FM16 Youth Academy Challenge

[Sanno11]

Tonbridge Angels Football Club

Manager Profile | Facilities | Squad

I have been keeping track of all the great progress so far and will begin my journey in England. I am the new manager of Tonbridge Angels. We have a small but well balanced squad that, in my opinion contains some decent quality.

[MarcxD]

Season 2 - 2017/2018 - 13th Segunda B

League Table Manager Profile (end of season) End of Season Stats Best Overall Eleven End of Season review Transfers Team of the Season Squad

The media predicted a 12th place before the season, which I thought was a bit high at first but for much of the season we were actually higher on the table, around the 8th-10th place. I think a more attacking tactic helped, although we conceded much more goals than last season. Unfortunately around march-april we got in a severe form-drop and in the end we finished 13th. A little bit higher than last year, but not really much of a progression on that front, sadly.

Youth Candidates 2018

Not too great, really.

YP2a - Francesc, DM/MC is definitely the most exciting regen of this youth intake.

YP2b - Roger Torras, AMR is the only other regen who has much of a chance to become a good future 1st team player, too bad he plays on a position we already have a couple of talents!

YP0a - Sergi Castillo, DM[and, if necessary, DC] Has become a regular in the 1st team. Hopefully he will continue to develop. Definitely one of the more exciting young lads.

YP0b - Lluis Masó, SC started as the third-choice striker and ended as the first. Capped his season with 14 league goals, very decent! The press noticed that as well.

YP1a - Joel Mir, AMC unfortunately, he was injured (nice feature this, by the way) a lot. If he can keep fit next season he should play a lot more. Still has a bright future - for this level - ahead of him.

YP1b - Josep Maese, DM/MC A decent player who fell short of a first XI start but should start playing more and more.

YP1c - Andres Bezares, AMR AS the third-choice AMR hasn't made the first-team squad yet. Not too sure if he'll make the cut in the end. Maybe if my first-choice AMR leaves the club when he decides he's way too good for us (he is).

YP1d - Josep Lardin, AMR He has leap-frogged Bezares to become the second-choice AMR (after my best player, who is 29 years old). Performed okay when he was called upon.

YP1e - Carles Burgos, MC Although unneeded for most of the season, in the end he has made a couple of appearances. Next season should be his year. Looks more than decent compared with most of the other newgens as far as his current ability!

Because the finances are getting worse and worse, and a couple of the older players are really getting old now, the new players are going to have to play more and more next year, if they're ready or not! I certainly don't have high expectations for next year, we'll just have to survive for a while longer.

[officiallydeej]

Now the release appears to have fixed the contract issues i'm back for another stab at this. This time with Nairn County of Scotland.

I've only got 11 players, so i want to make sure I get through the first season unscathed before posting any updates.

[Shakes]

2019/20 - Belfast Telegraph Championship Two - 2nd (Promoted)

Table | Playoffs | Cups | Squad | Transfers

Well that was certainly the turnaround I hoped for. A new tactical outlook, lesser competition and a very good run with injury made all the difference. Looked to be cruising to automatic promotion at one stage, at 16 games in we had a 4 point buffer on Ards with us to play them at home. At 1-0 up we looked like we might all but seal it but they hit back for our first draw of the season and that seemed to open the floodgates to draws with 3 more to come, leaving us 3 points short.

Promotion playoffs it was then but this time no drama at all, a comfortable 3-1 at home and 2-1 away gave us back our spot in the Championship One.

I'm very pleased with where things stand going forward - we scored the most goals (40), conceded the second least (21), and enjoyed the league best possession (60.91%) and pass completion (80%). Holding on to the ball is not normally the way I play but every second we have the ball is a second the opposition can't test our awful keepers, so you have to do what you have to do. Lets hope it works at the next level.

Youth Intake

Any time spent writing about these lot is time wasted.

Youth Wrecking it at the Rec

[18c] Jordan Holland - DC - Started every single game for us - I can't remember the last time a non-keeper has done this for me!

[17b] Brian Jennings - ML - Seems to be solid where ever I play him. Hopefully even better next year now he's getting comfortable in the new position.

[18e] Simon Bennett - DR/DL - Spent the year playing on his non-preferred right side. Much better now he has a wide player in front of him and isn't expected to attack much.

[18a] David Byrne - AMC - Our leading assist man, when he plays well we generally win. Also our first u19 international call up.

Next Season

Don't collapse back down! Just a solid season will do, I've got a couple of youth players I want to get more involved and slowly work our way towards a better team. Still looking for that keeper ...

[Jambo98]

Meh.....shock to end all shocks, updated to the full game today and my tactic which did work nicely, suddenly looks a disaster :-/

[Jambo98]

Jambo98 - Youth Challenge Attempt 2 - C.D Castellón

Season 2 - 2017/18 - Spanish Second Division B3

League Position - 14th (final table) (past positions)

Cups - Spanish Cup 2nd Round

Season Summary

We will hope this was just a sophomore slump.... After losing a couple to retirement and with one key player (our DMC) refusing to sign a contract and walking, plus the additional year on a couple of my veterans, we were undoubtably starting with a weaker squad than last season. Whilst i like YP17a and YP17b, they dont have the CA stars to suggest they are immediately ready.

We started poorly, couldnt get into a rythm at all. A little 3 game winning streak in October saved us from being in real trouble, but then we hit a real bad stretch. 1 win in 13 games over Nov / Dec / Jan meant we were heading for a relegation fight. Nothing was going for us, we couldnt score and were leaking goals. Injuries were hitting and it looked bleak.

A tactical tweak at the end of January saved us. We reeled off an incredible 5 straight wins in Feb and March to pull ourselfs out of the mire. A wobble in our last 4 games (2 draws, 2 defeats) meant we did slip back down towards the bottom but we were never really at threat of heading into a relegation playoff.

The cup was similarly less productive than last year, a second round defeat to Compostela meaning there was no money spining tie, which is a problem as we are now £300k in the red

Notable performances

Niche - Same as last season, he was one of the few bright spots. Still chipping in goals from RM, although less than last year. Our desperate striking situation likely means he will be converted to our main front man next season, so lets see if the 32yr old Colombian has some legs in him yet.

