey's U21s after an injury, while Abdurrahman Aksu is our first homegrown youth international by virtue of having been called up to Turkey's U19s.

Edit: Sadettin Timurlenk just got brought into Turkey's U19s.

[chris11223]

No, you don't get TV money in Germany (or at least I haven't ever got any apart from cup games) so I've got the same squad to try and avoid relegation. I should be okay it's just frustrating not being able to do any business.

Congratulations on your first international players, plenty more to come in sure .

[PaulHartman71]

congrats on promotion to the Bundesliga chris, unlucky on still being skint

[Romanista1994]

No, you don't get TV money in Germany (or at least I haven't ever got any apart from cup games) so I've got the same squad to try and avoid relegation. I should be okay it's just frustrating not being able to do any business.

Congratulations on your first international players, plenty more to come in sure .

Thanks, I hope so. While the international call-ups have been pleasing, we've been pretty unlucky with injuries this season, as I currently have some of our star players (Ebwelle, Arslan and Carlinhos) all out with torn hamstrings at the same time.

Interesting that there's no TV money in Germany, but I guess the prize money you get makes up for that. Have you been able to strengthen the squad at all in the summer?

[IOA]

IOA - Amazing cup run! What are your facilities like now? I like how your club is growing slowly but surely, should help a lot with establishing your presence in the Super League one you get there.

Training Facilities are Adequate but the upgrades to it are completed in 2 months.

Youth Facilities are Below Average but the upgrades to it are completed in 2 months.

I found this quite interesting and it made me wonder what, if any, criteria everyone used to choose their club?

Mine was simple, I was born in Gaziosmanpasa and I still have a lot of family that live back in Turkey, whom mostly live in Gaziosmanpasa.

It's also a nice addition that they're in Istanbul, which is a huge city with a large population as is Turkey.

Finally, the strongest clubs in Turkey are in Istanbul so it'll be nice to see if I can break that Monopoly.

[PaulHartman71]

not really sure why I chose Pau, think it was a combination of it being the most attractive kit/badge/name - "brand" in a sense, and Pau is very nearly Paul

[Tecmo]

Large city and high altitude, pretty much Erzurum was the best available choice in Europe. Really struggling to adapt to playing games in the snow though.

[ArranoBeltza]

I found this quite interesting and it made me wonder what, if any, criteria everyone used to choose their club?

I wanted a Basque club (I'm biased) and, after my abortive Gernika save, I went with Portugalete because they're the highest-reputation Basque club available for the challenge. Also because I thought I may be able to confuse people with the name of the club. Finally, I thought the black/yellow stripes look cool and Barakaldo is not eligible for the challenge.

[chris11223]

Interesting that there's no TV money in Germany, but I guess the prize money you get makes up for that. Have you been able to strengthen the squad at all in the summer?

I've managed to bring in one ore two players, mainly those who I signed on pre-contracts the previous December. The league has been going surprisingly well so far so maybe the board knew what they were doing afterall

As for resons for picking the club, it was a simple choice when the name came up because its getting close to Christmas and well Elversberg .

[chris11223]

Elversberg

Season 2021/22

The League

Fixtures I - Fixtures II - League Table

To say that I'm surprised with out final position in the league is quite an understatement, I went into the league expecting to be fighting against relegation and was hoping at best to be around 14th at the end of the season. However, going into the winter break we were sat in 6th position, the final European position. I was expecting our form to drop before starting every game but we kept picking up points until the last third of the season where we wobbled and only picked up 1 win in our last 8. In the end we finished in 9th, much higher than I was expecting, but still a small part of me is still disappointed with this as we were only 4 points off 6th which would have given us Europa League football next season. But on the whole not a bad first season in the top league .

German Cup

Fixtures

We did better this year than we did last reaching the 3rd round before meeting, who else, Borussia Monchengladbach and losing 2-1.

The Squad

Squad

I can't be unhappy with how the squad has performed this season but how well they have done has left me with one or two problems in that there are a few players that I was planning on getting rid of because their stats really aren't good enough for this level but when they have been called upon they have been fantastic. Some of the stand out players of this season were;

Frank Tobin - He came in on a free from Stoke and was originally going to be cover for the left back position but the poor form of our then first choice lead to him getting his chance and he hasn't looked back with a 7.21 rating from his 22 games. One of the main things that stood out to me when I was bringing him into the club were his incredibly physical stats which I think would help him play well in any league in the world.

