[FM16] Partisan (adj) strongly supporting a person, principle, or political party,

[Jimbokav1971]

International Management.

Usually I would stay clear of International management at this stage of the save. Although I am doing well on a domestic level, I am still nowhere near competing on a European level so I think I am a long way from achieving what I would call proper success, (the latter stages of Champions League or Europa League competition). This position is different however. First of all, I have never won the Olympics in FM and this just seemed an opportunity too good to miss.

Secondly, there is no long and drawn out qualification process. We just have the Olympics themselves. I'm not sure if we will get any friendlies in between now and then, but I'm sure I can put up with them if we do.

We are in Group A in the Olympics which are being hosted by Japan and Germany are the defending Champions from 4 years ago.

Argentina were winners in 2004 & 2008 and are the top ranked Nation in the World, but I think a failing of FM is that that's the ranking of the Senior team and there are no aged group rankings below that. Each team just uses the ranking of the senior team.

We are ranked 13th in the World and it seems to me that our aged group teams are currently doing better than the senior squad, so we should probably be ranked higher than that.

New Zealand are ranked 113th, and we shouldn't have any issues in despatching them.

Japan on the other hand are ranked 19th in the World and will prove a much sterner test.

I think I can select 3 players over the age of 23 in the squad, and I will have to give some thought to this.

I'm gutted that Zivkovic (SRB) (F.Det) HG is injured with an achilles injury and will miss out. He would have been one of our best players. As it is I am probably going to limit myself to over-age player who have come through our own Youth System here at Partizan, (or at the very least played for us at some point. That means that I have to rule out such names as....

Brkic, Tadic, Gudelj, Stojiljkovic, (although he spent the 2006/07 season with us so I may let him in), Radoja, Spajic, Filipovic, Savic, Zdjelar, Antonov, Ristic, Rajkovic, Plavsic, Maras, Gajic, Grujic & Babic. There are some very good players indeed, but only Stojiljkovic will even be considered and even then, only if we are desperate.

On the other hand, the following players in the Senior National Squad are still in contention.

Ljajic of Roma, (came through our Academy).

Nastasic of Schalke, (came through our Academy).

Markovic of Liverpool, (came through our Academy).

Mitrovic at Newcastle, (came through our Academy).

Ilic at Fenerbache, (came through our Academy).

Drazic at Celta, (came through our Academy).

It's also just popped into my mind that I should refuse to call-up any players from Red Star. Is this taking the rivalry thing too far?

[Jimbokav1971]

Season Summary May 2020.

League Stage Table.

The domestic league campaign was pretty easy if I'm honest. By playing youngsters in the Cups and in Europe, we effectively allowed ourselves to waltz through this initial period. In actual fact, how well lost 4 league games during this period is astonishing to me. 3 of the games were lost over a period of 4 games in Oct/Nov and I have a sneaking suspicion that there must have been some drunk management going on.

League Stage Graph, (with Red Star comparison).

Final Phase Table.

League Fixtures to Winter break.

League Fixtures after Winter break.

Final Phase Fixtures.

Champions League Qual Fixtures.

We romped through the early qualifying rounds, (as expected), but I will make no secret that my heart dropped when I saw we had been drawn against Olympiakos, (who had put us out at the same stage last season). It had been my intention to give the Champions League Group Stage a real go this season and see if we could actually get out of it, but it looked like we weren't even going to get there. I needn't have worried though because in a real end-to-end chance-fest in the 1st leg, we took our chances and Olympiakos didn;t and the result was a 3-goal winning margin that allowed us to approach the away leg differently. A 1-1 draw saw us into the groups stage comfortably.

Champions League Group Stage Fixtures.

As mentioned above, I was all set to really give the Group Stage a proper go this season, but when I saw the draw I knew we had no chance. Instead I decided that we would just completely ignore the Group Stage and instead opt to field the youngsters for experience in all games. We did so, and as a result had a record-breaking season as we conceded more goals than any previous team in the Group Stage of the Champions League. (Not exactly the record-breaking that I had in mind for this save!)

Champions League Group.

Serbian Super Cup.

Serbian Cup.

End of Season Awards.

Fans Player of the Season.

Goal of the Season.

For some reason, I am unable to go back and view this goal, (never mind about uploading it), despite even trying to load old saves made shortly after the game was played. I think I can remember thr goal though and it came as a result of a short corner and resulted in a powerful 1st time strikr from outside the area by Jevtovic.

Signing of the Season.

Kostic won this award too to fo with his Fans Player of the Season. He was simply immense.

Young Player of the season.

[Jimbokav1971]

Stats 1.

Stats 2.

Facilities.

Affiliates.

Finances.

Transfers In. £390,000.

Transfers Out. £1.99M.

Loans Out. £604,000

Confidence. 71%.

Tactics. This picture shows that there are a total of 214 players in the National Pool and of that 214, 21 are GK's, 0 are Sweepers's, 77 are defenders, 49 are defensive midfielders, 73 are midfielders, 57 are attacking midfielders and 61 are strikers.

That seems to me as if we have a good number of GK's, not a single SW, not enough defenders, loads of midfielders and lots of strikers. I plan on creating or at least using a SW tactic so that at least we start producing sweepers. If we change our style and pattern of play, then maybe we will start a trend and get others to follow.

[Jimbokav1971]

Meet the Kriss'.

#1. Kriss Macesic (F.Sport) (SRB) (2016). (Striker).

Season 1. 2015/16. 1 appearance after coming through the academy.

Season 2. 2016/17. 3 appearances and his 1st goal for the club, (against Benfica in the Champions League Group stage).