Gaizka Saizar - Our Veteran struggled at times with age getting the better of him, but still emerged as equal top scorer. He finished the season by playing in 100th game for Castellon and will retire now and move into our coaching staff.

Youth Intake

The Intake - Liking the quality at the top of this intake, but no striker of any note Couple of good defensive re-inforcements and more wide men. We are also woefully short in CM now, so we need some balance next intake! This year i am breaking my rule and tagging 3 players!

YP18a - Diego Cordon - We needed a RB with our 38yr incumbent due to retire and this guy looks pretty good and can perhaps jump right in

YP18b - Jose Carlos Moreno - An intriguing CB, who has some great mental stats and looks good in the air and aggresive, despite being only 5ft 10. We are short on quality at DC, although our first teamers are at least not ageing. Will use him as 3rd choice and rotate him in

YP18c -Vincenzo Bucciarelli - Tagged partly because he is my first non spaniard to come through! I have an italian GK coach but wouldnt think that caused it. He is actually a decent prospect and with Niche likely moving to ST, he could get a few games at RM. I might also retrain him to ST to help cover

Tagged Youth Updates

YP17a - Jose Vicente - Was a first team regular, with fairly good results. He did develop a lot through the season so the playing time was worth it. Slightly different role in our new tactic means he sits a bit deeper so less assists and goals

YP17b - Jaume Guttierez - Arguably our best player overall this season. Equal top scorer with 9 and has come on leaps and bounds with his attributes. In the new tactic he moved more advanced and thrived. Biggest issue will be keeping hold of him - he is tied down for 2 more years, with 3 more contract extension club options and Min Fee clause of £1m so cant see him staying the full contract length.

Facilities

No Change, and no money to make any upgrades at the moment

Club Facilities

Transfers

Clean as a hounds tooth

The players leaving were mainly from the B team. The top guy, Miki, was one i missed a lot and of course after refusing his contact with us, he spent the entire year as a free agent

[smp20]

I've just started this challenge again with Servette in Switzerland (Manager Profile). However I have encountered a problem - I can't get any staff! I can only offer around 200-300 per week for any role and any staff member wants 600-800 and nobody will budge. The board won't allow be to increase either. Hmmm.

[Forest]

I've just started this challenge again with Servette in Switzerland (Manager Profile). However I have encountered a problem - I can't get any staff! I can only offer around 200-300 per week for any role and any staff member wants 600-800 and nobody will budge. The board won't allow be to increase either. Hmmm.

Braumiller already mentioned ths problem earlier in this thread. So impossible to change that at the moment!

[smp20]

Braumiller already mentioned ths problem earlier in this thread. So impossible to change that at the moment!

Ahh, do you think it is a bug then? It seems strange I can offer £2-3k a week for player wages but a pittance for a full-time wage for any staff member. In contrast, I am on £1.4k and the two current members of staff (rubbish Assistant Manager and fitness coach) are on ~£600 a week and I can offer them up to £700 a week to extend.

[Forest]

Friska Viljor FC - Season 2019 Review (Season 4)

End of Season Awards l Season Review l Fixtures l League Table l League Position Graph l Squad Stats l Transfers l Finance

Competitions

Second Division North : 6th

Swedish Cup : /

Season Review

Well, that was a very good season for us, not only that we are now a competitive team, our youngstars developed very good over the whole season.

We started good with a win and two draws, and the team was really impressing. The formation we use is still a 4-2-3-1 wide. Then, our playmaker Leif Westman (YP01a) got injured, so i was forced to replace him with Kim Stenberg (YP03f). That was a very good move, because Stenberg showed his real potential here. .

In the end I can say, that I´m really pleased with our season. We showed everybody that we are slowly growing team and if we continue like this, I think promotion can be next or maybe overnext season. We only finished 6th, because the last two games were really poor and I was playing a few youngsters from the youth intake.

An important thing is to keep our lads together. Already earlier in this season, I got a fight with Sundsvall Manager, because he was chasing Leif Westman (YP01a). I told him that there would be no chance of getting him.

The finances are the same as every year, the board injected over 110.000 in the club at the beginning of the season.

Friska players of the season

Kim Stenberg (YP03f) - Voted as player of the season, which I underline here. He can play everywhere in the midfield, from central to attacking playmaker. Made a very good season for us.

Manz Landin (YP02a) - Moved him from right winger to left winger and he really progressed trough the season. 8 goals and 6 assists, good crosses, good lad

Jesper Alander (YP01c) - Jesper took over the lead in the central defence this year from Tom Johansson. Constant performances from him over the whole season

Robin Norberg (YP01o) - Mde only 8 appearences, but he showed quality in the centre midfield. Definatly will let him play more often next season

Youth Intake

Fantastic Youth Intake this year.

Robin Larsson (YP04a) - He is looking like a little wonderboy for us. I really hope I can stay with him as long as possible. Physics and technique is very good for this level. Will take the place of the playmaker behind the poacher.

Johan Nordin (YP04b) - Great stats for this young defender. Tackling, Marking, Positioning and Decision top for our level.

Niklas Sundqvist (YP04c) - Good talent, looking forward how he will progress next season. Definatly got the ability to be our main striker next year.

Daniel Jacobsson (YP04d) - The next Ronaldo in Swedish 4th Division. Flair 20! and very good Determination.

Off the field

Everything looked good so far this season. I´m really hoping that we can stay like this. Coaching courses are still an impossible thing, but I managed with the board that we can hire another coach, which I really enjoyed. We now have far the best coaching staff in the league and I checked already that our players are developing better.

Another thing is, that I got at least 15 job offers from other teams in Sweden, declined everything. Hoping that we next season can progressing.

[smp20]

Nice progression of the young players there Forest and Larsson 5* CA already :O

I'm enjoying my Servette save but still no luck with the staff, will see what it's like next season.

I can, however, offer reasonable wages to player/coaches. Is this a potential get around? Of course they will be left in the reserves and not be allowed to tutor etc. I guess its not, but worth a try.

[Shakes]

2020/21 - Belfast Telegraph Championship One - 1st

Table | Cups | Squad | Transfers

Was not expecting a season like this at all! It was a noticable little bump in difficulty going up a league, but we were really helped by the teams being so equal. Whenever we lost some games the teams around us did too and we managed to hover around the top of the table all year, and yet with 2 games to go before the split failing to make the top half was also a realistic possibility. We took care of business though and managed to even take a 2 point buffer into the remaining games against the other top sides.