Marco Pardo - While he didn't have a crazy season in term of stats he has, for the second season, played every minute of every league game and with 192 interceptions, 212 tackles won and a pass accuracy of 89% he has been fantastic at linking the defence and attack in games. He plays a role in the team that goes unnoticed if played well, much like Micheal Carrick for Man Utd for the last however many years, and as strange as it is to say I'm glad I haven't noticed him all season .

Carlos Dominguez - Although he has spent a long time out injured as he tore his hamstring and only made 17 appearances this season he scored 10 goals and ended up our top scorer. Hopefully next year he can stay injury free and help us score a few more goals because our other strikers couldn't hit a barn door with a machine gun.

Transfers

Transfer History

We saw two transfers out for money; Marius Funk left for £170k, he was our 2nd choice keeper and the arrival of Thomas Rex only pushed him further down the pecking order so I took the cash while I could. The other player leaving was Choi Hyun-Ki for £2.1m, when I bought this guy a few years ago I had really high hopes for him but he just seems incapable of scoring goals managing just 9 goals in his last 40ish league games which is just not good enough for a striker.

On the in there were a bunch of frees that came in to play bit part roles in the team and the only player i paid for was Hwang Joo-Ho who I brought in with the funds created from the Choi Hyun-Ki deal. He was a good goal scorer for his previous team, Seoul, so I was hopeful he would be able to offer a good rotation option up front, However, it became obvious quite early on that he was just awful in-front of goal ending the season with 6 goals in 24 games (he only actually scored in 4 games). I'm putting his poor form down to a move of country etc. and will give him another season to see if he gets any better but if a bid comes in I'll have to consider it.

As for the rest of the squad it does need strengthening to make sure we can consolidate out place in the league and I have actually been given some money this year, not much but more than last year, and I'll probably look for a goal keeper,a center back, and maybe a new left winger because Ernesto De Santis Isn't really good enough at this level despite his consistently half decent performances.

Finances

Finances

The finances look really good now thanks in no small part due to the £20m in prize money we got for our league position, there isn't much else to say really.

The Future

As I've said I'm looking at making a few signings to help cement our place in the league, I might look at bringing in a bunch of 16/17 year olds so I can start properly developing young players now I have some cash. We have sold-out every home match this season so the board might look at doing something about that but we can't expand our stadium any further so they would have to build a new one (which I don't want them to do yet) and that would cost a hell of a lot of money.

My manager is not studying for his Continental A Licence so thats good, i guess.

[Romanista1994]

Batman Christmas Youth Intake Special

I just got this season's youth intake, so with it being Christmas and all I've decided to share an update on how the players from the various intakes have performed and developed. I expect most of these will only have careers at a much lower level if any, but since we're starting to get through a few more players that could do so I'm going to review my method of developing them at the end of the season. Currently I've just been putting them in the U19s team until the end of their first season at the club, then moving them to the U21s and registering them.

I think I will continue to have players who develop to have at least one gold star in ability in the first team, so they train full-time, and then have those that are fairly close to that in the U21s (as they will get more games there), and have those that are nowhere near being ready for the first team developing at their own pace in the U19s. In the future, I want to be able to have reasonably competitive squads in both the U21s and U19s. If we ever make it into the CL, I'll also be making sure that the team that plays the youth CL will have a squad of 22 players (2 per position), while the other team will have 1 player per position.

So, onto the actual update. Bear in mind that not all will have screenshots, because the ğ that features in several names doesn't produce a screenshot in FM.

Class of 2016

Not much to report here, Yılmaz Erdoğan, one of the players from this intake is still at the club (and is somehow a fan favourite without making any appearances), but he'll be leaving at the end of the season.

Class of 2017

Abdurrahman Aksu - Aksu is the jewel in the crown of our youth programme so far, featuring with the first team for the past three seasons. This has helped push him on and he is currently considered to be a good PTT1. player, with potential to be a good Super League player. This season has seen him perform at a higher standard than before, and he is currently one of our first choice midfielders. Very high hopes for him in the future.

Class of 2018

Sadettin Timurlenk - The second youth player to make it into the first team. Last season was tough for him, though he didn't embarass himself. He has found life in the PTT1. much easier and has developed nicely due to reasonably consistent game time.