Season 3. 2017/18.1(1) appearances in a season where opportunities were extremely limited.

Season 4. 2018/19. 5(1) appearances, (mostly in Europe), but no club goals, (although 2 for Serbia U19's).

Season 5. 2019/20. 22(9) appearances, 13 goals, 3 assists and 6 MOM's (while on loan at Indjija who were relegated). He also scored 4 goals in 4 games for (SRB) U19's.

What an outstanding season for the youngster as he finally made the step up to senior football and, (much to my surprise), did it with ease. 13 goals in 22(9) games doesn't sound amazing, but when you consider that Indjija finished 2nd bottom, were relegated, and the whoe squad only scored 38 goals, I think it's a brilliant return. To put that in perspective, only 4 players scored more league goals than him this season, and 2 of those were Partizan players. I don't think he is close to earning a starting point at home at Partizan, but I certainly look forward to seeing him go on loan and continue to score goals elsewhere.

#2. Kriss Rat (F.Det) (SRB) (2017). (Left back).

Season 1. 2016/17. 1 appearance after coming through the academy.

Season 2. 2017/18. 18 appearances including 1 goal and 1 assist.

Season 3. 2018/19. 15 appearances including 1 goal and 3 assists.

Season 4. 2019/20. 29 appearances including 2 goals and 6 assists.

A big step forward for young left back Kriss as he ousted the 1st choice left back, (albeit largely as a result of injury), and made the position his own. Although uncapped for the U21's he has now made 14 appearances for the U19 National side.

#3. Kriss Vulic (F.Amb) (SRB) (2018). (Centre-half).

Season 1. 2017/18. 2 appearances after coming through the academy.

Season 2. 2018/19. 9 appearances and his 1st club goal was all we saw of him after damaged cruciate ligaments kept him out for most of season.

Season 3. 2019/20. 10(7) appearances doesn't sound great, but he has returned from a serious cruciate injury and I am happy to take things slowly.

He lost 8 months in total because of the cruciate ligament injury, and I was concerned that this would have a significant impact on his PA. At this stage that doesn't seem to have been the case and he is still rated as 5.0 PA. I was ready to take it nice and slowly and ease him into senior football, (this was only his 2nd full season after all), and that's exactly what I did. He has already made a total of 12 appearances for the U19's, and he of course has another season to play at that age-group too. He is lacking a little physicality, (as you might expect from someone returning from a cruciate injury), but at this early stage it looks like it won't have too much of an impact on his long-term progression.

#4. Kriss Djord (F.Det) (SRB) (2019). (Striker).

Season 1. 2018/19. 1 appearance and 2 goals on the last day of the season saw him announce his arrival in style.

Season 2. 2019/20. "]12(6) appearances and 2 goals is a reasonable return for his 1st full season[/url].

In an area of particular strength within the squad, just to get on the pitch as a striker is a bit of an achievement in itself. He was never going to keep up his scoring record of his 1st game of 2 goals per game, and I'm relatively pleased with a 2 goal return this season. I'm still loving his ginger hair and how much it stands out when he plays. He hasn't yet featured for (SRB) U19's yet, but he has 2 more years available at that level so I'm sure his time will come. With Macesic (2016) sure to go out on loan he is likely to still get appearances, and I'm hoping that he will break into the (SRB) U19 squad this coming season.

#5. Kriss Kruc (F.Pro) (SRB) (2020). (Central midfield).

Season 1. 2019/20. 1(9) appearances is an impressive start to his professional career.

It should be pointed out that no Kriss had previously made more than 2 appearances in a debut part-season, so while 1(9) appearances may not seem like much, it's actually really impressive. I wasn't the only one who's eye he caught and as a result he featured on 3 occasions for (SRB) U19's. He also has the best personality of any of the Kriss' so far, and I am hoping that this, together with more exposure to senior football is really going to see his development rocket.

[Jimbokav1971]

This wasn't what I had planned.

But all's well that ends well.

[Jimbokav1971]

Change in HoYD.

I know that Youth intakes have been good, but I have been on the look-out for a new HoYD and as a result, the old HoYD has been pottering along on a month to month contract, (which is never a good idea).

My sights were set on the legend that is Raul, (who happens to be a Model Pro), but he wanted too much money and just couldn't get the deal done.

This is the old HoYD.

This is the new HoYD.

There isn't a huge difference, but obviously Determined personality is an improvement on balanced, and some of the less vital attributes seem better too.

One other thing that caught my eye, (and might be worth keeping an eye on), is the preferred formation for the new HoYD compared to the old one. Mio had a preference for a wide formation, which meant that we saw wingers come through the ranks. Leo on the other hand likes narrow formations and I think that it could well reduce the number of wide players, but increase the number of central players. I'm actually more keen on getting the wide players so if this does indeed start a trend then it's something I will have to look to change.

Lastly, there is Belarus as primary Nationality. My only issue with that is that if we get a Belarussian youngster through the Youth intake, how will I be able to tell if it's as of a result of the Feeder club Toprpedo whatever, or the HoYD?

[Jimbokav1971]

We've risen in the Competition rankings from 18th to 14th and as a result we have gained additional European qualification spots.

We were getting 1 Champions League spot, 2 Europa League, and a 3rd Europa League through the Cup.

We will also be joining the Champions League qualification at a later stage, (albeit yet not at the Group stage). This should help whoever finishes 2nd, (hopefully not us), to also progress in Europe. 2 teams also now joing the Europa League at the 3rd Qualification Round, (rather than the 1st). This should again help Serbian teams to progress and obviously increase prize money.