From there we picked the right time to hit our best form, running off 4 wins in a row to take the league with a game to spare! A ten game undefeated run to close out the season made it look a lot more comfortable than it was, but I'll take it over the usual collapse any day.

Youth Intake

A bounce back year after the bad intake from last year. The poor junior coaching is still hurting, many of these players have a lot of developing to do.

[21a] Stephen Kelly - MC - Has some very nice stats for what I ask of my MCs, but needs more rounding out yet. Seems to be developing a bit already though.

[21b] Joel McGrath - ST - Finishing and not much else. I don't ask a lot of my striker, but he needs to be at least 1 1/2 dimensional.

[21c] Darren Moffett - AMR/AML - Continues the trend of a couple of really good stats in nice places but so many low ones.

[21d] Lee McGuigan - AMC/MC - Much more well balanced, has the best chance of playing in the short term.

[21e] Chris Stitt - DC/DR - Always good to get a big body for down back. You can't train height.

[21f] Barry Marshall - MC/AMC - Bad physical stats are always a red flag.

[21g] Andrew Murphy - DC/DL - As with Stitt, you can't train height. Sadly is rated injury prone.

Youth Wrecking it at the Rec

[18a] David Byrne - AMC - Again lead the team in assists and chipped in with more goals this year. Now rated by the ass man as the best player at the club.

[17c] Gavin Fegan - MC/AMC - Very pleased that his average rating has gone up every year he's been with us. Hopefully more growth like that still left.

[18e] Simon Bennett - DR/DL - Some players just outperform their stats and he's been our best defender for a second straight year.

[19f] Gary Strain - MC - The third of our midfield trio growing up together. Generally plays as the most defensive which is under appreciated by average rating.

Next Season

I think this will be a bigger step up and I fully expect to lose a lot more games than we win. Just looking to pick up some points against the others that will be towards the bottom and stay in touch, if we can do that then hopefully we do well after the split and can stay up.

[MarcxD]

Season 3 - 2018/2019 - Segunda B - 7th

League Table End of season awards/stats Team of the Year Season review Squad Transfers Manager profile

Even though my expectations were low for the season, we actually performed very well and finished 7th (the media predicted an 11th finish). For two or so matchdays we were even in the play-off spots, some dissapointing results in the end saw an end to the Liga Adelante dreams. Probably for the better, seeing that we lost some of our best players because of the financial situation. We've actually gone in administration and our wage budget has gone down about 1M p/a.... More chances for the youth to show their worth, I guess!

Youth Intake 2019 Again an okay intake, pleased that we got a couple of defenders, we severely lacked in that area.

YP3a - Jan Prieto, DR Best player P.a.-star wise, although the awful determination isn't a very hopeful sign.

YP3b - Albert Imaz, MC could be a decent player, although the MC position(s) are already hotly contested by previous regens.

YP3c - Gerardo Delgado, DCLR Decent allround defender with very good determination. Should definitely be an important player for the club.

YP3d - Benjamin Garcia, SC Although he might not look very spectacular, he is important because he is a back-up striker who isn't pure sh*t.

YP0a - Sergi Castillo, DM, DC Played almost every match (at 18 years old he has already played more than 100 matches for the club!) and I have managed to sign him for at least a while longer with a new minimum release fee of €500k. There were rumours about Albacete interest, so I'm very happy that at least for now he is willing to stay.

YP0b - Lluis Masó, SC A decent season for him, although injured for a while, he once again scored more than 10 goals in the league. Hopefully we can fulfill his 'long-term plan' of winning the liga adelante one day!

YP1a - Joel Mir, AMC Hasn't developed or performed quite the way I would like him too, but he still has a future at the club, although the competition for the midfield places is only going to get stronger and stronger.

YP1b - Josep Maese, DM, DM, [DC] This guy, for instance. Has rarely made the first XI but I try to make sure he gets subbed on a lot.

YP1d - Josep Lardin, AMR Was my back-up AMR for the season, but since my former bestplayer, an AMR, has left the club now, he has to step up to fulfill that role.

YP1e - Carles Burgos, MC One of the best MC-regens so far. But...

YP2a - Francesc, MC ...this guy has shown to be a definite first-team player. One of the biggest prospects at the club, for sure, although like most of my players he lacks much determination. I should probably pay more attention to tutoring and all that...

Since we are in financial troubles (my salary is now €65k p/a instead of 105k! ) and a couple of very important players left the club, I don't see us performing the same way next season. The media predicts a 15th place finish next year, but I think a decent mid-table finish is realistic. Anything higher than that would be excellent. If the players keep developing and they're willing to sign on a little bit longer (for hardly any rise in wages) we should be building a decent squad. Let's just say I'm taking my time...

[Shakes]

Don't worry about taking your time, it took me 9 years to get out of the lowest division back in FM12. You've got plenty of time.

[dan_simmonds]

FC Vitkovice

End of Season 1 - 2016/17

Fotbalová Národní Liga

We had a great start to the season, an incredibly poor middle and a not bad end. A mid table finish was nice, but now we need to build on that. Another season of consolidation and another year for the youngsters to grow in stature and I hope to see us slightly further up the table next season.

Ceská pošta Cup

We met our targets, before falling to First Division and perennial powerhouse Sparta Prague. All in all, exactly what we needed to do.

Transfers

No transfers, as part of my challenge

First Team

Key Players

1. Petr Wojnar - MC - He made our midfield tick over all season long. He's going to be a big piece of the team for the next few years and a huge asset when it comes to tutoring Sedak and Musil.

2. Jan Schulmeister - MR - Worked hard to learn how to play deeper, and responded with a fantastic campaign. 8 goals from the right hand side, but he'll have to improve his assists next season.

3. Ales Taraba - MC - Wojnar's partner in crime, but he's going to struggle to find lots of playing time next season with Sedak and Musil breathing down his neck for playing time.

Youth Team

A lot of the youngsters that came through have already been moved into higher squads. We're going to start stocking this team up over the next few years and hopefully find a gem or two.

Best Three 'Yoofs'

1. Petr Sedak - MC - The future of this team. He broke into the first team, but suffered from a torn hamstring before he had the chance to make a massive impact. There's a spot in the team that's his to lose, it's up to him to make it count.