Şehmus Sağlık - Sağlık is a young rightback with fantastic physical attributes for his age, but he is really lacking on both the mental and physical front. I'm trying to retrain him to be a wide midfielder, but I don't think he has too much of a future at the club.

Class of 2019

Harun Gözüaçık - Was, selected last year by my assistant as the best player of the intake. Tutoring has seen his professionalism improve, which has kickstarted the development of his attributes. Hopefully he can fulfil his potential to be a decent Super League player.

Özer Kaya - Quick and a good tackler, unfortunately for him I tend to prefer more attacking rightbacks, which he definitely isn't.

Mutlu Usta - A decent defensive leftback, unlikely to develop to a level where I can start giving him games due to his poor personality traits.

Abdullah Yakut - He's pretty quick, but I don't see a future for him at the club unless he drastically improves his winger attributes.

Atilla Karacif - I was pleasantly surprised when looking at his profile, as it shows some nice development. Unfortunately it looks like he doesn't have a very high ceiling, but if he continues to improve he might become a good lower league player.

Ali Güngör - A quick poacher, who will probably never be good enough to feature in the first team.

Class of 2020

2020 Youth Intake

Galip Köse - Rated as the best player of this year's intake. He'll need tutoring to improve his professionalism, but might otherwise become a solid player.

Erdem Acar - Quick, but other than good first touch and teamwork he doesn't have much else going for him

Cavidan Şahan - I'm expecting him to develop into a decent player due to his good attitude, but it probably won't be for us.

Ahmet Doğru - Very tall (202 cm!) centreback with a poor temperament, which will no doubt hold him back.

Muhammed Sansar - Model professional goalkeeper with decent starting attributes. He's actually the one I'm most excited about in this group.

Mehmet Ademoglü - Nice to get a more attack-minded rightback, although I don't expect him to become good enough for us.

Merry Christmas, everyone!

[Romanista1994]

Great first season in the league, chris, I see your board have given you a bit more money to spend for next season.

[chris11223]

I've just been asked for next seasons expectations, 'Don't be outclassed too often' is one I haven't seen before

[Romanista1994]

[Tecmo]

2016/2017 Season Review

League Table

A pretty successful season I think, we pretty much stayed solidly midtable the entire year, finishing 11th with a +1 goal differential. Our efforts earned us the title of Biggest Overachievers.

In the Turkish Cup, we reached the group stages and drew our first two games against Super League sides, but then lost our last 4 to finish fourth in the group.

The striker position was a struggle for us in the first half of the year, but during the winter transfer window, we found a French friend for our goalkeeper, Jorris Romil, a 22 year old who played 18 games with French Ligue 2 side Dijon FCO. He made a huge impact and was our leading scorer with 9 goals in only 14 games.

Sefer Sever was second on the team with 8 goals and tied for the team lead in assists with 5. He was also our lone representative in the League 1 Team of the Year.

Romain Carre had a strong season and looks like a potential fixture at goalkeeper. 26 goals allowed in 22 games, 7 shutouts.

We had a little bit stronger youth intake this year with a couple defenders with potential. Taylan Ozturk is the best of the bunch and could be a League 1 quality right back. A model professional who grew up in Erzurum.

We're in good shape financially with about 2 million in the bank although I got a message that finances were expected to decline going forward. Highly doubt that as a new jersey sponsorship is bringing in twice as much money as before. Think the message was just a result of a tax bill being due that month. We're relaying the pitch and upgrading our training facility during the offseason.

I think we're looking good going into next season. Our payroll has been increased from 22K to 33K and we now have a 2.48 million transfer budget that we'll get nowhere near spending. Defense and overall depth will be our focus for new players. I really don't have a standout in my back four. Andrade was somewhat disappointing at left back, my center backs were average at best and, while I'm happy enough with Onur Arikan at right back, he can definitely be upgraded. Might be a good spot for a loan player until Ozturk is ready.

Shooting for a spot in the promotion playoffs next year, we'll see how it goes.

[PaulHartman71]

congrats chris, 9th place in Bundesliga is a great achievement even if you didn't make Europe just yet this season.

congrats Romanista on the league win!

Nice one Tecmo winning that over-achiever award, love it when I win that just feels like the AI recognizing the good work

[chris11223]

Well done on the league win Rominista1994!!

A good solid season to build on Tecmo, hopefully you can push on up the table next year .