[Bedese]

Change in HoYD.

Lastly, there is Belarus as primary Nationality. My only issue with that is that if we get a Belarussian youngster through the Youth intake, how will I be able to tell if it's as of a result of the Feeder club Toprpedo whatever, or the HoYD?

I think it tells you in the message if any of the players are from your feeder club.

[Carninho]

...and on the player history screen it will be his first club.

be careful with the Olympics, obviously check the dates of your fixtures for club/country. you may find that the early champions league qualifiers will over lap

[Jimbokav1971]

...and on the player history screen it will be his first club.

be careful with the Olympics, obviously check the dates of your fixtures for club/country. you may find that the early champions league qualifiers will over lap

My understanding is that both of them will show Partizan as the first club on the players history screen, (but not 100% sure on that).

Thanks for the advice regarding the Olympics. I will keep an eye on that.

[Jimbokav1971]

For those wondering how my Model Pro OCD is getting on.......

Slowly but surely making progress.

[Jimbokav1971]

Partizan/Red Star rivalry.

Red Star overview.

Considering that Red Star have been poorly managed for the last few years, they actually have a very very very good squad. They have 4 players valued at over £1M, and 7 more valued at higher than £500,000. What really catches my eye about their squad however is that they have 2 young Uruguayans.

They spent just £975,000 on a 22yo DM from (URU), and £250.000 on his SC fellow countryman. .

They are currently sitting top of the pile after 7 games in 2020. (We have been decimated both by injuries and also call-ups to the 2020 Olympics, but are somehow only 2 points off the pace in 3rd).

Time to restore the normal order of things, give them a doing, and leap-frog them in the league.

We were lucky.

[Jimbokav1971]

​

[Edit]

[Jimbokav1971]

Partizan Old-boy breaks National Team goal-scoring record.

It's a sad state of affairs that the record is only 35 International goals, and I think I already have at least 1 person in the Partizan squad who will go on to break the 50 goal mark, (while under AI management).

[Edit]

Actually, of course the record is low. Silly me. Mirko Vucinic started playing for Serbia and Montenegro, and he was born, he was born in Yugoslavia rathern than either Serbia or Montenegro. He then chose to represent Montenegro rather than Serbia, (he's from Nikšić which is now the largest city in Montenegro).

[Edit2]

I've just realised that it was Montenegro rather than Serbia anyway!

[endtime]

And to top it all off, Niksic is only the second largest city in Montenegro

[Jimbokav1971]

And to top it all off, Niksic is only the second largest city in Montenegro

Shush!

[Jimbokav1971]

New coaching licence for me. November 2020.

[Jimbokav1971]

No Serbs on the 2020 Ballon d'Or shortlist for 2020.

[Jimbokav1971]

New Affiliate.

I will be honest here and admit that I thought they were CFR Cluj, (the title challenging Liga 1 Romanian team). I wasn't initially keen on a Romanian team, but what caught my eye was this.

I had clubs in top level leagues in similar Nations, (Croatia for example), but for these purposes I think it's worth looking at a club that has fallen on hard times and dropped down a division, (and were relegated again this season in real life), based on the fact that their facilities are excellent and they are likely to produce better youth products than some of the other options we were given. As a result, I opted to request them as the new feeder, despite them not being the club I initially thought they were, being in a lower league, and never actually having heard of them.

Obviously the above is no good in a non-playable league, so I have immediately activated both the Romanian Liga 1 and Second Division, (and these will actually start in June). This means that I will have the following leagues loaded.

Serbia. SuperLeague & First League.

Belarus. Vysshaya Liga.

Romania. Liga 1 & Second Division.

South Africa. Premier League.

Uruguay. Primera Division.

I'm allowing myself to sign non-Serbs from my feeders, (otherwise there is no point in having them), but they are the only non-Serbs allowed.

I'm waiting for 2 Uruguayans and 1 South African to join. Nothing Earth-shattering, but certainly the 16yo South African Majola (RSA) (F.Det) * looks a decent prospect.

[Jimbokav1971]

Squad depth at right back.

From what has previously been an area of strength, I have taken my eye off the ball a little and right back is currently our "problem area". Our best DR was sold to Al-Ahli (KSA) for £1.8M because he had served his time and was becoming unhappy. At the time I was content to let him go because I had the ageing Vulicevic (F.Pro) as a more than reasonable back-up, and in addition to Jovan Vialukin (F.Det) HG and utility player Alexs Zdravkovic (F.Pro), I had 2 bright young things in the form of home-grown starlets Jelic & João. The problem is that although Vulicevic can still be used to some degree as a tutor, his CA has completely dropped off a cliff with his physical decline and as well as not being capable of playing for the senior team now, he has also dropped off to such an extent that it is not easy for him to tutor decent PA youngsters because they are more than likely up to his CA already. Add in the fact that Vialukin is more of a defensive full back than the rampaging full-back that I desire, and Zdrvkovic, (as well as being Mr Defensive Utility), also seems to have dropped off a little in terms of PA. (Not completely sure what happened there because I have tutored him positively and given him reasonable(ish) game time. What I really want is 17yo (20b) Jelic (SRB/BIH) (Det) to come through and make the position his own.

He's not really good enough at the moment, but I have to balance the needs of the current with the plans for the future. This guy is home-grown, looking reasonable at the moment and is developing well. He might not be called Kriss, but he's decent nevertheless.