2. Jakub Zemanek - ST - He's had issues this year with inconsistency, but he's pushing hard. He'll backup Musiol, and with Musiol's injury record will no doubt get a chance to shine.

3. Jiri Novak - DM - Although a CB by trade, I see him as the solution to my DM problems. He's being retrained, and looks likely to be the first choice in that position next season.

Youth Intake

It was a pretty decent intake, Sedak, Musil, Novak and others all looking like they'll be able to contribute in one form or another.

Facilities

No updates to the facilities, as the board won't let me. We'll see what we'll be able to do in the next season or so.

Finances

We lost nearly 1M over the course of the season. I'm not sure how we're going to break even until we reach the league above and even then Europe is likely to be our major money spinner.

Board Objectives

Fotbalová Národní Liga - Midtable - Achieved, and we hope with some more to come.

Ceská pošta Cup - Third Round - Again, achieved and we went as far as we could reasonably expect.

------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
| Season   |  League                 | League Position |  Ceská pošta Cup      | Europa League| Champions League |
------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
| 2016/17  |  Fotbalová Národní Liga | 10th            |  3rd Round            | N/A          |  N/A             |
------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------[/Code]

[Shakes]

2021/22 - Danske Bank Premiership - 12th

Table | Cups | Squad | Transfers

Looking at our comparisons we were the worst team in the league at practically everything, so staying up was going to take some doing. I knew the most likely result was we were down and it turned out that way.

Took us 12 attempts to win our first game, and only managed 5 wins for the season. Defense was fragile but only as much as I expected, the real problem was lack of goals. We really really sucked at putting the ball in the net - by far the worst shots per goal ratio in the league. If we'd been able to convert even at the level of some of the other bottom feeders we may well have been able to at least make the relegation playoff, if not stay up in our own right.

I'm not too disappointed though, we were still losing money at that level so realistically it doesn't make a huge deal of difference if we had hung on or not. Much development needs to happen, and it will be a little easier to play the young players in the 2nd tier. Squad will be getting a clean out with most of the old blokes who remain being moved on and committing 100% to youth since I really don't mind if we don't bounce straight back up next year and I don't think relegation will be a real threat.

Youth Intake

Another high potential intake here, between the last two we have a lot of potential, it's just a matter of who we can find playing time for so they can develop.

[22a] Richard Sinnott - AMC - My best player already plays AMC and I have another good prospect there so maybe he can be made into a striker.

[22b] Graeme Mullan - ML - Will need to develop massively in the youth team to stand a chance of making it.

[22c] Adam McAree - DR/DC - Rated as a centre back but I think he's more of a right back that can fill in there. A little further along than most that have come in.

[22d] Colin Bell - GK - A goal keeper with potential! Thrown into the first team as soon as I knew we were down. I'm just going to have to pump games into him and hope he works out.

[22e] Chris Thompson - ST - What is it with strikers who can finish and nothing else?

[22f] Robert Maguire - AML/AMC - Some nice pace which at least gives him something he can contribute with.

[22g] Jonathan Beattie - MC/AMC - Would be a better prospect if his defensive stats were slightly higher.

Youth Wrecking it at the Rec

[18a] David Byrne - AMC - Can't ask much more than to lead the side in goals and assists. Sadly his contract situation may be difficult with the wage budget cut.

[19b] Jordan Maguire - MR/AMC - Not much else to him but speed at this point, but he's kicked some important goals. Plays the position of our best senior player though, so will have to get better to cement a starting place.

Next Season

Development is the name of the game now, we know how far away we are from being able to compete at the top tier, so no point playing players who aren't going to be here for the long haul, have to identify the kids that are going to make it and feed them games.

[2481]

Great updates in this thread, it's fun following the progress of all these future stars

Nearly finished (finally) my first season with Varazdin, will post an update soon

[Braumiller]

Welcome onboard dan_simmonds! A nice debut season

A rough one there Shakes, but I like your mindset for the next couple of years.

MarcxD, squad building is vital, so hopefully the increase in games for you kids will result in them paying you back development wise!

I am only 1/2 way through my next season so far (FM is fighting with another game currently for my free time), but playing plugging away!

[MarcxD]

Don't worry about taking your time, it took me 9 years to get out of the lowest division back in FM12. You've got plenty of time.

Allright, that's good to know. Thanks!

MarcxD, squad building is vital, so hopefully the increase in games for you kids will result in them paying you back development wise!

Yeah, I hope so too

[Forest]

Friska Viljor FC - Season 2020 Review (Season 5)

End of Season Awards l Season Review l Fixtures l League Table l League Position Graph l Squad Stats l Transfers l Finance

Competitions

Second Division North : 2th

Swedish Cup : /

Season Review

Oh dear, I don´t know if I should be happy or angry with my squad. We started the season so well, getting 25 points from the first 10 games, but then I don´t know what happened. A thing which happens to me in every Football Manager. A hole where the team drops in the middle of the season. I tried that talk with the players, to change formation, but we didn´t even managed to win the games against the weak teams of the league. The conclusion was that we drop to position 6. I was really angry at this moment and I told the team to make drastic changes if they don´t start to perform again. This seemed to work as they start again to play very good football, but in the end it was not enough as Vänersborg FK won their last game and got promoted.

On the other side I know I can´t be too harsh either because the media tipped us on 10th place before the season, with a promotion quote of 81.00. So the team really performed this season. Another thing that may cause the mid-season collaps is the fact that the first eleven is full of youth products, except the goalkeeper Randeblad (who will finish career after the season). So we got a blood young team, with the oldest players being 20 years old.

Maybe the promotion would came a season too early for my squad, but next season I expect the big challenge for promotion. It will be the last chance to get hold of my great talents, because the other teams from 3rd Division and even Superettan are chasing my youngsters.

Friska players of the season

Manz Landin (YP02a) - Clearly our player of the season this year, also been voted as PotS form the fans. Making 13 goals and 3 assists, he brings fear for the opposition defenders. A good winger.

Kim Stenberg (YP03f) - Made some solid appereances in the centre midfield. Missed a few games caused injury.

Jesper Alander (YP01c) - Every year he brings performances. He developed very good over the season and he maybe our long term central defender.

