[FM14] Titanus aggressurus Olympum: A San Marino Calcio Youth Challenge

[tyler16]

Titanus aggressurus Olympum: A San Marino Calcio Youth Challenge

Yes, another San Marino thread. I know, I know.

Inspired by countless stories on this forum, I've decided it's time to finally start my own. The idea for this save has been planned out for a while now and should make for an interesting read. That's the hope, anyways.

So, an introduction.

THE CLUB

San Marino Calcio are a club based in Serravalle, San Marino who play in the Italian football league system. Despite spending a majority of their history languishing in lower divisions, they currently find themselves in Lega Pro Prima Divisione - the Italian third tier.

They are the only Sammarinese club to play their football in Italy and as a result of this, are the only professional club based in San Marino.



Stadio Olimpico, which holds over 6,000 people, is the home of San Marino Calcio as well as the San Marino national team.

We wear light blue and white striped tops with black shorts and socks. For those who care about the history of the badge, have at it.

The golden frame of their badge contains the team name and the phrase "Titanus aggressurus Olympum", which refers to the Titans in Greek mythology. Pictured in the center of the badge is a Titan. In Italian, the word "Titan" signifies both the race of mythological gods and Monte Titano, the highest point in San Marino. The left-hand circle represents the badge of Tre Penne, one of San Marino Calcio's two founding teams, and the right-hand circle represents the old San Marino Calcio badge.

THE AIM

1. Have success in Italy, and Europe, with a predominantly Sammarinese team.

Because the standard of Sammarinese players is so low, San Marino Calcio have very few Sammarinese players in their team. As of now, Wikipedia shows just two Sammarinese players at the club, and I'm not sure they even play! Our job is to produce Sammarinese talent good enough to stay with us in Italy and compete in Europe one (veeeeery far away) day.

2. Improve the standard of the Sammarinese national team through the use of our academy.

This goes along with the first point. The national team is dreadful. The players aren't good enough for the Italian third, fourth, or fifth tier for that matter. Being the biggest club in San Marino by far, the best (not that that's saying much!) young Sammarinese players should come through our academy. There could be an odd player who turns up at an amateur Sammarinese club, but by and large we will solely supply the NT going forward.

3. Improve the standard of the Sammarinese league by developing and selling players from our academy.

As an additional challenge, I'll be trying to improve the Sammarinese league by loaning out and selling players who couldn't make the grade with us in Italy. It's a long term goal and I'm unsure how much I'll be able to impact this, but it should be interesting to keep an eye on.

THE RULES

No trials, loans or transfers are allowed in. This is a youth challenge. I'm sure you're all aware how these work by now.

The San Marino national team job may not be added. When the time is right, the job must be offered and appointed legitimately.

THE SETUP

Italy and San Marino (claassen pack) loaded, all levels.

Europe - current internationals, players from top clubs and players with continental reputation. This will only make things harder.

Staff added to playable teams. No in-game editor. Attribute masking on.

Think that's about it! Oh, and I'm playing on FM14.

[tyler16]

Okay, finally sitting down and setting this up.

Here are the nations loaded and the database settings I'm using.

My manager is a 35-year old American with Sunday League reputation. Let's hope the players listen to me!

Facilities actually look decent, although I don't know the standard of the division yet so I could be wrong.

On my to do list is the typical tasks when beginning a new save - sorting out the staff, getting familiar with the club finances, squad, league rules, so on and so forth. The next update will probably be a season preview after I get through all the tedious stuff.

Wish me luck.

[sherwinriga]

Finally, I can wait to see the San Marino Calcio to dominate both Italy and San Marino, and of course, that I will be surprised if you upset the Italians near your team. Good luck with this challenge!

[tyler16]

Finally, I can wait to see the San Marino Calcio to dominate both Italy and San Marino, and of course, that I will be surprised if you upset the Italians near your team. Good luck with this challenge!

Cheers.

We've just added a former World Cup winner as an U19 coach, so that's nice!

[Bedese]

Excellent idea for a save. Good luck!

[tyler16]

Remember when I said very few Sammarinese players were good enough to break into San Marino Calcio's first team?

Yeah, we have none at the moment.



We do have about 20 Sammarinese youngsters in our U19s but an overwhelming majority of them will never get close to the first team. Perhaps I underestimated how poor the quality of San Marino is.

The best of the bunch is Juri Biordi, a centerback with two U21 caps. I may call him up to the senior squad at some point just to be our token Sammarinese player... but if he ever finds himself on the field something has probably gone terribly wrong!

[tyler16]

Excellent idea for a save. Good luck!

Cheers.

[Greyfriars Bobby]

Someday I'll do a youth challenge with a small country, too. I enjoy reading about them, and it seems like you all have fun creating them.

I'll be following along.

[tyler16]

Someday I'll do a youth challenge with a small country, too. I enjoy reading about them, and it seems like you all have fun creating them.

I'll be following along.

Good to hear!

I'm just about finishing up all the new save stuff, going to mess around with some tactical ideas in friendlies and then get this properly rolling.

[Jimbokav1971]

I got to May 2028 doing a strict Youth Only version of this, but lost interest when I found out ab out the NT Manager issues, (getting sacked after 8 years in charge).

There might be something in this thread that you can use to your advantage.

Good luck.