The 5 players who's PA I've highlighted are not going to be good enough. They will be kept as stock players for the U19's and then sold/released/loaned out as and when an opportunity present itself. I've just decided right now that I'm going to have a bit of a cull at the end of the season and the following players are going to go, (somehow).

Zdravko, Zdravkovic, Zeba, Bacanin, Stamenic, (who is out on loan and not on the above list), & Stojanovic are all going to go.

Cirkovic is actually a DC and is needed as cover there.

Djokovic will be loaned out.

Krstic (who is currently out on loan), will be 24 and will be able to assist Vulicevic as tutor.

Samardzic will play in the U19's for his last year.

Boris will hopefully start making senior appearances and play in U19 European games.

If I ignore the 2 poor CA tutors this is what it should look like next season, (assuming I don't bring any more in), and assuming we don't get any more in the new Youth Intake.

That seems a bit more manageable.

[Edit]

Those who are paying close attention might see the nickname I have created for Boris. That indicates that I nicked him from Red Star. I keep changing my mind about buying their players. Initially I was going to buy all their players so that they would have nothing coming through and would hopefully waste the money. Then I wasn't going to buy any of them ever, (apart from the one I bought by accident because he was on loan elsewhere). Now though I have decided on a final and concrete strategy that I am going to stick to with regards to buying players from the Red Scum, (apologies Crvena Zvezda fans, that is just a joke for the purposes of the thread). I am going to seek out and buy any of their brightest prospects that I can prise away from them as this is in line with doing everything I can to screw them over with the ultimate goal of finally seeing them relegated down to unplayable!

[Jimbokav1971]

Youth Intake 2021, (and really interesting it is too!)

I know that Montevideo is in Uruguay so I know that Viera is from Feeder club River Plate. I don't know where Las Piedras is, but looking at the name William Viera, I expect him also to be from River Plate.

Unless you have played in San Marino, you won't be aware that Serravalle is in San Marino.... (OMFG do I have a son.......?)

No. At least not unless he is an illegitimate ******* who doesn't use my name.

There is no Kriss this season, but there is a Krissandro.

[Edit]

To put Krissandro in perspective, he is the greatest Sammarinese footballer that has ever walked the planet. (oh how I wish he was my son).

[Edit2]

For the 1st time ever during this save, I haven't signed all 16 of the Youth Intake to youth contracts.

(21p) Zoran Serafim (F.Amb) has been released.

(21o) Bulatovic (Bal) has been released.

(21n) Stoilkovic (F.Amb) has been released.

(21m) Bojan Marjanovic (L.Det) has been released.

(21l) Momcilo (Bal) has been released.

(21i) Vlad Jovan (F.Amb) has been released.

So that's 6 of the 16 released, (which is good going for me), leaving 10 signing youth contracts.

2 were kept because they were from (URU).

1 was kept because he was from San Marino, (but it also helped that he was the best player from the intake).

2 were kept because of Professional personalities, (still no Model Pro yet).

1 was kept because we don't have any MR/AMR's in the youth team.

4 were kept because they were reasonable

[Jimbokav1971]

My best striker has just broken his leg, (in a friendly).

Mihaljlo (SRB) (Pro) has been under-performing because he wants to leave and join a bigger club. I obviously don't want to let him leave and as he has 2 and a bit years left in his contract, I haven't been too concerned about giving him what he wants, (despite his unhappiness, and the fact that he has under-performed as a result). I have just persuaded 3 players who felt the same way that our youngster are on the verge of creating something special within the squad, and my hope is that the injury might just keep him at the club long enough for him to be involved when it comes to fruition.

I have 2 first choice strikers that I try and rotate starting/bench, and the rest are pretty raw, (although we have 2 Kriss strikers waiting in the wings for a chance.

Mihaljo had become first choice striker, (we are playing with 1 up front at the moment), largely because Djorde (F.Det) has the PPM "Plays with back to goal", and I really don't think it fits well with how we want to play, (and I guess I am too stubborn or too stupid to create a workaround that fits him in better without changing too much else).

Djuradj (Res) * is going to be very good, but I will be honest and tell you that the reason I spent £550,000 on him was al about his personalty. My plan is really for him to tutor others rather than fire us to success himself. He just has to be of a certain level to do that, (and he is that and more).

(19d) Serafimovic (F.Pro) isn't a striker, but I hope that he is the long-term successor to the AP(a) role in the AMC line. Yes, I am absolutely prioritising him because he came through the academy, and I flippin love that he actually seems to be turning out better than the initial report suggested.

(19b) Nikolic (Det) * is a problem because we already have a 1st and 2nd choice striker and then we also have 2x Kriss strikers. When and how is this guy actually going to get a game? He's made 4 sub appearances this season and has scored in both league and Europe. I think it's almost time for him to go on loan.

Jovo (F.Amb) * suffers from the problem of both not being a super-star yet, but also not being home-grown. I have to accept that he just isn't going to make it here and I need to sell him on, (for quite a tidy profit as I bought him in for only £190,000).

(16a) Kriss Macesic (F.Sport) (2016) had a great season last year and scored 13 goals for Indjija as they failed to avoid relegation. I sent him back there again this season, (despite the relegation), in the hope that if he could score 13 goals for them in SuperLeague, he would tear up the First League. Despute Indjija doing well, something has changed and Kriss is struggling with a return of just 3 goals this term.

(19a) Kriss Djord (Bal) (2019) has really hit the ground running and in terms of performances, has probably been the form striker at the club, notching 9 goals in 14(3) appearances as he scored in the Champions League, SuperLeague, Serbian Cup and Serbian Super Cup.