[Tecmo]

2017/2018 Season Preview

Not a lot of change to show here so I'm not going to go position by position. I have the youngest team in League 1 so I'm hoping experience along with the addition of Romil can go a long way toward pushing us further. We'll be seeing changes next season regardless I think, Avcu, Sever, Ozturk and Yuksektepe all saw a lot of interest during the offseason, particularly from Sanliurfaspor, one of the teams relegated from the top league last year

I gave consideration to making an offer for Sebahattin Usta but decided against it as my primary interest was because of his success with Romanista. Instead, my only two acquisitions so far are center backs, Hasan Erbey and Muhammed Balci. I had my eye on a few foreign players who could have been bigger upgrades but without an available slot for them, I went with these two. Erbey will be our starter initially after playing in our league last season with Giresunspor, helping them get promoted. He can also play right back so that's a bonus. Balci I bought from League 2 side Yeni Diyarbakir for 38.5K. I'm a bit more optomistic about him that my staff seems to be but it's not a long term contract so not much to lose on him really.

We're still pegged as one of the teams to go down this year, predicted to finish 16th with 40-1 odds on a title.

[ArranoBeltza]

Well, I'm into January 2021 and we're doing quite well. I had switched to a 4-4-2 Diamond formation due to a certain signing I had made, and then found out that I had excellent depth at DM so now I'm playing my first match with a 4-2-3-1 (wide, 2 DM).

I definitely have the players in the team to challenge for promotion so I don't expect as big a makeover next year as we've seen this year. More details to come at season's end- I really can't wait to show off some of my new signings!

[Muggert]

Piacenza Calcio 1919

Piacenza - 2019/20 - Italian Serie B

Squad | Table | Transfers | Finances

Final position: 1st - Promotion

Coppa Italia: 4th Qual Rnd loss to Empoli, 3-4 away

Best result: 6-2 home win against Bologna

Worst result: 0-1 home loss to Alto Adige

Top goalscorer: Faisal Bangal, 25 (23 in the league)

Most assists: Faisal Bangal, 19 (19 in the league)

Highest Average rating: Faisal Bangal, 7.59(7.59 in the league)

2019/20 Quick takes:

- A good season. From start to finish we played consistently well.

- Unfortunately we lost Nainggolan to Betis

- 90 goals and only 46 conceded. All phases was playing well.

Players of the season:

D L | Guillermo Cortes | Unfortunately the fee wanted for our loanee is too high.

AM R | Maicon | I wanted to replace him in the summer. Glad I didnt find a replacement.

ST | Faisal Bangal | First choice striker Bira was injured for the first month. And Bangal just kept performing.

2020/21 Quick takes:

- Our team seems much more capable of jumping up a level than last time.

- A couple of strengthenings and we'll be ready to survive

- De Groot will need to perform at a high level!

[PaulHartman71]

3 wins, 5 draws and 2 losses later and we're still slacking a bit in the league. As a result of a penalty shoot-out victory over Havre AC we have gone through to the 4th round of the Coupe de la Ligue. We're also through in the French Cup after winning 2-0 against USBCO.

A lot further off the play-offs than i'd like but despite being 13th we are only a few wins away from a similar position to where we finished last season. I'm hoping a good run of form can see us shoot up the table shortly.

[PaulHartman71]

That's one hell of a wage budget cut to make mid-season ffs

[IOA]

Training Facilities are Adequate but the upgrades to it are completed in 2 months.

Youth Facilities are Below Average but the upgrades to it are completed in 2 months.

Training Facilities are now Average and the Youth Facilities are now Adequate, I've asked for them to be improved again but we actually can't afford it.

Ramonista1994, Tecmo and Muggert congrats on your respective seasons.

[ArranoBeltza]

Not the news I needed with about two months left in the season as we're challenging to win Liga Adelante

[ArranoBeltza]

Two matches left in the season....

Update very soon. The real challenge still lies ahead.

[ArranoBeltza]

...and we've still got one match left to play, but more good news.

[michiganhugefan]

Rot-Weiss Essen

Manager:

Profile Information

Club: History 1 History 2 Squad

I've decided to take a first step into challenges with Rott-Weiss Essen, a club promoted from the Regionaliga West. They appear to have had success, but not recently, having won the German Championship in 1955 and the DFB-Pokal in 1953. In terms of my manager, I made him a tracksuit and pumped all the points into fitness and man management. I'm happy with the starting facilities, average for both training and youth, as well as Adequate junior coaching and Above Average Youth Recruitment. The squad is lacking in many areas, but with 40k avaliable in wage budget, I hope to be able to bring in some free signings to either add depth or take first team places.