Robin Larsson (YP04a) - Our new ´wonderboy´ Larsson. Played a very good first season. I hope and can get hold of him, because a lot of teams are chasing him.

Youth Intake

A good Youth Intake this year. Not a lot of quantity but a lot of quality. We signed this 5 guys into the academy

Per Jacobsson (YP05a) - Definately the best one this year. We were searching for a right winger, because I changed Landin from right to left. Jacobsson did very well in his first games scoring 3 times.

Peter Hansson (YP05b) - This young guy has some very good stats for his age and he will get his chances next year.

Axel Nordin (YP05c) - We were searching for a left wingback and found him. Good talent and made already 4 apearences this year and was really impressing.

Tomas Berg (YP05d) - Great physical stats. Nice acceleration and good pace. That´s it what you need in this division.

Niklas Bengtsson (YP05e) - Not the best one, but we are lacking in fullbacks, so I will see what I can do with him

Off the field

We managed to get another junior coaching. Our level is now ´excellent´.

Coaching courses is still not very popular at the board. At the beginning of the season, the chairman injected 110.000 Euro.

In May there were new elections, and I got a new boss. The first thing he did, was a bank loan over 170.000 to help with the debts. Incredible.

Oscar Hakansson (YP01n), our left fullback was voted as the defender of the season in the Swedish Second Division.

Manz Landin (YP02a) voted as midfielder of the season.

I hope we managed to gain promotion next year, but it´s so a good feeling when you see that you only got your boys in the first eleven.

[smp20]

League Table ~ Facilities ~ Finances ~ Transfers ~ Best 11 ~ Tactic

Youth Intake ~ Zellweger 17A ~ Bourgis 17B ~ Adrio 17C ~ David 17D ~ Colas 17E ~ Kovac 17F

An excellent first season which saw us promoted to the top flight, we even managed to do so with 7 games to go. Our only downfall was our early exit in the cup. We played a nice brand of attacking football, making the most of a lethal front 4. One name that will be familiar with many is Johan Vonlanthen who was excellent in both providing and scoring alongside Vitkieviz who was our top assister. Our young forward pairing of Guillemenot and Cespedes tore the Challenge League apart, the latter being named top scorer and player of the league in the process. However, our fans chose a top performing defender, Sauthier, as their player of the season.

It was an excellent season and I will see how the same strategy works in the Super League, which has been won by Basel both years. Survival is key, but we need to work out how to make money in this league as we are in heavy debt at the moment. We have an excellent setup here for developing youth players and I am very excited about the prospect of Zellweger, who has already made 8 first team appearances and scored 3 goals. I am very pleased that after promotion we were able to offer better wages for staff members, so we now have a full backroom staff being assembled. I went 90% of the season without a physio!

[Shakes]

Forest - Suddenly falling in a hole is very familiar to me too, it gets better as the kids get older.

smp20 - Lucky clubs can't go bankrupt in FM, otherwise your team might be facing yet another financial relegation!

[Shreddie]

So I join the challenge and I join brenosantos in heading over to Iceland.

My choice of club was either Grotta or Ægir so Ægir was chosen, mainly due to the club forming in 1987 (my birth year), seemed as good as reason as any to pick them!

So an identity was needed!

Icelandic national Johann Arnardottir was born (Was the best I could find on an Icelandic name generator site ). Sunday League Experience and no coaching badges to his name but AEgir are happy to have him on board. I now have my National C License and currently studying for the National B License.

Season 1 - "The Get Through Season"

Kind of rushed through this season. Looks like wing backs is the way to go this year so plonked with that despite not really having the personnel to pull it off effectively. But hopefully the further down the line I get the more I will mould the players into the formation / tweak it depending on what my players can do. For now though the tactical side isn't my priority.

The start of "competitive games" came in the form of the Icelandic Upper Cup Group B. with a 4th placed finish behind the 2 Premier sides in Valur & IBV with Fram in 3rd place. I wasn't so fussed about this tournament and will use it next season in particular to give game time to some of my prospects. A 4-0 against Selfoss being the only notable performance.

League:

As you can see it's a pretty competitive league. I wasn't actually safe until the penultimate game of the season and was a bit worried at one point. I had a good spell at the end of June / early July where won 3 on the bounce + a draw but a weak August put any blinkered ideas of promotion to the back of the mind (was probably for the best!

Was pretty happy with 5th position especially considering the mid season injury crisis. Will have full squads for next season atleast and some decent(ish) rotation options to stop players getting burnt out. Will be looking to use my tagged youth players whenever I can to be honest even if it is to the slight detriment of the finishing position. Would be very happy with 5th again next season.

Transfers:

3 In's there. Can promise they weren't me - computer signed them before I arrived. Useless players anyway.

The Exciting Part ..................... Youth Candidates

From these I've marked out the following who are in my first team squad for next season.

J.H. Bjornsson:

Left back who I'm training as a left wing back - Will provide a rotation option for Daviosson in my 1st team. Will look to be playing him in the Icelandic Upper Cup plus a few league games.

T. Kjartansson:

2 possible roles for Trausti. Either a more sturdy option in midfield or using him as the defensive midfielder. Can imagine he will get a fair amount of game time next season.

M. H. Brynjarsson:

Already featured in the 1st XI due to being one of only a couple of players being able to play the role behind the two strikers. Imagine will get a fair amount of game time next season.

A. Kristinsson:

Future No.1 for Ægir - could well break into the 1st team next season. Will probably be used for the Icelandic Upper Cup atleast.

So Season 1 complete. Let's see what Season 2 brings.

[bennytee]

Good start there Shreddie, not that it matters but you've chosen a female name. Naming customs are pretty interesting and all together different in Iceland. Great place to manage though, good luck.

[brenosantos]

Good luck with AEgir, Shreddie!

[smp20]

Forest - Suddenly falling in a hole is very familiar to me too, it gets better as the kids get older.

smp20 - Lucky clubs can't go bankrupt in FM, otherwise your team might be facing yet another financial relegation!

That is very true! We are now only 600k in debt after sponsorship deals and we are going to receive 2.1m tv money over the next season so we should be pkay going forward. Never would have been able to sustain the wage bill i inherited in the 2nd tier!

[darren1983]

Parma - Season 2016/17 Serie C/A

League - after a an inconsistent start we found form in the 2nd half of the season, but a final day defeat away at Cremonese saw us finish 4th in the table and miss out on the playoffs as the top 8 playoff finishing teams from the 3 leagues play each other - we were 9th.