I was contemplating selling Djorde (F.Det) before a recent rich vein of scoring, (15 goals in 11(5) appearances this season), but he has 3+ years left on his contract and is happier than Mihaljo, (but I love the Pro personality), so in the short term I expect to have to battle against the "plays with back to goal ppm".

[Jimbokav1971]

May 2021.

With a 7th successive SuperLeague title secured with games to spare, I decided to field not just a starting line-up, but a whole matchday squad made up entirely of players classed as homegrown at the club. Frustratingly, I didn't get the media comment that highlights this feat, and I think this might be as a result of left winger Mijojko (F.Pro) HG actually coming through the academy at Rad, before we purchased him for £100,000 as a 17 year old. Although he is classed as HG at club, he is NOT a product of our academy and I made a mistake selecting him for this match.

I will be fielding 100% academy produced squads before too long, but I will make a real effort to do it at least once next season.

[leonavich]

Loving Krissandro!!!

Did you get a bit nostalgic with the SM \ Italian Dual Nationality

[deltablue]

Krissandro is in the wrong youth save

[Jimbokav1971]

When I saw him, my initial reaction was that I had a son!!! Gutted that it wasn't true. (Even more so because of how good he is).

I have just checked and the profile that I used has me as a (SMR/SRB) ex International footballer.

I will always have a soft spot for San Marino even if I don't manage there every season. I spent almost 2 full years playing 1 save there and I loved every minute of it, (still tempted to crank it up again even now).

I think I am an honorary Sammarinarian, (is that even a word?)

[nie jem frytek]

I think I am an honorary Sammarinarian, (is that even a word?)

San Marinian.

[Jimbokav1971]

Transfer rumour.

Not unless he can pull a Serbian grand-parent out of somewhere we're not.

[Jimbokav1971]

The fact that we did this with what I considered to be a complete 2nd team, (apart from GK), and with 4 more players unavailable, suggests that I may have to have a little re-think about who sits where in the squad pecking order.

Yes they received 2 reds, but we were already 2-0 up by then.

[Jimbokav1971]

Youth Intake Feb 2022.

The overall quality of the Intake is good, and additionally we have a 5.0 PA player, (which is always good).

We have recently lost our affiliation with River Plate of (URU), (they had a change of direction after a board takeover), but we weren't able to make use of any of our other affiliations. The best player, (Kriss Marko), has (MNE) as a 2nd Nationalty, and we have again have a (SMR) player come through our academy, (although on this occasion with significantly less quality).

Kriss Marko (2022) (Det).

He's good, (in fact he's very good), but I was actually hoping for a DM or a MC.

It's frustrating too that we get 2 more decent left-backs through when I already seem to have an over-abundance of them.

[Jimbokav1971]

Apologies. I have been playing, but due to work commitments, while I have been able to squeeze playing in, updates have fallen by the way-side. I have completed 2 more seasons and I am going to do some sort of update now, (well, over the course of this afternoon while watching the football), but it's not going to be as detailed as previous seasons.

I'm keen to do an update that shows the youth intake and of course the year on year development of the Kriss', so I guess that I am saying that it's the actual "season" info that will have to be reduced. Anyway, I will see how it pans out.

[Jimbokav1971]

Season Summary May 2021.

League Stage Table.

League Stage Graph, (with Red Star comparison).

Final Phase Table.

League Fixtures to Winter break.

League Fixtures after Winter break.

Final Phase Fixtures.

Champions League Qual Fixtures.

Champions League Group Stage Fixtures.

Champions League Group.

Serbian Super Cup. Lost 3-1 to Javor.

Serbian Cup. Champions. (Not only are we champions for the 1st time under my tenure, but it's actually the 1st time we have even made the final).

End of Season Awards.

Fans Player of the Season.

Goal of the Season.

Signing of the Season.

Young Player of the season.

Stats.

Facilities.

Affiliates.

Finances. £65M in the bank.

Transfers In. £3.52M.

Transfers Out. £16.73M (+ another £390,000 from loans).

Confidence. 78%.

Tactics.

[Bedese]

A win over Barca

[Jimbokav1971]

Meet the Kriss'.(May 2021)

#1. Kriss Macesic (F.Sport) (SRB) (2016). (Striker).

Season 1. 2015/16. 1 appearance after coming through the academy.

Season 2. 2016/17. 3 appearances and his 1st goal for the club, (against Benfica in the Champions League Group stage).

Season 3. 2017/18.1(1) appearances in a season where opportunities were extremely limited.

Season 4. 2018/19. 5(1) appearances, (mostly in Europe), but no club goals, (although 2 for Serbia U19's).

Season 5. 2019/20. 22(9) appearances, 13 goals, 3 assists and 6 MOM's (while on loan at Indjija who were relegated). He also scored 4 goals in 4 games for (SRB) U19's.

Season 6. 2020/21. 31 appearances, 8 goals while on loan at Indjija in the First League.

This season was a bit of a let-down if I'm honest. He scored 13 goals for Indjija last season while in the SuperLeague, so to score fewer goals for the same team in a lower Division is frustrating. It's still not a horror-showing, but he will have to do better next season. I'm just not sure that it will be at Indjija again.

#2. Kriss Rat (F.Det) (SRB) (2017). (Left back).

Season 1. 2016/17. 1 appearance after coming through the academy.

Season 2. 2017/18. 18 appearances including 1 goal and 1 assist.

Season 3. 2018/19. 15 appearances including 1 goal and 3 assists.

Season 4. 2019/20. 29 appearances including 2 goals and 6 assists.

Season 5. 2020/21. 36 appearances including 2 goals and 7 assists.