[tyler16]

I got to May 2028 doing a strict Youth Only version of this, but lost interest when I found out ab out the NT Manager issues, (getting sacked after 8 years in charge).

There might be something in this thread that you can use to your advantage.

Good luck.

Interesting, thanks.

As far as I'm aware the NT bug doesn't exist in FM14. Worst case scenario I guess I'd add another manager to vacate it but this is all way down the road anyways.

[Jimbokav1971]

Ahhh. Apologies. I missed that you were on FM14. It 100% doesn't exist and I know this because I managed the NT from the start and went a full 10 seasons without a competitive win.

[tyler16]

Season Preview - 2013-14

Senior Squad

This is the group of players I've inherited. It's a decent squad, if not a bit on the old side. Unfortunately, most of the talented young players at the club are here on loan (prearranged before I arrived). We could be in trouble with depth at numerous positions, so I'm crossing my fingers players can stay fit. Oh, and there's still no Sammarinese players in case you haven't noticed.

I won't go too much in depth with tactics, but I've decided on a 4-2-3-1 shape, mainly to get the best out of highest earners. I've watched three friendlies in full and think it should work for us, but that's yet to be seen!

The Titani Three

1. Davide Poletti - AML - Club icon, captain, set piece taker and one of the main reasons I settled on a 4-2-3-1. He's past his peak physically but should have the class to set up numerous chances for us this year.

2. Gabriele Pacciardi - MC - Will be asked to shield the back four and recycle possession. A great player for this level.

3. Mattia Graffiedi - AMR/ST/AML - Figuring out how to get the best from him is one of my priorities in the beginning of the season. He'll be starting out on the right.

Board Objectives

Lega Pro Prima Divisione Girone A - Be competitive.

Coppa Italia di Lega Pro - Reach the first round.

Personal Objectives

Lega Pro Prima Divisione Girone A - Avoiding relegation is the aim. The league structure is a bit mad, with the winner promoted straight to Serie B and teams positioned 2nd-9th qualifying for an eight-team promotion playoff. From what I've gathered online, the bottom three go down. The bookies have us predicted 13th/16th, so things may get dicey.

Coppa Italia di Lega Pro - This seems to be a lower league cup of sorts. I'm with the board, the first round would be fine (we have to finish top two in a group of three, and are in a group with two teams in the division below ours). This competition begins before the league so it's a nice place to experiment.

Create a financial plan - We're hemorrhaging money on a monthly basis and have already burned through about 40% of our sponsorship income for the season. I'm going to need to sell players and cut the wage budget significantly in the future. In order to progress in this challenge, there has to be money in the bank to upgrade facilities. I'll know more about the financial situation at the end of the season, but it doesn't look great.

Revamp the youth setup - We have way too many youngsters (literally, 35+) on the books that will never get close to the first team and no way of getting rid of them without taking a massive financial loss. Bite the bullet or find a solution before the first youth intake comes through.

Embed a Sammarinese player in the senior squad - Previously mentioned Juri Biordi just got his first San Marino cap, so...

(PS - three other things...)

1. Thanks to @dan_simmonds for the format of this post.

2. I may switch to photobucket, imgur seems to compress image quality a lot.

3. Our HoYD is Sammarinese with a fairly professional personality. I'm excited to see what magic he can work.

[tyler16]

Ahhh. Apologies. I missed that you were on FM14. It 100% doesn't exist and I know this because I managed the NT from the start and went a full 10 seasons without a competitive win.

Great to hear.

[abirdc]

Will be following this, good luck.

[oriole01]

Actually, I think this idea is quite different from the other San Marino youth challenges because SMC plays in Italy, so it adds a completely new dimension to the challenge. Before you can get anywhere with this club you'll have to get promoted to Serie A, so that makes it even more exciting. Good luck!

[tyler16]

Will be following this, good luck.

Thanks!

Actually, I think this idea is quite different from the other San Marino youth challenges because SMC plays in Italy, so it adds a completely new dimension to the challenge. Before you can get anywhere with this club you'll have to get promoted to Serie A, so that makes it even more exciting. Good luck!

Yeah, that's one of the main reasons I decided upon it. The club are much bigger in stature than any in the Sammarinese league but have hardly any Sammarinese players.

To give you an idea of the gap between the two leagues: some of our youngsters who aren't even close to the quality needed at this level have already been called up to the San Marino national team. Having a first team Sammarinese player at this level would make him one of the greatest Sammarinese players of all time.

So yeah, a youth challenge in Italy is difficult enough, a youth challenge with a club in Italy who produce Sammarinese players... well, I must be crazy.

[Greyfriars Bobby]

I see you're dealing with the same situation regarding your youth team that I have with Virtus Entella. There must have been 40 kids on the roster, and most of them were total rubbish. I released a bunch of them and took the financial hit which, in retrospect, might not have been the wisest decision. I took 10 players from my youth intake who were all as good or better than my existing U19s.

I noticed I had five guys on my reserve roster, so I put the older youth into that team. Now I am fielding three full sides. I have to make sure to schedule matches for the reserves, or they end up not playing at all.

Good luck with SMC. I'll be pulling for you.

[tyler16]

Heads up - I have a busy couple of weeks coming up and a few display problems on my Mac I need to get sorted (unrelated to FM). It may be a little while until the next update, depending how well I can resist playing.