Fixtures 1 and 2

Squad

Transfers - empty

Youth Intake - not a bad one with 4 players tagged.

Silvano Fanfano (YP01A)

Mirco Manganelli (YP01B)

Emanuele Bronzi (YP01C)

Alessandro Parente (YP01D)

Career Overview

Season   Position   League     Achievements
--------------------------------------------------------------------------
2016/17    4th      Serie C/A            

[Bartrcm]

Very nice start of the challenge smp20. Congrats with the promotion.

Good first season Shreddie.

Nice progress in the challenge Forest.

[Forest]

Nice progress in the challenge Forest.

Thx mate, things are developing, not fast but they do

[Bartrcm]

Started again and this time in Portugal. Went to the Azores and became the new manager of Luisitanes Açores. Just finished the first season and it seems that I finally have found my team. Had a lot of fun in my first season. Will post an update tomorrow.

[smp20]

Very nice start of the challenge smp20. Congrats with the promotion.

Good first season Shreddie.

Nice progress in the challenge Forest.

Cheers bartrcm, good luck in the Azores!

[Jambo98]

Jambo98 - Youth Challenge Attempt 2 - C.D Castellón

Season 3 - 2018/19 - Spanish Second Division B3

League Position - 7th (Final Table) (Past Positions)

Cups - Not Entered (??!!)

Season Summary

A bit of a bounce back season for us. We started a little slowly again, the first 8 weeks were a bit of a slog but we tweaked a couple of roles and started to improve. We stuck to 4411 but our lack of any fit-for-purpose striker was hurting us. The experiment of Niche up top wasnt working, he was not scoring or looking comfy in his new role so around Jan we aborted that plan, and went back to using a combo of our useless looking 2 year back up striker, and a guy i plucked out of B team obscurity because he looked moderately versatile.

We made some good progress up the table in the second half, but the playoffs were always out of reach. We did have some inconsistency and against the really better teams (top 3 or so) our lack of quality was exposed a bit. We started to focus even more on playing our youths for the last 2 months, and the league was as tight as you-know-what between about 5th and 10th, so 7th not a terrible finish.

Somewhat strangely, we appeared not to get entered into the cup this year. We did not have a single cup fixture all year, which is baffling and also annoying as our finances are in a bad way (£700k in the red). The wage bill continues to climb a bit as we can only do 1 year deals for most players and they always want a bit of a raise

Notable performances

Niche - Still gets a mention even though he didnt work out as a striker. He wasnt terrible in that role, and scored a couple but we missed his goals from the wing. Once i moved him back there he thrived a bit more. Getting on a bit and YP18c is banging on the door in his position so a decision to make next year.

Jose Carlos - An untagged youth from my first intake, he got some playing time as we lost our 2 starting CM's to freedom of contract and he grabbed it. Chipped in a few goals and assits but an impressive 7.49 Ave Rat caught the eye. he did rotate a bit as we have a few similar types in CM, but he has staked his claim for the future.

Youth Intake

The Intake - My kingdom for a decent striker.......... No chance Overall the intake looks ok, no obvious stand out stand out superstar, but some quality. However i cant believe that in 3 years not a striker with more than 2.5 star potential I need to change my HOYD i think, which is a shame as he has a great personality type.

YP19a - Andres - An AMC in similar mould to Guitiererez, but perhaps one can be retrained as a striker or played a little deeper. Never unhappy with a quality AMC to be fair

YP19b - Yordi Olcina - We have a crowed situation at DC, including YP18b, but this guy looks like he can get in the mix.

YP19c - Jose Carlos Gimeno - I am not sure his PA stars justify a tag........but i need a striker of any sort, so i will take him and perhaps see what we can do with him!

Tagged Youth Updates

YP17a - Jose Vicente - Another excellent season from the wide man, appearing in all but 1 match and being consistent without blowing me away. Continues to be an easy first choice in his position.

YP17b - Jaume Gutierrez - Now he really is developing into a beast. Top scorer, best all round player and his attributes really rising. It is surely going to be hard to keep him any more than one more season. He is great in my SS role.

YP18a - Diego Cordon - Stepped right in as first choice RB and was solid throughout, with a nice bit of development over the year. Could be a stalwart for years if he sticks around

YP19b - Jose Carlos Moreno - The victim of a bit of a logjam at DC, with an untagged youth overtaking him on the depth chart he barely got any first team footbal. I have a big decision to make around whether to throw him in next year

YP19c - Vincenzo Bucciarelli - "Vinnie" got a chance near the end of the season for a few appearance but didnt really perform. A little raw, but might still be a decent bench option as he can cover 3 positions for me, and we only get 5 subs in this league

Facilities

No Change, still brassic.

Club Facilities

Transfers

Clean as a whistle.

2 of the 3 leaving were my first choice CM pairing the season before For the second year in a row, a DMC who played nearly every week for me refused to sign a contract and left, only to spend the entire following season with no club.

[darren1983]

This summer I sold a couple of young players to Serie A clubs - Matteo Contini for 200k to Sampdoria and Maurizio Franchini to Lazio for 550K

Didn't really want to let either go but 750k was too much for me to turn down - have used the money to invest in our youth facilities.

[Shakes]

Jambo98 - I believe the cup thing is that in Spain they only accept the top X of the teams from your tier, and your low placed finish last year excluded you this year. Next year you should be back in it because you finished higher.

[Jambo98]

Jambo98 - I believe the cup thing is that in Spain they only accept the top X of the teams from your tier, and your low placed finish last year excluded you this year. Next year you should be back in it because you finished higher.

Yeah i thought about that, but we entered the cup the first season, when our finish the previous season was not even in this tier. Actually if i look back on the club fixtures to the very "first" season, when they were not in a playable league, they still had a cup fixture.

Seems a bit messed up, but i suppose like plenty of things, its prolly just a bug in the early releases.

[Shakes]

Yeah i thought about that, but we entered the cup the first season, when our finish the previous season was not even in this tier.