It was his 1st season as 1st choice left back and he did well. The left back role is not as attacking as the right hand side, (because the left wing is more attacking than the right). As a result I don't expect the same number of assists. Interestingly though, he does seem to have an eye for goal. Our most recent Kriss is another left back, (who can play further forward), and he has better PA than the 2017 version. It seems as if Kriss could soon replace Kriss, (which is a shame).

#3. Kriss Vulic (F.Amb) (SRB) (2018). (Centre-half).

Season 1. 2017/18. 2 appearances after coming through the academy.

Season 2. 2018/19. 9 appearances and his 1st club goal was all we saw of him after damaged cruciate ligaments kept him out for most of season.

Season 3. 2019/20. 10(7) appearances doesn't sound great, but he has returned from a serious cruciate injury and I am happy to take things slowly.

Season 4. 2020/21. 18(3) appearances, including 1 goal is a decent return after his return from injury.

His PA doesn't seem to have taken a huge hit as a result of serious injury, (I'm hopeful of that at least), but I've become slightly worried with regards to his lack of development in physical areas. Add in that his personality isn't great and he also needs to improve in determination, there is lots of room for improvement.

#4. Kriss Djord (F.Det) (SRB) (2019). (Striker).

Season 1. 2018/19. 1 appearance and 2 goals on the last day of the season saw him announce his arrival in style.

Season 2. 2019/20. "]12(6) appearances a[/url]n"]d 2 goals is a reasonable return for his 1st full season[/url].

Season 3. 2020/21. 23(4) appearances including 10 goals is a pretty reasonable return.

He often played in a weakened team and especially where it came to Europe, against tough opposition. 10 goals in a season as a very respctable milestone for an 18 year old in only his 2nd full season. I don't see him challenging for a starting position next season unless I am forced to sell players for whatever reason, and I really don't want to loan him out for for 1 more season so.... he could stagnate a little. Let's hope that the individual training is worth the lack of game-time.

#5. Kriss Kruc (F.Pro) (SRB) (2020). (Central midfield).

Season 1. 2019/20. 1(9) appearances is an impressive start to his professional career.

Season 2. 2020/21. 26(1) appearances including 1 goal and 2 assists during his 1st full season for the club.

It initially looks like quite a modest season, but I think that's a pretty significant contribution from a 17 year old playing at this level. In a lot of the games, although he started, he was replaced by the AI at half-time. I didn't particularly mind this, but had I been managing the games myself, I would have course opted to do it the other way around so that he would be competing against tiring players. I have a feeling that he is going to be a HUGE player for us.

#6. Krissandro (SMR/ITA) (F.Sport) (2021). (Right winger).

Season 1. 2020/21. 11(1) appearances including 2 goals is a decent introduction to senior footballer for a 16 year old.

It's interesting that although (SMR) is his primary Nationality, he hasn't been called up for an National team at any level and I have seen no media comments regarding this. It makes me think that there is a danger in him opting for his secondary Nationality of (ITA). I really hope not. Again, he has been largely playing the 1st half of matches, with the AI often making a double change at HT.

[Jimbokav1971]

A win over Barca

Yes.

It's actually a strange one in that it was our Reserves that beat them. Although I can't remember the game, I know that it was our Reserves because even 12 months on, each of the goal-scorers has still not secured a 1st choice position. Miljojko has improved to be 2nd choice striker this season, (more in rotation than purely 2nd choice if I'm honest), but certainly the fact that Kriss Djord scored 1st half goals guarantees that it was a weakened team.

[Jimbokav1971]

The best player from the 2020 Youth Intake has just become our first ever home produced Wonderkid.

[BoxToBox]

Looks like potentially the Serb Veratti.

[deltablue]

Fantastic!

[Torminator]

Awesome mate! Kruc looks amazing.

[Jimbokav1971]

I must admit that I have put a lot of work into him and despite the fact that he is still only 18, he has already made 68(10) appearances.

I am 1.5 seasons ahead of my updates here so I really need to bang one out to get me up to date.

My 2 best players are probably centre-half Nenad and GK Boban, but Nenad was bought for £2.3M as a 17 year old and Boban was already in the squad as a 17 year old, so they are not really "mine" if you know what I mean.

Things are going reasonably well in terms of player development though, so I can't have any complaints.

[Jimbokav1971]

Season Summary May 2022.

League Stage Table.

League Stage Graph, (with Red Star comparison).

Final Phase Table, (you may notice that we now have a 2nd Champions League spot for the League Runners Up).

League Fixtures to Winter break.

League Fixtures after Winter break.

Final Phase Fixtures.

Champions League Qual Fixtures. (Well that was short and not so sweet). The idea of entering the competition later is that it makes it easier for us to get to the Group stages. It didn't quite work out for us this year as I had a disaster against Aktobe (Kaz), who are so rubbish that I had to actually check which country they were from. We absolutely hammered them in the 2nd leg, but we still lost 1-0.

Europa League Qualifying Fixtures.

Europa League Group Stage Fixtures.

Europa League Group. (I'm not really sure how we finished 2nd in the group and qualified for the knockout stages, (except that we had 1 more point than the 3rd placed team of course). I was really just going through the motions and at the end of the fixtures we were somehow still in it.

Europa League Knockout Rounds. (We really stuck it to Everton in the 1st leg and that was enough to get us into the next round, and although we were well beaten in both legs by Inter, I was quite happy with how we played and that we scored in each leg).

Serbian Super Cup. (Champions).