[ArranoBeltza]

PORTUGALETE

2020/21 SEASON REVIEW

Manager Profile

Manager Info: The club's new-found wealth means that I can study for licenses at will!

COMPETITIONS OVERVIEW

LEAGUE TABLE

First Half Results

Second Half Results

We lifted our second trophy having won Liga Adelante outright!

To begin the season, we were expected to finish mid-table by the board. Given our influx of money, I felt this was very reasonable. Meanwhile, the media predicted a 15th place finish for us. I spent lots of money in the transfer market and it surely paid off. I surely can't say we did badly in the first half of the season, but it was clear that our new players were adjusting to a new league and tactics. They did settle, and, when they did, we did quite well; even after changing our main tactics around mid season (I started off the season using a 4-4-2 diamond wide as my main tactic but switched to a 4-2-3-1 with two DMs in the second half).

In the Copa del Rey, we were expected to make the fourth round. We did, but were (unsurprisingly) knocked out by Barcelona. On the bright side, the home leg against Barca brought us record attendance and gate receipts.

Best Eleven (I stuck with the 4-4-2):

Goalkeeper

Julein Wets- I sold off Gutierrez, so Wets was brought in as a replacement. He did fine at first, but didn't seem to make the amazing saves as our previous 'keeper. I stuck with him and he did great in the second half. While he's good, he may well not be a long-term option in La Liga (we'll see).

Defense

Raul Ros (DR/DC)- having previously done well for us on loan in 2017/18 and 2018/19, I brought him in for another loan from Athletic. Did a decent job at both right back and central defender.

Eugene Maa Boumsong (DC)- A new signing brought in with Portugalete's newfound wealth, Maa Boumsong was absolutely outstanding and performed as the best central defender we've ever had. Strong at the back, he also nabbed himself six goals in the league off of set pieces.

Julio Cesar (DC)- Did a good job and has a high ceiling, but didn't train too well. Will likely be given another year at least.

Eneko Satrustegui (DL)- The top performer at my team's weakest position. He'll be around next year, but hopefully won't be our #1 choice.

Midfield

Diego (DM/MC/DC)- Was doing quite well before a three month injury after he'd only played 10 matches. Kept a starting spot after the injury and after our switch to the new 4-2-3-1. Looks to have the stuff to do well as a Liga BBVA DM.

Kevin Paterson (DM/MC)- Initially brought in to cover Diego, he started playing and developing well during the former's injury. He became the main reason why I switched to a 2 DM formation (along with a certain signing I made who will be mentioned later)

Petar Dimitrov (ML/AML)- After some strong performances last season, Dimitrov carried that over into the early part of this season- four of his six league goals were scored before December. Continued positive development and adjusted well to a more advanced left-wing role when our tactics changed.

Steffan Stokholm (AMC- Fans' Player of the Year)- My favorite signing and worth every penny. He amounted to big money for us but, if you look at his attributes, he came cheap. This kid already has what it takes to be successful at the next level and is still years off of his prime.

Fabio Gaucho (MR/AMR/ML/AML)- 11 goals and 13 assists in all competitions pretty much says it all. Definitely a player I'm looking to hang on to; he's ready for La Liga.

Forwards

Inaki Altamira- To begin the season, Altamira made ungodly progression in his attributes, but couldn't score. Eventually, he found form and once again led the team in goals. He may have competition next year though....

TRANSFERS

Our most eventful window yet- a number of players left with decent fees, but the big news is who was brought in. Two new arrivals in particular are worth mentioning.

Mohamed Naciri (GK) - Naciri was signed due to his high potential and acted as my back-up 'keeper. He developed well and earned a call-up to the Morocco national team (was never capped). However, he only played the last few matches after promotion was guaranteed, where he impressed.

Indra Hendrawan (ST/AML)- Started off the season outscoring Altamira while we still had two strikers. At mid-season, with his Inter contract running out, I offered him a deal that I was sure he'd accept. Then, he signed a new deal with Inter. I said "**** it" and paid $1.9mil to them to buy him. He's my second-choice striker now and is also seeing time as an inside forward on the left-wing. He also made his debut for the Indonesian national team recently, making me wonder what took them so long.