That's the way the Spanish cup works, the first two tiers, the top teams from the third tier, and all the teams that won their 4th tier. Strange, but that's how it works in real life too, see https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Copa_del_Rey

[brettney1980]

Società Sportiva Dilettantistica Parma Calcio 1913

(Or just Parma);

So after sackings in Spain and Scotland i went through a few ideas (France, Denmark, Bulgaria (But for some weird reason could not get CSKA Sofia promoted, even though they have a much higher reputation...) and finally decided on a team i had looked over before i'd even started my first save... Parma.

My Profile.



Club Background.

Season 1 - 2016/17

At times Parma really felt like easy mode compared to my previous saves with this challenge, we went on winning runs that i could only dream of whilst in charge of my previous teams. Once we got towards intake day we were never really looking like finishing anywhere but top, we were clear and ended up winning the league with 3 games to go. I played youngsters/fringe players for those final 3 games and we could of finished even more points clear without that small sacrifice.

Serie C Cup: Group STage!

On my first training course... And some Youth Facilities work...

Squad|Transfers|League Table|Finances|Season Review|Awards

Class of 2017 - Youth Candidates;

Mauro Fusco YP1a - CM/DMC - Initial Profile|Coach Report

Daniele Leonardi YP1b - CB/LB - Initial Profile|Coach Report

Michele Valiante YP1c - GK - Initial Profile|Coach Report

Retirements;

Longobardi|Cacioli|Musetti

[Shakes]

Haha brettney1980, playing as a huuuuge club there, do they have record breaking season ticket sales like they do in real life? Guess you have to play them this year because it seems unlikely you'll get another chance.

[brenosantos]

Unfortunately, I got sacked after being relegated with Grótta at my fourth season. We did our best to survive with a weaker squad comparing with the last ones, but we fall into the relegation zone when we only had two more games to play and a draw against Vikingur Ó. finished with all of our dreams.

But I won't finish this save, and I'll start another challenge in Iceland, because Braumiller said that we can play the same save with teams thar haven't been promoted before. So, meet Mauricio Silva (my father irl), the new manager of Afturelding!

Ungmennafélagið Afturelding

Afturelding is an Icelandic sports club from the town of Mosfellsbær located just north of the capital Reykjavík. The team plays their home games at Varmárvöllur in Mosfellsbær, with capacity for 2500 all-seated people.

I'm starting with the weakest club at the First Division; we didn't have any staff! We didn't even have a centre-back. We'll need so much defensive power and so much strength to survive this season.

My Profile | Squad | Domestic Leagues History

[Shakes]

Good luck with your not-a-restart restart @brenosantos.

[Jens]

@brenosantos Good luck with Afturelding. I have been doing this challenge with Afturelding on FMC 15 for 9 seasons now.

Interesting to see how you get on.

[smp20]

League Table ~ Fixtures 1 ~ Fixtures 2 ~ Swiss Cup ~ Transfers ~ Best 11

Youth Intake ~ Miranda 18A ~ Ferrante 18B ~ Pashaj 18C ~ Perrin 18D ~ Arnaud 18E ~ Manevski 18F

Player of the Season - Cespedes ~ Runner Up - Sauthier ~ 3rd Place - Zellweger 17A

This season we shocked the Super League by clinching the title, stopping Basel win it for the 9th time in a row. Quite incredible considering we were predicted to finish 9th and 150-1 odds! In the Swiss leagues you play everyone 4 times and our 3-1-0 record against Basel made the difference. After our final game vs them, which we won 3-2, they wobbled and we managed to overtake them in the last game by beating fierce rivals Sion 4-0 away, what a way t do it. To add insult to Basel's injury, we scored a winner stoppage time in the Cup Final to steal the double from them. We had some great unbeaten runs and one blip in the second quarter where we lost quite a few matches. After this i switched between a 4-5-1 and the 4-2-4 and we became much less predictable. I'm still stunned by this season, it will be one exceptionally difficult to repeat. Champions League group stages here we come!

Another very good youth intake and Mario Miranda has already made 18 first team starts! He came in days after the intake due to injuries and never lost his place, Miranda and Zellweger on the wings are the new first choice. Top goalscorer Cespedes was voted player of the season by the fans, while Sauthier is still a fan favourite. Zellweger 17A is my new favourite player and he is developing rapidly and performing very well.

I don't really know what my expectations are for next season, the same again would be ridiculous! I will use the CL money to develop the infrastructure at the club.

EDIT: Just managed this as well

[Shakes]

Win the CL next year smp20 and complete it in the minimum time possible for the challenge.

[Bartrcm]

Incredible achievement smp20.

Congrats with the promotion Brettney1980.

Good luck again in Iceland @brenosantos.

Nice progress Jambo98.

[Braumiller]

A lot of updates! Some big clubs entering the challenge and some small ones too! Welcome (and good luck!!) to all

Congrats to smp20 for charging out of the gates!

Finally finished my 7th season at Fraserburgh and will get the report written up tonight.

It definitely feels like SI have tinkered with youth development this year, and I like it. Previously it felt like there was very little downside to just tossing the 15 year olds straight into battle the day after they signed their first deal. This year (at least with my small sample size) it feels like they buckle under the pressure a little easier, and they are also a little more inconsistent to begin with. It feels more realistic.

Heck, even your young wonderkid Rooney's had stints in their clubs youth team (u19s or whatever it was), before being handed first team chances.

Attribute development also feels (correctly) a little slower.

[smp20]

Cheers Shakes, bartcrm & Braumiller - it was a bit of a surprise to be honest but judging by this Swiss football is in a downfall. the bigger teams don't have the quality anymore, will be interesting to see how my squad does in Europe, on paper we should be at the hands of some heavy defeats against Europe's elite.

[Forest]

Friska Viljor FC - Season 2021 Review (Season 6)

End of Season Awards l Season Review l Fixtures l League Table l League Position Graph l Squad Stats l Transfers l Finance

Competitions

Second Division North : 4th

Swedish Cup : Second Round

Season Review

A season to forget for us this year. We were predicted 4th and finished 4th. I am really dissapointing, because I thought we got what it takes to do the promotion. But again tactics don´t work and a lot of injury problems. 5 wins out of six games in the beginning of the season and then nothing... Seems to be the same **** every year. Another huge difference is that the youth intake was really bad, i thinks the badest I´ve got in the 6 years in Sweden. But hey, no one asks you, you have to work with what is there.