Serbian Cup. (Lost in 1st Round). This is driving me bonkers! We've only won the Cup once, (last year), and this is our 3rd 1st Round exit.

End of Season Awards.

Fans Player of the Season.

Goal of the Season.

Signing of the Season.

Young Player of the season.

Stats.

Facilities.

Affiliates.

Finances. £76.5M+

Transfers In. (None at all in). I decided that I wanted to stop buying so many young prospects and just concentrate on my own youth products as there was actually a bit of depth coming through rather than just 1 or 2 stars each season. I may have to go out and cherry-pick players in a particular position, but as a rule I just want to try and stick to our own Academy products as much as I can and if I don't buy players, well this sort of forces my hand.

Transfers Out. (£22M in terms of transfers, + another £223k from loans).

Confidence. (74%)

[Jimbokav1971]

Meet the Kriss'.(May 2022)

#1. Kriss Macesic (F.Sport) (SRB) (2016). (Striker).

Season 1. 2015/16. 1 appearance after coming through the academy.

Season 2. 2016/17. 3 appearances and his 1st goal for the club, (against Benfica in the Champions League Group stage).

Season 3. 2017/18.1(1) appearances in a season where opportunities were extremely limited.

Season 4. 2018/19. 5(1) appearances, (mostly in Europe), but no club goals, (although 2 for Serbia U19's).

Season 5. 2019/20. 22(9) appearances, 13 goals, 3 assists and 6 MOM's (while on loan at Indjija who were relegated). He also scored 4 goals in 4 games for (SRB) U19's.

Season 6. 2020/21. 31 appearances, 8 goals while on loan at Indjija in the First League.

Season 7. 2021/22. 6(23) appearances including 6 goals while on loan at Dinamo Bucharest.

I actually really like this bloke and yes it may be because he was our first Kriss, but actually I really like his attribute balance too. The problem however is that we have just out-grown him and he isn't going to get in the squad unless.... well, hes' just not going to get in a match squad. I don't know yet if I will keep loaning him out or sell him, but I do want hom to score more goals than we are currently seeing wherever he is.

#2. Kriss Rat (F.Det) (SRB) (2017). (Left back).

Season 1. 2016/17. 1 appearance after coming through the academy.

Season 2. 2017/18. 18 appearances including 1 goal and 1 assist.

Season 3. 2018/19. 15 appearances including 1 goal and 3 assists.

Season 4. 2019/20. 29 appearances including 2 goals and 6 assists.

Season 5. 2020/21. 36 appearances including 2 goals and 7 assists.

Season 6. 2021/22. 30 appearances including 4 goals and 3 assists.

I like this Kriss and he has become an important member of our squad, but he has his limitations and has only played as much as he has becaise I have sold a better left back who was not a pruduct of our academy. His days may be numbered however, (there is no may about it), because we now have 3 left backs at the club who have come through the academy since him and have much better PA. He has been sharing the duties with a right back who can play on both sides, but I think next season might be Kriss rat's last as a regular starter. I haven't had to sell a Kriss yet, so I don't know if I will send them off to pastures new, or just leave them at the club so I can play them all together just once each season.

#3. Kriss Vulic (F.Amb) (SRB) (2018). (Centre-half).

Season 1. 2017/18. 2 appearances after coming through the academy.

Season 2. 2018/19. 9 appearances and his 1st club goal was all we saw of him after damaged cruciate ligaments kept him out for most of season.

Season 3. 2019/20. 10(7) appearances doesn't sound great, but he has returned from a serious cruciate injury and I am happy to take things slowly.

Season 4. 2020/21. 18(3) appearances, including 1 goal is a decent return after his return from injury.

Season 5. 2021/22. 13(1) appearances, but at a pretty poor level so I decided to send him out on loan.

Season 5. 2021/22. (on loan at Radnicki). 9 appearances including 1 goal at a level significantly above that seen when playing for us.

I'm not really sure where I'm going wrong with his development, but for whatever reason, he just isn't improving as I would like. If it were just a lack of improvement then I could possibly battle through, but his actual performances have been poor in comparison to similar ability other players, so at the Winter break I decided that enough was enough and he had to go out on loan. I would like to say that it's not over for him, but looking at the youngsters coming through in his position, I think it possibly is. In my defence, (yes, I feel a little defensive that I have failed so spectacularly with this player), I think part of the blame must go down to the fact that I have been unable to re-train him from a balanced personality due to a lack of suitable tutors. I really need to by a centre-half tutor who used to play for the club, (ideally), but Professionalism and Serbians tend to not go hand in hand from what I am seeing. I'm finding this player quite frustrating.

#4. Kriss Djord (F.Det) (SRB) (2019). (Striker).

Season 1. 2018/19. 1 appearance and 2 goals on the last day of the season saw him announce his arrival in style.

Season 2. 2019/20. "]12(6) appearances a[/url]n"]d 2 goals is a reasonable return for his 1st full season[/url].

Season 3. 2020/21. 23(4) appearances including 10 goals is a pretty reasonable return.

Season 4. 2021/22. 6 appearances including 3 goals is only a modest return and I really need to look at why he didn't play more.

The reason that he didn't play as much as I would like is that I had 2 very good strikers, (vying for just 1 starting slot), and neither one of them seemed to miss a single game all season. The few chances he got he seemed to do well in, but I would always revert to the original 2 when the next game came around. What I did to resolve this, (because it peeveed me at the time), was I sold the 2nd best striker at the club simply because although he was classed as HG at club, he was NOT a product of our academy. This save is all about the Academy so he had to go despite being very good, (but more about that sale next season).