FINANCES

We lost a lot of money. Who cares?

In all seriousness, though, we should be able to make more money next year without investments from our sugar daddy.

GOALS FOR 2021/22

- IMPROVE DEFENSE: We did quite well defensively. Still, we could use a central defender to add depth. With no clear choice left at left-back, we'll need to address that position immediately.

-SURVIVE: I really hope the board doesn't expect much more. My personal goal is to survive and, given the players in the team right now, this should be doable. With more depth, it will be easy

- IMPROVE DEPTH: We had a pretty major makeover of the squad this past season and I don't feel that's necessary going forward. I want to make a few depth signings at a few positions. Don't expect me to throw around money like I did last year unless at a critical spot or if it's in a position where a key player has been sold. I'll be focusing on free signings and outright payments to avoid structured deals which hurt our finances over this past season.

: A new thing I will add every season. I am a fan of all kinds of music (mostly metal, but you wouldn't guess from this song). I chose 'Make it Rain" by Fat Joe (ft. Lil' Wayne) because we threw around the money and played with swagger all season. What will La Liga bring to my mind musically?

[PaulHartman71]

congrats on promotion Arrano!

[iacovone]

Great work everyone! Happy holidays to all/grim tidings if that's your thing etc

Will shove a mid-season Machico report in here soon

[iacovone]

Done a Paul with this update. Will continue like this going forward I think (with a full end of season report)

So the Taca da Liga didn't go well but I used it as our pre-season so didn't attach too much importance to the results. Opening up the Segunda Liga with two wins and just one defeat in the first five filled me with promise but you'll see from there on that we've struggled a bit - particularly the run of five consecutive losses in October. Since then we've been picking up the odd victory but they're rare and surrounded by defeats. It's not great but we're keeping our heads above water for now. No transfers in January as we have no budget to work with. Still 21 games to go.

[Romanista1994]

Batman PetrolSpor 2019/20 Update

The Club

Manager Profile | Staff | Team Report | Information | Facilities | Finances | Transfers

Some nice attribute growth in my personal profile. The finances screen was taken before further facility upgrades were confirmed, and currently stand at £1.3M. It might actually be better to have the balance relatively low, as our tax expenses were huge this season.

PTT1. League

Predicted finish: 6th

Actual Finish: 1st (Champions!)

League Table | Graph | Fixtures 1 | Fixtures 2

We were very strong throughout, conceding the lowest total the league has seen since the start of the game.

Cup

Third Round

Terrible performance in the cup this year, going out to non-league opposition. They had beaten us before and the press latched on to this, I made a mistake in my handling of the press conference, and the players reacted badly and played even worse, eventually losing the game on penalties.

Squad

Squad Screen

Not visible here is Ufuk Ceylan who had 3 appearances with a 6.93 rating. Halil Tuna played for us in the first part of the season, but went home as I couldn't renew his loan.

Most Appearances: Gustavo da Ros (36 starts)

Top Goalscorer: Yiğit Konuk (23)

Most Assists: Jules Ebwelle (11)

Highest Average Rating: Jules Ebwelle (7.44)

Players

Harun Tekin - Was fantastic this season, keeping clean sheets in numerous games and I think he has saved about ten penalties over the past two seasons. Incredibly, he has also improved in his attributes. I've already offered him a new contract, which will tie him down with us until 2023.

Ufuk Ceylan - Not a bad backup to have. He did get unhappy briefly when I rejected an offer for him, but after a month or so he stopped complaining.

Deniz Aslan - Solid at rightback, but I will be looking for an upgrade here.

Rıdvan Şimşek - I wish I hadn't signed him on such a large wage, will probably look to offload him in the summer.

Yasin Arslan - Terrible luck with injuries for our best defender, he got back from a torn hamstring, played a couple of games and went out for the rest of the season with knee tendonitis.

Cenk Kaplan - Was lucky enough to have Tekin save several of the penalties he conceded, otherwise his rating would have been much lower.

Sadettin Timurlenk - Had a breakout season, playing a lot more than I expected due to Arslan's injuries. He did okay, but I don't think I trust him as first choice in the Super League.

Gustavo Da Ros - Very consistent performances from the young Argentinian, who now also has me as his favoured personnel. He developed a lot, and should be one of our best performers again next season.

Hüsamettin Tut - Didn't really do much with Da Ros being free from injuries all season.