A few guys developed very good, a few others not so good. Training Facilities and youth facilities are both very bad, as the board doesn´t allow me some upgrade. Same for the coaching courses, only junior coaching is at level ´excellent´.

This year was also the first time we entered the Swedish Cup. After a victory over Sundsvall IFK we draw Mjällby. We finally got beaten in the extra time.

We continue as every year, searching for a new tactic and trying the best to gain promotion.

Friska players of the season

Manz Landin (YP02a) - Good solid season for Landin, making 8 assists and scoring 7 goals.

Kim Stenberg (YP03f) - Was my best player this year on average. Playing in central midfield, he´s a great playmaker.

Per Jacobsson (YP05a) - Has some fantastic stats and brings a lot of danger at the right side, 8 goals 6 assists, very good first season.

Robin Larsson (YP04a) - Well, Larsson did well, but I expect more of him and I definatly hope he can changing games in future.

Niklas Sundqvist (YP04c) - Finally a striker who can score, 15 goals in 27 games, good stats for Sundqvist.

Youth Intake

How I said, very dissapointing Youth Intake. For this reason, I only gave 3 guys a youth contract.

Peter Wiklund (YP06a) - Definatly the best out of the three. Have to see how he will do, because I have now a few good guys in the central defence.

Daniel Nimmersjö (YP06b) - Another DC, I will give him a chance in the U21.

Marcus Drotz (YP06c) - Finally a goalkeeper, attributes are not the best, but will get his chances

Off the field

Over 200k cash injection from theboard this season, but still no upgrade and no coaching courses. We have to see, at the moment I´m feeling that I´m goin into the nowhere. We have to do promotion to look further..

[Forest]

It definitely feels like SI have tinkered with youth development this year, and I like it. Previously it felt like there was very little downside to just tossing the 15 year olds straight into battle the day after they signed their first deal. This year (at least with my small sample size) it feels like they buckle under the pressure a little easier, and they are also a little more inconsistent to begin with. It feels more realistic.

Heck, even your young wonderkid Rooney's had stints in their clubs youth team (u19s or whatever it was), before being handed first team chances.

Attribute development also feels (correctly) a little slower.

I can confirm all this!!

[MarcxD]

Season 4 - 2019/2020 - Segunda B3 - 6th

League Table Transfers Overall Best Eleven End of season-stats Team of the Year End of Season review Manager profile Squad with add. information

It went much better than expected! We lost a couple of important players and when we went into administration the board sold our single decent DC to Albacete. Those 17.5K didn't help the financial situation much, but with only a couple of very young regen DC's left, that was a big blow to me. I had to play some of the newgens from last year's update, and DM's out of their position, and that didn't help matters much. Thankfully we still (for now!) have a very decent goalkeeper and well... luckily the opposition isn't at the level where they punish you too much (unless you're playing the top 5 or so teams). We scored much less than last year but conceded only a little bit less, but some how we finished one position higher (although with less points). We also played in the Spanish Cup for the first time in three years because we finished in a decent position last year. (I was surprised when I didn't enter the cup as well Jambo98, I actually played in the Federation Cup in my first season as well, while it would be more logical if I had to play in that tournament the other years. Not sure if that's faulty from FM or just a weird system from the Spanish FA) Anyway, we got to the third round this year.

Our financial situation changed after the summer, when the debt was restructured. See this, this, and finally this. We're still making losses though, although not so much anymore since our wages have obviously gone down since the players who were on more than 100K a year (that was already the case before I joined) have all left. I hope the club will be in a better situation when the best regens want that kind of money though, I'd hate to lose them purely due to financial reasons.

Youth intake 2020 Very decent intake!

YP4a-Vicente Conde, AMC the AMC position was not used by me last year but I might start using it again as I now have a couple of potentially good players there. We'll see.

YP4b-Ferrán Coca, DC Very happy with him, because an extra DC was definitely needed. Good determination as well. Should already get quite a bit of game-time next season.

YP4c-Jaume Rodríguez, AML Also very happy with him, because after my AML (who is one of the few non-regens left) I've only gotten bad (A)ML regens. He has already played a couple of games last season because of a short injury for the main AML... I really needed this.

YP4d-Juan Álvarez, GK another position in which we desperately needed someone with even a bit of talent. My 1st GK currently doesn't want to re-sign, and if he doesn't change his mind before the end of the season we are really in a bad situation. This guy won't be ready then, but the only other choice we have is a below-average (even for this level) GK-regen.

Previous players who really made their marks this season:

YP0a-Sergi Castillo, DM[DC, MC] Hasn't progressed much but still one of my best players. Because of the lack of decent DC's he has played most of the season at DC, which is obviously not his favorite position. Their has been varied interest from Liga Adelante clubs and even sometimes lower BBVA teams. Probably because of his high asking price no one has offered yet though. He's close to playing 150 games for the club.

YP1d-Josep Lardín, AMR has progressed more. One of the best at the club right now. Chosen as best player by the fans and was topscorer. When my previous AMR left, I was really worried, but I'm very glad that this guy performed the way he did. Hopefully he can continue like this. He's already listed as favoured personnel.

YP0b-Lluis Masó, SC had not his best season, scored the least amount of goals so far, only 9, while he played most of the season. Still an important player though, and some of his goals have gotten us very important points. He's currently on 33 goals in 99 games in his whole Sant Andreu Career.

YP1b-Josep Maese, DM[DC, MC] Has progressed quite a bit more than Castillo, and has become the first choice-DM.

YP1e-Carles Burgos, MC This guy has developed quite well as well, as he has become one of the best MC's, even better than some of the older remaining non-regens I have left. Wants to win the BBVA. Well, me too, buddy.

YP3c-Gerardo Delgado, DRLC is already, at 17 years old, one of my main players. Since he can play at all defensive positions (although he obviously doesn't always perform quite up to standards) he was a mainstay in the first XI.

Next season, I want at least a top 8 finish , 3 in a row would be decent with such a young squad. I hope the players improve and I might rotate a bit more, some other regens haven't really gotten the chance to shine lately. We're not ready for promotion right now, but if I can keep the most promising players we should be able to within a couple of seasons. No promises though.

[smp20]

I've just had something awful happen. My laptop decided to crash (not the game, can't even blame a crash dump) and I lost the last month of the season. My motivation is now up in the air for my Servette career