#5. Kriss Kruc (F.Pro) (SRB) (2020). (Central midfield).

Season 1. 2019/20. 1(9) appearances is an impressive start to his professional career.

Season 2. 2020/21. 26(1) appearances including 1 goal and 2 assists during his 1st full season for the club.

Season 3. 2021/22. 24 appearances including just 1 assist.

I was a little underwhelmed with this season if I'm honest, but I have to remember that he's still a kid and these early seasons are really an investment in his future and I should remember that rather than expecting consistent performances from him. I should also add that he was playing largely as a DLP during this season and it's not the role that he will eventually develop into. It's just what I thought he wold best be able to get away with at this stage of his development. The reason that he made fewer appearances than last season was because he suffered 2 frustrating injuries. First he missed 5 weeks with broken ribs, and then he would out for 7 weeks with strained knee ligaments. The injuries weren't a huge deal, but the broken ribs came just before the Winter break and it took him a while to regain full fitness.

#6. Krissandro (SMR/ITA) (F.Sport) (2021). (Right winger).

Season 1. 2020/21. 11(1) appearances including 2 goals is a decent introduction to senior footballer for a 16 year old.

Season 2. 2021/22. 29(1) appearances including 2 goals and 9 assists is pretty impressive.

You might remember that Krissandro is from San Marino, but frustratingly he has accepted a call-up to the (ITA) U19 squad and (ITA) is now his primary Nationality. If I didn't know already that Kriss Kruc would turn into a Wonderkid mid-way though the next season, I would have guessed that Krissandro might have been the first to reach this level. I like his attribute balance, he seems to have hit the ground running in terms of offering something to the team, and I really like the way he is developing.

#7. Kriss Marko (MNE/SRB) (Det) (2022). Centre-half.

Season 1. 2021/22. 2 appearances, (1 in the league and 1 in the knockout stages of the Europa League).

It's hard to blood young centre-backs because I find they get exploited a bit more than other positions. I'm probably going to have to force myself to play him in Europe and in the Cups, but hope that he doesn't cost us. I can't really see him being good enough to play in the league without costing us for a while yet. Having said that.... maybe I need to play him in home games against poorer opposition and just see how he goes. If I want him to reach his PA, then I have to play him. It's as simple as that.

[Jimbokav1971]

Youth Intake Feb 2023.

It's a good intake. There is absolutely no doubt about that. 2x 5. players is pretty astonishing if I'm honest when I would usually just be happy getting just 1x 5.0 PA player. Something that makes it a little unusual us that (23b) Nicolas (ARG) (Bal) is Argentinian and there doesn't seem to be a reason for it. We have a few players from (URU) from River Plate, (our old feeder club which was cancelled when they had a change at board level), but that's really the only South American link In can find.

(23a) Kriss Bojovic (V.Amb) (2023) looks a hell of a player. If I was being really greedy, then I would have asked for a central midfielder who was more defensive minded, but let's not be too greedy eh! He's very much in the playmaker mould that is certainly where I see he future.

(23b) Nicolás (ARG) (Bal) looks good, but it's just such a shame that he is a DR which is probably the position in which we have most top end depth.

[leonavich]

Wow really good intake. looks liek the youth are steadily getting stronger, building your foundation to a nice consistent level.

Red Staqr seem to have also found their way back up the table and look to be competitive again. Seems like you may need to work a bit harder to get them relegated

[Jimbokav1971]

Wow really good intake. looks liek the youth are steadily getting stronger, building your foundation to a nice consistent level.

Red Staqr seem to have also found their way back up the table and look to be competitive again. Seems like you may need to work a bit harder to get them relegated

Very good spot.

It's not been really close yet, but yes, this last manager they have got seems to have worked wonders and the whole league, (not just Red Star), are signing some really good players.

Red Star signed this bloke on a free from Granada in Spain and he is now worth £4.6M. I'm just thankfully that he doesn't have what I would call great attribute balance for his position. (He is a mix between a playmaker and a finisher).

Cukaricki have been relegated and then promoted again, but have signed a couple of South Americans, (Mexican and Paraguayan), on loan who are valued at £2.4M & £1.3M while still teenagers. (That's a big valuation at 19 in this league).

Novi Pazar have got this bloke in on loan from Spurs and he's excellent. He actually came through the Red Star Academy, but one of their eegit managers flogged him for just £150,000.

[Jimbokav1971]

The 2023 Youth Intake team drew 4-4 with a full-strength Youth Team, (which is decent), and this bloke scored all 4 goals for the Youth Intake team.

[BoxToBox]

Lad put on a show! Hopefully he ends up doing similar for the first team down the line.

[Torminator]

Bojovic has a nice beard and bold head for a 16 year old

[Jimbokav1971]

Lad put on a show! Hopefully he ends up doing similar for the first team down the line.

Well it's quite interesting actually, (at least to me), in that he was initially given a prefix of (23c), to indicate that he was ranked 3rd, (by PA), of the players promoted from the 2023 intake.

A couple of weeks later however, he has jumped to the top of the pile and is now ranked top, (by PA) amongst his peers of the 2023 intake, (in fact he sits top of the pile ranked by PA of all players at the club, irrespective of intake year).

It of course remains to be seen if he can achieve his PA, but his decent personality suggests he at least has a fighting chance.

[Jimbokav1971]

Bojovic has a nice beard and bold head for a 16 year old

I've noticed that there are quite a few who have come through having done hard paper rounds, but this facepack that I'm using, (no idea what it's called), is far better than the original game where almost 40% of Sammarinese players had mohicans or were completely bald.