Rıdvan Sağlam - Did decently, but his role in the team is mainly as a tutor for our young players.

Cihan Yildiz - Rotated with Sağlam mostly, with the older player doing slightly better.

Kemal Efe - The loanee did very well, terrorising leftbacks all season. I managed to extend his loan until the end of next season, so hopefully he can keep up his performances next season.

Engin Bekdemir - He won us several matches, including the league deciding game where he stepped up in the 84th minute and coolly slotted home. He is deadly from freekicks and with the number of fouls made against us he got ample opportunity to test his skills.

Jules Ebwelle - Fantastic player, who continues to improve and could have had an even better season had he not spent three months out with a torn hamstring. Teams are starting to take an interest in him, but after some tough negotiating with his agent I've managed to get his contract renewed, which he'll hopefully accept.

Sebahattin Usta - The club icon didn't play a pivotal role this season, but he was solid and it is nice to have him as an option.

Abdurrahman Aksu - Developing brilliantly and had the best season of his career so far, hopefully more of the same next year.

Tolcay Cigerci - I didn't really trust him at the start after he had a couple of nervous performances, but he stepped up when Ebwelle got injured and had a good season.

Carlinhos - He spent most of the season on the sidelines, otherwise he would probably have continued his early-season form. If he keeps getting injured I might be forced to move him on.

Yiğit Konuk - What a wonderful season for the young man from Izmir. He broke his own goalscoring record and scored unprecedented numbers in the league, while also developing into a Super League level player. His record in the Super League was already pretty good with much worse supply, so I'm hoping he can keep scoring next year.

Tugay Dinç - Scored in the first game of the season, before going on a goalscoring drought only broken near the end of the season.

Previous Season Goals

-Promotion - Success - We won the league pretty convincingly, which has done wonders for our reputation.

-Continue developing the club's infrastructure - Success - Upgrades to both youth and training facilities, and I've already had the board agree to the next ones.

-Continue giving our best homegrown prospects games - Success - Aksu developed into a consistent starter, while Timurlenk found himself playing a lot more than I expected due to injuries.

Next Season Goals

-Survival - I think the board will be expecting us to avoid relegation at the very least due to our increased reputation (now 3 stars), and with our current squad and some key additions this should be possible.

-Continue developing the club's infrastructure - The next set of facility upgrades has already been agreed, more to come?

-Continue giving our best homegrown prospects games - A couple of appearances here and there could really help the development of our other youngsters.

Career

|  Season  |    League    |  Position   |      Cup      |   Avg. Att.   | Season Tickets (Change) |        Achievements       |
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
|  15/16   |    2L Red    |     7th     |    2nd Rnd    |      959      |        623   (+90)      |                           |
|  16/17   |    2L Red    |     1st     |    3rd Rnd    |     1007      |        645   (+22)      |   Promoted as Champions   |
|  17/18   |    PTT 1.    |     2nd     |  Group Stage  |     2369      |       1527  (+882)      |          Promoted         |
|  18/19   | Super League |    18th     |    4th Rnd    |     7042      |       4570 (+3043)      |         Relegated         |
|  19/20   |    PTT 1.    |     1st     |    3rd Rnd    |     4384      |       3934  (-636)      |   Promoted as Champions   |

[Romanista1994]

Tecmo - Solid season there. Also, Sebahattin Usta mentioned. I think his attributes are different on your game though.

Muggert - Good luck in the Serie A again.

michiganhugefan - Good luck in Germany!

ArranoBeltza - Congrats on the title win, Stokholm really is the type of player you build teams around.

[Romanista1994]

Just had this message in my inbox, obviously rejected the link in the press and will reject any offers from them, but nice to know that my reputation is growing.

[PaulHartman71]

very shaky form there iacovone, hopefully you can keep grinding out random wins in order to keep yourself in the Segunda Liga.

Romanista - great work in bouncing straight back up to the Super League and being linked with Fenerbache. Being linked alongside the likes of Tugay

[iacovone]

Top stuff Romanista, great season!

You're right Paul. Just gotta get through this mammoth season (46 games ffs) and look to rebuild in the summer. My first XI is just about good enough at this level but our squad depth is poor

[IOA]

Keep the updates coming in gents, I may not have a chance to comment on everyones respective updates but it's brilliant to see everyone doing well and getting closer and closer to the aim!